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Many Buddhist ideas are derived from, or at least shared with other systems of thought, but the doctrine of dharma has no exact parallel with any other conception, so that it is most curious that no one has as yet dealt with the curious philosophic position which the doctrine involves. Classification of the Dharmas. Having thus examined the meaning of the word dharma, let us now turn to the enumeration of the dharmas themselves. First as regards their grouping. In the Abhidhammattha - sangaha,1 representing the Sthaviravadin tradition, we find the following arrangement : — • 1 C.P., p. 81. COSMIC ANALYSIS 107 1. Citta, or mind, consciousness. 2. Caitasikas, or mental, properties. 3. Rupa, or matter. 4. Nirvana, or the highest reality, sometimes denned as Asamskrta. The Sarvastivadin classification (A.K. 4-la) is l: — 1. Rupa, or matter. 2. Citta, or mind. 3. Caitasikas, or mental properties. 4. Citta- viprayukta, or miscellaneous factors. 5. Asamskrta, or unconditioned factors, one of which is Nirvana. The Yogacarin2 classification is : — 1. Citta, or mind. 2. Caitasikas, or mental properties. 3. Rupa, or matter. 4. Citta-viprayukta, or miscellaneous factors. 5. Asamskrta, or unconditioned factors. All three schools agree in calling those dharmas which are not definitely Asamskrta, Samskrta, so that in reality there are but two great categories : (1) The Asamskrta or Eternal, unconditioned elements of existence which do not enter into combination ; and (2) Samskrta, conditioned and impermanent elements which enter into combinations to form the phenomenal world around us. This second group, as we have seen, the Sthaviravadins divide into but three categories, while both the Sarvastivadins and the Yogacarins postulate four. This fourth category, Citta-viprayukta, means, literally, not connected with mind, but it is also defined as being equally disassociated with matter or rupa. This category consists of certain dharmas which are somewhat incongruously placed under rupa by the Southern Buddhists, 1 Also Pr. Pad., f. 1-la. 2 A.V.P. 1-la, also Sat. D. la. 108 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY together with, certain dharmas which are not found in the Southern list at all. Although there is some disagreement as to the exact number of dharmas included under each category, all the schools agree that rupa dharmas consist of the component units of the Rupa skandha ; Citta dharmas of the component parts of the Vijnana skandha ; while the Caitasikas consist of the Vedana and Samjna skandhas, together with the component parts of the Samskara skandha. According to the Sarvastivadins and Yogacarins, the Citta- viprayukta dharmas are also included in the Samskara skandha. There is also comparative unity of opinion concerning the relationship between the dharmas on the one hand and the dhatus and ayatanas on the other. The five sensuous sense organs and sense objects belong to the Rupa dharmas. The five sensuous forms of consciousness belong to the Citta dharmas. To this category also belongs the sixth or Mano- vijnana, and Mano-dhatu, while the remaining dhatu or ayatana, the object of mentation, includes all the other dharmas. The accompanying chart will serve to make clear the relationship supposed by all the schools to exist between the skandhas, the ayatanas, the dhatus, and the dharmas. In the earlier stages of all three schools there seems to be a good deal of deviation and inconsistency in the enumeration of the dharmas. In this period no exact numerical definition seems to have been given, but in the later stages of each school an attempt was made to fix artificially the number of each group as well as the total number of dharmas.1 Thus in the Sthaviravadin school, Rupa consists of twenty- seven or twenty-eight, Citta of eighty-nine, Caitasikas of fifty-two dharmas, while Nirvana consists of an additional dharma, but no especial mention seems to be made of the total number of dharmas taken as a whole. 1 For author, see list above. COSMIC ANALYSIS 109 Among the Sarvastivadins subsequent to the Abhidharma Kosa, the total number of dharmas was fixed at seventy-five, three being allotted to the Asamskrta dharmas, eleven to Rupa, one to Citta, forty-six to Caitasika, and fourteen to Citta- viprayukta . Among the Yogacarins subsequent to the Vijnana-matra Siddhi, the total number of dharmas was fixed at a hundred, six being allotted to Asamskrta, eleven to Rupa, eight to Citta, fifty-one to Caitasika, and twenty-four to Citta- viprayukta. This gives us the following comparative tables : — Category. Sthavir. Sarvdst. Yogdc. Asamskrta ..13 6 Rupa ' ... 28 11 11 Citta ... 89 1 8 Caitasika 52 46 51 C.-viprayukta . 14 24 Total . 170 75 100 1. The Asamskrta Dharmas All forms of Buddhism agree in dividing the dharmas into those which are Asamskrta and those which are Samskrta. Samskrta comes from the root Sam = with ; and krta, done or performed. Accordingly, the word is literally the same as the Latin confectus. The Pali commentaries take samskrta to mean conditioned, implying that the Samskrta dharmas are caused, conditioned, mundane, temporal, impermanent, non-eternal, active, and associated with the Asravas or taints. As opposed to these are the Asamskrta dharmas, which are not subject to cause, condition, or dependence, and are therefore transcendental, out of time, unchanging, eternal, inactive, and free from the Asravas. Mrs. Rhys Davids, in an appendix to her translation of the Dharma Sangani, has collected a list of adjectives applied to the Asamskrta dharmas. These may be studied with advantage. 110 MANUAL OF BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY 1. The Sthaviravadins,1 however, know of but one Asamskrta dharma, Nirvana. Nirvana is to be gained by the annihilation of the roots which lead to rebirth, and may, therefore, be called the cessation of phenomenal life, though a person who attains to Nirvana continues in bodily existence until his span of life is exhausted, after which the phenomenal dharmas which compose his personality disintegrate, having no further creative force to keep them together. Nirvana, then, is of two kinds : (1) Nirvana with a subsidium, or Nirvana associated with a still existing personality ; and (2) Nirvana without a subsidium, or the state of Nirvana after the phenomenal personality has disintegrated. The fact that Nirvana is called a dharma shows that it was considered a positive concept and not a mere negation of life. 2. The Sarvastivadins enumerate three Asamskrta dharmas. These are : (1) Akasa, (2) Pratisamkhya Nirodha, and (3) Apratisamkhya Nirodha. (a) Akasa corresponds to what in the West is called either space or ether. Vasubandhu says (A.K. 1-36) it has for its characteristic non-impeding, and since it offers no obstacle, matter (rupa) freely functions therein. The fact that Akasa is always considered a substance and an eternal and unchanging unity shows that Akasa is not merely empty space, or lack of matter, but a positive entity having many attributes common to the old idea of ether. An important point to notice in this connexion is that the Sthaviravadins give Akasa among their list of derived material dharmas produced by the four Mahabhutas, while with the Sarvastivadins it is elevated to the rank of an Asamskrta dharma. In point of fact, however, the Sarvastivadins seem to distinguish between two kinds of Akasa, the first the eternal and omnipresent ether, the other to empty space, with which is frequently associated the sky. The first is translated by the Chinese as j£ Q (hsii k'ung), 1 See C.P., p. 168. COSMIC ANALYSIS 111 and the second by !§ (k'ung) alone. The second concept agrees more or less with the Sthaviravadin conception of Akasa. Thus the Mahavibhasa (75-96) : " Hsii-k'ung is not rupa, while k'ung is rupa (i.e. lack of rupa, or interstices between rupa). Hsii-k'ung is invisible, k'ung is visible. Hsii-k'ung is Anasrava, k'ung is sasrava. Hsii-k'ung is asamskrta, while k'ung is samskrta." In each case the definition of k'ung corresponds to the Sthaviravadin Akasa. In another passage Vasubandhu (A.K. 1-216) brings out the strong difference between the Asamskrta Akasa and the Akasa, which is merely empty space. " K'ung is an interstice (or hole) . . . The apertures in a gate (as regards inanimate objects) or in the mouth or nose (as regards animate objects) are called k'ung.