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NAGARJUNA'S PHILOSOPHY the dharma that is devoid of birth and by nature siinya.10 (pIa) Knowledge derives its name in accordance with its obiect (PIa) It is this knowledge of the unconditioned reality that enables the bodhisattva to enter the non-dual dharma, and transcending all divisions and distinctions to comprehend fully the wldivided being Thus he can t:omprehensively fare in the prajiiiipiiramitii (the integral experience or the undivided reality) The Siistra mentions three different kinds of knowledge prevalent in the world and points out that the prajiiiipiiramitii, the knowledge of the ultimate reality, is the highest kind, wisdom par excellence; it is superi or to all of them There are three kinds of knowledge i\l the world: firstly there is the skilful knowledge of mundane things, the wide acquaintance wid things like literature and arts, the knowledge of benevolence, religious rites etc.; secondly, there is the knowledge that leads one to freedom from birth (in inferior spheres) like the realm of sense-desire etc.; thirdly there is the transmundane knowledge (that sets one-) free from the sense of "I" and "mine," and puts an end to all elexp.ents of defile ment This is the knowledge of the sriivakas and the pratyeka-lmddhas whose iisravas have become extinct But prajiiiipiiramitii is the highest kind and superior to all of these It is completely pure and free from clinging It is the knowledge that benefits ($.�) all people (-W�1=:).u (370c) This highest kind of knowledge is an integral principle that com prehends the aspect of cognition as well as emotion comprises truth as well as compassion As the knowledge of the ultimate nature of things it completely destroys ignorance puts an end to passion purifies the eye of wi�dom and turns the attention of people away from the ordi nary objects of pleasure and fixes it in the highest source of peace and JOY· The dharma that is called prajiiiipiiramitii is most profound, difficult to comprehend (In their real nature which is the same as prajlliipiiramitii) all lI8 IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGE things are completely devoid of all determinate natures, therefore prajnii piiramitii (the real nature of things) is most profound In it all thoughts and all activities of mind come to an end, therefore it is difficult to see In it there is not the clinging even to prajniipiiramitii and therefore it is said to be difficult to comprehend In it all the three kinds of poison and all kinds of prapanca come to an end and therefore it is called Peace With the realization of the excellent taste of this prajnii, one realizes a permanent fulfilment (of heart), and there is no more any hankering left (1i\"��1M)E]!�m*) All other kinds ofprajnii are gross, rough, devoid of joy.Therefore this prajnii is called excellent.12 (450a) People have various misconstructions of klefas and false notions making their minds turbid.But when they realize the prajnii, then their minds become pure and of one form (�fI-�) .Prajniipiiramitii can illuminate the darkness of ignorance that is associated �th all ele ments of affliction as well as the ignorance that is not so associated; (it can brighten up) the darkness of stupidity in regard to all things Prajniipiiramitii can cure (the disease of) the eye of wisdom and then 'the eye of wisdom would itself change into prajnii It can tum (� ) the attention of people's minds from the usual objects of desire and pleasure (towards the object of eternal fulfilment and joy) (478c479a) Section LEVELS AND III PERSPECTIVES The five eyes: Levels and perspectives of understanding: The fact that prajnii in its purest form is ever there as the very nature of the self-conscious individu:J is a point that should not be missed But in ordinary people it is covered up with the dirt of ignorance and passion.It is not only possible but essential to wash away this dirt; then the original brightness of prajnii shines forth once again.The five kinds of eyes that the prajnii piiramitii-sutras speak 0[13 are really the different levels of comprehension, the different degrees of removal of this dirt from the mirror of mind• II9 NAGARJUNA'S PHILOSOPHY enabling it to reflect the true nature of itself as well as of all things The eyes yield views; but the views differ not only in range, but in depth and in the quality of illumination The bodhisattva already has the eyes of flesh and has partially even other four kinds of eyes But these eyes are covered up with (the dust of) the limitations of sin ( i.e., ignorance and passion) (iiJliffafll!lI) �nd are therefore unclean For example, the mirror is by its nature bright but due to the dust (:!Fn�) on it, (its brightness) cannot be seen; but if the dust is washed away then it shines bright as ever before (J!ft the IJJ'J�n*) (347a) The eye is the faculty or power of sight, yielding a view, an idea, a judgment, of the nature of things As kinds of the power of sight the eyes are always in themselves pure, although there are differences among them of depth and extension, as well as of the mode of comprehension The deepening of the sight consists in realizing the relative nature and value of the different levels and perspectives; and this naturally implie� a level of complete comprehension To persist in the limited levels and perspectives and cling to them as themselves limitless is an error The ultimate sight is the sight of the ultimate, the unconditioned Nothing short of that can yield the ultimate "view." But the ultimate view is not any "view,'! not any defmite view exclusive of all the rest It is a view in so far as it is an awareness, a comprehension; but it is an aware ness that is complete, an understanding that is comprehensive of all other levels and entirely free from errors and shortcomings The eyes of the flesh and the deva eye: The eyes of flesh and the deva eyr: see only partially By confining oneself to these eyes one commits the error of seizing the determinate as itself the absolute But it should be horne in mind that none that is self-conscious is bereft of the sense of the real; in fact all eyes, as kinds of sight, ,have their origin in prajiia Thus the Sulra says: All the five eyes of the Buddha arise from prajtliiparamitii (467c) 120 IGNORANCE AND KNOWLEDGE In the light of the sense of the real one puts an end to the factors of ignorance and passion that limit one's vision; by the cultivation of the sense of the beyond one purifies one's eyes Thus the Siitra says: The bodhisattva while cultivating prajniipiirarnitii purifies eyes (347a) his five In themselves the eyes are not such as to constrain one to cling to characters The "view" is due to the eyes; but the clinging to the view is due to ignorance The Buddha also sees through the eyes of flesh, but He does not cling to the "view." The objects of sight for the eyes of flesh or the physical eyes are the gross objects of ordinary experience; with the purification of the physi cal eyes "the bodhisattva can see (the whole of ) visible riipa,"14 "all the three thousand great thousand worlds."15 While the eyes of flesh become pure through one's (moral) deeds, the deva eye becomes pure through dhyiina and samiidhi contemplation and meditation, as well as by the leading of moral life.18 The objects of sight for the deva eyes are "birth and death, good and bad and the causal factors of the good and evil deeds of all beings" in all the worlds, which lead them to differ ent kinds of existence in different spheres The eyes of flesh cannot see things that lie even beyond a wall; they cannot see distant objects.1s These are the eyes with which common people see things (The eyes of the common people are capable of only a partial seeing) They see the near but not the distant; they see the external but not the internal; they see the gross but not the subtle (If) they see the east they cannot see the west; (if) they see this, they cannot see that; (if) they see the combination they cannot see the dispersion; (if) they see birth, they cannot see extinction.] (3 Soc) These eyes see everything as having its own nature and different from all the rest The sight that these eyes yield is not different from that of animals.20 Therefore the "view" of the eyes of flesh cannot be 121 NAGAR]UNA'S PHILOSOPHY uncritically accepted as yielding comprehension of the ultimate nature of things Even the objects of sight for the deva eye are only the determi nate characters like identity and difference, the unreal, composite entities formed of causal factors If one would see merely through these eyes, one would be prone to cling to the determinate as itself the absolute There is need for enlivening one's sense of the real through a critical assessment of the true nature of things There is need for the sight of the eye of wisdom.21 The eye of wisdom: The eye of wisdom is free from the errors (of the eyes of flesh and of the deva eye).22 The eye of wisdom and the other two eyes become pure through the cultivation of the limitles� prajna as well as through acts of merit, viz., of love and compassion.22< The object of the eye of wisdom is the true nature of things, NirvaI).a, the unconditioned dharma J the universal reality It can see all things, and it can put an end to all perversion It is the eye of wisdom that yields us the sight of the highest truth, viz., that Stupidity and wisdom are neither identical nor different, that the mundane is not different from the transmundane and vice versa, that the mundane is itself (in its real nature) the transmundane and the trans mundane is itself (what appears as) the mundane that in (the ulti mate) truth there is no difference between them (In the ultimate truth) all the different views disappear, all the acti vities of mind return (and enter the dharmatii) and there is no other sphere (for the mind) to reach.There all words cease; the world is it self (beheld in its true nature) as NirvaI).a and not anything different It is this wisdom (by means of which one realizes this ultimate truth) that is called the eye of wisdom.23 (348a) It is by virtue of the power of the eye of wisdom that one keeps oneself free from clinging exclusively either to the composite or to the incomposite, either to the mundane or to the transmundane, either to the deftled or to the undeftled Non-clingingly one fares in all things One does not cling to the determinate when one does not 122 ... partial seeing) They see the near but not the distant; they see the external but not the internal; they see the gross but not the subtle (If) they see the east they cannot see the west; (if) they see... confining oneself to these eyes one commits the error of seizing the determinate as itself the absolute But it should be horne in mind that none that is self-conscious is bereft of the sense of the. .. NAGARJUNA'S PHILOSOPHY enabling it to reflect the true nature of itself as well as of all things The eyes yield views; but the views differ not only in range, but in depth and in the quality of illumination
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