maayaapurusha

[Dan Lusthaus]

Dear Eli,

While, offhand, I can't offer a source that discusses this distinction, I
would imagine it might derive from cosmological distinctions made in some
Pali sources between manomaya and nimmanarati devas. The former are
associated with the Radiance (aabhassara) loka, considered, especially in
the earlier sources, as the highest deva realm, while the latter are still
explicitly in the kaama-loka (above Tusita and below the
Paranimmita-vasavattii devas). Nimmana and nimmita sometimes get conflated
in Pali (cf. e.g., PTS Pali-Eng Dict, p. 368, re: nimitta, Nimmaniyati,
etc.).

B.C. Law, _Heaven and Hell in Buddhist Perspective_ (Varanasi: Pilgrims
Publishing, 2004 rpt of 1925 ed) gives a cursory account of these deva
realms and their inhabitants, with some references to canonical and
commentarial sources.

The Abhidharmakosa-bhasya discusses mayapurusa somewhere around 3:9 or 3:10,
I believe, but I don't remember any discussion of nirmitika-purusa there.

best,
Dan Lusthaus


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <franco at RZ.UNI-LEIPZIG.DE>
To: <INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 11:59 AM
Subject: maayaapurusha


Dear Friends,
Many thanks for the references. They are very helpful indeed. I am trying to
find out the difference between maayaa-purusha and nirmitika-purusha,
assuming
that there is a difference (both are mentioned in Mahayanasutras as men
magically created by the Buddhas, etc.). Nagarjuna mentions both in the
beginning of the Vigrahavyavartani as if they were similar, but not
identical.
If anyone knows more about it, I would be grateful for any suggestions.
All the best,
Eli Franco