Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s3.t20.24

c7.s3.t20.24

(10) The tenth and the last argument advanced by the Sautrāntikas is that the Abhidharma, on which the Vaibhāṣikas rely most, contains the statement: “What are the avastuka dharmas? They are the Asaṃskṛtas”. In this, the term “avastuka” signifies to the Sautrāntikas “unreal”, “without true nature”, but it is differently interpreted by the Vaibhāṣikas. According to them the term “vastu” is employed in five different senses, viz., (i) svabhāva vastu (a thing in itself), (ii) ālambana vastu (object of knowledge), (iii) saṃyojanīya (cause of attachment), (iv) hetu (cause), and (v) parigraha (act of appropriation). In the present passage, vastu has been used in the sense of hetu; here “avastuka” signifies “that which has no cause”. The unconditioned, although real, being always devoid of any activity, have neither any cause which produces them nor any fruit produced by them.