“The cessation of the manovijñāna, or consciousness, with the function of conceptualization represents nirvana” (vikalpakasya manovijñānasya vyāvṛttir nirvāṇam), says the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra (LAS. 126) which is one of the Mahayana scriptures composed under the influence of Yogācāra thought. This statement, however, seems to be confusing, because in the system of the Yogācāra thought nirvana seems at least not to be associated with the cessation of manovijñāna, but should be attained by the conversion of the ālayavijñāna. Thus, some scholars attempted to interpret the meaning of the manovijñāna in this context. Funahashi Naoya was of the opinion that this manovijñāna plays the role of ālayavijñāna. On the contrary, Kubota Chikara reasoned that the function of manovijñāna is not distinguishable from the manas or self conscioussness.
These understandings appear to be dependent on the premise that LAS explicates Mahāparinirvāṇa. However, a few statements in LAS suggest that nirvana in the disputed statement does not indicate Mahāparinirvāṇa but rather the afflictive hindrances (kleśāvaraṇa). Thus, this paper aims to show a probable understanding of nirvana in this statement by considering the explanation of the śrāvakas and pratytekabuddhas’ nirvana, which is described as the cessation of manovijñāna or consciousness in LAS.
