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The Rootless Faith of Ajātaśatru and Its Explanations in the *Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā

2016; Brill; Volume: 59; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1163/15728536-05902003

1572-8536

Juan Wu,

Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions

A number of Indian Buddhist texts extant in Sanskrit, Chinese, and/or Tibetan speak of the rootless faith of the patricide Ajātaśatru. Some modern scholars interpret his rootless faith as the faith the Buddha has brought about in him despite the extirpation of his wholesome roots caused by his patricide. This paper argues that such an interpretation is inapplicable to the * Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā which claims the non-extirpation of Ajātaśatru’s wholesome roots and explains his rootless faith from five different perspectives. The Sarvāstivāda claim of the non-extirpation of Ajātaśatru’s wholesome roots is probably made in view of his acceptance of the existence of karmic cause and result. The five explanations of his rootless faith in the * Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā show the attempts of its compilers/redactors to recycle existing narrative material and to contextualize some of the material into their own doctrinal system.