Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c8.s12.11

c8.s12.11

In the Hinayāna literature one does not expect any account corresponding to that of the last four bhūmis. The conception of Buddha among the Hinayānists is more or less hazy and that is due to the fact that the introduction of the Bodhisattva conception in their literature was only an after-thought, suggested undoubtedly by the Mahāyānic speculations. They carefully avoided all metaphysical conceptions introduced by the Mahāyānists in connection with the Bodhisattva and Buddha conceptions, though they could not offer a similar treatment to the devotion-inspiring stories of the lives of the bodhisattvas. The Hinayānists, consistent with their doctrinal principles, incorporated in their literature a life of Buddha preceded by a short account of the Bodhisattva lives under the headings, Dūrenidāna and Avidūrenidāna.⁵ These two Nidānas are nothing but the gist of stories current among the Mahāyānists, and possess trace, though very slight, of borrowings. Apart from the expressions like Buddhabīja⁶ and Abhinirhāra,⁷ the passage in which Sumedha brāhmaṇa says, "I have no need of nibbāna by destroying the kilesas, like Dipaṅkara Dasabala, I shall attain the highest sambodhi and by means of the boat of dharma, I shall lead the men across the sea of transmigration and attain parinibbāna,”¹ shows clearly Mahāyānic, or at least, semi-Mahāyānic traces. But the Hinayānists rejected not only the metaphysical speculations but also the stereotyped list of pāramis of the Mahāyānists. The Jātaka as well as the Mahābodhivamsa² states that the Buddhakāraka dharma is only ten pāramis, viz., dāna, sīla, nekkhamma, paññā, viriya, khanti, sacca, adhiṭṭhāna, mettā and upekkhā. This is a list of their own making and does not agree with the Mahāyānic list.³