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

THE TWO NIRVANA THEORY IN THE EARLY CANON
theory, but is to be understood in its subjective sense, as in the context of
the four noble persons.
Although these two pieces of textual evidence are not quite enough to
support this view, there is one sEtra found in the Chinese Ekottara-Agama that
seems to support it. Traditionally, this sEtra was regarded as the Chinese
equivalent of the famous Itivuttaka passage 145 in the Pali canon. 146 It reads: 147
There are two nirvana elements. What are the two? They are nirvana
with a remainder of clinging and nirvana without a remainder of
clinging. How is it called nirvana with a remainder of clinging? A
monk, by destroying the five lower fetters, that is to say, one who
has attained nirvana in the intermediate state (antarAparinirvAyin), 148
does not return to that world [of desire]. That is why it is called
nirvana with a remainder of clinging. How is it called nirvana without
a remainder of clinging? A monk, by destroying impurity and
accomplishing purity, witnesses himself [in this very life] the liberation
through mind (cetovimukti), the liberation through wisdom
( prajñAvimukti) and himself delighted. He really knows ‘birth is
destroyed, the holy life is fulfilled, and there is no more birth [in this
world]’. That is why it is called nirvana without a remainder of
clinging.
The first answer designates a non-returner (anAgAmin) through the term
antarAparinirvAyin, one of its five sub-categories; the second answer denotes
a saint (arahant) through ‘the cry of jubilation’. Thus, the word upadhi in
this case should be taken to mean fetters or defilements, as regularly used in
the context of the four noble persons.
However, there are some philological problems with accepting this small
sEtra as a genuine one. First of all, we cannot find this sEtra in the Pali
AWguttaranikAya. It is well known that the Chinese Ekottara-Agama has a
different origin from the Pali tradition. Although the seven books of the
Chinese abhidharma are said to belong to the Sarvastivadin, we cannot say
that the same school is responsible for the four Chinese Agamas. They were
in fact collected and translated independently without mentioning which
sects they belong to. According to Bareau, the DCrgha-Agama would be of
the Dharmaguptaka school and the two versions of the SaNyukta-Agama
would be of the Kauyapcya school. 149 Although the Ekottara-Agama is said
to be translated from a manuscript belonging to the Mahasawghika tradition,
that is mere speculation. According to Lamotte, the Ekottara-Agama
was ‘translated between 397 and 398 by Gautama Sawghadeva, using
a recension established in North-West India or Serindia and containing
numerous MahAyAna additions’. 150
The Sarvastivadins seem to think that there was no complete explanation
of two nirvanas in the early canon (sEtras) apart from mentioning their names:
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