The Conception of Buddhist Nirvana c19.1

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-