The Jñānaprasthānaśāstra Passed Down by Pāścātya

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss two texts: the Jñānaprasthānaśāstra, passed down by Pāścātya, and the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra as found in the Sarvāstivādin school. I also look at the specific textual tradition of the Sarvāstivādin school. The result of my research is that the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra that was quoted in the Chinese translation of the Jñānaprasthāna called the Fazhi lun is related to the Kṣudravastu of the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya. In addition, I point out that the Sarvāstivādins accepted a variety of types of textual traditions. In other words, we find the existence of passages with different content in the same part of the same text, but for the Sarvāstivādins this was permitted because both are regarded as passages in scripture.