3.1. The Vaibhāṣika and the Sautrāntika School (Introduction)

Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools belong to Theravāda are the two main systems of Sarvāstivāda philosophy. Vasubandhu was a great author and wrote commentary of the Vaibhāṣika School. He was the author of Abhidharmakośakārika which is the main work of Vibhāsā School. The work was mainly composed from the point of Kashmir.

In Purusapur, the fourth Buddhist council was conducted. In the council the great commentaries or the vibhāsas were composed and discussed to settle the other schools.

“The title “Abhidharma” is significant, kośa indicates a “holder or a case” which contains something carefully placed in it. The kośa apparently contains the valuable writings and essential points of Abhidharma.”^[1]

Abhidharma is an amplification of the sūtras.

Abhidharma is the psychological and philosophical literature of Buddhist tenets.

“There are altogether 594 ½ slokas or the kārikas arranged in eight chapters, each of which deals with a particular topic.”^[2]

In broader sense, Abhidharma elucidates the śāstras from philosophical stand point. In narrow sense, Abhidharma comprises of Metaphysics, Ethics, Biology, Physics, Cosmology, Psychology, and Practical Religion. All these subjects are concentrated on the practical goal of a person attaining liberation with the help of practical ethics and introspection.

As per the record of Hsuen Tsang, Vasubandhu was born in Peshawar and belonged to a Brahmin family. They were three brothers, and Vasubandhu was the second. He is the author of famous text “Abhidharmakośa” in his early life. In Kashmir he studied Sarvāstivāda School and wrote this work. Asaṅga was his elder brother who was a pupil of Maitreyanātha. Maitreyanātha was a famous scholar of Mahāyāna school.

About Vasubandhu it is said that he and Asaṅga were follower of Theravāda School but later on, he converted his believe in Mahāyāna school on the request of his elder brother Asaṅga.

“Abhidharmakośa, a masterly work by Vasubandhu, was written as a synthetic compilation of the different Abhidharma texts of Kashmir Vibhāsā School of Sarvāstivāda. It seems to have had a wide popularity in India and outside. Even today this kośa text remains indispensable for adopt in some parts of China and Japan.”^[3]

It is generally believed that he wrote thirty six text and mostly texts are written from the view Point of Yogācāra School.

Saṃghabhadra was the famous teacher of Vaibhāṣika School and a contemporary of Vasubandhu. Saṃghabhadra, the author of Nyāyānusāra, criticizes Vasubandhu for misunderstanding the Vibhāsā’s views. It is because Vasubandhu’s inclining towards the Sautrāntika School. In Sphuṭārthābhidharmakośavyakhyā, Yaśomitra often refers Saṃghabhadra’s criticism of Vasubandhu work.

It is quite possible that Yaśomitra talks about the one and the same Vasubandhu and not to two different Vasubandhu when he stated Vrddhacarya Vasubandhu and Sthavira Vasubandhu in the vyakhyā.

“The Sautrāntika, the second of the four Buddhist philosophical schools, were dissenters from the Vaibhāṣika whom they opposed on the principal doctrine of the Sarvāstivādins viz, everything exists, the implication being that all elements exist. The emphasis, which is put on the reality of elements, refers to the conception that their past and as well as their future transition represents something real. From this fundamental tenet the school derives its names.”^[4]

According to Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika School, the world is composed of the elements of mind and the elements of matter. It is existed by the co-operation of different elements.

“The elements are realities, all compound things are mere names denoting groups of separate elements. Every element is a separate entity. There is no inherence of one element in another.”^[5]

There is a separate power or force in each element. Thus, all elements have independent existence. The Vaibhāṣika and the Sautrāntika believe that mind and matters exist independently. They are called the natural dualists.

“There is a difference in the way things hang together in thought and the way in which they hang together in nature.”^[6]

According to Sarvāstivādins, everything exists. Both matter and mind have independent existence. Mind comprises of elements and matter also comprises of elements. Thus, mind and matter both are real and have independent existence. There is a force when the activities of mind and material elements co-operate with one another.

Hence, the world is composed of elements and it has real independent existence.

“All things mental and physical are produced by the co-operation of plurality of subtle, ultimate, indivisible, and un-analyzable elements of matter, mind and forces.”^[7]

Hence, the world is a process where the combination of elements of matter, mind and their forces exist.

The Vaibhāṣika and the Sautrāntika admit the existence of dual reality of the world. Mind and matter have independent existence. Mind does not rely for its existence on matter and vice versa. The material world is not creation of our mind and the mental world is not the reflection of material objects. Therefore, all our mental faculties do not rely on the matter for their existence.

The existence of matter does not rely on our mind for its existence.

“Our knowledge or awareness of things not mental is no creation, but only discovery. Things are given to us.”^[8]

The essential quality of all elements is that they are momentary. They do not change but vanish. Elements being momentary in nature, their manifestations are momentary too.

In world each and everything is transitory; therefore, the world is not permanent.

“All component things are impermanent, unstable, and disintegrating. They are without substance and temporary. Form is impermanent, qualities are impermanent, the eye is impermanent and cognition is impermanent. All conscious and unconscious components are impermanent. They come together, take individual forms, and break up. All components and composite things are impermanent. Animals, gods, men, plants and inorganic things are all impermanent.”^[9]

In Sarvāstivāda School, all these elements are known as “Dharma”. In Sanskrit, the word “dharma” denotes law, rule, religion, world, faith, worldly things, state etc. The Sarvāstivādins state that Dharma can be regarded either in their actual being as phenomena or in their ideal being as noumena. They maintain that Dharma exists in past, present and future. It is the meeting point of the past, the future phases of time and it exists in present. For Theravādins, Dharma is only momentary. The Vaibhāṣika and the Sautrāntika understand the term Dharma in a different sense. The world is composed of the aggregation and separation of all Dharmas. The ultimate principles of all mental states and material world are the Dharmas. Each and every Dharma is a different reality and it has different power of force.

The Vaibhāṣika School admits seventy five dharmas (the ultimate momentary elements of existence) while the Sautrāntika admits forty three and believes that the remaining are the result of mental construction.

Sthaviravāda accepts one hundred and thirty and Yogācāra accepted hundred such elements.

“The world process is a process of combinations of seventy two kinds of subtle momentary elements. Dharmas proceed from their causes (hetupraphava) and advance towards extinction–(nirodha). They produce the phenomenal world under the influence of enlightenment (prajñā).”^[10]

Out of these seventy five dharmas, eleven are material compounds. Mind is one compound. Fourteen are non-mental compounds. Forty six are mental compounds and three uncompounded dharmas.^[11]

The uncompounded dharmas are:

“(1) Ākāśa or infinite space (2) Pratisaṃkhyā Nirodha or temporary cessation of becoming by knowledge which destroys impurities by one and (3) Apratisaṃkhyā Nirodha cessation of becoming by means other than knowledge and not reached through elaborate ethical and esoteric activities.”^[12]

The uncompounded dharmas are known as pure dharmas and other seventy-two compounded dharmas are called impure dharmas.

All dharmas have four salient characteristics:

(i) Dharmas are not substance. This is applied to all the seventy five dharmas including external and internal.

(ii) Dharmas have no duration. This is applied to the seventy-two impermanent elements of phenomenal existence. “Elements are momentary. They have no durations and they exist in the present moment. The elements co-operate with one another (saṃskṛta), their co-operative activity is controlled by the law of causation.”^[13]

(iii) Dharmas are unrest. This is applied to one part of the later classes, which is corresponding to the ordinary people.

(iv) Their unrest has its end in final deliverance. It has been seen that there is no permanent being in matter or mind. There is no duration for elements and therefore the world is not permanent.

“An element is non-substantial. It is evanescent it is in a beginningless state of commotion and its final suppression is only calm.”^[14]

Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika believe in the concept of pañcaskandha of Early Buddhism and on the basis of it they developed their philosophy. Therefore, all elements are classified into five numbers.

They are:—

(i) The first is Rūpaskandha, which is the aggregate of form. The rūpaskandha comprised of some essential parts that is, the body, the senses, sense-data etc.

(ii) The second is Vedanāskandha, which is the aggregate of feeling. The vedanāskandha comprised of some emotions and feelings like pleasure, pain and indifferent.

(iii) The third is Saṃjñāskandha, which is the aggregate of perception. This saṃjñāskandha comprised of verbal knowledge.

(iv) The fourth is Saṃskāraskandha, which is the aggregate of mental disposition. This comprised of synthetic mental states and synthetic functioning of combination of sense-affections, combination of emotions and combination of concepts.

(v) Lastly, Vijñānaskandha which is the aggregate of consciousness.

For Vaibhāṣikas, only these five skandhas are real, the mind, or the ego or the soul is unreal.

Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika classify all dharmas into two kinds of faculties-(i) cognitive faculties and (ii) objective of cognitive faculties. “There are six cognitive āyatans or “bases” of cognition.”^[15]

The twelve āyatans are-

(a) Six internal bases or respective faculties (indriya)

1. Sense of vision (cakṣur-indriya-āyatana);
2. Sense of audition (śrotr-indriya-āyatana);
3. Sense of smelling (ghrāṇa-indriya-āyatana);
4. Sense of taste (jihva-indriya-āyatana);
5. Sense of touch (kāya-indriya-āyatana);
6. Faculty of the intellect or consciousness (mano-indriya-āyatana).

(b) Six external bases or objects

1. Colour and shape (rūpa-āyatana);
2. Sound (śabda-āyatana);
3. Odour (gandha-āyatana);
4. Taste (rasa-āyatana);
5. Tangibles (sparṣṭavya-āyatana);
6. Non-sensuous objects (dharma-āyatana).

These twelve dharmas are called twelve āyatanas or basis of cognitions. In this classification the first eleven items correspond to eleven elements (dharma) each including one.

The twelfth item contains all the remaining sixty-four elements. Therefore, they are called dharma-āyatana or simply dharmas.

“The term āyatana means “entrance”. It is an “entrance” for consciousness and mental phenomena.”^[16]

In technical sense, these twelve āyatana are also known as Dharmas, because these twelve āyatanas are ultimate principles of the world (including material and mental).

“When the principle everything exists” is set forth it has the meaning that nothing but the twelve bases of cognition are existent. An object which cannot be viewed as a separate object of cognition or a separate faculty of cognition is unreal. Being a congeries of separate elements it is declared to be a name and not a reality not a dharma.”^[17]

Thus, all objects of the world arise and exist by the compound of twelve dharmas. Therefore, the meaning of everything exist is twelve āyatanas exist. When his followers asked Buddha, “what is meant by the words everything exists? Buddha answered, that everything exist means that the twelve āyatanas exist.”^[18] All things are unchangeably fixed.

In twelve āyatanas, there are subjective dharmas as well as objective dharmas. Subjective dharmas are from first to sixth and objective dharmas are from seventh to twelve. The first six dharmas are the subjects of the rest six objects and the last six dharmas are the objects of first subjective elements.

According to Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika, the world is analysed with the existence of eighteen kinds of Dhatus.

The unit of different elements produces the stream and the compounds of such streams of different elements are called dhatu.

“Buddhist philosophy is an analysis of separate elements or forces, which unite in the productions of one stream of events. The un-philosophic, mind of common people supposes this stream to represent a personality or an individual. Viewed as components of such a stream of the elements are called dhatus.”^[19]

The Eighteen dhatus are composed of six types of faculties, six types of objects of the six faculties and six types of consciousness. Consciousness arises in support of the cognitive faculties and their objects. Thus, there arise six types of different consciousness.

These six consciousnesses are—

1. Visual consciousness;
2. Auditory consciousness;
3. Olfactory consciousness;
4. Gustatory consciousness;
5. Tactile consciousness;
6. Non-sensuous consciousness.

All these kinds of consciousness have existence only in the ordinary plane of existence.

“In higher worlds sense-consciousness gradually disappears in the immaterial worlds, only non-sensuous consciousness is left.”^[20]

A division of consciousness into various types (dhatu 15-18) is made essential for the composition of formulas of elements corresponding to the denizens of various worlds. Thus, all objects of the world arise in the composition of the momentary mental and material elements.

It can be said that the varieties of the world (i.e. material or immaterial) are the creation of consciousness in order to uphold the mental and material elements. The processes of the world are composition of elements; their consciousness and stream of compounds and their status is impermanent. All separate elements are transitory.

Elements appear only for a moment.

“They disappear as soon as they appear in order to be followed the next moment by another momentary existence.”^[21]

Elements come and go. They do not change but only vanish.

“Disappearance is the very essence of existence, what does not disappear does not exist.”^[22]

Thus, the world is composed of material and mental elements. Elements being momentary in nature, thus the world is impermanent. The world is only a stream of consciousness, which arises in order to support mental and material elements.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

A. Haldar, Abhidharmakośa of Vasubandhu, pp.14-15.

[2]:

Ibid., p.14.

[3]:

Ibid.

[4]:

J.N. Sinha, Critique of Indian Realism, p.53.

[5]:

J.N. Sinha, Indian Philosophy, vol.II, p.350.

[6]:

S. Radhakrishnan, Indian Philosophy, vol.I, p.614.

[7]:

J.N. Sinha, op.cit, p.350.

[8]:

S. Radharishnan, op.cit, p.614.

[9]:

J.N. Sinha, op.cit, p.83.

[10]:

J.N. Sinha, op.cit, p.350

[11]:

N. Dutt, Buddhist Sects in India, pp.152-153.

[12]:

A. Halder, op.cit, p.25.

[13]:

J.N. Sinha, op.cit, p.350.

[14]:

Th. Stcherbatsky, Central Conception of Buddhism, p.21.

[15]:

Ibid., p.6.

[16]:

Ibid., p.7.

[17]:

Ibid.

[18]:

Ibid., 4

[19]:

Ibid., p.8

[20]:

Ibid., p.9

[21]:

Ibid., p.31

[22]:

Ibid., p.32