Aryadeva (3rd Century CE), was a disciple of Nagarjuna and author of
several important Mahayana Madhyamaka Buddhist texts. He is also known as Kanadeva the 15th
patriarch in the Zen tradition and Bodhisattva Deva in Shri Lanka where he was born as the son of a king. Some Chinese sources
however, suggest he was born in Southern India in a Brahmanical family.
Most of Aryadeva's works were not preserved in the original Sanskrit, but they mainly survived in Tibetan and Chinese
translations. His best-known text is probably the Catusataka (400 verses), in sixteen chapters of twenty-five stanzas each. One
of his best-known students is Asvagosha.
Several important works of esoteric Buddhism (most notably the Caryamelapakapradipa or "Lamp that Integrates the
Practices") are attributed to Aryadeva. Contemporary research suggests that these works are datable to a significantly later
period in Buddhist history (late ninth or early tenth century), but the tradition of which they are a part maintains that they
are (at least in some measure) the work of the Madhyamaka Aryadeva. Traditional historians (for example, the 17th century Tibetan
Tāranātha), aware of the chronological difficulties involved, account for the anachronism via a variety of theories, such as the
propagation of later writings via mystical revelation. A useful summary of this tradition, its literature, and historiography may
be found in Wedemeyer 2007.
His current incarnation is H.E. Kyabje Garchen Triptrül Rinpoche
Texts Attributed to Aryadeva
- Catuhsataka-shastra-nama-karika (the Four Hundred Verses) was translated to English as Aryadeva's Catuhsaka. On the
Bodhisattva's Cultivation of Merit and Knowledge by Karen Lang. Snow Lion Publications published the Four Hundred
Verses as Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas. A new edition will be published in 2008 titled: Aryadeva's For Hundred
Stanzas on the Middle Way.
- Sata(ka)shastra (Treatise on the One Hundred Songs)
- Aksarasataka (One Hundred Syllables) is sometimes attributed to Nagarjuna
- Hastavalaprakarana (Hair in the Hand) is sometimes attributed to Dignaga and was translated to English as On Voidness. A
Study on Buddhist Nihilism by Fernando Tola and Carmen Dragonetti.
References
- Lang, Karen. Aryadeva's Catuhsataka: On the Bodhisattva's Cultivation of Merit and Knowledge. Copenhagen.
- Wedemeyer, Christian K. 2007. Aryadeva's Lamp that Integrates the Practices: The Gradual Path of Vajrayana Buddhism
according to the Esoteric Commmunity Noble Tradition. New York: AIBS/Columbia University Press.
External links
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