Vasubandhu (4th to 5th century C.E.) was a renowned Buddhist teacher and played a key role in the establishment of Mahayana Buddhism in India. He was a philosopher who published commentary on the Abhidharma from the Sarvastivada and Sautrantika schools of thought. His writings demonstrate his command of contemporary Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophy. This article will explain the Vasubandhu which will be helpful in Ancient History preparation for the UPSC Civil Service Examination.

Vasubandhu

• He was born in the state of Gandhara in Purushapura (now Peshawar, capital of Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province).
• Vasubandhu was born one year after his older brother Asanga became a Buddhist monk, according to Taranatha.
• Vasubandhu began his studies with the main Buddhist Sarvastivada (also known as Vaibhika, who defended the Mahavibhasa) school in Gandhara, and subsequently proceeded to Kashmir to study with the chiefs of the orthodox Sarvastivada branch.
• Later, he is reported to have converted to Mahayana ideas under the influence of his brother Asanga, after which he wrote a number of lengthy treatises, particularly on Yogacara theories and Mahayana sutras.
• He lived at the same time as Chandragupta I, the father of Samudragupta. This knowledge places Vasubandhu in the fourth century CE.
• Paramartha translated Vasubandhu's first biography into Chinese.
• According to legend, Vasubandhu died at the age of 100 while touring Nepal. He was a prolific writer, producing a great number of other works.

Vasubandhu

Abhidharma

• Abhidharma are ancient Buddhist works (third century BCE and later) that include thorough scholastic treatments of doctrinal content found in Buddhist sutras.
• It also refers to the scholastic approach as well as the topic of knowledge that is considered to be studied using this method.
• Abhidharma is an important topic of study for both Theravada and Mahayana Buddhists.
• The most significant of these treatises is undoubtedly Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosa Bhasya (Treasury of Higher Knowledge, 5th century), a collection of poems and supporting commentary.
• It frequently criticises Vaibhasika viewpoints from a Sautrantika standpoint.
• The Sautrantikas were a dissenting group within the Sarvastivada tradition that opposed several of the central Vaibhasika beliefs.

Vasubandhu - Literary works

• Vasubandhu is claimed to have written a thousand works, 500 in the Hinayana school and 500 in the Mahayana tradition.
• However, only forty-seven of Vasubandhu's writings are known to exist, nine of which are in the Sanskrit original, twenty-seven in Chinese translation, and thirty-three in Tibetan translation.
• The Abhidharmakosha is Vasubandhu's most extensive independent exposition.
• It was designated as a fundamental textbook for all students of the tradition in Northern Buddhist nations, including Tibet.
• Vasubandhu's Karma Siddhi (Establishing Karma) is a brief, quasi-Hinayana treatise coloured with Sautrantika leanings, as is the Abhidharmakosha.
• His Pancha Skandha Prakarana (Exposition on the Five Aggregates) covers the majority of the topics covered in the Abhidharmakosa.
• Vasubandhu questioned individuals who believed that dharmas are anything more than temporary in his Karma Siddhi Prakarana (Exposition on Establishing Karma).
• The Vimsatika is Vasubandhu's most creative and philosophically intriguing essay.
• Vasubandhu devotes a significant section of this chapter to answering Realist arguments to Yogacara.
• One of Vasubandhu's most mature works is the Trimshika, which became the main book of the Faxiang (Japanese Hossoo) school.
• The Foxinglun (Treatise on Buddha Nature) had a significant impact on Sino-Japanese Buddhism by introducing the notion of tathagata-garbha (Buddha Nature).
• Another major literature attributed to Vasubandhu is the Vadavidhi (A Method of Argumentation).
• Vasubandhu's comments on sutras and shastras are as important as the preceding standalone treatises.
• He authored commentary on three treatises: the Madhyantavibhaga (Discrimination of the Middle and Extremes), the Mahayanasutralamkara (Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras), and the Dharmadharmatavibhaga/Dharmadharmtavibhanga (Discrimination between Existence and Essence).
• All three treatises are major writings of the Yogacara school, and they are attributed to Asanga's guru, Maitreya.

Yogacara school

• The Yogacara school, named after one of its founding texts, the Yogacarabhumi (Stages of Yoga Practice), provided perhaps the most sophisticated examination and description of how the mind works in all of Buddhism—in psychological, epistemological, logical, emotional, cognitive, meditative, developmental, and soteriological modes.
• It was both a rigorous, rational philosophy and a complex system of practice, providing ways for identifying and correcting cognitive flaws inherent in the way the mind functions, because enlightenment required direct, instantaneous, and right knowledge.
• The half-brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu are credited with creating Yogacara, one of the two major Indian Mahayana schools.
• Yogacara developed unique concepts and methods for synthesising past Buddhist teachings into a cohesive antidote (pratipaksha) for eradicating the cognitive issues that blocked freedom from the karmic cycles of birth and death.

Asanga

• Asaga (4th century C.E.) was an Indian scholar who is regarded as the founder of the Yogacara school and one of the most prominent spiritual figures of Mahayana Buddhism.
• He is traditionally regarded as one of the seventeen Nalanda teachers who taught at the monastery in modern-day Bihar.
• He and his half-brother Vasubandhu are considered the most important ancient Indian Sanskrit exponents of Mahayana Abhidharma.
• Asanga went on to compose several of the Yogacara school's main treatises (shastras). Many distinct works were credited to him over time.

Asanga

Conclusion

Vasubandhu (4th to 5th century C.E.) was a well-known Buddhist teacher who played an important role in the spread of Mahayana Buddhism in India. He lived at the same period as Chandragupta I, Samudragupta's father. Vasubandhu was born in the fourth century CE, according to this information. His publications show that he understands modern Buddhist and non-Buddhist thinking.