The Yogācārabhūmi against Allodoxies (paravāda): 2 Ritual Violence
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The Yogācārabhūmi, a massive compilation of the early Yogācāra “school(s),” contains a comparatively short section dedicated to the critical examination of sixteen “allodoxies” (paravāda), mostly non-Buddhist doctrines, practices and institutions, some of which go back to the Brahmajāla- and Śrāmaṇyaphalasūtra of the Dīrghāgama. This section, which could be dated to the late 3rd century CE, is a remarkable milestone in the history of philosophy in the Buddhist environment, in that it summarizes and updates earlier, canonical arguments, adapting them to a new polemical context, and reveals Buddhist philosophy’s profound indebtedness to sūtra literature. The present paper analyzes allodoxy no. 8 (hiṃsādharmavāda), the brahmins’ claim that ritual violence is a religious duty and, as such, no violence at all. The Yogācārabhūmi’s arguments are among the most cogent and systematic Indian Buddhists ever directed against ritual violence.
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6
See Deleanu 2006: I.195.
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14
Tull 1996: 225.
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17
Tull 1996: 226.
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42
See YBh, p. 146, n. 4.
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48
Note Masefield 1986: 151, who suggests that the Buddha, “far from being critical of the early ideal of the brahmin […], instead uses this against his contemporary counterpart, who is found lacking in several respects: […] he lives a life of great luxury, driving about in chariots. Compare how one day Ānanda saw ‘the brahmin Jānussoṇi driving out of Sāvatthī in his chariot, drawn by pure white mares; white were the steeds harnessed thereto and white the trappings, white the chariot, white were the fittings, white the reins, the goad, the canopy, his turban, his clothes and sandals, and by a white goad was he fanned.’
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53
See Schmithausen 1991a: 52 and Schmithausen 2005: 193.
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79
On this point, see Amore 1971, Masson 1975: 103–104 and Masefield 1986: 156–161.
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80
For an English translation, see Speyer 1971: 93–104 and Meiland 2009: I.261–283. Story no. 10 only partly echoes Jātaka no. 50 (see Chalmers 1895: 126–128), the argument of which is as follows (JātakaI.259,13–20): tasmiṃ samaye bārāṇasivāsino devatāmaṃgalikā honti, devatā namassanti, bahuajeḷakakukkuṭasūkarādayo vadhitvā nānappakārehi pupphagandhehi c’eva maṃsalohitehi ca balikammaṃ karonti. bodhisattvo cintesi: idāni sattā devatāmaṃgalikā bahuṃ pāṇavadhaṃ karonti, mahājano yebhuyyena adhammasmiṃ yeva niviṭṭho, ahaṃ pitu accayena rajjaṃ labhitvā ekam pi akilametvā upāyen‘ eva pāṇavadhaṃ kātuṃ na dassāmīti. “Now in those days the Benares folk were much given to festivals to ‘gods,’ and used to shew honour to ‘gods.’ It was their wont to massacre numbers of sheep, goats, poultry, swine, and other living creatures, and perform their rites not merely with flowers and perfumes but with gory carcasses. Thought the destined Lord of Mercy to himself, ‘Led astray by superstition, men now wantonly sacrifice life; the multitude are for the most part given up to irreligion: but when at my father’s death I succeed to my inheritance, I will find means to end such destruction of life. I will devise some clever stratagem whereby the evil shall be stopped without harming a single human being.’ ” Translation Chalmers 1895: 126–127. None of the JM’s arguments against animal sacrifice occur in Jātaka no. 50.
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97
See Eltschinger 2015: 206–207 (§ 2.2.3).
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163
On this sentence, see Schmithausen 2013: 484, n. 262.
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The Yogācārabhūmi against Allodoxies (paravāda): 2 Ritual Violence
In: Indo-Iranian JournalSearch for other papers by Vincent Eltschinger in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
The Yogācārabhūmi, a massive compilation of the early Yogācāra “school(s),” contains a comparatively short section dedicated to the critical examination of sixteen “allodoxies” (paravāda), mostly non-Buddhist doctrines, practices and institutions, some of which go back to the Brahmajāla- and Śrāmaṇyaphalasūtra of the Dīrghāgama. This section, which could be dated to the late 3rd century CE, is a remarkable milestone in the history of philosophy in the Buddhist environment, in that it summarizes and updates earlier, canonical arguments, adapting them to a new polemical context, and reveals Buddhist philosophy’s profound indebtedness to sūtra literature. The present paper analyzes allodoxy no. 8 (hiṃsādharmavāda), the brahmins’ claim that ritual violence is a religious duty and, as such, no violence at all. The Yogācārabhūmi’s arguments are among the most cogent and systematic Indian Buddhists ever directed against ritual violence.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 131 | 0 | 0 |
| Full Text Views | 383 | 76 | 5 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 235 | 52 | 1 |
