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Dear list members,
Our next seminar will be at 6:00-7:30pm on Thursday March 22
in Lecture Theater S325 of the John Woolley Building,
University of Sydney.
We hope you can attend.
Kind regards,
AABS Executive
Facts or Fakes? Reconsidering Śāntideva’s Names, Life,
and Works
Śāntideva (c. 690-750) was an Indian Buddhist monk, philosopher, talented
Sanskrit poet, and thinker on the conduct of a Mahāyāna practitioner. His
life, works, and activities in Nālandā are explained in detail in several
Tibetan hagiographies as well as Vibhūticandra’s commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra.
Bu-ston’s History of
Buddhism (1322) speaks of the hagiography as follows:
Śāntideva is known by his seven wonderful stories, i.e., stories of his
(1) tutelary deity, (2) activity in Nālandā, (3) victory over the
heretics in the east, (4) converting 500 adherents of the heretical
teaching in the west of Magadha to Buddhism, (5) feeding thousands of
beggars in that country, (6) help to a king in the east, and (7) victory
over a heretic teacher called *Śaṅkaradeva in the south. According to the
above two stories (1) and (2), first, Śāntideva or Zhi ba(‘i) lha is the
name given when he took orders in Nālandā, who had two other names,
*Śāntivarman as a youth and Bhu-su-ku as a nickname. Second, he is said
to have written three works, i.e., Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra,
Śikṣāsamuccaya,
and Sūtrasamuccaya.
Third, concerning the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra,
three different versions were transmitted. Of those three versions, the
second story tells that Śāntideva regarded the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra
of 1000 verses as an authentic text. Although slightly different stories
appear in other Tibetan hagiographies and Vibhūticandra’s commentary on
the Bodhicaryāvatāra,
Bu-ston’s above stories are most detailed. However, in mid 1980s the
early smallest version of the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra
composed of totally 702.5 verses was discovered in the Tibetan
manuscripts from Dūn-huáng, which has driven us to reconsider at least
the above three points regarding Śāntideva’s names and works. Therefore,
based on the above materials and related studies, this paper reconsiders
Śāntideva’s names, life, and works.
Akira Saito is Professor at
International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies and Director of
International Institute for Buddhist Studies in Tokyo. Professor Emeritus
at the University of Tokyo. He is the author of A Study of Akṣayamati
(=Śāntideva)’s Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra as Found in the Tibetan Manuscripts
from Tun-huang and a number articles related to Mādhyamika
Thought and History.
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