ARYAS ́URA
Aryas ́ura was a fourth-century C.E. Sanskrit poet. His
famous work, the JATAKAMALA(Garland of Jatakas),
contains thirty-four stories about the noble deeds of
the Buddha in previous incarnations, exemplifying in
particular the PARAMITA (PERFECTION) of generosity,
morality, and patience. Written in prose interspersed
with verse, it is one of the Buddhist masterpieces of
classical Sanskrit literature.
See also:Jataka; Sanskrit, Buddhist Literature in
Bibliography
Khoroche, Peter, trans. Once the Buddha Was a Monkey: Arya
S ́ura’s Jatakamala.Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1989.
PETERKHOROCHEASAN ̇GA
Asan ̇ga (ca. 320–ca. 390) is regarded as the founder of
the Yogacara tradition of MAHAYANAphilosophy. His
biography reports that he was born in Purusapura, In-
dia, and converted to Mahayana from the HINAYANA,
later convincing his brother VASUBANDHUto make the
same move. Together they systematized the teachings
of Yogacara, authoring the main Yogacara commen-
taries and treatises. Asan ̇ga’s many works include
Abhidharmasamuccaya (A Compendium of Abhi-
dharma), which presents and defines technical terms
and usages, and the Xlanyang shengjiao lun,extant only
in Chinese translation, a text that summarizes the truly
compendious Yogacarabhumi(Stages of Yogic Practice),
with which he is also connected as author/editor. Other
commentaries are attributed to him on important Yo-
gacara and some Prajñaparamita and Madhyamaka
works as well. By far his principal work is the Ma-
hayanasamgraha(Summary of the Great Vehicle), in
which he presents the tenets of Yogacara in clear and
systematic fashion, moving step by step, first explain-
ing the basic notion of the storehouse consciousness
and its functional relationship to the mental activities
of sensing, perceiving, and thinking, then outlining the
structure of consciousness in its three patterns of the
other-dependent (dependent arising applied to the
very structure of consciousness), the imagined, and the
perfected, which is the other-dependent emptied of
clinging to the imagined. He then sketches how the
mind constructs its world; he develops a critical phi-
losophy of mind that, in place of ABHIDHARMA’s naive
realism, can understand understanding, reject its imag-
ined pattern, and—having attained the perfected state
of S ́UNYATA(EMPTINESS)—engage in other-dependent
thinking and action. Asan ̇ga thereby reaffirms the con-
ventional value of theory, which had appeared to be
disallowed by earlier Madhyamaka dialectic. He treats
the practices conducive to awakening (perfections,
stages, discipline, concentration, and nonimaginative
wisdom) and finally turns to the abandonment of delu-
sion and the realization of buddhahood as the three
bodies of awakening. Asan ̇ga’s work is a compendium
of critical Yogacara understanding of the mind.See also: Consciousness, Theories of; Madhyamaka
School; Yogacara SchoolBibliography
Keenan, John P., trans. The Summary of the Great Vehicle by
Bodhisattva Asan ̇ga (Translated from the Chinese of Para-
martha).Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Trans-
lation and Research, 1992.
Lamotte, Étienne, ed. and trans. La Somme du Grand Véhicule
d’Asan ̇ga(Mahayanasamgraha), Vol. 1: Version tibétaine et
chinoise(Hiuan-tsang); Vol. 2: Traduction et commentaire.
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, 1938–39. Reprint, 1973.
Rahula, Walpola, ed. and trans. Le compendium de la super-
doctrine (Abhidharmasamuccaya) d’Asan ̇ga. Paris: École
Française d’Extrême-Orient, 1971. Reprint, 1980.JOHNP. KEENANASCETIC PRACTICESBuddhism arose in India at a time when a number of
non-Vedic ascetic movements were gaining adherents.
These S ́ramanic traditions offered a variety of psycho-
somatic disciplines by which practitioners could expe-
rience states transcending those of conditioned
existence. Accounts of the Buddha’s quest for awak-
ening depict the BODHISATTVAengaging in ascetic dis-
ciplines common to many S ́ramanic groups of his time.
The bodhisattva reportedly lived in the wilderness,
practiced breath-control, gave little care to his manner
of dress, and fasted for long periods, strictly control-
ling his intake of food. But these accounts are not en-
tirely consistent. Most indicate that the bodhisattva
practiced asceticism for a period of six years; others
(namely the Sutta Nipata446, and the An ̇guttara Nik-ARYAS ́URA