Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The ... - misterdanger.net

NIRVANA IN NORTHERN BUDDHIST SCHOOLS
their dharma theory, the existence of all dharmas in the three time periods
and their acceptance of the momentariness of conditioned dharmas. Their
equivalent of nirvana in this tradition was called extinction through knowledge
(pratisaNkhyAnirodha) and was explained as the perpetual separation
of an impure (sAsrava) dharma from a series of aggregates (skandhasaNtAna)
through the antidote called ‘acquisition of disjunction’ (visaNyogaprApti). 96
By contrast, the Sautrantika understanding of nirvana was closely related to
their ontological position. For them, nirvana is not a real existent (dravyasat)
but a mere designation (prajñaptisat), something spoken of conventionally,
and is ‘non-existence succeeding existence (paUcAdabhAva)’, like a sound that
is non-existent before and will be non-existent after its occurrence. 97 ‘Neither
an intrinsic nature (svabhAva) is perceived, like the form (rEpa), feeling and
the like, nor is an activity perceived, like that of the eye and the like.’ 98
Their definition of extinction through knowledge (pratisaNkhyAnirodha),
or nirvana, occurs in the second chapter of the AbhidharmakoUabhALya, as
follows: ‘The extinction through knowledge is, when latent defilements
(anuUaya) and life ( janman) that have already been produced are extinguished,
non-arising of further such by the power of knowledge (pratisaNkhyA).’ 99
Later, in Yauomitra’s SphuMArthA AbhidharmakoUavyAkhyA, the cessation
of latent defilements (anuUayanirodha) was glossed as nirvana with a
remainder of clinging (sopadhiUeLanirvAOadhAtu), while the cessation of life
( janmanirodha) was explained as nirvana without a remainder of clinging
(nirupadhiUeLanirvAOadhAtu). 100
If we apply this explanation of Yauomitra back to Vasubandhu’s definition,
nirvana with a remainder of clinging for the Sautrantikas could be,
when latent defilements (anuUaya) that have already been produced are
extinguished, the non-arising of further such by the power of knowledge;
whereas nirvana without a remainder of clinging could be, when life ( janman)
that has already been produced is extinguished, the non-arising of further
such by the power of knowledge. Two things in this analysis cannot be
ignored.
First, the Sautrantika’s use of the word nirvana seems to be quite different
from that of the Sarvastivada-Vaibhalikas. As we saw above, nirvana
for the Sarvastivada-Vaibhalikas was a single perpetual separation of an
impure (sAsrava) dharma from a series of aggregates through the antidote
called ‘acquisition of disjunction’ (visaNyogaprApti) and, as a consequence,
it could be used for every single perpetual separation. 101 By contrast, nirvana
for the Sautrantikas could be used only for the traditional two cases: nirvana
with a remainder of clinging (sopadhiUeLanirvAOadhAtu) and nirvana without
a remainder of clinging (nirupadhiUeLanirvAOadhAtu).
As seen in the definition above, nirvana was not described as a single
extinction of a latent defilement (anuUaya) but as non-arising of further latent
defilement when all latent defilements that have been produced have already
been extinguished. In this respect, the Sautrantikas seem to keep, like the
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