Ebook: Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam of Vasubandhu Vol. 1

Volume 1 of Leo M. Pruden's English translation (1988) of La Vallée Poussin's French translation (1923–1931) of Xuanzang's Chinese translation (7th century) of Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa-Bhāṣya.

Vasubandhu's "Abhidharmakosa-Bhasya" (ca. 380-390), besides its culminating achievement in streamlining the overall structure of the exposition of the preceding "Abhidharma" manuals, is unmatched by any of the preceding manuals in respect of its comprehensiveness - incorporating all important Vaibhasika doctrines since the time of the Abhidharma-mahavibhasa - of its excellent skill in definition and elucidation, and of its ability to clarify the difficult points involved in doctrinal disputations. Added to these qualities is its great value as a brilliant critique and insightful re-evaluation of all the fundamental Sarvastivada doctrines developed up to its time. Since its appearance, it has been used as a standard textbook for the understanding of not only the Abhidharma doctrines but all the fundamental Buddhist doctrines in general. Translated into Chinese by Paramartha in 563 A.D. and by Hsuan-tsang in 651-654 A.D., Hsuan-tsang's disciple P'u-Kuang tells us that in India the "Abhidharmakosa-Bhasya" was hailed as the "Book of Intelligence". In China, Japan and the Far-east, too, the Kosa has generally been highly treasured as a textbook of fundamental importance for Buddhist studies. Vasubandhu's brilliant critique of the doctrines of the Vaibhasika was answered by the equally brilliant Samghabhadra - a contemporary staunch defender and expounder of the doctrines of the Vaibhasikas - in his masterwork, the "Abhidharmanyayanusara", now extent only in Hsuan-tsang's translation (653-654 A.D.). The Sanskrit text, considered for a long time to be irremediably lost, was discovered by Rahula Samkrtyayana in 1935 in the Tibetan monastery of Ngor and was published by P. Pradhan in 1967 (1st edition).