Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa

For the text with the same title by Candrakīrti, see Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa (Candrakīrti).

Vasubandhu

Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa (T. phung po lnga'i rab tu byed pa, ཕུང་པོ་ལྔའི་རབ་ཏུ་བྱེད་པ་; C. dasheng wuyun lun 大乘五蘊論), or Summary of the Five Heaps, is a treatise on the five skandhas by the Indian scholar Vasubandhu. According to the Princeton Dictionary, Vasubandhu's presentation of the five skandhas in this text "bears many similarities" to his presentation in the Abhidharma-kosha; however this text emphasizes a Mahayana point of view.

This text is no longer extant in Sanskrit, but translations are extant in the Chinese and Tibetan canon canons.

There is also a text with the same title by Chandrakirti; see Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa (Candrakīrti).

Overview

The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism states:

This text examines the usage of the five aggregates as a means of classifying the factors of existence. The five are analyzed from a Mahāyāna perspective, and so in addition to the aggregates there is a discussion of the twelve fields 十二處 and eighteen realms 十八界. After listing the five aggregates of form 色, feeling 受, perception 想, volition 行, and consciousness 識, the five classes of seventy-five 75 factors 五位七十五法 taught in Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma 薩婆多 are contrasted with the ninety four factors 九十四法 taught in Mahāyāna. The Storehouse consciousness is included in this discussion.

Translations

Chinese translation

• Translated by Xuanzang in 665 at Hongfu Monastery (with the title Dàshèng wǔyùn lùn 大乘五蘊論; T 1612)

• There is also a commentary by Vinītaprabha: Wuyun lunshi (五蘊論釋) (Skt. Pañca-skandhôpanibandha).

Tibetan translation

• Dergé Tengyur, Toh 4059; translated by Jinamitra, Surendrabodhi, Nanam Yeshe De, and Dānaśīla
• Full title: ཕུང་པོ་ལྔའི་རབ་ཏུ་བྱེད་པ།
• Tibetan text, BUDA
• Tibetan text, Tibetan.works
• Commentaries on this work by Sthiramati, Gunaprabha and Pṛthivībandhu are also included in the Tibetan canon.

English translations

• Artemus B. Engle, The Inner Science of Buddhist Practice: Vasubandhu's Summary of the Five Heaps with Commentary by Sthiramati, Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009
• Stefan Anacker, Seven Works of Vasubandhu: The Buddhist Psychological Doctor, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984

French translation

• Philippe Cornu, Vasubandhu, Cinq traités sur l'esprit seulement (Paris: Fayard, 2008)
• J. Dantinne, Le traité des cinq agregats: Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa de Vasubandhu, Bruxelles 1980

Alternate translations of the title

• Summary of the Five Heaps (Artemus B. Engle)
• Explanation of the Five Aggregates (Princeton Dictionary)
• Analysis of the Five Skandhas (Rigpa wiki)