Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c8.s2.t2.1

v1.c8.s2.t2.1

Siksa/ Shiksha (式叉论) was ancient Indian phonetics and one of the six Vedas. This term can be found in ancient Chinese literature, especially in Buddhist *sutras* translated into Chinese. The fourth volume of the Lalitavistara *Sutra* translated by Indian monk, Dharmaraksa, in the Tang Dynasty described multiple subjects and techniques that Bodhisattva learned including *Veda*, *Nirukta*, *Siksa*, *Vaisheshika*, *Atharvaveda*, *Ambhiri* and *Hetuvidya*, etc. During the Southern Dynasty, volume I of the *Samkhya* classic *Hiranyasaptati* translated by Master Paramārtha in the Chen Dynasty listed two kinds of wisdom: external and internal, and the six branches of the Vedas were the subjects (disciplines) to