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{{Short description|3rd century Sri Lankan philosopher and writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
[[Image:Arjadeva.jpg|right|275px|thumb|Aryadeva]]
{{buddhism}}
[[File:Nagarjuna and Aryadeva as Two Great Indian Buddhist Scholastics - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Nagarjuna and Aryadeva]]

'''Āryadeva''' (fl. 3rd century CE) ({{IAST3|Āryadeva}}; {{bo|t=འཕགས་པ་ལྷ་|w=<nowiki>'</nowiki>phags pa lha}}, [[Chinese language|Chinese]]: 提婆菩薩 ''Tipo pusa'' meaning Deva Bodhisattva), was a [[Mahayana]] Buddhist monk, a disciple of [[Nagarjuna]] and a [[Madhyamaka]] philosopher.<ref name=":5">Silk, Jonathan A. (ed.) (2019). ''Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume II:Lives,'' pp. 60-68. Brill.</ref> Most sources agree that he was from "Siṃhala", which some scholars identify with Sri Lanka.<ref name=":5" /> After Nagarjuna, he is considered to be the next most important figure of the Indian Madhyamaka school.<ref name=":0">Ruegg (1981), p. 50.</ref><ref name=":1">''Women of Wisdom'' by Tsultrim Allione, Shambhala Publications Inc, p. 186.</ref>

Āryadeva's writings are important sources of Madhyamaka in East Asian Buddhism. His ''[[Catuḥśataka]]'' (''Four Hundred Verses'') was influential on Madhyamaka in India and China and his [[Śataśāstra|''*Śataka'']] (''Bailun'', 百論, T. 1569) and ''Dvādaśamukhaśāstra'' (both translated by [[Kumārajīva]] in the 4th century) were important sources for the [[East Asian Mādhyamaka|East Asian Madhyamaka]] school.<ref name=":5" /> Āryadeva is also known as Kanadeva, recognized as the 15th patriarch in [[Chan Buddhism|Chan]]/[[Zen]] Buddhism and some Sinhalese sources also mention an elder (thera) called Deva which may also be the same person.<ref name=":5" /> He is known for his association with the [[Nalanda]] monastery in modern-day [[Bihar]], [[India]].<ref name="KumarDriem2020">{{cite book |author1=Niraj Kumar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IhEHEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA253 |title=Himalayan Bridge |author2=George van Driem |author3=Phunchok Stobdan |date=18 November 2020 |publisher=KW |isbn=978-1-00-021549-6 |page=253}}</ref>

==Biography==
[[Image:Aryadeva.gif|right|thumb|Aryadeva]]
The earliest biographical sources on Aryadeva state that he was a Buddhist monk who became a student of [[Nagarjuna]] and was skilled in debate.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0" />

According to Karen Lang:<blockquote>The earliest information we have about the life of Aryadeva occurs in the hagiography translated into Chinese by the Central Asian monk [[Kumārajīva|Kumarajiva]] (344–413 c.e.). It tells us that he was born into a Brahmin family in south India and became the spiritual son of Nagarjuna. Aryadeva became so skilled in debate that he could defeat all his opponents and convert them to Buddhism. One defeated teacher’s student sought him out and murdered him in the forest where he had retired to write. The dying Aryadeva forgave him and converted him to Buddhism with an eloquent discourse on suffering.<ref name=":3">Lang, Karen C. (2003). ''Four Illusions: Candrakīrti's Advice for Travelers on the Bodhisattva Path,'' p. 9. Oxford University Press.</ref></blockquote>Lang also discusses [[Xuanzang|Xuanzang's]] (7th century) writings which mention Aryadeva:<blockquote>He reports that Aryadeva came to south India from the island of Simhala because of his compassion for the ignorant people of India. He met the aging Nagarjuna at his residence on Black Bee Mountain, located southwest of the [[Satavahana dynasty|Satavahana]] capital, and became his most gifted student. Nagarjuna helped Aryadeva prepare for debate against Brahmanical teachers who had defeated Buddhist monks in the northeastern city of [[Vaishali district|Vaisali]] for the previous twelve years. Aryadeva went to Vaisali and defeated all his opponents in less than an hour.<ref name=":3" /></blockquote>Tom Tillemans also notes that Aryadeva's origins in Siṃhaladvīpa ([[Sri Lanka]]) are supported by his commentator [[Chandrakirti|Candrakīrti]] (sixth century C.E.), and "may possibly be confirmed by references in the Ceylonese chronicles Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa to a “Deva” who lived in the second half of the third century at the time when the Indian Vetullavāda sect of ''Great Vehicle'' Buddhism was temporarily implanted in Śrī Laṅka."<ref name=":4">Tillemans, Tom. [https://www.academia.edu/39006061/%C4%80ryadeva_full_version_ Āryadeva], appearing in ''The Routledge Handbook of Indian Buddhist Philosophy'', ed. by William Edelglass, Sara McClintock and Pierre-Julien Harter.</ref>

==Works==
Most of Āryadeva's works were not preserved in the original [[Sanskrit]] but mainly in Tibetan and Chinese translations.

=== Four Hundred Verses ===
The ''Catuḥśataka śāstra kārikā'' (the Four Hundred Verse Treatise) is Āryadeva's main work. It is available in fragmentary Sanskrit, in [[Xuanzang|Xuanzang's]] Chinese translation of the second part only, and in a full Tibetan translation.<ref>Ruegg (1981), p. 51.</ref>

It is a work of sixteen chapters. David Seyfort Ruegg outlines the content as follows:<blockquote>(i—iv) Elimination of the erroneous positing of things as permanent (nitya), pleasant (sukha), pure (asubha or suci), and self (atman) (according to Candrakirti these four chapters which dispel the four viparyasas explain the nature of mundane things so that they may be abandoned and buddhahood may be achieved), (v) The Bodhisattva's practice (which makes it practically possible to achieve Buddhahood). (vi) Elimination of the defilements (klesa) which hinder the preceding, (vii) Elimination of attachment to the enjoyment of seemingly desirable sensory objects (visaya), which causes the defilements to arise and increase. And (viii) the practice of the disciple. The first eight chapters of the ''Catuḥśataka'' are thus concerned with the preparation of those who practise the path. The last eight chapters then explain the non-substantiality of the dharmas. They deal in turn with the negation (pratisedha) of (ix) permanent entities, (x) self (atman), (xi) time, (xii) dogmatic opinions (drsti), (xiii) sense-faculties and their objects, (xiv) the positing of doctrinal extremes (antagraha, e.g. existence, non-existence, both, and neither) with special reference to identity and difference, and (xv) the positing of conditioned (samskrta) things as real. Finally chapter xvi, entitled 'An exposition of the cultivation of ascertainment for master and disciple', is devoted to a consideration of logical and epistemological problems in the doctrine of sunyata. In particular, it is pointed out (in conformity with Vigrahavyavartani 29—30) that he who does not maintain a thesis (paksa) based on the positions of existence (sat), non-existence (asat), and both cannot be attacked in logic by an opponent (xvi. 25).<ref>Ruegg (1981), p. 52.</ref></blockquote>There also exists a complete commentary to this text by [[Chandrakirti]] which is only extant in Tibetan.<ref>Ruegg (1981), p. 52.</ref>

Xuanzang also translated [[Dharmapala of Nalanda|Dharmapāla’s]] commentary to verses 201–400 of the Catuḥśataka, published as ''Dasheng Guang bailun shi lun'' (大乘廣百論釋論, T. 1571).<ref name=":5" />

=== Other attributed texts ===
Two other texts which are attributed to Āryadeva in the Chinese tradition (but not the Tibetan) are the following:
* ''[[Śataśāstra]]'' (''Bailun'', 百論, ''Treatise in One Hundred Verses,'' [[Taishō Tripiṭaka|Taisho]] 1569), which only survives in [[Kumārajīva|Kumarajiva's]] Chinese translation. However, according to Ruegg, the attribution of this work to Aryadeva is uncertain.<ref>Ruegg (1981), pp. 50-51.</ref> This text also comes with a commentary by an author known as Vasu (婆藪).<ref name=":5" /> This text is closely connected to the ''Catuḥśataka''.

* ''Akṣaraśataka'' (''Baizi lun,'' 百字論, ''One Hundred Syllables'', T. 1572) and its Vritti is sometimes attributed to Nagarjuna in the Tibetan tradition, but the Chinese tradition attributes this to Āryadeva.<ref name=":2">Ruegg (1981), p. 53.</ref>

=== Possible wrong attributions ===
Chinese sources attribute a commentary to Nagarjuna's ''[[Mūlamadhyamakakārikā|Madhyamakasastra]]'' ascribed to a "Pin-lo-chieh" ("Pingala") as being a work of Āryadeva. But this attribution has been questioned by some scholars according to Ruegg.<ref name=":0" />

Vincent Eltschinger also notes three other texts in the Chinese canon which are attributed to Āryadeva, but these attributions are dubious according to Eltschinger:<ref name=":5" />

* ''*Mahāpuruṣaśāstra'', ''Dazhangfu lun'' (大丈夫論, T. 1577)
* ''Tipo pusa po Lengqie jing zhong waidao xiaosheng sizong lun'' (''Treatise on the Refutation of Heterodox and Hīnayāna Theses in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' 提婆菩薩破楞伽經中外道小乘四宗論, T. 1639)
* ''Tipo pusa shi Lengqie jing zhong waidao xiaosheng niepan lun'' (''Treatise on the Explanation of Nirvāṇa by Heterodox and Hīnayāna Teachers in the Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' 提婆菩薩釋楞伽經中外道小乘涅槃論 T. 1640)

The ''Hastavalaprakarana'' (''Hair in the Hand'') is attributed to [[Dignāga|Dignaga]] in the Chinese tradition and to Āryadeva in the Tibetan tradition. Modern scholars like Frauwallner, Hattori and Ruegg argue that it is likely by Dignaga.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5" />

According to Ruegg "the bsTan'gyur also contains two very short works attributed to Aryadeva, the ''*Skhalitapramathanayuktihetusiddhi'' and the ''*Madhyamakabhramaghata''".<ref>Ruegg (1981), p. 54.</ref>

Tillemans writes that while Tibetans attribute the ''Destruction of Errors about Madhyamaka'' (*''madhyamakabhramaghāta''), "this text copiously borrows from the ''Verses on the Heart of Madhyamaka'' (''madhyamakahṛdayakārikā'') and ''Torch of Dialectics'' (''tarkajvālā'') of [[Bhāviveka]], a celebrated Mādhyamika who lived in the sixth century (i.e., 500-570 C.E.)" and thus cannot be Aryadeva's.<ref name=":4" />

== The Tantric Āryadeva ==
Several important works of [[Vajrayana|esoteric Buddhism]] (most notably the ''Caryamelapakapradipa'' or "Lamp that Integrates the Practices" and the ''Jñanasarasamuccaya'') are attributed to Āryadeva. Contemporary research suggests that these works are datable to a significantly later period in Buddhist history (late ninth or early tenth century) and they are seen as being part of a Vajrayana Madhyamaka tradition which included a later tantric author also named Āryadeva.<ref>Ruegg (1981), p. 54.</ref> Tillemans also notes that the ''Compendium on the Essence of Knowledge'' (''jñānasārasamuccaya'') "gives the fourfold presentation of Buddhist doctrine typical of the doxographical (siddhānta) literature, a genre which considerably post-dates the third century".<ref name=":4" />

Traditional historians (for example, the 17th century Tibetan [[Tāranātha]]), aware of the chronological difficulties involved, account for the anachronism via a variety of theories, such as the propagation of later writings via mystical revelation. A useful summary of this tradition, its literature, and historiography may be found in Wedemeyer 2007.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* Ruegg, David Seyfort (1981), ''<nowiki>''The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India,''</nowiki>'' Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.
*Ruth Sonam (tr.), ''Āryadeva's'' Four Hundred Stanzas on the Middle Way:'' with Commentary by Gyel-tsap—Additional Commentary by Geshe Sonam Rinchen'' {{ISBN|9781559393027}}.
*Lang, Karen (1986). ''Aryadeva's'' Catuhsataka: ''On the Bodhisattva's Cultivation of Merit and Knowledge''. Narayana Press, Copenhagen.
* Wedemeyer, Christian K. (2007). ''Aryadeva's'' Lamp that Integrates the Practices: ''The Gradual Path of Vajrayana Buddhism according to the Esoteric Community Noble Tradition''. New York: AIBS/Columbia University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-9753734-5-3}}
* Wedemeyer, Christian K. (2005). [https://web.archive.org/web/201412091 25117/http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e-reserves/regenstein/timp/557-5114pt1.pdf ''Aryadeva's'' Lamp that Integrates the Practices: The Gradual Path of Vajrayana Buddhism according to the Esoteric Community Noble Tradition, part II: annotated English translation], University of Chicago
* Young, Stuart H. (2015). Conceiving the Indian Buddhist Patriarchs in China, Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, pp. 265-282

==External links==
* [https://www.scribd.com/doc/175394669/Aryadeva-Els-Quatre-cents-Versos Aryadeva - "Els quatre-cents versos" (En català)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012024006/http://www.scribd.com/doc/175394669/Aryadeva-Els-Quatre-cents-Versos |date=12 October 2013 }}

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{{Clarify|date=August 2009}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aryadeva}}
[[Category:Indian scholars of Buddhism]]
[[Category:Madhyamaka scholars]]
[[Category:Monks of Nalanda]]
[[Category:Bodhisattvas]]
[[Category:Mahasiddhas]]
[[Category:Sanron-shū]]
[[Category:Buddhist martyrs]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:Poets of Charyapada]]
[[Category:People of the Kingdom of Anuradhapura]]

Aryadeva - Revision history

Al202xis0 at 22:09, 14 November 2025