Protector of the Law - Goho

A scholar of the Yogacara school (Yuishiki school) of Indian Mahayana Buddhism. His Sanskrit name is Dharmapāla. He was one of the many scholars who developed this school after Asanga and Vasubandhu, and was around the same time as An'ne, who advocated a theory that was in opposition to his. Recent research has shown that there are two schools of Yogacara: the doctrine of consciousness with form and the doctrine of consciousness without form, with Dharmapāla being considered to be a scholar representing the former and An'ne the scholar representing the latter. He is also counted among the ten scholars who wrote commentaries on Vasubandhu's Thirty Verses on Consciousness, the fundamental doctrine of this school, or the Ten Great Commentators. He became the head of the Nalanda Temple at a young age. His disciples included Kaiken and Saishoushi, and his theories were brought to China by Xuanzang, who studied under Kaiken, and became the Hosso sect. His most representative work is the commentary on the Thirty Verses on Yogacara (translated by Xuanzang), and other works that remain include the Commentary on the Mahāyāna Kōhyaku-ron (translated by Xuanzang), the Commentary on the Preciousness of Birth (translated by Yijing), and the Commentary on the Observation of Dependent Origin (translated by Yijing). However, all of these works have been passed down only in Chinese translation, and the original Sanskrit texts and Tibetan translations no longer exist.

[Nobuaki Katsuro, November 18, 2016]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

インド大乗仏教瑜伽行(ゆがぎょう)派（唯識(ゆいしき)学派）の学匠。サンスクリット名はダルマパーラDharmapāla。無著(むじゃく)、世親(せしん)以後この学派を発展させた諸学匠のなかの一人で、ほぼ同時代に安慧(あんね)がおり、彼と相対峙(たいじ)する学説を唱えた。最近の研究においては、瑜伽行派に有相(うそう)唯識説と無相(むそう)唯識説との2系統があり、護法は前者を、安慧は後者を代表する学匠であるとみられている。またこの学派の根本教義書である世親の『唯識三十頌(じゅ)』に対し注釈を著した10人の学匠、すなわち十大論師のなかの一人に数えられる。若くしてナーランダー寺の学頭となる。弟子に戒賢(かいけん)、最勝子(さいしょうし)らがあり、戒賢に師事した玄奘(げんじょう)によってその学説が中国に伝えられて法相(ほっそう)宗となった。著書は『唯識三十頌』の注釈である『成唯識論(じょうゆいしきろん)』（玄奘訳）が代表的であり、そのほかに『大乗広百論釈論(だいじょうこうひゃくろんしゃくろん)』（玄奘訳）、『成唯識宝生論(ほうしょうろん)』（義浄(ぎじょう)訳）、『観所縁論釈(かんしょえんろんしゃく)』（義浄訳）などが現存するが、いずれも漢訳のみに伝えられ、サンスクリット原典、チベット訳は現存しない。

［勝呂信静　2016年11月18日］

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