Śīlabhadra (
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...
; ) (529–645
[Nakamura, Hajime. ''Indian Buddhism: A Survey with Bibliographical Notes.'' 1999. p. 281]) was a
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
and
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
. He is best known as being an abbot of
Nālandā monastery in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
, as being an expert on
Yogācāra teachings, and for being the personal tutor of the
Chinese Buddhist
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
monk
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...
.
Biography
Early life
Śīlabhadra was born in a
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
family in Magadha. As a young man he went westward to Nālandā, and was trained there by
Dharmapāla of Nālandā, who also ordained him as a Buddhist monk.
[Watters, Thomas. Smith, Vincent Arthur. ''Yuan Chwang's travels in India.'' 1905. pp. 109-110] According to Xuanzang's account, Śīlabhadra gradually became famous for his learning even in foreign countries. At 30 years old, after defeating a
Brahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...
from southern India in a religious debate, the king insisted on giving him the revenue of a city, which Śīlabhadra accepted with reluctance, and he built a monastery there and kept it funded it with the city's revenues.
The name of this monastery was ''Śīlabhadra
Vihāra.''
[Mookerji, Radhakumud. ''Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist.'' 1989. p. 517]
Śīlabhadra and Xuanzang
At the age of 33, the
Chinese Buddhist
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...
monk Xuanzang made a dangerous journey to India in order to study Buddhism there and to procure Buddhist texts for translation into
Chinese.
[Liu, JeeLoo. ''An Introduction to Chinese Philosophy: From Ancient Philosophy to Chinese Buddhism.'' 2006. p. 220] Xuanzang spent over ten years in India traveling and studying under various Buddhist masters.
These masters included Śīlabhadra, the abbot of Nālandā monastery, who was then 106 years old. Śīlabhadra is described as being very old at this time and highly revered by the monks:
[Archaeological survey
''Reports, Volume 16.'' 1883. p. 47]
Xuanzang records the number of teachers at Nālandā as being around 1510.
[Mookerji, Radhakumud. ''Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist.'' 1989. p. 565] Of these, approximately 1000 were able to explain 20 collections of
sūtra
''Sutra'' ( sa, सूत्र, translit=sūtra, translit-std=IAST, translation=string, thread)Monier Williams, ''Sanskrit English Dictionary'', Oxford University Press, Entry fo''sutra'' page 1241 in Indian literary traditions refers to an ap ...
s and
śāstra
''Shastra'' (, IAST: , ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The wo ...
s, 500 were able to explain 30 collections, and only 10 teachers were able to explain 50 collections.
Xuanzang was among the few who were able to explain 50 collections or more.
At this time, only the abbot Śīlabhadra had studied all the major collections of sūtras and śāstras at Nālandā.
Xuanzang was tutored in the Yogācāra teachings by Śīlabhadra for several years at Nālandā. Upon his return from India, Xuanzang brought with him a wagon-load of Buddhist texts, including important Yogācāra works such as the ''
Yogācārabhūmi-śastra''.
In total, Xuanzang had procured 657 Buddhist texts from India.
Upon his return to China, he was given government support and many assistants for the purpose of translating these texts into Chinese.
Teachings
According to the Indian translator
Divākara, Śīlabhadra divided the Buddhist teachings into three turnings of the
Dharma Wheel
The dharmachakra (Sanskrit: धर्मचक्र; Pali: ''dhammacakka'') or wheel of dharma is a widespread symbol used in Indian religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, and especially Buddhism.John C. Huntington, Dina Bangdel, ''The Circle o ...
, following the divisions given in the ''
Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra'':
[Gregory, Peter. ''Inquiry Into the Origin of Humanity: An Annotated Translation of Tsung-mi's Yüan Jen Lun with a Modern Commentary.'' 1995. pp. 168-170]
# In the first turning, the Buddha taught the
Four Noble Truths
In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (Sanskrit: ; pi, cattāri ariyasaccāni; "The four Arya satyas") are "the truths of the Noble Ones", the truths or realities for the "spiritually worthy ones". _at_Varanasi">Vārāṇasī_for_those_in_the_
_at_Varanasi">Vārāṇasī_for_those_in_the_shravaka">śravaka_vehicle._It_is_described_as_marvelous_and_wonderful,_but_requiring_interpretation_and_occasioning_controversy.