Śāntideva, il Bodhicaryāvatāra e le kārikā del Śikṣāsamuccaya-Review by Pāsādika

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Review of Śāntideva, il Bodhicaryāvatāra e le kārikā del Śikṣāsamuccaya, by Amalia Pezzali

Review

Śāntideva's Life and Cultural World

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:

Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra(in the following abbreviated BC) is one of the most important religious creations of humanity, harmonizing, in beautiful language 'of great lyrical inspiration', devotional fervour with straightforward reasoning and the grandeur of Madhyamaka thought. This description of the Bodhisattva's career, of his lofty aspirations to become altruism incarnate and help all sentient beings to attain to Buddhahood, has been reminding many westerners, thanks to the efforts of European scholars with whom the BC has been very popular for a long time, of the Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. Since 1892 there have appeared translations of the BC in English, French, German, and in Italian.
      More recently in 1980, an extensive oral commentary to Śāntideva's "Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life" (acc. to Tibetan tradition Śāntideva's work is entitled Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra) by Geshe Kelsang Gyatso was published in England, letting us benefit from the long tradition of Tibetan exegesis being focussed for centuries on the Lam-rim chen-mo and on Śāntideva's work. (Cf. Meaningful to Behold. By Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. Ulverston, Cumbria: Wisdom Publications, Manjushri Institute. 1980). The second complete German translation of the BC came out in 1981—Śāntideva, Eintritt in das Leben zur Erleuchtung. Transl. by E. Steinkellner. Dusseldorf, Cologne: E. Diederichs Verlag—and the first complete translation in Italian substantially is a republication of A. Pezzali's translation of, Śāntideva's principal work published in 1976 (Bologna: Egidi). G. Tucci's Italian translation of chapter I-VIII, however, had already been published in Turin in 1925.
      Professor Pezzali is a well-known specialist of whom a monograph on the life and works of Śāntideva was brought out in 1968: Śāntideva, mystique bouddhiste des VIle et VIlle siècles (Florence: Vallecchi Editore). It is a great pleasure to record here the republication of her BC translation in a nicely produced paperback series. The book is divided into three parts dealing a) with Śāntideva's life (sources, dates, personality), b) with his works (BC, Śikṣāsamuccaya, Sūtrasamuccaya), and c) with his thought (Mahāyāna, Mahāyāna sūtras, Mādhyamikavāda, defence of Śūnyavāda, Śāntideva's mysticism) of part one. Part two contains the translation of the BC. In part three are found a translation of the introductory verses of the Śikṣāsamuccaya and a résumé of the whole work, followed by a bibliography.
      On p. 33-34 A. Pezzali refers to the famous verses at BC V. 105-106 in which are mentioned a Sūtrasamuccaya "and the second work of the same title composed by Nāgārjuna" ("e la seconda opera dallo stesso titolo, composta da Nāgārjuna"—p. 112). As in her monograph on Śāntideva (p. 86), she remarks that Nāgārjuna has surely compiled a Sūtrasamuccaya (extant in Tibetan and Chinese) and that, as asserted by Tibetan historians, Śāntideva's authorship of a second Sūtrasamuccaya cannot with absolute certainly be excluded. In this connection it is perhaps not off the point to refer to J.W. de Jong's long article entitled "La Légende de Śāntideva" (in: Buddhist Studies. By J.W. de Jong. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. 1979). In that article (p. 140) a list of Dpal-brtsegs is mentioned in which figures the Sūtrasamuccaya attributable to Nāgārjuna and a Mdo-sde sna- tshogs-kyi mdo btus-pa which has been reconstructed as Viśvasūtrasamuccaya. Both these works consist of five sections. Though the Viśvasūtrasamuccaya is lost, the author says that the possibility of its being identical with that Sūtrasamuccaya attributed to Śāntideva cannot be gainsaid. (Pāsādika, "Review," 61-62) Read more here

Citation

Pāsādika, Bhikkhu. Review of Śāntideva, il Bodhicaryāvatāra e le kārikā del Śikṣāsamuccaya, by Amalia Pezzali. The Tibet Journal 8, no. 2 (1983): 61–63.

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Pezzali, Amalia. Śāntideva, il Bodhicaryāvatāra e le karika del Śikṣāsamuccaya. Biblioteca Scientifica 11. Bologna, Italy: Editrice Missionaria Italiana, 1982.

Books1982About this item

A translation of the Bodhicaryāvatāra and the Śikṣāsamuccayakārikā from Sanskrit to Italian by Amalia Pezzali. Published by Editrice Missionaria Italiana, 1982.