와수반두(Vasubandhu, 世親)의 저작 및 사상적 귀속 문제(1)

Against the theory of two Vasubandhus(1)

&nbsp;&nbsp;With the proposition of the "theory of two Vasubandhus" by E. Frauwallner and his disciple Schmithausen, it became no longer possible for researchers in the field of Buddhist studies to avoid an important philological question regarding the works of Vasubandhu: Of those texts that have traditionally been handed down in China and Tibet as works of Vasubandhu, which were in fact ascribable as the real works of Vasubandhu-the-author-of-the Abhidharmako？a?<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Even though there is general agreement among Buddhist scholars that among Vasubandhu&quot;s works the treatise Vy？khy？yukti is one whose study is essential to the understanding of the process of development and transformation in Vasubandhu&quot;s thought, the fact is that the work remains for the large part neglected, due to the absence of both the Sanskrit original and the Chinese translation version. Given this situation, I have attempted in this article, to trace and follow up on the process of the unfolding of Vasubandhu&quot;s thought from its Abhidharma Buddhism background to its eventual Mah？y？na orientation, based on a detailed analysis of the Vy？khy？yukti, all the while assuming that there was in fact only "one Vasubandhu" all along.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;In this article, I begin with a philological overview of Vasubandhu&quot;s major works as the logical starting point for the study of Vasubandhu&quot;s thought. In so doing I bear out the fact that traditional Chinese and Tibetan theories on the facts concerning Vasubandhu&quot;s life are closer to the historical truth than the "theory of two Vasubandhus". Methodologically, I take Vasubandhu-the author-of-the Abhidharmako？a-k？rik？ as my beginning point of reference, and then follow as guideline Vasubandhu&quot;s own allusions to related texts. Based on these sources, I draw up a definitive list of Vasubandhu&quot;s works, which may be organized as follows:<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;Vasubandhu, the author of the Abhidharmako？a-k？rik？ went on to write the Abhidharmako？a-bh？？ya, and later the Vy？khy？yukti, the Karmasiddhi, the Prat？tyasamutp？da-vy？khy？, in that order.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;The Vy？khy？yukti is a treatise which sets down the hermeneutical guidelines for accepting not only the early Agamas, but also the later Mah？y？na scriptures as the original teachings of the Buddha himself. In the work, Vasubandhu refutes the H？nay？na claim that the Mah？y？nist scriptures cannot be ascribed as having been the actual words of the Buddha, arguing that such Mah？y？na texts as the Praj？？p？ramit？-s？tra be accepted as authentic teachings of the Buddha himself, based on the hermeneutical principle of abhipr？ya ("hidden meaning"). Moreover, we see that in explicating the hidden meaning contained in the Mah？y？na scriptures, Vasubandhu takes recourse to sutras which allegedly reveal the full intentions of the Buddha (Ch. liao-i ching), such as the Sa？dhinirmocana-s？tra and the La？k？vat？ra-s？tra, thus introducing Vij？？nav？din theories into his system in the process.<BR>&nbsp;&nbsp;From this we can gather that Vasubandhu was already making his mark as a thinker belonging to the Mahayana Vij？？nav？din school at the time of writing the Vy？khy？yukti. Thus, thanks to the Vy？khy？yukti, we are now able to understand more systematically the beginnings of Vasubandhu&quot;s intellectual leanings toward Mahayana, the facts surrounding which we were hitherto only able to glean in fragments through the Abhidharmako？abh？？ya.