For all that Vasubandhu and Śrīlāta both belong to the Sautrāntika, regarding their interpretations of citta-caitta, the following ideological differences were revealed by Katō Junshō 加藤純章 （1989）. Śrīlāta’s theory of “the process of perception” is objected to by Vasubandhu, who has the same notion of citta-caittasaṃprayukta as did the Sarvāstivādins. If these two both belong to the Sautrāntika, then why did Vasubandhu maintain the citta-caittasaṃprayukta instead of “the process of perception”?
This article sees the solution in the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya and Nyāyānusāriṇī. It argues that there is a possibility Vasubandhu maintained citta-caittasaṃprayukta on the basis of his own saṃtāna-pariṇāma-viśeṣa. Basically, Vasubandhu does not recognize perception from the past, but only from the present. Therefore, so as not to be in conflicit with his own theory, he adopted citta-caittasaṃprayukta, which is able to coincide with present mind, while “the process of perception” is accepted as perception from the past. Thus, this article offers the hypothesis that the difference of the theories between Vasubandhu and Śrīlāta stems from Vasubandhu’s own theory.
