| Part of a series on Buddhism Outline · Portal |
| Dharma or concepts Four Noble Truths |
| Practices Three Jewels |
|
Traditions · Canons |
Abhidharma-kośa (the compendium of Abhidharma, Tib. chos mngon pa mdzod) is a key text in verse written in Sanskrit by Vasubandhu. It summarizes Sarvāstivādin tenets in eight chapters with a total of around 600 verses. The text was widely respected, and used by schools of Mahayana Buddhism in India, Tibet and the Far East.
Vasubandhu wrote a commentary to his own work, called the Abhidharma-kośa-bhāsya. In it, he critiques the interpretations of the Sarvāstivādins and others of the tenets he presented in that work. This commentary includes an additional chapter in prose refuting the idea of the "person" (pudgala) favoured by some Buddhists. However, later Sarvāstivādin master Samghabhadra considered that he misrepresented their school in the process, and at this point designated Vasubandhu as a Sautrantika (upholder of the sutras) rather than as an upholder of the Abhidharma.
The Abhidharma-kośa and its commentary is composed of the following chapters:
Ancient translations of the Abhidharma-kośa were made into Chinese by Paramārtha (564-567 CE) and by Xuán Zàng (651-654 CE). Other translations and commentaries exist in Tibetan, Chinese and Mongolian, and modern translations have been made into English, French and Russian.
The text includes 8 Chapters.
| Tibetan | English | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Gns Dng Po Khms Bsdn Pa | Ch. 1 Categories of Existence | Classifies existing things into stained and unstained phenomena |
| Gns Gnyis Pa Dbng Po Bstn Po | Ch. 2 Sense Powers | Describes how existing things are perceived |
| Gns Gsum Pa 'jig Rten Bsdn Pa | Ch. 3 The Suffering World | Describes the different realms and who inhabits them |
| Gns Bzhi Pa Lam Bsdn Pa | Ch. 4 Karma | Describes where the world comes from |
| Gns Lng Pa Phy Rgys Bsdn Pa | Ch. 5 How Bad Thoughts Motivate Karma | Describes how we come to create the deeds that create our world |
| Gns Drug Pa Gng Zg Dng Lam | Ch. 6 How to Escape Suffering | Describes how wisdom can free us from suffering |
| Gns Bdun Pa Ye She Bsdn Pa | Ch. 7 Wisdom | Describes more thoroughly the wisdom mentioned in Ch.6 |
| Gns Brgyd Pa Snyoms Par 'jug Pa Bsdn Pa | Ch. 8 Balanced Meditation | Describes a Buddha's knowledge |
There are many commentaries written on this text, including an autocommentary by Master Vasubandhu entitled Abhidharmakoshabhyasa. His Holiness the First Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Gendun Drup (1391-1474) composed a commentary titled Illumination of the Path to Freedom.