Korea Journal of Buddhist Studies 불교학연구 ISSN:1598-0642(Print)

There has been a dispute on the character of Vasubandhu when he was writing the Abhiharmakośabhāṣya. Such scholars as Robert Kritzer insisted that he was already influenced by the Yogācārins. There are scholars who regard Vasubandhu working under the name of the Sautrāntikas not as a hīnayāna but as a mahāyāna scholar. Although he can be understood in this say from the some aspects of his writing, there are indications to show he still is in the field of the traditional Buddhist Institution. In this paper I will deal with this problem though his interpretation of mentality (manas), especially in the argument against the Vaiśeṣika school.As you may well aware, there is no difference in their reference in the mind (citta), mentality (manas), and consciousness (vijñāna) within the Northern Buddhist schools, such as the Sarvāstivādins and the Sautrāntikas. However, they become the 8th ālayavijñāna, the 7th manas and the 6th manovijñāna respectively in the depth psychology of the Vijñaptimātra-Yogācārins. While the 8th ālayavijñāna was a fresh concept introduced, the 7th consciousness, manas, was the modification of the existing concept. Thus, how Vasubandhu understood manas could be a kind of yardstick to decide his character during the time of the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya.The second chapter deals with the general understanding of he mind (citta), mentality (manas), and consciousness (vijñāna) from the scattered passages of the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. The third chapter studies the Vaiśeṣika understanding of manas. For them it is the inner faculty to link between faculties and self (ātman) and is the size of an atom. The forth chapter deals with the refutation of the Vaiśeṣika manas seen in the ninth chapter of the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. In the fifth chapter, I will discuss the later development of the inner faculty (manas) within one of the Hindu philosophical schools, the Mīmāmsa. In the Bhaṭṭa school of the Mīmāmsa, the working of manas between faculties and self (ātman) was reduced to almost nothing.