Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s3.t3.4

c7.s3.t3.4

The Mahāyānists do not admit the real existence of the skandhas or elements composing a being. They assert that the skandhas exist only in imagination (vikalpa) or are illusory conceptions (māyā) held by the so-called beings suffering from a defective vision due to ignorance. So the Truth, according to the Mahāyānists, is Śūnyatā or Dharma-nairāt-mya. The Puṇḍarīka¹ therefore says that he who knows the dharmas as devoid of ātman knows the truth. It is because one does not possess this knowledge of the essencelessness of dharmas (śūnya-jñāna-vihīnatvāt) that one is called a Śrāvaka. The Kāśyapa Parivarta sarcastically compares the Pudgala-śūnyatā of the Śrāvakas with the hole made by a termite, and the Dharmaśūnyatā of the Bodhisattvas with the infinite space (ākāśa).² Of the seven reasons adduced by the Sūtrālaṅkāra to show why Mahāyāna should be considered superior to Hinayāna, one is that the knowledge of the Mahāyānists is on a higher level, for it penetrates both Pudgala-nairāt-mya and Dharma-nairāt-mya.³ The Triṃśikā⁴ brings out very clearly the difference between Pudgala- and Dharma-nairāt-mya. It says that the realisation of the two forms of Nairāt-mya is needed for the removal of the two screens (āvaraṇa) viz., that of passions (kleśa) and that hindering true knowledge (jñeya). The passions of desire, attachment, etc. arise on account of a belief in a self; so when one realises the non-existence of self, his egoism is destroyed, and as a result his passions are eliminated. The realisation of the non-existence of the things of this world (dharma-nairāt-mya) removes the screen over true knowledge. The removal of both the screens is needed for the attainment of emancipation (mokṣa) and omniscience (sarvajñatva). The passions are obstacles to the attainment of emancipation (mokṣaprāpterāvaraṇam); hence the removal of passions leads to mokṣa. The screen of jñeya works as a hindrance to the functioning of knowledge (jñāna), i.e., in the apperception of things through knowledge. When it is removed knowledge penetrates unhindered into all objects of knowledge in detail (sarvākāra) without, however, causing attachment of any kind and this is called the attainment of omniscience or Bodhi.