Kṣāntipāramitā in the Works of Śāntideva

Abstract

Santideva's two works, the Bodhicaryavatara and the Sikasamuccaya, each have a chapter entitled Perfection of Patience (ksantiparamita). Prajnakaramati uses extracts from the Sikasamuccaya in his commentary, Bodhicaryavatarapanjika. He introduces sections of the Bodhicaryavatara with each of three types of ksanti names in the Sikasamuccaya. This paper argues that Santideva's Bodhicaryavatara does not describe the practice of three types of ksanti in the way suggested by Prajnakaramti's commentary. The treatment of ksanti in the two texts is different and there is no evidence in Santideva's verses in the Bodhicaryavatara that he intended to follow the structure suggested by the three types of ksanti. Neither text specifies what constitutes patience as profound meditation on dharmas (dharmanidhyanaksanti). Establishing the precise meaning of dharmanidhyanaksanti is complicated by the varies treatment of ksanti in Mahayana literature. The paper is based on Sanskrit editions of Santideva's and Prajnakaramati's texts Show more