Prajñaptivāda
Template:EarlyBuddhism The Prajñaptivāda (Sanskrit; Template:CJKV) was a branch of the Mahāsāṃghika, one of the early Buddhist schools in India. The Prajñaptivādins were also known as the Bahuśrutīya-Vibhajyavādins.
History
According to Vasumitra, the Prajñaptivāda school is said to have developed as one of several Mahāsāṃghika subschools.<ref>Harris, Ian Charles. The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahayana Buddhism. 1991. p. 98.</ref> They are recorded as having taken up residence in the Himalayas.<ref>Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. p. 68.</ref> According to Tāranātha, the Prajñaptivādins continued to flourish in Magadha through the Pala Empire as late as the 10th century.<ref>Warder, A. K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 282.</ref><ref>Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 218.</ref> A. K. Warder writes that the Prajñaptivādins were not known to have left Buddhism's original territory (modern Northeast India, Bengal and Nepal).<ref>Warder, A. K. Indian Buddhism. 2000. p. 282.</ref>
Doctrines and teachings
The Samayabhedhoparacanaćakra records that the doctrines of the Prajñaptivāda school were similar to those of the main Mahāsāṃghika school.<ref>Dutt, Nalinaksha. Buddhist Sects in India. 1998. p. 118.</ref>
Prajñapti
According to André Bareau, the name Prajñaptivāda refers to their doctrine that phenomena are the product of conceptualisation (Skt. prajñapti).<ref>Sree Padma. Barber, Anthony W. Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra. 2008. p. 68.</ref> The Prajñaptivādins distinguished between conventional truth (Skt. saṃvṛti) and ultimate truth (Skt. paramārtha), and between reality (Skt. tattva) and mere concepts (Skt. prajñapti).
Vasumitra writes that the Prajñaptivādins viewed all conditioned phenomena as being mere concepts or notions (Skt. prajñapti), and therefore they were considered to be suffering.<ref>Harris, Ian Charles. The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahayana Buddhism. 1991. p. 98.</ref> Contrary to the Sarvāstivādins, the Prajñaptivādins did not view the skandhas or the five elements as suffering.<ref>Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 220.</ref> Instead these were viewed as existing merely as nominal entities without any ultimate existence.<ref>Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 220.</ref>
Merit and karma
The Prajñaptivādins believed that the Noble Path is eternal and immutable, and that it is not possible for it to be lost or destroyed.<ref>Petzold, Bruno. The Classification of Buddhism: Comprising the Classification of Buddhist Doctrines in India, China, and Japan. 1995. p. 438.</ref> They also held that the path was not something that could be cultivated through contemplation.<ref>Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 219.</ref> However, they believed that the path could be attained through all-knowledge (Skt. sarvajñāna) and the accumulation of merit.<ref>Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 219.</ref> Whether one meets an untimely death or attains the Noble Path, the Prajñaptivādins viewed all such outcomes as being the result of merit and karma.<ref>Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. 2005. p. 220.</ref>
Spoken teachings
The Prajñaptivādins held that the Buddha's teachings in the various Piṭakas were nominal (Skt. prajñapti), conventional (Skt. Template:IAST), and causal (Skt. hetuphala).<ref>Dutt, Nalinaksha. Buddhist Sects in India. 1998. p. 118.</ref> Therefore, all teachings were viewed by the Prajñaptivādins as being of provisional importance, since they cannot contain the ultimate truth.<ref>Harris, Ian Charles. The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahayana Buddhism. 1991. p. 98.</ref> It has been observed that this view of the Buddha's teachings is very close to the fully developed position of the Mahāyāna sūtras.<ref>Dutt, Nalinaksha. Buddhist Sects in India. 1998. p. 118.</ref><ref>Harris, Ian Charles. The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahayana Buddhism. 1991. p. 98.</ref>
Relationship to Mahāyāna
Theories
André Bareau considers the origin of the Mahāyāna tradition to be in the early Mahāsāṃghika schools, and cites the Bahuśrutīyas and Prajñaptivādins as sub-sects of the Mahāsāṃghika that may have played an important role in bridging the flow of Mahāyāna teachings between the northern and southern Mahāsāṃghika traditions.<ref>Ray, Reginald. Buddhist Saints in India: A Study in Buddhist Values and Orientations. 1999. p. 426.</ref>
Two truths doctrine
The Prajñaptivādins were early articulators of the two truths doctrine that is so important to the Mahāyāna, where it is usually found in the relationship between skillful means (Skt. upāya) and wisdom (Skt. prajñā). Ian Charles Harris has noted that the doctrines of the Prajñaptivāda school are indeed similar to the early Mahāyāna view of the two truths.<ref>Harris, Ian Charles. The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahayana Buddhism. 1991. p. 98.</ref>
There is also evidence that the Prajñaptivādins were an influence on Nāgārjuna, who is also among the storied promulgators of the two truths doctrine (using some of the same technical terms), and who in his Mūlamadhyamakakārikā only cites one text by name, that being the Kātyāyana Gotra Sūtra, of which the Prajñaptivādins were known to be fond.<ref>Harris, Ian Charles. The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahayana Buddhism. 1991. p. 98.</ref>
References
See also
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