Sthiramati

Sthiramati

Sthiramati (T. blo gros brtan pa; C. anhui 安慧) was a 6th-century Indian Buddhist scholar. He was renowned for his commentaries on Yogacara and Abhidharma, in which he expounded on the works of Vasubandhu and others, as well as for a commentary on the Kāśyapaparivarta.

Artemus B. Engle writes:

Over the years I have found the writings of the Indian Buddhist scholar Sthiramati—such as his commentary on Vasubandhu’s Summary of the Five Heaps—to be among the most detailed sources on the topic of mind and mental factors.

Scholars believe Sthiramati was based primarily in Valābhi (present-day Gujarat), although he is thought to have spent some time at Nālandā.

Works

According to Edelglass, et al (2022), there are ten surviving treatises attributed to Sthiramati:

1. The Explication of the Compendium of the Abhidharma (Abhidharmasamuccayavyākhyā; currently in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese)
2. The Commentary on the Treasury of Abhidharma [Called] True Reality (Abhidharmakośabhāṣya Tattvārthā), a commentary on the Abhidharma-kosa (survives in full Tibetan translation and some parts in Sanskrit)
3. The Commentary on the Treatise on the Five Constituents (Pañcaskandhakavibhāṣā; survives in Sanskrit and Tibetan), a 6th-century commentary on Vasubandhu’s Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa.
4. The Commentary on the Treatise on Mental Presentation in Thirty Verses (Triṃśikāvijñaptibhāṣya; survives in Sanskrit and Tibetan)
5. The Commentary on the Distinguishing of the Middle from the Extremes (Madhyāntavibhāgaṭīkā; T. dbus dang mtha' rnam par 'byed pa'i 'grel bshad; survives in Sanskrit and Tibetan)
6. The Commentary on the Comments to the Ornament of [Mahāyāna] Sūtras (*Sūtrālaṃkāravṛttibhāṣya; survives in Tibetan)
7. The Commentary on the Kāśyapa Chapter (*Kāśyapaparivartaṭīkā; survives in Tibetan and Chinese), a commentary on Kāśyapaparivarta
8. The Commentary on the Mahāyāna Madhyamaka (Dasheng zhongguan shilun 大乘中觀釋論; survives in Chinese)
9. The Commentary on the Exposition of Akṣayamati (*Akṣayamatinirdeśaṭīkā; survives in Tibetan)
10. A commentary on the Collection of Means of Knowledge (Pramanasamuccaya; currently lost).

Sources

• Engle, Artemus B., The Inner Science of Buddhist Practice: Vasubhandu's Summary of the Five Heaps with Commentary by Sthiramati, Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009

Further reading

• Sthiramati, Tsadra Commons
• Sthiramati, Wikipedia
• Sthiramati, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
• Sthiramati, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
• Chimpa, Alaka Chattopadhyaya & Lama, Taranatha’s History of Buddhism in India, Edited by Debiprasad Chattopadhyaya (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2010), pages 179-181 and 399-400
• Engle, Artemus B., The Inner Science of Buddhist Practice: Vasubhandu's Summary of the Five Heaps with Commentary by Sthiramati, Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2009
• Kramer, J. J Indian Philos (2018) 46: 321. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-017-9345-z
• "The Indian Yogacara Scholar Sthiramata and the Works attributed to him", Jowita Kramer