Korea Journal of Buddhist StudiesISSN:1598-0642(Print)불교학연구회

After the Mahā.yā.na Buddhism rose greatly in India, the Mahā.yā.nikas accepted and observed two precepts simultaneously, Ś.rā.vaka-ś.ī.la handed down from the Nikā.ya-saṅ.gha and Bodhisattva-ś.ī.la from the Bodhisattvagaṇ.a. Then, why did the Mahā.yā.na Buddhism in India attempt to keep Ś.rā.vaka-ś.ī.la and Bodhisattva-ś.ī.la together? How did China try to overcome this problem? And does Bodhisattva-ś.ī.la still hold good these days? This paper aims at examining these questions. The early Mahā.yā.na Buddhism in India did not accept Ś.rā.vaka-ś.ī.la transmitted from the Nikā.ya-saṅ.gha. The Mahā.yā.na Buddhism started by denying both dhamma and vinaya of the traditional Buddhism from the very beginning. But the middle Mahāāa Buddhism got the system almost the same as that of the Nikāa-saṅha. Consequently, the need to organize the system of the Mahāāa by absorbing pāimokkha of the Nikāa-saṅha was arisen. The fruit obtained from these circumstances was none other than trividhāi-śiīani. It is an understanding of various sūras that absorbed Śāaka-śaīa together with Bodhisattva-śīa in a superior position. Chinese Buddhism that inherited the tradition of the Mahāāa Buddhism accepted both Hīayāavinaya( Śāaka-śaīa) and Mahāāa-śaīa(Bodhisattva-śīa) from the beginning. Because of this acceptance, both an indifferent attitude to Buddhist precepts and a tendency to neglect sīas and vinayas were widespread in China. In order to correct this drift, Doseon(道a宣 596~667) completed Namsanyuljong(南山律宗). He conducted a revival campaign of Buddhist precepts by setting up a way of understanding various Buddhist sīas called “untongdaeseung(分通大乘)” that means Caturvarga Vinaya(四分律) is closely related to the Mahāāa Buddhism. However, Namsanyuljong declined after Doseon passed away as the fusion of Hīayāa-vinaya and Mahāāa-śaīa was not possible from the beginning. In conclusion, the ideals Bodhisattva-śīa tries to pursue are very high. But, as Bodhisattva-śīa lacks compulsory vinaya and karmavāā it is hard to expect its effectiveness these days. On account of these reasons, even in the present Mahāāa Buddhist Saṅha, Bodhisattva-śīa is often ignored. In a word, it is impossible for Śāaka-śaīa and Bodhisattva-śaīa to exist together.