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The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana c19: XIII This Doctrine Modified in Mahāyāna

The Conception of Buddhist Nirvāṇa c19

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XIII This Doctrine Modified in Mahāyāna

c19.1

Now, the Mādhyamika system started with an entirely different conception of reality Real was what possessed a reality of its own (sva-bhāva), what was not produced by causes (akıtaka = asamskıta), what was not dependent upon anything else (paratra nirapeksa)¹ In Hinayāna, the elements, although inter-dependent (samskṛta = pratītyasamutpanna), were real (vastu) In Mahāyāna all elements *because interdependent* were unreal (śūnya = svabhāva-śūnya)² In Hinayāna every whole (rāśi = avayavin) is regarded as a nominal existence (prajñāpatisat) and only the parts or ultimate elements (dharma) are real (vastu) 'n Mahāyāna all parts or elements are unreal (śūnya), and only the whole, i e. the whole of the wholes (dharmatā = dharma-kāya), is real. The definition of reality (tattva) in Mahāyāna is the folowing one—"uncognisable from without, quescent, undifferentiated in words, unrealisable in concepts, non-plural—this is the essence of reality".³ A dependent existence is no real existence, just as brorrowed money is no real wealth⁴ The theory that all real existence can last only for a moment, since two mo-

c19.2

¹ Madhy Kar XV In the sequel, the references with Roman figures will refer to chapter and kārikā of Nāgārjuna s Mādhyamika Śāstra, and the references in Arabic figures to Candrakīrti's comment B B IV

c19.3

² It is clear that wehave here that conception of a substance independently existing which is well known to the students of European philosophy, op Spinoza's definition of substance as quod in se est et per se concipitur" This conception resulted either in establishing the theory of a harmonia generaliter stablits in order to explain the interdependence of the monads, or to the view that there is only one unique substance The latter view is taken in Mahāyāna, the former in Hinayāna, where the harmony between monads is established by karma as a special force (samskāra), the force κατ'εοχην, the πρῶτονκινοῦν

c19.4

³ Ibid XVIII 9

c19.5

⁴ Ibid p 263 3 Kālika-āyācitakam

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