아티샤와 티벳1

Atisa and Tibet
Life and Works of Dipankara Śrījñāna

in relation to the History and Religion of Tibet
with Tibetan Sources translated under
Professor Lama Chimpa
ALAKA CHATTOPADHYAYA
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First Edition: Calcutta, 1967
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AUTHOR'S PREFACE
But for the initial encouragement and general guidance of

Dr. Niharranjan Ray, now Director, Indian Institute of
Advanced Study, Simla, I could not have started the work at
all and without the ungrudging help of Professor Lama Chimpa
of the Visvabharati University I could never have completed
it. As a matter of fact, while sponsoring the research, the
first step taken by Dr. Niharranjan Ray was to create for me
the scope for learning the Tibetan language and studying the
Tibetan texts under Professor Lama Chimpa. Dr. Ray wrote
to authorities of the Visvabharati University requesting them
to grant me the facilities for studying there under Professor
Lama Chimpa and he also made a personal request to Professor
Lama Chimpa to help me. I am extremely grateful to the
authorities of the Visvabharati University for granting me all
the facilities I required and my indebtedness to Professor
Lama Chimpa is certainly much more than I can adequately
express. The views soemtimes expressed in this work are mine,
and so of course are its errors. Without the patient help of
Professor Lama Chimpa, however, these views would have been
inadequately substantiated and the errors would have been
too many.
In the matter of editing the manuscript and brushing up

its language, the most arduous task has been that of Sri
Radhamohan Bhattacharyya, who has kindly corrected the
entire manuscript excepting only the Appendices. If I hesitate
to be explicit about the extent of my real indebtedness
to him, it is only because with his characteristic modesty he is
likely to be annoyed by it.
The manuscript of Appendix C (and partly of Appendix A)

is kindly revised by Professor Benoyendra Mohan Choudhuri,
Department of Humanities, Indian Institute of Technology,
vi
Kharagpur, on whose kind help I have also relied in many

other ways.
To Dr. D. C. Sircar, Carmichael Professor of Ancient
Indian History, Calcutta University, I am grateful for not only
allowing me to quote from his manuscript on Indian Paleo-
graphy but also for revising my chapter on the origin of the
Tibetan script (Section 22).
Dr. R. N. Bhattacharya of the Department of Mathe-
matics, Jadavpur University, helped me by evolving simpler
methods of tackling the Tibetan calendar. The calculations
forming the basis of Appendix D are entirely his.
To my colleague Professor Sunil Munshi, Department of
Geography, Vidyasagar College, Calcutta, I am indebted for
clarifications of many a problem concerning medieval Asian
geography and most particularly for helping me to trace the
possible route of Dipamkara to western Tibet.
While I was working under Professor Lama Chimpa for
the translation of Dipamkara's Bodhi-patha-pradipa, another
colleague of mine, Professor Mrinalkanti Gangopadhyaya,
Department of Sanskrit, Vidyasagar College, Calcutta, joined
us and, depending on strict Sanskrit equivalents of Tibetan
words, attempted a restoration of the original text. I am
thankful to him for allowing me to incorporate it into my
Appendix C.
To Principal Keshaveswar Bose of Sibnath Sastri College,
Calcutta, I am grateful for helping me to get many rare books
which I needed for the work.
The Librarians and their assistants of the Calcutta Univer-
sity Library, the Cheena-bhavana Library of the Visvabharati

University, the Asiatic Society Library and the National
Library, Calcutta, have always extended their help and coope-
ration to me. I cannot indeed thank them enough.
To my husband Debiprasad I am indebted for discussions

on Buddhist philosophy and very much else besides.
For using more or less long extracts, I want to express full

gratitude to the following in particular: The Asiatic Society,
vii
Calcutta (for extracts from the Blue Annals), the publishers

of the Indian Historical Quaterly (for extracts from Petech),
of the Journal of the Buddhist Text Society (for extracts from
S. C. Das), W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., Cambridge (for extracts
from Waddell's Lamaism), Oxford University Press (for extracts
from Richardson's Tibet and its History), the Archaeological
Survey of India (for extracts from Francke's Antiquities of
Indian Tibet), etc. etc. Quotations from other works are
acknowledged in the notes.
Vidyasagar College for Women,

Calcutta. Alaka Chattopadhaya
January 10, 1967

TRANSLITERATION, NOTES AND REFERENCES
1. Tibetan words are given according to their spellings and not

according to their pronunciations. (Words occurring even
within quotations are usually changed to follow this
uniform principle).
2. Transliteration of Tibetan words is broadly based on the
principles followed by S. C. Das in his Tibetan-English
Dictionary, only with this difference that apostrophe-sign (')
instead of h is used for the Tibetan letter R
3. In cases of Tibetan proper names, only the first letter

actually pronounced is given in capital, lower case types
being used for silent prefixes.
4. In cases of there being a single work by an author in the
Bibliography, the notes mention only his name (which is
followed by the volume-number and page-number without
the usual abbreviations "Vol." and "P."). In cases, how-
ever, of there being more than one work by the same.

author included in the Bibliography, the notes mention the
author's name followed by the initials of the particular work
referred to.
5. When the notes refer to the contribution by an author to a

Journal or to a Reference Work, the word "in" is put
between the name of the contributor and the initials of
the Journal, etc.
6. Texts of the bsTan-'gyur are mentioned in the notes accord-

ing to their numbers in Cordier's Catalogue.
CONTENTS
Author's Preface V
Transliteration, Notes and References viii
Part I
Introductory and Early Career

1. Dipankara in the Religious History of India and Tibet 1
14
2. Misunderstanding Dipamkara and his Message
3. The Sources 22
4. The Name 30
37
5. How many Dipamkaras?
6. Birth and Lineage 56
7. Early Career 67
8. Tantrika Initiation. 71
9. Buddhist Ordination. 77
10. Suvarnadvipa and Dharmakirti 84
11. Back to India Peace Mission 96
12. Indian Monasteries 100
13. Vikramaśila vihāra 102
14. Odantapuri and Somapuri 113
15. Dipamkara at Vikramaśila 127
Part II
Tibetan Background
16. How the Tibetans Tell their own History 145
17. Tibetans and their First King 152
18. Early Legendary Kings 159
19. Bon Religion 165
20. Mysterious Helper 173
21. Sron-btsan-sgam-po 180
22. Thon-mi Sambhoța 198
23. Khri-sron-lde-btsan 212
24. The Ministerial Intrigues 221
25. Santarakṣita, Padmasambhava and Kamalaśila 228
26. Ral-pa-can 250
27. gLan Dar-ma 266
105299
x
Part III
Anisa in Tibet
28. The Subsequent Propagation of the Doctrine 279
29. The pious king Ye-ses-'od 283
30. Tibet on the eve of inviting Atiśa 291
31. Jayaśila and Viryasimha 298
32. Journey to Tibet 307
33. "Thirteen Years" in Tibet 330
APPENDICES
Appendix A
Biographical Materials: Tibetan Sources rendered into English
1. Introductory Note 371
རཅྩ
2. 'Brom-ston-pa's stotra to Dipamkara 372
3. Extracts from dPag-bsam-ljon-bzan of Sum-pa 377
4. Extracts from Taranatha 384
5. The General History and Philosophy of the

bKa'-gdams-pa sect by Chos-kyi-ni-ma 385
6. A New Biography of Atiśa compiled in Tibetan from

Tibetan sources by Nagwang Nima and edited by
Lama Chimpa 397
Appendix B
The Works of Dipamkara
1. Introductory Note
2. Works in the bsTan-'gyur of which Dipamkara is
both author and translator རྨི
3. Works in the bsTan-'gyur of which Dipamkara

is author only རྨི
4. Works in the bsTan-'gyur of which Dipamkara

བི
ུ
is translator only
5. Works in the bsTan-'gyur connected in other ways

with Dipamkara
ཙྪི
6. Works in the bsTan-'gyur, though with some
variation in the name of the author or translator,
are to be attributed to the same Dipamkara
རྩི་
7. Works in the bKa'-'gyur of which Dipamkara

is translator or reviser
xi
Appendix C
Selected writings of Dipamkara

1. Introductory Note 504
505
2. Caryā-giti
511
3. Carya-giti-vṛtti
4. Dipankara-śrijñāna-dharma-gitikā 519
5. Vimala-ratna-lekha 520
525
6. Bodhi-patha-pradipa
536
7. Sayings of Arisa: A
540
8. Sayings of Atisa: B
9. Sanskrit restoration of the Bodhi-patha-pradipa
by Mrinalkanti Gangopadhyaya 545
10. Photostat reproduction of the manuscript containing
the Sayings of Atiśa 550
Appendix D
On the Tibetan Sexagenary Cycle. In collaboration with

R. N. Bhattacharya. 561
Bibliography and Abbreviations

Index 599
575
579
THO-LIN
DIPAMKARA'S ROUTE
FROM
KATMANDU TO THO-LIN
MANASASAROVARA
E
TAKLAKOT
T
KHOCHARNATH
MUGUKARNA
JUMLA
N A L
SHER TAJIPALI
Dhaulagir
MUKTINATH
COMPA
PEAKS
Annapurna
SNOWY HEIGHTS
LAKES
RIVERS
DIPANKARA'S ROUTE POKHRA
20 10 0 40 60 80 KMS
KATMANDU
Map kindly prepared by

Sunil Munshi, Professor ofGeography,
Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta.
PART I
INTRODUCTORY AND EARLY CAREER

ཇོབཾ་
ཆེནསཽ
རསལ་ལྡན་ཨ་ཏི་ཤ༌ལ་ན་མོ།
1. Dipamkara in the
Religious History of
India and Tibet
Notwithstanding the uncertainties about our knowledge ofsome

of the details of the life and activities of Dipamkara Śrījñāna
-alias Atiśa-his importance in the religious history of India
and Tibet is, on the whole, clear and unmistakable. He was
in fact a landmark in both,-being about the last of the great

Buddhist ācārya-s in India and, though not the first, he is
remembered in Tibetan tradition itself as by far the greatest of
the teacher-reformers of Tibet. From this follows also his
stature in the world-history of Buddhism. For Tibet, as is

well-known, is one of the important centres to have kept the
flame of Buddhism alive after it had been almost completely
extinguished in the land where it kindled first.
Our historians have already explained the circumstances in

which, after Dipamkara, there could hardly be any Buddhist
teacher of great eminence in India. By the middle of the
eleventh century, the time of Dipankara's departure for Tibet,
Buddhism in India-or, more specifically, in Eastern India, its
last Indian stronghold-was already facing a serious crisis.
The crisis was both external and internal. Externally, the Pala
rulers, on whose active support Buddhism vitally depended
for the last phase of its history in India, were then themselves
facing impending breakdown of their kingdom. Only about
a century after Dipamkara left India, the Palas, too, driven
out of their last refuge by the Senas, "passed out of
1. For survival of Buddhism in Bengal after A.D. 1200, see P. C. Bagchi

in HB i. 418n; Waddell L 16n. 2. R C. Majumdar in HB i. 101 :
"for nearly four hundred years their court proved to be the last stronghold
of that dying faith in India"; cf. P. C. Bagchi in HB i.416.
3. HB i. 144ff.
2 11. Dipamkara in India and Tibet
history." "The Sena kings do not seem to have had any special
leaning towards Buddhism, and Buddhism does not seem to
have had any patronage from them. The Buddhist institutions.
soon disappeared for want of royal support, and those which
lingered on did not appear to have long survived the invasion
of Muhammad Bakhtyar."5
Bakhtyar's attack on the Buddhist monasteries, attested
to by both the Muslim6 and Buddhist sources, is
generally considered responsible for the final extinction of
Buddhism in India: "The Muhammadan invasion swept
over India in the latter end of the twelfth century A. D.
and effectually stamped Buddhism out of the country. The

fanatical idol-hating Afghan soldiery especially attacked the
Buddhist monasteries, with their teeming idols, and they
massacred the monks wholesale; and as the Buddhist religion,
unlike the more domestic Brahmanism, is dependent on its
priests and monks for its vitality, it soon disappeared in the
absence of these latter."8
But the persecution of Buddhism in India or abroad was
not entirely unprecedented and it is difficult to believe that
external aggression alone could root out a religion from a
country in the way in which Buddhism was virtually rooted
out of India by the middle of the thirteenth century. For
a fuller explanation of this, therefore, we have also to take
note of the internal decay of Buddhism, to which eminent
scholars rightly draw our attention.
"Buddhism under the Palas," says P. C. Bagchi, 10
4. Ib. i. 171. 5. P. C. Bagchi in HB i. 418. 6. Tabaqāt-i-Näsiri
quoted in HB i.242; cf. Elliot ii. 306; Sankalia 212. 7. Sum-pa 112.
8. Waddell L 16; cf. Waddell in JASB lxvi. 20ff. 9. Sogen, 16,
depending on Hiuen Tsang, says, "Too well-known to mention here is the

royal mandate of Saśānka, king of Karnasuvarṇa, commanding the utter
extermination of Buddhists from the face of India with the unwholesome
alternative of the penalty of death to be inflicted on the executioners
themselves in case they neglected to carry out the inhuman order of the
king and master." P. C. Bagchi in HB i. 416 suspects exaggeration in this
account. The persecution of Buddhism in Tibet by gLan Dar-ma will be
discussed later. 10. P. C. Bagchi in HB i. 419.
1. Dipamkara in India and Tibet j
"appears to have been completely different from the Buddhism

which even Hiuen Tsang describes in the middle of the seventh
century A. D. The ancient schools, like Sarvästivada, Sammatiya
etc., are no longer spoken of in Eastern India, and the trace
of pure Mahāyāna that we discover in the invocations used
by kings in their inscriptions does not give a correct picture
of the Buddhism of the period. The Mahāyāna had developed
forms of mysticism which are known as Vajrayāna and
Tantrayāna." "The ancient Vinaya schools like Sarvās-
tivada, Mahāsānghika, etc., had only a limited scope for
giving initiation to the novices; but the more complicated
domain of Mahāyāna practices was reserved for those who had
special initiation in Vajrayāna, Sahajayana and Kalaca-
krayāna."11 As a result, "Buddhism was soon unhinged.
As time passed on, less and less importance was attached to
the ceremonial aspect which still retained a faint stamp of
Buddhism. The ceremonial being once completely eliminated,
it was not long before what remained of Buddhism was
absorbed in the Brahmanical Tantric system of Bengal."12
That by the time of Dipamkara's departure for Tibet
Buddhism in India was clearly on its decline is attested to by
the Tibetan sources. 'Brom-ston-pa, the chief Tibetan
disciple of Atiśa, said that "at the time the Master left India,
Buddhism was, as it were, at its lowest ebb,"18 The Tibetan
scholar Tshul-khrims-rgyal-ba (Jayaśila) of Nag-tsho, who
came to India and stayed at the Vikramaśila vihāra for
inviting Atiśa to Tibet, said that during Dipamkara's time
At Odantapuri,
There were 53 monks.
At Vikramasila,
There were about a hundred monks.14
There being so few monks in these vihara-s, as Roerich15
rightly points out, "shows that at the beginning of the 11th
century A. D. the monastic colleges of Odantapuri and
Vikramaśila were already falling into decay."
11. Ib. i. 420. 12. b. i. 421-2. 13. Quoted by Rahula in
2500 Years 236. 14. Quted by Roerich in BA i. 243n. 15. Ib.
11. Dipamkara in India and Tibet
This process of decay, aided by the impact of the

Muslim conquest of Eastern India, left, within a period
of about two hundred years, the famous centres of
Buddhism like Vajrasana (Buddhagaya) and Nālandā almost
completely desolate and deserted. Here is an interesting
Tibetan evidence of the condition of these Buddhist centres
by the first half of the thirteenth century A. D. 'Gos
lo-tsa-ba, one of the most respected of the Tibetan historians,
describes as follows the Indian adventure of a Tibetan scholar
called Chag Chos-rje-dpal, who was born in A. D. 119716
and who came to India shortly after A.D. 121617 "After.
that he proceeded to India. He visited Vaiśāli via Tirhut.
In a dream he had a clear vision of Vajrāsana. On reaching
Vajrasana, he found that there was no one there, all having
fled from fear of Turuşka troops. For a long time he was
unable to see the Mahabodhi image (for the doors of the
vihāra were blocked with bricks). Later he saw the image,
made offerings to the Mahabodhi, and examined the sacred
place. At Nålandå he met the pandita Rahula Śrībhadra
and obtained from him many doctrines. The Gar-log troops
(Qarluq here the name designates Muhammedan troops)
arrived there, all the natives and their king fled away.
Rāhula said to Chag: 'I, being ninety years old, am unable

to flee away. But you, fool, why don't you go away?"
Chag replied 'Even if murdered, I could not separate from
my Teacher Rahula having found him to be a trust-
worthy person, became pleased from the bottom of his heart.
Having taken his Teacher on his back, he carried him to a
temple of Mahākāla, which was feared by the Gar-log
troops, and the latter did not harm them. In Magadha he
caught fever, and when the fever left him, (his body) became
covered with sores. He again caught fever in Tirhut.
Slowly he journeyed to Tibet."18 According to the same
historian, Dipamkara left India for Tibet in A.D. 1040.19
16. BA ii. 1057. 17. Ib. ii. 1056-7. 18. Ib. ii. 1058.
19. Ib. i. 247.

1. Dipamkara in India and Tibet | 5
Thus Buddhagaya and Nālandā were ruined within a period

of hardly two hundred years after that.20
Our knowledge of Buddhism for the period intervening
between Dipamkara's departure for Tibet and the fall of
these Buddhist vihara-s in Eastern India is necessarily obs-
cure and uncertain. We have today to depend for this mainly
on the Tibetans, who, in their turn, had to depend largely
on rumours floating from India to Tibet,- rumours that

were interested mainly in the miraculous. In this confused
heap of T betan legends, certain names of Indian ācārya-s
after Dipankara are found to occur, of course. But we
have hardly anything about any of them that can be considered
as positive evidence of great eminence. Thus, e.g. Bu-ston,21
after describing the coming of Atiśa to Tibet, mentions a long
list of Indian pandita-s, like Kashmirian Jñánaśrī, Candrarȧ-
hula, Parahitabhadra, Bhavyarāja, Sajjana, Amaragomin,
Sthirapala, Atulyadāsa, Sumatikirti, Amaracandra, Kumāra-
kalaśa, Kanakavarman, Gayadhara, etc., etc. But the histo-
rian has nothing to say about them beyond this that they were
invited to Tibet and took part in the Tibetan translation of one
or two Buddhist works. It is true that 'Gos lo-tsa-ba has a
great deal to say about the Kashmirian pandita Sakyaśrībhadra,
who came to Tibet in A.D. 1204 at the age of seventyeight,
spent ten years in Tibet, went back to Kashmir in A.D. 1214
and died there in A.D. 1225.2 However, apart from Sum-
pa's23 statement that he was the last abbot of the Vikramasila
vihara, which he left just before its fall, we know practically
nothing about his Indian career. 'Gos lo-tså-ba describes the
great influence he had in Tibet and his name remains associated
in the bsTan-'gyur with a considerable amount of literary
output.24 But neither from the point of view of his success in
20. Samaddar, lol, gives the date of the destruction of Nālandā, Vikrama-
Sila and Odantapuri as A. D. 1199; Sankalia, 213f, suggests A. D. 1205-6
as the date of the destruction of Nālandā. But these dates do not agree
with the Tibetan evidence just quoted, according to which Chag came to
India after A. D. 1216 (BA ii. 1056). 21. Bu-ston ii. 215f 22. BA
ii. 1063ff. 23. Sum-pa 121. 24. The bsTan-'gyur contains
6 Dipamkara in India and Tibet
Tibet nor from that of his literary activities, Sakvaśribhadra

stands even any remote comparison with Dipamkara-śri-jñāna.
The other Indian ācārya after Dipamkara specially glorified by
'Gos lo-tsa-ba was Vanaratna, who reached Tibet in A. D.
142625 and is often called "The Last Pandita." He preached

Kālacakra Tantrism, took part in literary activity of some
significance 26 and, according to 'Gos lo-tså-ba, "seems to have
been the most popular among the pandita-s who visited Tibet
in later times."97 But, again, any comparison of his stature
with that of Dipamkara in the religious history of India or
Tibet is inconceivable.
Thus, in short, the conditions in India after Dipankara were

not favourable for the appearance of great Buddhist teach ers
and there was surely none of Dipamkara's eminence. Other
considerations apart, his sheer literary output verges almost on
the fabulous. Yet Dipamkara is remembered primarily because
of the last phase of his career, namely his activities in Tibet,
in the religious history of which his position is, in an important
sense, without parallel.
There is no doubt that among his Indian predecessors 28
who had been to Tibet, Santarakṣita and Kamalaśila in parti-
cular, judging them by their extant works, were great philo-
sophers dialectically defending the Mahāyāna views. Com-
pared to them, Dipamkara himself was perhaps temparamen-
tally more inclined to moral precepts and practices conducive
to meditation, though of course not at the cost of logical and
philosophical discussions. And though the Tibetan tradition.
has no dearth of miraculous legends about Dipamkara,the
same tradition remembers Padmasambhava, the Tantrika
contemporary of Santarakṣita, as a far greater wielder of
magical spells and charms. Besides, the founding of the bSa m-
yas monastery, with which the names of Santarakṣita and
25 works attributed to śākyaśrī, one to Sakyaśrījñāna and 34 to Sakyaśrī-
bhadra. 25. BA ii. 799ff. 26. The bsTan-'gyur contains 24
works attributed to Vanaratna. Also one attributed to Vanaratnapāda.
27. BA ii. 802. 28. For Säntarakṣita, Padmasambhava and
Kamalasila, See Sections 25-6.
1. Dipamkara in India and Tibet ] 7
Padmasambhava are so persistently connected by the Tibetan

tradition, had undoubtedly been an event of great significance
for the spread of Buddhism in Tibet, and, incidentally, also for
the preservation of a large number of Buddhist texts lost and
forgotten in India. Further, the defeat of the Chinese ho-shang
Mahāyāna by Kamalaśila, according to the Tibetan historians
themselves, was an event of great significance for the spread of
the Doctrine in Tibet.
Still, not to speak of the other Indian ācārya-s who preached

Buddhism in Tibet-and according to a list prepared by S. C.
Das there were no less than eightynine of them-the influ-
ence even of Santarakṣita and others in the development of
Buddhism in Tibet was neither as profound nor as enduring as
that of Dipamkara. It will perhaps be argued that the memory
of Padmasambhava has a greater halo in Tibetan history. He is
"now deified and as celebrated in Lamaism as Buddha himself,
than whom, indeed, he receives among several sects more
worship."30 But his memory is cherished in certain circles of
Tibet not so much for the preaching of the Buddhist doctrine
there as for the performance of certain grotesque miracles by
which he subdued the equally grotesque devils of the land and
recruited them to his following. From this point of view,
Padmasambhava perhaps helped the perpetuation of the older
faith of Tibet against which Buddhism had to fight for centuries
before being finally victorious. In Tibet, as H. P. Sastri says,
"Dipamkara is worshipped as a god by thousands of people
even today."81 But this is essentially different from the awe
which Padmasambhava, the great sorcerer, inspires today in
certain quarters of Tibet. As Waddell puts it, "Atiśa is held to
be an incarnation of Mañjuśrī, the Bodhisat of Wisdom: which
is merely a way of stating that he was the greatest embodiment
of Buddhist Wisdom that ever visited Tibet." This is fully
confirmed by the way in which the Tibetan historians and
scholars repeatedly assert that Tibet remains ever-grateful to
29. S. C. Das in JBTS I. i. 1-2. 30. Waddell L 24. 31. H. P.
Sastri, Prācin Banglar Gaurava (Bengali) 25. 32. Waddell L 62.

him for the purity of the Doctrine he preached. In the stotra

to Dipamkara, 'Brom-ston-pa says,
Though Buddhism could exist in Tibet even without
the arrival there of a great scholar like thee, yet many
people (in Tibet) were mistaken about its deeper signi-
ficance and thou gave them the right teaching; to thy
feet I offer prayer.33
Thus, in short, Dipamkara's success in the history of Tibetan
Buddhism is quite unique and this in spite of the intrinsic
greatness of some of his predecessors. How are we to account
for this?
It will perhaps be suggested that the terrible persecution

of Buddhism by gLan Dar-ma, which intervened between the
activities of Santarakṣita and the arrival of Dipamkara in Tibet.
largely accounts for the difference in their historical success.
For, though Waddell 8+ thinks that "gLan Dar-ma's persecution
was very mild for a religious one, and very short-lived", that
is not the way in which the Tibetan historians of Tibet
want us to look back at it. According to the account usually
given by them, gLan Dar-ma virtually annihilated Buddhism in
Tibet, or, as they put it, because of this persecution, "the Doc-
trine was rooted out" 35, or, "the Doctrine ceased to exist."86
Tibet witnessed "the second beginning of Buddhism" or "Later
spread of the Doctrine" 87 only some years before the arrival
of Dipamkara there. Thus the edifice built by Santaraksita
and others was violently demolished while Dipamkara had the
advantage of working when an influential section of the Tibet-
ans including the ruling family of Western Tibet showed new
enthusiasm for rebuilding it.
Practically the same suggestion may be put forth in a
different way. The tenacity of the priests and priestesses of the
Eon religion, 38 with which they clung to the older faith ofTibet
and with which the persecution of Buddhism by gLan Dar-ma
33. Appendix A, Section 2, śloka 11. The Tibetan historians, generally
speaking, assert that Atīsa purified Buddhism in Tibet. See Appendix A
Sections 3 and 5. 34 Waddell L 34. 35. Bu-ston ii. 199.
36. BA i. 53. 37. Ib. i. 63ff; Bu-ston ii. 201ff. 38. For Bon
religion, see Section 19

1. Dioamkara in India and Tibet
was not unconnected after all, had to recede before Buddhism

could gain solid ground in Tibet. Besides, it was necessary for
the Tibetans to achieve sufficient cultural progress - including
progress in literacy-before being able to receive and retain
the influence of the Buddhist scriptures preached to them.

During the time of the great predecessors of Dipamkara, these
conditions were far from being fulfilled. Santarakṣita and
others had to work against very stiff resistance and under the
most adverse conditions, trying as they did to teach
abstruse Buddhist philosophy in a country where the first
introduction of literacy was then barely a century old-not to
speak of the organised force with which the effects of their
teachings were eventually sought to be wiped out. However,
by the time of Dipamkara's arrival in Tibet, the representa-
tives of the Bon religion were clearly on the defensive, having
little or no active support of the royal families behind them.
Moreover, by this time Tibet made sufficient cultural progress
and was ready to receive Buddhism properly. As Waddell,39
referring to the reforms of Dipamkara, says, "Perhaps the time
was now ripe for the reform, as the Lāmas had become a large
and influential body, and possessed a fairly full and scholarly
translation of the bulky Mahayana Canon and its Commen-
taries, which taught a doctrine very different from that then
practised in Tibet."
The main point of all these is that Dipamkara's success
in Tibet is largely to be accounted for by the external circums-
tances that favoured him. The cbvious truth in this need not,
of course, be doubted. But the risk of taking this as the whole
truth is equally obvious. That compared to his predecessors
Dipamkara was favoured much by the external circumstances
is quite clear. But can we expect the full explanation of his
success from the mere fact of the external circumstances favour-
ing him? The answer is in the negative. For there is the
evidence of another Indian ācārya who went to Tibet and
39. Waddell L 54.
2
10
worked there under the same or similar circumstances, but

whose success, compared to that of Dipamkara, was only
negligible.
He was ācārya Dharmapala40 of Eastern India, a senior

contemporary of Dipamkara, who went to Tibet being invited
by the Tibetan king Lha-rgyal bLa-ma Ye-ses-'od (Devaraja
Guru Jñanaprabha). This ruler of Western Tibet was an
ardent Buddhist, whose great fame in Tibetan history was
primarily because of the way he sacrificed his life to the cause
of bringing some great Indian pandita to Tibet for purifying
the corrupt form of religious practices then prevalent there.41
Dipamkara went to Tibet shortly after his death, depending
mainly on the patronage of his family. However, ācārya
Dharmapala was invited to Tibet by the king Ye-ses-'od him-
self and was evidently very highly respected. In a poem quoted
by 'Gos lo-tså-ba we read,
Lha-rgyal bLa-ma Ye-ses-'od,
Known as a manifestation of Mañjuśrī,
as prophesised in the great Múla Tantra41a
built the incomparable and miraculous vihara
of Tho-lin.
From Eastern India, a learned monk, endowed with the

thunder of Fame,
the lofty banner of glory,

apparent to all, named Dharmapåla,
was invited by Ye-ses-'od.
He, whose mind was exhorted by the Sun of Mercy,
in order to promulgate the Precious Doctrine,
acted as upadhyāya, and spread the Meditative Lineage.42
Thus Dharmapala went to Tibet when the organised resistance
to Buddhism there was already on its decline and when at least
parts of Tibet were being swept by the wave of Buddhist
renaissance which shortly afterwards brought Dipamkara
there. Still his success in Tibet cannot stand even any remote
comparison to that of Dipamkara.
40. S. C. Das in JASB, 1881. 236; cf. BA i. 69 & 83f. 41. See section 29.
41a. The Mañjuśri-müla-tantra. 42. BA i. 84.

1. Dipamkara in India and Tibet 11
Bu-ston refers to him only cursorily as one under whom

rGyal-ba'i Ses-rab of Shan-shun "took order." What Sum-
pa has to say about him is summed up by S. C. Das as
follows: "The great Buddhist sage Dharmapala of Pracya
(modern Darbhanga or Bihar), while sojourning in Nepal, on
pilgrimage, was invited by king Ye-ses-'od to Tibet. He
accepted the tutorship of the king. Dharmapala had ordained
three Tibetans into the Holy Order and given them Indian
religious names, all ending in Pala. From one of them, named
Prajñāpāla, rGyal-ba'i Ses-rab of Shan-shun took the holy vow
and proceeded to Nepal, where he learnt the practices of
Vinaya." 'Gos lo-tså-ba, being more encyclopædic, has some
little details to add to the Tibetan career of Dharmapala, from
which the only significant information that we have is that
from Dharmapala began one of the following three Lineages
of the monastic community of Tibet, viz, "the so-called
'Lower Lineage of the mahā-upādhyāya Sāntarakṣita...the so-
called 'Upper' Lineage of the East Indian pandita Dharmapala,
...and the Lineage handed down by the Kashmirian pandita
Sakyaśri(-bhadra)"45
Though 'Gos lo-tsa-ba calls it the "so-called Upper
Lineage," its importance in the religious history of Tibet must
not be exaggerated. In his enormous work, 'Gos lo-tsä-ba
mentions almost countless "Lineages" (brgyud-pa) like this,-
which, incidentally, are not to be confused with the sects of
Buddhism, and there is nothing to indicate that the parti-
cular "Lineage" of Dharmapāla ever acquired any momentous
significance. By contrast, Dipamkara's work did in an impor-
tant sense shape the religious destiny of Tibet and continued
to do so for about a thousand years.
The first sect of Tibetan Buddhism and the one directly
associated with the name of Dipamkara is called the bKa'-
gdams-pa. In modern Tibet, however, the most important and
influential sect of Buddhism is known as the dGe-lugs-pa.
43. Bu-ston ii. 213. 44. Sum-pa, Contents xvii-xviii. 45. BA ii.
1062. It is curious to see that the authors of An Advanced History of India,

168, freely bracket the names of Dharmapāla and Dipamkara.
12
Next in importance are the two sects called the bKa'-rgyud-

pa and Sa-skya-pa. Of these, the dGe-lugs-pa was the direct
outcome of Atiśa's teachings, to which the last two were also
greatly, though somewhat indirectly, indebted. Thu-bkan-blo-
bzan-chos-kyi-ni-ma, the learned 18th century historian of the
religious sects of Tibet, 46 clearly shows how much these sects
of Tibetan Buddhism owe to Dipamkara.47 With regard to
Tson-kha-pa, the founder of the dGe-lugs-pa sect, the historian
observes, "(he) was in fact the same (i.e. the incarnation of)
Jo-bo-rje (Atiśa). Only in the eyes of the common people he
appeared to receive the upadeśa of Märga-krama (i.e. the main
work of Tson-kha-pa directly based on Dipamkara's Bodhi-
patha-pradipa) of the bKa'-gdams from mahā-upādhyāya Nam-
mkha'-rgyal-mtshan and Chos-skyabs-bzan-po. He removed
the dirt of doubt and distortions and whatever other changes
occurred in Jo-bo's upadeśa in the course of time... So it is
nothing but the bKa-'gdams-pa doctrine. Some of the chos-
'byun-s even call the dGe-ldan-pa (dGe-lugs-pa) as but the new
bKa'-gdams-pa." The historian also shows how the sects
called the bKa'-rgyud-pa and Sa-skya-pa are fundamentally
based on Dipankara's teachings. Mar-pa lo-tså-ba, the grand-
founder of the bKa'-rgyud-pa sect, when he went to India for
the second time, met Atiśa and received his upadesa. Other
great exponents of this sect were disciples of Atiśa's personal
disciples and the basic tenets of the bKa-'rgyud-pa are based
on Atiśa's teachings. Similarly Sa-skya pandita, the founder
of the Sa-skya-pa sect, was a disciple of a grand-disciple of
Atisa and the fundamental doctrines of this sect were the out-
come of Atiśa's doctrines.
Following is Waddell's account of the relation of the
dominant sects of Tibetan Buddhism to Dipamkara's teachings:
"No sects appear to have existed prior to gLan Dar-ma's

persecution, nor till more than a century and a half later.
The sectarial movement seems to date from the Reformation
started by the Indian Buddhist monk Atiśa... The first ofthe
46. See S. C. Das in JASB, 1881, 187f on this historian. 47. Appen-
dix A, Section 5.
1. Dipamkara in India and Tibet 13
reformed sects and the one with which Atiśa most intimately
identified himself was called the bKa'-gdams-pa...and it ulti-
mately, three and a half centuries later, in Tson-kha-pa's hands,
became less ascetic and more highly ritualistic under the title
of...dGe-lugs-pa, now the dominant sect in Tibet, and the
Established Church of Lämaism... The rise of the bKa'-gdams-
pa (dGe-lugs-pa) sect was soon followed by the semi-reformed

movements of bKa'-rgyud-pa and Sa-skya-pa, which were
directly based in great measure on Atiśa's teaching. The
founders of those two sects had been his pupils, and their new
sects may be regarded as semi-reformations adapted for those
individuals who found his high standard too irksome, and too
free from their familiar demonolatry."48
It is no wonder, therefore, that in the history of Tibet as
told by its own historians, Dipamkara's stature should have
been so great. To the Tibetans themselves the history of Tibet
is above all the history of the spread of Buddhism there and
this history is generally told as a series of events which culmi-
nated in the coming of Atisa to Tibet and the propagation by
him of the Doctrine there. That he was largely helped by the
external circumstances is obvious. But it is idle to expect full
explanation of his success from these alone.
To sum up For understanding the Tibetan career of
Dipankara, it is as important to consider the historical setting
under which he worked as it is to have a clear idea of the
nature of his personality and activities, and, above all, of his

actual teachings. Yet all these, as is evident from the writings
of Sir Charles Bell, have the risk of being grossly misunder-

stood because of the want of proper care in handling the
Tibetan source-materials.
48. Waddell L 55-6

2. Misunderstanding
Dipamkara and his Message
Sir Charles Bell, the late British Political Representative in
Tibet, is naturally struck by the great veneration of the
Tibetans for Dipamkara: "in the historical books as well as
in the conversation of today, Atiśa is habitually termed 'Lord'
or 'Noble Lord' and few are more highly venerated." Again,
"Among all the Pandits who flocked to Tibet none exercised so
great an influence as Atiśa." The expression "flocked to
Tibet" is peculiar. Waddell would not endorse it. "There
seems no evidence," says he, "to support the assertion that
this Lâmaist revival was determined by any great influx of
Indian monks fleeing from persecution in India, as there is no
record of any such influx about the time of the Muhammadan
invasion of India."3 As for the Tibetan authorities, on whom
we are to depend almost exclusively for our knowledge of
Atiśa, such an expression would hardly make any sense at all.
The story of Dipamkara's coming to Tibet, as persistently told
by them, is the story of an ardous and prolonged undertaking
on the part of the Tibetan rulers and scholars for inviting him
to Tibet. But let us for the present skip over such points of
comparatively minor importance. Sir Charles has greater
surprises for us,-surprises, in fact, even for the Tibetan
authorities on whom he claims to depend.
Dipamkara's personality, according to the picture drawn by

Sir Charles, was full of conceit and vanity. Here is how, accord-
ing to him, Dipamkara compared his own scholarly achieve-

ments with those of his predecessors to Tibet: "Atiśa travelled
through Tibet from the West and eventullay arrived in Lhasa. The
learned teachers of Tibet asked him regarding the qualification

and attainments of those Pandits who were in Western Tibet.
He replied that a certain Panḍit had so much knowledge and
another had so much. When questioned regarding his own
1. Bell, R.T. 59. 2. Ib. 53. emphasis added. 3. Waddell L. 37.

2. Misunderstanding Dipamkara and his Message 15
attainments, he looked into the sky, saying Tak tak a sound

betokening surprise, and adding, 'His accomplishments! Oh,
his accomplishments!' Thus, says the history he silenced them."4
This gives us the picture of one, who, with a great deal of
demonstration of his own vanity, made the Tibetan scholars
somewhat dumbfounded. But what is the "history" which,
according to Bell, says the above? It is the famous history of
the Doctrine or the chos-'byun by 'Gos lo-tsa-ba, usually
referred to by its abbreviated title Deb-sňon and translated by
Roerich as The Blue Annals. In Roerich's English rendering,
the actual passage in this history which forms the basis of Sir
Charles' observation runs as follows:
"Later, when the Master was residing in Central Tibet

(dBus), Lha-bla-ma came to meet him. About that time,
Tibetan teachers inquired from him about the knowledge of
different pandita-s who had come to mÑa'-ris, he replied: "This
teacher possesses this (knowledge), that one-that, etc.' When
they inquired about the Master's knowledge, he (Lha-bla-ma)
raised his eyes towards the sky, and emitting a smacking
sound with his tongue, uttered: 'O! His knowledge! O! His
knowledge! By this he expressed that the Master's knowledge
was surpassing words."5
There is thus no difficulty about the actual passage itself.
It was intended to show the great veneration that the Tibetan
ruler had for Atiśa. For Sir Charles, however, the whole thing
is an evidence of Atiśa's personal vanity. That is hardly the
way of drawing upon Tibetan history.
Besides, a simple acquaintance with Atiśa's works makes it
quite clear that it must have been palpably absurd for him to
have compared his own accomplishments with those of his
predecessors in the way in which Sir Charles describes him to
have done it. Much of the time and energy of his mature
years was devoted to the Tibetan translation of indian works,
including works by his predecessors like Santarakṣita, Kamala-
4. Bell, R.T. 54. emphasis added. 5. BA i. 247-8. 6. Tattva-siddhi-näma-

prakarana (rG. lxxii. 4).
16
sila and Padmasambhava.8 One who publicly declared him-

self so much superior to them would not surely take such
pains to translate their works.
Still this distorted understanding of Tibetan "history" by
Sir Charles is not entirely accidental. It is prompted by the
peculiarly contemptuous notion of Dipamkara's personality and
his teachings which is repeatedly shown by Sir Charles. He is
aware no doubt that Dipamkara's name was intimately connec
ted with the sect of reformed Buddhism known as the bKa'-
gdams-pa. To him, however, this was not of much significance.
"There was not much difficulty", he says, "in forming a new
sect at that time, for Buddhism was at a low ebb in conse-
quence of the anti-Buddhist movement that had only recently
lost force." But, apart from any real assessment of the role
of the bKa'-gdams-pa sect in Tibetan history-and even assum-
ing that it was quite easy to found a sect in Tibet at that time,-
the question remains: How are we to explain the great success

which this sect had in the religious history of Tibet? With
Sir Charles the explanation of this success is too easy. With a
great deal of shrewdness, he argues, Dipamkara knew well how
to cater to the debased Tibetans with a suitably debased doc-
trine of his own. "Atiśa's teaching," he says,10 "was largely
based on the Kala Cakra system, one of the most debased
forms of Buddhist Tantrism. But it evidently met the needs
of Tibet, and in him they had a man who had studied hard
and gained a wide outlook." "There was," continues Sir
Charles,11 "evidently a strong feeling in Tibet against this Indian
importation, and Atisa, though largely brought up in the Kala
Cakra tenents, was distinguished by a wide erudition, and,
having come late to the priesthood, seems to have been a man
of the world. So, whatever his own views may have been, he
bowed to Tibetan opinion."
It may be a little difficult to see full consistency between
the two observations quoted above. If the most debased form
7. Kṛṣṇa-yamari-südhana (rG. xliii.10.) 8. Bhiksu-var sāgra-prccha (mDo
xc 21). See BA i. 30-1. 9. Bell, R.T. 59. 10. Ib. 53-4. 11. lb. 54-5.
17
of Buddhist Tantrism, which Dipamkara is alleged to have

represented, did meet the needs of Tibet, it is not clear why
there was in Tibet a strong feeling against this Indian importa-
tion and why, further, Atiśa had to use his worldly wisdom to
bow to the Tibetan opinion apparently concealing his own.
But let us concentrate on the main thesis of Sir Charles,
namely, that Dipamkara's own teachings were largely based on
the most debased form of Tantrism known as the Kalacakra.
What can be the basis of such a remarkable assertion?
'Gos lo-tsä-ba, for whose work Sir Charles himself12 shows.
great admiration, devotes a long chapter18 to the discussion
of the Kalacakra. In this he mentions many "Lineages,"
both Indian and Tibetan, of this system of Tantrism. Through-
out the whole discussion, however, Dipamkara's name is cons-
picuously absent. It is inconceivable that Dipamkara was a
real representative of the Kálacakra and yet 'Gos lo-tså-ba,
perhaps the greatest encyclopædist of Buddhist Tantrism, was
entirely unware of this.
But we need not depend upon such a negative evidence alone.
There are direct ways of ascertaining the actual nature
of Atiśa's teachings. We may have some idea of these from
the theory and practice of the bKa'-gdams-pa sect. Besides,
the actual writings of Atiśa, particularly of his mature years,
are there to tell us whether he represented any form of debased
Tantrism, be it the Kalacakra or anything else.
We shall later have the occasion to discuss the bKa'-gdams-
pa sect in greater details. For the present, however, we may
mention only one point about it. The Tibetan authorities14
frequently mention "The Six Basic Texts" of the bKa'-gdams-
pa sect. These are: The Mahāyānasūtrālamkāra, Bodhi-
sattvabhumi, Sikṣāsamuccaya, Bodhisattvacaryavatāra,
Jātakamālā and Udanavarga. These are well-known texts
of the classical Mahāyānists and it is not necessary to
12. Bell, R.T. 33: 'Gos lo-tsä-ba's work is characterised as "perhaps the most
trustworthy of all Tibetan histories". 13. BA ii. 753-837
14. BA i. 268; ii. 810. See also Section 5 of Appendix A.
3
18 Misunderstanding Dipamkara and his Message
argue in detail that these have hardly anything to do with

any particularly debased form of Tantrism. It would there-
fore be most remarkable had Dipamkara been himself a repre-

sentative of such Tântrism and yet the study of the texts he
introduced among his followers are completely free from it.
That Bell's view of Dipamkara's teachings has little or no
relation with the teachings themselves becomes more obvious
when we proceed to consider the actual writings of Dipamkara.
In his Bodhi-patha-pradipa, far from subscribing to any form of
debased Tantrism, Dipamkara clearly warns the Buddhist
monk against certain forms of Tantrika practices. "The
brahmacāri," says Dipamkara, "cannot receive guhya-jñāna-
abhiseka, for it is strongly prohibited in the Adi-buddha-mahā-
tantra. For the brahmacari receiving this form of initiation
means the violation of the prohibitions and hence a fall from
the tapah-samvara. Such a vrati will suffer great sin (mahā-
pātaka) and will certainly fall among the low-born. He will
never attain siddhi."15
We shall later have the occasion to see how the Tibetan
historians of Tibet express their greatest reverence for

Dipamkara, not because he catered the debased Tibetans with
an equally debased doctrine of his own but above all for
reforming the Tibetan religion which, particularly in the name
of Tantra, became awfully corrupted before the arrival of
Dipamkara in Tibet. There is no doubt that he did not preach
an outright rejection of Tantrism. But the real sense in which
he retained an affiliation to the Tantrika modes of propitiation
and meditation is in need of separate discussion. However, for

the purpose of understanding whether his teachings were actu-
ally debased or not, we may have here only a few extracts from
his writings that have special bearing on his ethical attitude.
Here is a short religious song by him 16:
If you know vikalpa, the dangerous thief, to be a danger,
then guard against it the great treasure of sila and keep it
safe. Oh, do not be a fool and remain sunk in a sleep of
15. Bodhi-patha-pradipa, śloka-s 63-5. See Appendix C. 16. Dipankara-
Sri-iñana-lharma-gitikā. See Appendix C.

Misunderstanding Dipamkara and his Message 19
delusion (moha) throughout the long night which is samsāra.

Keep close watch on your mind. If you remain asleep, the
thief will enter your room and your treasure of sila will be
stolen. Without the wealth of sila, there will be no samādhi.
And without samadhi there will be no sun-rise. Therefore,
save your samadhi. For a single moment do not imagine

that the wealth of sila is an ordinary wealth. Then will
emerge absolute knowledge like the rising sun. Thus there
will be the dawn and the end of samsara. Oh, do not be a
fool. Guard your citta.

We have in this song a favourite theme of Dipankara. He
repeats it almost in toto elsewhere.17 It is decidedly useless to
search for anything debased or banal in this.
Dipamkara had the rare honour of being the spiritual guide
of at least two18 kings of his time. One of them was Naya-
pāla of Bengal and the other was Byan-chub-'od of Western
Tibet. To the former he wrote a moving letter from Nepal
and, in response to the special request of the latter, he wrote
the Bodhi-patha-pradipa, his magnum opus. We may have here
two extracts from these.
To Nayapala he wrote:
Behave like (one with) eyes with regard to your own faults
but as the blind with regard to the faults of others. Avoid
arrogance and egoism and always meditate on the void.
Give publicity to your own faults; do not find faults of
others. Give publicity to the virtues of others; keep your
own virtues hidden.
Do not accept gain and gifts. Always avoid profit and
fame. Meditate on maitri and karuņā. Strengthen the
bodhicitta. The ten akuśala-karma-s are to be avoided.
Reverence is to be always strengthened. Remember to
curb the desires, to remain self-content and to act in the
virtuous way.
And so on. The entire letter is in fact nothing but a collection
17. Carya-giti. See Appendix C. 18. King of Nepal and others are
often mentioned among the royal disciples of Atīśa. 19. Vimala-raina-
lekha-nāma, śloka-s 6-9. See Appendix C.

20 Misunderstanding Dipamkara and his Message
of moral precepts like these. A strong emphasis on moral

purity, again, forms an important theme of the Bodhi-patha-
pradipa. This will be obvious from the following extract:
By the adherence to brahmacarya and the avoidance of sin
and lust and by remaining content with the śila-samvara one
follows the precepts of the Buddha.
Do not be anxious to attain enlightenment quickly. Live
up to the end (of the samsara) for the sake of even a single
living being.
Purify the boundless and unthinkable (number of) kṣetra-s
and live for (the emancipation of) each individual by name
that exists in all the ten directions.
Purify all actions-physical, oral and mental-and never

indulge in any sinful act.20
To the nobles and the common people, to the scholars and
the crowd, to the monks and the householders, in short, to the
whole people of Tibet, Dipamkara had always the message

of moral purity and of selfless sacrifice for others, of the
virtuous life and of the adherence to the pure Mahāyāna teach-
ings. His writings apart, this is evident from the floating oral
tradition about him, which has become almost a part of the
cultural heritage of Tibet and from which the Tibetan historians
frequently draw their materials.
A nun once made a precious gift to Dipankara and she
received from him the following upadeśa: "Serve those that
are sick and those that are tired. Serve the parents and the old.
This is true religion. By thus serving, you will acquire all the
punya-s that one acquires by meditating on the bodhicitta and
sūnyatā"21
When Dipamkara went to Tibet, the great Tibetan scholar
Rin-chen-bzan-po was eighty-five years old and was proud of
his own learning. Dipamkara easily dispelled his pride and
said, "O Great lo-tsä-ba! The sufferings of this Phenomenal
World are difficult to bear. One should labour for the benifit.
20. Bodhi-patha-paradipa, śloka-s 27-30. See Appendix C. 21. BA i.

256. The upadeśa quoted is from Nagwang Nima's biography of Dipam-
kara. See Section 6, Appendix A.
Misunderstanding Dipamkara and his Message 21
of all living beings. Now, pray practise meditation!" This

we are told, proved a decisive turning point in the life of the
scholar.
A young monk once approached Dipamkara for some

special upadeśa and here is an extract of what he received:
Do not say, 'I am a bhikṣu', so long as you care for
material wealth and livelihood, with which the householder
is concerned. You may be living in the monastery, but do
not say, 'I am a bhiksu, I live in the monastery', etc.. so
long as you are affected by the worldly affairs. Do not say,
'I am a bhiksu, I live in the monastery', etc., so long as you
harbour worldly wishes or any thought of injuring
others...28
Many more examples like these may be mentioned. But that

is not necessary. We shall later have the occasion to discuss
Dipankara's teachings more fully.
22. BA i. 250. 23. Sayings of Atīśa. See Section 8, Appenpix C.

3. The Sources
It follows from the above that for a proper understanding of

the life and activities of Dipamkara it is necessary to be very
careful of the sources of our information about him. What,
then, are these sources ?
To begin with, these sources are exclusively Tibetan. That

his activities in Tibet should be known from the Tibetan
sources is, of course, not unusual. What is peculiar, however,
is that though Dipamkara went to Tibet at an advanced age,
his earlier or Indian career, too, so far as it can be known at
all, is known not from any Indian source, but only from what
the Tibetans have to say about it.
Apart perhaps from a mound in the Vajrayogini village,

Vikramapura, Dacca, to which people conventionally bow
down as the residence of Atiśa ("atiser bhita" in Bengali),
nothing concrete survives in the country of his birth to comme-
morate him. The archæologists are yet to identify definitely the
the site of the Vikramaśila vihara, which, as we know from
the Tibetan sources, was the principal centre of his later acti-
vities as a Buddhist monk in India. As for the literary sources,
not to speak of anything that may enlighten us about the perso-
nal life of Dipamkara, even the very scriptural works ofthe
religion he professed and preached were largely lost to India,
some of these being only recently recovered from other coun-
tries and sometimes only in translations. Dipamkara's own
works would have perished but for the care with which the
Tibetans preserved these in Tibetan translation.'
What, then, are the Tibetan sources? Apart from the rich
oral tradition about Dipamkara current in Tibet, and apart
from the archæological materials to which Francke has recently
drawn our attention, the main Tibetan sources of our infor-
mation about Dipamkara may be classed under four broad
heads:
1. The Mongolian translations are mostly based on the Tibetan translations.

23
3. The Sources
1) Historical and semi-historical literature, called chos-'byun

or The Histories of the Doctrine and the rgyal-rabs or The
Royal Chronicles,
2) Extensive biographical literature or rnam-thar,

3) Certain stotra-s or bstod-pa i.e, eulogies to Dipamkara, and
4) The vast collection called the bsTan-'gyur, containing the
Tibetan translations of mainly Indian works.
A great deal of critical care is needed to handle the mate
rials contained in the first three of the above. The reasons are
obvious. In the historical and semi-historical literatures of

Tibet, the demarcating line between fact and fiction is not
always clear. In the biographies and eulogies, again, the
authors are generally more eager to express their reverence for
Dipamkara and to describe the Master's supernatural powers
than to give real facts about his life. Moreover, there are
considerable differences of opinion among the Tibetan autho-
rities themselves about both the Indian and Tibetan careers of
Dipamkara. We may mention here only one example.

Sum-pa says, "(His) total stay in Nepal and Tibet (was
for) 15 years. In Tibet itself (his stay was for) 13 years...What
is said above about the number of years he spent in Tibet is just
according to the general account. But the Marga-krama says
that he was in mÑa'-ris for three years, in sÑe-than for nine years,
in dBus, gTsan and other places for five years-which means
seventeen years (in all). This is said according to the rNam-
thar-chen-mo, etc., which counted the first and last years of the
middle years twice and counted two years more for his travels
between sÑe-than, dBus, and other places. Thus it is a rough
account. Nag-tsho said, 'I had been under him for nineteen
years. (Further), 'In Vikramaśila at the time of his departure
for Tibet (Atiśa said) :-I shall leave my mortal body after
eighteen years.' The Lam-yig-gsan-'khor-ma says, 'Born in
India in the Fire-Male-Horse year, till the age of 60, he protec-
ted India by the Doctrine.' The rNam-thar-yi-ge says' 'Jo-bo
(Atiśa) was born in the Iron-Horse year after 3047 years
of the Buddha's nirvana; in the Fire-Tiger year he left
2. Sum-pa 186. Translation ours.

24 The Sources
India for Tibet, in the Wood-Pig year he was in bSam-yas,

in the Fire-Hare year he reached sÑe-than, on the 18th
day of dBo-zla of the Water-Horse year he passed away
at sNe-than. Such calculations are very difficult. But most
of the scholars agree that he was born in the Water-
Horse year. So the Fire-Horse year, as mentioned in the
Lam-yig, seems to be a verbal error. Jo-bo's rNam-thar-rgyas-
pa, like the Lam-yig-chen-mo, is not very reliable. Some of
these (mistakes) are pointed out in the rNam-thar-brgya-rtsa-
brgyad. But what is said in the Marga-krama of rJe (Tson-
kha-pa) is very good. Also, what is described in Nag-tsho's
bsTod-pa-brgyad-cu-pa and Gro-lun's (?) bsTod-pa-sum-cu-pa is
mostly correct."
In view of so much differences among the Tibetan autho
rities themselves, it will be obviously risky for us to depend
upon any single rnam-thar or any single chos-'byun for recons-
tructing the life-history of Atiśa. But this does not mean that
all the Tibetan biographical and historical sources are equally
unrealiable. As for the historical literature, there are at least
two that command great prestige, not only among the Tibetan
and Mongolian learned Lāmas but also among the modern
Tibetologists outside Tibet. These are:-
1). The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet by Bu-ston
Rin-po-che, the full Tibetan title of which is bDe-bar gsegs-pa'i
bstan-pa'i gsal-byed chos-kyi 'byun-gnas gsun-rab rin-po-che'i
mdzod. Bu-ston (A.D. 1290-1364) had undoubtedly been one
of the greatest of the Tibetan scholars of Buddhism. He
composed this history in A.D. 1322.8 "This work," says
Roerich, "is especially important for the history of Buddhist
canonical literature in Tibet."4 Its first part, says Stcher-
batsky, "is of an overwhelming scientific value. It repre-
sents a synthesis of everything which directly or remotely
bears the stamp of Buddhism... The whole of its literature,
sacred or profane, is here reviewed as divided in periods,
schools and subject-matter. No one was better qualified for
such a task than Bu-ston, for he was one of the redactors of the
3. BA Intro. viii. 4. Ib. 5. Bu-ston i., Intro. 3.
25
3. The Sources
bKa'-'gyur and bsTan-'gyur great collections in their final

form." The chapters of this work on Buddhist canonical
literature as well as its part dealing with the propagation of
Buddhism in India and Tibet are already made available for
us in excellent English translation by Obermiller. Since the
Tibetan career of Dipamkara can be followed only in the
general background of the history of Buddhism in Tibet, Bu-
ston's work is of immense importance for any study of the life
and activities of Dipamkara.
2). The chos-'byun by 'Gos lo-tså-ba gShon-nu-dpal, the

full Tibetan title of which is Bod-kyi-yul-du-chos-dan-chos-
smra-ba-ji-ltar-byun-ba'i-rim-pa-deb-ther-shon-po or "The Blue
Annals, the Stages of the Appearance of the Doctrine and
Preachers in the Land of Tibet." The work is usually referred
to by the abbreviated form Deb-sňon (Blue Annals) or 'Gos-
lo'i Deb-ther (The Annals of 'Gos lo-tsa-ba). 'Gos was born
in A.D. 1392 and died in A. D. 1481. He composed this
enormous work between A. D. 1476-78. "The work", says
Roerich, "is invaluable for its attempt to establish a firm
chronology of events of Tibetan history. All dates are given
in the Sexagenary Cycle of the Tibetans, and the author takes
great pains to calculate the various dates backwards and
forwards linking them to the year A.D. 1476 (Fire-Ape), during
which he wrote his work, or calculating dates from some well-
known dates, such as for example the date of the death of
king Sron-btsan-sgam-po in 650 A.D. Sometimes he states the

number of years which had elapsed between two dates. Page
after page of the chronicle contain lists of names of famous
religious teachers, and their Spiritual Lineages, mentioning
sometimes their birth-places, and the names of their monas-
teries, sometimes giving the years of their births and deaths.
The work...is divided into fifteen chapters or books,...each
dedicated to the history of one particular school or sect of
Tibetan Buddhism." It is translated in full into English by
Roerich and the special importance of his translation consists
6. BA Intro. iii.
4
26
3. The Sources
in the care with which he has throughout calculated the years

of the Tibetan Sexagenary Cycle in terms of the standard
European calendar.
In the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, a number
of large historical compilations were prepared by the Tibetan
scholars. But the main sources of their information happen
to be the two chos-'byun-s just mentioned.7 Of the 18th
century works, our modern historians frequently draw upon.
one called the dPag-bsam-ljon-bzań (literally, The Wish-yiel-
ding Tree) by Sum-pa-mkhan-po-ye-śes-dpal-'byor (A.D. 1702-
75), usually referred to simply as Sum-pa. This work was
composed in A.D. 1748 and, as edited with a list of contents
and an analytical index in English by S. C. Das, was published
from Calcutta in 1908. The contents and index are extremely
valuable yet important details ofthe life and works of Atisa
as discussed by Sum-pa are often missing in these. We have
prepared a literal translation of the part of this work
devoted to Dipamkara. It is to be found in our Appendix A,
along with certain other Tibetan source-materials rendered into
English.
Another small extract of Sum-pa's work discussing the
ruling family of Western Tibet is rendered into English by
Francke and incorporated into the second part of his Anti-
quities of Indian Tibet. This extract is of special importance
for our study of Dipamkara, because Dipamkara's Tibetan
career was intimately related to the rulers of Western Tibet.
But Francke's own contribution to our knowledge of the
history of Western Tibet and of Dipamkara's Tibetan career

is much more important than merely this translation. First, his
archaeological work in Western Tibet helped the modern
scholars to prove the historicity of many events of the life of
Dipamkara and of his royal patrons, which otherwise would
have remained somewhat fabulous or legendary. Secondly,
in the second part of the same work, he makes available
for us certain extremely important Tibetan chronicles-along
7. Ib. Intro. i.
3. The Sources 27
with extensive notes on these-dealing with the history of

Western Tibet, the extract from Sum-pa being only a minor
one among these.
However, in view of the strong differences of opinion often
expressed even by the foremost of the Tibetan authorities, we
have to seek for corroborative evidence, as far as possible,
before accepting the statement of any. Such evidence is often
to be found in the bsTan-'gyur collection, particularly in the
colophons of the works of which Dipamkara was the author
or translator. These colophons are extremely important.
Apart from mentioning the names of the authors or translators
of the texts, they often contain certain additional historical
information about them and there are grounds to think that
these are on the whole authentic. For though the bsTan-'gyur
received its present form in the 14th century A.D., the Tibetan
colophons of Dipamkara's works included in it were presu-
mably written and "fixed" at a much earlier time. Though not
all, at least some of these could have been composed during the
life-time of Dipamkara himself, and therefore, with his per-
sonal approval. A few of these colophons appear to have
been written by Dipamkara himself. Thus the importance of
the bsTan-'gyur for our study of Dipamkara is two-fold. First,
preserving as it does all the works of which Dipamkara was
the author or translator, it gives us a direct knowledge of his
enormous literary activity. Secondly, we have in the colophons
of these works also some additional historical information of
obvious importance about Dipamkara.
Our survey of these source-materials cannot be complete
without a few words on the Life of Atisa by Sarat Chandra
Das. Though Koppen was the first Tibetologist outside Tibet
to have taken serious notice of Dipamkara, yet there is no
doubt that the curiosity of the modern scholars about him was
8. In the Peking edition, the colophon of Arya-avalokita-lokeśvara-sadhana

(rG. xl. 21), e.g., reads: "I, Dipamkara-śri-jñāna, have written it on the
basis of the collection of upadeśa-s. Written by maha-ācārya Sri-dipam-
kara-jñāna." 9. C. F. Koppen, Lamaische Hierarchie und Kirche,
(Berlin 1857-59), ii. 78, 117, 127, 285.
28
3. The Sources
first fully aroused by the long biography of Atiśa prepared by

Das and that this biography remained for a considerable
period the main work on which the modern scholars relied for
their knowledge of Dipamkara.
What, then, is the source of this biography and how much
authenticity can we credit it with ?
There is some confusion about Das' own source. Franckelo
gives us the impression that it is at least largely based on Sum-
pa's work. But Das himself left nothing vague about his own
source. His life of Atiśa was first published in 1893 in the
Journal of the Buddhist Text Society and it contained the
following notell :
"Kalyāṇamitra Phyag-sor-pa being anxious to write an
account of Atiśa went to see Nag-tsho, who still alive, was
residing at his native place of Gun-than. Having attended
the great Indian Pandit for a period of nineteen years, he was
peculiarly qualified to furnish a faithful account of Atisa's
life. He met the old lo-tså-ba at Yan-thog-lha-khan and spent
two years in his company. ...He furnished Phyag-sor-pa with
a mass of information regarding Atiśa's religious career and
performances. mKhan-po-mchim-thams-cad-mkhyen-pa got
fragments of them which he arranged into a book at the
monastery of sNar-than and shaped them into a memoir with
the healing reed of faith. This book was printed (at sNar-
than) in the country of Gañs-chen (Tibet) in the year called
Dog", i.e. about A.D. 1250.
Thus the work was composed by mKhan-po-mchim-thams-
cad-mkhyen-pa earlier than A.D. 1250 and it claims to be
based on the direct communication of Nag-tsho to Phyag-sor-
pa. When this biography was later reprinted as incorporated
in Das' Indian Pandits in the Land of Snow, the editor inadver-
tently chose to omit the above note, thereby creating the possi-
bility of confusion about its source. Yet the note is important,
for the bKa'-gdams-pa tradition, as recorded by 'Gos lo-tsa-ba,
corroborates that Nag-tsho did communicate the life of Atiśa
10. Francke AIT i. 19, 50n. 11. S. C. Das in JBTS I. i. 7n.

3. The Sources 29
to Phyag-sor-pa. "The one known as Ron-pa Phyag-sor-pa...

was of the opinion, that because of the excellence of the
Master's precepts, there must have existed an account of the
Master's invitation to Tibet, (but) he was unable to find it any-
where. He visited Nag-tsho lo-tsa-ba who was residing at
Khab-gun-than. Nag-tsho bestowed on him numerous secret
precepts of the Mantrayāna and he spent three years (with
him). Next year he requested Nag-tsho to relate to him the
story of the Master's invitation to Tibet. The lo-tså-ba said: 'I
attended for 19 years on the Master and have invited him to
Tibet', and he gladly related to him the story."19 Incidentally,
the life of Atiśa translated by S. C. Das is in fact mainly the
story of the Master's invitation to Tibet and not a full-fledged
biography of Atisa, his Tibetan career in particular is discussed
in this in a desultory manner. Further, certain interesting
details of this biography indicate that it must have originally
been communicated by someone who came to India and had
personal knowledge of the Indian conditions and Nag-tsho,
we are told, came twice to India and, on the second occasion,
stayed at the Vikramaśila vihāra a few years for the purpose of
inviting Atiśa to Tibet. Thus Das' life of Atiśals has a
special importance, though this does not mean that we can
rely outright on all the details contained in it.
We have also a few short life-sketches of Atiśa by modern
scholars, though the sources on which these are based are not
always clearly given.
12. BA, i. 321. emphasis added. 13. Waddell, L. 35n, claims to have
consulted the Tibetan original of the biography, though, curiously enough,
he adds that it was written by 'Brom-ston-pa.
4. The Name
For the purpose of discussing the different names of

Dipankara, or, more properly, the different ways in which
he is referred to, we may begin with a historical parallel with
which we are more familiar, namely that of Caitanya or Sri-
caitanya, another great preacher-reformer of Bengal born
about five centuries after the birth of Dipamkara.
Caitanya was not his original name. From his biographers
we learn that the name he received from his parents was
Viśvambhara. His guru Keśavabhārati gave him the name
Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya, abbreviated as Sri-caitanya or simply
Caitanya, at the time of his initiation.2 To the large
majority of his followers, the name Viśvambhara is practically
forgotten, who would moreover refer to him generally as
prabhu (The Lord) or still more frequently as mahā-prabhu
(The Great Lord). Though not a proper name, only one
person in Bengal is understood by the reverential title maha-
prabhu, and he is Caitanya.
The name which Dipamkara originally received from his
parents was Candragarbha. The Tibetan sources are unani-
mous about it. According to some of these sources, the first
initiated name which he received was Guhya-jñāna-vajra.
This name is patently Tântric, and as such is indicative of an
early Tantrika initiation, which is often mentioned by the
Tibetan sources to have characterised his early spiritual
career. Nevertheless, this name Guhya-jñana-vajra, like the
original one Candragarbha, is no more than mere curiosity for
us. Dipamkara himself in his mature years is never known
to have used this name. We shall later see the significance of
this.
1. Caitanya-bhāgavata (Bengali), Adi-khanda, chapter 2; Sri-caitanya-

caritamṛta (Bengali), Adi-lila, chapter 3. 2. Śri-caitanya-bhāgavata
(Bengali), Madhya-khanda, chapter 26.
4. The Name 31
The name Dipamkara was conferred on him during his

Buddhist ordination and became firmly fixed throughout his
subsequent career. Thus, much in the manner in which
Viśvambhara acquired the name Śri-kṛṣṇa-caitanya, Candra-

garbha came to be known as Dipamkara. According to the
biographers of Caitanya, this particular name was chosen
by his guru because of a special reason. By preaching through
his devotional songs the name of Sri-kṛṣṇa, he brought con-
sciousness (caitanya) among the people; hence, it is said, he
was given the name Śri-kṛṣṇa-caitanya. However, the
Tibetan sources, generally speaking, do not mention any such
special reason for the choice of the name Dipamkara for him,
beyond the general one that this was the name of one of the
Buddhas of the past and, as such, a holy name to the Bud-
dhists. The choice of this particular name, in other words,
could have been merely conventional. There were other
Buddhist monks who bore the name Dipamkara.5
However, Rahula Sankrityayan proposes to attach some
special significance to the ordained name of Dipamkara. "In
Buddhist lore," says he, "Dipamkara is a highly revered name,
because it was the name of a Buddha who came long before
Sakyamuni, the historical Buddha. Śrijñāna was added to his
name as he was expected to become a scholar."6
We may go into this more fully. Though his ordained
name is usually mentioned as Dipamkara-śri-jñāna, yet we
do not come across in the Tibetan sources the special signifi-
cance which Rahula reads in the Śrijñāna-part of the name.
Besides, there are certain considerations that make us hesitate
to assert categorically that Śrijñana did form a necessary part

of his ordained name.
'Brom-ston, in his stotra, generally mentions the name as

Dipamkara-śri. The addition of the "śri" is clearly conven-
tional, inasmuch as while enumerating the different names of
the Master he says that in India (arya-desa) he was honoured
under the name Dipamkara." If Sirjñāna actually formed a
3. Ib. 4. Winternitz ii. 160n, 186f. 5. See next section.
6. Rahula in 2500 Years, 228. 7. See Section 2, Appendix A, śloka 25.

32 4. The Name
necessary part of the name, 'Brom would not have uniformly

dropped it in the stotra,-not even for metrical consideration.
Further, in the bsTan-'gyur we find the name recorded in

various forms. These are simply Dipamkara, Sri-dipamkara,
Dipamkara-jñāna, Dipamkara-jñāna-pāda, Śri-dipamkara-
jñāna, Dipamkara-śri-jñāna, etc., though surely the last two
forms are most frequent. Here are a few examples.
As author of the Kaya-vāk-citta-supratiṣṭhā-nāma, we have
the name Śri-dipamkara-jñāna. Its translators, however, are
"upadhyāya Dipamkara and lo-tså-ba Viryasimha of rGya."
It is also mentioned that the translation was done at the
Vikramaśila vihāra. That the author Sri-Dipamkara-jñāna
could be none else than the translator upadhyāya Dipamkara
is evident from the consideration that it is inconceivable for
Viryasimha to have worked under any other Dipamkara at the

Vikramaśila vihāra."
Of the Carya-giti-vṛtti, which is but Dipamkara's auto-
commentary on the Carya-giti, the author is mentioned as
pandita Dipamkara and the translators as "author and lo-tsä-ba
Jayaśila (Nag-tsho)." That this author could be none else than
our Dipamkara is again evident from the inconceivability of
Nag-tsho working under any other Dipamkara.
The work Dharma-dhātu-darśana-giti occurs twice in the
bsTan-'gyur, the second version being only a literal reproduc-
tion ofthe first. As the author of the first, however, we have
the name simply Dipamkara, while that of the second Dipam-

kara-śri-jñāna.
The colophon of the Vajra-yogini-stotra reads, "Written
by pandita Dipamkara, translated by the same pandita and
lo-tsa-ba Ratnabhadra (Rin-chen-bzan-po)." Ratnabhadra,
as we shall see, worked under many Indian pandita-s but there
was only one Dipamkara among them and he was Atiśa.
Many other examples from the bsTan-'gyur may be
8. For this and other texts mentioned in this connection, see Appendix B.
9. For Viryasimha and Jayaśila see section 31. Incidentally, the mode of
Tibetan translation presupposes personal contact between the Indian
pandita and the Tibetan lo-tsä-ba.
4. The Name 33
mentioned where Atiśa's name occurs simply as Dipamkara.

Again, the name is often found to occur as Śri-dipamkara.
The name occurring in the form of Dipamkara-jñāna, too, is
not rare. Thus, the Arya-acala-krodha-raja-stotra occurs twice
in the bs Tan-'gyur, the second version being a literal reproduc-
tion of the first. However, the author of the first is Dipam-
kara-jñāna, while that of the second Sri-dipamkara-jñāna.
We have the name Dipamkara-jñāna also as the author of
Ayuḥ-sadhana, Deva-puja-krama, Peyotkṣepa-vidhi, Mṛtyu-van-
cana, Mumūrṣu-śāstra, etc.
But more interesting is the evidence of the colophon of

Dipamkara's auto-commentary on his magnum opus, the Bodhi-
patha-pradipa. This auto-commentary is called Bodhi-märga-
pradipa-pañjikā-nāma. In the Peking edition its colophon,
after first mentioning the name of the author as Dipamkara-
śri-jñana, goes on saying, "Representing the Buddha this time,
Dipamkara-śri-påda was born in Bengal"...and adds, "tran-
slated and revised by the Indian maha-paṇḍita guru bodhisattva
the Bengalee Śri-dipamkara-jñāna-påda and lo-tsä-ba bhikṣu
Jayaśila." In Cordier's Catalogue, also, we come across the
names of the translators as Sri-dipamkara-jñāna-påda and
Jayaśila of Nag-tsho.
More examples are not necessary. However, since the
name is often given simply as Dipamkara and since, moreover,
the additions to it are very irregular, it will not be safe to
assert categorically that Sri-jñāna formed an indispensable part
of the full ordained name of Dipamkara.
Before we pass on to discuss the other-and characteristi-
cally Tibetan-ways in which he is referred to, it may be of
interest to note how exactly his Indian name is preserved in the
bsTan-'gyur. We find it being retained in mainly two ways.
First, there are exact transliterations of the name in Tibetan
scripts. Secondly, there are exact translations of the name in
Tibetan language.
5
4. The Name
34
Thus we have the name as
ཝཱི
སཾ
ཀར
ཤྲཱི་
དཱི་པཾ་ཀ་རཛཱ་ནཱ
''སཾཀ ཛཱབྷི
ཛྫཱ
ཛ
དཱི་
སཾ་ཀ་ར་ཛྙཱ་
ན
i.e. the Tibetan transliterations respectively of
Dipamkara
Śri-dipamkara-jñāna
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna
Dipamkara-jñāna.
In Tibetan translation again,
dipa = mar-me
kara = mdzad
śri '= dpal
jñāna = ye-śes.
Thus, in Tibetan translation, the name occurs in various
forms like-
Mar-me-mdzad-Dipamkara,
dPal-mar-me-mdzad=Śri-dipamkara,
Mar-me-mdzad-ye-ses-Dipamkara-jñāna,
dPal-mar-me-mdzad-ye śes Sri-dipamkara-jñana,
Mar-me-mdzad-dpal-ye-ses-Dipamkara-śrī-jñāna,
and so on.
But apart from thus retaining Dipamkara's Indian name

both in transliteration and translation, the characteristically
Tibetan way in which he is referred to is as Jo-bo, Jo-bo-rje,
Jo-bo-chen-po, and also, of course, as Atiśa. Jo-bo means,
"Lord, Master, Noble, Venerable." Chen-po means "The
great." Jo-bo-chen-po thus means "The Great Lord." Practically
the same idea is conveyed by Jo-bo-rje, "The Noble Lord."
These are, in other words, the Tibetan equivalents of the Indian
words prabhu and mahā-prabhu. Obviously enough, these are
4. The Name 35
not proper names. Nevertheless, just as the Vaisnavas of Bengal

refer to only one person by the word prabhu,-or, more parti-
cularly, mahā-prabhu,-only one person is referred to by the
Tibetan Buddhists when they use the words Jo-bo-rje or Jo-bo-
chen-po, or sometimes simply Jo-bo,-and he is none but
Dipamkara. 10 This is of material importance for identifying
the works of Dipamkara in the bsTan-'gyur.
The other word by which he is freely referred to by the
Tibetans and the Mongolians is atisa. Already, at the time of
'Brom-ston-pa,-and, therefore, during the life-time of Dipam-
kara himself, this word acquired the status of practically a
proper name. It is evident from 'Brom's stotra, in which is
said,11
I offer prayer to his feet, who is honoured everywhere,-in

the Tuşita heaven by the name Vimala-ākāśa, in India
(arya-deśa) by the name Dipamkara, and in the Land of
Snow (Himavant) by the name Śrimat Atiśa.
Yet nowhere do we come across any reference to Dipamkara
having ever acquired this as his proper name, either before or
after his ordination. The word is certainly Indian. Jaschke
says that it is Sanskrit, 12. As such, it can only mean ati+isa,
'the super lord' or 'the great lord',-something very near
mahā-prabhu or Jo-bo-rje.
A Tibetan translation of the word is in circulation. It is
Phul-byun or Phul-tu-byun-ba, meaning the accomplished or
the perfect. According to both Das18 and Jaschke,14 this
Tibetan word invariably stands for Atiśa. Francke, 15 coming
across the word in a Tibetan inscription, readily concludes that
the inscription contains the name of Dipamkara.
But how could the word atiśa acquire the status of prac
tically a proper name in Tibet and Mongolia ? An exact
answer may not be possible. But since the word is clearly
Indian and since, as an Indian word, it was presumably used
10. The epithet Jo-bo-chen-po for any other person is clearly exceptional
and perhaps also the result of immitation. 11. sloka 25. See Section 2,
Appendix A. 12. J-TED 603. 13. D-TED 826. 14. J-TED 344.
15. Francke AIT i. 41.
36 4. The Name
originally as a reverential epithet, we may perhaps conjecture

that this reverential epithet for Dipamkara was already current
in India and that the Tibetans, apart from using an
equivalent for it, namely Phul-byun, or, more frequently, a
near-equivalent for it, namely Jo-bo-rje, respected the original
Indian epithet so much that to them it became as good as a
proper name.
There are at least two distinct indications that the rever-
ential epithet Atiśa was current in India. In Das' life of
Atiśa, we find a beggar-boy near the Vikramaśila vihara add-
ressing him as "bābā Atisa" or "father Atiśa."16 Again, in the
Vajrayogini village, Vikramapura, there remains a mound to
which people still bow reverentially as "atiser bhita" or the
residence of Atiśa.
If it is difficult to determine how the word atiśa became so
prevalent in Tibet, it is all the more perplexing why among the

Mongolians the practice of referring to Dipamkara as Atiśa
became even more firmly fixed. The Mongolians, too, have an
exact translation of the name Dipamkara which is Jol-uile-
degechi (Jol meaning dipa or 'the lamp', Uiledegechi meaning
kara or 'one who does').17 But the use of this form is sparse
and, in Mongolia, Atiśa became practically an equivalent of
the Tibetan Jo-bo-rje. In the Mongolian translations of
Dipamkara's works, his name almost invariably occurs as
Atiśa. This is extremely important for identifying some of
the works of Dipamkara. If we find the Tibetan colophon of
a work in the bsTan-'gyur is silent about its author or tran-
slator, or, if we find in it the name of Dipamkara mentioned in
a somewhat irregular manner, but if, at the same time, we find
that the Mongolian version of the same work mentions Atiśa
as its author or translator, then we should have little hesitation
in attributing it to our Dipamkara. For only one person in
Mongolia is referred to as Atiśa and he is none but Dipam-
kara.
16. S. C. Das in JBTS I. i. 19. 17. I am indebted for this information.
to Professor Lama Chimpa.

5. How Many Dipamkaras?
Dipamkara being the holy name of a past Buddha, it was

but natural for many Buddhist monks to have received this as
the ordained name. How many of them are we aware of?
H. P. Sastri, depending mainly on an analysis of Cordier's
Catalogue of the bsTan-'gyur, cautiously suggests the possibi-
lity of there being two different Dipamkaras whose works are to
be found in this collection. In the bsTan-'gyur, Dipamkara
is sometimes mentioned as a Bengalee, sometimes as an Indian.
To such occurrences of the name are attached adjectives like
mahā-ācārya, paiṇḍapātika, etc. In many other cases, however,
the name Dipamkara is found to occur with simple adjectives
like ācārya, pandita, upadhyāya. In these cases, moreover, it is
not mentioned that he came from India or Bengal. Therefore,
thinks H. P. Sastri, it is reasonable to assume that the works
of two different Dipamkaras are to be found in the bsTan-'gyur.
Of them, one was a great pandita or a great ācārya, who went

to Tibet from Bengal and the other was a scholar of compara-
tively lesser eminence.
The basic assumption of such a suggestion is that some
special care was taken in the use of the adjectives-like ācārya,
pandita and upādhyāya, or mahā-ācārya. mahā-pandita and
maha-upadhyāya-for the authors or translators mentioned in
the bsTan-'gyur, or that some uniform method was followed
while offering additional information about them. But a closer
scrutiny of the bsTan-'gyur shows that such an assumption is
untenable. No principle whatsoever was followed in the
colophons for the use of the adjectives and it is difficult, if

not impossible, to determine why in the colophons of certain
texts some additional information about the author or tran-
slator is given while in the colophons of certain others no such
1. Bauddha Gan 0 Dohā (Bengali), 22.

38
information is to be found. We may have here only a few

examples of the irregularities in the bsTan-'gyur colophons.
The Madhyamaka-upadeśa-näma occurs thrice in the bsTan-
'gyur, the latter two of these versions being but literal reproduc-
tions of the first. As the author of the first version, however.
we find the name of mahä-äcārya Sri-dipamkara-jñana, of the
second, acarya Sri-dipamkara-jñāna. The Arya-acala-krodha-
raja-stotra occurs twice in the bsTan-'gyur, the second version
being only the literal reproduction of the first. As author of the
first, however, we have the name of pandita Dipamkara-jñāna,
while as that of the second mahä-äcārya Sri-dipamkara-jñāna.
Besides, we frequently find that when Dipamkara is both
author and translator of a work, one adjective is used for him
when he is mentioned as the author while another adjective
is used when he is mentioned as the translator-and this, in
spite of the clear statement that the author is the same as the
translator. Thus the colophon of the Garbha-samgraha-nāma
mentions "maha-ācārya Sri-dipamkara-jñana" as the author;
but the translator is said to be "the same pandita and lo-tså-
ba bhikṣu Silākaraśanti." The Cittotpada-samvara-vidhi-krama
has the following colophon: "Written by maha-ācārya Sri-
dipamkara-jñāna; translated by the same Indian pandita and
lo-tsa-ba bhiksu Subhamati. And again, revised by the same
pandita and lo-tsa-ba Jayaśila." The colophon of Dharma-
dhātu-darśana-giti says, "Written by maha-ācārya Dipamkara-
śri-jñāna and translated by the same Indian upadhyāya and
Tibetan lo-tså-ba Jayaśila." There are many more examples
like these.
From the evidences just cited, one may have the impre-
ssion that the colophons of the works in the bsTan-'gyur
mention more honourable adjectives for the author and
some shorter and apparently lesser ones for the same person
when he is himself the translator. Such a principle
again is not uniformly followed. Thus, e.g., the colophon of
Arya-ganapati-rāga-vujra-stotra-nāma says, "Written by pandita
2. For this as well as other texts mentioned in the present Section, see
Appendix B.
39
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna; translated by the same mahā-paṇḍita

and lo-tså-ba Jayaśila". Moreover, how obviously risky it is
to attribute special significance to the use of the adjectives
in these Tibetan colophons becomes clearer when we see that
sometimes extremely highflown adjectives are used for the
Tibetan lo-tså-ba who worked under Dipamkara, while to the
name of Dipamkara himself, mentioned as both author and
translator, is attached a minor adjective or none at all. Thus
the colophon of the Prajñāpāramitā-piṇḍārtha-pradipa is,
"Written by Śri-dipamkara-jñāna and translated by the same
pandita and lo-tsa-ba mahā-mahā-paṇḍita Jayasila".
We shall presently take up the other argument of H. P.
Sastri, namely that some of the colophons in the bsTan-'gyur
mention Dipamkara as coming from Bengal or India while some
others do not do so. But in view of the extreme irregularity of
the mode in which the names of the authors and translators are
mentioned in these, it may be worthwhile to try to determine

first some ofthe basic principles according to which it is reason-
able to identify our Dipamkara in the bsTan-'gyur. We have,
while discussing the various names of Dipamkara, or more
properly, the various ways in which he is referred to, already
distinct indications of two such principles. There is only one
person referred to by the Tibetan epithet Jo-bo-rje and that
is our Dipamkara. Again, only one person is referred to by
the Tibetans and more particularly by the Mongolians-by
the word Atiśa, and that is our Dipamkara. Cordier's Cata-
logue of the bsTan-'gyur provides us, for most of the works,
with the names of the authors and translators as given in the
Index Tibetan and Index Mongolian. As is to be expected,
these indexes generally mention Dipamkara as Jo-bo-rje and
Atiśa respectively. Thus we have two distinct principles for
identifying our Dipamkara in the bsTan-'gyur. First, when
the Index Tibetan mentions one as Jo-bo-rje we may be certain
that he is none but our Dipamkara, whatever may be the form
in which his Indian name is given and whatever may be the
nature of the adjectives added to this Indian name. Secondly,
when the Index Mongolian mentions one as Atisa, we may be
40 5. How many Dipamkaras?
certain that he is our Dipankara, notwithstanding the variations

in his Indian name. Pending the discussion of the other princi-
ples of identifying our Dipamkara in the bsTan-'gyur, we may
have here some idea of the implications of these two. In the
Index Tibetan and Index Mongolian the name of the author of
all the following works occurs as Jo-bo-rje and Atiśa respec-
tively, but his Indian name is mentioned in various ways with
various adjectives in the colophons of the same works. Thus :
Arya-tārā-stoira etc.: (simply) Dipankara-śri-jñāna

Kaya-vāk-citta-supratistha-nāma etc.: (simply) Sri-dipankara-jñāna
Arya-acala-krodha-raja-stotra: pandita Dipamkara-jñāna
Carya-giti-vṛtti: pandita Dipamkara
Akşobhya-sadhana-nama: etc. ācārya Dipankara-śri-jñāna
Pañca-caitya-nirvapaṇa-vidhi: upadhyaya Dipankara-śri-jñāna of India
Asta-bhaya-trāṇa: ācārya pandita Sri-dipamkara-jñāna
Abhisamaya-vibhanga-nāma etc.: maha-pandita Dipankara-śrī-jñāna
Vajrasana-vajra-giti: maha-pandita Sri-dipamkara-jñāna
Bodhi-patha-pradipa: mahā-ācārya Sri-dipamkara-jñāna
Carya-samgraha-pradipa etc.: ācārya mahā-paṇḍita Śrī-dipamkara-jñāna
Vimala-ratna.lekha-nāma : sthavira mahā-pandita Dipankara-śrī-jñāna.
These are only a few examples chosen at random from our

Appendix B.
There are also other ways of identifying our Dipamkara
in the bsTan-gyur. One of these is to consider the evidence
ofthe lo-tsa-ba-s who worked directly under him. It is im-
portant to note that the names of some of them are quite
familiar to us and from the chos-'byun-s and other sources we
know that they could not conceivably have worked under any
other Indian pandita bearing the name Dipamkara. Thus the
names of Jayaśila (Tshul-khrims-rgyal-ba of Nag-tsho) and
Viryasimba (brTson-'grus-sen-ge of rGya) are known to us
primarily because of their association with Atiśa and the possi-
bility of their working under any other Dipamkara is incon-
ceivable. Again, though the great lo-tsã-ba Ratnabhadra
(Rin-chen-bzań-po) worked under many Indian pandita-s,
there could be none other among them bearing the name
5. How Many Dipamkaras? 41
Dipamkara. Therefore if we find in the bsTan-'gyur that a

work was translated by Dipamkara along with any one of
such well-known lo-tså-ba-s, we can safely assert that this
Dipamkara is none else than Atiśa, regardless of the irregu-
larities of mentioning his name or of adding titles to it like
pandita, mahā-pandita, etc.
We may have here a few instances of the varied ways in
which Dipamkara's name occurs in the bsTan-'gyur as asso-
ciated with such well-known lo-tsā-ba-s:
Abhisamaya-alamkāra-nāma-prajñā-paramitā-upadeśa-śastra-
vṛtti-durbodha-āloka-nāma-țikā: translated by upadhyāya pan-
dita Dipamkara-śri-jñana of India and the grand lo-tsa-ba
bhikṣu Ratnabhadra,
Ārya-sahasra-bhuja-avalokitesvara-sādhana translated by
upādhyāya mahā-pandita Dipamkara-śrī-jñāna of India and
lo-tsa-ba bhikṣu Ratnabhadra,
Ekavira-sādhana-nāma translated by arya Dipamkara and
lo-tså-ba Jayaśila of Nag-tsho,
Kalasa-sadhana-nama translated by pandita Dipamkara-
śri-jñāna of India and lo-tså-ba Viryasimha of rGya,
Kṛṣṇa-yamāri-sādhana translated by upadhyāya mahā-
pandita Dipamkara-śri-jñāna of India and lo-tså-ba bhikṣu
Jayaśila of Nag-tsho,
Cakra-upadeśa-nāma paṇḍita Dipamkara-śri-jñāna of India
and lo-tsä-ba Viryasimha of rGya,
Tri-śaraṇa-(gamana)-saptati: translated by upadhyāya mahā-
pandita Dipamkara-śri-jñāna of India and lo-tsa-ba bhikṣu
Ratnabhadra.
More examples are not necessary. It is already obvious

that the grounds on which H. P. Sastri suggests the possibility
of there being the works of two different Dipamkaras in the
bsTan-'gyur are not tenable.
But this by no means implies that the bsTan-'gyur contains

the works of only one Dipamkara or that we come across only
one Dipamkara in the Tibetan sources. There are other
6
42
considerations which deserve serious note and some of these

indicate the clear possibility of there being more than one
Indian Buddhist bearing the name Dipamkara.
How many of them do we know of?
"Besides Dipamkara Śri-jñāna", observes S. K. De,8 "the
bsTan-'gyur has preserved numerous works under the names
Dipamkara, Dipamkara-candra, Dipamkara-bhadra and
Dipamkara-rakṣita, who were probably not all identical".
S. K. De apparently overlooks the existence in the bsTan-'gyur
of other names like Dipamkara-raja, Dipamkara-kirti and
Sri-dipamkara-jñāna-påda, which, therefore, are to be added
to his list. But how are we to determine whether all these
names refer to the same person or which of these are indicative
of different Dipamkaras? The question is a complex one and
it can be answered on the basis of an examination of the
evidences both internal and external to the bsTan-'gyur.
Let us begin with the name given as mere Dipamkara.
From 'Gos lo-tså-ba4 we learn that there was a Buddhist
Tantrika called Dipamkara, who "possessed supernatural

power", belonged to the Südra caste, was a disciple of ācārya
Rakṣitapada of a forest in Kom-ko-na (of the Guntur district)
and had for his spiritual associates the Brāhmaṇa Guhyaparta,
Mañjuśri of the Ksatriya caste, Pūrṇabhadra of the Vaisya
caste, Karnaputra of the Súdra caste and the harlots Āloki
and Duḥsila. Evidently, this Dipamkara was not the same as
Atiśa, with whom none of the above information agrees.
There is nothing to indicate that this Dipamkara of the
Śūdra caste ever wrote or translated any work which is included
in the bsTan-'gyur. Yet the evidence of this Dipamkara is im-
portant, for it shows that when we come across in the bsTan-

'gyur a name given merely as Dipamkara we cannot take him.
as identical with our Dipamkara-śri-jñāna unless there is some
positive collateral evidence indicating it.
The bsTan-'gyur contains a considerable number of works
the author or translator of which is mentioned simply as
3. S. K. De in HB i. 334n 4. BA i. 368.
5. How many Dipamkaras? 43
Dipamkara. Are we to attribute these to Atiśa? A simple

answer is not possible. For though in certain cases there are
clear grounds to judge that the person mentioned could be
none else than Atiśa, in certain other cases there are clear
grounds to doubt this. In short, the bsTan-'gyur appears
to contain the works of more than one person mentioned
merely as Dipamkara and only one of them could definitely
be Atiśa. Here are some of the evidences of the bsTan-'gyur.
The author of the Carya-giti-vṛtti is mentioned as pandita
Dipamkara. That this Dipamkara could be none else than
Atisa is evident from the following. The Index Tibetan mentions
him as Jo-bo-rje, the Index Mongolian mentions him as Atiśa
and lo-tsa-ba Jayasila worked under him in translating this.
On exactly the same grounds we are to consider the author of
Dharma-dhātu-darśana-giti, though mentioned as mahā-ācārya

Dipamkara, or the translator of Eka-vira-sādhana-nāma,
though mentioned as ärya Dipamkara, as identical with Atiśa,
Similarly the upadhyaya Dipamkara, mentioned as translator
of Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra-piṇḍārtha, or pandita Dipankara,
mentioned as the translator of the Bodhisattva-caryāvatāra-
sarimsat-pinḍārtha, could be none else than our Dipamkara,
because he is also mentioned as Jo-bo-rje and Atiśa in the
Index Tibetan and the Index Mongolian respectively and because
Jayaśila worked under him for these translations.
Further, the author of the Vajra-yogini-stotra is mentioned
as pandita Dipamkara. But since the Index Tibetan calls
him as Jo-bo-rje and the Index Mongolian Atisa, and since,
the great lo-tså-ba Ratnabhadra worked under him for the
translation of this work, he could be none else than
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna. On exactly the same grounds, the author
of the Sarva-karma-āvaraṇa-visodhana-vidhi, though mentioned
simply as acārya Dipamkara, is to be considered the same as
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna.
Thus it was not against the convention of the writers of
the bs Tan-'gyur colophons to mention the same person alter-
natively as Dipamkara and Dipamkara-śri-jñāna. That the
same was not against the convention of the Tibetan historians
44
is clear from the work of 'Gos lo-tså-ba. In certain places

of the work-e.g., in connection with the translation of the
Bhiksu-varṣāgra-pṛccha-he speaks of Dipamkara-śri-jñāna.5
Elsewhere, however, he refers to Atiśa simply as Dipamkara.6
But the question is: Wherever in the bsTan-'gyur we come
across the name simply as Dipamkara, are we justified in
assuming that he is the same as Dipamkara-śri-jñāna ? That
we are not justified to do this will be obvious from the follow-
ing cases, where the assumption would at best be doubtful.
In Cordier's Catalogue, as translators of Lalitavajra's
Kṛṣṇa-yamari-cakra-nāma" are mentioned pandita Dipamkara
and lo-tsä-ba Vajrakirti. Cordier himself does not mention
any equivalent of pandita Dipamkara from Index Tibetan or
Index Mongolian. In the Peking edition of the bsTan-'gyur,
the colophon of the work is silent about its author or tran-
slator. Thus we have nothing direct on the strength of which
we may take this pandita Dipamkara as Atiśa. The only clue
we can work on is the name of the Tibetan lo-tså-ba.
Who, then, was this Vajrakirti? 'Gos lo-tså-ba8 mentions a

famous Tibetan scholar called Vajrakirti of Rwa. He was
better known as the lo-tså-ba of Rwa or the Rwa lo-tsã-ba.
This Rwa lo-tsa-ba could have worked directly under Dipam-

kara. Yet there is nothing to prove that the translator of the
Kṛṣṇa-yamāri-cakra-nāma was the same person. We hear of
another Tibetan scholar called Vajrakirti or rDo-rje-grags, also
referred to as Master Ras-chun-pa, and who was born, accord-
ing to 'Gos lo-tsã-ba10 in A.D. 1083, i.e. much later than the
death of Atisa. In view of the fact that the bsTan-'gyur11
contains a number of translations by this Ras-chun-pa or rDo-
rje-grags there is nothing to disprove decisively the possibility
ofhis working on the translation ofthe Kṛṣṇa-yamari-cakra-nāma.
5. Ib. i. 30-1. 6. Ib. i. 44; ii. 732, 852. 7. rG. lxxxi. 11. 8. BA i.
374ff; ii. 789. 9. Ib. i. 293, 325, 328; ii. 407, 442, 756, 765--the Tibetan
translator is mentioned as Rwa-lo. i. 71, 296, 377, 379, 396 ii. 659, 755,
862--he is mentioned as Rwa lo-tsä-ba. 10. Ib. ii. 436. 11. rG.
lxxiii. 8; lxxxii. 21, 60, 69. Lalou 190 brackets his name with rDo-rje-grags,
the translator of the Kṛṣṇa-yamari-cakra-nāma.
45
And if this was so, then the pandita Dipamkara under

whom he worked could not be the same as our Dipamkara.
Incidentally, Vajrakirti is mentioned to have worked under

pandita upadhyāya Dipankara of India for the translation ofthe
Cakra-nāma,12 and according to Index Tibetan, under pandita
Dipamkara for the translation of the Samayamṛta-khada-
nāma,18 both written by Lalitavajra. Assuming this Vajrakirti
to be the same as the Rwa lo-tså-ba, the pandita Dipamkara
under whom he worked could be the same as our Dipamkara;
assuming, however, that he was the same as Ras-chun-pa, the

Indian pandita called Dipamkara must have been a different
one.
If the identity of Dipamkara under whom the above.

Vajrakirti worked is at best doubtful, there is clear evidence
that in the bsTan-'gyur another Indian author is often mention-
ed simply as Dipamkara though his full name was Dipamkara-
bhadra and that he must have been quite different from
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna.
In Tibetan translation, the name of Dipamkara-bhadra
stands as Mar-me-mdzad-bzañ-po. The bsTan-'gyur contains
thirtynine Tantrika treatises of which he was the author. These
arerGyud-'grel xxxix. 13; xl. 18; xliii. 6; lxix. 7-13, 16-20,
31-40, 59-61, 68, 85, 92, 94-8, 100, 102, 107-9; lxxi. 385 and
1xxxii. 45.
Interestingly, the colophons of only 30 out of these 39

works directly mention the author as Dipamkara-bhadra (or,
Sri-dipamkara-bhadra), adding occasionally to his name titles
like ācārya and mahā-ācārya. The colophons of the remain-
ing 9 works mention the author simply as Dipamkara or Sri-
dipamkara. That the author of these nine works was in fact
Dipamkara-bhadra is known to us from the Index Tibetan.
But since this Dipamkara-bhadra was clearly different from our
Dipamkara-śri-jñana, we have in these nine works distinct
warning against too readily concluding that when the
12. rG. lxxi 13. 13. rG. lxxxi. 12. 18-9.

14. rG. Ixix. 7, 9, 10, 12-5,
bsTan-'gyur mentions a name only as Dipamkara he must

have been the same as Atiśa.15
But what are the grounds for considering that this Dipan-
kara-bhadra must have been quite different from Dipamkara-
śri-jñāna ? The decisive evidences in support are external to
the bsTan-'gyur. Still it is worthwhile to review first the
information we have about Dipamkara-bhadra in the bsTan-
'gyur itself.
Of the 39 works attributed to Dipamkara-bhadra, the

bsTan-'gyur mentions the translators of only three. 16 Among
the translators of these three works, again, the name of
Dipamkara-bhadra himself as the Indian pandita is conspi-
cuously absent. Besides, there is nothing to indicate in the
bsTan-'gyur that this Dipamkara-bhadra ever took any part
in the Tibetan translation of any other Indian text. In other
words, the possibility of Dipamkara-bhadra having any

personal contact with a Tibetan lo-tså-ba is quite remote.
Though not a decisive proof, it strongly suggests the possi-
bility of Dipamkara-bhadra never going to Tibet.
But let us pass on to consider the other and clearer evi-
dences about Dipamkara-bhadra. Considering that he was
the author of at least 39 Tantrika treatises,-and it is quite
conceivable that some of his works were never translated into
Tibetan and are thus not preserved in the bsTan-'gyur,- we are

to admit that he must have had considerable reputation as a
Tantrika. Therefore it is only to be expected that the Tibetan
historians of Buddhism, who considered Tântrism as a very
important form of Buddhism, should take note of such an
eminent Tantrika. As a matter of fact, we find 'Gos lo-tsa-ba,
Taranatha and Sum-pa referring to him and from the inform-
ation we have about Dipamkara-bhadra from these historians
we can clearly see that he must have been quite different from
and much earlier than Asia.
15. rG. lxix. 78, 79, 101, and 103 mention the author simply as Dipamkara.
But since these Tantrika treatises are found in the bunch of the works of
Dipamkara-bhadra, we have hesitated to include these in our Appendix B
containing the list of Atiśa's works. 16. rG. xxix. 13; lxxi. 385; lxxxii 45.
47
'Gos lo-tså-ba refers to Dipamkara-bhadra thrice.

While discussing Buddhaśrijñāna, a great adept in the
Guhya-samāja-tantra, he says, 17 "He (Buddhaśrijñāna) had
eighteen excellent disciples. Among them Dipamkara-bhadra,
Praśāntamitra, Rahulabhadra and Mahasukhata-vajra.... The
names of the remaining fourteen disciples cannot be ascer-
tained with certitude."
The second reference by 'Gos lo-tsä-ba to Dipamkara-

bhadra is as follows: "His (Balin ācārya's) previous Lineage:
'Jam-pa'i-rdo-rje, the ācārya Buddhajñānapada, Mar-me-
mdzad-bzan-po (Dipamkara-bhadra), Mañjuśrikirtimitra, the
keeper of horses dPal-bde-ba-chen-po, also known by the name
of Kamalakuliśa and Anangavajra and the ācārya Yi-ge-pa.
He was a clerk of the king Sri Dharmapāla. Besides receiving
the blessing of Sar-ba-pa, he also attained excellent realisation
(Buddhahood). He was the spiritual teacher of the former
king."18
Again, in connection with the tradition of the same Guhya-
samāja-tantra, 'Gos lo-tså-ba says, "The other Lineage of this
initiation is as follows: Mañjuśrī, Jñanapada (Buddhajñāna),
Dipamkara-bhadra, Anandagarbha, Tha-ga-na, Santi-pā,
Sraddhakara, Padmākara."19
Taranatha gives a fairly long account of Buddhaśrijñāna
and his disciple Dipamkara-bhadra. "In Madhya-deśa", says
Taranatha, "in the district of Khabi was the city of Takṣaśilā
(Tavila). There was a Brāhmaṇa ācārya who became a monk
in Nālandā of Mahāsānghika school and received the name of
Buddhaśrijñāna. Some say he was of Ksatriya caste and
reader to the king...As Buddhaśrījñāna went to the west
towards Udayana he discussed with ācārya Lilāvajra and
yogini Guneru about many heterodox and Buddhist Dharani-
learnings. In the north of Udayana there was a Caṇḍāla girl
by the name of Jatijālā. With this holy queen for eight
months he gave himself up to some Tantras and as he had
received a prophecy from Jambala he got Vidyatantra
17. BA i 371. 18. Ib. i. 372. 19. Ib. i. 373.

48
5. How many Dipamkaras ?
immediately with it. As regards the history of offerings at Vajra-

sana, it is thus: As once the ācārya sat in his hut which he had
built near Vajrasana, there came king Dharmapala to give
alms to Vajrasana. All the Bauddha ācārya-s came to the gift.
As he saw the ācārya not taking part in it, the king thought
that he wanted to humiliate him. Now as he entered the hut
of the acarya, he saw that the äcārya was not there, but a
statue of Mañjuśri. Then he looked around and asked his
companions. With their answer: 'But he is here' he re-entered
and the acarya became visible. (Then followed a miracle).
The king became a believer and prayed for abhişeka and as he
had no more gift to give, bound himself and his wife to be his
servants; in the meantime he brought gold from his palace as
high as his stature and that of his wife as ransom money..."20
Much of this is, of course, transparent fiction. But the
whole thing cannot be rejected like that. Some of the details.
given by Taranatha about Buddhaśrijñāna- like that of his
going to the country of Oddiyāna, his meeting with Lalita-
vajra and Gu-ne-ru, his Tantrika practices for eight months
with the 16 year old Candala girl Jatijala (Dza-thig-dza-la),
etc.-substantially agree with those of the account given
by 'Gos lo-tsa-ba. 21 Evidently the two historians were draw-
ing upon the same tradition and there is nothing to prove that
the entire tradition was baseless. That Buddhaśrījñāna was a
contemporary of Dharmapāla appears to have formed part of
the same tradition, because it was distinctly hinted at by 'Gos
lo-tså-ba as well. Therefore, if Dharmapȧla ruled during
A.D. 770-810,22 Dipamkara-bhadra, the direct disciple of
Buddhaśrijñāna, must have been much earlier than Dipamkara-
śrī-jñāna.
Taranatha has the following account of Dipamkara-bhadra
himself. "Dipamkara-bhadra was born in western India.
After learning the Vedas, he became later either a monk of a
temple-monastery (!) or the president of Mahāsānghika Sangha.
He met the great ācārya Buddhaśrijñāna in Nålandå. He was
20. B. N. Datta, Mystic Tales, 51-2. 21. BA i. 367-8. 22. HB i. 176

killed by a Tirthika king in Sindhu, who always used to harm

the disciples of the ācārya. Some historians mention him as
the Turuska king Bhuṣaṇa, but there were no Turuskas in
Madhyadeśa at that time."98
Sum-pa2 mentions Dipamkara-bhadra while giving a list of
the successive sthavira-s of the Vikramaśila vihara. It is not
easy to follow the exact chronological order of these sthavira-s
from the way in which Sum-pa mentions them. This much
seems to be clear, however, that long before Atiśa became the
upadhyaya of the vihara, Dipamkara-bhadra, who, "by attaining
siddhi subdued the Tirthika king", succeeded Buddhajñāna as
the sthavira of Vikramaśila.
One point definitely emerges from all these. According to

the tradition on which the Tibetan historians depend, Dipam-
kara-bhadra was much earlier than Dipamkara-śri-jñāna.
Therefore the works in the bsTan-'gyur attributed to Dipam-
kara-bhadra must have been composed by another Tantrika
Buddhist.
We may now take the case of Dipamkara-candra. The

bsTan-'gyur mentions him only once-as the Indian pandita
who participated in the translation of Bodhigarbha's Śri-
hevajra-sādhana-nama.25 In the Index Tibetan the name occurs
as Dipamkara-raja. From the internal evidence of the bsTan-
'gyur itself it appears that he could not have been the same as
Atiśa. The Tibetan lo-tsã-ba who worked under him for the
above translation is, according to Cordier's Catalogue, "Muni-
råja, the powerful sovereign", or, according to the colophon
of the Peking edition, Lha-btsan-po Mu-ne-rāja. This
"mighty sovereign" was presumably the Tibetan king Mu-ne-
btsan-po, who, according to 'Gos lo-tså-ba26 ruled for seventeen
years and died in A.D. 797, i.e. long before the birth of Atiśa.
He was the eldest son of king Khri-sron-lde-btsan, who,
according to 'Gos lo-tså-ba, ruled during the years A.D. 755-780
and under whose patronage the translation activity of Indian
23. B. N. Datta, Mystic Tales, 54. 24. Sum-pa 121f. 25. rG. xxi. 9.
26. BA i. 52. Bu-ston ii. 196f.
7
texts into Tibetan received its first great incentive. 27 Up to

A.D. 836,-the time of Ral-pa-can's death,-the Tibetan kings
took a great deal of interest in the Tibetan translation of
Buddhist works and some of them took direct part in these
translations. Therefore, it is quite conceivable that though a
king Mu-ne-btsan-po acted also as a lo-tsã-ba. And if this
was so, the Indian pandita Dipamkara-candra or Dipamkara-
rāja under whom he worked must have lived a few centuries
earlier than Dipamkara-śri-jñana. Since there is nothing to
indicate in the colophon under discussion that this Tibetan king
ever came to India, we are left to presume further that Dipam-
kara-candra must have visited Tibet to be able to work with
Mu-ne-btsan-po, though beyond this we know practically
nothing about him. The sBa-bshed or "Affirmation of
Faith", which contains the history of the reigns of Khri-sron-
Ide-btsan and Mu-ne-btsan-po, may perhaps be searched for
some further information of Dipamkara-candra.
We are now left to consider the names of Sri-dipamkara-
jñāna-pāda, Dipamkara-rakṣita and Dipamkara-kirti, whose
works are preserved in the bsTan-'gyur and our main question
is Are we to consider them as different from Dipamkara-
śri-jñāna? The internal evidences of the bsTan-'gyur lead us
to the view that though the case of Dipamkara-kirti may be
somewhat doubtful the names Dipamkara-jñāna-pada and
Dipamkara-rakṣita are but variations of the name of Dipam-
kara-śri-jñāna.
The name of Sri-dipamkara-jñåna-påda occurs only once in
the bsTan-'gyur-as the translator of the work Bodhi-marga-
pradipa-pañjikä-nāma. The work itself, as its Tibetan sub-
title in the Peking edition clearly says, is "the auto-commentary
on the Bodhi-patha-pradipa done by Jo-bo-rje." Its colophon.
27. See Sections 25 and 26. N. Dutt in Prajñā, Foreword vii, attributes to
Khri-sron-Ide-btsan the credit of finally revising the rules for Tibetan tran-
slation, which, according to Bu-ston, ii. 197, was really due to Ral-pa-can,
or, according to the colophon of the Mahāvyutpatti (mDo cxxiii. 44), was
due to king Khri-Ide-sron-btsan. 28. BA i. Intro. v. 29. mDo xxxi.
10. See Appendix B for the long colophon.
is long and interesting. From it we gather that the translator

mentioned as Śri-dipamkara-jñāna-påda was but the same as
the author mentioned alternatively as Dipamkara-śrī-jñāna and
Dipamkara-śri-päda of Bengal. Besides, the lo-tsä-ba who
worked under him for the translation was none but the author's
faithful disciple Jayaśila of Nag-tsho. These evidences are

decisive. Sri-dipamkara-jñana-pada or Dipamkara-śri-pada
could be none else than Atiśa.
The name Dipamkara-kirti occurs only once in the bsTan-

'gyur and this as the translator of the Samaya-tārā-stava,30 In
the Peking edition, its colophon is: "Written by Vagiśvara-
kirti, the immortal and the resident of Ratnagiri of Kośala;
translated by the Indian upadhyāya Dipamkara-kirti and
lo-tså-ba Prabhakara of Tshur." We may mention here only
a few points regarding the possible identity of Dipamkara-
kirti with Atiśa, though none of these can perhaps be regarded
as conclusive.
First, the Index Tibetan mentions him as mahā-ācārya

Dipankara-jñāna of India. Though the most typical form in
which the Index Tibetan mentions Atiśa is Jo-bo-rje, 'maha-
ācārya Dipamkara-jñāna of India' is also a form in which
Atiśa is frequently mentioned by the Tibetan sources. Secondly,
Atiśa is clearly known to be a translator of many other works
by the same Vagiśvarakirti. Thus, e.g., two different works
by Vägiśvarakirti bearing the same title Mṛtyu-vañcana-upa-
deśas and the work called Mṛtyu-vañcana-pinḍārthass by
Vagiśvarakirti were translated by Dipamkara-śri-jñāna and
lo-tsa-ba bhiksu Ratnabhadra. Besides, Dipamkara-śri-jñāna
participated in the translation of many other works of Suva-
giśvarakirti,38 who could have been the same as Vägiśvarakirti,
because 'Gos lo-tså-ba mentions only one Vägiśvarakirti, who
was a great adept in Tantrism and was a gate-keeper scholar
of the Vikramaśila vihara sometime before the time of Atisa34
30. rG. lxxxii. 48. 31. rG. xxvi. 68 & lxxxi. 21. 32. rG. lxxxi. 19.
33. See Section 4, Appendix B: nine such works are mentioned. 34. BA
i. 206; ii. 758.
52
Thirdly, Dipamkara-kirti in the colophon above could have

only meant "Dipamkara, the famous", the actual Tibetan form
in which this name is given being "Dipamkara-grags-pa" and

grags-pa means "the famous or the well-known." Prabhakara of
Tshur, however, who worked under Dipamkara-kirti for the

translation of this work must have been a scholar of minor
importance, for his name does not occur either in 'Gos lo-tsä-
ba's encyclopaedic work or in the bsTan-'gyur as working

under Atiśa for the translation of any other work.
None of these grounds can perhaps be taken as decisive for
the identification of Dipamkara-kirti with Atiśa. Still, since
the bsTan-'gyur shows considerable variation in mentioning
the name of Dipamkara-śri-jñana, the possibility of Dipam-
kara-kirti being one of such variants is perhaps not to be
entirely ruled out.
The grounds for considering Dipamkara-rakṣita of the
bsTan-'gyur as identical with Dipamkara-śri-jñana are com-
paratively clear.
In the bsTan-'gyur, the name Dipamkara-rakṣita occurs five
times. Thus-
1). According to Cordier's Catalogue, the work Vajrasattva-

sadhana-nama85 was "corrected by upadhyaya mahāpaṇḍita
Dipamkara-rakṣita of India and lo-tså-ba (Ratnakirti) of Bari
of Kham origin. The correction was executed at the Sri-
Anupama-niräbhoga Vihara". The colophon of its Peking
edition also says, "And again, Indian upadhyaya Dipamkara-
rakṣita and the Kham-pa bhiksu lo-tsã-ba Bari revised it, and
commented on it at the 'incomparable and miraculous vihara'
(dpe-med-lhun-grub-gtsug-lag-khan)". This description, viz.
the incomparable and miraculous vihara, is typical of the Tho-
lin monastery, which means that the correction of the above.
text was executed by Dipamkara-rakṣita in Tibet.
2). In the Peking edition of the bsTan-'gyur, the Pramāṇa-
varttika-alamkara-tikā 36 contains the following colophon :
"Written by ācārya Jaya. Translated very carefully by
35. rG. xxxiii. 18. 36. mDo ci and cii.

maha-pandita Sri-dipamkara-raksita, the Indian upadhyāya of

Vikramaśila, and the great lo-tsã-ba 'Or Ban-de Byan-chub-ses-
rab (Bodhiprajña) of Shan-shun at the incomparable and mira-
culous temple of Tho-lin, under the request of Tibet's bodhi-
sattva-vamsadhara-narottama, created by the devatä-s, the Lha-

btsan-po Såkya-bhiksu Lha-bla-ma Shi-ba-'od (Devaguru Śȧnti-
prabha) and Lha-btsan-po dBan-phyug-btsan-pa'i mÑa'-bdag-
chen-po Khri-bkra-śis-rtse-Ide-btsan.".
3). As the translators of the Vajra-bhairava-ganacakra-
nama,37 we have "upadhyāya Dipamkara-rakṣita of India and
io-tsa-ba bhiksu Vajrakirti of Rwa."
4). The colophon of the Vajra-sattva-sadhana-bhāṣ ya 38
says, "Written by ācārya Tathāgatarakṣita; translated by
Indian upadhyāya maha-pandita Dipamkara-rakṣita and lo-tsä-
ba Bari of Kham at the incomparable and miraculous temple
of Tho-lin."
5). The translators of the Sri-cakra-samvara-sahaja-tattva-
aloka are pandita Dipamkara-rakṣita of India and lo-tsā-ba
Dharmeśvara of Mar-pa."
Let us consider the information we have about Dipamkara-
rakṣita in the above colophons. First, this Dipamkara-raksita
originally belonged to the Vikramaśila vihara of India.
Secondly, he worked in Tibet at the Tho-lin vihara as an Indian
pandita. Thirdly, the use of titles like upadhyaya, mahā-pandita
apart, the subject-matter as well as the bulk of the Pramana-
värttika-alamkara-tikā translated by him are enough to covince
us of the great stature of this Indian scholar.
But when did such a great scholar bearing the name
Dipamkara come from the Vikramaśila vihāra to Tibet? We
have definite evidence for this in the colophon of the Pramāṇa-
värttika-alamkara-tikā, which states that one of the Tibtean
rulers at whose request this translation was carried out was
Lha-btsan-po śākya-bhikṣu deva-guru Santiprabha. This
evidence is decisive. For the fame of king Säntiprabha in
Tibetan history rests, above all, on one fact and that is being
37. rG. xliii. 67. 38. rG. xxxiv. 9. 39 rG. xiii, 53.
the royal patron of Dipamkara-śri-jñana. The long name of

the other Tibetan king mentioned in the same colophon is
that of Santiprabha's nephew.40 Therefore, to think that
Dipamkara-rakṣita of the bsTan-'gyur was different from
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna, it is necessary to imagine that another
scholar of great eminence bearing the name Dipamkara came
from the Vikramaśila vihara to Tibet round about the same
time as Dipamkara-śri-jñana and worked there translating and

correcting extremely important Indian texts, though no other
Tibetan source cares to take any note of him. Such an
assumption, to say the least, would be untenable.
The possible identity of Dipamkara-rakṣita with Dipamkara-
śri-jñāna is further suggested by the evidences of the lo-tsä-
ba-s said to have worked under Dipamkara-rakṣita. They
are lo-tsa-ba Ratnakirti of Bari, generally referred to as Bari
lo-tsa-ba, lo-tsa-ba Bodhiprajña (Byan-chub-ses-rab) of Shan-
shun, lo-tså-ba Vajrakirti of Rwa and lo-tså-ba Dharmeśvara
of Mar-pa.
Lo-tså-ba Ratnakirti of Bari worked directly under
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna. As translators of the Seka-prakriyā,41

the bsTan-'gyur mentions "maha-paṇḍita Dipamkara-śri-jñāna
and Ratnakirti, the lo-tsã-ba of Bari."
The evidence of lo-tså-ba Byan-chub-ses-rab or Bodhi-
prajña working in Tibet while Atiśa was there is as follows.
The same lo-tså-ba is mentioned49 to have worked under
upadhyāya Kumārakalaśa of India for the translation of Sri-
hevajra-stotra and upadhyaya Kumārakalaśa translated the
Mañjuśri-müla-tantra at the Tho-lin vihara under the request43
of king Bodhiprabha (Byan-chub-'od), the royal disciple of
Atiśa.
Lo-tså-ba Vajrakirti of Rwa is not to be confused with the
other Tibetan scholar Vajrakirti or Ras-chun-pa who, as we
have seen, was later than Atiśa. Rwa lo-tså-ba, we learn from
the work of 'Gos lo-tså-ba, attended the Council of the
40. Deb-ther-dmar-po (Tr. Tucci, Rome 1959), 27. 41. rG. xl. 15.
42. rG. xxii. 16. 43. BA i. Intro. x.

5. How many Dipamkaras ? 55
Fire-Dragon year, i.e., of A.D. 1076.44 It is, therefore, not

improbable for him to have worked under Atiśa.
Lo-tså-ba Dharmeśvara of Mar-pa (Mar-Pa Chos-kyi-dban-

phyug), we are told by 'Gos lo-tsa-ba,45 "attended the classes"
of a contemporary of Atiśa.46 Therefore it is quite conceiv-
able for lo-tsä-ba Dharmeśvara of Mar-pa to have worked
directly under Atiśa.
To sum up Though Atiśa's name often occurs simply
as Dipamkara, he is to be distinguished from the Tantrika
writer Dipamkara-bhadra, whose name also is found in the
bsTan-'gyur sometimes as simply Dipamkara. Dipamkara-
candra or Dipamkara-raja of the bsTan-'gyur is clearly differ-
ent from Atisa, though Dipamkara-kirti was possibly the same
as Atiśa. Atiśa's name occurs in the bsTan-'gyur in various
forms, inclusive of Dipamkara-påda, Dipamkara-jñāna-pāda
and Dipamkara-rakṣita.
44. Ib. i. 70 date of the council. i. 328 - Rwa attending it. 45. Ib i.
163. 46. Ib. i. 163.
6. Birth and Lineage
"There has been", says Rahula Sankrityayan, "useless

controversy as to whether Dipamkara was born in Bengal or
in Bihar. Authoritative Tibetan sources leave us in no doubt
that he was born in Bhagalpur". One cannot, without hesi-

tation, question the authority of a Tibetologist of Rahula's
stature. Nevertheless, since Rahula himself does not mention
any Tibetan source on which this statement is based, and since,
moreover, such a statement goes against the unanimous view

of practically all the other reputed scholars, it is necessary for
us, before subscribing too readily to this statement, to review
the actual information we have about Dipamkara's birth-place
in the 'authoritative Tibetan sources'.
Of the bsTod-pa-s or stotra-s to Dipamkara, two are consi-

dered to be specially authentic by the Tibetan historians. One
of these is by 'Brom-ston-pa, the foremost disciple of Dipam-
kara. The other is by Jayaśila of Nag-tsho, who, "attended
for nineteen years on the Master", inclusive of his few years'
stay at the Vikramaśila vihara.
Says 'Brom-ston-pa in his stotra, "I offer prayer to the feet
of Dipamkara-śri, who was born in the noble Jiva family of
the kings of za-hor of the tri-sampanna Bengal in the same line
to which śantijiva (Santarakṣita) belonged",
Says Nag-tsho in his stotra,
In the east, in the marvellous country of za-hor,
There has been a great city
Called Vikramapura.
In its centre (stood) a royal residence,
A very spacious palace it was,
Called 'Golden Bannered'.
1. Rahula in 2500 Years, 227. 2. BA i. 216. 3. sloka 1, See Section 2,

Appendix A. 4. Quoted by Roerich BA i. 241-2.
57
In wealth, subjects and revenue,

(The king) was the equal of the king sTon-khun of China.
The kingdom's ruler Kalyāṇaśri
And his queen Prabhavati
Had three sons:
Padmagarbha and Candragarbha,
And Śrigarbha...
The middle son, Candragarbha
Is at present the Venerable Teacher (bLa-ma rJe-btsun,

i.e. Atiśa).
Of the Tibetan histories of Buddhism, two in particular are
very highly respected. One of these is by Bu-ston and the
other by 'Gos lo-tså-ba. Bu-ston says that Dipamkara-
śri-jñāna "was the son of Kalyāṇaśrī, the king of Bengal."5
Says 'Gos lo-tså-ba, "This great teacher King Kalyāṇaśri
of the great kingdom called Sa-hor by the Indians and Za-hor
by the Tibetans, whose might was equal to that of the king
sTon-khun of China, dwelling in a palace called 'Golden
Banner', and his queen named Śriprabha had three sons: the
eldest son was Padmagarbha, the second son was Candra-
garbha, and the youngest son was Srigarbha. The Venerable
Master was the second son Candragarbha."6
Another history of Buddhism which enjoys considerable
prestige among the modern scholars is by Sum-pa, in which
is said, "At the time the Buddha came to the world, he (Atiśa)
was born as a householder called Jinaputra-bhadracarya in
Rajagṛha. One thousand eight hundred and fifteen years afterthe
Fire-Hare year of the Buddha's nirvāṇa, towards the end of the
Fire-Sky-Ocean period, he (Atiśa) acted as if being reborn
in the Water-Horse year in za-hor in Bengal in Eastern India
in the central palace with golden banners of the city of
Vikramapura in the noble family which had the greatest
pandita Santijiva in its line of descent, having for his father
5. Bu-ston ii.213. 6. BA i.241.
8
58
Kalyāṇaśri and mother Padmaprabha and as the middle

of the three sons with the name Candragarbha. It is said
that in his youth he had five queens and nine princes called
Punyaśri, etc., were born of him."7
In the Life of Atisa by mKhan-po-mchim-thams-cad
mkhyen-pa translated by S. C. Das we read, "Dipamkara
was born A.D. 980 in the royal family of Gaur at Vikrama-
(ni)pur in Bāngālā, a country lying to the east of
Vajrāsana."8
Waddell says that Dipamkara was born "of the royal
family of Gaur at Vikramanipur (?) in Bengal". Jaschke, 10
Cordier,11 and other scholars12 take this for granted.
Among the modern scholars who emphatically assert
that Dipamkara was a Bengalee, special mention may be
made of H.P. Sastrils and S. K. De, 14 the decisive evidence
for both being the colophons of two works in the bsTan-
'gyur, viz. the Ekavira-sādhana and the Bali-vidhi. But it is
possible to find in the bsTan-'gyur more evidences to support
the claim.
In the Peking edition of the bsTan-'gyur, the colophon of

the Prajñā-pāramitā-piṇḍārtha-pradipa 15 reads, "This alone
contains the Buddha's doctrines. The Bengal-born bhiksu
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna wrote it according to the sastra-s and
guru-vacana-s." The colophon of the Bodhi-marga-pradipa-
pañjikā-nāma contains the following "...Dipamkara-śri-
jñāna, a descendant of the Bengalee king ...Representing the
Buddha this time, Dipankara-śri-jñāna was born in Bengal."
As the author of the Ekavira-sādhana is mentioned "arya
painḍapātika Śri-dipamkara-jñāna of Bengal." Again, in the
Peking edition, the colophon of the Canda-mahāroṣaṇa-sadhana-
paramartha-nāma says, "Written by Dipamkara-śri-jñāna, the
7. Sum-pa 183. 8. S. C. Das in JBTS I.i.7. 9 Waddell L 35n.

10. J-TED 603. 11. See Cordier's understanding of the colophons of
mDo x.2; xxxi. 10; cxxviii. 10, etc. 12. Bell 53. 13. Bauddha Gān
O Doha (Bengali) 22. cf. Präcina Bamlar Gaurava (Bengali) 33ff
14. S. K. De in HB i. 335. 15. For this and other texts mentioned
in this connection, see Appendix B.

59
maha-ācārya pandita of Bengal"; the colophon of the Bali-

vidhi says, "bhikşu Dipamkara-śri-jñāna, who was born in
Bengal, wrote this Bali-vidhi under the blessings of his guru".
The colophon of the Nikaya-bheda-vibhanga-vyākhyāna says,
"translated and revised by ācārya pandita called mahā-paṇḍita
Dipamkara-śri-jñāna of Bengal (Bamgål).
That Dipamkara was actually born in Bengal clearly
follows from the Tibetan sources mentioned above, assuming,
of course, that the English rendering of these sources is correct.

But it is necessary to have some clarification on the Tiebtan
word which is rendered in these as "Bengal". Generally
speaking, this word is Bhangala, uniformly rendered as
"Bengal" by Cordier and others. What, then, is their
justification?
First, as Jaschke 16 points out, the letter "bha is some-
times written for ba, either from ignorance or in order to
appear as learned." Thus, Bangala could have easily assumed
the form Bhangala in the Tibetan writings. That this actually
happened is attested to by the Tibetan-English Dictionary17
of S. C. Das, where Bhan-ga-la is rendered as Bangala (modern
Eastern Bengal). As an illustration of the use of the word,
Das quotes the following line bhan-ga-la-pa-thams-cad-dmag-
tu-spran-nas and renders it as "(king Deva Påla) summoning
all the Bangala-pa into war". Thus, the word Bhangala in the
Tibetan sources appears to be but a variation of the word
Bamgala or Bangala, as it is actually written in the colophon
of the Nikaya-bheda-vibhanga-vyākhyāna of the Peking edition
of the bsTan-'gyur.
Secondly, the word Bhangala frequently occurs in Taranā-
tha's chos-'byun and R. C. Majumdar18 has made a detailed
survey of all these occurrences for determining the location
of the original kingdom of the Pålas, which, according to
Taranātha, was Bhangala. From this he concludes that the
16. J-TED 386. 17. D-TED 861-2 18. Majumdar in HB i. 182ff,

336f; in IHQ xvi. 219f.
60
Bhangala of Taranatha "may be taken to denote, in a general

way, southern and eastern Bengal."
That Dipamkara was born in the eastern rather than the
southern part of Bengal is evident from the clear mention of
Vikramapura in connection with the birth-place of Dipamkara.
Nag-tsho and Sum-pa, as quoted above, give a transliteration
of the name Vikramapura in Tibetan characters and we are
aware of only one Vikramapura in eastern India and that is in
Dacca. This, as corroborated by the popular tradition which
connects the residence of Atiśa with the village Vajrayogini
of Vikramapura, Dacca, leads us to accept the older view of
Sashibhusana Vidyalamkara and others, 20 namely that Atiśa
was born in the Vajrayogini village of Vikramapura, Dacca.
It may incidentally be mentioned here that whatever may
be the present condition of the Vajrayogini village of Vikrama-
pura, there are grounds to think that this was once a prosper-
ous centre of eastern India. "Vajrayogini (in E. Bengal)",
says S. C. Sarkar, 21 "which exists even now as a well-known
village was the capital of Bangala on the eve of Gopala's
accession. The place was therefore a flourishing one three
centuries before Atiśa's time." The Vajrayogini copper-plate
of Såmalavarman also indicates the past glory of Vajrayogini
and Vikramapura. 22
In connection with the question whether Dipamkara was
actually born in Bengal, or whether he was a Bengalee, we may
mention here one extremely interesting evidence preserved in
a Tibetan source which indicates that he himself spoke the
Bengali language, though perhaps outside the academic
discussions.
The Life of Atisa translated by S. C. Das, while describing

Atiśa's journey to Tho-lin, says, "His demeanour, personal
beauty, though sixty years old, and his pleasant appearance
made him worthy of divine honour. A smile was ever present
19. Sometimes in its corrupted form as Vikramaņipura 20. Jivani-koşa

(Bengali), Bharatiya Aitihäsika, i.26. 21. S. C. Sarkar in JBORS
xxvii.567. 22. R. C. Majumdar in HB i. 200-2.
61
on his face, and Sanskrit mantra-s were always on his lips.

His voice was distinct, loud and impressive. At the end of a
sentence, he often said, Ati Bhala! Ati Bhala! Ati Mangala.
Ati Bhala haé."98
This is the only extant record of words actually spoken
by Atisa, and as the word bhāla suggests, the language
was old Bengali, mKhan-po-mchim-thams-cad-mkhyen-pa,
the author of this biography, could not have produced
these words from his own imagination. These could only
be based on some actual observation. According to the
Tibetan tradition, this biography is based on the communica-
tion by Nag-tsho to Phyag-sor-pa,-a tradition which we have
no ground to reject as baseless. 24 Nag-tsho, of all the Tibetan
scholars, had the best opportunity of observing how Atiśa
himself spoke in his moments of ecstasy during the journey to
Tho-lin.
There remains another important point to be considered

in connection with the birth-place of Atiśa. There is some
controversy over the word za-hor, which, as we have seen,
frequently occurs in the Tibetan sources in this context.
"This place Zahor", says S. K. De, 25 "is conjectured in turns

to be Lahore and Jessore in South Bengal (Waddell and Sarat
Chandra Das) and Sabhar in East Bengal (H. P. Sastri)...
A. H. Francke would with great probability identify it with
Mandi in North-Western India." But we failed to find any
substantial evidence offered by Francke in support of his own
conjecture. In two places of his work, he simply puts the
word Mandi within brackets after mentioning the word
Zahor.96 Of course, Jaschke,27 on the basis of his under-
standing of 'The Collection of Legends of Padmasambhava',
proposes to locate Zahor in north-west India, and adds "by
the statements of Lamas, the present Mandi, a small princi-
pality under British protection, in the Punjab, between the rivers
Byas and Ravi, where there is a sacred lake, celebrated as a
23. S. C. Das in JBTS I. i. 29. 24. See Note 12, Section 3.

25. S. K. De in HB i. 331n. 26. Francke AIT ii. 65, 89.
27. J-TED 485.
62 6. Birth and Lineage
place of pilgrimage, from which the Brahmins residing there

derive a considerable income".
That it is palpably absurd to take such a geographical

location of za-hor in connection at least with the birth-place
of Dipamkara is clear from the circumstances that the
Tibetan sources, while mentioning the birth-place of Dipam-
kara, over and above the use of the word za-hor, say that
Dipamkara was born in Bhangala in Eastern India and in a

palace at Vikramapura. None of these details fits in with
Mandi of the Punjab. What, then, can the word za-hor mean
in connection with the birth-place of Dipamkara ?
A way out of this difficulty is perhaps suggested by the
understanding of the word za-hor by Csoma de Coros 28 and
Sarat Chandra Das, According to Csoma de Coros, the word
za-hor is but an equivalent of the word sahor, the common
name for a city. Sarat Chandra Das also points out that the
Tibetan word za-hor is only a corrupt form of the word sahor.
This is fully confirmed by 'Gos lo-tsa-ba, 30 who says that
Thon-mi Sambhoța, while first devising the Tibetan alphabets,
"added the sounds of sha, za and ('), which he thought
necessary in Tibetan, though absent in the Indian alphabet.
Of these three the sound sha has the same sound as sa of the
Indian alphabet, because of this (similarity) a certain pandita
from Nepal, when addressing a letter to the Dharmasvamin
Bu-ston called him: 'Sa-lu paṇḍita' (instead of Sha-lu pandita).
Because the sound za is similar to sa the Indians pronounce
Sa-hor, while the Tibetans call (this country) Za-hor".
There is thus the possibility of taking the word za-hor not
as a proper name but as the Tibetan equivalent of the Indian
word pronounced as sahor (or śahor), meaning city. And this
may resolve some of the difficulties of the modern scholars,
28. Tibetan English Dictionary. Quoted by S. C. Das in JBTS I. i 8n.

cf. J-TED 485. 29. D-TED 1089. In JBTS I i. 8n S. C. Das suggests
that the word could have been derived from Urdu. 30. BA i. 39.
Incidentally, Atisa is said to have had the same line of descent to which
Santarakṣita belonged and Sum-pa 112 asserts that Santarakṣita was born
in the royal family of za-hor of Eastern Bengal.
63
inasmuch as the mention of za-hor, meaning sa-hor, does not

necessarily connect the place with the Punjab alone.
The word sahor is Persian in origin. S. K. Chatterji 81
remarks that Persian words were current in Eastern India
already in the 7th century A. D. It is, therefore, quite
conceivable that the Tibetans were acquainted with the word
sahor long before the birth of Dipamkara.
As for the lineage of Dipamkara, the Tibetan sources
repeatedly assert that he was born in a royal family. Nag-
tsho, as we have seen, says that his father Kalyāṇaśri was as
wealthy and powerful a king as sTon-khun of China (Indo-
China ?) and that the palace in which Dipamkara was born
had golden flags flying on it. The same or similar accounts
occur in the statements of Bu-ston, 'Gos lo-tså-ba and Sum-pa.
Further, the colophons of some of Atisa's works 89 assert that
bhikṣu Dipamkara was originally the son of a king.
S. C. Das, however, quotes certain statements alleged to
have been made by Dipamkara himself. "During my time",
runs one such statement, "the king called Bhū Indra Chandra
reigned in Bangāla. The extent of his raj was what could be
traversed by a she-elephant in seven days. A she-elephant is
very swift. She walks a great distance, only taking a short
respite at mid-day."33 We have, unfortunately, no means
ascertaining whether this statement was actually ever made by
Atiśa. The name Bhu-indra-candra cannot be traced in the
History of Bengal, though it mentions "the traditions of the
long line of Chandra kings ruling in Bhangala", having their

capital "probably near Comilla."84 "At all events, the six
Chandra kings, known from inscriptions, may be regarded as
having ruled in Eastern or Southern Bengal (and some over
both) during the period between 900 and 1050 A.D."85 Since
the date of Dipamkara's birth falls within this period and
since, moreover, he was born in Eastern Bengal, the possibility
31. S. K. Chatterji ODBL i 192ff. In ODBL i. 465 he says that Tibet was
linguistically influenced by Bengal from the 7th century A.D. 32. eg..
Bodhi-marga-pradipa-pañjikā-nāma, mDo xxi. 10. 33. S. C. Das in
JBTS I. i. 7n. 34. HB i. 194. 35. Ib. i. 196.
64 6. Birth and Lineage
of some Candra king reigning in Bhangala during his time

cannot perhaps be entirely discarded, P. C. Bagchi even
conjectures that Dipamkara himself could have been actually
related to the Candra rulers of Bengal. "The Tibetan sources",
says he,36 "tell us that Tantric Buddhism flourished in Vangala
under the Chandras, and that king Gopichandra, who is asso-
ciated by tradition with a particular form of mysticism, be-
longed to this dynasty. The famous Buddhist scholar of
Vikramapura, Atiśa Dipamkara, is said to have been born in
the royal house of that place.".
Again, rNal-'byor-pa-chen-po is alleged by some to have
related the following as said by Atiśa himself: "In our
(country) India, there are Royalty and Royal race. The
former owns.kingdom. The latter, though royalty in blood,
has no Raj. I belong to the Royal race. My father called
'The Lord of Heaven' was a householder upāsaka (lay devotee).
He was a great Bodhisattva."87 rNal-'byor-pa-chen-po38 was
a close Tibetan disciple of Dipamkara and, as 'Gos lo-tsa-ba
says, after 'Brom's death, he acted as abbot of the Rwa-sgren
monastery. "He used to be groom and domestic attendant
of the Master. He had... thoroughly studied the Doctrine under

him". As such, it would be difficult to reject his report out-
right, had there been any certainty that he actually made it.
But S. C. Das says that the Tibetan authorities themselves
"have not accepted these accounts on the authority of Nag-
tsho and 'Brom-ston-pa". Still the exaggeration particularly
in Nag-tsho's own account of Dipamkara's ancestry is obvious:
had Kalyāṇaśri been actually as wealthy and powerful a king
as Nag-tsho wants us to believe, he would not have been
remembered in the history of Bengal by the sole circumstance
of being Dipamkara's father. At the same time, since most
of the Tibetan sources persistently attribute a royal birth to
Dipankara, we have at least to admit that he was born in a
highly noble family and that his father was possibly a ruling
chief of his locality.
36. P. C. Bagchi in HB i. 418. 37. JBTS I. i. 7n. 38. BA i. 264-5.
39. S. C. Das in JBTS I. i. 7n.

65
If this was actually so, then the inflated accounts of the

wealth and power of king Kalyāṇaśri are perhaps to be taken
as but ways of describing the glory of the Master. S. C. Das
quotes two other passages, which show the same tendency to
exaggerate the greatness of Dipamkara's lineage. "To the
East of Vajrasana," runs one of these,40 "lies the great
country of Bangala in which there was the place called Dsa-hor
containing twenty hundred thousand habitations. At its centre
was situated the capital which was prosperous, opulent,
spacious, filled with a large population, well-swept and kept
clean. The king's palace stood at the middle of the city, lofty
and furnished with many golden dhvaja." "He was born",
according to another passage,41 "in the central palace called
the Suvarnadhvaja of the city of Vikramapuri in Bangālā, as
the son of Rajā Kalyāṇaśri by his wife Padmaprabhā. He was
the second of the three brothers and given the name of
Candragarbha. At an early age he was married to five wives.
He was courageous and possessed of the nine talents which
are the requisites of a great man." We do not know if the
mention of having five wives at an early age-which we come
across also in Sum-pa-was meant to be a mark of the
prosperity of his family, though the birth of Dipamkara in a

noble family need not be doubted.
Incidentally, according to Rabula Sankrityayan,48 this

noble lineage of Dipamkara created special problems for his
early education. When the young prince Candragarbha first
met Jetāri (Jitāri) and Jețări asked him who he was, Candra-
garbha replied that he was the son of the master of the land.
"Jitāri thought that this answer showed pride. 'We neither
have any master nor any slave. If you are the ruler of the land,
40. Ib. 8n. 41. Ib. 42. Sum-pa 183. Sum-pa himself does not
attach much importance to this, as is evident from his use of the words
"it is said". Nag-tsho, in his stotra (See BA i. 241), says that the elder
brother Padmagarbha had five queens and nine sons.
43. Rabula in 2500 Years, 227-8
9
66
then go away', he answered. Very humbly he (Candragarbha)

told him that he wanted to renounce the world. At this,
Jițări advised him to go to Nålandå, as he thought that if the
prince was ordained too close to his father's capital, it would
be difficult for him to overcome pride."
S. C. Das, as we have seen, mentions A.D. 980 as the year
of Dipamkara's birth. Francke and Waddell45 concur.
According to Rahula, 46 however, it was A.D. 982, a Water-
Male-Horse year. That there is considerable confusion among
the Tibetan authorities with regard to the date of Dipamkara's
birth is obvious from Sum-pa,47 who mentions different
years as given by the different biographers. According to
Sum-pa himself, Dipamkara was born in the Water-Horse
year, which is evidently to be taken as the Water-Male-Horse
year, i. e. A. D. 982. We are inclined to take this as the
correct view for this is the year mentioned also by 'Gos lo-tsa-
ba, the special merit of whose work consists in the great care he
takes to determine the chronological considerations. Another
argument in favour of accepting this date is that it corresponds
better with the recorded dates of later incidents of Dipam-
kara's life.
To sum up Prince Candragarbha, later called Dipam-

kara, was born in A.D. 982 in Vikramapura of Bengal; his
father Kalyāṇaśrī was presumably a ruler of some status and
the name of his mother was Prabhavati or Śriprabba. Accord-
ing to the Tibetan tradition, it was the same family in which
Santarakṣita was born a few centuries earlier.
44. Francke AIT ii. 170. 45. Waddell L 35n. 46. Rahula in
2500 Years 227. 47. Sum-pa 186. 48. BA i. 247.
7. Early Career
It is difficult for us today to be exact about the early
educational and spiritual career of Dipamkara. The Tibetan
sources on which we are exclusively to depend for its recons-
truction are, at least in matters of details, extremely muddled
and even mutually contradictory. We have frequently in

these altogether different versions of the same event, frequently
again versions of different events altogether. Here are only a
few examples.
Depending on the biography of Atiśa alleged to have come
down from Nag-tsho, S. C. Das is led to assert that Dipam-
kara's parents sent him at a very young age "to the sage
Jetāri, an Avadhūta adept, for his education. Under Jetāri
he studied the five kinds of minor sciences, and thereby paved
his way for the study of philosophy and religion."1
But Rahula Sankrityayan, on the basis of some other
Tibetan source (he does not mention), asserts that the prince,
at about the age of eleven, "while roaming one day went by
chance to a nearby jungle. There he met Acarya Jitāri, who
lived in a cottage...Jitāri advised him to go to Nālandā."
According to this version, Jitāri had little to do directly with
the early education of Dipamkara.
By trying to combine the two versions above, we may
perhaps be led to assert that Dipamkara met Jetāri very early
in life and that Jetari either directly instructed him in the five
sciences or at least directed him to go to the proper educational
centre. However, all the Tibetan sources do not agree even
on such a compromise assertion. Thus, e. g., Sum-pa's
account of the early career of Dipamkara does not mention
his coming in contact with Jetāri at all. The instructors of
Dipankara, according to Sum-pa, were Rahulagupta, Śila-
rakṣita, Dharmarakṣita, Dharmakirti, Santi-på, Nāro-på,
the junior Kusali-pā, Avadhůti-på and Dombi-på.
1. S. C. Das in JBTS I. i. 7-8. 2. Rahula in 2500 Years, 227-8.

68
7. Early Career
In the list of the major preceptors of Dipamkara given by

'Gos lo-tså-ba, the name of Jetâri is conspicuously absent.
They are Råhulaguhyavajra, Avadhūti-pā, Silarakṣita,
Dharmarakṣita, Ratnākaraśānti and Dharmakirti, under each
of whom Dipamkara is said to have spent a consiberable period
of time studying various subjects. But 'Gos lo-tså-ba also.
mentions a list of fourteen "other teachers" of Dipamkara,
where alone the name of Jetari occurs. Apparently, the educa-
tion Dipamkara received under these "other teachers" was
somewhat secondary in importance, for, contrasted with the
cases of Rahulaguhyavajra and others, the historian does not
mention any specific form of instruction that Dipamkara
received from any of them. Besides, this list of the fourteen
"other teachers" appears to have an interest of its own. It
seems to include practically all the eminent representatives of
the later phase of Indian Buddhism whose fame reached the
Land of Snow. The names are: Jñänaśrimati, the younger
Kuśali, Jetāri, Kṛṣṇapada also known as Ballācārya, the
younger Avadhūti-på, Dombi-på, Vidyākokila, Matijñāna-
bodhi, Naro, Pandita Mahajana, Bhútakotipa, the great
scholar Dånaśrī, Prajñābhadra and Bodhibhadra. It is ex-
tremely difficult for us today to gather much of real historical
information about them all and though Naro-på and a few
others like Jetāri are known to have been the senior contem-
poraries of Dipamkara, it is not easy to be sure that all those

mentioned in the list were actually so and as such historically
could have been Dipamkara's preceptors. Besides, we know
little of the nature of the doctrines they preached,-that of
Nåro-pā being about the only important exception to this,-
whose doctrine, again, did not have any decisive influence
on the mature views of Dipamkara. The doctrine preached
by Nåro-på was some form of Täntrism while Dipamkara,
as the learned Tibetan historian Thu-bkan-blo-bzań-chos-kyi-
3. BA i. 242-4. 4. H. V. Guenther, The Life and Teaching of Naropa,

Oxford 1963. The dates given in the book appear to be peculiar.
7. Early Career 69
ñi-ma pointedly asserts, 5 fully subscribed to the Prasangika

Madhyamika philosophy-associated particularly with the names
of Nagarjuna, Candrakirti and others.
Are we, then, to take 'Gos lo-tså-ba's long list of the
teachers of Dipamkara, covering as it tries to do all the emi-
nent spiritual leaders of the age, as a piece of actual historical
information, or merely as indicative of the historian's anxiety
to show how complete and exhaustive Dipamkara's early
education was? A categorical answer may not be possible.
Still there is nothing definite to rule out the second alter-
native.
To mention only another example of the difficulty of

reconstructing Dipamkara's early career from the Tibetan
sources:
We have in these at least four versions, substantially differ-

ing from one another, of Dipamkara's Buddhist ordination.
"At the age of nineteen," says S. C. Das, 6 "he took the sacred
vows from Silarakṣita the Mahāsānghika ācārya of Odantapuri,
who gave him the name of Dipamkara Śrī-jñāna." According
to Rahula Sankrityayan," however, at the age of eleven he was
sent by Jetāri to ācārya Bodhibhadra of Nālandā. "As one
could be initiated as a bhikṣu only at the age of twenty, the

prince had perforce to wait for nearly nine years. Meanwhile,
however. ācārya Bodhibhadra initiated him into the life
of a śramana (novice), made him wear saffron-coloured clothes
and called him Dipamkara Śri-jñāna." But 'Gos lo-tsā-ba
says, "in his 29th year he accepted ordination from Silaraksita
who was established on the path of Practice, and was the
Elder (sthavira) of the Mahasanghika school, belonging to the
Lineage of Buddhajñānapāda at the Mativihāra at Vajrā-
sana." Sum-pa's account partially agrees but partially also.
differs from that of 'Gos lo-tså-ba. "At (the age of) twenty-
nine" says he, "by the instructions of his guru-s and tutelar
5. See Section 5, Appendix A, pp 63-4 of the work quoted. 6. S. C. Das
in JBTS I. i. 8. 7. Rahula in 2500 Years, 228. 8. BA i. 242-3.
9. Sum-pa 183-4.
70
7. Early Career
deity, he received the pravrajya ordination at Odantapuri

under Silarakṣita, a Mahāsānghika ācārya." Thus these four
accounts of Dipamkara's ordination differ as to the age when
he received it, the preceptor under whom and the monastery
where he received it.
Many more examples of such discrepancies may easily be

mentioned. The discrepancies are perhaps inevitable. The
Tibetan authorities had to depend on the accounts floating
from India to Tibet and since the historians on whom we are
to depend lived several centuries after Atiśa, they had inevi-
tably to depend on the oral transmission of these accounts
through generations. In such circumstances, it is idle to expect
all the accounts of Dipamkara's early career preserved in the
Tibetan sources to agree on all points of details.
Nevertheless, from the medley of assorted information we
have in these sources, it may be possible for us to divide, with
reasonable certainty, his early educational and spiritual career
into three broad phases, howevermuch uncertain we may be
about their details. These are:
First, his early Tantrika career.
Secondly, his Buddhist ordination and the study of the

Buddhist scriptures, both the so-called Hinayana and
Mahāyāna.
Thirdly, his travels abroad and his studies particularly under
Dharmakirti, the guru of Suvarnadvipa.
8, The Tantrika Initiation
There is nothing to wonder at the earliest career of Dipam-

kara being that of a full-fledged Tantrika. Rather it would
have been most remarkable had he actually been free from
any Tantrika background. He grew up in an age in which
the spiritual atmosphere of the country was saturated with
Tantrism. Mahayana Buddhism, under various names,
was becoming then more and more indistinguishable
from Tantrism and the Tantrika Buddhists, under the title of
the Siddhācāryas, were enjoying the highest spiritual prestige.

In short, there was then in Eastern India no wisdom that was
not essentially spiritualistic and Tantrism represented spiritua-

ism par excellence.
The question why Tântrism assumed such an overwhelming

importance in that agel and why, further, Buddhism itself was
getting transformed into some kind of Tantrism, may remain
to be fully answered by further sociological enquiries. Mean-
while, what is important for our immediate purpose is to note
that it must have been quite inevitable for Dipamkara to
aspire, at least to begin with, after a thorough proficiency in
the theory and practices of the Tantras. As is only to be
expected, the Tibetan sources inevitably indicate that the
earliest phase of Dipamkara's spiritual career was that ofa
Tantrika. At the same time, it will be wrong to expect all
these sources to be unanimous in matters of details concern-
ing this.
rNal-'byor-pa-chen-po or Maha-yogi, one of the earliest
of the Tibetan disciples of Atiśa, quotes a statement alleged
to have been made by Atiśa himself, according to which the
first Tantrika initiation he received was from his own father.
1. H. P. Sastri (Bauddha-dharma, Bengali, 78fi), P. C. Bagchi (Bauddha-

dharma O Sahitya, Bengali, 88f), S. B. Dasgupta (ORC 13ff; ITB 5ff),
Valle-Poussin (in ERE xii. 193ff), Waddell (L 141 ff), and others have dis-
cussed the question. 2. D-TED 763; BA i. 262.
72 8. The Tantrika Initiation
"He (i.e. my father)", Atiśa is reported to have said, "practised

the Tantra of the Måtṛ class. I obtained an abhiseka of one
(of the Tantras) from him."8 However, since according to
the same statement or similar ones, Atiśa's mother was a
Brahmani from whom he received also the knowledge of the
Vedas, the later Tibetan authorities have not accepted this as
authentic. "These anecdotes," according to them, "may have
been connected with Atiśa's previous births or may be inter-
polations connected with the life of any other ācārya".*
But this does not at all imply that the Tibetan authorities.
are in any way hesitant to admit that a Tantrika initiation
formed the beginning of Atiśa's spiritual career. From their
repeated assertions it appears that he actually received this
initiation from a Tantrika yogi called Råhulagupta or Rāhula-
guhyavajra who lived in the "Black Mountain" and that
during this initiation the young prince Candragarbha received

the Tantrika name Jñâna-guhya-vajra.
"In his childhood", says 'Gos lo-tså-ba, "he had a vision
of Arya-Tara, the tutelary deity of his lives. Under her in-
fluence, he did not get attached to royal power, but proceeded
to another country in search of a teacher. He requested
Rahulaguhyavajra (sGra-gcan-gsan-ba'i-rdo-rje), a yogi of the
'Black Mountain' (to bestow on him) the initiation into the
cycle of Hevajra, and listened to the exposition of the Tantra
and precepts".
In the Life of Atiśa translated by S. C. Das we read, "he
went to the vihāra of Kṛṣṇagiri to receive his lessons from
Råhulagupta. Here he was given the secret name of Guhya-
jñāna-vajra, and initiated into the mysteries of esoteric
Buddhism".
"Thus", says Sum-pa," "without caring for the kingdom

and in search of the dharma, he went to the temple of the Black
Mountain, received the abhişeka from guru Rahulagupta,
acquired the esoteric name Jñana-guhya-vajra and became a
profound adept in mantra (shags)".
3. JBTS I. i. 7n 4. Ib. 5. BA i. 241-2. 6. JBTS I. i. 8.
7. Sum-pa 183.
8. Tantrika Initiation 73
The Black Mountain or Kṛṣṇagiri (Ri-nag-po) is considered

by R. C. Majumdar to be the same as modern Kanheri in the
Bombay Presidency. But this is without any sound evidence.
B. C. Law, on the other hand, identifies it with Kalaśilä, one
of the famous seven hills near Rājagṛha. Thus, it could not
have been too far for the young prince to go in search of
spiritual wisdom. The name of Råhulaguhya of the Black
Mountain occurs in the Tibetan sources10 as that of a famous
Tantrika yogi of Atiśa's time. Therefore, the account of Atisa

meeting him and receiving from him a Tāntrika abhiṣeka need
not be considered a fable and there is nothing to discard the
possibility of his receiving the first initiated name Jñana-
guhya-vajra.
'Gos lo-tsa-ba, however, has more details to add to the
early Tantrika career of Atiśa. "After being established in
the degrees of utpannakrama and sampannakrama, he (Dipam-
kara-jñāna) proceeded to foreign countries. For seven years
he became an attendant of Avadhūti-pā, who had attained the
highest realisation. For three years he practised rigorous
mental training, took part in Tantric feasts (ganacakra) in the
company of ḍākini-s in the country of Oddiyana, and listened
to numerous secret (vajra) songs."11
That Atiśa had several years of spiritual apprenticeship
under Avadhūti-pā is also indicated by the sources of Rahula
Sankrityayan. "The twelve-year old Dipamkara", says
Rahula,1 "stayed with him (i. e. Avadhüti-på) until he was
eighteen". However, it is difficult to see why 'Gos lo-tsa-ba
says that Atiśa "proceeded to foreign countries" for this pur-
pose. The only account of Avadhūti-på we have in 'Gos-
lo-tsa-ba's 1s own history is as follows:
"The great Avadhúti-pā or Painḍapātika, the Great"
received the "exposition and meditative practice of the system.
known as Phag-mo-gshun-drug (the six Dharanis of Varābi)"
8. Majumdar in HB. i. 674. 9. B.C. Law IDETBJ 39, 237. 10. BA

ii. 732. 11. Ib. i. 242. 12. Rahula in 2500 Years, 229. 13. BA i. 390.
10
74
8, Tantrika Initiation
from the venerable Virů-på, who, in his turn, received it from

Indrabhuti's sister Lakṣminkarā. He (Avadhuti-på) was a
native of Eastern Bengal and a Ksatriya by caste. He was
ordained in the Mahasanghika sect and practised meditation
on Guhyasamaja-Mañjuvajra. After he had seen a distressing
dream that he had swallowed the Sun and Moon, he went to
see Virů-på, and obtained from him the initiation into the
Cycle of the Yogini (i.e. Vajravarähi) and at the same time
saw a vision of the goddess. He listened to the exposition of
the Tantra and its mystic precepts, and practised them. Then
Virů-på introduced him to the practice (carya). When he
began his mystic practice on the banks of the Ganges, there
was a trident which could not be moved by men, and on which
heretics used to jump, believing that death would give them
emancipation. He seized it and threw it into the Ganges. The
heretics begged him to restore the trident, and having taken
it out (from the river), he handed it to them, saying: 'On this
path there is no emancipation'.
'Gos lo-tså ba, as we have just said, does not mention any
other Avadhuti-på and it is obviously difficult to recover
much of strict historical truth from the legends he relates.
According to Rahula Sankrityayan, 14 he was also called
Advayavajra and was the same as Maitri-på, the guru of Bodhi-
bhadra of the Nalanda vihara. Following H. P. Sastri, 15
P. C. Bagchi16 and S. K. De17 also think that Avadhūti-pá
was the same as Advayavajra. From the bsTan-'gyur, 18 how-
ever, it appears that there could have been more than one
Avadhuti-på, whose writings are preserved in this collection.
From all these and certain other conjectures about him we
may assert that he was one of the famous Siddhācāryas and
was a senior contemporary of Dipamkara.
The other important thing said by 'Gos lo-tså-ba about
the early Tantrika career of Dipamkara is that he spent three
years in the country of Oddiyana, participating at the Tantrika
14. Rahula op. cit. 228-29. 15. H. P. Sastri in Advayavajrasamgraha,

p. vi. 16. P. C. Bagchi in HB i. 423. 17. S. K. De in HB i. 341n.
18. See Lalou 138 & 129.
75
8. Tantrika Initiation
feasts in the company of the ḍākini-s. The modern scholars

like P. C. Bagchi, 19 N. Dasgupta, 20 Sylvain Lévi,21 F. W.
Thomas22 and others have discussed the possible identity of
the place referred to by the Tibetan sources as Oddiyana, or
alternatively as, Uddiyāns, Udyana, O-rGyan and U-rgyan.
"B. Bhattacharyya, following H. P. Sastri, would identify it
with Orissa and draw far-reaching conclusions about Buddhist
Tantric centres in Orissa... There is great probability in the
identification proposed by Sylvain Lévi with the Swat valley
in North-western India, the people of which, even in Hiuen
Tsang's time, made 'the acquaintance of magical formulas
their occupation'."23 That some of the Tibetan authorities
would not favour the identification of Oddiyana with Orissa
is clear from 'Gos lo-tsä-ba, 24 who says that it "was situ-
ated 230 yojana-s to the north of Magadha", though it is a
different question altogether whether it can be definitely
identified with the Swat valley or not. In any case, there is no
doubt that the Tibetans knew this to be a great centre of
Tantrism. It was from this place, according to 'Gos lo-tsa-ba,
that the Guhyasamāja Tantra (with which the names of king
Indrabhuti of Oddiyana and his sister Lakṣminkarā were
particularly associated) was introduced to Aryavarta.25
Therefore, 'Gos lo-tsa-ba's statement that Dipamkara went
there and spent three years in the company of the ḍākini-s
participating at the Tantrika feasts, even if not taken as a
piece of exact historical record, goes at least to show that the
19. P. C. Bagchi in IHQ vi. 580-3. 20. N. Dasgupta in IHQ xi. 142-44.
21. Levi in JA 1915. 105f. 22. Thomas in JRAS 1906 461n.
23. S. K. De in HB i. 333n. 24. BA i. 367. But 'Gos lo-tsä-ba's
geographical location of Indian places is not always reliable (See note 42,
Section 13). The following note by R. C. Majumdar and D. C. Ganguly
(HB i. 673n) appears to be extremely significant: "According to dPag-bsam-
ljon-bzan, the first Siddhācārya Lui-pā belonged to the fisherman caste of
Uddiyana, and was in the service of the king of Uddiyāna as a writer. He
is referred to in the bsTan-'gyur as a Bengali (Cordier Cat. ii. 33). He
composed some Bengali songs (Bauddha-Gan-O-Dohā 21). On this and
other grounds it has been suggested that Udḍiyāna might have been situated
in Bengal (IHQ xi. 142-4)" 25. BA. i. 361f.
76 8. Tantrika Initiation
Tibetan historian is extremely anxious to prove how complete

was Dipankara's early Tantrika career.
We have unfortunately nothing to corroborate 'Gos lo-

tsa-ba's statement that Dipamkara actually went to Oddiyāna
and practised the Tantras in the company of the ḍākiņi-s.
Nevertheless, from the persistent assertions of the Tibetan
authorities we are to admit that, in accordance with the
general spirit of his age, Dipamkara must have shown a great
deal of enthusiasm in his early youth for mastering the
theories and practices of the Tantras. Further, whatever
might have been his later attitude to Tantrism, or more
specifically, to certain forms of the Tantrika theories and
practices, that his knowledge of the Tantras must have been
actually stupendous is attested to by the story told by the
Tibetan historians of how he easily humbled the pride of
Rin-chen-bzan-po (Ratnabhadra), the greatest Tibetan scholar
of Tantrism trained by a large number of eminent Indian
Tantrikas. But more of this later.
9. The Buddhist Ordination
It is not necessary for us to compile here more details.

of Dipankara's early Tantrika carrer. What is important,
instead, is to note that the Buddhist ordination which he
eventually received meant some kind of a decisive turning
point in his spiritual career.
We have already seen that the accounts of his Buddhist
ordination preserved for us in the Tibetan sources vary
in matters of detail. He received this ordination, according
to some, at the age of nineteen, while, according to others,
at the age of twentynine. Again, the monastery where he
was ordained is variously mentioned as Nālandā, Odantapuri
and Mativihara of Vajrasana (Buddha-gaya). There is, more-
over, some confusion as to the name of the ācārya under whom
he received this ordination. According to Rahula Sankrit-
yayan, Dipamkara was first ordained as a śramaņa (novice)
by ācārya Bodhibhadra of Nålanda and that much later he
became a disciple of Silarakṣita. But according to 'Gos lo-
tsa-ba, Sum-pa and the biographer translated by S. C. Das,
it was under Silarakṣita himself that Dipamkara received his
ordination. This seems to be the suggestion of 'Brom-ston-pa,
too, for though 'Brom does not in his stotra mention the name
of the ācārya under whom Dipamkara was ordained, he says,

"He (Dipamkara) was ordained as a bhikṣu by the Mahā-
sånghika" and from 'Gos lo-tså-ba, Sum-pa and others we
learn that Silarakṣita was then a famous ācārya of the Mahā-
sanghika school.
We do not have much knowledge of Silarakṣita himself.
The bsTan-'gyur collection does not contain any work by him
and the only thing 'Gos lo-tså-ba has to say about him is that
"he was established on the Path of Practice and was the
Elder (sthavira) of the Mahāsānghika school, belonging to the

lineage of Buddhajñānapada". Sum-pa and others have
78 9. The Buddhist Ordination
nothing to add to this and it is not possible for us to form

any idea of Silarakṣita's stature as a Buddhist teacher from
scanty bits of information like these. Yet there seems to be
no doubt that the ordination Dipamkara received under him

was quite different from the Tantrika form of initiation. It
was, in other words, distinctly prabrajya rather than an

abhiseka, which Dipamkara previously had under Rahulagupta
of the Black Mountain.
Why did Dipamkara go in for the purer form of the

Buddhist ordination in spite of his early Tantrika initiation ?
We may not find today an exact answer to this. This much
is sure, however, that the Buddhist ordination meant for him
a clear break from his earlier Tantrika career, or at least
from that form of Tantrism to which he was devoting himself
so long with great enthusiasm. This is evident from a number
of circumstances.
First, the name Dipankara or Dipankara-sri-jñāna, which

he received at his Buddhist ordination, became firmly fixed for
the rest of his career to the exclusion of the name Jñana-guhya-
vajra or Guhya-jñāna-vajra, which he received earlier during
his Tantrika initiation. Even none of the Tantrika works
attributed to him in the bsTan-'gyur mentions the name Jñāna-

guhya-vajra. The bsTan-'gyur contains fifteen works attri-
buted to a certain Jñana-guhya as the translator. But this
Jñana-guhya was evidently a different person altogether-
probably the same person who is mentioned by 'Gos lo-tsa-
ba as a Kashmirian Tantrika. Thus, if the Tibetan sources
remember Dipamkara's earlier Tantrika name, it is no

more for them than a mere historical curiosity, like his
childhood name Candragarbha. And if, after the Buddhist
ordination, Atiśa's earlier Tantrika name became but a
historical curiosity, the significance can only be that the
Buddhist ordination meant for him a serious break with the
earlier Tantrika career.
Secondly, 'Gos lo-tså-ba has something significant to say

about Atisa's decision in favour of the Buddhist ordination.
1. rG. xlvii. 48-62. 2. BA ii. 871-2.

9. The Buddhist Ordination 79
"While he (Atiśa)", says 'Gos lo-tsã-ba, "was being estab-

lished in the excellent method of the Vajrayāna, he heard in
his dream the Blessed One Sakyamuni, surrounded by a
retinue of numerous monks, saying: 'Why are you attached
to this life? Why did you not take up ordination?' He
thought that if he were to take up ordination, great benefit
would arise for the Doctrine". So it was under the direct
inspiration of the Blessed One that Atiśa decided in favour of

the Buddhist ordination. If it is a myth, it could have grown
much later than the event. But the question is: Why was
there such a myth? Do we find anything in the subsequent
career of Dipamkara which gives us a clue to its need? The
answer is not a difficult one. Unlike the Siddhācāryas, under
some of whom he received his early spiritual training,
Dipankara himself, as is evident from his mature writings
like the Bodhi-patha-pradipa, did not consider Vajrayana
(or for that matter, any form of the so-called later Tantrika
Buddhism) as representing the true spirit of the Buddha.
Far from remaining an exclusive follower of Tantrism,
Dipamkara grew into a strong critic of some of its theories
and practices and took his own philosophical and ethical
stand on the classical works of the earlier ācārya-s, i.e. on
Buddhism in its pre-Tantrika phase. It is true that even later
in his life he did not propose an outright rejection of Tantrism.
He even composed, commented on and translated a number
of Tantrika treatises. But whatever might have been the sense
in which Dipamkara later retained a formal allegiance to the
Tantras, the philosophical view and the codes of ethical
conduct he eventually championed were really far form the
theory and practices of Vajrayana of the Siddhācāryas. We
shall later have occasion to discuss this in greater detail. For
the present, however, it is important to note that the Buddhist
ordination meant for him a distinct departure from his earlier
Tantrika career. It is no wonder that the Tibetan historians
and biographers of Dipamkara wanted to find a convincing

explanation of such a departure, and hence the myth
3. Ib. i. 242.
concerning the divine inspiration leading Dipamkara to the

Buddhist ordination. Significantly, in this myth Sakyamuni
told Dipamkara to renounce the life of Vajrayāna, in which
he was already well-established, and to become a Buddhist
monk in the older sense of the term.
Thirdly, the Tibetan historians and biographers of Atiśa

presistently assert that after this ordination Dipamkara devoted
himself fully to the arduous study of the canonical and classical
texts of Buddhism. We hear no longer of Dipamkara parti-
cipating at the Tantrika feasts in the company of the ḍākini-s
or of his running after any great adept in Tantra with the hope
of obtaining from him any secret or miraculous power. On
the contrary, from his ordination onwards, we hear only of
his great eagerness to learn the three Pitakas, the Mahāvibhāṣā
and other Buddhist texts, which had little or nothing to do
with the Tantrika beliefs and practices. "After that (i.e. his
ordination)", says 'Gos lo-tsã-ba, "till the age of thirtyone,
Dipamkara-śri-jñana studied most of the Three Pitakas
of the four schools (sDe-pa bshi: Mahāsānghikas, Sarvā-
stivādins, Sammitiyas and Sthaviravadins) and became
proficient in the practice (of the Vinaya), as well as mastered
the problems of all schools. For two years at the monastic
college of Odantapuri, he heard the Mahavibhāṣā from the
teacher Dharmarakṣita, who being a śravaka, the Master had
to change his residence every seven days (for according to the
vows of the Bodhisattva-śila, a Bodhisattva was not permitted
to spend more than seven days in the company of a Hinayana
śrävaka)". "At the age of thirtyone", says S. C. Das,5 "he
was ordained in the highest order of Bhiksus and also given
the vows of a Bodhisattva by Dharma Rakṣita. He received
lessons in metaphysics from several eminent Buddhist philo-
sophers of Magadha. Lastly, reflecting on the theory of 'the
evolution of matter from voidity' he acquired what is called
the 'far-seeing wisdom'". According to Sum-pa, again, after
receiving the ordination at the age of twentynine, Dipamkara
spent two years under Dharmarakṣita and others for studying
4. Ib. i. 243. 5. S. C. Das in JBTS I. i. 8. 6. Sum-pa 183.

the Mahāvibhāṣā and for fully mastering philosophy and logic

(lakṣaṇa-śāstra). "Dipamkara", says Rahula Sankrityayan,"
"went to the Mativihāra in Vajrasana and became the disciple
of Mahāvinayadhara Silarakṣita, the great Vinaya-pitaka
scholar. He studied the Vinaya-pitaka with him for two
years. Thus, by the time he reached the age of thirty-one,
Dipamkara Śrijñāna had already become a master of the Three
Pitakas and the Tantras, and an all-round scholar".
We have quoted above four accounts of the post-ordained
period of Dipamkara's educational career. Three things
appear to be quite striking about these.
First, Dipamkara is said to have mastered during this
period certain texts and all these are either canonical or classi-
cal works of Buddhism, like the Three Pitakas and the Mahā-
vibhāṣā. These Three Pitakas may or may not have been the
Pali ones. But there is no doubt about the Mahāvibhāṣā,
alternatively known as the Abhidharma-vibhāṣā or simply the
Vibhāṣā. It is the commentary on Katyayaniputra's Jñāna-
prasthāna supposed to have been composed at the Fourth
Buddhist Council under the patronage of king Kaniska.
Though preserved in Chinese translation, the Sanskrit original
of this text is lost to us, but it was once considered so
supremely important by the Sarvästivādins that an adherence

to the Vibhāṣā gave them also the name Vaibhāṣikas. In any
case, this work which Dipamkara is said to have studied most
earnestly during the post-ordained period of his educational
career had little to do with Tantrism of the later days and we
are doubtful if any Siddhācārya or any of the later Tantrika
seriously devoted himself to its study.
Secondly, in spite of the obvious zeal of the Tibetan writers
to show how complete Dipamkara's Buddhist education was,
they do not really have many names of the Buddhist ācārya-s
under whom Dipamkara could pursue his Buddhistic studies.
The name Silarakṣita, as mentioned by Rahula Sankrityayan,
could have been the same as Dharmarakṣita mentioned by
7. Rahula in 2500 Years, 229.
11
'Gos lo-tså-ba, Sum-pa and S. C. Das. We have, thus, only

one name of an important Buddhist teacher under whom
Dipankara could study the canonical and classical works of
Buddhism. Not that the Tibetans did not know of many
wise men of India-or more specifically, of Eastern India-
living in those days. But they were mostly Tantrikas, with only
a formal allegiance to Buddhism. This shows that there could
hardly be much scope for advanced study of classical Buddhism
in India then.
That during Dipamkara's time India was hardly left with

outstanding exponents of the canonical and classical works of
Buddhism is further evidenced by the chos-'byun of Bu-ston.
In this history, the story of the great Indian exponents of
Buddhism or, more properly, of Mahayana Buddhism-practi-
cally ends with Santideva, "who probably lived in the seventh
century A.D." After giving an account of Santideva, Bu-ston
describes a very brief 'History'10, mainly legendary, ofthe
Indian grammatical literature and then passes on to discuss the
canonical texts lost to India. 11 This is followed by the pro-
phecies of an apocalyptic character foretelling the disappear-
ance of the Buddhist Doctrine in India. 12 His next chapter
is on the history of Buddhism in Tibet, Dipamkara's life being
incorporated into it. Apparently, the historian knows of no
great master of genuine Mahāyāna after the seventh century
A. D. and it is no wonder that during the first quarter of the
eleventh century A.D., when Tantrism practically eclipsed the
older form of Buddhism, the newly ordained Dipamkara could
not find many ācārya-s in India to teach him the older works
on Buddhism.
The third significant thing we hear from the Tibetan
historians and biographers of Atisa is that at the age of thirty-
one, he acquired full mastery not only of the Three Pitakas
and the Mahāvibhāṣā but also of all the philosophical and
logical works. Since nobody says that Dipamkara devoted
himself seriously to the study of such works before his ordi-
8. Bu-ston ii. 166f 9. Winternitz ii. 365. 10. Bu-ston ii. 166-9.
11. Ib. ii. 169-71. 12. Ib. ii. 171-80. 13. Ib. ii. 181ff.
nation and assuming that 'Gos lo-tsã-ba and Sum-pa are right
in claiming that he was ordained at the age of twentynine,
the alleged proficiency acquired at the age of thirty-one
is to be taken as an exaggeration. In two years' time,
nobody could study such texts, particularly during an age
when the study of these was on its decline. Nevertheless,
judging Dipamkara by his own writings preserved in the
bsTan-'gyur, we are obliged to admit that he must have
acquired a real mastery of Buddhist scriptures and philosophi-
cal works, though, as we have just seen, it could hardly be by
the time he reached the age of thirty-one. Why, then, do the
Tibetan sources particularly mention this age? The answer
seems to be that the age of thirty-one was really crucial for
the educational career of Dipamkara, for it was at this age
that he left India for higher studies abroad. This leads us to
see the third important phase of his educational career, namely,
his studies under äcārya Dharmakirti of Suvarṇadvipa.
10. Suvarnadvipa and Dharmakirti
Let us first note what the Tibetan authorities have to say

about Dipamkara's studies under äcārya Dharmakirti of
Suvarnadvipa. We shall next try to answer the following
questions:
First, what was this place referred to as Suvarṇadvipa and

how did Dipamkara go there?
Secondly, what do we know of it as a centre of Buddhist
learning?
Thirdly, what do we know of ācārya Dharmakirti, whose
fame as a Buddhist teacher attracted Dipamkara in such a
manner that he decided to spend several years studying under
him ?
'Brom-ston-pa's stotra and Thu-bkan-blo-bzañń-chos-kyi-

ñi-ma's history of the bKa'-gdams-pa sect simply mention that
Atiśa received the upadeśa of bodhicitta from the guru of
Suvarṇadvipa. 'Gos lo-tsã-ba does not have much more to
add to this "Later (i.e. after finishing his studies under the
Indian ācārya-s)", says 'Gos lo-tsa-ba,1 "Dipamkaraśrījñāna
visited the teacher gSer-gliñ-pa. From him he obtained
numerous secret precepts, placing foremost the Mental Crea-
tive Effort towards enlightenment (i.e. bodhicitta-utpādana)."
gSer-glin-pa literally means Suvarṇadvipi, i.e. one belong-
ing to Suvarṇadvipa. This is the form in which Dipamkara's
preceptor of Suvarnadvipa is frequently referred to by the
Tibetan sources. His real name was Dharmakirti, translated
into Tibetan as Chos-kyi-grags-pa, though as we shall

presently see, in a colophon of his work preserved in
the bsTan-'gyur, the name occurs as Dharmapāla. This
Dharmapala must not be confused either with the earlier
Vijñānavādi writer who commented on Vasubandhu's
1. BA i. 244. 2. Winternitz ii. 362-3.

10. Suvarṇadvipa and Dharmakirti 85
Vijñaptimātratā-siddhi or with the Indian ācārya bearing the

same name who visited Tibet shortly before Dipamkara, just
as Dharmakirti of Suvarṇadvipa must not be confused with
the famous and much earlier Buddhist logician bearing the
same name, s
By the age of thirty-one, says Sum-pa, Dipamkara went

to Suvarnadvipa and met Dharmakirti and learnt from him
for twelve years the practice of bodhicitta, both praṇidhāna
and avatara. Dipamkara, says Rahula Sankrityayan,5 started
his voyage for Suvarṇadvipa in 1013 A.D., ten years before the
last invasion by Mahmud Ghaznavi in A.D. 1023. This calcu-
lation is presumably based on the assumption that Dipamkara
went to Suvarnadvipa at the age of thirty-one. However,
accepting the date of his birth to be A. D. 982--and Rahula
himself accepts this date-it must have been A.D. 1012 when
Dipamkara was thirty-one according to the Tibetan way of
reckoning years.6 It may, therefore, be desirable to modify
Rahula's statement and assume that Dipamkara actually
started his voyage for Suvarṇadvipa in A. D. 1012. He
travelled, according to Rahula, for fourteen months before
reaching Suvarṇadvipa. At that time, continues Rahula,
ācārya Dharmapāla (Dharmakirti) of Suvarṇadvipa was famous
for his scholarship throughout the Buddhist world.
In the Life of Atisa translated by S. C. Das we read, "On
account of these diverse attainments which moved his mind
variously in different directions, he resolved to go to ācārya
Dharmakirti, the High Priest of Suvarṇadvipa. Accordingly,
in the company of some merchants he embarked for Suvarna-
dvipa in a large vessel. The voyage was long and tedious,
extending over several months, during which the travellers
were overtaken by terrible storms. At this time Suvarnadvipa
was the headquarters of Buddhism in the East, and its High
Priest was considered the greatest scholar of his age. Dipamkara
resided there for a period of twelve years in order to completely
3. Though in JBTS Das gives the name as Dharmakirti, the same work,
when later edited as the Indian Pandits, changes the, name into Candrakirti
- an error repeated in HB i. 674. 4. Sum-pa 183. 5. Rahula in 2500
Years, 230-1. 6. BA i. Intro. p. xiii.
85 10. Suvarnadvipa and Dharmakirti
master the pure teachings of Buddha of which the key was

possessed by the High Priest alone"."
What exactly is the place referred to as Suvarṇadvipa and
what do we know of this guru?
S. C. Das translates a Tibetan passage which gives us a
palpably legendary account of both. "There is a country",
according to it, "filled with precious minerals and stones
called Suvarṇadvipa in the neighbourhood of Jambu-dvipa.
It is not included in the eight dvipa-s or continents mentioned
in the sacred books. Lama gSer-glin-pa was born in the royal
family of that country. As soon as he was born it is said that
he cried sina, sina, expressive of the name of the three Holies.
Though the people of that country were all Tirtbikas, they had
not, owing to the prince's moral merits, the power of disobey-
ing the king's commands. The prince once obtained a cast
image of Buddha Sakya Muni in a mountain cave. On account
of his paying reverence and worshipping it, the people reaped
an abundant harvest and enjoyed immunity from visitation
of epidemics. He caused all the people of Suvarnadvipa to
imbibe faith in the religion of Buddha. Then with a view to
acquire a thorough knowledge of the Dharma he obtained leave
from his father to go to Jambudvipa, for a pilgrimage to
Vajrasana, the place of attaining to the state of perfect
Buddhahood. At the time he arrived there the Rākṣasas
(probably the Simhalese) had also come to reverence the
Mahabodhi. There also simultaneously congregated all the
learned and talented men of the Buddhist world. The great
ācārya Mahā śri Ratna, who had acquired the power of
attaining to extraordinary longivity, was also present on the
occasion. The prince became faihfully attached to him and
except him he trusted in no other holy man. He reverenced
him, and during the seven days that he was in his company he
became more and more devoted to him. On the sage having
suddenly vanished from his sight the prince in vain called
him and searched for him everywhere. He visited the
Lumbini grove at Kapilāvāstu, the sites on the banks of
7. Das in JBTS I. i. 8-9. 8. Ib. 8-9n.

Nairañjana and Vārāṇasi to trace him out. But nowhere

was the sage to be found. He resided in India for seven
years during which time he studied the law and the sciences
under several learned guru-s and sages. Once in a dream, he was

told by his guru that the position of a king being not holy was
not to be envied. He was thrice asked by him if he could aspire
to the kingdom of Dharma. The prince thrice answered,-
yes, he could. Then when his dream was over he found his
teacher seated near him. By his teacher's blessings he learned
the Law and the sacred literature of the Buddhists. He was
initiated in the secrets of attaining to the saintly path. In this
manner the prince gained knowledge from various masters,
having attended to them one after another. His guru had given
him the name of Dharma Kirti of Suvarnadvipa. On account
of the preponderance of maitri (friendly feeling) in him, he was
called Maitra. Then returning to Suvarṇadvipa he converted
all who had been devoted to the Tirthika religion to Buddhism.
So his name Dharmakirti of Suvarṇadvipa became practically
significant. His fame, being based on Dharma, also spread
over Jambudvipa. Though he resided in Suvarṇadvipa his
name became known everywhere abroad."
All these are practically useless for the purpose of identi-

fying the place Dipamkara went to or for having any historical
information of acarya Dharmakirti. Fortunately we are not
obliged to remain satisfied only with such legendary accounts
of Suvarnadvipa and Suvarṇadvipi.
Let us begin with the question of Suvarnadvipa.
R. C. Majumdar's extensive work bearing the title Suvarna-
dvipa shows that it was the general name for Sumatra, Java
and the islands of Eastern Archipelago. "There can be...
hardly any doubt", says Majumdar, 10 "in view of the state-
ments of Arab and Chinese writers, and the inscription found
in Sumatra itself, that that island was also known as Suvarna-
bhumi and Suvarṇadvipa. Ferrand points out that even now
Sumatra is designated by the Malays as Půlaw Emaś or the
9. S. C. Das' conjecture (D-TED 1310) that gSer-glin probably mean

the ancient Pegu is baseless. 10. R. C. Majumbar AICFE II. i. 47.
88 10. Suvarnadvipa and Dharmakirti
island of gold. But the Arab writers definitely imply that

Suvarnadvipa included a number of islands. Alberuni is quite
clear on this point. The islands of the Zābaj', says he, 'are
called by the Hindus Suvarṇadvipa, i.e. the gold islands'.
Ibn Said (13th century A.D.) definitely asserts that Zābag is an
archipelago consisting of a large number of islands which
produce excellent gold."
But this, again, is much too general to give us the specific

idea of the place Dipamkara went to for his advanced studies.
Fortunately, an extremely significant clue to it is retained
for us in the form of a colophon of one of the works of
Dharmakirti himself preserved in the bsTan-'gyur. The
work is called Abhisamaya - alamkāra - nāma-prajñāpāramitā-
upadeśa - śästra vṛtti durbodha - aloka-nama-ikā.11 In the
Peking edition of the bsTan-'gyur, the colophon reads as
follows: "Written by Dharmakirti on the request of king Śri
Cūdāmaṇivarman, during the tenth year of the reign of king
Cūdāmaṇivarman, in Vijayanagara of Suvarnadvipa." In
Cordier's Catalogue, the author of the text is mentioned as
acārya Dharmakirti-śri of Suvarṇadvipa and it is added:
"The work was composed during the reign of Deva-śri-varma-
rāja, the Cūḍāmaņi, alias Cūḍāmaṇimaṇḍapa, in Malayagiri
in Vijayanagara of Suvarṇadvipa".
Where, then, was Vijayanagara of Suvarnadvipa ? What
do we know of Malayagiri there? Who, moreover, was
king Cuḍāmaṇivarman or Cuḍāmaṇimaṇḍapa, also known as
Cudamani or Deva-śri-varmaraja.
Śri-vijaya of Suvarṇadvipa was the name of a "rich and
powerful state. The territory under its rule had shifting
boundaries, but between the 8th and 12th centuries extended,
temporarily at least, not only over Minagkabu and Batak

districts of Sumatra, but also went far beyond the island to
reach Cambodia, Şiam and Ceylon, to cover the greater part
of Java and the coastal districts of Borneo, and thence to
strech out through Banjermasin and Brunei to the Phili-

ppines." The capital of the state of Sri-vijaya-also men-
11. mDo viii. 3. 12. Robequain 66f.

tioned as Śri-vijaya and presumably the same as our Vijaya-

nagara of Suvarṇadvipa-is usually located by the modern
scholars near the modern Palembang 13 of Sumatra: it was the
most important port of Sumatra 14 as well as the old name of
the capital city in Sumatra, 15 Four inscriptions found in old
Malay language "prove incontestably that Sri-vijaya was
already a powerful kingdom before 683 A.D.,...that the king
of Śri-vijaya as well as the rulers of neighbouring states
favoured Buddhism, and that Sri-vijaya was a centre of
Buddhist learning in the islands of the Southern Sea"16
As R. C. Majumdar points out, it is possible for us to have
some idea of the importance of Śri-vijaya as a centre of
Buddhist learning from the following: "I-Tsing has left some
details of his own journey which throw interesting light on the
culture and civilization in Malayasia. On his way to India,
the pilgrim halted in Śri-vijaya for six months, and learnt the
Sabdavidya (Sanskrit grammar). During his return journey
also he stopped at Sri-vijaya, and, after a short stay in China,
he again returned to the same place. Here he was engaged
in copying and translating the voluminous Buddhist texts which
he had brought with him from India. Why he chose this place
for his work is best explained in his own words: 'Many kings
and chieftains in the islands of the Southern Ocean admire and
believe (Buddhism), and their hearts are set on accumulating

good actions. In the fortified city of Bhoja (i.c. Śri-vijaya)
Buddhist priests number more than 1000, whose minds are
bent on learning and good practices. They investigate and

study all the subjects that exist just as in the Middle Kingdom
(Madhya-Deśa, India); the rules and ceremonies are not at all
different. If a Chinese priest wishes to go to the West in
order to hear (lectures) and read (the original), he had better
stay here one or two years and practise the proper rules and
then proceed to Central India'."17
13. Ib. 145. 14. R. C. Majumdar AICFE II. i. 7-8. 15. Ib. II. i. 45.
16. Ib. II. i. 123. 17. Ib. II. i. 142.
12
90
10. Suvarṇadvipa and Dharmakirti
Thus already in the seventh century A.D. Śri-vijaya became

an important centre of Buddhist culture. "The importance of
Śri-vijaya...", continues R. C. Majumdar, "deserves, however,
more than a passing notice. Apart from its position as a
great centre of Buddhism, it merits distinction as the earliest
seat of that Mahayana sect which was destined ultimately to
play such a leading part in the whole of Malayasia".18 This,
as Majumdar shows, is proved not only by the statement
of I-Tsing but also by the inscriptions of the kings of Sri-
vijaya.
In the 10th-11th century A.D., the period that interests us
most, "Sri-vijaya formed an important and an integral part
of" the Sailendra Empire,-"a mighty empire, comprising
a large part of the Malay Archipelago and Malay Peninsula".19
"In the eleventh century A.D.", says Majumdar, "the one
outstanding fact in the history of the Sailendras, known to us,
is a long-drawn struggle with the powerful Cola rulers of
South India. At first there existed friendly relations between
the Cola kings and the Sailendra rulers. This is proved by an
inscription, which is engraved on twentyone plates, and is
now preserved in the Leiden Museum along with another
of three plates. The two records are known respectively
as the Larger Leiden Grant and Smaller Leidan Grant.
...The Larger Leiden Grant is written partly in Sanskrit and
partly in Tamil. The Tamil portion tells us that the Cola
king Rajaraja, the great, granted, in the twenty-first year of
his reign, the revenues of a village for the upkeep of the
shrine of Buddha in the Cülâmaņivarma-vihāra which was being
constructed by Cúlāmaṇivarman, king of Kadāram, at Naga-
pattana. The Sanskrit portion tells us that Rajarāja gave, in
the twenty-first year of his reign, a village to the Buddha
residing in the Cúlāmaṇivarma-vihāra which was built at
Nāgipattana by Śri-Mara-Vijayottungavarman in the name
of his father Cúlāmaṇivarman. It further informs us that
Mara-Vijayottungavarman was born in the Sailendra family,
18. Ib. II. i. 143. 19. lb. II. i. 164.

91
was the lord of Śri-vijaya, had extended the suzerainty of

Kataha and had 'makara as the emblem of his banner'... This
interesting record naturally recalls the Nålandã copper-plate
of the time of Devapāla. In both cases an Indian king grants
villages to a Buddhist sanctuary, erected in India by a
Sailendra king".20
R. C. Majumdar adds in a note that the "name Cūlāmaņi-
varman written in Tamil character is equivalent to Cūḍāmaņi-
varman". We can thus see that the Suvarṇadvipa king
Cūḍāmaṇivarman, in the tenth year of whose reign ācārya
Dharmakirti wrote his Abhisamaya-alamkāra-nāma-prajñāpāra-
mitā-upadeśa-śāstra-vṛtti-durbodha-āloka-nama-tikā, was a Śai-
lendra king and that his son Māra-Vijayottungavarman built
a monastery in southern India in the name of his father. We
have no clear knowledge of the date of the accession of
Cūḍāmaṇivarman, though, on the basis of Chinese and Indian
sources, R. C. Majumdar21 puts the date of his death and that
of the accession of his son between A.D. 1005 and 1008., i.e.
only a few years before Atiśa went to Suvarṇadvipa.

Dharmakirti's work under consideration, therefore, must have
been written some years earlier than this.

Atisa, as we have seen, started his voyage for Suvarna-
dvipa in A.D. 1012. The voyage must have been a long one,
extending over several months. There is, therefore, some
ground to presume that he reached Sumatra in A.D. 1013. The
Tibetan sources repeatedly assert that he spent twelve years in

Suvarnadvipa, studying under äcārya Dharmakirti. That is,
he might have started his return voyage to India sometime in
A.D. 1025. This, again, roughly coincides with another
important date of the history of Suvarnadvipa. viz, that of the
fall of the Sailendra empire. "The oversea conquests of
Rajendra Cola", says R. C. Majumdar, 22 "took place in
the 13th year of his reign, i. e. A.D. 1024-25, possibly during
its latter part. We may, therefore, provisionally accept A.D.
1025 as the date of the great catastrophe which befell the
Sailendra empire". Atiśa, thus, left Sumatra shortly after
20. Ib. II. i. 167-9. 21. Ib. II. i. 169-70. 22. Ib. II. i. 179.
92
the fall of the Sailendras. Was it because of the disturbed

conditions of Śri-vijaya, which, in all probability, followed the
political catastrophe ?
We do not know what happened after this to ācārya Dharma-
kirti or to the monastery of Sri-vijaya of which he was the
High Priest. Sum-pass tells us that he lived up to the age of
150 and that he was living in Suvarṇadvipa when Atiśa was
appointed the High Priest of the Vikramaśila monastery in
India. Nevertheless, it was not unlikely for the political
catastrophe to have affected Dharmakirti. The Sailendra
kings were not only his patrons but moreover could have been
his actual relations, because the Tibetans repeatedly assert that
guru Dharmakirti was born in the royal family of Suvarna-
dvipa.
In his stotra to Dipamkara, 'Brom says that the guru of

Suvarnadvipa was of royal descent. 24 We have already seen.
the legendary account of Dharmakirti quoted by S. C. Das,
according to which, he was born in the royal family of
Suvarṇadvipa. Sum-pa25 asserts that gSer-glin-pa was a son
of the king of Suvarṇadvipa. The sources on which Nagwang
Nima and Lama Chimpa base their Life of Atiśa make the
same assertion.26
To all these are to be added the following evidences of the

bsTan-'gyur. As the author of Sikṣa-samuccaya-abhisamaya-
nama27 is mentioned gSer-glin-rgyal-po dPal-ldan-chos-skyon,
meaning Sri Dharmapala, the king of Suvarnadvipa (Suvarna-
dvipa-raja Śri-dharmapala). In the colophon of the Satya-
dvaya-avatara28 by Dipamkara are mentioned the names of
certain Mahāyāna teachers, in the list of which occurs "guru
Dharmapȧla, king of Suvarnadvipa".
Are we to reject all these as mere fables or as the Tibetan
ways of glorifying the teacher? Were the Tibetans, in other
words, trying to exalt the ācārya according to the image of
Sakyamuni, who renounced the kingdom in favour of the
life of a monk? We have no direct evidence in the history
23. Sum-pa 118. 24. śloka 7. 25. Sum-pa, Index cxxxii. 26. See
Appendix A, Section 6. 27. mDo xxxi. 4. 28. mDo xxxix. 9.
of Suvarnadvipa to confirm the royal birth of Dharmakirti.

But let us not conjecture. The fact is that the history of
Suvarṇadvipa is not yet known to us in all details and our
knowledge of the personal life of Dharmakirti is extremely
meagre. Sum-pas asserts that he studied for 12 years at the
Vikramaśila monastery. There is, unfortunately, nothing
definite either to corroborate or to reject it. What is definitely
known of him is his stature as a teacher and exponent of
Buddhism.
Dharmakirti had presumably some other notable Indian

students besides Dipamkara. Rahula 30 mentions the names
of certain illustrious Indian scholars having been students
of Dharmakirti and this perhaps on the basis of Sum-pa's
account. We positively know, however, of another important
student of Dharmakirti, namely Kamala or Kamalarakṣita,
who was a contemporary of Dipamkara. In the colophons
of three of the works 81 of Dharmakirti in the bsTan-'gyur, it is
said that the texts were exposed by the request of his disciples
Kamalarakṣita (or Kamala) and Dipamkara-śrī-jñāna. We do
not have, in the Tibetan sources, much account of the life of
Kamalarakṣita. Nevertheless, that he was a significant

Buddhist writer can be judged from the fact that about nine
of his works are preserved in the bsTan-'gyur. It is, there-
fore, remarkable that in the list of the outstanding students of
Dharmakirti or gSer-glin-pa, Sum-pass does not mention
Kamalarakṣita at all. Sum-pa mentions four eminent students
of gSer-glin-pa and they were Santi, Jo-bo, Jñanaśri-mitra and
Ratnakirti.
We are left to judge the stature of Dharmakirti or Dharma-
påla of Suvarṇadvipa as a Buddhist writer mainly from his
works that are preserved in Tibetan translation in the bsTan-
'gyur, though of course there is nothing to presume that all his
works were translated into Tibetan.
29. Sum-pa 118. 30. Rabula in 2500 Years, 230 31. mDo xxvii. 6;
mDo xxvii. 7; mDo xxxi. 4. 32. mDo xxvii. 6, 7; xxxi. 4; xxxiii. 87;
rG. xliii. 10, 12, 27, 32; rG. lxxxi. 15. Possibly also mDo cxxviii. 3.
33. Sum-Pa 118.
94
Six works in the bsTan-'gyur 84 are definitely to be attri-

buted to him. These are: (1) Abhisamaya-alamkara-nama-
prajñāpāramitā-upadeśa - sastra-vṛtti-durbodha-äloka-nāma-ikā,
(2) Bodhisattva-caryavatāra-piṇḍārtha, (3) Bodhisattva-carya-
vatāra-ṣattrimśat-piṇḍārtha, (4) Sikṣā-samuccaya-abhisamaya-
nāma, (5) Arya-acala-sādhana-nāma and (6) Krodha-ganapati-
sadhana. Dipamkara took part in the Tibetan translation of
all these, except the last one. In the Peking edition, the
colophon of the Arya-acala-sadhana-nāma even mentions that
the work was translated by Dipamkara himself, i.e. without
the help of any Tibetan lo-tså-ba.
The first of the above-mentioned works appears to be the
magnum opus of Dharmakirti. Rin-chen-bzan-po or Ratna-
bhadra, perhaps the greatest of the Tibetan translators, worked
under Dipamkara for its translation. It is a stupendous work
on Mahāyāna philosophy, devoted mainly to the clear exposi-
tion of the highest pāramitā conceived by the Mahāyānists,
namely the prajñāpāramitā. In bulk the work is about forty
times that of Dipamkara's Bodhi-patha-pradipa : in the Peking
edition of the bsTan-'gyur, while the latter occupies only 53
lines the former occupies about 2044 lines.
From this work alone, we could have perhaps considered
him as one of the most outstanding representatives of the
Mahāyāna philosophy of the 10th-11th century A.D. But there
is another way of assessing his stature as a Mahāyāna philo-
sopher and it is to review the subsequent career of Dipamkara
himself. From the works of Dipamkara it is quite clear that
he acquired a great proficiency in Mahāyāna philosophy and
logic. But where and when did he acquire this? We have
already seen that it is difficult to think that Dipamkara
acquired this in India: he spent about two years in India
after his Buddhist ordination and there is no evidence to indi-
cate that before his ordination he made any serious effort at

studying the Buddhist canonical and classical works. He next.
spent twelve years in Suvarṇadvipa studying under Dharma-
kirti. Apparently it was during this period that he became a
34. See Appendix B, Section 4.

95
master of the Mahāyāna philosophy and logic. Thus Dharma-

kirti, who made Dipamkara a master in the Mahāyāna philo-
sophy, must have been a great scholar himself. It is no wonder
that the colophons of at least two of the important philo-
sophical works of Dipamkara, the Satya-dvaya-avatara35 and
the Bodhicarya-avatara-bhāṣya,86 express direct inspiration
to the teachings of Dharmakirti, and this as the continuer of
the tradition of the Mahayana philosophy represented by
Nagarjuna, Maitreyanatha and Candrakirti.
35. mDo xxix. 9. 36. mDo cxxviii. 9.

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Atisa and Tibet

Life and Works of Dipankara Śrījñāna

Professor Lama Chimpa

MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS

Reprint: Delhi, 1981, 1996, 1999

©MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED

Also available at:

41 U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 110 007

BYJAINENDRA PRAKASH JAIN AT SHRI JAINENDRA PRESS,

But for the initial encouragement and general guidance of

In the matter of editing the manuscript and brushing up

The manuscript of Appendix C (and partly of Appendix A)

Kharagpur, on whose kind help I have also relied in many

sity Library, the Cheena-bhavana Library of the Visvabharati

To my husband Debiprasad I am indebted for discussions

For using more or less long extracts, I want to express full

Calcutta (for extracts from the Blue Annals), the publishers

Vidyasagar College for Women,

January 10, 1967

1. Tibetan words are given according to their spellings and not

instead of h is used for the Tibetan letter R

3. In cases of Tibetan proper names, only the first letter

ever, of there being more than one work by the same.

5. When the notes refer to the contribution by an author to a

6. Texts of the bsTan-'gyur are mentioned in the notes accord-

Transliteration, Notes and References viii

Introductory and Early Career

10. Suvarnadvipa and Dharmakirti 84

11. Back to India Peace Mission 96

12. Indian Monasteries 100

13. Vikramaśila vihāra 102

14. Odantapuri and Somapuri 113

15. Dipamkara at Vikramaśila 127

17. Tibetans and their First King 152

18. Early Legendary Kings 159

19. Bon Religion 165

20. Mysterious Helper 173

21. Sron-btsan-sgam-po 180

22. Thon-mi Sambhoța 198

23. Khri-sron-lde-btsan 212

24. The Ministerial Intrigues 221

25. Santarakṣita, Padmasambhava and Kamalaśila 228

26. Ral-pa-can 250

27. gLan Dar-ma 266

28. The Subsequent Propagation of the Doctrine 279

29. The pious king Ye-ses-'od 283

30. Tibet on the eve of inviting Atiśa 291

31. Jayaśila and Viryasimha 298

32. Journey to Tibet 307

33. "Thirteen Years" in Tibet 330

1. Introductory Note 371

3. Extracts from dPag-bsam-ljon-bzan of Sum-pa 377

4. Extracts from Taranatha 384

5. The General History and Philosophy of the

6. A New Biography of Atiśa compiled in Tibetan from

3. Works in the bsTan-'gyur of which Dipamkara

4. Works in the bsTan-'gyur of which Dipamkara

5. Works in the bsTan-'gyur connected in other ways

7. Works in the bKa'-'gyur of which Dipamkara

Selected writings of Dipamkara