Prajnaptisastra ( sa, प्रज्ञाप्तिशास्त्र,
IAST: Prajñāptiśāstra) or Prajnapti-sastra is one of the seven
Sarvastivada Abhidharma Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
scriptures. The word ''Prajnaptisastra'' means "designation" (of
dharmas). It was composed by Maudgalyayana (according to the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
,
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
and
MPPU) or
Mahakatyayana. The
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
translation is by : T26, No. 1538, 施設論, 西天譯經三藏朝散大夫, 試光祿卿傳梵大師賜紫, 沙門臣法護等奉 詔譯, in a somewhat shorter 7 fascicles.
The importance of this text is shown in its being quoted 135 times by the MVS
,
[Bhikkhu Kuala Lumpur Dhammajoti: Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma, Center for Buddhist Studies, Śrī Lanka, 2002. pg. 59.] though these references are not exclusively
Sarvastivada
The ''Sarvāstivāda'' (Sanskrit and Pali: 𑀲𑀩𑁆𑀩𑀢𑁆𑀣𑀺𑀯𑀸𑀤, ) was one of the early Buddhist schools established around the reign of Ashoka (3rd century BCE).Westerhoff, The Golden Age of Indian Buddhist Philosophy ...
in nature. The format is of matrka, followed by question and answer explanations, with references to the
sutras for orthodoxy.
Yin Shun relates the name prajnapti through the Chinese 施設 and 假 to the ''
Śāriputrābhidharma The ''Śāriputrābhidharma-śāstra'' (Ch. ''Shèlìfú Āpítán Lùn'', 舍利弗阿毘曇論, Taisho: 28, No. 1548, pp. 525c-719a) is a Buddhist Abhidharma text of the Sthāvirāḥ Dharmaguptaka school, the only surviving Abhidharma from that ...
'' in regards the "false designation" of the bonds (), contact (sparsa) and mind (citta), thus indicating that it is a very early text.
Willemen, Dessein & Cox assign this text to the next period,
[Willemen, Dessein & Cox: Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Scholasticism, Brill, 1998. pg. 18 & 70.] based on its "abstract principles of organization" and "complexity of doctrinal analysis". However, though the content is different from the Samgiti and Dharma-skandha, one could scarcely consider it more abstract in nature. It simply reflects the nature of the sūtras upon which it is based. In fact, it has relatively more direct references to the sūtras for its overall size than many of the developed texts, and a similar use of questions and answers as the Samgita.
References
{{Buddhism topics
Abhidharma