In relation to the vipaśyanā or "clear-sight" practice, Kamalaśīla cites three stanzas from the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra X.256–258. This article, first, analyses the meaning of the above three stanzas on the basis of Kamala śīla’s own commentary to them. Secondly, we see the outline of Bodhisattva stages, from uṣmagata or "having become warm," the first of four nirvedha-bhāgīya or "belonging to the penetration," to the first stage (bhūmi) of Bodhisattva’s ten bhūmis which are also explained in the Bhāvanākrama I. Thirdly, the article examines those relevant explanations found in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha and Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra in order to clarify the preceding usage and meanings of those stages, both of which appear to have derived from the Saṃdhinirmocanas ūtra to which Kamalaśīla refers as a basis of his discussion. Taking the above comparative analysis into consideration, the article gives concluding remarks on the relationship between Kamalaśīla’s interpretation of the cited Laṅkāvatāras ūtra X.256–257 and his understanding of the Bodhisattva stages as follows: (1) Uṣmagata, mūdha, and kṣānti, (2) laukikāgradharma, and (3) the first stage of ten bhūmis correspond respectively to X.256ab, 256cd, and 257–258. It is also clarified, along with Kamalaśīla’s originality, how and to what extent those preceding understandings of Bodhisattva stages in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha, etc. influenced the Bhāvanākrama I. Kamalaśīla’s understanding of Bodhisattva stages is not a simple amalgamation of the meditational process found in the Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra and the Bodhisattva practice dealt with in the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, but he seems to have used those sūtras as pillars for systematising his own theory of Bodhisattva practice following the Yogācāra tradition of meditational process and the syncretic theory of the Yogācāra-Mādhyamika founded by his teacher, Śāntarakṣita.
