Vasubandhu is one of the most prominent figures in the development of mahayana buddhism in india. The fact is that for vasubandhu, there are three aspects of reality the constructed pariklapita, the otherdependent paratantra and the fulfilled. Open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. In turn the yogacara school influenced later mahayana traditions in india, china and tibet. Born in purusapura in presentday pakistan, vasubandhu was the half brother of asanga, another key personage in the founding of the yogacara. Seven works of vasubandhu, the buddhist psychological doctor. Author of seven works of vasubandhu, the buddhist psychological doctor, shastra on the door to understanding the hundred dharmas, and vasubandhus treatise on the bodhisattva vow. Vasubandhu author of seven works of vasubandhu, the buddhist. Vasubandhu fifth or fourth century ce was an eminent indian buddhist teacher.
Garfield doris silbert professor in the humanities and. Ad the second of three sons, born in purusapura peshwar, india, into the kausika family of indian brahmins. Alobhaadi trayam viryam prasabdhih sa apramadika ahimsa kusalah klesa ragapratighamudhayah. Now readers can collect this drama as pdf file from the post. See skilling 2000 and sources noted therein on the problem of authorship. Vasubandhu was a philosopher who wrote on the abhidharma from the perspectives of the sarvastivada and sautrantika schools. He and asanga are members of the six ornaments or six great commentators on the buddhas teachings. Vasubandhu one of the most famous mahayana buddhist philosophers wrote works on a vast variety of subjects. Mainly involves sutra commentary and arrangement of sutra quotations according to a set of categories texts. Vasubandhu replies to the first two realist objections by noting that objects also seem to have spatial and temporal qualities in dreams, although nothing external is present.
On 19th january 2015 at the buddha festival held at the deeksha bhoomi, nagpur, maharashtra, india, subhuti gave this fascinating public lecture exploring the lessons to be learnt from the lives of the great buddhist heroes acharya asanga and vasubandhu. Phil 520 under the supervision of venerable professor bhikkhu kuala lumpur dhammajoti a dissertation submitted to the postgraduate institute of pali and buddhist studies, university of kelaniya. Vasubandhu notes stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. The twenty verses and their commentary, in seven works of vasubandhu, trans. Many important points were skipped or glossed over, including the detailed disputations on controversial points of the. Born in purusapura in presentday pakistan, vasubandhu was the half brother of asanga, another key personage in the founding of the yogacara philosophy. Vasubandhus treatise on the three natures by jay l. Jpn seshin or tenjin a buddhist scholar in india thought to have lived around the fourth or fifth century. Vasubandhus father was a court priest, and according to taranatha was an authority on the vedas. Save abhidharmakosabhasyam,vol 3,vasubandhu,poussin,pruden,1991 pdf search engine for later. Three broad phases in the development of abhidharma literature. Having heard the contents of these, vasubandhu said. He was also, as well as his elder half brother asanga, one of the six ornaments 2 i.
Asanga, vasubandhu and hsuantsang by thomas tam, ph. Vasubandhu also had a younger brother called virincivatsa. In this talk kulaprabha introduces us to a work of his dealing with the conditions necessary for the arising of the bodhicitta here translated as bodhi resolve. However, this reality is not devoid of some objective aspects, as demonstrated in the model of causeandeffect consciousness. He was a renowned teacher in the sarvastivadin school of buddhism but later converted to mahayana buddhism under the influence of his brother asanga. Seven works of vasubandhu, the buddhist psychological. Sanskrit buddhist texts over the years we have tried to collect a copy of every printed sanskrit buddhist text, primarily for the purpose of annotating the book of dzyan. Here we present our english translation of mairreyanathas universal vehicle discourse literature, as transmitted to and presenred by aryasanga in the fourth cenrury ce, along with its verbal commenrary mahayanasiitralarnkarabhafya msabh by asanga s brother vasubandhu. Vasubandhus dating is contested, though the present author feels that scholars such as anacker 1998 and deleanu 2006 have provided convincing resolutions to the most difficult problems see gold 2015. Input by jens braarvig, oslo 2011 for the actual input cf. Asanga was very much inspired by the qualities of maitreya buddha. The background of this drama is torture and persecution of the british rulers on indian farmers for blue cultivation. Vasubandhu s dating is contested, though the present author feels that scholars such as anacker 1998 and deleanu 2006 have provided convincing resolutions to the most difficult problems see gold 2015. Author of seven works of vasubandhu, the buddhist psychological doctor, shastra on the door to understanding the hundred dharmas, and vasubandhu s treatise on the bodhisattva vow.
His older brother was known as asanga and his younger brother as virincivatsa. This collection of translations includes the vadavidhi a work on logic the pancaskandhakaprakarana which deals with the aggregates making up personality, the karmasiddhi prakarana, which in explaining psychic continuity, also attacks many features of. Asangas father being a kshatriya, and vasubandhus a brahmana. Born a brahmin 1 vasubandhu was said to have been the half brother of asanga, another key personage in the founding of the yogacara school. Biography literature and the ancient world, critical edition print print.
The buddhist philosopher vasubandhu 4 th to 5 th century c. The inner science of buddhist practice is a most valuable addition to the growing body of translations and commentaries on indian buddhist texts that are bound to be of great value to scholars and practitioners alike. Dec 11, 2009 open library is an initiative of the internet archive, a 501c3 nonprofit, building a digital library of internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Asanga spent five years in the monastery learning thousands of verses of dharma and understanding them. There was always the intention of making these texts more widely available. Nil darpan by dinabandhu mitra free pdf ebook download. His name can be found in any history of buddhism or of india in the gupta period. The seven treatises presented here are complete works with a most varied range of topics and serve at least as an introduction to his. Vasubandhus twenty verses on consciousnessonly vimsatika together with their commentary karika, which is also by vasubandhu were originally composed in sanskrit. Treatise on the aparimitayussutraalso spelled aparimitayussutrasastra, in buddhism, a short treatise shastra on the aparimitayussutra, one of the major pure land sutras, by the indian monk vasubandhu flourished 5th century ce. Alas, asanga, residing in the forest, has practised meditation for twelve years. Garfield doris silbert professor in the humanities and professor of philosophy, smith college. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. According to these two tibetan historians, asanga and vasubandhu were halfbrothers.
Vasubhandhus summary of the five heaps and sthiramatis commentary on vasubandhus root text. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. The following are two standard english translations of the work. These study materials were assembled for a class on the abhidharmakosa. Together with asanga s own commentaries, these texts became the basis for the philosophical schools known. His conversion from the sarvastivada to the mahayana buddhist tradition is attributed to asa. Vasubandhu, who was a great scholar of the abhidharmas classification and lists of the components of experience now reels off the names of these factors. Vasubandhu lived his life at the center of controversy, and he won fame and. He received teachings from maitreya and transcribed them as the five treatises of maitreya. Asanga bodhisattva together with his teacher the bodhisattva maitreya, asanga was the founder of the yogacara, or consciousnessonly, school of mahayana buddhism. Sarao and others published vasubandhu find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Page 18 asanga s school of thought, came to nalanda where his elder brother had composed numerous treatises. This collection of translations includes the vadavidhi a work on logic the pancaskandhakaprakarana which deals with the aggregates making up personality, the karmasiddhi prakarana, which in explaining psychic continuity, also attacks many features of earlier buddhist psychology the.
He went on to present an introduction to the yogacara school of the mahayana. However hardly any of his works has been translated into english. He went to the bird mountain to live there meditating on the maitreya. Along with his halfbrother asanga, he was also one of the main founders. However, some scholars consider vasubandhu to be two distinct people. He crossed deserts, mountains, rivers and spent eighteen years before his. Vasubandhu author of seven works of vasubandhu, the. Vasubandhu was a buddhist monk and philosopher, born in peshawar in presentday pakistan, then in the kingdom of gandhara, which included part of presentday afghanistan. Aparimitayussutrashastra work by vasubandhu britannica. Vasubandhu refined classical indian syllogistic logic by distinguishing the procedure for reaching. Vasubandhu, indian buddhist philosopher and logician, younger brother of the philosopher asa. Trimsatika thirty verses of vasubandhu wutai mountain. Vasubandhu refined classical indian syllogistic logic by distinguishing the procedure for reaching inferences in formal debate five steps from the. H june 4, 2004 asian american asian research institute the city university of new york hsuan tsang, the famous chinese monk from the tang dynasty, traveled from china to india to learn yogacara buddhism.
It expresses the authors personal devotion to amitabha, the celestial buddha of infinite light. The oldest of three sons, all called vasubandhu, born in purusapura peshwar who were members of the kausika family of indian brahmins. Thus the appearance of cognitive objects does not require an actual object external to the consciousness cognizing it. Save abhidharmakosabhasyam,vol 3, vasubandhu,poussin,pruden,1991 pdf search. Treatise on the aparimitayussutra in buddhism, a short treatise shastra on the aparimitayussutra, one of the major pure land sutras, by the indian monk vasubandhu flourished 5th century ce. It expresses the authors personal devotion to amitabha, the. Vasubandhu lived his life at the center of controversy, and he won fame and patronage. Vasubandhus treatise on the three natures a translation and commentary chapter vii of empty words. On some aspects of the doctrines of maitreya and asanga. Store consciousness, thought consciousness, and active consciousness. These works present the traditional buddhist analysis of ordinary experience and provide rich resources for studying buddhist and western. Vasubandhu is said to have taken up mahayana buddhism after meeting with asa.
He is known as the author of the dharma analysis treasury. Said to be a younger brother of the great m a h a yana teacher asa. Mahayanasutralamkara, with vasubandhus commentary bhasya msa based on the ed. Born a brahmin in peshawar, vasubandhu was the half brother of asanga, another key personage in the founding of the yogacara philosophy. Vasubandhu is one of the founders of the yogacara school of buddhism, and his many philosophical and. The ebook pdf has 87 pages with 5mb cline text pdf. Vasubandhu, flourished 5th century ad, indian buddhist philosopher and logician, younger brother of the philosopher asa. Asanga and his brother on their mothers suggestion became monks and joined monastery. Vasubandhus ontology does appear to be a monistic metaphysical idealism, such that reality is one and nondifferent from mentation. Buddhist philosophy and crosscultural interpretation. Subsequently, vasubandhu who together with his halfbrother asanga helped found and develop the yogacara school wrote a further commentary, the abhidharmakosabhasyam, in which he refuted many of the teachings and views expressed in his earlier work.
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