Nagarjunas philosophy as presented in the maha prajnaparamita sastra (23)

They thus enliven in them the sens e of the real, reveal to them its true meaning and help them to realize the true nature of things.' The extinction of ignorance does not leave us in a

not entertain the notion of ultimacy in regard to them, nor do they entertain the notion of any ultimate division between the determinate and the absolute

The ultimate nature of ignorance: The sense of the real is our ground for cancelling illusion; it is made more vivid by the revelation of the falsity

of our beliefs And it is only in the case of one who is aware of ignora nce that a critique of ignoranc e has sense It is intended to trace illusion to its root, in order to root it out completely But in the case of one who is already wholly beyond ignorance it has no use Again, if ignorance as concealment and misconstruction were ultimate, then it would be in­ eradicable; but in that case there would not be any aware n ess of igno­ rance at all That there is such an awareness and that ignorance is ex­ perienced to have once functioned and then become extinct in some cases is the only ground for man's cultivation in the path of knowledge The wise ins titute devices whereby they bring the meaning of certain cases of disillusionment to bear upon the entire network of ignorance

in which the common people are caught They thus enliven in them the

sens e of the real, reveal to them its true meaning and help them to realize the true nature of things.'

The extinction of ignorance does not leave us in a blank; it is not

an act separate from the arising of knowledge The two are simul­ taneous; they are two different sides of the same act, two phases of one principle The Siistra observes that in their ultimate nature there is no difference between ignorance and knowledge, even as there is no differ­

ence in th e ultimate truth between the world of the determinate and NirvaI].a, the unconditioned r eality

When the myriad streams (flowing in myriad different places), each

with its own colour, its own taste, enter the great ocean, they blend and become of one taste and derive one name In the same way, stupidity and wisdom enter prajiiiipiiramitii and blend and become of one essence (and then) there would be no difference· between them Again, when the five colours approach Mt Sumeru, they automatically lose their own colours and all blend into the one golden hue In the same way,

113

when all things internal and external enter prajnaparamita, they blend and become of one essence Why is it so?

Because prajiiiipiiramitii is by nature completely pure

Moreover, the real nature of stupidity is itself prajna But if one would mistake and cling to this prajiia, then this itself would be stupidity Thus, (in truth), what difference is there between stupidity and wisdom? When one first enters the Way of the Buddha, then there is the distinction that this is stupidity and this is wisdom But later, when one's penetration gradua.Jly becomes deep, then, (at last), there would

be no difference between stupidity and wisdom (32Ia-b)

This is to deny not the presence of ignorance but its ultimacy With the correction of error the wrong notion does not persist; ignorance does not coexist with knowledge in regard to the same thing in the same mind.6 When the bodhisattva, with the intention of putting an end to ignorance, seeks to know its true nature (II), then:

Ignorance would just become knowledge itself (.!lP�;I!ijIJ) (for it is

then seen to be in its ultimate nature) the universal reality (bhiitalalqat;la),

Even of the products of ignorance, the true nature is purity, which

is another name for the ultimate realitY, the undivided being So the

(In its ultimate nature) ignorance is purity itself; and so even the

purity itsel£6 (sosb)

Commenting on this, the Sastra says that the Buddha is speaking here about the ultimate nature of the three elements of poison, which as lewdness etc., owe their being to ignorance, while in their ultimate nature they are purity itself ('::: •• f£�i!F-) 7

This holds good even of the mind, the )e1t: conscious principle of intellection, the centre of personality, as well as of all that it gives rise to

In the ultimate truth, even mind and mental elements cannot be

obtained , how much less the further distinction of the mind with pas­

sion or the mind devoid of passion? (543 b)

The fact that in its ultimate nature ignorance is itself prajna has an important bearing on the nature of knowledge While a total ignorance

of ignorance is impossible, a complete knowledge of knowled e is not

only possible but essential This is the same as saying that while denial

of ignorance is possible, knowledge knows no denial While extinction

could be significantly spoken of in respect to ignorance , this is not the case with knowledge; for the ultimate principle of knowledge knows

no end, although the particular acts of knowing arise and perish Prajilii

as the ultinlate principle of knowledge is not itself anything conditioned When one speaks of the rise of wisdom strictly, from the standpoint

of the ultimate prajna, it is to the extinction ofignorance that one refers Non-ultimacy of avidya is the sufficient ground for one's endeavour to remove it

Sereion II

KINDS OF KNOWLEDGE

Prajna as ruTitp n",J prajiia as knowledge: Prajna as knowledge is to be dis­

tinguishf'd from prajiia as realtty Prajiia as reality is the_unconditioned

dharma, the undivided being, the unnameable that is yet spoken through

names

PrajiiapiiramJta.is the real nature of all things, the undeniable, inde­ structible dharma Whether ther e IS the Buddha or there is not the Bud­ dha, this r('al na tur e of things eternally is This eternal nature of things (dharma-sthana).is not any thing made by the Buddha (or any one elsc).s (370fl) ,

Prajna is the ultimately real nature of the divided and dct�rmil1ate

The ultimate reality is called praj1iii, the basic principle of knowledge

IIS

only by imposing a name and that, in the mundane truth, on the pla n e

of the relative, i.e., when it is contrasted with the objects and systems of objects that arise and perish In the ultimate truth it is the reality in which

there is not even the distinction of knowledge and reality, knowing and being, or even of knowledge and ignorance It is the real which is the ultimate end of all our seeking PrajniI as reality pertains to the later part of the present work It is with prajnii as knowledge that the present part is concerned

PrajniI as the ultimate prindple ofknowledge and prajniI as the act of know­

ing: PrajniI as knowledge is significant only in reference to the world

of the dete rminate, where there is the distinction of knowledge and

reality, of knowing and being as well as of knowledge and ignorance According to the Siistra, prajniI as knowledge can be distinguished into

tional (impermanent) While the eternal prajnii is the ultimate reality itself only derivedly called prajniI, i.e., as contrasted with the "objective" world of relativity and change, the functlonal prajfiiI is the function of the mind, the self-conscious intellect contrasted with ignorance and in

regard to the objective reality whi ch it confronts

There are two kinds of prajniI The one is the eternal prajiiii The other

is (the impermanen t prajnii) which functions along with the five piira­ mitiis (The latter is) the functional prajnii-piiramitii (;ffffl��lBt.�) (while the former could be called the substantial or the stable prajiiiI)

The functional prajnii can put an end to the darkness of ignorance, and can fetch the true (eternal) prajiiii In the eternal prajna (the undivided reality) there cannot be found (even the distinction of) igno­ rance and knowledge (52Ib)

The eternal prajnii is the ultimate, permanent principle of knowledge

which is the "eternal light in the heart of man." The prajiiii itself ever remains unextinct while the particular objects arise and perish It is the permanent principle in the light of which alone the critical judgement

of things as impermanent is meaningful Nothing , not even Nirvat;l a

(as set against samsiira) can claim absoluteness in the light of the criti­ cism instituted with the principle that the ultimate reality is the undi­ vided being

The prajiiiipiiramitii (the ultimate principle of knowledge) can cancel all things, it can cancel even Nirv3.I;ta; it straightaway transcends all things, unimpeded (While all things perish) the power of wisdom

can deny it Therefore it is said that if there is anything excelling even

itself remains undenied).9 (449b)

The functional prajnii is really the act of knowing which can be said

to consist of I) analysis, II) criticism and III) comprehension.9> These

the permanent principle of knowledge

The knowledge if the unconditioned reality: The act of knowing that has for its object the unconditioned reality is in its basic form the judge­ ment that the real is the unconditioned, which is carried out in the light

of the highest knowledge that is completely free from all distorting

regarding the ultimate nature of things, the highest reality, and hence

knowing which is also called prajiiiipiiramitii is, however impermanent

Prajiiiipiiramitii is of the nature of knowledge; it is a seeing of things;

it arises from the combination of causal factors Of the prajiiiipiira­ mita, the object is tathatii, dharma-dhiitu, bhiitako{i, the incomposite

Although tthis) knowledge arises from the combination of causes

of birth and is by nature siinya Therefore (even this knowledge) is called

II7