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

NIRVANA IN NORTHERN BUDDHIST SCHOOLS
When there is no more anuUaya remaining in a series of aggregates and no
more arising by the power of knowledge, it can be called nirvana with a
remainder of clinging. Vasubandhu explained the importance of acquiring
this special base in the AbhidharmakoUabhALya as follows: ‘It is said that
nirvana is attained through acquiring the basis (AUraya) which prevents
completely the arising of defilement (kleUa) and rebirth (punarbhava), by
acquiring an antidote (pratipakLa).’ 135
Nirvana without a remainder of clinging for the Sautrantikas was, as seen
above, non-arising of further life ( janman) by the power of knowledge when
life that has already been produced is extinguished. Life here seems to refer
to vitality (Ayu), which was explained by Vasubandhu as ‘momentum (Avedha)
at the time of placing homogeneous character of the group (nikAyasabhAga)
through an action in the three worlds’, 136 and was glossed in the SphuMArthA
AbhidharmakoUavyAkhyA as ‘saNskArA of that kind that have the aggregates,
such as form (rEpa), as their intrinsic nature’. 137
Since this momentum (Avedha) was likened later in the text to the power
given to the sprout by which the plant develops to maturity, 138 the continuation
of this momentum during life could also be understood by the
Sautrantikas as the state of being seed (bCjabhAva), which when manifested
finally at the moment of death will work as dissociated force. That is to say,
it will terminate a given life ( janman) from the action that projects existence
(AkLepakakarman) at the moment of conception.
Therefore, the Sautrantikas’ claim that nirvana is non-existence seems to
be connected to their own abhidharmic systematisation. As seen here, their
understanding of nirvana was closely connected to their theory of karmic
mechanism, which was based on the theory of seed (bCjabhAva) and the
special transformation of a series (saNtAnapariOAmaviUeLa).
Interpretation of Anuruddha’s verse
In Chapter 4, I briefly mentioned Anuruddha’s verse in the context of the
Theravada exegetical tradition. 139 Although they are not directly involved
in a debate on the interpretation of Anuruddha’s verse between Northern
Buddhist schools, their later exegetical position on nirvana – that it is cessation
consisting in non-arising and exists separately (pAMiyekka) from the
mere destruction of passion, hatred and delusion – seems to support the
Sarvastivada-Vaibhalika position. A similar approach to the view that nirvana
is mere extinction is found in the Pali SammohavinodanC of the Theravadins 140
and in the NyAyAnusAraUAstra of the Sarvastivada-Vaibhalikas. 141
The interpretation of Anuruddha’s verse, believed to have been uttered
when the Buddha was finally released at Kuuinagara, 142 became a kind of
battleground between the Sarvastivada-Vaibhalikas and the Sautrantika.
Vasubandhu used this stanza in a debate on the ontological issue of
nirvana against the Sarvastivada-Vaibhalikas in the second chapter of
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