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 H A R V A R D UNIVERSITY
G raduate School of A rts and Sciences

THESIS ACCEPTANCE CERTIFICATE

The undersigned, appointed by the

Division

Department

Committee on th e Stu dy o f R e lig io n

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have examined a thesis entitled
E a r ly Y ogacara and i t s R e l a t i o n to N a g a r ju n a 's
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Madhyamaka: C h ange and C o n t in u it y in t h e H is t o r y
o f M ahlyana B u d d h is t Thought

presented by
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E len a F. Hanson
candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and hereby
certify that it is worthy of acceptance.
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Sign atu re...

John B. Carman
Typed name

Signature ... c v*N s

rohn Makran’s k y
Typed name

Signature

September 21, 1998

Date

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 Early Yogacara and its Relation to Nagaijuna's Madhyamaka:
Change and Continuity in the History of M ahayana Buddhist Thought

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A thesis presented
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Elena France Hanson
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to
The Committee on the Study of Religion
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in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in the subject of
The Study o f Religion
Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

October 1998

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 UMI Number: 9910150

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Copyright 1998 by
Hanson, Elena France

All rights reserved.

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© 1998 by Elena France Hanson

All rights reserved

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 Abstract

Early Yogacara and its Relation to Nagaijuna's Madhyamaka:

Change and Continuity in the History of Mahayana Buddhist Thought

by
Elena France Hanson
Professor Charles Hallisey, advisor

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This dissertation examines the relation between the M adhyamaka and
Yogacara schools of Buddhism, focusing on the Yogacara perspective. It
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reevaluates the opinion, generally accepted among modem scholars, that the
Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools constitute divergent and radically
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opposed movements within the Buddhist Tradition. To address this issue,
the dissertation distinguishes between two separate questions. The first
question is whether the early Yogacara writers were actively refuting what
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they perceived to be a distinct religious school within the Buddhist tradition.

This question is doxographical, concerning itself with how the authors of
certain Yogacara texts saw their own theories in relation to other Buddhist
teachings. The second question is whether the philosophical doctrines of the
early Yogacara writers are inconsistent with the foundational Madhyamaka
writings. This question is one of comparative religious philosophies.
In addressing the doxographical question, the dissertation examines
*

the biographical sources pertaining to the early Yogacara writers, Asariga

and Vasubandhu, as well as the philosophical writings which are attributed
to them. None of these sources give any indication that the early Yogacara

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 writers were in dialogue with the Madhyamaka as a distinct philosophical
school. In addressing the philosophical question regarding the relation
between the Madhyamaka and Yogacara, the dissertation examines two
doctrines which are closely associated with the two schools respectively: the
two truths and the three natures. Rather than negating or correcting the
Madhyamaka notion of two truths, the Yogacara doctrine of three natures is
shown to be in accord with and complementary to the two truths.
The dissertation concludes that the view commonly held in Western
scholarship that the Yogacara school arose in o_ position to the Madhyamaka
school rests upon a failure to make a clear distinction between the early and

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later phases of the two schools. In drawing from the later commentarial
traditions of both schools, in which debates between the Madhyamaka and
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Yogacara schools had arisen, modem scholars have transposed onto early
Madhyamaka and Yogacara writings a philosophical stance and a
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doxographical self-understanding which does not apply.
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 Contents

Dedication
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction
I. Statement of the Topic 1
II. Names for the Yogacara 3
III. Modem Scholarly Views Regarding the Relation Between the 11

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Madhyamaka and Yogacara Schools
IV. Phases of the Yogacara 16
V. The Distinction Between the Historical and Philosophical 23
Questions Regarding the Relation Between the Madhyamaka
and Yogacara Schools
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VI. Synopsis of the Dissertation 29
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Chapter 2: The Identity of the Early Yogacara Writers

I. Introduction 30
II. The Historicity of Maitreya 31
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III. The Theory of Two Vasubandhus 36

IV. The Dates of Asanga and Vasubandhu 50

Chapter 3: The Biographical Accounts of Asanga and Vasubandhu

I. Introduction 66
II. The Biographical Sources 67
El. A Sketch of the Brothers' Lives 72
IV. Religious Conflicts in the Biographies 82
V. Status of the Mahayana During the Time of Asanga and 93
Vasubandhu
VI. Conclusion 101

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 Contents (cont)

Chapter 4: Doxographical Indications in the Early Yogacara

Writings
I. Introduction 105
II. The Early Yogacara Writers' Defense o f the Mahayana 107
III. The Early Yogacara Writers' Critiques o f Opposing Views 115
IV. Mahayana as an Ideological Category 128
V. Early Yogacara Models for Internal Diversity 135
VI. The Textual Basis for the Early Yogacara 158
VII. Conclusion 164

Chapter 5: The Two Truths and Three Natures Defined

I. Introduction 168

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II. The Two Truths in Nagaijuna's Thought 169
m . The Two Truths in Early Yogacara Thought 174
IV. The Three Natures in Early Yogacara Thought 193
V. Conclusion 226
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Chapter 6: The Three Natures in Relation to Nagaijuna's Thought
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I. Introduction 228
II. The Two Truths and the Three Natures Compared 229
III. The Three Natures and Samsara / Nirvana Compared 241
IV. The Three Natures Compared W ith the Equation of Dependent 245
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Co-Origination and Emptiness

V. Existence and Non-existence in Early Yogacara Thought 250
VI. Conclusion 263

Chapter 7: Conclusion
I. Summary of the Argument 265
II. Later Buddhist Views Regarding the Three Natures 267
III. Later Buddhist Views Regarding the Relation Between the 277
Madhyamaka and Yogacara Schools
IV. Possible Explanations for the Arising o f the Dispute Between 283
the Later Madhyamaka and Yogacara
V. Suggestions for Future Studies 287

Bibliography 290

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 To my husband, Mark

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 Acknowledgments

With this dissertation I have attempted to bring to fruition a set of

ideas planted in my mind by Professor Masatoshi Nagatomi. Those who
know Mas know that has often planted and carefully tended such orchards.
At the conference in his honor that I had the privilege to organize on the
occasion of his retirement, it was very moving to see how many people in a
variety of disciplines feel deeply indebted to Mas for his guidance and
encouragement. I am proud to be in such company.
I am also deeply indebted to Charles Hallisey, my advisor. He

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carefully read several successive drafts of this dissertation. In discussions,
he showed an amazing ability to go straight to the heart o f any matter, and he
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always challenged me to consider the wider implications o f any argument.
I would also like to thank the other members of my dissertation
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committee, Professor John Makransky, whose deep understanding of the

Indo-Tibetan philosophical literature served as a valuable resource that I
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turned to again and again, and Professor John Carman who provided
extremely valuable guidance and encouragement throughout my graduate
studies at Harvard.
Without on-going support, this work could not have been completed.
I am grateful for the emotional and financial support o f M arc and Elisabeth
Brugnoni, Cal and Nancy Hanson, Jacques and Madeleine Colmar, and
Lillian Pearson. I am extremely grateful for the supporting grants I have
received from the Javits Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Program for
Radcliffe Grants for Graduate Women, and for essential additional support
from the Harvard University Committee on the Study of Religion.

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 Abbreviations

Primary Sources

AA Abhisamavalamkara
AKS Aksavamatinirdesasutra
AK Abhidharmakosa
APP Astasahasrika-prainaparamita-sOtra
AS Abhidharmasamuccava
ASA Abhisamavalamkara
BBh Bodhisattvabhumi
BV Bodhicittavivarana
CS Catuhsataka

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D Sde dge (Derge) number, from the Otani University edition of the
sems tsam section o f the Tibetan Tripitaka Tokyo: 1981.
DB Dasabhumikasutra IE
DDV Dharmadharmatavibhaga
K Korean Buddhist Canon Number
KSP Karmasiddhiprakarana
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LA Larikavatarasutra
MA Madhvamakavatara
MMK Mulamadhvamakakarika
MS Mahavanasamgraha
MSA Mahavanasutralamkara
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MV Madhvantavibhaga
MVy Mahavvutpatti
P Peking edition o f the Tibetan Tripitaka. Suzuki, Daisetz T., ed.
Tokyo: Suzuki Research Foundation, 1955 sq.
PP Prasannapada
PSP Pancaskandhaprakarana
PSV Pratltvasamutpada (-adivibhahganirdesa-) vvakhva
SN Samdhinirmocanasutra
SP Saddharmapundarika
T Taisho edition o f the Tripitaka. Taisho Shinshu Daizokyo. Tokyo:
Society for the Publication of the Taisho Edition o f the
Tripitaka, 1924-34.
Tg bsTan 'gyur
To Tohoku Catalogue o f the Tibetan bla' 'gyur and bsTan 'gyur
Trim Trims ika

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 Abbreviations (cont)

TSN Trisvabhavanirdesa
Vad Vadavidhi
Vig VigrahavvavartanI
Vim Vimsatika
VS Viniscavasamgrahanl
VV VigrahavvavartanI
Vy Vvakhvavukti
YBh Yogacarabhumi

Journals

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BEFEO Bulletin de l'Ecole Francaise d'Extreme-Orient
EB Eastern Buddhist IE
IA Indian Antiquary
IHQ Indian Historical Quarterly
IIJ Indo-Iranian Journal
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JA Journal Asiatique
JAAR Journal o f the American Academy of Religion
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JBRS Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society
JIBS Journalo f Indian and Buddhist Studies
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JIABS Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies

JIP Journal of Indian Philosophy
JRAS Journal o f the Roval Asiatic Society
MCB Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques
PEW Philosophy East and W est
RO Rocznik Orientalistvcznv
WZKSO Wiener Zeitschrift fur die Kunde Sud-und Ostasiens
ZII Zeitschrift fur Indologie und Iranistik. herausg. von der Deutschen
Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft
ZDMG Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft

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 Chapter 1
Introduction

I. Statement of the Topic

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A distinction is conventionally made between two major religious
schools within Mahayana Buddhism —the Madhyamaka and the Yogacara.
This distinction is recognized both by scholars of Buddhism and by
members of the Buddhist tradition. Nagaijuna, the earliest figure associated

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with the Madhyamaka school, is believed to have lived in the South of India
circa 150-250 CE. Nagaijuna's counterparts in the Yogacara
school-M aitreya, Asanga and V asubandhu- lived in the North o f India
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some time between the fourth and fifth centuries CE. 1 The philosophical
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writings attributed to these four figures form the textual foundation for the
vast body of original and commentarial literature of the M adhyamaka and
Yogacara schools.
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Modem scholars o f Buddhism have tended to view the Madhyamaka

and Yogacara schools as divergent and radically opposed movements.
Edward Conze, for example, states that "these two schools were engaged in
constant disputes and the works o f one have no authority for the other. "2
Some scholars, however, have challenged this view. Gadjin Nagao, one of

1 For a detailed discussion regarding the dates of Asanga and Vasubandhu, see
Chap. 2. Sect IV. For a brief discussion regarding the dates of Nagaijuna, see n.
98.

2 Conze, Edward. Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies. 1934-1972. San Francisco:

Wheelwright Press, 1980, p. 102.

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 the few scholars to investigate closely the relation between the two schools,
argues that the Yogacara school did not reject Madhyamaka doctrine, and
that the two schools should be viewed as complementary rather than
contradictory.^ He states, "The gap between the Madhyamika and the
Vijnanavada [i.e., Yogacara] traditions must be bridged, because the
Madhyamikas and the Vijnanavadins were not, from the beginning, two
antithetical schools, as is usually assumed. "4
This dissertation will examine the relation between the Madhyamaka
and Yogacara schools o f Buddhism, focusing on the Yogacara perspective,
and using traditional Buddhist histories and biographies, and primary

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philosophical texts as its sources. Although the Yogacara represents an
important development in M ahayana thought, relatively little of western
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Buddhist scholarship has been devoted to its study. This is particularly true
with regard to the close study o f primary textual materials. In focusing on
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the Yogacara perspective, I hope to work toward filling this gap in the study
of the Buddhist tradition. Tw o central questions will shape this
investigation. The first question is whether the early Yogacara writers were
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3 See especially Nagao, Gadjin. Madhvamika and Yogacara: A Study of

Mahavana Philosophies. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991.
This volume contains a collection of essays by Nagao dating from to 1941
until 1986. Nagao is one of the only modem scholars to investigate the relation
between the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools in any depth. He is also one of
the first modem scholars to argue for the compatibility of the two schools.
The only other modem scholars who have argued at any length for the
compatibility of the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools are Ian Charles Harris,
in The Continuity of Madhyamaka and Yogacara in Indian Mahavana Buddhism.
New York: E.J. Brill, 1991; and Richard King, in "Early Yogacara and its
Relationship with the Madhyamaka School." PEW 44:4 (1994).

4 "President's Address" to the First Conference of the International Association of

Buddhist Studies (New York, September 15, 1978). JIABS 1:2 (1978) p. 83.

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 actively refuting what they perceived to be a distinct religious school within
the Buddhist tradition. This question is one of institutional history; it asks
where the early Yogacara writers placed themselves and their theories in
relation to other Buddhist groups and teachings. The second question is
whether the philosophical doctrines of the early Yogacara writers are
inconsistent with the foundational Madhyamaka writings. This question is
one of comparative religious philosophies; it asks how the early Yogacara
writings can be understood in relation to the writings o f Nagaijuna..
For each o f these two questions, this dissertation will present both
weakly-stated and strongly-stated versions of the same two-part thesis. The

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weakly-stated version, in two parts, is as follows: (i) there is no conclusive
evidence that the early Yogacara authors were writing in opposition to the
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Madhyamaka school, and (ii) the philosophical doctrines which the early
Yogacara authors present can be interpreted as being com patible and
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continuous with the writings of Nagaijuna. The strongly-stated version of
this thesis, in two parts, is as follows: (I) the early Yogacara writers were not
writing in opposition to the Madhyamaka school, and (II) the philosophical
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doctrines which the early Yogacara authors present are compatible and
continuous with the writings of Nagaijuna. The aim o f this dissertation is to
prove the weakly-stated version o f the thesis, and to support as firmly as
possible the strongly-stated version.

n . Names for the Yogacara

The Yogacara school is also known as the Cittamatra, Vijhaptimatra,
and Vijnanavada. Each of these cognomens, together w ith its literal
meaning, carries with it certain associations which both reflect and influence

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 how scholars view this school. It is therefore worth examining the
implications of these names, and how they have been used. Perhaps the
most important point regarding all these names is that none of them, in their
earliest usage, denoted an institutional affiliation.
The name Cittamatra means literally mind-only, and Vijnaptimatra
has variously been translated as "representation-only," "ideation-only," and
"perception-only."5 The epithets Cittamatra and Vijnaptimatra are
associated with the Yogacara school based on the assertion, found especially
in later Yogacara texts, that the entire world is nothing but mind, or
representation. The expressions vijnaptimatra and cittamatra are not used

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frequently, however, in the early Yogacara writings. In Asariga's lengthy
Yogacarabhumi. they are barely used at all. As Lambert Schmithausen
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remarks:
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In this text, as far as I can see, the idealistic-spiritualistic

philosophy of later Yogacaras and its characteristic terms,
vijnaptimatra and cittamatra, are not yet traceable. I found
only one passage in which the text asserts that only the mind
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Ccittamatra) exists in reality. But it is an opponent who is

speaking in this passage, and moreover the statement is not, as
usually, directed against the existence of real objects outside the
mind but merely against the opinion that, besides the mind, we
have to accept the existence of emotional and volitional mental
factors.^

^ From Hall, Bruce Cameron. "The Meaning of Vijnapti in Vasubandhu’s

Concept of Mind." JIABS 9:1 (1986) pp. 7-8.

6 Schmithausen, Lambert. "On the Problem of the Relation of Spiritual Practice

and Philosophical Theory in Buddhism," in German Scholars on India.
Contributions to Indian Studies, vol. 2. Bombay: Nachiketa Publications, 1976,
p. 238.

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 The terms cittamatra and vijnaptimatra, although not commonly
found in the early Yogacara literature, are not altogether absent therefrom.
They appear, for example, in the S amdhinirmocana and
Mahavanasamgraha7 However, unlike in later Yogacara writings, the terms
are not used in the presentation o f a systematic ontological position. Instead,
their use is very close to that found in earlier texts which are not associated
specifically with the Yogacara school. The declaration found in Asariga's
Mahavanasamgraha that the entire world is nothing but mind is an exact
quotation from these earlier Buddhist texts.8 The first known appearance o f

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this claim is in the Bhadrapala-sutra. a Buddhist meditation manual. The
expression cittamatra is used here in the context of meditative practice, and
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does not have any association with a philosophical movement.
The same is true for the usage of the terms cittamatra and
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vijnaptimatra in the early Yogacara literature. In the Samdhinirmocana. the
term vijnaptimatra appears in the eighth chapter, when the Bodhisattva
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7 For the use of the terms cittamatra and vijnaptimatra in the Samdhinirmocana.
see especially Chap. 8. (See John Powers' edition and translation of the
Samdhinirmocana in Wisdom of Buddha: The Samdhinirmocana Mahavana
Sutra: Essential Questions and Direct Answers for Realizing Enlightenment.
Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1994.)
For the use of the terms cittamatra and vijnaptimatra in the
Mahavanasamgraha. see, for example, 2:7. (See Etienne Lamotte's edition and
translation of the Mahavanasamgraha in La Somme du Grand Vehicule d'Asanga
(Mahavanasamgraha). 2 vols. Louvain: Universite de Louvain, 1973.

8 The phrase cittamatram idam yad idam traidhdtukam (The three realms [of
desire, corporeal matter and immateriality] are nothing but mind) is found in the
sixth chapter of the Dasabhumikasutra (ed. by Johannes Rahder, in
Dasabhumikasutra et Bodhi-sattva-bhumi. Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1926,49 E.),
and in the Bhadrapala-sutra. For a further discussion of the Bhadrapala-sutra.
and the use of the term cittamatra therein, see Schmithausen (1976) 246ff.

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 Maitreya asks the Buddha whether the images which are perceived during
samddhi are different from the m ind or not. The Buddha replies that they
are not different from the mind and are merely cognition (vijnaptimatra)9
The ensuing discussion between M aitreya and the Buddha is clearly focused
on the topic of meditative technique in the Mahayana, and specifically on
how to develop samatha and vipasyana, the two bases o f Buddhist
meditation. The chapter, which begins with Maitreya asking the Buddha
about the Mahayana practice o f samatha and vipasyana, 10 ends with the
following declaration by the Buddha: "Maitreya, this is the teaching o f the
definitive meaning of yoga. Apprehend it as 'the teaching of the definitive

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meaning o f yoga."' 11 Likewise, in the Mahavanasamgraha. the terms
cittamatra and vijnaptimatra are used in the context of a discussion
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regarding meditation. The terms cittamatra and vijnaptimatra do not yet

9 SN pp. 155ff.
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Throughout the dissertation, citations from the SN are taken from John
Powers' edition of the text in Wisdom of Buddha: The Samdhinirmocana Sutra.
Berkeley: Dharma Publishing, 1995. See also Lamotte's edition and translation,
listed in the bibliography.
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10 SN pp. 148-149.

U SN pp. 216-217.
bcom Idan 'das kyis de la b/ca' stsal pa! byams pa 'di ni rnal ’byor nges pa'i
don bstan pa yin tel rnal ’byor nges pa'i don bstan pa zhes bya bar gzung zhigl
rnal 'byor nges pa'i don bstan pa ’di bshad pa na srog chags drug 'bum ni bla na
med pa yang dag par rdsogs pa'i byang chub tu sems skyes so//
Throughout the dissertation, all translations from Sanskrit and Tibetan
materials are my own, unless otherwise indicated. My own translations are, of
course, indebted to earlier translations by western scholars, listed in the
bibliography below. For important technical terms, or terms which do not have
an exact English equivalent, I have either used the original term by itself, or
included it parenthetically alongside its English translation. Although for the
most part, my translations adhere as closely as possible to the original language,
at certain times, for the purposes o f clarity and readability, I keep from a strict
literal translation of the text.

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 appear to be used systematically as an ontological stance. Nor, by any
means, do they constitute a designation for a school of thought J 2
The other name for the Yogacara, Vijnanavada, means, "the doctrine
that consciousness exists." This epithet is used in later literature to refer to
the Yogacara s c h o o l. 13 The term Vijnanavada is particularly problematic in
referring to the early Yogacara writings. It never appears in this body of
literature, and seems to apply specifically to the doctrinal position of a latef

12 A variant of this phrase also appears in the opening verses of Vasubandhu's

Vimsatika Vasubandhu asserts: mahayane traidhatukam vijhaptimdtram
vyavasthapyate. This phrase has been translated as follows: "In the Mahayana it

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is established that the three worlds are representation-only." (E.g., Clarence H.
Hamilton, Wei Shih Er Shih Lun: The Treatise in Twenty Stanzas on
Representation-onlv. by Vasubandhu. American Oriental Series, 13. New
Haven: American Oriental Society, 1938, p. 19.)
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Against this translation, Thomas Kochumuttom claims that vijnaptimatra is
not meant as a description of the absolute but a description of our experience of
reality. He argues that traidhatukam is in adjectival form, and thus qualifies a
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noun which the reader is expected to supply. It is not, he says, a substantive
meaning "the three worlds." Kochumuttom takes the understood referent to be
citta-caitta (mind and mental factors). Thus, a translation of Vasubandhu's
verse, according to Kochumuttom, should read, "It is established in the
Mahayana that [the mind and mental factors belonging to] the three worlds are
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representation only" (Kochumuttom, Thomas A. A Buddhist Doctrine of

Experience: A New Translation and Interpretation of the Works of Vasubandhu
the Yogacarin. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982 (reprinted 1989) pp. 165-166).
Paul Griffiths agrees that traidhatukam is an adjective, but argues that it
qualifies the term world (loka), not citta-caitta (Griffiths, Paul J. On Being
Mindless: Buddhist Meditation And the Mind-Bodv Problem. La Salle: Open
Court, 1986 (reprinted 1987) p. 176).
See also Janice Dean Willis in On Knowing Reality: The Tattvartha
Chapter of Asariga's Bodhisattvabhumi. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982, pp.
24-31.

13 Candraklrti refers to the rival school of the Madhyamaka as Vijnanavada (Tib.

sems tsam pa). See for e.g., Madhyamakavatara. p. 135, edited by Louis de La
Vallee Poussin. Bibliotheca Buddhica vol. 9, Osanbriik: 1970.
The school is also referred to by this name in Mahavvutpatti (MVy) 5145
Sakaki, ed. 2 vols. Kyoto: 1916, 1928.

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 development within Yogacara thought. Roughly two centuries after the time
of Asanga and Vasubandhu, there developed two clearly delineated streams
of Yogacara thought. The term Vijnanavada is used in Buddhist literature
primarily in reference to the lineage o f the Yogacara propagated by
Dharmapala, who upheld the view that the external world was merely a
transformation of an ultimately real subjective c o n s c i o u s n e s s . 14 According
to Yoshifumi Ueda, this lineage constituted a significant divergence from the
thought of the early Yogacara. Thus it is misleading to apply the term
Vijnanavada, and the ontological stance it denotes, to the early phases o f the
Yogacara.

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Literally, Yogacara means "practice of spiritual discipline." Although
the term yogacara certainly did come to designate a distinct group w ithin the
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Mahayana, it is far from certain that it held such a meaning for the early
Yogacara writers. In its early usage, the term yogacara referred sim ply in its
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literal sense to the practice of yoga: it did not connote any doctrinal o r
scholastic affiliation. For example, when Asvaghosa, writing the in 2nd
century CE, recommends yogacara, he is promoting the practice of yoga,
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rather than a philosophical school. 15 O f particular interest are similar uses

of the term Yogacara by Aryadeva, the primary disciple of Nagaijuna. In
the Tibetan Bstan 'gyur, the full title o f Aryadeva's Catuhsataka is recorded
as the Bodhisattva-vogacarva-sastra-catuhsataka-karika. The Sanskrit
fragments of this text also contain the term yogacara. In the chapter
colophons of the Catuhsataka. Aryadeva refers to the follower of

14 For a discussion regarding the differences between the two streams of

Yogacara thought, see Ueda, Yoshifumi. "Two Main Streams of Thought in
Yogacara Philosophy." PEW 17:1-4(1967) 155-165.

15 Saundarananda-kavva 14:18 and 20:68.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
 Madhyamaka as a Y o g a c a rin . 16 On the basis o f this evidence, it would
appear that the appellation Yogacara as it was being used at the time when
Asanga was writing, designated Buddhist practitioners in general and did not
refer to a separate Buddhist school. 17 Even Bhavaviveka, a great opponent
of the Yogacara, sometimes uses the term Yogacara to refer to a yogin in
general, and not a m em ber o f a philosophical s c h o o l. 18

16 David Seyfort Ruegg remarks:

"The use of this term is remarkable since it came to be usually associated
with the school of the Yogacarins/Vijnanavadins established subsequently by
Asanga and appears already in the title of one of their basic sources, the
Yogacarabhumi (known in the bsTan 'gyur version as Yogacaryabhumi). Some

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kind of close relation may well have existed between Aryadeva and early
masters of the Yogacarin school; for not only has the Hastavalaprakarana. a
work by Dignaga, been ascribed to him by an Indo-Tibetan tradition but, as
already mentioned, the Yogacarin Dharmapala wrote a commentary on the
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second portion of the CS as late as the sixth century. Yet the reference in the
title of die C£ to yogacara/yogacarya could hardly have been intended to
express any specific connexion between it and the school of the
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Yogacarins/Vijnanavadins; and it appears that the word was then still being used
as a general term to denote practicers of the Buddhist spiritual and intellectual
disciplines without reference to a particular philosophical school" (Ruegg, David
Seyfort. The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India, vol.
7, Fascicle 1 of A History of Indian Literature. J. Gonda, ed. Wiesbaden: Otto
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Harrassowitz, 1981, p. 52).

17 It should be noted that the term Yogacara is used in Vasubandhu's

Abhidharmakosabhasva (AKbh) to designate a clearly defined philosophical
school. In AKbh 19:5, for example, the Yogacarins are attributed with a
particular interpretation of a passage of a Buddhist sutra which speaks of three
types of rupa (form). The implication of this reference depends upon whether
we accept Erich Frauwallner and Lambert Schmithausen's proposal that the
author of the AK lived from 400-480 CE, and was different from the earlier
Vasubandhu who is associated with the Yogacara. (For a discussion regarding
the possible existence of two Vasubandhus, see Chap. 2, Sect. m .)

18 See Ruegg (1981) p. 63, n. 199. This is not to say that Bhavaviveka does not
use "Yogacara" as a doxographical term. Indeed, according to Ronald Davidson,
Bhavaviveka is the first to use the term Yogacara to refer to a schooj of thought.
See Ronald Mark Davidson, Buddhist Systems of Transformation: Asrava-
parivrtti/paravrtti among the Yogacara. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation,

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.