Bodhisattvacharyavatara

by Andreas Kretschmar | 246,740 words

The English translation of the Bodhisattvacharyavatara (“entering the conduct of the bodhisattvas”), a Sanskrit text with Tibetan commentary. This book explains the bodhisattva concept and gives guidance to the Buddhist practitioner following the Mahāyāna path towards the attainment of enlightenment. The text was written in Sanskrit by Shantideva ...

Since a prominent monastery such as Nālandā required that its monks adhere to a strict discipline, Śāntideva’s fellow monks concluded that he should be expelled for his inappropriate behavior.

They devised a plan that they hoped would cause him to leave the monastery of his own accord. Since they all incorrectly assumed that he was completely devoid of learning, they cleverly requested that he publicly recite the sūtras.

They were certain that he would rather leave the monastery than embarrass himself in front of all the monks and sponsors. After Śāntideva many times refused their requests for a recital, the abbot, Jayadeva, finally ordered him to recite the sūtras. To everyone’s surprise, he agreed to do so.

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