Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra - book cover

Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra

by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön | 2001 | 940,961 words

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This page describes “inner generosity” as written by Nagarjuna in his Maha-prajnaparamita-sastra (lit. “the treatise on the great virtue of wisdom”) in the 2nd century. This book, written in five volumes, represents an encyclopedia on Buddhism as well as a commentary on the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita.

Part 7 - Inner Generosity

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Inner generosity consists of giving one’s life (āyus) to others without any regret, as is told in the Jātakas and Avadānas.

1. [The king who set fire to his body so as to hear a Buddhist stanza].

2. [Jātaka of the Pigeon].

In the same way, the Bodhisattva gave his head (śīras), his eyes (nayana), his marrow (majjā) and his skull (mastaka) to beings.[1] It would be necessary to list fully the various Jātakas and Avadānasūtras here. All of that is called inner generosity. The immensity of these inner (ādhyātmika) and outer (bāhya) gifts is the nature of generosity.

Footnotes and references:

1.

See references in Traité, I, p. 143F, n. 1.