How did Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna’s literacy works and teachings enrich Buddhist traditions? By Dr. Sanjoy Barua Chowdhury

               Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (982-1054 CE) was an altruistic Buddhist master (guru) who dedicated his entire life to compiling texts and propagating Buddhist teachings for the sake of all boundless beings. His texts and Buddhist teachings were eminently recognized and still have a high value due to their subtle, profound, and lucid explanations and instructions. Atīśa’s literary works have subsequently impacted and enriched Buddhist traditions both scripturally and doctrinally.

               In 982 CE, Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna was born in Vajrayogini village, Vikrampura (located in the same area as present Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh). Candragarbha—Moon Essence—was his royal name. Jangchub O (984-1078 CE), the Tibetan ruler, gave him the title Atīśa, meaning “peace”. At an earlier age, Atīśa was influenced by some renowned Indian masters (gurus) such as Jetari, Vidyakokila, Rahulagupta, Avadhutipa, and Bodhivadra. Under the supervision of Rahulagupta and Silarakshita, Atīśa was ordained as a Buddhist monk. He was given a new monastic name, Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna. Initially, Atīśa received monastic education, and later on, he decided to learn from a highly qualified master called Suvarnadvipi (known as Serlingpa by Tibetans), who lived on the distant island of Sumatra (now part of Indonesia). After he spent twelve years in Sumatra, Atīśa returned to India in 1025 CE. Atīśa was initially appointed as the abbot of Nālanda Monastery; subsequently, he became the chancellor of Vikramaśīla University (somewhere near what we now call Bhagalpur, Bihar state, India), where he worked until his historical departure to Tibet in 1042 CE.

               The textual contributions from Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna were acknowledged as greatly enriching the Buddhist textual instructions and explanations in the 10th and 11th centuries. Apart from Atīśa’s numerous compilations, he was engaged in literacy translation from Sanskrit to Tibetan and edited over two hundred books, (some of which are now lost or difficult to locate). According to Tibetan sources, Atīśa discovered several Sanskrit manuscripts in Tibet, which he and others subsequently translated into the Tibetan language for the sake of Tibetan seekers. The most notable texts from Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna still in use today are, namely, Bodhipathapradīpa; Cārya-sangraha-pradīpa; Satya-dvyavatāra; Vimala-ratna-lekhā; Bodhisattva-manyavāli; Madhyamāka-ratna-pradīpa; Mahāyāna-patha-sāhana-saṅgraha; śiksa-samuchchaya Abhisamya; Prajñāa-pāramita- pinḍartha-pradīpa; Ekavira-sādhana; pradip Prājikā; Budhipat Pradīpa; Ratna Karandowtghat Madhyamopadeśa; Sangrahagarbha; Hridayaniscita and so forth.

               The noteworthy text Bodhipathapradīpa (A Lamp for the Path to Awakening) from Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna is considered one of his masterpieces. He summarized and simplified the Buddha’s teachings within sixty-eight verses. These verses had such tremendous philosophical and doctrinal depth that they were used by Tibetan seekers and later introduced into the Lamrim Tradition taught by Tibetan master Tsongkhapa (1357–1419 CE). Tsongkhapa consolidated and expanded his epic text “Lam Rim Chen Mo” upon Atīśa’s Bodhipathapradīpa and Nāgārjūna’s Mulamadhyamakakārika. From Tshongkhapa’s text, Lam Rim Chen Mo, the Gelugpa tradition emerged in Tibet, and other Tibetan Buddhist sects, such as Kadampa, Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu were deeply impacted. Atīśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna and his glorious teachings impacted the next thousand years of Mahāyāna teachings and have endured from Nālānda period to modern Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhism, including the transmissions of such contemporary Tibetan gurus as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Karmapa, and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

 

References:

Chattopadhyaya, Aloka. 1996. Atiśa and Tibet. Delhi: Motilal Publishers Private Limited.

Chowdhury, Sanjoy Barua. 2018. “The Legacy of Atiśa: A Reflection on Textual, Historical and Doctrinal Developments to Enrich Buddha Dhamma from the Azimuth of Vikramśilā to Modern Era”, JIABU: Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Universities (Vol. 11, No.1), Bangkok: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Press, 414 – 426.

Tulku, Doboom, and Mullim, Glenn H. (trans.) 1983. Atisha and Buddhism in Tibet New Delhi: Tibet House.

Tsongkhapa. 2004. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, translated by the Lamrim Chenmo Translation Committee Vol. 1, New York: Snow Lion Publications.