Abstract
A translation of a major part of Prajñākaramati’s canonical commentary on the Perfection of Patient Endurance chapter of Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra. The introduction clarifies the importance of the commentary and explores what can be learned from it. Prajñākaramati’s comments help illuminate the meaning of the verses and provide evidence for the view that the Bodhicaryāvatāra should be understood as offering not just meditation exercises, but also rational arguments that can be evaluated as philosophy.
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Notes
Kachru (2019, p. 68).
This folk-etymology depends on the close linguistic similarity between the Sanskrit words pratihanti and pratigha.
This passage also occurs at ŚS 148–49. See Goodman trans. 2016a, pp. 144–45; the translation provided here is slightly different. The Tibetan translation of the ŚS attributes the quotation to the monastic code of the Sarvāstivādin tradition.
The Tibetan translation calls this “the patient endurance of willingly accepting pain,” sdug bsngal dang du len pa’i bzod pa.
Again, the Tibetan name of this form of patient endurance seems to have a slightly different meaning from the Sanskrit: “the patient endurance of not considering the harm done by some others,” gzhan zhig gis gnod pa byed pa la ji mi snyam pa’i bzod pa.
This is the beginning of a passage quoted at greater length at ŚS 183–84. See Goodman trans.2016a, pp. 181–82.
This lengthy passage appears at ŚS 181–82. It is translated in full on p. 180 of Goodman 2016b and is not repeated here.
See the discussion of Skt. nirvyāpāratayā in the introduction.
This refutation is presented in BCA IX.126-137.
Tattvasaṃgraha 171–72. See Dwārikādās Śāstrī ed. (1997, p. 74).
Probably a reference to Dharmakīrti’s theory of two invariable relations (Skt. pratibandha), though the term used here is Skt. saṃbandha. For Dharmakīrti, there are only two invariable relations that allow one to infer the presence of a real thing (vastu); these are causation and identity, licensing inferences from an effect to its invariable cause and from the presence of a member of a more specific category to the presence of a member of a more general category. See Matilal (1998, pp. 11–12 and 108–109); a key original source is Dharmakīrti’s Nyāya-bindu, Shekhar Śāstrī ed. (1982, pp. 38–41).
This is inferred from avidyā-ādi.
A play on words may be occurring here; Skt. durga, “difficult path,” may suggest the name Mā Durgā, a Hindu Tantric goddess explicitly mentioned in verse 13 and its commentary.
This is grammatically parallel to the passage that refers to harming yourself; the claim here is that harming others is bad for you.
A “cooperating condition” (Skt. sahakāri, Tib. lhan cig byed pa) is a condition that operates together with the cause (hetu) to make it possible for the result to arise.
The full list of the “four requisites” would include food, clothing, beds and seats, and medicine for the sick.
See BCA VI.25.
dūṣayitavyam literally means, “one should not corrupt or ruin the mind.”
Thanks to Mark Siderits for his suggestions about how to translate anvaya-vyatirekābhyāṃ.
References
Editions Consulted for the Translation
Tripathi, Sridhar, ed. 1988. Bodhicaryāvatāra of Śāntideva with the Commentary Pañjikā of Prajñākaramati. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute.
Sumatikīrti and Dar ma grags, trans. Byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa’i bka’ ’grel. sNar thang 38ba7-327na6; sDe dge 41ba1 - 288na7; co ne 39na1 – 287na5; Peking 45na7 – 325na5. bstan ’gyur dpe bsdur ma [Comparative edition of the Tengyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 120 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), (1994–2008). Electronic edition from Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center.
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Goodman, C., Schultz, A. Prajñākaramati on Śāntideva’s Case Against Anger: A Translation of Bodhicaryāvatāra-pañjikā VI.1-69. J Indian Philos 48, 503–540 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-020-09429-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-020-09429-y