Shantideva (Sk: Śāntideva; Zh: 寂天; Tib: ཞི་བ་ལྷ། (Shyiwa Lha, Wylie: zhi ba lha); Mn: Шантидэва гэгээн) was an 8th-century Indian Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four major religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam Buddhist Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. He is recognized by adherents as an scholar at Nalanda University Nālandā is the name of an ancient university in Bihar, India. The site of Nalanda is located in the Indian state of Bihar, about 55 miles south east of Patna, and was a Buddhist center of learning from 427 to 1197 CE. It has been called "one of the first great universities in recorded history." Some parts of Nalanda university were and an adherent of the Madhyamaka Mādhyamaka is a Buddhist Mahāyāna tradition systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas. To Nāgārjuna, the Buddha was not merely a forerunner, but the very founder of the Mādhyamaka system. The tradition and its philosophy of Nagarjuna Acharya Nāgārjuna (ca. 150–250 CE) was an Indian philosopher who founded the Madhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism[citation needed].

The Chan Ssu Lun of the Chinese Madhyamika school identifies two different individuals given the name "Shantideva": the founder of the Avaivartika Sangha in the 6th century, and a later Shantideva who studied at Nalanda in the 8th century who appears to be the source of the Tibetan biographies. Archaeological discoveries support this thesis.[1][2] Two Tibetan sources of the life of Shantideva are the historians Butön and Jetsun Tāranātha. Recent scholarship has brought to light a short Sanscrit life of Shantideva in a 14th century Nepalise manuscript. [3]. .An accessible account that follows the Butön closely can be found in Kunzang Pelden, The Nectar of Manjushri's speech [4]

Shantideva was born as a Brahmin Brahmin is a member of the priestly class or caste in the subcontinent. The Varna Shastra or classification of Hindu Society comprises Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaisyas (farmers) and Shudras (Labourers). Brahmins are staffed with performing religious duties as priests in Hinduism and preaching Dharma as "one who prays, a[5] in the southern country of Saurastra (in modern Gujarat Gujarat (Gujarati: ગુજરાત, Hindi: गुजरात, Gujǎrāt, - [ɡudʒɾat]( listen)) is a state in India. Its capital is Gandhinagar, while its largest city is Ahmedabad. Gujarat is home to the Gujarati speaking people of India. The state encompasses major sites of the Indus Valley Civilization such as Lothal and Dholavira), the son of the King Kalyanavarman and he went by the name Shantivarman.[6]

Contents

Works

Śikṣāsamuccaya

The Śikṣāsamuccaya (“Training Anthology”) is a prose work in nineteen chapters. It is organized as a commentary on twenty-seven short mnemonic verses known as the Śikṣāsamuccaya Kārikā. It consists primarily of quotations (of varying length) from sūtras, authoritative texts considered to be the word of the Buddha — generally those sūtras associated with Mahāyāna tradition, including the Samadhiraja Sutra Samadhiraja Sutra or Candrapradipa-Sutra is a Buddhist Sutra dated c 150CE[citation needed].[7]

Bodhicaryavatara

Shantideva is particularly renowned as the author of the Bodhicaryavatara (sometimes also called the Bodhisattvacaryavatara). An English translation of the Sanskrit version of the Bodhicaryavatara is available online, as well as in print in a variety of translations, sometimes glossed as A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way Of Life or Entering the Path of Enlightenment. It is a long poem describing the process of enlightenment from the first thought to full buddhahood In Buddhism, buddhahood (Sanskrit: बुद् buddhatva. Pali: बुद्धत buddhatta. Or buddhabhāva) is the state of perfect enlightenment (Sanskrit: samyaksambodhi (सम्यक्संबुद्ध). Pali: sammāsambodhi (सम्मसम्बोधि)) attained by a buddha (help·info) (Pali/Sanskrit for "awakened one& and is still studied by Mahayana Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice. Mahāyāna Buddhism originated in India and Vajrayana Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle. Vajrayana is a complex and multifaceted system of Buddhist thought and practice which evolved over several centuries and encompasses much inconsistency and a variety of opinions. Its main scriptures are called Buddhists today. A commentary by Pema Chodron was published in 2005 as "No Time To Lose". An introduction to and commentary on the Bodhicaryavatara by the 14th Dalai Lama Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (Tibetan: ལྷ་མོ་དོན་འགྲུབ་; Wylie: Lha-mo Don-'grub; (simplified Chinese: 拉莫顿珠; traditional Chinese: 拉莫頓珠; pinyin: Lāmò Dùnzhū) (born 6 July 1935 in Taktser, Amdo, north-eastern Tibet, then recently incorporated into Qinghai) is the 14th Dalai called "A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night" was printed in 1994. A commentary on the Patience chapter was provided by the Dalai Lama in "Healing Anger" 1997, and his commentaries on the Wisdom chapter can be found in "Practicing Wisdom" 2004. Also Geshe Kelsang Gyatso published a translation titled "Guide to the Bodhisattvas Way of Life" in 2002.[8] His line by line commentary to the entire root text is entitled "Meaningful to Behold - The Bodhisattva's Way of Life " 1980.[9] His extensive commentary to the patience chapter is called "How to Solve our Human Problems", 2005.[10] Kunzang Pelden has written a commentary based on that given by Patrul Rinpoche Patrul Rinpoche (1808-87) was a prominent teacher and author of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism, translated by the Padmakara Transation Group. Patrul Rinpoche was a wandering monk of great scholarship, who dedicated his life to the propagation of the Bodhicharyavatara. [11]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh
  2. ^ Bodhicaryāvatāra Historical Project
  3. ^ Pezzali, Amalia. Śāntideva Mystique buddhiste des VII et VIIIe siècles Florence. Vallechi Edtore. 1968
  4. ^ Shantideva. The Way of the Bodhisattva. Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. Boston: Shambala, 1997. ISBN 1-57062-253-1.
  5. ^ P. xl The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra By Śāntideva, Kate Crosby, Andrew Skilton
  6. ^ Kunzang Pelden. The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech. A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva. p. 17 Shambala Publications, 2007. ISBN 978-1-59030-439-6
  7. ^ Amod Lele, "Śāntideva," Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  8. ^ Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life: How to Enjoy a Life of Great Meaning and Altruism, a translation of Shantideva's Bodhisattvacharyavatara with Neil Elliott, Tharpa Publications (2002) ISBN 978-0-948006-88-3
  9. ^ Meaningful to Behold: The Bodhisattva's Way of Life, Tharpa Publications (5th. ed., 2008) ISBN 978-1-9066651-1-1
  10. ^ How to Solve Our Human Problems: The Four Noble Truths, Tharpa Publications (2005, US ed., 2007) ISBN 978-09789067-1-9
  11. ^ Kunzang Pelden. The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech. A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva. Shambala Publications, 2007. ISBN 978-1-59030-439-6

References

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