Abhidharmakośa-bhāsya
The Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (Sanskrit: अभिधर्मकोशभास्य, lit. Commentary on the Treasury of Abhidharma), Abhidharmakośa (Sanskrit: अभिधर्मकोश) for short (or just Kośa or AKB), is a key text on the Abhidharma written in Sanskrit by the Indian Buddhist scholar Vasubandhu in the 4th or 5th century CE. The Kośa summarizes the Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma in eight chapters with a total of around 600 verses and then comments on (and often criticizes) it. This text was widely respected and used by schools of Buddhism in India, Tibet and East Asia. Over time, the Abhidharmakośa became the main source of Abhidharma and Sravakayana Buddhism for later Mahāyāna Buddhists.
Translations of Abhidharmakośa | |
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English | Treasury of Abhidharma |
Sanskrit | अभिधर्मकोश (IAST: Abhidharmakośa) |
Bengali | অভিধর্ম্মকোষভাষ্য |
Chinese | 阿毗達磨俱舍論 阿毗达磨俱舍论 |
Japanese | 阿毘達磨倶舎論 (Rōmaji: Abidatsuma-kusharon) |
Korean | 아비달마구사론 (RR: Abidalma-Gusaron) |
Tibetan | ཆོས་མངོན་པའི་མཛོད་་ (chos mngon pa'i mdzod) |
Vietnamese | A-tì-đạt-ma-câu-xá luận
Câu-xá luận Thông minh luận |
Glossary of Buddhism |
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In the Kośa, Vasubandhu presents various views on the Abhidharma, mainly those of the Sarvāstivāda-Vaibhāṣika, which he often criticizes from a Sautrāntika perspective. The Kośa includes an additional chapter in prose refuting the idea of the "person" (pudgala) favoured by some Buddhists of the Pudgalavada school.
The Vaibhāṣika master Samghabhadra considered that Vasubandhu had misrepresented numerous key points of Vaibhāṣika Abhidharma in the Kośa, and saw Vasubandhu as a Sautrāntika (upholder of the sutras). However, Vasubandhu often presents and defends the Vaibhāṣika Abhidharma position on certain topics (contra Sautrāntika). Because of this, Chinese commentators like Pu Guang do not see Vasubandhu as either a Vaibhāṣika nor as a Sautrāntika.