Treasury of Abhidharma

Vasubandhu

The Treasury of Abhidharma (Skt. Abhidharmakośa; Tib. Ngön Pa Dzö; Wyl. chos mngon pa'i mdzod) and Auto-Commentary on the Treasury of Abhidharma (Skt. Abhidharmakośa-Bhāṣya). These works were composed by Vasubandhu, one of the 'Six Ornaments', the greatest Buddhist authorities of Ancient India. Abhidharmakosha is a complete and systematic account of the Abhidharma, and is the peak of scholarship in the Fundamental Vehicle.

Outline

The text is divided into eight topics:

1. The elements (Skt. dhātu)
   
2. The faculties (Skt. indriya)
   
3. The world (Skt. loka)
   
4. Actions (Skt. karma)
   
5. 'Subtle developers' (Skt. anuśaya) (i.e. negative emotions)
   
6. The path and the individual (Skt. mārgaprahāṇa)
   
7. Wisdom (Skt. jñāna)
   
8. Meditative equipoise (Skt. samāpatti)

Commentaries

Indian

• Yashomitra, Abhidharmakośaṭīkā (chos mngon pa'i mdzod kyi 'grel bshad)

Tibetan

The following are among the best known Tibetan commentaries on the Abhidharmakosha:

• Chim Jampé Yang, Ornament of Abhidharma (mngon pa'i rgyan)
• Gendün Drup (1391–1474) Illuminating the Path to Liberation (thar lam gsal byed)
• Rongtön Sheja Kunrig, Thoroughly Illuminating What Can be Known (shes bya rab gsal)
• Mipham Rinpoche, rin po che'i do shal blo gsal dgyes pa'i mgul rgyan
• Jamyang Loter Wangpo, A Lamp Illuminating Vasubandhu's Intention (dbyig gnyen dgongs pa gsal ba'i sgron me)
• Khenpo Shenga, A Mirror for What Can be Known (shes bya'i me long)

Translations

Tibetan

• The Abhidharmakosha and its commentary were translated in the 8th century by Kawa Paltsek and the Indian pandita Jinamitra.

English

• Abhidharmakosabhasyam of Vasubandhu, translated by Leo M. Pruden, Asian Humanities Press, Berkeley 1990 (Translated into English from the French translation of Louis de La Vallé Poussin, L'Abhidharmakośa de Vasubandhu, Institut belge des hautes études chinoises, Bruxelles, 1971)

French

• Louis de La Vallé Poussin, L'Abhidharmakośa de Vasubandhu, available for free download from Archive.org

Further Reading

• James Duerlinger, Indian Buddhist theories of persons: Vasubandhu's "Refutation of the theory of a self", Routledge, 2003