Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
HISTORICO-SOCIAL
BEARINGS
OF THE ,,MIDDLE
By Shoson
I.
Miyamoto
Seen culturally
and historically,
can be determined
WAY"
in the pioneering
of Buddhist
Art
and colonialization
of India by the
Aryan people.
The first stage is the pioneering
invasion
reaches
though
the Kashmir
Plateau
is contiguous
with Central
but it also
promoting
culture
(Takshasila),
in particular,
always
been
Central
sociality
of Ancient
India,
of the Aryans,
celebrated
heaven,
and
Gandhara, where
as well as commerce.
passageway
international
of politics,
for hostile
being
for
economics and
the
the exchange,
linking
a center of culture
had
Asia,
of the Aryan
was Taxila.
we have-the
earth,
and
city symbolizing
As examples
of the pioneering
Mother
Nature;
great deal from the excavated culture of the pre-Aryan areas of the
Mohenjo-Daro and Harappd. Again, consecutive to this stage, there follows
the Buddhist
a great
culture
empire
about Gandhara.
a famous
Purusapura
center
passing
through
Taxila, which
of learning,
(Peshawar)
India
and
of
Kanishka's
rule, and in
(2)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
inscriptions
of this
the
famous
"Great
(1)
of the Iranianians,
were opened;
Buddhism
Asia, Buddhism
sovereingty
was there
which
continued
with
its always
and
of Northern
of
the
who was
dispatched
along
of the
Later
Bodhisattva
Yiieh
Chin
of the western
Han
the
part
themselves
"the
that
recorded
Chang
Wu
the statue
after
Buddha
entered
who
Han, nor
Rome, had
Nirvana,
have
of the Maitreya
300 years
and
Early
to distant
in his
Ch'ien,
Sun
of the
Bodhi-
after
the
neither
among
that
and
fulfilling
of the Maitreya
( )
of
of Central
to China, Korea,
to Asia and
Fa Hsien,
new
development
countries
journey
to the statue
Kashmir.
by the
and developed,
varoius
source.
Country"
the routes
Buddhist
the
indigenous
in Darel
more than
produced
eastwardly
becoming
of its fountainhead
"Accounts
king, we
to equal Gandhara
beginning
handed
of the oriental
Son of
fields in Buddhism
Kan-Ying
of Kings,
with Central
Art which
traveled
majesty
of his
Gandhara-Buddhist
sattva
King
Ch'ang-an
Supreme
the
stone-images
(S. Miyamoto)
the thought
promise
King,
indicate
Mahayana
BEARINGS
back to the period of King P'ing of the Chou People. Because of this, it
is said that
from
statue
and
this
statue."
of the
"after
the propagation
this
And
Maitreya
statue
Hsuan
Bodhisttva
came
into
recorded
was
a work
existence,
the
(Mahayana)
began
( ,
of the Arhat
Madhyantika,
transmission
of
that
the
the
doc-
(1)
The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I, Ancient India, Chap. XXII., "The
Scythian and Parthian Invaders," by E. J. Rapson, p. 582, Cambridge, 1922.
(2)
Sir Charles
Eliot, Hinduism
and Buddhism,
-995-
THE
HISTORICO-SOCIAL
BEARINGS
(S. Miyamoto)
(3)
moves
excavations
in a eastwardly
and research
in East and
direction,"
have contributed
up. The
greatly
to the understanding
of the original
Buddhist art
of those days.
Such a "history
of the propagation
with the
"history
expanded
throughout
and Vietnam,
of world
history
of the
cultural
Asian
great
significance
exchange
expansion
from
the viewpoint
of Indian
culture
with
core, and
importance
that
of the
compared
to the
of the
less
than
together
has a very
history
of Mahayana Buddhism,"
of the promulgation
history
Buddhism
at its
is no greater
nor
Aryan pioneering
and
colonization.
II.
Prayaga,
second
Middle
stage is the
Kingdom"
period
which
(Mashyadesa
to be the territory
north, the
Vindhya
Prayaga
(Allahabad)
saw the
Kuru-Panchala.
River;
to the
on the
the
having
a name meaning
goddess
Indian
west, and
started
out
understandable
River, regarded
on the
atapatha-brahmana
fire, Agni-vaisvanara,
In
(Himalaya)
the Sadanira
of the
Mountains
god of the
at
construction
of speech, disappears
Allahabad,
into the
(4)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
Ganges
capital
of Indraprstha,
BEARINGS
of the Republic
the capital
Homeland.
The building
(S. Miyamoto)
Knowing
that
Mathura
(Madhura),
of the
the birthplace
the symbol of heroism, Krsna, and the home of the Thera Upagupta,
religious
teacher
of
the
the location
of the Tai Mahal Temple, one of the seven wonders of the world, together
form the strategic
how the cultural
center facing
of Kuru Panchara,
and
nourished
of the Jumna and Ganges. This is also clear in the case-of the Nile River
in Egypt, and the Hwang
Indian
rivers,
Panchala.
In the
Ho and Yangtze
culture
of Kuru and
Ganges is that of
culture
the prototype
of Panchara
there
(3)
To begin with, studies were made on the "peaples nation and the thought
of the Middle," as "philosophical
considerations
on the Middle," then a map
was made of the Aryan Middle Kingdom and the Buddhist Middle Kingdom,
which classified the common zone of the two Middle Kingdoms, and the area
which had deen newly opened up as the Buddhist Middle Kingdom. Konpon
Chu to Ku (Fundamental Middle and Voidness, in Jap.) (Daiichi Shobo, 1943),
pp. 367-375, and appended map. And in the doctorate dissertation, Chudo Shiso
oyobi sono hattatsu
(The Thought of the Middle Way and Its Development,
in Jap.) (Hozokan, 1946), it was clarified what sparked the new culture of
the Aryan invaders and the Middle Way of the Buddha, and it elucidated in
the historical
development
the intellectual
construction
of the concept of
the Middle. Moreover, the historical
formulation
was made clear of the
process in which the new universalism
sprang up from the Aryan nationalistic
thought: the three stages of the Aryan Middle Kingdom, the Upanisads and
Buddhism. Daijo Bukkyo no Seiritsushiteki
Kenkyu (Historical
Studies on the
Formulation
of Mahayana Buddhism, in lap.), ed. by the present writer, II.
1 "The Aryan and Buddhist Cultural Sphere" (Sanseido, 1954),p. 14.
-993-
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
is the
rates
inception
Aryan
motherland
the Aryan
Malla
is Kuru
and
and Videha,
broadens
culture,
from
which
a still
newer
four castes
and
is the
Ganges
comes
Jumna,
and
what
Jumna.
part
of the
has
(catuvannim
of India,
concept
suddhim,
other
hand,
vanno
zone of
Kosala,
by the
rivers
of
the
Upanisad
movements
towards
of the purity
cattaro
the
of India which
And
early
of the
of Sakiya,
watered
Range.
the
commemo-
in particular
Background
Himalaya
inherently
cultural
what
the whole
Natural
(5)
cooperation
symbolizes
On the
throughout
the great
next,
words,
concerted
river
base
Buddhistic
Yn other
and
the central
the
(S. Miyamoto)
spirit
ranges
and forms
out through
Ganges
Universalism.
congenial
Homeland
the Paflchara
the
of Aryan
the affectionate,
BEARINGS
and
equality
(4)
samasama)
of all
of the third
and negroid,
background
occurred
after
they had
of India.
point
the Jumna
and
Ganges
flow together,
gradually
and from
gathering
in
the waters of the Gunti, Gogra and Gandak, and the so-called five Rivers
(panca-nadi)
flow together
and become
the
The
motivating
section,
Great
Ganges
of Pataliputra
so to speak,
which
the point
of the Magadha
produced
out the
with Magadha
as its central
axis.
The Aryan people subjugated
secured a labor
people
(4)
Majjhima-Nikaya
(M.N.) 93, Assalayana,
Vol. II, pp. 88-89 and p. 84.
-992-
central
and made
social organization
of
(6)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
the, Aryans.
was
truly
The
Aryan
Middle
BEARINGS
Kingdom,
(S. Miyamoto)
constructed
in
( ),
this
which
manner
they
s.
had
won for the first time in the long history of their life. Here they produced.
the Aryan
culture
Brahmanas.
And this is even more evident, for they named this area "The
lives. Again,
their
So much
There,
then
the
India,
of their
became
Kingdom,"
region
place which
of
the
peoPle
the
second
stretches
Region"
in comparison
out straight
three
Region".
stages
Consequently,
in the history
Region
and the
Eastern
Kingdom
newness
was non-brahmanistic;
Region"
of the opening
in conformity
with.
of Aryan pioneering
be the "Northern
Kingdom"
Region"
Brahmanistic,
(udicya-
(madhya-desa)
"Middle
Then, since
be the "Middle
of North
with the
Middle
)"
and lodged.
of the Himalaya
would
been opened
of "the
and colonialization",
home
the framework
desa),
ideal place
"Northern
the mountains
frontier
intention
cultural
had
the
dwelling
this northern
along
"original
first period
and secure
spirits.
towards a formation
the
(Arya-varta).
cooperative
spirit of affection
andd
Northern
speaking,
aryanistic.
However, because the "Southern
Range which
served as a natural
Region"
obstacle,
- 991-
Mountain
of the warm.
THE
HISTORICO-SOCIAL
zone became
retrogressive.
that
is the
Avanti
southern
region,
relation
both
Buddhism
sion"
(S. Miyamoto)
(7)
Southern
Region
being fertile,
to King
BEARINGS
was
Asoka
(dakkhi.na-patha);
aryanized
and to Pince
much
scriptures
however,
this
faster. It has
some
Mihinda,
who transmitted
by the
Vajjiputtaka,
approximately
100 years
demise, the ones who formed the orthodox school were the Buddhist monks
of this region.
Later,
(daksina-patha)
region
the Godavari
between
the region
extensive
of Andhra
relations
Area."
The
banks
of this
usually
River,
and Maharastra,
with Nagarjuna,
remains
River,
called
(Krsna)
Region"
River, and
and
Aryan
the
frontier
Nagarjunikonda
opening
pioneering
"Southern
who had
of all
lie along
the
of the Southern
to a later period.
Accordingly,
the
of Amaravati
Kistna
Region belongs
carried
what was
the
meaning
has been
the contrast
of
the
to the southeast,
were
so that there
"middle
taken to signify
and colonization
()"
the fertile
in
the
agricultural
Aryan
Middle
living zone
Punjab to the Northwest, and the Vindhya mountains range to the south. The
Southern
region
was
regressive,
eastern
region,
frontier
was always stretched out moving toward the eastern area. However,
in the pioneering,
were directed
cultural
in the living
culture
fluidity, imitation,
and the
eastward,
was the
and
cultural
progress,
thought,
advancement,
enlargement,
and originality.
Consequently,
in the period
- 990-
(8)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
e xperience
( )
that
of
had
there
advance
Kingdom
of the
exchange
Eastern
and
the
was
Way"
ought
culture
period
and
royalty
of the
Second
of
and
thought
individuals
the
primitiveness.
been
Middle
opened
way was
and
because
( ),"
yet,
had
not
clearly
defined
to the
in
and
been
so
deeds
said
known,
original
and
and
to be
and
had
of
fostered
and
posture
original
have
the
of the
construction
the
being
too, the
Upani-
speculations
takes
of culture
it
always
Buddha's
of
has
opened
"Enligh-
enlightemment
way
which
not been
(5)
had
taught.
not
This
enlightenment.
of the frontiers
East,
free
as
of the
the
the
Brahma-
thought
to be "An individual
also
the
to
Kingdom
live,
It
far
of this,
is said
new and
and
and
the
to
with
Kingdom
However,
will
and
and developing.
of new
desires.
of creation
of seed, maturation
of thought
when
tenacious
merits
Way"
a completely
time
Middle
period
forward
Kingdom
Middle
Stage.
abundant
(),"
The
teachers
first
the
boundaries,
of the
Third
the
of
intention
unexplored
without
for
sentiment
the "original
tenment
of the
substantiated
supported
its
born
the
the
the
fermenting
the
Way
necessary
period
a process
period
and
Middle
the confrontation
Middle
after
the transitional
Six teachers
was
and
between
stage,
from
"from
it was
period
was a long
it was
period
of
born,
continuing
resulting
Region
to be placed
sadic
stage
Flower,
The
nistic
Buddha
This
constructed
of Lotus
( ).
to be
experience
thought,
Northern
Regions,
concept
concept
stage.
new
older
this
arduous
towards
(S. Miyamoto)
( ), the
For
of
the
Sutra
shedding
Middle
born.
second
until
of the
As with
Kingdom
been
opening
lasted
newer
Middle
yet
be a period
and
which
the
not
BEARINGS
the
of the Aryan
process
Middle
of development
( )
is
Country
towards
elucidated
in
(6)
the
state
of development
Now, what
about
the
of the
"Middle
pioneer's
Country"
culture.
of the
Chinese?
As indicated
(5)
Samyutta-Nikaya
(S.N.) XII, 58 Sambuddha, Vol. III, p. 66; S. N. VIII, 7
Pavarana, Vol. I, p. 191; M. N. 108 Gopaka-moggallana,
Vol. III, pp. 8, 18.
-989-
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
by
the
names
South
of
( )
the
middle,
merely
the
the
and
Barbarians
the
and
West
view
of the
Middle
ceremonies,
victors.
After
accounts
adopt
the
they
China
all,
these
they
were
of different
ideals
anew further
the
we see that
there
served
not
were
co-existence
flexibility
to the
with
was
( ),
number
the
other
Aryans
life
the
in
of rituals.
of the
peoples
there
What
in
China
four directions.
for the
of much
the
position
that
extent
in freedom.
to these
to enrich
concerned
less
East
special
a great
greatly
Much
(9)
opposition
History,
and
revolutions
occupied
the
hostile
ideas.
of harmony
( ),
onesidely
Country,
that
North
(S. Miyamoto)
diametrical
of Indian
and
to seek
the
( ),
of being
period
their
of
it is an interesting
In the
and
BEARINGS
attempt
peoples,
and,
toil
and.
self-examination
there
was,
however,.
(7)
of "a strong
the
commoner
both
legs-this
autonomy
kingdom,"
middle
(Original
Vaisya
clearly
from
of the priority
Brahmins
The Rg-Veda,
both
which
Sudras from
preserved
the
(6)
With a grasp of the developmental
process from the Middle Kingdom to
the Middle Way during the transition of the second and third stages of Aryan
pioneering and colonization, and making a map of the confrontation
of thought
from the first in India, the standpoint
of the Middle Way of the Buddha,
which occupies a position between the left and right wings, was clarified.
Bukkyo no Konpon Shinri (The Fundamental
Truth in Buddhism, in Jap.), ed.
by the present writer, Chap. I, "Buddhist Reality:
The Middle way and
Nirvana"
(Sanseido, 1956.), pp. 55-92. And, "The Logic of Relativity as the
Common Ground for the Development of the Middle way," in Buddhism and
Culture, The Commemoration Volume of Dr. Daisetz
T. Suzuki's Ninetieth
Birthday,
Kyoto: Otani University 1960) pp. 67-69.
(7)
Age of the Nandas and Mauryas, edited by K. A. Nilakanta Sastri (Banaras: Motilal Banarsidass, 1952), Chap. I, 1, ,Empire
of Magadha," by H. C.
Raychaudhuri,
p. 9.
-988-
(10)
the
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
Ganges
However,
capital
River
which
had
BEARINGS
been invaded
to the homeland
(S. Miyamoto)
by the English
its independence,
of the Aryan
Middle
and French.
Kingdom.
That is to say,
just as if to restore the capital of Kuru, Indraprastha, they built the capital
in New Delhi, not too far from their old capital. For there, the original
purity of the blood and culture of the Aryan people dwells, and the original
intention
to erect
a domain
Country
However,
has
tradition
influenced
was
the
national
Rajendra
engraved.
And
not
with
out
Prasad
image
Dharmacakra
Flag of India.
along
should
intention
The cremation
ceremony
of Mahatma
Because independent
of India,
its contemporary
of pride as a cultured
Mohandas
Karamchand
nation.
Gandhi
(on January
country
during
recent
between
of Prayaga,
the
dangerous
which symbolizes
of the
were performed
peace negotiations
at the sacred
of the eternal
on and is commemorated
climax
in the
Jumna,
sacred
-987-
The ashes of
were streamed
of the Aryan
Prayaga.
ground
Middle
land of many
Kingdom
prideful
lives
deeds,
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
III.
The
Non-dualistic
Middle-way
The
Middle
period
Kingdom,
BEARINGS
Mysticism
Pragmatism
of the
Upanisads
and
the third
(8)
of the
(S. Miyamoto)
Upanisads
(11)
and
The
of Buddhism.
occurs
stage
between
period
the
period
of the Buddhist
of the Aryan
Middle
King-
(12)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
ally as words,
later,
the
new
of the atman
frontiers,
who
jnavalkya's teachings
manifest his sagacity
knowledge
Asvapati
(S. Miyamoto)
concepts
Videha
BEARINGS
was
appeared:
able
to achieve
enlightenment
by Ya-
self, atmavaisvanara)
(in Brhad. Up. I. 15-20) that the atman formed from the consciousness
in the state of deep sleep as reached by King Ajatasatru is the primaeval
reality
(satyasya satyam),
King Pravahana
man)
which
gives
Jaivali of Panchala
and transmigration
(samsara),
(in Chand.
And further,
Up. V. 3-10).
liberation
of the royal
education
(kar-
All these
of action
new concept
of
it says in the
Brhad.
Up.
I. 4. 14, that:
Truly, dharma
dharma
is said
to speak satya. For, both of these are one and the same.
How much
tradition
of the great
forest texts
and
of liberation,
opening
finally towards
and proceeding
philosophy,
since the former mysticism had been closed to them. And that brought about
an advance
the truth
and religion
and brought
out the
-985-
and reality
for everyday
science of
in everyday
acti-
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
BEARINGS
(S. Miyamoto)
(13)
character.
between
medical
treatment,
Fourfold
tion
dharma
Truth
of the
analytical
and
of religious
systematized
the
Middle
and
Way realism
them in the
them.
the
manifest
the
primitiveness
there
was
born
of
humanistic
there
new
period,
banner
concept
transformed
the
function
the
Middle
philosophy
is the bond
and
of Buddhism
of the
are harmoniously
experience
of the Upanisads,
process,
of
the
cism to common
there
desire
is the
and maturation,
distinctions.
lines
performed
or the
and realiza-
some revolutionary
realism
construc-
(duhkha-samudaya),
origination,
which connect
and
of the
of Buddhism-these
on both before
mated
reality
the Middle
It is as if the Himalaya
was
of the
and cause
of phenomena,
(nirodha-marga),
the
Way
concepts of suffering
In the enlightenment
concept
ideals.
Upanisads
blended.
to the principle
and
observations
to religion
sense.
which
particular
its "middle
of
from
( )
fully
matured
distinction
way,
-984-
next
the
which
period.
there
in
adherence
moving
the
therein
Upanisads
was subliand
And then,
is
the
as the movement
one finds
was
and
in
a principle,
Buddhism,
as well
a close
which
into
to the
of
Again,
liberation
experience
of mediation
caused
life experience,
()."
non-dualistic
Way
In this
as well as similarities
the fact that there were
three
towards
in the
fruition
from
of experience
which
of
mysti-
stages
that
and
idea,
opening
up a
(14)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
IV.
The
Third
social
In
the
Kingdom
the
Bearings
third
from
Aryans,
setting
of the stage,
formed
watered
in
peaks.
together,
and an Indian
region
the self-awakening
The
Middle
Way.
the
of the
expansion
of the
( )"
the
Historico-
of management
Great
Ganges
heaven,
sky, earth,
becomes distinctly
came to be regarded
surpassed,
India
and
River
included
thread
as something
manifest.
numerous
by India's
of colonization
cities appeared
which
Already
made
black indigenious
natural
setting
and pioneering
it was instead
possible
people
from
who had
time
lived
there
on end, came to be
therefore
setthi),
great
rate,
carried
increased
clans (fresthi,
arisen
economically,
out, as cultural
communities
surpassing
shot forth
and politics,
became
abundantly
intercourse
and powerful
society
the
the warrior
joined and
as the wealthy
of thought
the
insignificant;
maintainers
in
people
and
buds.
Af to the
surrounded
area,
apPearing
concept that the self and others are born together harmoniously,
its realistical
Middle
In this period,
desire to subjugate
in the
period
from
(S. Miyamoto)
Pioneering
is further
mountain
Aryans
the
there
natural
center
of
of Eastern
of Coexistence
stage,
by the
"scope
Stage
BEARINGS
(Sahgha)
undertakings
of donations
was
such
historico-social
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
BEARINGS
(S. Miyamoto)
(15)
bearing. Even the field was opened that women, regardless of their social
standing, could participate freely in social activities. In particular, the
great massive existence of religious mendidants (paribbajaka, parivrajaka). who were free to make pilgrimages to the various lands, has some
connection with the sannyasin of the four periods of life (asrama: brahmacarin, grhastha, vanapsastha, and sannyasin) of the Aryan Middle
Kingdom, and may have become, moreover, a lubricate for the life of
coexistence, so great that we do not know how much it contributed just
to liberalize thought. Shakyamuni surely must have been among these
free, liberal thinkers, but it must be said that his thought and deeds have
long remained, while those of most of the others of his time have long
vanished with the passage of time. Crossing the Ganges from the foot of
the Himalayas, and then coming down to the south only as far as Buddhagaya, he would have continued his great trip, climbing at least 800
kilometers. The first place he preached, after attaining Satori at Gaya, was
Sarnath, outside the city of Benares (Baranasi), another 200 kilometers
to the north. And, later, since he spent the latter part of his life, 45
years, in making further religious travels and pilgrimages, how high did
his footprints really climb after all? As might be expected, at the end
he went north in order to be close to his homeland. However, he fell ill
on that trip, and entered Nirvana at Kusinara (Kusinagara), before reaching his destination. In this way, the Buddha truly endeavoured to bring
about the social edification of coexistence in the Middle Way with the
objective that all men can become the Buddha, by means of the footsteps
of his entire life, and he may be said to have spent his entire life in
(9)
accordance
with
the
With reference
law
(9)
of birth
Dharmata-yukti,
naturalness
to the ultimate
of
(jati)
(dharmata
truth
(gotta),
but conduct
ultimate
).
reality
(carana,
or
University
kamma).
naturalness, philo-
of Hawaii
Press,
(16)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
BEARINGS
(S. Miyamoto)
community
men of Brahmin,
understand
that several
noble
(sangha)
of Shakyamuni,
and wealthy
backgrounds,
there
and I further
regionally
Kosala which is also placed within the area of the home village
kyamuni,
who
had
were
many
relatives
of Sha-
and
point, there are some who criticize Buddhism for leaning towards the
right as a religious community, but since the original community of
Shakyamuni
always
had
contact
with
the
homes.
point of the, position of the lay-buddhists, there were few who leaned to,
the left or right; nearly all were down the middle way. As for the
condition
of Buddhism
general headquarters
for his distribution
international
during
the period
dispatching
the capital of Magadha Kingdom, which became a world center for politics,
economics
and culture,
and
moreover,
somewhat
more of a cosmopolitan
nature.
And further,
of Asoka
Asoka pioneered
(10) Age of the Nandas and Mauryas, Chap. X, "Language and Literature,"
by S. J. Chatterji and V. Raghavan, p. 310. The three regions of the North,
the Middle Kingdom and the East are classified by a linguistic examination
of the Aryans.
(11) Chizen Aaknuma, Genshi Bukkyo no Kenkyu (Studies on Primitive Buddhism,in ,Jap.),
"The Four Classifications
in Shakyamuni's
Religious Community.." Hajinkakushobo,
1939, pp. 392-393.
-981-
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
from ancient
Central
and Northern
(S. Miyamoto)
(17)
of Gandhara,
change
BEARINGS
the famous
times,
area of international
racial
cultural
equality
Asia.
the drainage
Himalayas
into
and is fused
(ekarasa)
and
wonder
with
the
River. Moreover,
the
sames
(unprecedented,
Great
alty
nation
of the Ganges,
reason
that there
Indian
taste
coming
Shakyamuni
( ),
equality
for the
one flavor
was
great
as distant
is some connection
The
Ocean, becoming
(lonarasa)
as far
by the
the Buddha.
advanced
and Ganges
ex-
throughout
Magadha,
it stands to
community
(sangha)
forthis period. Of the five rivers, it is said that the Ganges in particular
has great happiness
by performing
and prosperity;
ablutions
and washing
in its waters
has continued
from
ancient
immediately
( ),"
and
of the
even
spirit
before
of this "Great
the
passage
had
translated
into
(12) In the Kosoden (Biographies of High Priests), Chap. 5, Part 2, "Interpretors and Commentators,"
Section on Shih Tao-an, it says:"At
the time of
the Wei and Tsin Dynasties, a priest generally was named by his teacher,
and the surnames were not the same. But Tao-an thinks that the Great Master
is the origin and base and that there is no teacher more worthy of respect
than Shakyamuni.
And that is why he has everyone receive the name of
Shakyamuni.
And later, when they acquired the Ekottara Agama, in that, it
says that four rivers enter the ocean, and do not retain the name of the
original river. So when the four castes become priests, all should be called
sons of Shakya. This idea already agreed with the sutras and since then it
has become a permanent practice."
(TT. L. 353).
-980-
(18)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
the Chinese
this spirit
reveals
Buddhist
to the
Scriptures,
world,
BEARINGS
(S. Miyamoto)
had already
anticipated
and advocated
and testimony
that
Truth.
itself in both the East and West in the past and present.
dhamma)
(eight
unprecendented
are eight
virtues
or attha acchariya
in the Sangha.
abbhuta
Aciravati,
dharmas.
one taste of the great ocean, so, too, the members of the Sangha, by virtue
of the Dharma
Ksatriya,
Brahmana,
Vaisya,
(the fourth
unprecedented
Dharma).
Again, just.
as the Five Rivers flow into the Great Ocean and become one flavor and.
the same salty taste, the Sanngha also becomes the same taste of liberation
by virtue of the Dharma and the Vinaya (the sixth unprecedented
In addition,
anther
metaphor
Dharma).
the Ganges
always flowing to the East, heading toward the Great Ocean, there tending
toward
it, declining,
and returning
Truths
to enter it (nibbana-pona,
tend towards
nibbana-ninna,
stage of pioneering),
Noble
the place
Nirvana, decline,
(14)
nibbana-pabbhara).
(Magadha
(13) Anguttara-Nikaya
(A. N.), Atthaka-nipata 2, Mahavagga, 19 paharada, Vol.
IV, pp. 198-199, 202; 20. Uposatha, pp. 206-207; Udana, 5 Sonatherassa-vagga,
pp. 53, 55. Kogen Mizuno, Nanden Daizokyo Sosakuin (General Index to theSouthern Tripitaka),
Part II (Nihon Gakujitsu Shinkokai, 1961), p. 10. Akira
Hirakawa, Genshi Bukkyo no Kenkyu (Studies on Early Buddhism, in Jap.),
"The Prototype of the Religious Community System," (Shunjusha,
1964), pp.
15-16.
(14) S. N., XLV Magga-samyutta,
Samudda, Vol. V, pp. 38-40.
4 Ganga-peyyala,
-979-
91-96
Pacina,
97-102
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
by King
became Asiatic
In the
period
Central
and
"metaphor
North
of
th
India
metaphor
Ganges
that
and
but the
Asia
the
flow
Five
into
same flavor
)this "four
rivers
the
the
indicate
the
from
to the
"metaphor
constructed.
etc.,
form
ultimate
The
the
Great
in metaphors,
Ocean
same
also
Jumna,
is perhaps
that "Great
of
Ganges,
was
and
( )."
Ocean,
(15)
one that
to King Kanishka,
India
the
Great
(19)
( )"
Rivers,
the
to Central
of
its eternality,
Asoka, relayed
since a great
e five river
(S. Miyamoto)
in its entirety
of Kanishka,
lose
Buddha)
Buddhism
of
BEARINGS
flavor"
of
the
also
Anotatta),
Sakya
arouses
the boundaries
our
of Central
and do not
Clan"
interest.
The
and Northern
flows into the Aral Ocean, and the Seta to either the Yaxartes
(Sir-Daria)
or the Yarkand
the sphere
of Kanishka
River
(16)
Buddhism.
Considered
from today's
viewpoint,
world
geography
(15) Ekottara-Agama,
Vol. II, Sukha-duhkam (Chapter on Sorrow and Pleasure), 29, No. 9. "When the four rivers (Ganga, Sindhu, Vaksu, Sita) have
entered the great ocean, they lose their original names, and only the name
of the ocean is mentioned. This is also like the four castes. What are the
four? The ksatriya, the brahmana, the vaisya and the sudra. In the abode
of the Tathagata,
they shave their beards and the hair of their head. Wearing the three robes of the Dharmas, the leave home to become recluses and
to study the way. And they do not return to their original caste name again.
They are said to be priests and sons of Shakya. Why is this? The reason is
that
the
people
in the
religious
community
of the Tathagata
(TT.
(16) On the cultural spheres of the Aryans and Buddhists, cf. Miyamoto, ed.,
Daijo Bukkyo......, Ibid., Chap. I, Sect. 1, "Bukkyo Sekaikan no Kakudai" (The
Enlargement
of the Buddhist World-view, in Jap.), p. 22.
-978-
(20)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
has expanded,
and, therefore,
kyamuni's
BEARINGS
its world-view
equality
(S. Miyamoto)
culture
has likewise
broaded;
sketched.
In Sha-
posture
character
in the stanza
nature,"
of the world
the work-slaves
the problem.
"All sentient
which
of India
castes of primitive
is transcended
to become
Buddhism,
(sudra)
the so-called
nature,
which brings
in the original
outcastes
in the causal
of
having
no-nature
This a-gotra
relations
of karma
close to the
materialistic
religion.
Again, in
advo-
is thought
cultural
(17)
to mind either the sudras or the candala. Again,
is clearly a Brahministic
of the four
(panca-adhisamaya-gotrani)
exception
of society, such as
men without
that
In the equality
of the present
the fifth
of
or the present-day
and there
Buddhist.
beings without
The Nirvana-sutra
the borders
by religious
ethics,
the common
element
desired
are
all of
or of being
here was
(17) See this writer's "Gyo no shutaisei to Bussho chudo" (The Subjecthood
of Action,: Buddha-nature
and the Middle Way), in Commemoration of 1150
years since the Founding
of Koyasan, in Mikkyogaku Mikkyoshi Ronbunshu
(Collection
of Essays on the Study and History of Esoteric Buddhism), pp.
15-16, 1965.
-977-
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
the emancipation,
the framework
conversion
BEARINGS
(S. Miyamoto)
and transferrence,
(21)
of salvation.
of Magadha
four riers of Kanishka Buddhism, and advanced to the "all sentient beings
without exception have the Buddha-nature."
of the Nirvana-sutra, as well
as "The sentient beings of the ten directions become correctly enlightened"
of the Larger
China
and
stepping
Japan,
over
beings
can
emphasized
the
become
moreover,
the
Sukhavati-vyuha-sutra
the
national
bounds
the
great
Iand,
"one
towards
Buddha
without
and
all
was
that
In
the
constructed
exception
and further
can become
a position
( )."
catchphrase
all
(Dai-Muryoju-kyo),
become
the Buddha",
even
"non-sentient
medieval
that
Tendai
"the
the
in
grass
Sect,
and
Buddha".
trees,
(18)
)
The
the
line
of demarcation
freedom
of becoming
penetrated
that
to the
"even
religious
the
evil
Buddha,
nature
Buddha"
of the
of
of Shakyamuni,
lived
the
while
Middle
while
principle
and Shinran
beings
that
"all
has
progressed
steadfastly
and
Pataliputra,
Symbol
made
of the
in
men
non-
Buddha-
the
task
can become
along
can become
and the
Way
engaged
who
advocated
Nichiren
impermanency
in the
to expand
of self-power,
non-sentient
to the
thesemen,
broadening
Honen
Buddha,"
that
tends
the
of
the
Highway
Buddha-nature.
V.
The
extended
and
All
moreover,
the
penetrating
Buddha-nature,
standpoint
ineffectiveness
become
( ).
cultivating
of the
can
and Dogen,
of the
Buddhist
the Buddha;
concept
men
principle
existence
in the
The
Great
front
Ganges
line
to the
of Aryan
village
pioneering
of Kajangala,
in the
the
of the
Buddhist
eastern
New Period
period
boundary
may have
of the
"Bud-
(18) This writer, "Somoku Kokudo Shikkai Jobutsu no Bussho Ronteki Igi to
Sakusha" ("The Significance
and Authorship
of the Theory of the Buddhanature, that grass and trees, the national land can all become the Buddha," in
Jap.) in Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp, 261-291, 1961.
-976-
(22)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
dhist Central
BEARINGS
Kingdom" (Majjhima-janapada).
(S. Miyamoto)
land for
the new politics, economics and culture of that time seems to have already
been changing
to the Magadha
should we
place the cultural and social diametrical opposite points of such countries
as the Magadha Kingdom of the frontier, and within the Aryan Kingdom,
Sakiya,
First
were bordering
countries
Middle Kingdom,
had
acquired
ryan
elements,
from
Kosala
Sakiya
was
the Aryan
situated
Middle
to the
are part
southeast
practice
geographic
of a region
point of difference,
which
is included
rivers
of the Jumna
fourth
Kingdom
tributary,
Sarayu)
while Magadha,
(Sadanira,
(Ganga),
Hiran.navati,
River, which
continuing
on the contrary,
(Yamuna)
both Sakiya
the mainstream
and
near Benares),
which
Kingdom.
said that
as a cultural
water
the Aryan
upper reaches
which
and Kosala
of Magadha
elements of Magadha
Secondly,
both
Kosala?
non-Aryan
separated
Aryan outcastes
And
resemblances,
forms
which form
Mahi),
the western
in thee
but further
lies
boundary,
and
features
(19) Nalinaksha Dutt, Early History of the Spread of Buddhist and the Buddhist Schools (London: Luzac, 1925), pp. 32-39, 182-184. B. P. Sinha, The Declineof the Kingdom of Magadha (cir. 455-1000 A. D.), ibid., pp. xix-xx. Age of
the Nandas and Mauryas, ibid., pp. 9-10.
- 975-
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
would
appear
to be like the
BEARINGS
heart-section
(S. Miyamoto)
of Central
(23)
India.
Then, it is
just as if the motive power for new Indian developments to come had
been strongly fomenting and stored there. As for this Pataliputra (Pataliputta, Pataligama,
the Buddha,
of Vesali
King Ajatasattu
(Vaisali)
kara to construct
(20)
Palibhothra
of Megasthenes),
(Ajatasatru)
and commissioned
two ministers,
(Rajgir,
to have
(21)
Asoka, who
years
after
largest
King
the
that
demise
built,
King
of
internationalistic
Asoka
Lord
Range
and
Mahi)
since
futuristic
(22)
In the
first section
happenings
under
alliance
collect
which
of the
Girivrajapura).
Buddha,
nation
with
Sarabhu
the
foreseen
the
Sunidha
and Vassa-
would
the
plans,
underground
It would appear
to the
construct
beginning
Pataliputra
(Panca-nadi:
the
ascended
world's
of history,
because
crossing
of the
Himalaya
Buddha's
then
by the democratic
the
218,
his capital,
of the Mahaparinibbana-suttanta,
Ajatasatru,
throne
last years,
King
movements
it notes
of Magadha,
in politics,
which
records
the circumstances
resisted
economics
the
strong
and society
Capital
constructing
Rajagaha,
and
there,
besides
newly
his political
(24)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
BEARINGS
(S. Miyamoto)
putta: not only did he build quarters for his warriors and ministers in
the capital (Agga-nagara),
but many saintly men (Ariya) came to dwell
there;
even
merchants
district
of foreign
gathered,
and
it became
the
chief
producing
trade-the
outline of prosperous Pataliputra
is thus
(23)
in the form of a prophecy. In addition to the foregoing, there
described
command
that
the
gate
through
which
the
river,
Shakyamuni
and that the
place of Gotama
(Gotama-tittha);
however, only the naming of the Gotama Gate is recorded
in the Scriptures. For, in this paragraph,
the village of Pataligama, the
ferry place of the Ganges, may have flourished
and the
transitional
actively
undertaken,
Nothing
combining
Kingdom
as this important
capital
construction
the Himalayas,
of the Dharma."
the
which
was
(24)
may have been after the last yejrs of the Buddha.
is so wondrous
during
and geographical
Buddha
period
Great
purposefully
Ganges
strange
going southward
point of Pataliputra,
further going south, coming up to the vicinity of
Gaya, to seek out the place of religious practice for Satori. Born and raised
in an Aryan
environment,
the
Buddha
had sufficiently
applied
himself
and History
his
(London:
(24) Daichido-ron
(Mahaprajna-paramita-upadesa-sastra),
Vol. II: "After the
Buddha entered Nirvana, King Ajatasatru,
abandoned Rajagrha, because the
number of people was gradually diminishing,
and built again a small town
nearby. One yojana in length and breadth,
its name was Pataliputra;
it
seems, moveover, that it became the largest of all the towns." (TT. XXV. 78).
-973-
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
own religious
practice,
even selecting
of a new enlightenment?
his final training
farther
BEARINGS
at Gaya
Rajagaha
Enlightenment
dhammesu),
which
which
The Middle-Way
symbolized
and receiving
vision
the Correct
Vinaya Mahavagga
Principles
I. 1), and
of Compassion
by the Himalayas
the education
and training
absoluteness
been born
symbolized
and the
pure
of a prince
possessed
which
allegory
Ganges
of
the
Just
herbs
The
mystical
mountains
alone have.
What is
as the
flows without
three
wisdom revealed
the Aranyaka-Upanisads.
of an Aryan royal
of two things:
by the Himalaya
sacredness
and Wisdom
the
in him
(pathama-abhisambuddha
The Buddha,
snow;
and there
never before
VI.
family
(25)
of Magadha,
a non-aryan
Shakyamunii
ground,
(S. Miyamoto)
generative
ceasing
and
the
to the philosophical
two
night
and, infinite
sages of
figure
of
trees
( )
in
the
(25)
(Osadhi-parivarta)
of the Saddharma-Pundarika
(The Lotus of the True Law), the compassionate motherhood of the Great
Ganges
which
is bound
in the
Because
up with
the
monsoon-like
upbringing
that all
watering
of the fact
that
country,
his
Law, by W. E.
(26)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
homeland,
and
traveled
to study at Magadha
theory
new
period
step?
of
jecthood
).
of
Then,
united
the
to the
in the preceding
of the third
the
the
the other
together,
in the
appeared
of
(the
others,
of race,
worked
culture
the self
self
of
his
self
and
and
the
way
the
was
the
Middle
the
as
one
other)
called
self
put life
Way
are
the
equal
of non-duality
well
was
into both
of the
in each
standpoint
( )
other
which
for
Aryan
stage which
subjecthood
that
self with
of "selflessness,"
other
but
respect
that
Now, compared
second stages
he was finally
and their deve-
of class, or of ideology,
assitance;
austerities,
of all things
embraces
theory
and-prosperity.
Kingdom, which
religious
and
(paratma-samata)-any
and progressive
(S. Miyamoto)
the Buddha,
of the Middle
mutual
practiced
identical
BEARINGS
the
as
for
the
sub-
(
the
teaching
self
of self
and
and
the
other
( ).
in life,
resigned
themselves
their
past lives
and
as the individual
defects
in social
god (issaranimmana-hetu-vada).
during the new period, there
the
or causal
relations,
appaccaya-vada).
the
beings,
people
had
i. e., the
Shakyamuni
or the discretion
of
of an omnipotent
self to nothingness,
(26)
environment,
of human
(pubbekata-hetu-vada),
abandons
destiny
whether
doctrine
of no-cause-no-conditions
in such a fatalistic
(ahetutheory
pubbekata-hetu-vada,
of previous
Above
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
BEARINGS
all, he steadfastly
resisted
(S. Miyamoto)
such nihilism.
(27)
deity.
(hetu) forms the basis of scientific investigation and is the essential study
of the existence of the individual self, there is a tendency for it to become
the
treatment
Moreover,
falling
there
into
Opposed
of egocentricism
is the
a compulsion
to this, the
holds
of becoming
for asserting
and advocated
fast
the
danger
which
supremacy
of the absolute.
the theory
of "the other"
of becoming
(para),
which
gave
Shakyamuni.
The fact that a new field was opened, of respect for the
"other" and reliance upon the "other," became of great advantage for the
social
struction
appearance
of the
standpoint
of "depending
in causality
(hetu), the
on" or "relation"
(paccaya,
pratyaya) which meant also the social reliance and trust, was completely
revolutionary. Against the tendency to lock oneself up in the standpoint,
viewpoint
and assertion
to be opened
against
by means
the one-cause
of the reliance
of the original
democratic
and trust
and development
was fulfilled
by means
which
of phenomena.
it is quite
(paticca-samuppada,
"relational
arising"
of "relations"
that
new expressions
of the
natural
of society came
compo-
looking Buddhist
of dependent
in
stand-
origination
pratitya-samutpada),
as "dependent becoming," and
(asmin sati idam bhavati; asya utpadad idam utpa -
dyate).
In such a theory
suffering,
selflessness
dependent
-970-
origination,
there
is vividly
and
(28)
THE HISTORICO-SOCIAL
BEARINGS
(S. Miyamoto)
graphically
described the aspect of becoming befitting the culture of
the new period which is symbolized by the Great Ganges. And Shakyamuni,
(27)
moreover, originated the theory of the Middle Way which revolves and
rounds out mutually
(Moksa=Nirvana,
-Moksa), giving
Nirvana
numbers,
of Buddhism
the liberation
Satori
substantiate
and
in the
here-and-now
the happiness
of great
but he also
as a "world religion."
(moksa, vimoksa),
in the Upanisads,
and
by
the
Great
Wisdom
(maha-prajna)
(Maha-karuna)
of
the
Himalayas,
of the Ganges.