Page:A History of Indian Philosophy Vol 1.djvu/141

 v] 111" ahiiyiin£s1Jz 12 5 Mahayanism. I t is difficult to say precisely at what time Mahayanism took its rise. But there is reason to think that as the Mahasanghikas separated themselves from the Theravadins probably some time in 400 B.c. and split themselves up into eight different schools, those elements of thoughts and ideas which in later days came to be labelled as Mahayana were gradually on the way to taking their first inception. Ve hear in about 100 A.D. of a number of works which are regarded as various :Mahayana siitras, some of which are probably as old as at least 100 B.C. (if not earlier) and others as late as 300 or 400 A.D. 1. These Mahayanasiitras, also called the Vaipulyasiitras, are generally all in the form of instructions given by the Buddha. Nothing is known about their authors or compilers, but they are all written in some form of Sanskrit and were probably written by those who seceded from the Theravada school. The word Hlnayana refers to the schools of Theravada, and as such it is contrasted with Mahayana. The words are generally translated as small vehicle (hi1la= small,yana=vehicle) and great vehicle (malui = great, yiina = vehicle). But this translation by no means expresses what is meant by Mahayana and Hlna- yana. Asanga (480 A.D.) in his Mahiiyiinasl7triila1!zkara gives propounded the same sort of doctrines as those preached by Nagarjuna. None of his works are available in Sanskrit and I have never come across any allusion to his name by Sanskrit writers. 1 Quotations and references to many of these sutras are found in Candrakirtti's com- mentary on the Miidhyamika kiirikiis of Nagarjuna; some of these are the following: A!!asiihasl'Z'kiiprajiiiipiira11Iitii (translated into Chinese 164 A.D.-167 A.D.), Satasiilzas- rikiiPrajiiiiParamitii, Gaganagaiija, Samiidhisutra, TathiigatagultyasiUra, Drrfhiidhya- fayasaiicoda1Ziisutra, Dhyiiyitalllu!!isutra, Pitiiputrasallliigamasutra, .fI.1 ahiiydnasutra, Miiradamanasutra, Ratnaku{asutra, Ratnaciifjllpariprcchiisutra, Ratnameghasutra, Ratnariifisutra, Ratniikarasutra, Rii!!rapiilaparl"prcchiisiUra, Lmikiivatiirasutra, Lalitavistarasutra, Vajracc hedikiisutra, Vi11lalakirttinirdefasutra, SiilistalllbhasiUra, Samiidhirajasutra, Sukhiivativyuha, Suvm.aprabhiisasutra, SaddharmapuuJarika (translated into Chinese A.D. 255), A11litayurdhyiinasutra, Hastikakhyasztra, etc. 2 The word Yana is generally translated as vehicle, but a consideration of numerous contexts in which the word occurs seems to suggest that it means career or course or way, rather than vehicle (Lalitavistara, pp. 25, 38; Prajiiiipiiralllitii, pp. 24, 319; SamiidltiYiliasutra, p. I; K aruiipztf.Zdarika, p. 67; Lmikiivatdramtra, pp. 68, 108, 132). The word Yana is as old as the Upanids where we read of Devayana and Pitryana. There is no reason why this word should be taken in a different sense. We hear in Laizkiivatiira of Sravakayana (career of the Sravakas or the Theravadin Buddhists), Pratyekabuddhayana (the career of saints before the coming of the Buddha), Buddha yana (career of the Buddhas), Ekayana (one career), Devayana (career of the gods),