मूलमध्यमककारिका (आचार्य नागार्जुन - चन्द्रकीर्ति प्रणीत प्रसन्नपदा व्याख्या सहित)

Page 316

expressions refer to four ārya-satyas or four Noble Truths. The Pāli equivalent
to it is ariya-sacca. The authoritaive Buddhist texts have enumerated four
different varieties of it, viz. suffering (duḥkha), cause or origin of suffering
(duḥkhasamudaya), annihilation of suffering (duḥkha-nirodha), way of
annihilation (mārga). The Arthaviniścaya-sūtra, 6, has laid down the four
noble truths in the following order: Tatra katamāni catvāry ārya-satyāni?
tad yathā-duḥkham āryasatyam. Duḥkhasamudayam āryasatyam.
Duḥkhanirodham āryasatyam. Duḥkhanirodhagāminī pratipadā āryasatyam...
etāni khalu bhikṣavaś catvāry āryasatyāni. The Dharmasaṁgraha, 21, also
has enumerated them in the way indicated below: Catvāry ārya-satyāni. Tad
yathā duḥkham samudayaḥ nirodhaḥ, mārgaś ce'ti.
P. 238, l. 10-(punar-) bhava, state of existence, birth.
P. 238, l. 10 - avidyā = ignorance: Candrakīrti has offered the following in-
terpretation of this term: Tatra avidyā ajñānam tamo yathābhūtārthapracchā-
dakam. It is by depending upon ignorance of previous birth that a person
performs meritorious, demeritorious and immobiling deeds which ultimately
leads to rebirth.
P. 238, l. 10-nivṛta, veiled, concealed.
P. 238, l. 11-pudgala:
P. 238, l. 11-abhisaṁskurute, produces (Candrakīrti); cf. abhisaṁskaroti:
This word frequently occurs with karman and citta in the Mahāyāna Buddhist
Texts. So its meaning varies with the variation of the context. When it is
employed with the former it signifies accumulates, performs, accomplishes and the
like. It is often syntactically related with its accusative which is permitted to
play the role of the cognate object. Similarly in the case of its connection with
the latter, it means concentrates: cf. also abhisaṁskāra.
P. 238, l. 13 - ānejya. This word has often times been used with saṁskāra,
Karman, dharma, and citta. It means immovable. Candrakīrti in his Prasanna-
padā (P. 143) has made this relevant observation: Karmāṇi kuśalākuśalāneñ-
jyāni. In the present context he has interpreted the term saṁskāra as synonym of
karman itself. Confer his observation.........abhisaṁskaroti utpādayati.........
punarbhavābhisaṁskārāt saṁskārāḥ......... tāṁstrividhān karmalakṣa-
ṇān saṁskārān.......................taiś ca saṁskārair abhisaṁskṛtaiḥ karmabhiḥ
karmasaṁjñitaiḥ .....................So it turns out that there are three
varieties of karman, viz. meritorious (kuśala), non-meritorious (a-kuśala) and
immovable (āneñjya). His interpretation of the word saṁskāra coincide with
that provided by the Śālistambasūtra (81.5) which runs as follows: abhisaṁs-
kārārthena saṁskārāḥ. The three varieties of Karman alluded to above also
bring about the three distinct states of existence viz. kāmāvacara, rūpāvacara and
arūpāvacara in order of their mention.
P. 238, saṁskāra, predisposition. It is the result of the performance of
meritorious and non-meritorious deeds and also is the latent trace of past
experience. It is the condition of a new state of existence. It is the second link
in the chain of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda). It takes its rise by
depending on ignorance (avidyā) and by itself is the cause of consciousness
(vijñāna). Candrakīrti has observed that saṁskāra means karman and as such

---

Page 317

the former is susceptible of a threefold classification, viz. Kuśala (meritorious),
a-kuśala, (non-meritorious) and immovable (ānejya). It is also liable to be
set forth in the following order: physical (kāyika), vocal (vācika) and mental
(mānasika). The transmigration of a creature is conditioned by these saṁskāras
produced by ignorance. cf. te ca trividhāḥ-kuśalā, akuśalā, ānejyāś ca yadi vā
kāyikā, vācikā, mānasāś ce'ti. tāṁ strividhān karmalakṣaṇān saṁskārān
avidyānivṛtaḥ pudgalaḥ karoti. Taiś ca saṁskārair abhisaṁskṛtaiḥ karmabhiḥ
karmasaṁjñitaiḥ tad dhetukāṁ gatiṁ gacchati (Prasannapadā, P. 238)
vijñāna, consciousness. It is the third link in dependent origination and
comes into being by depending on saṁskāra. It has been stated ad nauesum that
performance and the consequent accumulation of action brings about a state
of existance, thus facilitating the rebirth of a creature in it. There are accredited
varities of it which are liable to be classified under two distinct heads, viz.
blessed state of existence (sugati), and evil state of existence (durgati). The
former includes the state of existence pertaining to gods (deva) and man
(manuṣya). The latter relates to that of hell (nāraka), lower animals (tiryak),
departed spirits (preta) and demons (asura). It is worthy of remark that the
state of existence is conditioned by the nature of saṁskāra, which is either
blessed or evil as adverted to above. And it is into this state of existence that
consciousness which has action or accumulated predisposition of the previous
birth for its cause enters, that is to say, comes into being, as the seed of
transmigration. The cycle of birth and death recurs in an order that has no
beginning and the twelve links of dependent origination extends over the past,
present and future existence. And consequently in the process of rebirth of a
creature, this consciousness enters the womb of the mother. It is immediately
after its entrance, that name (nāma) and form (rūpa) come into existence in the
womb by depending upon it (consciousness). To be more precise, the
consciousness of the foetus is produced by the predisposion of the previous birth.
nāma-rūpa, name and form. It is the fourth link in the chain of dependent
origination. It is immediately after the entrance of consciousness in the foetus,
that name and form come into existence by depending upon it (consciousness).
It is consciousness which brings about the association with them. It stands to
reason that the different embryonic stages of the foetus which receive distinct
name and form presupposes the existence of consciousness. They are immediate
successor of it.
Candrakīrti has furnished the etymological meaning of these two terms. He
has observed: Tatra karmakleśāviddhaṁ ... ... nāmayatīti nāma, saṁjñāvaśena
vā artheṣu nāmayatīti nāma. Catvāro'rūpiṇaḥ skandhā nāme'ti vyapadiśyate.
rūpyata iti rūpam. bādhyata ity arthaḥ. Idaṁ ca rūpaṁ pūrvakam ca nāma,
ubhayam etad abhisaṁkṣipya nāmarūpam iti vyavasthāpyate (Prasannapadā,
P. 238).
P. 238, l. 21, āyatana: The meaning of this word varies with the varia-
tion of the context. It has been used in the sense of object, field, seat and the
like. In the present context it signifies (six) sense-organs. The Arthaviniś-
cayasūtra (P. 313) has observed: Nāmarūpapratyayaṁ ṣaḍ āyatanam iti. Ṣaḍ-
āyatanaṁ katamat? Cakṣurāyatanam, śrotrāyatanam, ghrāṇāyatanam, jihvā-