There are five different views springing from it [belief in the ego], which are held by common people (prthagjana).
First, hearing that it is said in the Sûtra 2 that the
In order that this clinging may be eliminated, be it clearly understood that suchness or Dharmakâya in its self-nature (svabhâva) is not a nothing (çûnyatâ) but envelopes in full immeasurable merits (guna) which make up its true nature.
Thirdly, hearing that it is said in the Sûtras 2 that the Tathâgata's womb (tathâgatagarbha) envelopes in full all kinds of merits which constituting its true nature do neither suffer augmentation nor diminution, yet not understanding its purport, ignorant people cling to the view that there is in the Tathâgata's womb itself an inherent and fundamental distinction between the two objects, matter (rûpa) and mind (citta).
In order that this clinging may be eliminated, be
In order that this clinging may be eliminated, be it clearly understood that the Tathâgata's womb all-containingly envelopes pure and spotless merits (guna) which, outnumbering the sands of the Ganges, are not at variance with suchness; that the prejudices (âçrava or kleça) and defiled objects, which also outnumber the sands of the Ganges are nothing but non-entity, have from the first no self-existence (svabhâva), have never been in correspondence with the Tathâgata's womb; that there is no reason to suppose that the Tathâgata's womb had been corresponding with defiled objects, but has now by virtue of intellectual intuition been freed from falsity and defilement.
In order that this clinging may be eliminated, be it clearly understood that as the Tathâgata's womb has no beginning, ignorance and birth-and-death depending on it have also no beginning; that it is a view held by the tîrthaka 2 [i.e., the followers of the Vaiçesika]
These four 2 erroneous views have thus arisen from the conception of a personal âtman, and so we have laid down the four refutations as above mentioned. 3
106:2 It is not exactly known to what Sûtra or Sûtras this refers, but the analogy of this kind is frequently met with in most of the Mahâyâna texts.
108:1 Fa-tsang, a commentator of the present Discourse, quotes the Mahâprajñâ-pâramitâ-Sûtra as here referred to. The Sûtra says: "Even Nirvâna is like a mirage, like a dream. Nay, if there be something superior to Nirvâna, I declare it is also like a mirage, like a dream."
108:2 For instance, we read in the second volume of the Lankâvatara Sûtra (translated into Chinese by Çiksânanda): "The Tathâgatagarbha is in its intrinsic nature pure, clean, eternal, permanent, unintermittent, and immutable; it embraces the thirty-two excellent qualities, and abides within the body of all sentient beings," etc.
109:1 Though not exactly known to what Sûtra or Sûtras the reference is made here, we can easily find similar passages in the Mahâyâna texts, such as the Lankâvatara, the Çrîmâlâ, etc.
110:1 These are not also exactly known.
110:2 It is not precisely known bow many philosophical schools, called tîrthakas by Buddhists, were flourishing just at the time of Açvaghosha. The Nirvâna Sûtra and the Vimalakîrtinirdeça Sûtra mention six of them which were existing at the time of Buddha: (1) Pûrana Kâçyapa; (2) Maskarin Goçâliputra; (3) Sañjayin Vairaṭṭîputra; (4) Ajita Keçakambala; (5) Kakuda Kâtyâyana; (6) Nirgrantha Jñâtiputra. In a commentary on the Vimânamâtrâ-çâstra, however, which is a later production than this Discourse, twelve different tîrthaka schools are enumerated. They are: (1) the Samkhya school; (2) the Vaiçesika school; (3) the school which believes in Maheçvara as the creator; (4) the school which believes in Mahâbrahma as the creator; (5) the school which maintains that Time is the creator; (6) the school which maintains that Space is the creator; (7) the school which maintains that Water is the creator; (8) the school which says that the world exists by itself; (9) the school which says that the creation comes from Quarters; (10) the school which maintains that the Ego is the principle of existence; (11) the school which maintains the immortality of articulate sounds, i.e., the Mîmamsâ school; (12) the Lokâyatika school, an Indian materialism. For further references
111:2 The number "four" in this paragraph should be "five," for the author enumerates five misunderstandings and their refutations, as we have seen.
111:3 The whole passage is missing in the older translation.
