JIBS - Tathagatotpattisambhavanirdesa

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The Tathagatotpattisarpbhava nirdesaof the Avatarpsaka and

Ratnagotravibhagahe- - - w i t h special reference to the t e rm ' tathagata-gotra-sambhava '

ikido Takasaki .T h e po i n t now I am go i ng to express he re is the discovery of the useof a compound noun tathagata-gotra-sa7{lbhava' in the Ratnagot rav ibhaga

Ut ta ra tan t ra ), which seems to be t he Sanskr i t original for : t n : : t ? t ~ . ' g E ~ , oneof the impor tan t t e rms In the phi losophy of the Hua-yen ( ~ l / i ) Sect oChinese Buddhism, bu t is actual ly riot found in the Avatarsaka, thebas ic scr ipture for tha t sect .

T h e passage where th is t e rm IS found is in the prose explanat iono n v. 27 of Chap. I (Skt . p. 26, 8-9). T h e commenta to r of the Ratna. , ie. the au tho r of the supplementary verses as well as the prose comment a ry on .t he basic verses , refers the re to the .3 mean i ngs o f the t e rmtatht lgatagarbha made out of v. 27, of which the th i rd one is n a m e d' tathagata-gotr.a-sa1pbhava-ar-tha , whi le t he o the r t wo are named tatht lgatadharmakaya-parisphara' l) .a-artha' and ta thagata- ta thata-avyat ibheda-ar tha

-respect ively . V. 27, the bas ic s tanza on whi ch th is explana t ion is givenruns as follows :

Buddha- janantargami:U sattva-rasesTan-nairmalyasyadvayatvat prakr t ya /

* For the textual st ruc ture of the Ratna. see my ar t ic le : Textual Structure othe Ratnagotravibhaga Uttara tantra) and the Supposed F or m of its OriginaT ex t ( ~ ~ ~ ~ i f l : f : I D f U e : > ~ ~ C J j ( ~ ) (Japanese) , Shukyo-Kenkyi i (Journal of Religious Studies) , No. 155 (March 1958, Tokyo) .

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(49) T h e Tathagatotpat t isarpbhava-nirdesa of the Avatarp.saka {J. Takasaki)Bauddhe gotre ta t-phalasyopacaradUktalJ sarve dehino buddha-garbhalJI /(The mult i tudes of l iving beings are included in the Buddha 's WisdomThei r immacula teness is non-dual by nature ,I ts resul t manifes ts i t se l f on t he Germ of the B uddha ;Therefore i t is sa id: all the l iving beings are possessed of the Matr i

of t he Buddha.)T he 3 mean ings ment ioned above correspond one by one to the firs

3 l ines in t he verse which form the 3 reasons for t he s ta tement : u sarvasattvas tathagatagarbhalJ, - A t the same t ime, the comm enta tor regards thes3 points as the th reefo ld own na ture of t he Essence of the Tathagat( tathagata-dhatos trividhalJ, svabhaval)). In othe r words , ' dharmakaya ta thata ' and ' go t ra ' are said to show the 3 aspects of ' ta thagata-dhatuThis is expla ined once as ' power fu lness (prabhava), ' i den t i ty (ananyathabhava) and ' being mois t ' (snigdhabhava) wi th similes of jewel, sky anwater , respectively. (p. 27, 1-11) A fu r the r deta i led explana t ion is givein t he commenta ry on the 9 i l lust ra t ions o n h o w the Essence is polluteby the covers of defi lements based upon the Tathaga tagarbha-su t ra , w herthe 9 modes of dh tuu corresponding to t he 9 kinds of defi lements arsummar ised in to the said threefold own na ture in the fo l lowing w a y :

1. dharmadhatu, 2 3. tan-ni$yanda I. dharmakaya (vv. 145-7)4. ta thata (suvar1J.avat) II. ta thata (v. 148)5. prakrt is tha-gotra, 6. samudani ta-gotra, 7. svabhl'l.va-, 8. sambhoga-,9. nirm'17Ja-kaya III. go tra (vv. 149-152).

-Now special a t ten t ion is to be_ paid to the th i rd group. In the proscommenta ry which follows vv. 149-152 (p. 72, 7-14) , th is go t ra , is expla ineto be ' tr iv idha-buddhakaya-utpat t i -gotra - since t he Tathaga tahood is mani,fested (prabhavi ta) in the fo rm of the t r iple Body of t he Buddha , for whosacquis i t ion t he cause (hetu) is t he Essence (dhatu) of t he Tat haga t a . H e rw e k n o w tha t 'gotr .a , , be ing synonymous for dhatu (and garbha , , toois used in the sense of ' hetu f rom which t he t r iple buddhakaya is orgina ted . This is exact ly w ha t is meant by the th i rd l ine of v. 27, and i

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T h e Tathagatotpa t t i saqibhava-ni rdesa of the Avatarp.saka (J. Takasaki) (50also ident ica l w i t h w h a t is signified by ra tna -go t ra in t he t i t le ( = gotr:arratnatrayasya, v. 2 4 ; tha t f rom whi ch t he ratna-traya is or igina ted, -sargakyatal:J v. 23 ; ratna-traya= buddha-r-atna, p a r excel lence , =dharmakaya, thbas i s of t he t r iple kaya, p. 7, etc.) A n i mpor t an t au t ho r i ty for th i s s t a t emenis sought for in a scr ip tura l passage , whi ch r u n s as fo l lows :

ta t ra ca sattve sat tve ta thagata-dhatur utpanno garbhagata{i sa1'[lvidyate , na ca te sattvi'l. buddhyante."

(And now, in eve ry l iv ing be ing, there exis ts t he Essence of t hTa thaga ta a r i s e n , i n t h e f o r m o f e m b r y o . But these l iv ing be i ngdo lo t k n o w about i t .)

Unfor t una t e l y w e h a v e no t come ye t to k n o w the n a m e of th is scr iptureb u t i t seems no doub t t o b e a sutra belonging to t he same group as t hTathagatagarbha -s i it ra . He re the t e rm ' dht t tu is used ins tead of ' go t rai n t he Ratna . b u t the s ignif icance is exac t ly t h e same as the la t te r in i tcon ten t s : sattve utpanno, bu t garbha-gatal;, . I t means tha t go t r a od h a t u is o n one h a n d identical w i t h dharmakaya , , the essence of t h

Buddha , a n d on t he o the r hand, however , i s garbha-gata ' , i. e. 1n t hunm ani fes ted s t a t e in co ns t ras t wi th dharmakaya" s being the mani fes tes ta te in the fo rm o f t r iv idha-buddhakaya .

T h e n w h a t does th.e t e r m ' sar( lbhava, m e a n ? F r o m t h e exP,lanationg i ven above, those t e rms l ike sa rga , ' utpatt i , upacara ' , or prabhi lv i ta ,u t panna , are to be not iced of the i r synonymous sense of mani fes ta t io

(or ig ina t ion) ' fo r 'sa1 lbhava" o r of ' m a n i f e s t e d ' for ' sat]lbhuta' , T h e r e arehowever , t wo w a ys of usage of th is ' mani fe s t a t ion ' : 1 sat tva is a manifesta t ion of dhatu o r gotra being essence ' , i. e. dharmakaya , because ohis be i ng pene t ra ted b y t he l a t t e r ; 2) buddhakaya is the mani fes ta t ion ogotra wi th in sat tva be i ng ' c a u s e ' for it. T h e second poin t is just w h a t im e a n t b y 'gotra-sarbhava" as t he th i rd aspec t of ta thagata-garbha, a n dhence t h is compound is t o be re so lved in to gotrat san.zbhavalJ," (or ig ina t ionf r o m cause) in i t s l i te ra l sense. ~ t he same t ime, because of the essen t i ai den t i ty be tween bo t h cause and resu l t ( th i s is s h o w n by the second aspectta thata: tathi'l .gatagarbha=samala t t h t ~ while dharmakaya=nrmala tathata),, i

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51) T h e Tathagato tpat t i sarbhava-nirdesa o f the Avatarsaka (J. Takasaki)go t rasya sa1{lbhaval;, ' , i. e. manifes ta t ion of go t ra i tself. Furthermore, .

be ing dhar:makaya is a l l -pervading, a n d hence th is manifes ta t ion takesin gotra i tself , i. e. gotre sa'l'{lbhaval;, ' .

This in te rpre ta t ion seems, however , not accepted by bo th Tibe tan andt rans la t ions of t he Ratna . They t rans la te 'sa1]1.bhava, into< exis tence

yod-pa , C. ;ff). This is no t comple te ly w ro n g because the tex t i tselto gotra-ast i tva ' (e. g. vv. I, 160, V, 8), but the s imple sense

f < as t i t va , is, in m y opinion, n o t enough he re to show the connotat ion*f sa1{lbhava ' .

V. 27 is, accord ing to t he commenta tor , sa id to be taken f rom theTathaga tagarbha-su t ra of i ts whole account . T h e ve r y sutra w h ic h consistmere ly of 9 i l lust ra t ions on the ta thagata-garbha expresses i t s fundamen taidea in the first i l lustrat ion, a Buddha s i t t ing i n the in te r io r of eve rylo tus f lower, say ing :

W i t h Buddha ' s eyes, I observe t ha t all the l iv ing beings , t h o u g h t heyare a m o n g the defi lements of ha tred , anger a n d ignorance. , have t hBuddha ' s Wisdom, Buddha ' s Eye, Buddha 's Body s i t t ing f i rmly in the fo rmof medita t ion. Thus , in spi te of the i r be ing covered with defilements,t ransmigra t ing f rom one p a t h (gat i ) to another , t hey are possessed othe a ~ r i x of t he Ta thaga ta , endowed with vi:i;tues, a lways pure , a nhence are not different f rom me. Having t hus observed , d ie Buddhpreached the doctr ine in order to r emove the defi lements a n d manifes** .the Buddha-na ture w ~ t h i n the l iv ing beings) . (ex t rac ted tr . f rom CTaisho 16. 457 c)

I t m a y be easy to pick up the 3 points t augh t in the Ratna . f rom th i

* T h ere is another passage where the t e rm gotra-sa?bhava is used: ' ' na khalkascit Prakrt i -visuddha-gotra-saqibhavad atyant avisuddhi-dharmi'l bhav i tum arhat(p. 37, 3-4) Here both in te rpre ta t ions seem possible: existence of gotramanifestat ion of, gotra ( in every body) . (manifestat ion in the sense of 1).** For the ~ s t phrase: ' t o manifest the Buddha-nature ( ~ U ~ I ~ ) , T. ins teareads : de-bsgrubs-Pa/;i de-bshin-gsegs-Pa r nams ni yaiz-dag-pa-nid-du gnas-s(baving completed this, the Tathagatas establ ish themselves perfectly. ) (PekinEd., Kj. Mdo Shu p. 263a 1)

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T h e Tathagatotpatt isarp.bhava-nirdesa of the Avatarpsaka {J. Takasaki) 52passage. One may, a t the same t ime, easi ly notice, a t one glance of th ipassage, the s imilar i ty of the idea with tha t taught in the Tathagatotpat t isambhava-n i rdesa o f the Avatamsaka with a simile of an a tom which.encloses the w-hole universe .

, This simile, being the 10th i l lustration of the menta l act iv i ty (manaskarman) of the Ta thaga ta which , i n i t s tu rn , fo rms the 4 th mode (lak atzaof the 10-fold mani fes ta t ion of the Ta thaga ta (tathagata-utpatti-sa1]'lbhava

~ Q * J l t ~ + ? f c t = t ) , has an impor tan t significance in tha t sutra. T h e mentaact iv i ty , otherwise cal led ci t totpat t i accord ing to the Tibetan vers io(thugs-skye-ba},-is unders tood to be essent ia l ly the act ivi ty of ' tathagata-f f lana'vvhich is bri l l iant l ike the sun, a l l -pervading l ike space, a n d is so essent iat ha t wi thou t wh ich the re is no bodhi , nor buddha. Being thus, th ita thagata-j i iana is duly t e rmed t a thaga ta -go t ra o r -dh t t tu ,, the s s e n eof the Tathagata . Because of i ts all-pervadingness, , every sat tva is unders tooto be pene t ra ted b y th is jflana or p with in th is jnana (buddhajnanantargama)T h e Avatarsaka refers to this- point and says :

J u s t as the whole universe is enclosed with in an a tom and becamuseless, s imilar ly the tathagata-}nana is uselessly enclosed with in eacsat tva. Due to the affect ions to the misconcept ions , sat tvas remain wi thouknowing wha t is ins ide. Now I =the Buddha) will break the cover inof bondage , and le t t hem know the tathttgata-}fl .ana with in t h e m . extracted tr . f rom t he quotat ion in the Ratna. , p. 22,, 10-24, 8)

There is, however , no use of the t e rm t a thaga tagarbha 1n thAvata;rp.saka. I t is probably the Ta thaga tagarbha-su t ra which for the first ime named this buddhajnana with in the l iv ing beings ta th t tgata-garbhasucceeded the idea of the Tathagatotpatt isa111bhava-nirdesa. The u n k n o wsutra of which a passage is quoted above seems also a successor of thsame siitra. And las t ly the Ratna. sys temat ised th is ta th t tgatagarbha- theor

The Ratna. quotes the whole i l lustrat ion as an authori ty for the identif icatioof ta thagatagarbha with tathl'i.gata because of its endowment of vir tues samas those of the Buddha. As for the original in the Avata:rp.saka, see Taisho 9623 c-624 a.

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T h e Tathagat6tpa t t i sarpbhava-ni rdesa of the Avatarpsaka (J. Takasaki )concentra t ing i ts b ~ s i c poin t . to th is idea of the all

of buddhaj f lana . V. 27 is jus t t he verse to express th i sidea come down f rom t he A vatarsaka.

N o w we have to find out t he re la t ion be tween two terms, ' ta thagataand ' tathagata-gotra-sa' f l -bhava,. T h e fo rmer is needlesso say t he fundamen ta l idea in the said sutra of t he same t i t le , of which

phase is expressed by the al l -parvadingness of ta thagata- jnana. In tha t' t a thaga ta" a lways m e a n s the dharmakaya , and i ts ' sa f lbhava ' (or

u tpa t t i ) signifies t h ~ manifes ta t ion of all kinds of the Buddha s ac t iv i tys t he na tura l outf low of t he dharmakaya caused b y t he Buddha s grea t

towards sat tvas. Thi s is hnwever a k ind of Mahayanis t icof the idea t aught s ince t he ear ly days of Buddh i sm in which

acquis i t ion of t he en l igh tenment by Sakyamun i is mean t b y the t e rm. In o the r words , ta thagata-utpat t i is unde r s tood original ly

acquis i t ion of the wisdom b y a unique personali ty . (cf. Pali , AN, 13 Ekapuggala-vaggo) F r o m t he Mahayani s t i c s tandpoin t , the possibi l i tyf en l igh tenment to all the sat tvas a re emphas ised a n d to prove th is pos-ibil i ty the Avatarsaka made t he doct r ine of t he dhar-makaya's manifes ta t ion

to all the l iv ing beings . T h u s t he buddha-J Uina in each sdt tva is cal led aform of tathagata-SaTflbhava. This second kind of ' tatht igata-saT[lbhava iseasily replacable by the t e rm 'go tra-sarbhava or dhatur utpannal:i" a l thoughi t was actual ly not done by t he Avatarsaka. T he ro le of the Ratna. wasjust to resolve th is knot kep t unrevea led . I t called th is buddhaj f lana in eachsat tva direct ly gotra a n d charac te r i sed i t as t he cause for the actuamanifes ta t ion of t he Buddha b u d d h a k a y a - u t p a t t b = t a t h a g a t a - u t p a t t i ~ or -sarribhava) . In other words , ta thagata is t he resul t of gotra-sa1]tbhava:1 i e. t heacquis i t ion of bodhi by any one of sattvas. This m a y be called the th i rdin te rpre ta t ion of t he t e rm ' ta thagata-utpat t i -saTflbhava' bu t wi th special sensof 'gotra-sarribhava t is cer ta in t ha t th is in te rpre ta t ion was in t roduced in toChina a long with t he Avatarp.saka-sutra w h e n t he Chinese Hua-Yen Sec

s tabl ished i ts g ~ - theory .

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