ParamÃÂrtha (Sanskrit, Devanagari: à ¤ªà ¤°à ¤®à ¤¾à ¤°à ¥Âà ¤¥; ) (499-569 CE) was an Indian monk from Ujjain, who is best known for his prolific Chinese translations of Buddhist texts during the Six Dynasties era. He is known as one of the four great translators in Chinese Buddhist history (along with KumÃÂrajëva and Xuanzang). He is also known for the various oral commentaries he gave on his translations which were written down by his disciples (and now only survive in fragmentary form). Some of ParamÃÂrtha's influential translations include Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakoà Âa, Asaá¹ gaâÂÂs MahÃÂyÃÂnasaá¹Âgraha, and DignÃÂga's ÃÂlambanaparëkṣà& HastavÃÂlaprakaraá¹Âa.
ParamÃÂrtha is associated with some unique doctrines. He is traditionally seen as having taught the doctrine of the "immaculate consciousness" (amalavijñÃÂna, Ch: amoluoshi é¿æ©羠èÂÂ). He is also seen as the source of the doctrine of âÂÂoriginal awakeningâ (benjue [æ¬覺]). ParamÃÂrtha is also associated with various works on Buddha-nature that became extremely influential in Chinese Buddhism. These include the Treatise on Buddha Nature (Foxing lun ä½Âæ§è«Â) and the Mahayana Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qi xin lun 大ä¹Âèµ·ä¿¡è«Â), a key work for Huayan and Chan Buddhism. However, modern scholars have expressed doubts about the attribution of the Awakening of Faith to ParamÃÂrtha (as well as numerous other texts), and scholarly opinion remains divided, often due to discrepancies between ancient Chinese catalogs.
Due to his teachings which synthesize Yogacara thought with Buddha-nature ideas, ParamÃÂrtha is traditionally seen as a key figure of the Shelun School (æÂÂè«Âå®Â), a major tradition of Chinese Buddhist thought in the 6th and 7th centuries as well as a major figure of the Faxing school (æ³Âæ§å®Â, âÂÂSchool of Dharma-natureâÂÂ). The distinctive doctrine of the Faxing school was "the existence of a pure and transcendent element within the mind, in which case liberation would simply be a matter of recovering that innate purity." This was opposed to the view of Xuanzang and his school, which held that the mind was impure and had to be totally transformed.
ParamÃÂrtha was born in 499 CE in the autonomous kingdom of Malwa in central India, at the end of the Gupta Dynasty. His given name was KulanÃÂtha, meaning "savior of the family", and his parents were Brahmins belonging to the BhÃÂradvÃÂja clan. His Buddhist name of ParamÃÂrtha means "the ultimate meaning," parama: uppermost, artha: meaning. In the Buddhist context, this refers to the absolute, as opposed to merely conventional truth.
ParamÃÂrtha became a Buddhist monk in India, most likely in the SÃÂá¹Âmitëya Vinaya. He received support from royalty for his travels to spread the teachings of Buddhism. He most likely received royal patronage from BÃÂlÃÂditya II or KumÃÂragupta III. The Maukhari ruler Dhruvasena I may have also supported ParamÃÂrtha, as his kingdom was a well-known bastion of the type of YogÃÂcÃÂra teachings advocated by ParamÃÂrtha. ParamÃÂrtha also seems to have associated with Jivitagupta of the Later Gupta dynasty as the latter instructed ParamÃÂrtha to provide assistance in the translation of Mahayana texts to a Chinese delegation in 539 CE.
The first destination of ParamÃÂrtha was the kingdom of Funan, or pre-Angkor Cambodia. Here in Funan, ParamÃÂrtha's reputation grew to the extent that Emperor Wu of Liang sent ambassadors to bring ParamÃÂrtha to the Chinese imperial court. ParamÃÂrtha arrived in China through Guangdong (then called Nanhai) on 25 September 546 CE.23 The conditions of Paramartha's arrival at the capital are described in a Chinese introduction written by Pao Kuei in 597 CE:
In China, ParamÃÂrtha worked with a translation team of twenty accomplished monks. Paramartha's work was interrupted by political events and the general chaotic state of China during this period, which included the murder of Emperor Wu. Several years later, ParamÃÂrtha was able to continue translation efforts in earnest with his translation team, beginning with the Golden Light Sutra (Skt. Suvará¹ÂaprabhÃÂsa Sà «tra). Despite his success in China, ParamÃÂrtha wished to return to India toward the end of his life, but felt that this journey back to the west would be "impossible." Instead, he accepted the patronage of Ouyang Ho and continued his translation efforts at a rapid pace. During much of his later life, ParamÃÂrtha continued a pattern of continually translating texts while traveling from region to region in China. He also continued to review his older translations for any areas in which the words and the general meaning were in conflict.
During his later years (562âÂÂ569) ParamÃÂrtha finally attained a stable patronage and could remain in one single place to work - Guangzhou. It was during this late period that he and his main students, like Huikai, Sengzong (å§å®Â), Fazhun (æ³ÂÃ¥ÂÂ), and Sengren (å§å¿Â), produced the most important translations, like the Abhidharmakoà ÂabhÃÂá¹£ya and the MahÃÂyÃÂnasaá¹Âgraha. In this later period, ParamÃÂrtha had become famous throughout southern China and had acquired a supportive following of disciples, many of whom traveled great distance to hear his teachings, especially those from the MahÃÂyÃÂnasaá¹Âgraha.
In 569 CE, at the age of 70, he died, and a stà «pa was built in his honor.
ParamÃÂrtha's interest ranged across a wide variety of Buddhist teachings, from Abhidharma, to Yogacara Buddhism, Buddha-nature teaching and Nagarjuna's ethical teachings.
However, ParamÃÂrtha is most well known for introducing his unique Yogacara doctrine of the "pure consciousness" or "immaculate consciousness" (amalavijñÃÂna, Ch: amoluoshi é¿æ©羠è or wugou shi ç¡å¢èÂÂ). This doctrine expands on the Yogacara school's doctrine of eight consciousnesses by introducing the immaculate consciousness as a ninth consciousness.
The term amalavijñÃÂna was not a new term and had been used by Vasubandhu in his Abhidharmakoà Âa (at 5.29). In this text, the term refers to a âÂÂconsciousness without outflowsâ (anÃÂsravavijñÃÂna). This is a consciousness that has been purified of all defilement through insight into the four noble truths and which brings freedom from rebirth. Likewise, the Yogacarabhumi contains teachings on purified consciousness (visuddha vijñÃÂna). It is likely that these earlier sources influenced ParamÃÂrtha's conception of immaculate consciousness.
ParamÃÂrtha's concept of the amalavijñÃÂna is a pure and permanent (nitya) consciousness that is unaffected by suffering or mental afflictions. This immaculate consciousness is not a basis for the defilements (unlike the ÃÂlayavijñÃÂna), but rather is a basis for the noble path (ÃÂryamÃÂrga). It is thus a purified vijñÃÂna skandha (consciousness aggregate). As Michael Radich notes, ParamÃÂrtha holds that there are two different types of basic consciousnesses, "one the basis for worldly and defiled dharmas, and the other the basis of transcendent (lokôttara) dharmas." Furthermore, the phenomena produced by the immaculate consciousness act as the counteragent to all the defilements and the amalavijñÃÂna is said to be attained by the cultivation of the wisdom that knows Thusness (tathatÃÂ). According to ParamÃÂrtha, Buddhahood is achieved when, after practicing the noble path, the mind experiences the âÂÂrevolutionary transformation of the basisâ (ÃÂà ÂrayaparÃÂvá¹Âtti) during which the storehouse consciousness (ÃÂlayavijñÃÂna) ceases to exist, leaving only the immaculate consciousness free of all evil (dauá¹£á¹Âhulya), suffering and all outflows (asrava). Thus, according to Michael Radich "ParamÃÂrtha understood *amalavijñÃÂna to be the counteragent to ÃÂlayavijñÃÂna, and the two to be in a temporal relationship to one another, whereby ÃÂlayavijñÃÂna existed only until liberation, and was then succeeded by fully realised *amalavijñÃÂna."
Some texts attributed to ParamÃÂrtha also identify the Yogacara idea of the perfected nature (pariniá¹£pannasvabhÃÂva) with the amalavijñÃÂna. Some of these texts also see the teaching of the immaculate consciousness as a superior or higher version of the Yogacara doctrine of vijñaptimÃÂtra (weishi), which posits not just the unreality of non-mental phenomena, but also the unreality of the defiled consciousness itself.
According to Radich, some sources attributed to ParamÃÂrtha also identify the immaculate consciousness with the âÂÂinnate purity of the mindâ (praká¹ÂtiprabhÃÂsvaracitta) and this links the concept with the pure Thusness of the RatnagotravibhÃÂga and thus with the doctrine of Buddha nature (foxing ä½Âæ§). This purity is also linked with the dharmadhÃÂtu and, according to Radich, "this is the beginning of a process that links *amalavijñÃÂna into a chain of identifications for (aspects of) the MahÃÂyÃÂna âÂÂabsoluteâÂÂ.
Some modern scholars also consider the "Treatise on Buddha Nature" (Foxing lun ä½Âæ§è«Â, T. 1610) to be an original work of ParamÃÂrtha, based on his reading of the RatnagotravibhÃÂga (both texts share many similarities). Because of this, ParamÃÂrtha is seen as an important figure in the development of the Yogacara-tathagatagarbha synthesis.
Since the status of the various texts attributed to ParamÃÂrtha are still up for debate, attempting to extract ParamÃÂrtha's original doctrine from later interpolations and the ideas of other figures in ParamÃÂrtha's tradition is quite difficult.
There are many disagreements and discrepancies between the main Chinese Buddhist catalogs regarding ParamÃÂrtha's translations and modern scholarly opinion on which works to attribute to him also remain divided. Some scholars have also argued that the term âÂÂParamÃÂrtha" should often be regarded not as a single individual, but as a group of scholars, the âÂÂParamÃÂrtha groupâ or translation workshop. This helps explain why the various catalogs diverge in many ways.
According to Keng Ching and Michael Radich, the following key texts are agreed upon by all catalogs (with minor differences in dating etc) as being translations of ParamÃÂrtha (and his team of translators):
Regarding the famous Mahayana Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qi xin lun 大ä¹Âèµ·ä¿¡è«Â, T. 1666), it is cited as "dubious" in one of the Chinese catalogs, hence the current scholarly debate as to its provenance.
An important source for ParamÃÂrtha's doctrine of the immaculate consciousness is the Jueding zang lun (決å®ÂèÂÂè«Â, the beginning of the Vinià Âcayasaá¹Âgrahaá¹Âë portion of the YogÃÂcÃÂrabhà «mi, T. 1584). This text is not included in all catalogs of ParamÃÂrtha's works but is considered to be by ParamÃÂrtha by various modern scholars including Michael Radich.
There are numerous other works attributed to ParamÃÂrtha and there is still much scholarly debate regarding which works can be attributed to him.
Scholars have noted that some of ParamÃÂrtha's translations contain deviations from their Indic or Tibetan counterparts. Some scholars such as Funayama TÃ Âru, have argued that this difference is due to ParamÃÂrtha's "lecture notes" being included as part of the translations of the Indian source texts.
Some of ParamÃÂrtha's various lost works, including some of his oral commentaries written by his students, have survived in fragmentary form as quotations in later texts. Modern scholars are still working on collecting these fragments.
After ParamÃÂrtha's death, his various students dispersed and attempted to spread his teachings, but they were not very successful.
It was only due to the efforts of Tanqian (æÂÂé·; 542âÂÂ607) that ParamÃÂrtha's teachings flourished and became popular in the north. In spite of the fact that Tanqian had neither met ParamÃÂrtha, nor studied with any of ParamÃÂrthaâÂÂs students, it was Tanqian who really popularised ParamÃÂrtha's teachings, especially the MahÃÂyÃÂnasaá¹ÂgrahabhÃÂá¹£ya, which he taught together with the Awakening of Faith. Tanqian is also seen as a key figure of the Shelun School (æÂÂè«Âå®Â) and he possibly was the main force behind the promotion of the Awakening of Faith as ParamÃÂrtha's work. The Shelun School based itself on ParamÃÂrtha's translation of VasubandhuâÂÂs MahÃÂyÃÂnasaá¹ÂgrahabhÃÂá¹£ya.
As ParamÃÂrtha's work became more influential, it also became central to the so called Faxing school (æ³Âæ§å®Â, âÂÂSchool of Dharma-natureâÂÂ), which was a Chinese form of Yogacara that also placed much emphasis on the doctrine of tathagatagarbha.
ParamÃÂrtha's doctrine of the immaculate consciousness was a particularly influential teaching which was widely adopted by many later Chinese Buddhist thinkers. Beginning with the work of Huijun (æ §åÂÂ, d.u., fl. 574âÂÂ580s?), the immaculate consciousness began to be widely called the untainted consciousness (wugoushi ç¡å¢èÂÂ) as well as the âÂÂninth consciousnessâ (jiushi ä¹ÂèÂÂ), an extension of the Yogacara doctrine of eight consciousnesses). While numerous later sources claim that ParamÃÂrtha taught the immaculate consciousness as a âÂÂninth consciousnessâÂÂ, this is not found in any of ParamÃÂrtha's extant works and Michael Radich writes that the truth of the issue is impossible to determine. Later sources also drew on a passage in the Laá¹ÂkâvatÃÂra sà «tra to defend the doctrine of immaculate consciousness as a ninth consciousness.
The idea is used by numerous influential East Asian Buddhist authors like Zhiyi (æºé¡Â, 538âÂÂ597), Wà ÂnchâÂÂuk (Ã¥ÂÂ測, 613âÂÂ696); Wà Ânhyo (å ÂæÂÂ, 617âÂÂ686); Amoghavajra (ä¸Â空éÂÂÃ¥ÂÂ, 705âÂÂ774), Chengguan (æ¾Âè§Â, 738âÂÂ839); and Zongmi (å®Âå¯Â, 780âÂÂ841).
Many later authors interpreted ParamÃÂrtha's doctrine of the immaculate consciousness through other works, especially the Awakening of Faith. The influence of the Awakening of Faith on the immaculate consciousness doctrine can already be seen in the work of Jingying Huiyuan (淨影栧é , 523âÂÂ592). For Huiyuan, the amalavijñÃÂna and the ÃÂlayavijñÃÂna are both two aspects of the same "true" consciousness, reminiscent of the "One Mind" of the Awakening of Faith. The doctrine is also further developed in the VajrasamÃÂdhi sà «tra.
Faxiang school thought also commented on the doctrines associated with ParamÃÂrtha, the immaculate consciousness and the "ninth consciousness". Kuiji, a key disciple of Xuanzang, saw the doctrine as heterodox and criticised it in his works.' Wà ÂnchâÂÂuk meanwhile used the term untainted consciousness as just a synonym for ÃÂlayavijñÃÂna.