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 ...
Text Section 138
A treatise can be titled in different ways. The topic of the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra is the conduct of the bodhisattvas. The Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra is, therefore, a treatise that is titled according to its topic or subject matter [brjod bya]. A text can also be titled according to the range of its topic [rjod byed kyi tshad], such as in the ’Eight Thousand Verses’,[1] or according to its functions [byed las], meaning its power [nus stobs] or benefit [phan thogs pa], such as the ’Diamond Cutter’.[2]
A text might be named according to a location [yul], like the ’Sūtra of the Journey to Laṇka’.[3] It might be named according to a period of time [dus], such as the ’Sūtra of the Fortunate Aeon’.[4] It could be named after the person [gang zag] who requested a teaching, like the ’Sūtra Requested by Sāgarmati’.[5] Likewise, a text could be named according to a metaphor [dpe], such as ’Jewel Cluster’.[6] The Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra is named after its ’topic’ [brjod bya], how to enter the conduct of the bodhisattvas.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Aṣṭa-sāhasrikā [brgyad stong pa].
[2]:
Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā [rdo rje gcod pa shes rab gyi pha rol tu phyin pa].
[3]:
Laṇkāvatāra-sūtra [lang kar gshegs pa’i mdo].
[4]:
Bhadrakalpika-sūtra [bskal pa bzang po’i mdo].
[5]:
Sāgarmati-paripḍcchā-sūtra [blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa’i mdo].
[6]:
Ratna-kūṭa [dkon mchog brtegs pa].