Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c35.s3.t4.39

v2.c35.s3.t4.39

The second book is entitled *Prakaraṇapāda*. Its authorship is attributed to Sthavira Vasumitra, who, according to the Chinese tradition, composed it in a monastery, at Puṣkarāvatī. It was translated into Chinese by Guṇabhadra and Bodhiyaśas of Central India (A.D. 435-443) and also by Hiuen-tsang (A.D. 659). The work is divided into eight chapters. The first defines *rūpa*, *citta*, *caitasikas*, *cittaviprayuktas* and *asaṃskṛtas*² (material constituents, mind, mental states, non-mental states, and the unconstituted). The second deals with the same topics as those discussed in the last two chapters of the third section of the *Jñānaprasthānasūtra*. The third explains the sense-organs and their spheres of action while the fourth defines several terms, such as *dhātu*, *āyatana*, *skandha*, *mahābhūmikas*² (cf. *Kośa*, II, 23, III, 32), etc. The fifth chapter analyses the *anuśayas* (dormant passions), while the sixth touches the *vijñeya*, *anumeya* and *anāsrava dharmas* (things to be known and inferred, and pure dharmas). The concluding chapter, the seventh, appears to be an index, containing all the technical terms with their meanings in short.