Shantideva (Sanskrit: à ÂÃÂntideva; ; ; ; ) was an 8th-century CE Indian philosopher, Buddhist monk, poet, and scholar at the mahavihara of Nalanda. He was an adherent of the MÃÂdhyamaka philosophy of NÃÂgÃÂrjuna. Abhayadatta Sri also lists Shantideva as one of the eighty-four mahasiddhas and is known as Bhusuku Pa (å¸ÂèÂÂåº巴).
Two works of Shantideva are extant, the BodhisattvacaryÃÂvatÃÂra and the à Âiká¹£ÃÂsamuccaya, both of which were written with the intention of being training manuals for one who intends to follow the path of the bodhisattva. The BodhisattvacaryÃÂvatÃÂra in particular was the subject of both Indian and Tibetan commentaries during the period it was written and has also received large amounts of attention from both academics and lay practitioners in recent years as well including a commentary written by the 14th Dalai Lama.
There are two sources of Shantideva's life composed by the Tibetan historians; Buton Rinchen Drub and Taranatha. Recent scholarship has also brought to light a short Sanskrit language biography of Shantideva in a 14th-century Nepalese manuscript.
According to one source, Shantideva was born in the Saurastra region (in modern-day Gujarat), son of a King Kalyanavarman, and went by the name à Âantivarman. But Vibhà «ticandra's BodhicaryÃÂvatÃÂratÃÂtparyapañjikàVià Âeá¹£adyotanë, the earliest extant biography of Shantideva, details that he was born in Southern India, in the city of Sringara, and his father was a King Mañjuà Ârëvarman. As per Vibhà «ticandra, Shantideva ran away from home on the advice of his mother and travelled to Bengal and then Magadha. He served in the court of a Magadhan king and after leaving, arrived in Nalanda. During his stay in Nalanda, he was given the nickname, Bhà «suku due to his practice of Samadhi.
According to Pema Chödrön, "Shantideva was not well-liked at Nalanda" due to his idleness.
According to legend, Shantideva was goaded by his fellow monks into giving a talk to the entire university body while sitting on a large lion throne with the hope that on being exposed as unable to recite any scriptures, he would leave the monastery on his own accord. Shantideva easily climbed the throne and recited stanza 9.35 of The Way of the Bodhisattva. The legend continues that at this point, the bodhisattva Manjushri appeared and then suddenly disappeared together with Shantideva. Following this event, when the monks investigated his cells, they discovered his three works, the Sà «trasamuccaya, the à Âiká¹£ÃÂsamuccaya, and the completed BodhicaryÃÂvatÃÂra.
Bu Ston details several tales from Shantideva's life which detail how he converted 500 Magadhans to Buddhism. It is said that Shantideva lived alongside the non-Buddhists while they were experiencing a natural disaster which led to them suffering from starvation. As he was appointed the head of these people, Shantideva demonstrated his supernatural abilities as he managed to make a single bowl of rice suffice for all of the 500. Similar stories are found in other sources detailing how Santideva would feed hundreds of beggars.
The à Âiká¹£ÃÂsamuccaya ("Training Anthology") is a prowith work in 19 chapters. It is organized as a commentary on 27 short mnemonic verses known as the à Âiká¹£ÃÂsamuccaya KÃÂrikÃÂ. It consists primarily of quotations (of varying length) from sà «tras, authoritative texts considered to be the word of the BuddhaâÂÂgenerally those sà «tras associated with MahÃÂyÃÂna tradition, including the Samadhiraja Sutra.
Shantideva is particularly renowned as the author of the BodhisattvacaryÃÂvatÃÂra. A variety of English translations exist, 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 and is still studied by Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhists today.
An introduction to and commentary on the BodhisattvacaryÃÂvatÃÂra by the 14th Dalai Lama 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 are in Practicing Wisdom (2004). Kunzang Palden has written a commentary based on that given by Patrul Rinpoche, translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. Patrul was a wandering monk of great scholarship who dedicated his life to propagating the BodhisattvacaryÃÂvatÃÂra.
Following the Buddha, à ÂÃÂntideva believed that our innate investment in an inherent, personal, self or essence is not only groundless but toxic. Goodman suggests that à ÂÃÂntideva also touches on the problem of free will in the BodhicaryÃÂvatÃÂra, writing that "whatever transgressions (aparÃÂdha) and vile actions (pÃÂpa) there are, all arise through the power of conditioning factors, while there is nothing that arises independently."
In line with his views on personal identity and the nature of the self, Ã ÂÃÂntideva wrote that one ought to "stop all the present and future pain and suffering of all sentient beings, and to bring about all present and future pleasure and happiness", in what may have been "the very earliest clearly articulated statement of that view, preceding Jeremy Bentham by approximately a thousand years".
His basis for preferring altruism over egoism is that "the continuum of consciousness, like a queue, and the combination of constituents, like an army, are not real. The person who experiences suffering does not exist." Similarly, he asks, "when happiness is dear to me and others equally, what is so special about me that I strive after happiness only for myself?"
The Bodhisattva is the central focus for both of the texts attributed to Shantideva. Bodhicitta is the mind that is focused on attaining the status of bodhisattva. The early chapters of the BodhisattvacaryÃÂvatÃÂra are focused on praising the virtuous qualities of bodhicitta and also on how to strengthen and maintain it.
Shantideva states:
Shantideva also argued that the development of Bodhicitta was beneficial not just to those who are following the path of the Bodhisattva but also to those who are pursuing their well-being and happiness. His view is that the mind of one who has developed Bodhicitta is the solution to countering mental afflictions (klesas) such as cravings (Taá¹ÂhÃÂ) and anger (krodha).
References to generosity (known as DÃÂna in the Indian tradition), can be found throughout both of Shantideva's extant works. Shantideva mainly views generosity as a specific mental state where an individual has renounced all of their possessions. It does not necessarily refer to the distribution of one's own possessions. The bodhisattva achieves the mental state of "generosity" by renouncing three things; the body, the possessions, and karmic merit. This is viewed by Shantideva as an important requirement for one who is on the path of the Bodhisattva. Shantideva also states in the BodhicaryÃÂvatÃÂra that he believes generosity to be beneficial by comparing it with nirvana:
Hence from this passage, Shantideva believes the perfection of generosity to be liberation. This conception of generosity is therefore twofold with generosity benefiting oneself and benefiting others at the same time.