there will remain a mind, ignorance may recur a t any time; so the total extinction of mind is the safest course for attaining eternal liberation.
(A) VIJNXNAVXDAOR Y OGXCXRA After this ' Tathatii' doctrine of Aivaghosa, the conception of the Abhiita-parikalpa as found in the ~Madhgiinta-vibhiiga,said to be originally expounded by Maitreya and commented upon by 'Vasubandhu and Sthiramati, gives a more positive and precise conception of the ultimate reality. It begins with the' aphorism,-'The Abhiita-parikalpa exists, no duality exists in it; void exists in it and it also exists in the void. " This aphorism is a challenge to both the extreme Realists (i.e., the Sarviisti-viidins) and to the extreme Nihilists (i.e., the Miidhyamikas), h n d the thesis of the_ Abhiita-parilcalpa is something like a middle path between the two extremes. The word AbhQta-parikalpa literally means-that which is devoid of all ' constructs '-i.e., the substratum where there is the mere possibility of all subjectivity and objectivity, -but in which the duality has no reality. The aphorism may be interpreted, in the first instance, as a refutation of the extreme sceptic view of the Miidhyamikas. They (i.e., the Miidhyamikas) abhiita-parika~po'ki dvayaliz tatra na vidyate I diinyata vidyate tv atra tasyam api sa vidyate (1 Madhyiilbta-vibhiiga-tikti. L6vi's Edition, y. 10. Ah impartial scrutiny into the nature of the SiinyatH of the Miidhyamikas reveals the fact that the Stinyatii of the Miidhyamikas may not be taken in the extreme nihilistic sense in which it has been taken by the Vijfiiinaviidins and the Vedantils; but as the VijAiinavadins have always taken this BBnyat6 of the Mgdhyamikas in the extreme nihilistic sense, we shall also admit this interpretation only to understand the exact standpoint of the VijfiBnavBdins. Compare here the definition of A b hiita-parikrtlpa as found ic the Mahiiyaina- 8QtrSiZankiira of Asaxiga,abhiita-kalpo na bhtito nhbhfito' kalpa eva cchl na kalpo nap; cakalpah sarvam jtie9am nirucyate 11 Ch. XI, Verse 81. (LCvi's Edition). '