Sthiramati (Sanskrit; Chinese:安慧; Tibetan: ''blo gros brtan pa'') or Sāramati was a 6th-century

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

scholar-monk. Sthiramati was a contemporary of

Dharmapala A ''dharmapāla'' (, , ja, 達磨波羅, 護法善神, 護法神, 諸天善神, 諸天鬼神, 諸天善神諸大眷屬) is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "'' dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are a ...

based primarily in Valābhi university (present-day

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

), although he is thought to have spent some time at

Nālandā Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.Yogācāra Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through t ...

and

Abhidharma The Abhidharma are ancient (third century BCE and later) Buddhist texts which contain detailed scholastic presentations of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist ''sutras''. It also refers to the scholastic method itself as well as the f ...

, works by

Vasubandhu Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who wrote commentary ...

and others, as well as for a commentary on the '' Kaśyāpa-parivarta''. He was a student of the Valābhi Yogacara scholar Gunamati. Takasaki is certain that the author of the embedded commentary (verse and prose) to the core text (verse) of the ''

Ratnagotravibhāga The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (Sanskrit, abbreviated as RGV, meaning: ''Analysis of the Jeweled Lineage, Investigating the Jewel Disposition'') and its ''vyākhyā'' commentary (abbreviated RGVV to refer to the RGV verses along with the embedded comm ...

'' GV version as per Johnstonis Sāramati through his analysis of the RGV with the '' Dharmadhātvaviśeṣaśāstra''. Sthiramati wrote ten surviving commentaries on various Buddhist treatises:Edelglass, William; Harter, Pierre-Julien; McClintock, ‎Sara (2022). ''The Routledge Handbook of Indian Buddhist Philosophy'' (Routledge Handbooks in Philosophy), p. 377. # ''The Explication of the Compendium of the Abhidharma'' (''Abhidharmasamuccayavyākhyā''; currently in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese) # ''The Commentary on the Treasury of Abhidharma alledTrue Reality'' (''Tattvārthā Abhidharmakośaṭīkā'', survives in full Tibetan translation and some parts in Sanskrit) # ''The Commentary on the Treatise on the Five Constituents'' (''Pañcaskandhakavibhāṣā''; survives in Sanskrit and Tibetan) # ''The Commentary on the Treatise on Mental Presentation in Thirty Verses'' (''Triṃśikāvijñaptibhāṣya''; survives in Sanskrit and Tibetan) # ''The Commentary on the Distinguishing of the Middle from the Extremes'' (''Madhyāntavibhāgaṭīkā''; survives in Sanskrit and Tibetan) # ''The Commentary on the Comments to the Ornament of ahāyānaSūtras'' (''*Sūtrālaṃkāravṛttibhāṣya''; survives in Tibetan) # ''The Commentary on the Kāśyapa Chapter'' (''*Kāśyapaparivartaṭīkā''; survives in Tibetan and Chinese) # ''The Commentary on the Mahāyāna Madhyamaka'' (''Dasheng zhongguan shilun'' 大乘中觀釋論; survives in Chinese) # ''The Commentary on the Exposition of Akṣayamati'' (''*Akṣayamatinirdeśaṭīkā''; survives in Tibetan) # ''A commentary on the Collection of Means of Knowledge'' (''Pramanasamuccaya''; currently lost).

References

6th-century Buddhist monks 6th-century Indian scholars 6th-century Indian writers Monks of Nalanda Indian Buddhist monks Indian scholars of Buddhism Indian Theravada Buddhists {{Buddhism-bio-stub