Haribhadra on Property Ownership of Buddhist Monks

Past studies have revealed that the eminent Śvetāmbara monk Haribhadra Yākinīputra (8th or 9th century) had a good knowledge about various kinds of the Buddhist philosophical and epistemological concepts, and that he inveighed against such as the theory of momentariness, the concept of consciousness...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kawasaki, Yutaka 1975- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: [publisher not identified] 2017
In: International Journal of Jaina Studies
Year: 2017, Volume: 13, Issue: 5, Pages: 1-12
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
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Summary:Past studies have revealed that the eminent Śvetāmbara monk Haribhadra Yākinīputra (8th or 9th century) had a good knowledge about various kinds of the Buddhist philosophical and epistemological concepts, and that he inveighed against such as the theory of momentariness, the concept of consciousness-only (vijñaptimātratā), Dharmakīrti’s epistemology, and so on. Besides, it is also well known that Haribhadra was a bitter critic on the daily practices of Buddhist mendicants in their monastic life. We can find one such criticism in the Prakrit treatise Dhammasaṃgahaṇi which was reportedly composed by him. According to Dhammasaṃgahaṇi verse 986, an opponent is said to assert that the Buddhist monks can possess various types of property in villages and so on because their owning of such property leads to the growth of the “three jewels (buddha, dharma, and sangha),” that is, Buddhism. After this assertion, Haribhadra starts disputing with his opponent over the legitimacy of the property ownership of Buddhist monks till verse 1015. This paper, after briefly touching upon the concept of ‘non-possession (aparigraha)’ in Jainism, will explore how Haribhadra criticizes his opponent’s claims and how his opponent argues back against Haribhadra in order to legitimate the property ownership of Buddhist monks. Through a careful reading of this dispute which probably reflects some historical facts, this paper will reveal the different understandings on the concept of possession (parigraha) and that of non-attachment between Jainism and Buddhism. It will also shed new light on the actual conditions of the management of Buddhist monastery in the medieval period.
ISSN:1748-1074
Contains:Enthalten in: International Journal of Jaina Studies