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[Matthew Kapstein]

But, Joseph,

"The Nastika is one who denies the existence of karma and the efficacy of yajna and hotara"
surely implies that Buddhists were nāstika-s in the sense that they did deny the efficacy of the
Vedic sacrificial cult.

As i recall, however, Kamalaśīla, in the TSP, does take the Buddhists and Brahmanical traditions
to be both āstika-s in that they both affirm the doctrines of karma and mokṣa.

I find it easier to make sense of these shifting uses of āstika and nāstika if we understand the terms not
as fixed categories of types of believers, but in their literal sense as meaning "yeah-sayers" and "nay-sayers".
The precise usage may then be allowed to shift according to just what the yeah or nay are about in
any given context. Of course, a more or less fixed use did set in, but as you've all rightly suggested,
this was a relatively late development.

best,
Matthew


Matthew Kapstein
Directeur d'études,
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes

Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
The University of Chicago

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