Kathavatthu: A Study of Its Logical and Methodological, Doctrinal and Philosophical Significance

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The present book is an outcome of the author's research done during her tenure scholarship at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute under the Academic Development Programme supported by the Infosys Foundation.

Professor Asanga Tilakaratne selected the Buddhist text Kathavatthu, which is one of the seven Abhidhamma Pitaka texts. It is attributed to Moggaliputta Tissa, who headed the third Buddhist council held in c. 250 BCE during the reign of the emperor Aśoka. Kathavatthu contains a series of questions from a non-Theravada point of view. It consists of a discussion of heretical statements that are refuted in favour of orthodox Theravada beliefs.

I hope that this book on the important Pali text will be useful to all those interested in the evolution of Buddhist ideas, the intellectual history of early Buddhism, systems of debate, and logical concepts developed and followed by the ancient Buddhists, in addition to the developmental history of the Sangha.

I am thankful to the anonymous reviewer, who made constructive comments on the book, and the author for incorporating the suggestions in the text.

The Kathavatthu is a text with multiple significance. The text develops the Theravada responses to a large number of doctrinal issues that arose among different early Buddhist monastic groups. The tradition has treated the text as an authoritative source for the correct Buddhist view to establish which in itself depends on the other canonical texts believed to be the word of the Buddha. In discussing the nature of realization in the Visuddhimagga, the leading Theravada commentator, Buddhaghosa, refers to the Kvu to repudiate the view held by some schools that realization is gradual and hence it is many: "for those who accept many realizations the answer was given in the Kathavatthu of Abhidhamma." In addition, the text has value for those who study such areas as the history of the Sangha, evolution of Buddhist ideas, intellectual history of early Buddhism, systems of debate and logical concepts developed and followed by the ancient Buddhists.

In modern western Buddhist academic contexts the Kathavatthu (Kvu) has been studied substantially since it was edited by A.C. Tailor and published by Pali Text Society (PTS) during 1894-1897 (see the bibliography for details). The English translation, by Shwe Zan Aung and Mrs. Rhys Davids, published by PTS in 1915, with a long introduction (by Mrs. Rhys Davids), extensive notes, a list debated issues grouped under subject matter and the schools, diagrams depicting the divisions of the Sangha according to the Kvu commentary, Vasumitra and Bhavya, supplementary notes, and indexes of quoted passages, subjects and the Pali words discussed, still remains the most comprehensive study on the text in English language. Apart from these two texts, the other main source for the present study was the Pali Kvu edited and translated into Sinhala by the erudite Buddhist monastic scholar, Kodagoda Näņaloka Thera of Sri Lanka, published in three volumes in the Buddha Jayanti Series by the government of Sri Lanka (1967). It may not be an exaggeration to say that this work, supplemented by commentarial annotations and, in particular, the text structured to represent the steps of the debate between the Sakavadi and Paravadi proponent and opponent), is an enormous intellectual effort. The commentary to the Kvu, included in the Pancappakarana-atthakatha, named Paramatthadīpani is attributed to Buddhaghosa. As an aid to study Kvu, the value of the commentary is immense. Without the help of the commentary such very important information as the identification of the groups that held the debated views, attribution of the views to one or several groups, and the textual statements (mis)interpreted by the groups in order to confirm their views will be unimaginable. The commentary was initially edited by J. Minayeff and was published by PTS in 1889. More recently it was re-edited with a valuable introduction and word index by N.A. Jayawickrama (Kathavatthuppakarana-atthakatha) published by PTS (1979). The commentary was translated into English by B.C. Law and published by PTS in 1940. Jayawickrama has to say the following about this translation: "However it should be emphatically stated that a new translation is urgently needed to replace this." (Jayawickrama, 1979, p. xxiv) In addition to these essential studies on basic textual sources, the doctrinal and historical significance of the debated issues, stated and unstated logical rules/concepts used in the debate, matters related to the method of debate and doctrinal and philosophical issues have been discussed extensively by modern scholars. (We will refer to these works in the course of the study.)

Viewing from the point of view of multiple significance of the text, since the text records various doctrinal views developed by different monastic groups during the first three centuries of the parinirvana of the Buddha, it may be fruitfully studied from a perspective of intellectual history of the Buddhist tradition. Although the text may be viewed as representing a stage in the Indian religious and philosophical tradition in general, the issues that have been debated are found only within the context of Buddhism, and does not refer to any non-Buddhist Indian traditions notwithstanding that themes such as karma, result of karma, heaven, hell, and liberation, common to all Indian religions, are discussed. This means that the comparative religious value of the text may be limited. The same thing however, cannot be said about the development of logical and philosophical concepts in the Kathavatthu which is considered by many scholars who studied this aspect as representing a very early stage in Indian logical thinking.