The second volume (bam po gnyis pa) of the Tibetan version of the Brahmaparipr.cchā begins with an analysis of worldly dharma (lokadharma). Lokadharma has two aspects, one pertaining to the state of the mundane world and its conventions, as can be seen in the eight lokadharmas, and the other relating to the true nature of the world. The latter generally refers to the first two of the four noble truths (i.e., the truths of suffering and the origination of suffering). The Brahmaparipr.cchā, on the other hand, proposes a new set of four truths—world (loka), origination of the world (lokasamudaya), cessation of the world (lokanirodha), and path to the cessation of the world (lokanirodhapratipad)—on the grounds that if suffering is one of the truths, then the noble truth of suffering would also apply to animals and so on. (In this context “noble truth” [āryasatya] is rendered more or less consistently in the Tibetan version as “truth of [i.e., for] noble ones.”) The text further states that everything is nonexistent (asat) and that being and no-being, real and false cannot be found in something that is nonexistent. The Tathāgata takes it upon himself to expound by means of words a truth that is at variance with this type of worldly thinking and cannot be grasped by words, and those who understand it and convey it to others on behalf of the Tathāgata are bodhisattvas referred to as “righteous people” (satpurus.a). The sūtra then goes on to extol their outstanding qualities. The above corresponds to the first half of this volume. The main topic of the second half is the “five powers of the Tathāgata.” These five powers or faculties are preaching the Dharma (dharma), explaining with intentional language (sam. dhābhās.ya), using expedient means (upāya) to make people accept the Dharma, preaching in accordance with reason (naya), and acting in conformity with compassion (karun. ā). The Tathāgata preaches the Dharma in a great variety of ways out of a compassionate desire to save all beings, and when doing so he employs expedient means so that people will accept his teachings, sometimes convincing them by means of reason and at other times expounding teachings full of contradictions with intentional language. Having understood and mastered all this, the bodhisattva has to guide others. These five powers of the Tathāgata give succinct expression to the philosophical standpoint of the Brahmaparipr.cchā, and worth noting in particular are links with the Saddharmapun. d. arīka. I am of the view that the Brahmaparipr.cchā predates the Saddharmapun. d. arīka, and connections between the Tathāgata’s five powers (especially sam. dhābhās.ya, upāya and karun. ā) and sam. dhābhās.ya, tathāgata-upāyakau´salya and tathāgata-jñānadar´sana appearing in the Saddharmapun. d. arīka are important in this regard. The relationship between these two sutras is important for considering the history of the formation and thought of early Mahāyāna sūtras, and this is a subject that I hope to address in the future.
