| The fundamental aim of this dissertation is to develop an analysis of the distinction between the Mahayana and Hinayana according to one fourth-century CE Indian Buddhist text, the Mahayanasutralam&dotbelow;kara, or the "Ornament to the Mahayana Sutras," and its commentary, the Mayanasutralam&dotbelow;kara-bhas&dotbelow;ya . The dissertation involves translating sections of the Sanskrit text, offering an exegesis of the text's view of the differences between the Mahayana and the Hinayana, and developing an analysis of the text's construction of the distinction between these two vehicles of Buddhism. My primary aim is to provide an interpretation of the way in which the text defines the Mahayana through a particular construction of the Mahayana-Hinayana distinction. In carrying out this aim I also hope to carry out two further objectives. The first is to learn more about the Mahayana-Hinayana distinction itself; in presenting a detailed analysis of one specific example of the Mahayana-Hinayana distinction, I hope to further knowledge of the way in which this distinction has been constructed in Mahayana discourse for the purposes of Mahayana self-definition. The second further objective is to provide a detailed study of important soteriological concepts that appear in one of the earliest extant texts that is representative of Yogacara Buddhist philosophy. The method employed in carrying out this study is one of terminological analysis through a historically-critically informed reading of the text. |
