Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c9.s1: Gṛhi-Bodhisattvas

Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c9.s1

Language: English

Gṛhi-Bodhisattvas

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The early Hīnayānists, as we have pointed out elsewhere⁵, gave very little attention to the spiritual needs of the laity. They adhered to the principle that the duties that should be performed by a person for the attainment of Nibbāna cannot be adequately done by one living a family life and not retiring from the world¹. The discourses suitable for the householders were, according to them, the dānakathaṃ, sīlakathaṃ, saggakathaṃ, kāmānaṃ ādīnavaṃ okāraṃ saṃkilesaṃ, and nekkhamme ānisaṃsaṃ² (discourses on gifts, moral precepts, heaven, dangers and evil consequences of desires, and the good fruits of retirement). It is only when the mind of the householders has been suitably prepared by the discourses on the last two topics that the Ariyasaccas are explained to them. The questions may be asked, viz., how could there be lay-adherents like Anāthapiṇḍika, Bimbisāra, Visākhā, who had a prominent place in the then Buddhist society, and how is it that there are a few discourses in the Nikāyas on the duties of a householder, on an ideal wife, and so forth³? Without questioning the antiquity of some of these discourses, we may assert that they contain very little except some general advice for the spiritual uplift of a person. The monks used to approach the householders more with a view to persuade them to leave the household life and become recluses than to continue to be householders and perform duties conducive to Nibbāna. Later on, of course, one finds the laity formally taking the vow of five sīlas, or temporarily eight sīlas⁴, but still they are not expected to derive the full benefits of the religion without going through ordination. Anāthapiṇḍika in spite of all his gifts and virtues was only a sotāpanna at the time of his death⁵. This state of things, of course, could not continue long, and among the Hinayānists, there arose a new movement, which could be called semi-Mahāyānic, for creating an important place for the laity in the Buddhist system by the introduction of the practice of the Pāramitās¹.

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⁵ See supra, ch. I, p. 3.

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¹ Sambādho gharāvāso rajāpatho, etc. See Majjhima, I, p. 179; Aṅguttara, II, p. 208.

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² Early History, etc., pp. 36 f.

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³ Ibid., pp. 118ff.; N. Law, Studies, etc., pp. 95 ff.

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⁴ At present this is common at Chittagong, and in Burma and Ceylon. Wieger in his Bouddhisme Chinois (I, pp. 147, 148) also refers to the ceremony performed by a layman by confessing his past sins, accepting the faith and the five precepts, and temporarily the eight precepts.

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⁵ Saṃyutta, V, p. 387.

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¹ See ante, pp. 11 ff.

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The Mahāyānists developed these Pāramitā practices a good deal and tried to persuade both householders and monks to fulfil them. In the Śikṣāsamuccaya we get glimpses of the duties of a Bodhisattva apart from the completion of Pāramitās. Some of these passages may be summarized as follows:—

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(1) Gifts result in the destruction of tṛṣṇā (desire), removal of fear, anxiety, and so forth; therefore householders should make gifts as much as possible.

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If a householder feels an excessive affection for his son but for none others, he must correct himself by reflecting that Bodhi is attained by one (i) who is samacitta (even-minded), (ii) who is exerting himself rightly (samyak-prayukta) to attain bodhi, and (iii) who does not make distinctions (anānātvacārin). He is to regard his son as an enemy (lit. not friend), as he being the object of excessive affection, is the cause of detracting his father's mind from the doctrines of Buddha. He is to correct himself by thinking that "he himself comes from one place and his son from another; that all beings are his sons, and he is the son of all beings." Thus a gṛhī bodhisattva must not regard anything as his own².

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² Śikṣā., pp. 18-19 (Ugradattaparipṛcchā).

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This is followed by an interesting passage showing how a gṛhī bodhisattva is to absolve himself from his sins when he fails to give away the thing asked for. At first he must reflect within himself that the thing, whether he gives it up or not, must one day leave him. If he can dispose of it, he will be happy at the time of his death. But even if after this reflection, he fails to give away the article, he is to confess his weakness thus: "I am of weak mind; my kuśalamūlas are not ripe; I am only a beginner (ādikarmika) in Mahāyāna; my mind as far as the gifts are concerned is not yet under control; I am still attached to upādānas and to 'I-ness' and 'Mine-ness,'" excuse me, O good man, do not be sorry; I shall develop my power of self-denial, so that I may fulfil your desire." He should also see that neither he has aprasāda (displeasure) against the seeker of the gift nor the seeker against him. But in any case, such miserliness is condemned by Buddhas¹.

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¹ Śikṣā., p. 20 (Ugradattaparipṛcchā).

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There are many admonitions with regard to the nature of gifts to be made by laymen and as to the time when and the place where they are most efficacious².

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² Ibid., pp. 87, 144, 147-8.

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(2) A gṛhī bodhisattva is to give up anunaya (supplication) and pratigha (repugnance), and remain unattached to eight lokadharmas³. He should not be elated by the gain of a wife, son, wealth and property, or depressed by misfortunes, for he is always to think that all constituted things are illusory and have the sign of appearance and disappearance (viṭhapana-pratyupasthāna=rnam-par bsgrub-pa ñe-bar-gnas-paḥi mtshan ñid)⁴. It is only a matter of practice, and the bodhisattvas can avoid both elation and despondency by making the mind invincible⁵ against passions.

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³ Mvyut. 125: Lābha, Alābha, Yaśa, Ayaśa, Nindā, Praśamsā, Sukha and Duḥkha. See Dh. S. 61.

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⁴ The English rendering is conjectural.

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⁵ Śikṣā., p. 180. Cf. Gaṇḍavyūha: na cābhyāsasya duṣkaram nāma kiñcid asti.

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(3) A gṛhī bodhisattva seeks enjoyable things "rightly and not wrongly; he has right living and not wrong living"⁶.

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⁶ Śikṣā., p. 267; Transl., p. 245.

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(4) The four evils from which a layman should refrain are:

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(a) to cause hindrance to persons desirous of renunciation, of seeking ordination, or of following the mārga to Nirvāṇa;

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(b) not to believe in the fruits of actions and stand in the way of ordination of one's own sons, wife or relatives out of affection or love of wealth;

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(d) hatred (pratigha) towards śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas.

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(5) Gṛhīs should refrain from
(a) drinking spirits, etc.,
(b) visiting places of vulgar amusements,
(c) bad temper, fickleness, wavering, garrulousness, etc., and should always be self-possessed¹.

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¹ Śikṣā., p. 120 = Bodhic., p. 123.

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(6) A gṛhī must refrain from adultery and be satisfied with his wife. Even when living with her, he should always reflect that she is a source of evil, full of impurities and so forth. He should also bear in mind that she is a companion for passion and dalliance and not for the next world, a companion at food and drink and not for the fruits of karma; and that she is a hindrance to śīla, dhyāna, prajñā, etc².

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² Ibid., p. 78 (Ugradattaparipṛcchā).

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(7) A gṛhī should be discreet about the enjoyment or giving away of wealth. He should also take into consideration whether the giving away or abstention from same would stand in the way of attaining bodhi by himself or his sons, wife, or employees³.

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³ Ibid., p. 144.

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(8) For the benefit of others, the gṛhī bodhisattva should renounce his own profit⁴.

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⁴ Ibid., p. 145.

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(9) Bodhisattvas derive great merit and even develop bodhicitta by worshipping or honouring stūpas⁵.

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⁵ Ibid., pp. 93, 94.

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(10) A kulaputra or kuladuhitṛ practises the eight śīlas for one year or three years with a view to be re-born in the Sukhāvatī-vyūha⁶.

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⁶ Ibid., p. 175.

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(11) Gṛhīs should practise the daśakuśalakarmapathas⁷.

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⁷ Ibid., p. 87.

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(12) Gṛhastha-ādikarmika-bodhisattvas should study the Buddhist scriptures.

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The Ugradattaparipṛcchā, from which the above information is mostly collected, is apparently a book of conduct for use by the lay bodhisattvas⁸. The question—"katham āśayasampannasyāpy ugradattaparipṛcchāyām gṛham anujñātam" (how is it that in the Ugradattaparipṛcchā those who have aspiration for buddhahood are also allowed to continue the family life?)—makes it clear that laymen, unlike the early Hinayānists, had a place in the disciplinary code of the Mahāyānists, though, of course, preference was given to the life of a recluse in the forest rather than to that of a dweller in the town¹. With the Hinayānists they also hold that ‘na jātu kāmān pratisevamānaḥ putreṣu dāreṣu janitvā tṛṣṇām gṛham ca sevitvā jugupsanīyam anuttarām prāpayati so’grabodhim.’ (Never will he obtain the supreme wisdom by living the detested life of a family man, by enjoying the pleasure of the world, and by hankering after wife and sons)². On the contrary, they extol life in a forest in extravagant terms³.

Linked texts (8)

Cūḷahatthipadopamasutta — Pāli
Attantapasutta — Pāli
Dutiyaanāthapiṇḍikasutta — Pāli
Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra — Sanskrit
Mahāvyutpatti — Sanskrit
Dharmasaṃgraha — Nāgārjuna, Sanskrit
Bodhicaryāvatāra — Śāntideva, Sanskrit
Śikṣāsamuccaya — Śāntideva, Sanskrit