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A Manual of Buddhist Philosophy - William Montgomery Mcgovekn, 1923 - Complete Book

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English

sastras corresponds to the Kyoto edition of the Tripitaka. 38 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY 2. & ^ % A • Fa-chieh-an-li-t'u. Not in Nanjio or the Tripitaka, but consisting almost entirely of quotations from the Canonical works. The pagination (in notes) follows the edition in the School of Oriental Studies. Occasionally I have referred to and quoted from A ^ US |g |g j|f| Pa-tsung-kang-yao-chiang-i. As Sanskrit is the lingua franca of all Buddhist scholars, in most cases I have restored the Chinese terms to their original Sanskrit form. In certain cases this has been done with the aid of the Mahavyutpatti, quoted as M.Vy. This is a mediaeval and anonymous Sanskrit - Tibetan - Chinese technical dictionary. For the history of this work see the introduction to the Kyoto edition of the book itself. PART I 1. COSMIC SYNTHESIS METHODS OF COMPUTATION Numerical Expressions. The detailed examination of Buddhist cosmography must begin with a consideration of the most frequently employed numerical terms. Unfortunately there is very little uniformity in this matter, and each school seems to have its own numerical sequence. With most of these we need not be concerned, but it may be of advantage to cite two of the most common and important. In the first of these, taken from the Mahavyutpatti (p. 514), we find the following comparatively simple scheme : — 10 tens = 1 hundred (Sata). 10 hundreds = 1 thousand (Sahasra). 10 thousands = 1 ayuta. 10 ayutas = 1 laksa. 10 laksas — 1 niyuta. 10 niyutas = 1 koti. 10 kotis = 1 arbuda. 10 nyarbudas = 1 padma. 10 padmas = 1 kharva. 10 kharvas = 1 nikharva. 10 nikharvas = 1 mahapadma. 10 mahapadmas = 1 sanku. 10 sankus = 1 samudra. 10 samudras = 1 madhya. 10 madhyas = 1 atta. 10 attas = 1 parardha. The enumeration found in the Abhidharma Kosa (12-56) is as follows : — 10 ones make ten. 10 tens „ a hundred. 10 hundreds a thousand. 40 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY 10 thousands 10 prabhedas 10 laksas 10 atilaksas 10 kotis 10 madhyas 10 ayutas 10 mahayutas 10 nayutas 10 mahanayutas 10 prasutas 10 mahaprasutas 10 kamkaras 10 mahakamkaras 10 bimbaras 10 mahabimbaras 10 aksobhyas 10 mahaksobhyas 10 vivahas 10 mahavivahas 10 utsangas 10 mahotsangas 10 vahanas 10 mahavahanas 10 titibhas 10 mahatitibhas 10 hetus 10 mahahetus 10 karabhas 10 mahakarabhas 10 indras 10 mahendras 10 samaptas 10 mahasamaptas 10 gatis 10 mahagatis make a prabheda. „ a laksa. „ an atilaksa. „ a koti. „ a madhya. „ an ayuta. „ a mahajruta. „ a nayuta. „ a mahanaynta. „ a prasuta. „ a mahaprasuta. „ a kamkara. „ a mahakamkara. „ a bimbara. „ a mahabimbara. „ an aksobhya. „ a mahaksobhya. „ a vivaha. „ a mahavivaha. „ a utsanga. „ a mahotsanga. „ a vahana. „ a maha vahana. „ a titibha. „ a mahatitibha. „ a hetu. „ a mahahetu. „ a karabha. „ a mahakarablia. „ an indra. „ a mahendra. „ a samapta. „ a mahasamapta. „ a gati. „ a mahagati. „ a nimbaraja. COSMIC SYNTHESIS 41 10 nimbarajas make a mahanimbaraja. 10 mahanimbarajas „ a mudra. 10 mudras „ a mahamudra. 10 mahamudras „ a bala. 10 balas „ a mahabala. 10 mahabalas „ a samjna. 10 samjnas ,, a mahasamjna. 10 mahasamjnas „ a vibhuta. 10 vibhutas „ a maha vibhuta. 10 mahavibhutas „ a balaksa. 10 balaksas „ a mahabalaksa. 10 mahabalaksas „ an asamkhya. Incidentally, asamkhya means " countless ", and accordingly we find that this title is not strictly true, since its exact significance can thus be discovered. Among the many other well-known numerical sequences are those found in the Lalita Vistara, the Saddharma Pundarika, and the Avatamsaka,1 but the fact that such schemes were purely fanciful, and were never used for practical purposes, permits us to leave them unnoticed. The Computation of Size and Distance. The ultimate or smallest unit in the computation of size and distance was the paramanu or atom. For the calculation of size from this paramanu to the anguli (digit or Buddhist inch) we frequently find the following curious old table 2 : — 7 paramanus make 1 anu. 7 anus ,, 1 loharajas or metal dust with 49 paramanus. 7 loharajas ,, 1 abrajas or minute particle of water, with 343 paramanus. 1 Lai. Vist. (L. 's ed.), p. 149, agrees with Ch. Sad. Pun. Burnouf's trans, append, agrees with Ch. Avat. f. 48 of 60 f. ed. and f . 65 of 80 f. ed. (both Ch.). For Ceylon M.B. 6, K. i, 336. 2 A.K. 12-16 ; M.V. 136-16 : for South K. i, 335. M.Vy. 520. 42 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY 7 abrajas 7 avirajas gorajas 7 vatayanacchi- drarajas make 1 sasarajas or hare or rabbit dust, or minute portion of rabbit's dung, with 2,401 paramanus. ,, 1 avirajas or sheep dust, etc., with 16,807 paramanus. ,, 1 gorajas or cow or ox dust, etc., with 117,649 paramanus. „ a vatayanacchidrarajas or the mote in a sunbeam (entering by a hole in the window), with 823,543 paramanus. 7 liksa 7 yuka 7 yava 1 liksa or nit with 5,764,801 paramanus. 1 yuka or louse with 40,353,607 paramanus. 1 yava or barley grain, with 282,175,249 paramanus. 1 anguli or digit, with 1,975,226,743. A digit is about f in. Up to this point the units are largely of theoretical interest. The larger figures, used in everyday life, are enumerated in the Abhidharma Kosa 1 as follows : — 3 anguli-parva or = 1 anguli or digit. = 1 hasta, fore-arm, or cubit. = 1 dhanu or bow, a fathom or 6 feet. = 1 krosa, 500 fathoms or 3,000 feet. = 1 yojana, the Buddhist mile. This, though the orthodox computation, was by no means universal. More particularly the yojana, like the Chinese li, had a very fluctuating value. Sometimes it is spoken of as equivalent to 4,650 feet, others give 4J or 5 miles, the nearest to the Abhidharma Kosa figure ; other authorities give 6J, finger- joints 24 anguli 4 hasta 5,000 dhanus 8 krosas 12-2a. COSMIC SYNTHESIS 43 7, 7J, 7f , 9, 12J, 16 miles. The use of the term by the Chinese pilgrims was inconsistent and contradictory. The Smaller Periods of Time. Discrepancies concerning the computation of time also occur, but are less frequent. The ksana is always the smallest unit. Some say that it is the 90th part of the duration of a thought, or the 4,500th part of a minute, while the Mahavibhasa states that 6,499,099,980 such ksanas comprise one day. The Abhidharma Kosa 1 gives us the following list : — 120 ksanas make a tatksana. 60 tatksanas ,, a lava. 30 lavas ,, a muhurta (48 Euro, minutes). 5 muhurtas ,, a kala (Bud. hour). 6 kalas „ a day (of 24 Euro, hours). These kalas were grouped as follows 2 : (1) Trisandhya or three day watches, forenoon or purvahna, noon or Madhyahna, and afternoon or Aparahna. (2) Three night watches, first watch Prathama-yama, midnight watch or Madhyama-yama, and the last watch or Pascima-yama. Incidentally, Hsiian Tsang 3 adds that though this is the official Buddhist calculation, many Buddhists in India adopted an eight-period instead of a six-period day, four periods in the daytime and four in the night. The Months and Seasons.* Thirty Vasantas or days and nights make one Masa or month, this being subdivided into two paksa or half months : (a) Sukla paksa, the white period, when the moon is waxing ; 1 12-2a. See also Loka-prajnapti, 5-5ot, for full account. 2 M.Vy. 522 ff. 3 Watters, " On Yuan Chuang," section on Indian time. * For all such calculations M.Vy. 522, for Ceylon M.B. 23. For the North account of seasons see particularly appendix to I-ching's travels, Takakusu's translation. 44 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY and (6) Krsna paksa, or dark period, when the moon is waning. There are, further, twelve Varsa or months in a year, viz. : — 1. Caitra. 7. Asvina. 2. Vaisakha. 8. Karttika. 3. .Tyaistha. 9. Margasirsa. 4. Asadha. 10. Pausa. 5. Sravana. 11. Magha. 6. Bhadrapada. 12. Phalguna. We find that there were several ways of classifying the months into seasons. There was, in fact, a two-fold, a three fold, a four-fold, a five-fold, and a six-fold classification. 1. The Two-fold Classification. — This consists of the Ayanas or marches, so called because during the one the sun gradually moved to the north, and during the other it gradually moved to the south. This division will be given more detailed consideration when dealing hereafter with Buddhist astronomy.

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