Introduction


I. General remarks


This study deals with a philosophical inquiry into 'the nature of person and the problem of personal identity' based on a particular text known as Abhidharmakosabh篆真ya of Vasubandhu. The study follows the track of development of the issue in Indian subcontinent in chronological order starting from the Vedic period up to the period to which the text belongs. Indian philosophy has made its own genre in the modern scholarly field of philosophy. Like Greek and Chinese philosophy, it is deeply involved with the history and culture it belongs - distinctive as well as universal. In the process of development, it underwent various kinds of interaction internally as well as externally. Therefore, one should not overlook the historical aspect that reflects this interaction when a study is made on a certain subject of ancient philosophy. Additionally, when the study is much dependent on a specific text, a philological examination becomes indispensable.
Since the 真真gveda, the idea of person was neither about an individual being nor about the very nature of him. It was about a person as an Ultimate Reality, which is based on cosmological contemplation that had taken place prior to the insights on the individual being. In the Upani真真adic period, there was an endeavor related to the progress in psycho-physiological way of seeking the self. In those days, especially in early Upani真真ads, the main themes of philosophical inquiry were Brahman, Atman and Puru真真a, which are inherited from the Vedic period. The significant aspect of Upani真真adic approach to the,