The Bodhicaryāvatāra
by Śāntideva
Written in India in the early 8th century AD, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra addresses the profound desire to become a Buddha and rescue all beings from suffering. The person who acts upon such a desire is a Bodhisattva. Śāntideva not only makes plain what the Bodhisattva must do and become, he also invokes the powerful feelings of aspiration that underlie such a commitment, employing language which has inspired Buddists ever since it first appeared. Indeed, his book has long been regarded as one of the most popular accounts of the Buddhist's spiritual path.
Important as a manual of training among Mahāyāna Buddhists, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this text continues to be used as the basis for teaching by modern Buddhist teachers. This new translation from the original language provides detailed annotations explaining allusions and technical references. Also, the book's General Introduction and Translators' Introduction both serve to locate Śāntideva's work in its proper context, and for the first time explain its structure.
Important as a manual of training among Mahāyāna Buddhists, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this text continues to be used as the basis for teaching by modern Buddhist teachers. This new translation from the original language provides detailed annotations explaining allusions and technical references. Also, the book's General Introduction and Translators' Introduction both serve to locate Śāntideva's work in its proper context, and for the first time explain its structure.
FictionClassicsReligionBuddhismComparative ReligionEastern
RELEASED1998
PUBLISHEROxford University Press
LENGTH191
LANGUAGEEN
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Shantideva (Sk: Śāntideva; Zh: 寂天; Tib: ཞི་བ་ལྷ། (Shyiwa Lha, Wylie: zhi ba lha); Mn: Шантидэва гэгээн) was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar at Nalanda University and an adherent of the Madhyamaka philosophy of Nagarjuna. 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. 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. An accessible account that follows the Butön closely can be found in Kunzang Pelden, The Nectar of Manjushri's speech. Shantideva was born as a Brahmin in the southern country of Saurastra (in modern Gujarat), the son of the King Kalyanavarman and he went by the name Shantivarman.
The Bodhicaryāvatāra
by Śāntideva
Written in India in the early 8th century AD, Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra addresses the profound desire to become a Buddha and rescue all beings from suffering. The person who acts upon such a desire is a Bodhisattva. Śāntideva not only makes plain what the Bodhisattva must do and become, he also invokes the powerful feelings of aspiration that underlie such a commitment, employing language which has inspired Buddists ever since it first appeared. Indeed, his book has long been regarded as one of the most popular accounts of the Buddhist's spiritual path.
Important as a manual of training among Mahāyāna Buddhists, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this text continues to be used as the basis for teaching by modern Buddhist teachers. This new translation from the original language provides detailed annotations explaining allusions and technical references. Also, the book's General Introduction and Translators' Introduction both serve to locate Śāntideva's work in its proper context, and for the first time explain its structure.
Important as a manual of training among Mahāyāna Buddhists, especially in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, this text continues to be used as the basis for teaching by modern Buddhist teachers. This new translation from the original language provides detailed annotations explaining allusions and technical references. Also, the book's General Introduction and Translators' Introduction both serve to locate Śāntideva's work in its proper context, and for the first time explain its structure.
FictionClassicsReligionBuddhismComparative ReligionEasternHinduism
RELEASED1998
PUBLISHEROxford University Press
LENGTH191
LANGUAGEEN
Shantideva (Sk: Śāntideva; Zh: 寂天; Tib: ཞི་བ་ལྷ། (Shyiwa Lha, Wylie: zhi ba lha); Mn: Шантидэва гэгээн) was an 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar at Nalanda University and an adherent of the Madhyamaka philosophy of Nagarjuna. 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. 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. An accessible account that follows the Butön closely can be found in Kunzang Pelden, The Nectar of Manjushri's speech. Shantideva was born as a Brahmin in the southern country of Saurastra (in modern Gujarat), the son of the King Kalyanavarman and he went by the name Shantivarman.
