Citations from the Ratnāvalī and Bodhicittavivaraṇa in the Abhayapaddhati
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Citations from the Ratnāvalī and Bodhicittavivaraṇa in the Abhayapaddhati
Journal Article
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Description
This article reports newly discovered Sanskrit quotations from Nāgārjuna's Ratnāvalī and Bodhicittavivaraṇa found in Abhayākaragupta's twelfth-century Abhayapaddhati commentary. The author identifies one previously unpublished Ratnāvalī verse and four Bodhicittavivaraṇa verses not yet known in Sanskrit, expanding our knowledge of these important texts.
Citation
Isaacson, Harunaga. "Citations from the Ratnāvalī and Bodhicittavivaraṇa in the Abhayapaddhati." Studiens zur Indologie und Iranistik 22 (1999): 55–58.
Interconnections
2 Scholarship on
The Bodhicittavivaraṇa (Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཀྱི་འགྲེལ་པ།, Eng. Commentary on the Awakening Mind) is a foundational Mahāyāna text comprising 112 verses, originally composed in Sanskrit, preceded by a prose introduction, traditionally attributed to the second-century master Nāgārjuna. This work serves as both a comprehensive Madhyamaka analysis and a practical guide for cultivating bodhicitta in its two dimensions: conventional bodhicitta as the compassionate aspiration for all beings' enlightenment, and ultimate bodhicitta as the direct realization of emptiness (śūnyatā). The text grounds ethical aspiration in ontological analysis, demonstrating how understanding the empty nature of phenomena naturally generates universal compassion, while also refuting competing philosophical positions including Vijñānavāda idealism, the tīrthika conception of self, and the śrāvaka understanding of the skandhas. Although scholarly questions persist regarding its authorship—particularly given the text’s apparent tantric elements, critique of Vijñānavāda, and absence of citation by Nāgārjuna’s principal commentators Buddhapālita, Candrakīrti, and Bhāvaviveka—the Bodhicittavivaraṇa has exerted profound influence across Indian and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Its remarkable interpretive flexibility has allowed it to serve as a scriptural foundation for diverse philosophical schools and contemplative practices, from strict Prāsaṅgika philosophy to mahāmudrā and mind training (lojong), making it an essential text for both monastic and lay bodhisattvas throughout the history of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
Ratnāvalī. (T. Rin chen phreng ba; C. Baoxingwang zheng lun; J. Hōgyō ō shöron; K. Pohaengwang chöng non 寶行王正論). In Sanskrit, "Garland of Jewels," a Sanskrit work by the Madhyamaka philosopher Nāgārjuna. The work consists of five hundred verses arranged in five chapters. While the Ratnāvalī contains many of Nāgārjuna's fundamental philosophical ideas, grounded primarily in the notion of emptiness (śūnyatā), the work is more focused on issues of ethics. The Ratnāvalī is addressed to King Gautamīputra of Āndhra, a friend and patron of Nāgārjuna, and much of the text discusses the proper conduct of the laity, particularly those in administrative positions such as ministers and kings. In particular, the fourth chapter is devoted to an exploration of kingship and the proper management of a kingdom. The work also contains a defense of the Mahāyāna as the word of the Buddha (buddhavacana), an exposition of the collection of merit (puṇyasaṃbhāra) and the collection of wisdom (jñānasaṃbhāra), a description of the ten bodhisattva stages (bhūmi) based on the Daśabhūmikasūtra, and a correlation of the practice of specific virtues with the achievement of the thirty-two marks of a superman (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa). There are complete versions of the work extant in Tibetan and Chinese translations, but only parts survive in the original Sanskrit. (Source: "Ratnāvalī." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 704. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
