黒白業をめぐるガワンタシの見解

Through an analysis of the debate in his rTen ’brel chen mo, this study clarifies the later dGe lugs pa scholar bSe Ngag dbang bkra shis’s (1678–1738) understanding of black-white karma.
According to the Buddhist theory of karmic fruition, if sentient beings accumulate virtuous or unvirtuous karma, they transmigrate into either happy or unhappy realms. This theory is related to the idea that karma is classified into four types: black, white, black-white karma, or neither black nor white karma. This idea can be found in the early Buddhist canon. The definition of the four types of karma is given in Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa and its Bhās. ya, and in Asa˙nga’s Abhidharmasamuccaya. It is noteworthy that Vasubandhu’s definition of black-white karma is quite different from Asaṅga’s. The former defines it as a continuum of virtuous karma mixed with unvirtuous karma, whereas the latter defines it either as the karma in which one performs white preparation (prayoga) motivated by black intention (āśaya) or as that in which one performs black preparation motivated by white intention. Furthermore, while black-white karma is interpreted as virtuous karma in the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, it is interpreted as either virtuous karma or unvirtuous karma in the Abhidharmasamuccaya.
According to Ngag dbang bkra shis, one who performs white preparation (sbyor ba, prayoga) motivated by black intention (bsam pa, āśaya) accumulates unvirtuous karma, whereas one who performs black preparation motivated by white intention accumulates virtuous karma. This suggests that it is intention that determines whether karma is virtuous or unvirtuous. Moreover, closer scrutiny of Ngag dbang
bkra shis’s debate, moreover, reveals that he takes the view that preparation for unvirtuous karma arises from the three roots (lobha, dveṣa, and moha), which can be found in Abhidharmakośa IV.68d.
We can draw a reasonable conclusion that Ngag dbang bkra shis, developing a syncretic theory that is an amalgamation of Vasubandhu’s and Asaṅga’s view of black-white karma, attempted to give a rational interpretation of this slippery type of karma.