Dharmapāla | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | c. 530 CE |
| Died | c. 561 or 590 CE |
| Education | |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | |
| Senior posting | |
| Teacher | Dignāga |
Students | |
Dharmapāla (traditional Chinese: 護法,pinyin: Hùfǎ) (530–561 CE or 530–590 CE), was anIndian Buddhist scholar and one of the main teachers of theYogācāra school of philosophy in India. Amongst his contemporaries wereSthiramati andBhāviveka, the latter of whom he interacted with.[1] Dharmapāla's philosophical thought is mainly preserved in Chinese translations and he is high regarded within the school ofEast Asian Yogācāra.[2]
In hisRecords of the Western Regions,Xuanzang writes that Dharmapāla was born inKanchipuram, where he was the son of a high official and was betrothed to a daughter of the king. However just before his wedding was supposed to take place, he escaped and entered theorder, studied all views,[3]Hinayana as well asMahayana, and attained to reverence and distinction. Some variations of this story assert that he escaped by praying to a deity who transported him to a monastery which was located far from his homeland.[2] He studied inNalanda as a student ofDignāga andŚīlabhadra later became his disciple. Later he succeeded him as abbot of the University. He spent his last years near theBodhi tree, where he died.[4] There are differing accounts as to how long Dharmapāla stayed at Nalanda.Kuiji, a disciple of Xuanzang, states in his writings that Dharmapāla left Nalanda at the age of twenty-nine to write treatises and practice meditation before dying at the age of thirty-two. HoweverTaranatha states that Dharmapāla stayed at Nalanda for thirty years where he continued to study underDignāga.[2]
According to Xuanzang, one of Dharmapāla's contemporaries and fellow Buddhist philosopher,Bhāviveka, had heard stories of Dharmapāla and decided to travel to Nalanda to debate him and test his knowledge. Bhāviveka's students were sent initially to propose the challenge however Dharmapāla rejected the offer and made the following statement:[2]
"[t]he human world is like a mirage, and life in this body mere flotsam; I desperately thirst for each day of practice – I cannot spare time for polemical chit-chat!”
While the two never debated they did engage with each other's works in their own writings with Bhāviveka criticising theYogācāra view on theTrisvabhāva (three natures) in hisMadhyamakahṛdayakārikā while Dharmapāla attempted to refute this view in hisKaratalaratna.[2]
Dharmapāla developed the theory that the external things do ultimately not exist on their own, andmental representations only exists. He explains the experience of the phenomenal world as arising from theEight Consciousnesses.[5]
Through the teachings of his discipleŚīlabhadra to Xuanzang, Dharmapāla’s tenets spread widely inChina.[6]
According to Chinese sources, Dharmapāla wrote four works. One of these is a lost work on grammar. The other three, which only survive in Chinese, are the following commentaries:[7]
