Studies in the Origins of Buddhism c8.41

c8.41

Finally, the description of ‘Āsavakhaya’ is suspect. The simile that follows illustrates the attainment of discrimination between a ‘pure’ principle and impurities really external to it. This resembles the picture of Sāṅkhya ‘Prasaṅkhyāna’. The actual description, on the other hand, only speaks of the knowledge of the Four Truths (which are repeated with the substitution of “Āsava” for ‘dukkha’) and of the consequent emancipation from the Āsavas. Of any discriminative insight in the sense indicated above there is no talk. It appears therefore that the repetitive section of the Four Truths has usurped the place of the original reference to the dawn of Paññā or Vijjā. That there was such a reference is also supported by the fact that DN. s. 8. subsumes the last ‘Sāmaññaphala’ in the Paññāsampadā. Suttas 3 and 4 subsume it under Vijjā and Paññā respectively. It., (Sutta) 99 also speaks of “Puna ca param—Bhikkhu āsavānaṃ Khayā anāsavaṃ cetovimuttiṃ paññāvimuttiṃ diṭṭhéva dhamme sayaṃ abhiññāya sacchikatvā upasampajja viharati* ayamassa tatiyā vijjā adhigatā hoti avijjā vihatā vijjā uppannā tamo vihato āloko uppanno….” At many other places also there is reference to the three vijjās, with the last sāmaññaphala as the third ‘vijjā’. Further the conception of ‘Āsava’ as threefold is not its earliest conception. Nor was avijjā at first regarded as