Publisher’s Preface

Of those phenomena which arise from a cause, the Tathagata An epithet for the Buddha, meaning "One who has thus gone" or "One who has thus come." has explained the cause, and also their cessation; this is the doctrine of the Great Shramana A seeker or ascetic; here referring to the Buddha. This verse is the famous "Ye Dharma Hetu" formula summarizing Buddhist dependent origination..

It brings great joy to our hearts as we reflect that in the sixth year since the founding of Bauddha Bharati (in the year 1974 AD), we presented to you this magnificent jewel of a text: the complete Abhidharmakośa The "Treasury of Higher Knowledge," a foundational work of Buddhist philosophy. composed by Master Vasubandhu, along with his own commentary and the Sphutartha explanation by Yashomitra. Since that edition has been entirely sold out in the market, this second edition is now being reprinted via photo-offset printing due to the insistent demand of our patrons.

In this work, we have adopted as our primary source the Commentary published by the Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Research Institute of Pataliputra (indicated by the sign 'Ka'), as well as the printed edition of the Sphutartha explanation up to the fourth chapter edited by Shri Laha and published in Calcutta (indicated by the sign 'Sphu'). Furthermore, we utilized the edition of the Sphutartha explanation edited by Mr. Wogihara and published by the 'Abhidharmakoshavyakhyā Publication Committee' in Tokyo, Japan (indicated by the sign 'Ja'). Master Vasubandhu’s Treatise on the Refutation of the Person original: "Pudgalavinishchaya" has also been included here at the end of the eighth chapter.

Thus, after more than one thousand one hundred years in India, this complete and limb-by-limb meaning comprehensive or with all its parts Abhidharmakośa was brought back to light in the last decade. We hope that this third edition up to the eighth chapter of the entire book will bring satisfaction to the minds of scholars.

Date: March 15, 1985
Varanasi