Editing Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra

{{Short description|Mahāyāna Buddhist text by Shantideva (c. 700 CE)}}
{{italic title}}
{{buddhism}}
The '''''Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra''''' ('''''Entering the Bodhisattva Conduct''''') or '''''Bodhicaryāvatāra''''' ('''''Entering the [[Enlightenment in Buddhism|Bodhi]]''''' '''''Way'''''; [[Classical Tibetan|Tibetan:]] བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ་ ''byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa;'' [[Chinese language|Chinese]]: 入菩薩行論), is a [[Mahāyāna]] [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] text written c. 700 CE in Sanskrit verse by [[Shantideva]] (Śāntideva), a Buddhist monk at [[Nālandā]] University in India which is also where it was composed.<ref name="Śāntideva1998">{{cite book|author=Śāntideva|title=Translator's Note: The Bodhicaryāvatāra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-ifbE8kyGIC|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-283720-2|page=xxviii}}</ref>

==Structure==
''Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra'' has ten chapters dedicated to the development of [[bodhicitta]] (the mind of enlightenment) through the practice of the [[paramitas|six perfections]] (''Skt.'' Pāramitās). The text begins with a chapter describing the benefits of the wish to reach enlightenment.<ref>{{citation |author=Pema Chödrön |author-link=Pema Chödrön |title=No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva |others=commentary on Shantideva's ''Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life'' |location=Boston |publisher=Shambhala |year=2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/notimetolosetime0000chdr/page/ xiii] |isbn=1-59030-135-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/notimetolosetime0000chdr/page/ }}</ref>  The sixth chapter, on the perfection of patient endurance (''Skt.'' [[Kshanti|{{IAST|kṣānti}}]]), strongly criticizes anger and has been the subject of recent commentaries by [[Robert Thurman]]<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/angersevendeadly00thur|title=Anger : the seven deadly sins|last=Thurman|first=Robert A.F.|date=2005|publisher=New York Public Library|isbn=0195169751|location=New York, N.Y.|oclc=55518464}}</ref> and the [[14th Dalai Lama|fourteenth Dalai Lama]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/healingangerpowe00bsta|title=Healing anger : the power of patience from a Buddhist perspective|last=Bstan-ʼdzin-rgya-mtsho, Dalai Lama XIV|date=1997|publisher=Snow Lion Publications|others=Thupten Jinpa., Śāntideva, active 7th century.|isbn=1559390735|edition=1st|location=Ithaca, N.Y.|oclc=36138376}}</ref> Tibetan scholars consider the ninth chapter, "Wisdom", to be one of the most succinct expositions of the [[Madhyamaka]] view.<ref>{{citation |author=Pema Chödrön |author-link=Pema Chödrön |title=No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva |others=commentary on Shantideva's ''Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life'' |location=Boston |publisher=Shambhala |year=2005 |page=[https://archive.org/details/notimetolosetime0000chdr/page/ xv-xvi] |isbn=1-59030-135-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/notimetolosetime0000chdr/page/ }}</ref> The tenth chapter is used as one of the most popular Mahāyāna prayers.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

==Chapter summary==
# The benefits of bodhicitta (the wish to reach full enlightenment for others)
# Purifying bad deeds
# Adopting the spirit of enlightenment
# Using conscientiousness
# Guarding awareness
# The practice of patience
# The practice of joyous effort
# The practice of meditative concentration
# The perfection of wisdom
# Dedication

==Exegetical discourse and commentary==
Many [[Tibetan Buddhism|Tibetan]] scholars, such as [[Jamgön Ju Mipham Gyatso]], have written commentaries on this text.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

==Commentaries and studies in English==

* {{Citation
  | last =  Brassard
  | first = Francis
  | title = The Concept of Bodhicitta in Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara
  | series = History of religions
  | publisher = State University of New York (SUNY) Press
  | year = 2000
  | isbn = 0-7914-4575-5}}
* {{Citation
  | author = Dalai Lama, XIV
  | author-link = 14th Dalai Lama
  | author2 = Padmakara Translation Group
  | title = A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night: Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life
  | publisher = Shambhala
  | year = 1994
  | edition = 1st
  | isbn = 0-87773-971-4
  | url = https://archive.org/details/flashoflightning00bsta
  }}
* {{Citation
  | author= Dalai Lama, XIV
  | author-link = 14th Dalai Lama
  | author2 = Geshe Thupten Jinpa (trans & ed)
  | title = Practicing Wisdom: The Perfection of Shantideva's Bodhisattva Way
  | publisher = Wisdom Publications,U.S
  | year = 2004
  | isbn = 0-86171-182-3}}
*{{citation |author=Pema Chödrön |author-link=Pema Chödrön |title=No Time to Lose: A Timely Guide to the Way of the Bodhisattva |others=commentary on Shantideva's ''Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life'' |location=Boston |publisher=Shambhala |year=2005 |isbn=1-59030-135-8 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/notimetolosetime0000chdr }}
* {{Citation
  | author = Geshe Yeshe Topden
  | title = The Way of Awakening: A Commentary on Shantideva's Bodhicharyavatara
  | publisher = Wisdom Publications,U.S
  | year = 2005
  | isbn = 0-86171-494-6}}
* {{Citation
  | last = Gyatso
  | first = Kelsang
  | author-link = Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
  | title = Meaningful to Behold: View, meditation and action in Mahayana Buddhism : an oral commentary to Shantideva's A guide to the Bodhisattva's way of life
  | publisher = Wisdom Publications
  | year = 1980
  | isbn = 0-86171-003-7}}
* {{Citation
  | author = Khenchen Kunzang Pelden
  | author2 = Padmakara Translation Group
  | title = The Nectar of Manjushri's Speech: A Detailed Commentary on Shantideva's Way of the Bodhisattva
  | publisher = Shambhala
  | year = 2008
  | isbn = 978-1-59030-439-6}}
* {{Citation
  | author = Khenchen Kunzang Pelden
  | author2 = Minyak Kunzang Sonam
  | author3 = Padmakara Translation Group
  | title = Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva's Bodhicharyravatara
  }}
*{{Citation
  | author = Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche
  | author-link = Thrangu Rinpoche
  | last2 = Holmes
  | first2 = Ken (transl.)
  | last3 = Doctor
  | first3 = Thomas (transl.)
  | title = A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life of Shantideva
  | place = Kathmandu
  | publisher = Namo Buddha Seminar
  | year = 2001
  | id = ASIN: B000UO76C6
  }}
* {{Citation
  | last = Schmidt-Leukel
  | first = Perry
  | title = Buddha Mind - Christ Mind. A Christian Commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra. With a new translation by Ernst Steinkellner and Cynthia Peck-Kubaczek
  | series = Christian Commentaries on Non-Christian Sacred Texts
  | publisher = Peeters
  | year = 2019
  | isbn = 978-90-429-3848-9}}
*{{Citation
  | author= Shantideva
  | author-link = Shantideva
  | author2 = Khenpo David Karma Choephel (trans)
  | title = Entering the Way of the Bodhisattva: A New Translation and Contemporary Guide
  | publisher = Shambhala
  | year = 2021
  | isbn = 978-1611808629}}
* {{Citation
  | last = Williams
  | first = Paul
  | title = Altruism and Reality: Studies in the Philosophy of the Bodhicaryavatara
  | series = Routledge Curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism
  | publisher = Routledge Curzon
  | year = 1997
  | isbn = 0-7007-1031-0}}
* {{Citation
  | last = Williams
  | first = Paul
  | title = The Reflexive Nature of Awareness (Rang Rig): Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence
  | series = Routledge Curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism
  | publisher = Routledge Curzon
  | year = 1997
  | edition = 1st
  | isbn = 0-7007-1030-2}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=volume&vid=1120 Multilingual edition of ''Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra''] at the Bibliotheca Polyglotta.
*[https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/bodhisattva-cary%C4%81vat%C4%81ra/index.html ''Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra''] (HTML format) at Wisdom Library {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604112004/http://wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/bodhisattva-cary%C4%81vat%C4%81ra/index.html |date=2016-06-04}}.
*[http://indica-et-buddhica.org/repositorium/santideva/bodhicaryavatara-sanskrit-digital-text Digital Sanskrit text of ''Bodhicaryāvatāra''] at Indica et Buddhica.

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[[Category:Mahayana texts]]
[[Category:8th-century Indian books]]
[[Category:Buddhist commentaries]]