Indian opponents. These Buddhist and non-Buddhist
disputants used the term vijñanavadato emphasize the
Yogacara assertion that external objects do not exist,
but consciousness does, thus inviting an idealist inter-
pretation that these opponents (especially the realist
schools, such as Nyaya, Mmamsika, and SAUTRAN-
TIKA) refuted at great length. Aspects of Buddhist epis-
temology associated with the Vijñanavada position
include claims that parts, not wholes, are real; claims
that particulars are real, not universals; the notion of
momentariness; and the assertion that sense-objects
(visaya), because they appear only within cognitive
acts, are not external to the consciousness in which
they appear.
The term Vijñanavadawas a misnomer because Yo-
gacara epistemology actually claimed that while cogni-
tive objects (visaya) appearing in consciousness were
real, the thing-itself (vastu)—which is singular, mo-
mentary, and causally produced—was not appre-
hended by ordinary perception. Yogacara denies the
realist claim that the perceptible object (visaya) has a
corresponding vastuas its referent (artha), since a ref-
erent, whether perceptual or linguistic, is always a cog-
nitive construction. However, once the consciousness
stream is purified of emotional and cognitive obstruc-
tions (kles ́avarana and jñeyavarana, respectively), a
vastucan be cognized by direct, immediate cognition
(jñana), unmediated by cognitive, conceptual overlays
(prapañca, kalpana, parikalpita). This type of cognition
is called nirvikalpa(devoid of conceptual construction).
Bibliography
Shastri, D. N. The Philosophy of Nyaya-Vais ́esika and Its Conflict
with the Buddhist Dignaga School (Critique of Indian Realism).
Reprint, New Delhi: Bharatiya VidyaPrakashan, 1976.
Stcherbatsky, F. Theodore. Buddhist Logic (1930), 2 vols.
Reprint, New York: Dover, 1962.
DANLUSTHAUSVIMALAKIRTI
Vimalakrti is a nonhistorical human BODHISATTVA
known primarily as the main protagonist of an early
MAHAYANAsutra called the Vimalaklrtinirdes ́a(The
Teaching of Vimalaklrti). Although a layman, Vima-
lakrti is depicted as possessing the highest wisdom
and attainment. Out of sympathy with the suffering
of all beings and as a strategy for teaching (UPAYA), he
feigns a serious illness and, knowing this, the Buddha
instructs each of his s ́ravaka and bodhisattva disciples
to ask after his health. All are reluctant to go, having
been humiliated by Vimalakrti’s greater wisdom be-
fore, and only Mañjus ́ragrees. All the others follow
to watch the encounter, the climax of which is a dis-
cussion in which Vimalakrti asks each bodhisattva in
turn how one enters nondualism. Mañjus ́roffers the
ultimate insight that all dharmas are beyond dis-
course, but is trumped by Vimalakrti, who remains
silent when asked for his own answer. Vimalakrti also
displays a dry sense of humor, directed primarily
against S ́ARIPUTRA, as the main representative of the
s ́ravaka community.
As a spiritually accomplished layman Vimalakrti
offered an influential model for Buddhists in East Asia,
where Indian Buddhist monasticism conflicted with
Chinese social values. His popularity led to his depic-
tion in painting and a number of lesser known texts in
which he was the protagonist. The Vimalaklrtinirdes ́a
is also popular amongst Western Buddhists and has
been translated into English several times.See also:LaityBibliography
Lamotte, Étienne. The Teaching of Vimalaklrti,tr. Sara Boin.
London: Pali Text Society, 1976.
Watson, Burton. The Vimalaklrti Sutra.New York: Columbia
University Press, 1996.ANDREWSKILTONVINAYAThe word vinayais derived from a Sanskrit verb that
can mean to lead or take away, remove; to train, tame,
or guide (e.g., a horse); or to educate, instruct, direct.
All these meanings or shades of meaning intermingle
in the Buddhist use of the term, where it refers both
to the specific teachings attributed to the Buddha that
bear on behavior, and to the literary sources in which
those teachings are found. Vinayais, in short, the body
of teachings and texts that tell the ordained follower
of the Buddha how he or she should or must behave.
An ordained follower of the Buddha is one who has
undergone a formal ritual of ORDINATIONas a part of
which he or she proclaims himself or herself able to
follow the established rules. He or she does not—it is
important to note—take a vow to do so. In fact, vowsVINAYA