Vasubandhu - Seshin

A great scholar of mid-period Buddhism from around 400-480 (or around 320-400). His original name was Vasubandhu, and he can also be translated as Vasubandhu. He was from Peshawar in Gandhara, which was in northwest India at the time. He studied under the Sarvastivada school, the largest and most conservative school of Buddhist sects, and the Sūtrasiya school, which branched off from the same school, and he illustrated these in his famous work, Abhidharma-Kosharon (abbreviated as Abhidharma-Kosharon). This book is the most basic outline of Buddhism, skillfully summarizing the central ideas of Buddhist sects (Buddhist philosophy, worldview, etc.), and it has been widely read in India, China, and Japan to this day. Later, when he was invited by his brother Asaga (Aṇicakra), he converted to Mahayana Buddhism, and Vasubandhu condensed the Yogacara philosophy that Maitreya had inherited from Asaga and established in the Twenty Treatises on Yogacara and Thirty Verses on Yogacara. In short, Yogacara encompasses all forms of existence, including objects, in pure mental activity, and more clearly and systematically represents the previous idealism. As Yogacara is supported by the practice of yoga, it is also called the Yogacara school. The Yogacara tradition developed in India, Tibet, China and Japan as the Hosso sect, and is particularly known for its academic precision. Vasubandhu's other works include the Mahayana Treatise on the Achievement of Karma, the Mahayana Treatise on the Five Aggregates, and others. He is also said to have written the Buddha Nature Treatise and the Mahayana Treatise on the One Hundred Dharmas. In addition, he wrote many excellent commentaries on the most important treatises that form the core of the middle Mahayana period, as well as many major sutras.

[Mitsunori Saegusa December 12, 2016]

"Vasubandhu" by Mitsunori Saegusa ("Intellectual Heritage of Humanity 14", 1983, Kodansha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

400～480年ごろ（または320～400年ごろ）の中期仏教の大学者。原名はバスバンドゥVasubandhu。天親(てんしん)とも訳す。当時インドの北西部ガンダーラのペシャワルの出身。部派仏教のうちで最大の学派であり保守派を代表した説一切有部(せついっさいうぶ)と、同系から分派した経量部(きょうりょうぶ)とに学び、それらを名著『阿毘達磨倶舎論(あびだつまくしゃろん)』（『倶舎論』と略称）に示す。この書は、部派仏教の中心になる諸思想（仏教哲学や世界観など）を実に手際よくまとめた仏教のもっとも基本的な綱要書であり、インド、中国、日本で広く読まれて今日に至る。のち兄のアサンガAsaga（無著(むじゃく)）に誘われて大乗仏教に転向すると、マイトレーヤMaitreya（弥勒(みろく)）からアサンガに受け継がれて確立した唯識(ゆいしき)思想を、世親は『唯識二十論』と『唯識三十頌(じゅ)』とに結集した。唯識は略言すれば、純粋な精神作用に、対象を含むいっさいのあり方を包括し、それまでの唯心論をさらに明確に組織的に示す。なお唯識はヨーガの実践に支えられるので、瑜伽行(ゆがぎょう)派ともよばれる。唯識の伝統はインド、チベットのほか、中国および日本で法相(ほっそう)宗として発展し、とくに学問的精密を誇る。世親の著書には、さらに『大乗成業論(じょうごうろん)』『大乗五蘊論(ごうんろん)』ほかがあり、『仏性論(ぶっしょうろん)』『大乗百法明門論(ひゃくほうみょうもんろん)』もその著とされる。そのほか、中期大乗の主軸となるもっとも重要な諸論書や、主要な多くの経典に対し、優れた注釈書を多数著している。

［三枝充悳　2016年12月12日］

『三枝充悳著『ヴァスバンドゥ』（『人類の知的遺産14』1983・講談社）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例