Shantideva

About Shantideva

Shantideva, whose name means 'God of Peace' — was an Indian Buddhist philosopher and poet who lived approximately from 685 to 763 CE, though the dates are uncertain. He was a monk at Nalanda, the great Buddhist university in Bihar that was the intellectual center of Indian Buddhism during this period. Traditional accounts describe him as appearing lazy and incompetent to his fellow monks, who mockingly invited him to give a public teaching, expecting him to embarrass himself. Instead, he delivered what became the Bodhisattvacharyavatara (Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life), a beloved and influential text in all of Mahayana Buddhism.

The historical details of Shantideva's life are sparse and interwoven with hagiography. Tibetan biographical traditions identify him as a prince from Saurashtra (in modern Gujarat) who renounced his kingdom to become a Buddhist monk. At Nalanda, he was known by the nickname 'Bhusuku', one who only eats, sleeps, and walks, because he appeared to do nothing of value. The story of his public teaching, during which he is said to have levitated and then disappeared, is clearly legendary, but the text he produced is very real and has been studied, memorized, and practiced for over a millennium.

The Bodhisattvacharyavatara is a ten-chapter verse text that maps the entire bodhisattva path, the path of one who commits to attaining enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings. It moves from the initial generation of bodhicitta (the awakening mind of compassion and wisdom) through the six paramitas (perfections), generosity, ethical conduct, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom, to the final dedication of merit. The sixth chapter, on patience (kshanti), and the eighth chapter, on meditation (dhyana), are particularly famous. The ninth chapter, on wisdom (prajna), is a dense philosophical treatment of Madhyamaka philosophy, the doctrine of emptiness (sunyata), that has generated extensive commentary and debate.

Shantideva's other surviving work is the Shikshasamuccaya (Compendium of Training), an anthology of Mahayana sutra passages organized by topic, providing a comprehensive survey of the bodhisattva's ethical and spiritual training.

What distinguishes Shantideva from other Buddhist philosophers is the combination of rigorous philosophical argument with passionate emotional intensity. The Bodhisattvacharyavatara is not merely an intellectual treatment of the bodhisattva path, it is a devotional poem, a prayer, a cry of compassion for all suffering beings. Its emotional power is what has made it the most widely read text in Tibetan Buddhism and increasingly influential in Western Buddhist practice.

Contributions

Shantideva's primary contribution is the Bodhisattvacharyavatara (Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life), which provides a complete map of the Mahayana path from the initial generation of bodhicitta to the final dedication of merit. The text's combination of philosophical argument and devotional intensity is unique in Buddhist literature.

His treatment of the exchange of self and other (paratmasamata and paratmaparivartana) in the eighth chapter became the foundation of the Tibetan lojong (mind training) tradition, widely practiced contemplative methods in Tibetan Buddhism.

His philosophical defense of Madhyamaka in the ninth chapter is a major post-Nagarjuna treatments of emptiness (sunyata), engaging with rival schools in a way that demonstrates the full range of Indian Buddhist philosophical sophistication.

His Shikshasamuccaya (Compendium of Training) provides a comprehensive anthology of Mahayana sutra passages organized by topic, preserving many texts that might otherwise have been lost and providing a survey of the entire bodhisattva training.

His verse style, accessible, emotionally direct, memorable, made the bodhisattva path available to practitioners who might not have engaged with more technical philosophical texts, and his work has served as the primary introduction to Mahayana Buddhism for countless practitioners.

Works

Bodhisattvacharyavatara (Bodhicharyavatara) — Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. A ten-chapter verse text mapping the entire bodhisattva path. The most widely read and practiced text in Tibetan Buddhism. Multiple English translations available.

Shikshasamuccaya (Compendium of Training) — An anthology of Mahayana sutra passages organized by topic, providing a comprehensive survey of the bodhisattva's ethical and spiritual training. Translated by Cecil Bendall and W. H. D. Rouse (1922) and by Charles Goodman (2016).

Controversies

The principal scholarly debates around Shantideva concern the ninth chapter of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara, which presents a dense philosophical argument for Madhyamaka emptiness. Different commentarial traditions disagree about which specific Madhyamaka position Shantideva is defending, whether he follows the Prasangika approach (which uses reductio ad absurdum arguments to deconstruct all positions) or the Svatantrika approach (which makes positive arguments for emptiness). This debate reflects the broader Madhyamaka internal controversy about method and has generated extensive commentary in both Indian and Tibetan traditions.

The historicity of the traditional biographical accounts is uncertain. The story of his miraculous levitation during the public teaching, his subsequent disappearance, and his princely origins are hagiographic elements that cannot be verified. Some scholars question whether the Bodhisattvacharyavatara and the Shikshasamuccaya were composed by the same person, though the majority view holds that they were.

The relationship between the Bodhisattvacharyavatara and earlier Mahayana texts is also debated, the degree to which Shantideva is presenting original arguments versus systematizing positions already found in the sutras and in Nagarjuna's works.

Notable Quotes

'For all those ailing in the world, until their every sickness has been healed, may I myself become for them the doctor, nurse, the medicine itself.' — Bodhisattvacharyavatara, 3.7

'All the joy the world contains has come through wishing happiness for others. All the misery the world contains has come through wanting pleasure for oneself.' — Bodhisattvacharyavatara, 8.129

'Where would I possibly find enough leather with which to cover the surface of the earth? But wearing leather just on the soles of my shoes is equivalent to covering the earth with it.' — Bodhisattvacharyavatara, 5.13

'Whatever joy there is in this world, all comes from desiring others to be happy. Whatever suffering there is in this world, all comes from desiring myself to be happy.' — Bodhisattvacharyavatara, 8.129 (variant translation)

'Those who wish to guard their practice should very attentively guard their minds. For those who do not guard their minds will be unable to guard their practice.' — Bodhisattvacharyavatara, 5.1

Legacy

The Bodhisattvacharyavatara is widely studied and practiced texts in the Buddhist world. In Tibetan Buddhism, it has been central to monastic training for centuries, monks memorize the text, debate its philosophical content, and practice its contemplative methods. The Dalai Lama's repeated public teachings on the text have brought it to global audiences.

The lojong (mind training) tradition, which includes the famous practices of tonglen (giving and taking) and the Seven-Point Mind Training, draws directly on Shantideva's teaching in the eighth chapter on the exchange of self and other. These practices have become among the most widely taught methods in contemporary Buddhist communities worldwide.

In the modern West, the Bodhisattvacharyavatara has become a popular Buddhist text, with multiple translations, numerous commentaries, and a growing body of scholarly literature. Pema Chodron's teachings, which have introduced millions of Westerners to Buddhist practice, draw extensively on Shantideva's methods.

The text's influence extends beyond Buddhism. Its ethical framework, the cultivation of universal compassion, the analysis of anger, the practice of patience, the commitment to reduce suffering wherever it exists, resonates with secular ethical traditions and has been cited by philosophers, psychologists, and social activists working outside any religious framework.

Shantideva's deeper legacy is the demonstration that rigorous philosophical analysis and passionate compassion are not opposed but are two aspects of the same spiritual life. The Bodhisattvacharyavatara shows that clear thinking about the nature of reality leads directly to a heart that cannot bear the suffering of others, and that this compassionate heart is itself the deepest understanding of emptiness.

Significance

Shantideva's significance rests on his unique combination of philosophical rigor and devotional passion. The Bodhisattvacharyavatara is at once a work of philosophy and a work of the heart, it demands the reader's intellectual engagement and emotional transformation simultaneously. This combination has made it an enduring and widely practiced text in Buddhist history.

Philosophically, the ninth chapter of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara is a major Madhyamaka text after Nagarjuna's own works. Shantideva's treatment of sunyata (emptiness) engages with the Yogachara school, the Vaibhashika school, and various Madhyamaka subschools in a way that demonstrates the full sophistication of Indian Buddhist philosophical debate.

Devotionally, the text has no rival in Mahayana literature for its emotional directness. Shantideva's verse on the exchange of self and other, the practice of imaginatively taking on the suffering of all beings and giving them one's own happiness — has been the foundation of the Tibetan lojong (mind training) tradition and continues to be practiced by millions of Buddhists worldwide.

The Dalai Lama has called the Bodhisattvacharyavatara his favorite text and has given numerous public teachings on it. In Tibetan monasteries, monks memorize the entire text as part of their training. The text has been translated into every major Western language and has become one of the primary entry points for Westerners encountering Mahayana Buddhism.

Connections

Shantideva's philosophical foundation is Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka, the doctrine that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence (sunyata). The ninth chapter of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara is an extended defense and exposition of Nagarjuna's emptiness teaching, applied to the bodhisattva path.

The bodhisattva ideal that Shantideva articulates, the commitment to attaining enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, represents the Mahayana elaboration of the Buddha's original teaching. Where Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagga maps the Theravada path of individual liberation, Shantideva maps the Mahayana path of universal compassion. The two works together represent Buddhism's two great responses to the question of what enlightenment is for.

Shantideva's teaching on the exchange of self and other, the practice of imaginatively taking on others' suffering and giving them one's own happiness, connects to the broader Buddhist cultivation of compassion (karuna) and to parallel practices in other traditions. The Kabbalistic concept of tikkun (repair) involves a similar orientation toward universal healing. The Christian kenosis tradition. God's self-emptying in the incarnation, addresses from within Christian theology the same movement from self-concern to universal concern that Shantideva describes.

The emotional intensity of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara, its quality as a devotional poem and prayer, connects it to the bhakti traditions of Hinduism and to the devotional poetry of Rumi and Attar in the Sufi tradition. The love that Shantideva expresses is not personal devotion to a deity but compassion for all suffering beings, yet the emotional texture is recognizably the same.

Further Reading