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Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c7.s4.t3: Nāgārjuna Summarises the Position of the Hīnayānists

Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c7.s4.t3

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Nāgārjuna Summarises the Position of the Hīnayānists

c7.s4.t3.1

Nāgārjuna has dealt with the Truths incidentally in his examination of Pratyaya, Karmaphala, Ātman,¹ etc., and at length in his treatment of the Āryasatyas². He first summarises the arguments of his opponents thus: If everything be non-existent (śūnya), there cannot arise any question about the origin and decay of a thing,—in this case, duḥkha (misery). The five constituents of beings, which come into existence through pre-existing cause and condition, are called duḥkha, because they produce suffering, being subject to change and transformation. That these constituents are a source of suffering is realised by the Āryas (i.e., Arhats) only, and not by the common people, for the latter labour under the four misconceptions (viparyāsas)³ of considering impure things as pure, impermanent as permanent, unhappy as happy, and egoless as having ego. The common people are like the sick, to whom sweet things appear bitter. A person who is not yet an arhat (anārya) does not know that the five upādānaskandhas are a source of suffering. It is for this reason that the Truths (satyas) are called truths for the perfect only. If everything be śūnya (non-existent), there cannot be the first Āryasatya called duḥkha and consequently there can be no samudaya (origin), nirodha (destruction), or mārga (means of destruction of suffering). If the four Āryasatyas do not exist, there cannot exist true knowledge, exertion, or realisation, the four fruits of sanctification or their enjoyer, the Saṅgha, Dharma, or even Buddha. The assertion of śūnyatā (non-existence of everything) goes against the existence of the three ratnas, in fact, of all things, good or bad.

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¹ M. Vr., chs. I, XVII, XVIII.

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² Ibid., ch. XXIV.

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³ Bodhic., p. 375; M. Vr., pp. 464 and 607 referring to Netti, p. 114 and Index; Śikṣā., p. 198; Aṅguttara, II, p. 52; Pātañjala-Yogasūtra, II, 5; Sarvadarśana-saṅgraha (ed. of Mm. Vasudev Abhayankar), p. 361; see also infra.

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