The History of Bengal (Vol. I: Hindu Period; Vol. II: Muslim Period 1200–1757) v1.c19.s10.18

v1.c19.s10.18

The Tibetan literature closely connects another Bengali teacher named Dīpaṅkara Śrījñāna, also known as Atīśa,¹ with the religious movement in Tibet. Dīpaṅkara was born in 980 A.D. in the royal family of Gauḍa at Vikramapura in Baṅgala. He was known as Chandragarbha in his early age. His father was Kalyāṇaśrī and his mother was Prabhāvatī. While young, he learnt five minor sciences under the guidance of the great teacher Jetāri. He studied the important literature of the Hinayāna and Mahāyāna schools. Rāhulagupta taught him the meditative science of the Buddhists in the Krishnagiri monastery. Krishnagiri, modern Kanheri, in the Bombay Presidency, was an important centre of the Buddhists. Chandragarbha received there the name of Guhyajñāna-vajra. At the age of nineteen he took the sacred vows in the Odantapurī-vihāra from the Mahāsaṅghika Āchārya Śilarakshita, who gave him the name Dīpaṅkara Śrījñāna. Twelve years later, at the age of thirty-one, he was ordained as a Bhikshu. He received the vow of a Bodhisattva from Dharmarakshita. He intended to study Buddhism under the guidance of Chandrakīrti, the High Priest of Suvarṇadvīpa. Suvarṇadvīpa, which was a general name for Java and other islands in Eastern Archipelago, was at that time an important centre of Buddhism in the East. A merchant vessel, after several months’ strenuous journey, brought him to that island. He studied there for twelve years, and returned to Magadha, visiting Tāmradvīpa (Ceylon) on his way. He was invited to the Vikramaśīla monastery (supra p. 115) by the king Mahīpāla. Dīpaṅkara assumed the post of the High Priest of the Vikramaśīla monastery at the request of king Nayapāla, son of Mahīpāla. Sthavira Ratnākara was at that time the chief of the monastery.