Chapter 5 - Conclusion

In the foregoing study, I have made an attempt to understand the important place occupied by the Dasabhumika-Sutra as a fundamental text dealing with the Bodhsiattva career (Bodhisattva-carya). However, what I have done is not the first attempt at this. There have been many attempts, prior to mine, the most significant of them being that by Johannes Rahder, whose work really drew the attention of scholars both in the East and West to West to study the Dasabhumika-Sutra critically and appraised its position as one of the highly esteemed Mahayana treatises grouped under the Navadharma. For my study, in fact, I used J. Rahder's edition and P.L. Vaidya's subsequent Nagari edition, the latter being primarily based on the former. My main objective was to present an annotated translation of the Dasabhumika-Sutra which has already been rendered in English. However, this translation appears to be somewhat less accurate when I examined deeply, for it contains number of misinterpretations. Though mine is not the pioneering attempt at at studying the Dasabhumika-Sutra, my approach, I would like to observe, is new, when

377 compared to the studies made before. Though I am quite aware and convinced that this is a major Mahayana treatise, I attempted to see its relation to the Theravada tradition which proceeded it. I did This purposely, for my initial studies on the text showed that to understand the Dasabhumika-Sutra properly it has to be placed in its proper context. This made me focus my attention on the historical development of ideas, embodied in the Dasabhumika-Sutra. My study revealed that there is an unbroken line of religious and philosophical thought flowing through Theravada and Mahayana. And it also brought to light that there had been a very conscious and deliberate attempt by the Mahayanist writers to break-away from Theravada and go beyond the parameters of Theravada, while acknowledging the Theravadic roots of the religious Path. Mahayanic treaties like the DasabhumikaSutra made a very concerted effort to extend the Path of liberation beyond that of the Sravakas, that is laid down in the Theravada tradition. The Dasabhumika-Sutra offers a wealth of evidence to understand this development and to trace the big leap of transition the Mahayanists effected from Theravada to Mahayana. In translating the text I tried my best to be as close as possible to the literal meaning, but without being completely tied down by it. For rendering a literal translation sometimes, I felt, obscures the meaning, and the whole objectives of the translation gets lost in the process. Therefore, without deviating from the text and the Mahayana tradition

378 which it tries to establish, I attempted to render into English the contents in a manner which brings out the path that a Bodhisattva has to tread in his spiritual journey to Buddhahood. To throw more light on the concepts and doctrines presented I profusely annotated notes on whatever concepts and doctrines, I considered as needing vivid annotation, comparison and explanation. I observed that the Dasabhumika-Sutra reflects a transitional stage from early sectarian Buddhism to Mahayana proper. To establish my point of view I cited evidences, -linguistic, literary, conceptual, and doctrinal, from the text itself. On the basis of such evidence, I attempted to locate the region to which the text belongs, and to tentatively fix the period in which it was composed. I found no evidence to name who the author or the compiler is. The parindanaparivarta, which appears to form the colophon of the text is not really so, for it provides no such information regarding the text. It is more or less an eulogy about the Dasabhumika-Sutra and hence, not of any evidential value to fix the date or name of the compiler of the text. From literal evidence, I tried to evaluate the Dasabhumika-Sutra both as a religious text and also as a literary treatise. In my critical evaluation I pin-pointed its distinguishing features as well as its shortcomings and attempted to make a critical appraisal of the compiler's ability as a religious writer and a poet.

379 With regard to the doctrinal contents, I I presented a well documented critique of the major concepts namely Bhumis and Paramitas. I also made a comparative study of the two paths put foreward by the Theravada and Mahayana traditions. In this, I presented a critique of the views expressed by many scholars who have worked on the Dasabhumika-Sutra as well as on the Bhumi concept in its relation to the Fourfold Theravada Scheme. I have pointed out the similarities and dissimilarities between the two Schemes, and also presented my views. regarding the expansion of the number of Bhumis as well as the increase of number of Paramitas. In this, I did not totally agree with the views expressed by scholars who did study this subject prior to me. My contention is that one of the main purpose of this Ten-Stages' Bodhisattva career programme and the extension of the Paramitas to ten is to show that the Mahayana Scheme is more expansive and higher than the Theravada Scheme and it certainly extends far beyond the orbit envisaged by the Sravaka Ideal. It was on this basis and to establish this point of view that the Bhumi doctrine as well as its corollary the Paramita doctrine was elaborated and systematized. In this systematization, I found that the Dasabhumika-Sutra played a very decisive role, for it became the most authoritative treatise on the subject and subsequently the Bhumis got fixed as ten in number. I have also endeavored to show the compiler's familiarity with not only the Theravada teachings but also Theravada religious texts where

380 those teachings teachings are enunciated. In my study, through providing annotations profusely, I attempted to bring into focus the value of studying the Dasabhumika-Sutra in its proper context. I hope I have been successful in driving home the point that studying the DasabhumikaSutra in isolation as a Mahayana treatise would not do justice to the work. The Dasabhumika-Sutra provides the bridge that links Theravada Scheme with the Mahayana Scheme and hence it deserves further study. If my study on the Dasabhumika-Sutra happens to be capable of inspiring a few more studies on the text and allied concepts, then I think I have fairly successfully accomplished my objectives.