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Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c8.s10: VIII. Acalā or Anābhoga-Nirnimitta-Vihāra

Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c8.s10

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VIII. Acalā or Anābhoga-Nirnimitta-Vihāra

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A Bodhisattva after completing the seven bhūmis and purifying the mārga by means of knowledge and expedients, collecting merits, forming the great resolutions (mahāpraṇidhānas), establishing himself in the four adhiṣṭhānas (viz., satya, tyāga, upaśama and prajñā), and so forth, he comprehends that all things are without origin, growth, sign, decay, change and are by nature non-existent, and that their beginning, middle and end are all the same; in short, he comprehends the tathatā (thatness) of all things.² He goes beyond the thought-constructions due to citta and manovijñāna and knows that all dharmas are same like ākāśa and thus he establishes himself in the anutpattikadharmakṣānti (the faith that things have no origination)³. As soon as he acquires kṣānti he is established in the eighth bhūmi (Acalā⁴) and is above all enjoyments. He is possessed of dharmas which are spontaneous (anābhoga), and hence, has no anxiety for matters relating to kāya, vāk and citta, is free from all thought-constructions produced by the movements of thought and is established in the vipāka-dharmas (completion). He does not, in fact, practise the rules of conduct (samudācāras) of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Śrāvakas.

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² Cf. B. Bh., p. 21. The Mtu. (I, p. 136) simply tells us that the Bodhisattva develops mahākaruṇāsamprayuktam cittam for going from the seventh to the eighth bhūmi and completes the account of the eighth bhūmi by mere enumeration of some legendary names.

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³ Cf. B. Bh., p. 22; see also pp. 49, 273.

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⁴ Cf. Laṅkā., pp. 221-2, 226.

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He is now asked by the Buddhas to exert for acquiring the ten balas and four vaiśāradyas which he up till now has not acquired, and also to take into consideration the ruffled, afflicted, deluded state of mind of the ignorant people. He is then reminded of one of his previous resolutions that dharmatā (i.e. dharmas being without origin, decay and continuity) is not for Tathāgatas only but that the Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas should also be made to realise it. He is then asked by Buddhas to exert for possessing like them immeasurable body, knowledge, worlds, refulgence, purity of voice and limbs, dharmālokas, kṣetras, sattvas and the variety of dharmas of the ten corners of the universe. The possession of ‘immeasurables’ is of great value, far surpassing all the merits and knowledge acquired in the previous seven bhūmis, because the merits and knowledge acquired hitherto were by means of exertion (sābhoga-karmaṇā) while in the present bhūmi the merits and knowledge are acquired spontaneously.

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On account of his acquiring spontaneously the upāyakauśalyajñāna (knowledge of expedients) and as the result of his efforts to acquire omniscience, he comes to know how and when a world comes into being, continues to exist, and then disappears, and which karma is responsible for it. He understands the smallness, greatness, i.e., every minute detail of the four elements, of the various classes of sentient beings, and their fields of action. Such detailed knowledge is needed by a bodhisattva, because he must appear among those sentient beings just as one of them in order to make them feel that he is same as them and that it is possible for every sentient being to become a Buddha¹.

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¹ Daśa., pp. 67-70 refers to the minute details of this knowledge, which is called Sarvākārajñatā. The details are passed over here. See also Kārikā (Bibl. Buddhica), Ch. I.

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He develops ten vaśitās² (control) over āyu (span of life cetas (mind), pariṣkāra (requisities), karma (action), upapatti (origin, i.e., birth), adhimukti (aspiration), praṇidhāna (resolution), ṛddhi (miracles), dharma (doctrines) and jñāna (knowledge).

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² Cf. B. Bh., p. 22.

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The bodhisattva at this stage can be said to possess inconceivable, incomparable, immeasurable knowledge, and his actions are always faultless. He now possesses the praṇidhānas, adhiṣṭhānas, pāramitās, mahāmaitrī, mahā-karuṇā, dhāraṇī, pratibhāna, etc., in short, all dharmas which make a Buddha. Hence, this bhūmi is called Acalā and there is no possibility of his going back from this bhūmi (avivartyabhūmi). He is now a member of the Buddha family, and may be said to possess the Buddha gotra. He is henceforth constantly attended by all the gods and Vajrapāṇi.¹

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¹ Sata., p. 1458 gives the attainments of this bhūmi. They are similar to those described in the Daśa. Cf. Laṅkā., p. 192.

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