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Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s3.t1: Hīnayānic Nirvāṇa: (I) Liberation from Duḥkhatā

Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c7.s3.t1

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Hīnayānic Nirvāṇa: (I) Liberation from Duḥkhatā

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The Hinayānist considers himself afflicted with three kinds of misery (duḥkha), viz., (a) suffering due to mental and physical causes (*duḥkha-duḥkhatā*), (b) that inhering in caused and conditioned existences (*saṃskāra-duḥkhatā*) subject as they are to origin and destruction, and (c) that due to transformation of pleasurable sensations into painful ones e.g. (*vipariṇāma-duḥkhatā*)¹. He seeks release from these miseries incidental to life in any of the three worlds, Kāma, Rūpa, and Arūpa² (including the six ordinary forms of existence³) by realising the formula of the law of causation (pratītyasamutpāda) and the four āryasatyas, and the transitoriness (anityatā) and essencelessness (anātmatā) of the things of this world and the miseries to which they lead. The *Puṇḍarīka* concedes that many of the disciples of Buddha attained Arhatship or Nirvāṇa by perceiving the non-existence of anything corresponding to soul (ātmā) in any of the five categories of mental and physical elements (skandhas)⁴. The Hinayānists admit that their Nirvāṇa consists in a liberation from the three kinds of duḥkhatā, incidental to existence in the three laukikadhātus. Thus, according to the Hinayānic conception, beings obtain liberation by attaining nibbānadhātu without any residue¹. The Pāli works, canonical or post-canonical, agree on the point that this release is obtained by realising anityatā, duḥkhatā and anātmatā as well as pratītyasamutpannatā of the world.

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¹ *Sad. P.*, p. 109; *M. Vṛ.*, p. 475; *Mvyut.* 3; *Kośa*, vi, 3; Poussin, *Nirvāṇa*, p. 174; Burnouf, *Lotus* etc., p. 68; *Dīgha*, III, p. 216; *Saṃyutta*, IV, p. 259, V, p. 56. In the *Vibhaṅga-Aṭṭhakathā* (pp. 93-94) seven kinds of dukkhas are mentioned: dukkha-dukkham, vipariṇāmad., saṅkhārad., paticchannad., appaticchannad., pariyāyad., and nippariyāyad.

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² *Sad. P.*, pp. 100, 117, 132-3, *Samādhirāja* (B.T.S. ed.), p. 13; *Sūtrā.*, pp. 94, 128.

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³ *Sad. P.*, pp. 135-6; for the six gatis, see *Dīgha*, III, p. 264; *J.P.T.S.*, 1884, p. 152; *Annales du Musée Guimet*, V, pp. 514-528; *E.R.E.*, sv. Cosmogony and Cosmology.

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⁴ Cf. *Paṭis. M.*, I, p. 146.

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¹ DhP., 26: saṅkhāradukkhatāya loko anupādisesāya nibbānadhātuyā muñcati.

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What the Mahāyānists endeavour to point out is that the Hinayānists concern themselves with the realisation of the non-existence of a permanent entity like soul (Pudgala-nairātmya) and not of the non-existence of anything whatsoever supposed to exist (Dharma-nairātmya)². According to the Mahāyānists, this realisation attained by the Hinayānists cannot lead them to the ultimate Reality; it carries them only some distance towards the Truth, and hence Nirvāṇa in the real sense of the term cannot be said to be attained by them³. The Hinayānists, however, consider that they reach Nirvāṇa when they know that they will have no more birth as they have led the life of holiness (brahmacarya) and realised the pudgala-nairātmya. Some think, as the Laṅkāvatāra⁴ puts it, that Nirvāṇa is attained by comprehending what is really soul or personality; some others think that it is attained by penetrating into the truth that things are dependent on causes. But in fact, the Laṅkāvatāra⁵ adds, there is no real emancipation (mokṣa) without the realisation of Dharma-nairātmya. So the Hinayānists do not actually reach mokṣa; they are only tossed up and down by the properties (lakṣaṇa) of things like a log of wood by the waves.

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² Sūtrā., pp. 154-160; Laṅkā., pp. 68-69.

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³ Cf. Bodhic., p. 442: without the realisation of Śūnyatā, there may be nivṛti (quietude) but it is not permanent.

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⁴ Laṅkā., pp. 63-4.

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⁵ Laṅkā., p. 135.

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