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Introduction
The tathgatagarbha doctrine is one of the most significant Buddhist doctrines to have come under the scrutiny of scholars in recent times. According to scholars Theravadins/ Hinayanists have no the category of the "Buddha's Nature", all true Mahayanists insists that all the sentient beings possess the Buddha-nature it is Tathgatagarbha, the Embryo of the Buddhahood in all beings.

Origin of Tathgatagarbha doctrine

According to Shunko Katsumata, although the term tathgatagarbha first appeared in the Mahyna texts composed in India between approximately 200 and 350 C.E.,1 its basic idea can be found in the expressions of the early Pli stras such as Mind is pure (pabhassaram cittam).2 The concept of the pure state of mind developed into the doctrine of Buddha nature, producing the related literature, though it never formed a philosophical school in India like the Mdhyamaka and the Yogcra. 3 Further the term tathgatagarbha was an entirely new usage but its basic idea is found in the expression "prakrtiprabhsvaram cittam gantukair upakleair upakliyate", for which the same corresponding expression, or similar ones, are used sometimes in the Pali canons.4

1 2

Sallie, B. King. Buddha Nature, Albany: State University of New York, 1991. p 7 Anguttara-nikaya, 1:5; re-quoted from Shunko Katsumata, Butkyno Okeru Shinshikisetsuno Kenky [Research into the Theories of Mind and Consciousness in Buddhism](Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin, 1988), 465. 3 Among representative tathgatagarbha texts are Tathgatagarbha-stra, Anunatvapurnatvanirdesa-stra, Mahparinirvna-stra, Lankavatara-stra, Ratnagotravibhga, Buddha-Nature Treatise, etc. Katsumata divides the process of development of tathgatagarbha thoughts in India into three steps in relation to the doctrine of layavijna and explains the representative stras and commentaries of each step: Shunko Katsumata, op. cit., 593-637. 4 Jikido Takasaki. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhaga (Being a Treatise on the Tathagatagarbha Theory of Mahyna Buddhism). Tokyo: 1964. p, 34

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Pabhassaramida bhikkhave citta, taca kho gantukehi upakkilesehi upakkilihanti5 Another expression of this same idea of purification of mind seems also to be old and to have its origin in the Pali canons. "cittasamklet sattvh samkliyante, cittavyavadnd viuddhyante",6 In early Mahyna texts, no mention is made of a Buddha-element or nature (Buddha-dhtu), that is, the potential to become a Buddha. The statement that all sentient beings have the Buddhaelement first appears in the Mahyna version of the Mahparinirvna stra.7 The origin of this doctrine can be sought, however, in the statements in early Mahyna texts, such as the Astashasrikprajnpramita, that the original nature of the mind is pure, prakrtis cittasya prabhvara8 This doctrine first appeared in the Ajtasatrukaukrtyavinodana and later in many other Mahyna texts.9 The Dhranvararjastra together with the Sgaramatipariprcch, the Ratnadrik, the Ratnacda, the Gaganagaj, the Aksayamatipariprcch, etc., which form parts of the Mahsamghtastra are also standing fundamentally on the theory of the cittaprakrti, and they

5 6

Pabhassaravaggo, AN, I, 5, 9-10 (PTS, vol. 1, p. 10). Sagtakavagga SN, (PTS, vol. 3, p. 151). 7 Hirakawa, akira. A history of Indian Buddhism. Translated by Paul Groner, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1993. p 297 8 For the doctrine that the nature of the mind is originally pure, see Hirakawa akira, A history of Indian Buddhism. Translated by Paul Groner, pp. 196-217. 9 Hirakawa, akira. A history of Indian Buddhism. Translated by Paul Groner, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1993. p 297

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are probably written by one and the same group who later developed the tathgatagarbha theory.10 The full form of the term bodhisattva is bodhisattva mahsattva. Bodhisattva means a being (sattva) who seeks enlightenment (Bodhi). Mahsattva means a great person and refers to a person who makes the great vow to become a Buddha and undertakes the strenuous practice required to attain the goal. A bodhisattva must believe that he has the character or nature necessary to become a Buddha.

Meaning of Tathgatagarbha
The possibility of all living beings attaining Buddhahood is a problem that seems to have been answered from two sides. One is the idea that all living beings possess Buddha- nature-the idea that is mainly advocated by the tathgata-garbha (tathgata-matrix) theory. The other is the introduction of the concept of sraya-paravrtti (the revolving of the basis).11 The concept of sraya-parvrtti12 is frequently used by the Yogcra Vijnna School that consummated the trikya doctrine. In the tathgata garbha sutra13 the Buddha has explained about tathgata garbha as when I regard all beings with my Buddha cakshur (eye), I see that hidden within the kleshas (barbs) of rga (greed), lobha (confusion), dvesha (hatred) and moha (obscuration) there is seated augustly

10 11

Jikido Takasaki. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhaga. p, 34 Madhyamika and Yogacara, A Study of Mahayana Philosophies, Collected Papers of G.M. Nagao. Sri Satguru Publication: Delhi, 1992, p.115 12 The term rayaparvrtti was used for the first time in the Strlamkra (krik) and has gradually been fixed as a technical term of the Vijnavda by Asaga and Vasubandhu, defining raya as layavijna, and that before that term was introduced, the term rayaparivrtti was commonly used by the Vijnavdins and in the Tathgatagarbha theory. 13 The Tathgatagarbhastra is a small scripture whose main part consists merely of the 9 examples illustrating the covering of defilements over the tathgatagarbha.

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and un-movingly the Tathgata jnana , the Tathgata-vision and the Tathgata kaya. kulaputras, all beings, though they find themselves with all sorts of kleshas, have a tathgatagarbha that is eternally unsullied, and that is replete with virtues no different from my own.14 According to this explanation all living beings possess Buddhas nature without different from Buddhas tathgata garbha. The idea that all beings have Buddha-nature according to tathgata garbha theory, it has strongly advocated that the human mind is essentially identical with the tathgata. The essence of the human mind is transparently luminous; it has lost its light only because of its being covered with adventitious defilement ( gantuka-klesa). When the adventitious defilement has been removed, the true mind or Buddha-nature becomes apparent. Further it has explained in tathgata-garbha sutra, The Buddha can really see the beings (sattva) tathgata-garbha. And because he wants to disclose the tathgata-garbha to them, he expounds the sutras and the Dharma, in order to destroy kleshas and reveal the buddha-dhtu (buddha-element, buddha-nature). kulaputras, such is the dharma of all Buddhas. Whether or not Buddhas appear in the world, the tathgata-garbha of all beings is eternal and unchanging. It is just that they are covered by kleshas of sentient beings." es dharmnm dharmat. utpdd v tathgatnm anutpdd v sadavate sattvs tathgatagarbhh15 According to above explanation tathgata-garbha abidingly exists whether or not buddhas appear in the world. With regard to this position among the living beings one cannot escape from

14

Tathagata-garbha Sutra, (Tripitaka No. 0666) Translated during the East-JIN Dynasty by Tripitaka Master Buddhabhadra from India. 15 Tathagata-garbha Sutra,

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the Buddhas nature. Just as the birds fly freely in the air, all sentient beings breathe in the Buddha-nature. For the tathgatagarbha various interpretations appeared in later ages. But its original meaning seems to have been that it was the embryo that conceived the tathgata, nurtured it, and gave birth to it. To say that a sentient being is a tathgatagarbha means that one possesses Buddha-lineage and is a member of the Buddha family ( gotra) and that one possesses Buddhaessence or Buddha-nature by birth.16

Yogcra and Tathgatagarbha doctrine

The Sandhinirmochana and Lankvatra sutras were especially influential in the formulation of the doctrines of the Yogcra school, founded by two brothers, Asanga and Vasubandu (the latter, because of his great learning, was given the singular honor of being called "the second Buddha"), natives of North-West India, in the 4th or 5th century. Another source of Yogcra teachings was Asanga's little-known teacher Maitreyantha, who has been called the true founder of the school17. Asanga is considered to be the systematizer of Yogcra-thought18 Asanga and Vasubandu were encyclopaedic systematisers, who developed ideas already established in older writings, such as the Abhidharma, the Prajnapramita, and the Lankvatra, and gave definitive form to earlier Mahayanist concepts like the ten stages (bhumis) of development of the Bodhisattva, the three "bodies" of the Buddha ( trikya), the three states or levels of self-being (swabhava), and the theory that reality is consciousness-only. 19

16

Madhyamika and Yogacara. A Study of Mahayana Philosophies, Collected Papers of G.M. Nagao. Sri Satguru Publication: Delhi, 1992, p.117 17 Chandradhar, Sharma. A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, p.108 18 Kalupahana, David J. (1992), The Principles of Buddhist Psychology, Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, p.126 19 Edward, Conze. Buddhist Thought in India, p.250

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The Yogcra metaphysic, thus formulated in India, was further developed in China, where, due to an artifact of translation and interpretation, the Tathgatagarbha (in Chinese fo-hsing "Buddha-womb" - the womb of the Buddha or storehouse of the Buddha, the potential for Buddhahood which all beings possess.), was distinguished from the Alayavijnna. In Indian texts such as the Lankvatra and the Mahaparinirvana sutras the Tathgatagarbha was specifically identified with the Alayavijnna, and referred to the potential or cause leading or pointing towards enlightenment, rather than an actual state or reality. 20 Takasaki has argued that Tathgatagarbha started as a distinct Buddhist tradition but was prevented from forming a separate school through subsequent absorption into the Yogcra, particularly through a simple equation of the tathgatagarbha understood as the Buddha-essence, or Buddha-nature with the substratum consciousness (Alayavijna). This suggestion is asserted most notably and influentially in the Lakvatra Sutra.21

Conclusion
According to above investigation we can understand that the Tathgatagarbha theory is a most significant Buddhist doctrine come under the Mahayana teachings. According to above mention early Buddhist teachings about the mind have advanced later as the Tathgatagarbha theory. Later developed Buddhism among the Buddhist sects there were many debates with regard to nature of Dharmas (mind). Trying to understand nature of Dharmas (mind) they were developed main two theories as Snyata (emptiness) and Vinnnavda (mind only). As a result of understanding the nature of Dharmas (mind) later occurred Tathgatagarbha doctrine;

20

Whalen, Lai. "The Meaning of "mind-only" (wei-hsin): An analysis of a sinitic Mahayana phenomenon", Philosophy East and West 27, no 1; p.73-74 21 Lakvatra Sutra, section 82; see Takasaki 1966: 5761

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through this doctrine finally they have comprehended the mind of all sentient beings is elementary pure therefore it is same to Buddhas mind without any distinctions.

Bibliography
Chandradhar, Sharma. A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy. Rider and Company, London: 1960 Brian, E. B. The Buddha Nature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1991. Edward, Conze. Buddhist Thought in India. London: George Allen Unwin Ltd, 1962 Hirakawa, akira. A history of Indian Buddhism. Translated by Paul Groner, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1993. Jikido, Takasaki. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhaga (Being a Treatise on the Tathagatagarbha Theory of Mahyna Buddhism). Tokyo: 1964 Kalupahana, David J. The Principles of Buddhist Psychology. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1992 Lankavatara Sutra (A Jewel Scripture of Mahayana Thought and Practice). Translated by Gishin TOKIWA. Meibunsha Printing Co. Ltd., Kyoto, Japan. 2003 Madhyamika and Yogacara, A Study of Mahayana Philosophies. Collected Papers of G.M. Nagao. Sri Satguru Publication: Delhi, 1992 Sallie, B. King. Buddha Nature. Albany: State University of New York, 1991

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Shunko, Katsumata. Butkyno Okeru Shinshikisetsuno Kenky (Research into the Theories of Mind and Consciousness in Buddhism], Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin, 1988 Tathgatagarbha Sutra. Translated by William, H. Grosnick, published in "Buddhism In Practice" Princeton University Press, 1995) Whalen, Lai. Philosophy East and West. University of Hawaii Press, 1977