Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c9.s1.1

c9.s1.1

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.