Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra
by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön | 2001 | 941,039 words
This page describes “general morality” as written by Nagarjuna in his Maha-prajnaparamita-sastra (lit. “the treatise on the great virtue of wisdom”) in the 2nd century. This book, written in five volumes, represents an encyclopedia on Buddhism as well as a commentary on the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita.
First part: general morality
Question: – [206] Knowing the various marvelous fruits (nānāvidhaguṇavipāka) of morality, what is its nature (lakṣaṇa)?
Answer. – The nature of morality is the cessation of sin, wrong-doing (pāpāśamatha) and its non-reappearance. The suppression of sins of body and speech (kāyavākpāpaśamitā), whether it be the making of a resolution (cittotpāda), a verbal promise (vāgukti) or a pledge before a third person (parataḥ samādanam), constitutes the nature of morality (śīlalakṣaṇa),