Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s3.t23.4

c7.s3.t23.4

(Nirvāṇa is that which is neither discarded nor attained; it is neither a thing destroyed nor a thing eternal; it is neither suppressed nor does it arise). Candrakīrti, in commenting upon this verse, says that it is not to be eradicated like rāga (passion) etc. nor to be attained like the fruits of a saintly life (e.g. srotāpatti, sakṛdāgāmi, etc.). It is not eternal like aśūnya (real elements).¹ It is by its nature without origin and decay, and its lakṣaṇa (characteristic) is that it does not admit of description.² In such an indescribable thing, how can an imagination (kalpanā) of the existence of kleśas and skandhas, and their eradication through Nirvāṇa find a place? So long as those activities of our imagination continue to exist, there can be no Nirvāṇa. Nirvāṇa is realised only when all prapañcas, i.e., attempts at particularization or definition cease. To the argument of the Sarvāstivādins that even admitting the non-existence of kleśas and skandhas at the stage where Nirvāṇa is reached, it may be that they exist in saṃsāra, i.e., before the attainment of Nirvāṇa,—the Mahāyānists give the forcible reply that there is not the slightest difference between Nirvāṇa and Saṃsāra. So, in fact, Nirvāṇa requires no process of eradication. Nirvāṇa is really the complete disappearance (kṣaya) of all figments of the imagination. The kleśas, skandhas, etc., the disappearance of which is generally supposed to be necessary in Nirvāṇa,³ have, according to the Mādhyamikas, no real existence whatsoever. Those who cannot get rid of the conception of "I-ness" or "Mine-ness" usually assume the existence of non-existent things. The sufferings of those who are in a stage in which they recognize the existence and non-existence of things will never end. Candrakīrti includes in the category of such sufferers the schools of Kaṇāda, Kapila, etc. and also the Vaibhāṣikas who believe in the existence of real entities; he also includes the Atheists (Nāstikas⁴) who deny their existence, the Sautrāntikas who deny the existence of the past, the future and the citta-viprayuktas¹ but admit that of all else, and the Yogācāras who do not believe in the existence of parikalpita (imaginary) things but admit the reality of the pariniṣpanna (the ultimate)—the pure consciousness (vijñaptimātratā).² Nāgārjuna says that Nirvāṇa does not consist in the eradication or destruction of anything. It is really the avoidance of all imagination (kalpanā) of eradication, destruction, etc. Just as a man imagines that he has taken poison and faints, though, in fact, the poison has not entered his stomach, so also a being in this world, not knowing really what the ego is, conceives of "I-ness" and "Mine-ness," and suffers on that account. Nirvāṇa is beyond the limits of existence (bhāva) and non-existence (abhāva). A being fancies that something exists and that Nirvāṇa is the end of it, while, in fact, that something does not exist and therefore there can be neither its continuance nor extinction. Nirvāṇa really consists in the avoidance of the conception that something exists.³