Abhidharmakośa

An Exposition of the Abhidharmakośa

Context

The Abhidharmakośa is the classic work of Vasubandhu, a great treatise master of the Sautrāntika school. This work was completed around the fourth or fifth century CE in the region of Gandhāra, and became the most comprehensive encyclopedia of Abhidharma in the history of the Buddhadharma.

The term "Abhidharmakośa" means "Treasury of the Higher Dharma" — a systematic collection of teachings synthesized from earlier Buddhist declarations. Vasubandhu not only summarized but also critiqued and clarified doctrines, especially points of dispute between the Hinayana and Mahayana schools. In the Northern Tibetan tradition, this work is regarded as an indispensable doctrinal foundation and has been widely taught from the monasteries of Tibet to China.

Main Content

The treatise is divided into eight gates (Pāli: dvāra), each exploring one aspect of the Dharma. The first is the gate of the world (Dhātu-dvāra), presenting the eighteen dhatus — the six faculties, six objects, and six consciousnesses — the basic elements for understanding the phenomenal world. The second is the gate of causes and results (Hetu-dvāra), explaining ten kinds of causes (hetu) and five kinds of results (phala) according to Buddhist causal logic.

The following contents include the gate of formations (Saṃskāra-dvāra), which lists fifty-three mental factors divided into virtuous, nonvirtuous, and neutral, together with precise definitions of each dharma. The gate of space-time (Dravya-dvāra) analyzes the nature of existence, in which Vasubandhu maintains that "substantial dharmas" (dharma) are indivisible minimal particles (paramāṇu). The treatise also focuses on the doctrine of the three sacred numbers — higher, lower, and middle (tridhātu), especially the condition of sentient beings before attaining nirvana.