The law of dependent origination, which presents the Buddhist conception of karmic causation, has undergone a certain evolution during the development of early Buddhism. Before the composition of the Pāli Canon in the 1st century BC, various versions of the formulation of this law existed. By the time the generally accepted version of the law was formulated; it included 12 components (Skt. nidāna). This law is found in both Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna texts, as well as in most treatises in the Pāli Canon. However, in some parts of it, such as the Dīgha Nikāya, presumably composed by the 3rd century BC, other formulations are used, with different numbers of components and different relationships between them. This may indicate either an earlier stage in the formation of this law as one of the main elements of Buddhist doctrine, or variations in the interpretation of the law among different schools of thought. The second assumption is more reasonable. For the compilers of the canon, in the case of general agreement among the Buddhist community on the main doctrinal concepts, they would have to remove traces of earlier stages in the development of the teaching during the editing process. Thus, the discrepancies indicate the existence of various schools within the Buddhist community, that differed, among other things, in their interpretation of the basic dogmas of Buddhism.
Key words: early Buddhism, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Pāli Canon, law of dependent origination, written monuments of ancient India, Sanskrit
DOI: 10.22250/20728662_2024_2_140
About the author
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Sergei L. Burmistrov – Dr. Sci. (Philosophy), Leading Researcher, Section of South Asian Studies, the Department of Central Asian and South Asian Studies, Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences; 18A Dvortsovaya emb., St. Petersburg, 191186, Russia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |