解脫軍《現觀莊嚴論釋》： “kiṃ khalu hārasya vihāreṇa sālakṣaṇyam” 一句中 “hāra” 與 “vihāra” 涵義的探討=The Meanings of hāra and vihāra in “kiṃ khalu hārasya vihāreṇa sālakṣaṇyam” in Ārya-Vimuktisena’s Commentary on the Abhisamayālaṅkāra
Ārya-Vimuktisena's (fifth-sixth century) commentary on the Abhisamayālaṅkāra is the fundamental work for all later commentaries on the system of the Abhisamayālaṅkāra. His commentary is, therefore, indispensable to understanding the thought of this system. It is extant in Sanskrit editions and Tibetan translation. There are modern translations in Japanese and English. The former covers only the beginning portion of the first chapter and the latter is unsatisfactory, because it fails to reveal the skillful answers of Ārya-Vimuktisena on many occasions. This paper highlights Ārya-Vimuktisena's skillfulness by discussing a difficult passage in this commentary. It occurs after Ārya-Vimuktisena's explanation of the first two penetration factors of the bodhisattva, that is, the warmth and the peak stages. At this point, Ārya-Vimuktisena sets up an interlocutor to question the rationality in the naming of these two stages. Ārya-Vimuktisena answers with a metaphor, in which he uses two difficult terms, ＂hāra＂ and ＂vihāra＂. This results in difficulties for ancient and modern translations. There are no solutions for this passage to date. This paper provides a solution and an interpretation of this passage based on Indian culture and the Indian exegetical tradition.
