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[Footnote 1: Dr S.C. Vidyabhushana thinks that Lankavatana belongs to about 300 A.D.]
[Footnote 2: Takakusu’s “A study of the Paramartha’s life of Vasubandhu,” J.R.A.S. 1905.]
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least three other books, viz. Catu@hs’ataka, Hastabalaprakara@nav@rtti and Cittavis`uddhiprakara@na [Footnote ref 1]. In the small work called Hastabalaprakara@nav@rtti Aryyadeva says that whatever depends for its existence on anything else may be proved to be illusory; all our notions of external objects depend on space perceptions and notions of part and whole and should therefore be regarded as mere appearance. Knowing therefore that all that is dependent on others for establishing itself is illusory, no wise man should feel attachment or antipathy towards these mere phenomenal appearances. In his Cittavis’uddhiprakara@na he says that just as a crystal appears to be coloured, catching the reflection of a coloured object, even so the mind though in itself colourless appears to show diverse colours by coloration of imagination (vikalpa). In reality the mind (citta) without a touch of imagination (kalpana) in it is the pure reality.
It does not seem however that the S’unyavadins could produce any great writers after Candrakirtti. References to S’unyavada show that it was a living philosophy amongst the Hindu writers until the time of the great Mima@msa authority Kumarila who flourished in the eighth century; but in later times the S’unyavadins were no longer occupying the position of strong and active disputants.
The Tathataa Philosophy of As’vagho@sa (80 A.D.) [Footnote ref 2].
As’vagho@sa was the son of a Brahmin named Sai@mhaguhya who spent his early days in travelling over the different parts of India and defeating the Buddhists in open debates. He was probably converted to Buddhism by Par@sva who was an important person in the third Buddhist Council promoted, according to some authorities, by the King of Kashmere and according to other authorities by Pu@nyayas’as [Footnote ref 3].
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[Footnote 1: Aryyadeva’s Hastabalaprakara@nav@rtti has been reclaimed by Dr. F.W. Thomas. Fragmentary portions of his Cittavis’uddhiprakara@na were published by Mahamahopadhyaya Haraprasada s’astri in the Bengal Asiatic Society’s journal, 1898.]
[Footnote 2: The above section is based on the Awakening of Faith, an English translation by Suzuki of the Chinese version of S’raddhotpadas`astra by As’vagho@sa, the Sanskrit original of which appears to have been lost. Suzuki has brought forward a mass of evidence to show that As’vagho@sa was a contemporary of Kani@ska.]