Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s3.t23.1

c7.s3.t23.1

Nāgārjuna also supports this conception but his arguments are those of an expert logician and philosopher. He takes into account the views of the Hinayānists, mainly the Sarvāstivādins and shows the weak bases of their views. The Hinayānists, he says, speak of two kinds of Nirvāṇa, sopādiśeṣa and nirupādiśeṣa, and think that Nirvāṇa is the nirodha (extinction) of kleśas (defiling elements) and skandhas (constituents) existing in a being. They wonder how the Mahāyānists can conceive Nirvāṇa if they think that everything is unreal (śūnya) without origin and decay. What is it then, from which Nirvāṇa confers release. Nāgārjuna answers: If kleśas (defiling elements) and skandhas (constituents) be elements existing by themselves, how can they be destroyed?³ The Śūnyatāvādins do not seek a Nirvāṇa where there is an end of kleśas and skandhas. Their Nirvāṇa is