Mahājana

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Mahājana(b. ca. 11th/12th century - )
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Mahājana was a Kashmiri paṇḍita who was active around the 11th-12th centuries. According to Donald Lopez, one of his main contributions was his commentary on the Heart Sutra, Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayārthaparijñāna (Complete Understanding of the Meaning of the Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom). According to Lopez, "Mahājana's commentary is the only work ascribed to him in the Tibetan canons; he is listed as the translator of nine works, suggesting that he visited Tibet, probably in the late eleventh or early twelfth century.[13] His commentary reflects an author of a decidedly Yogācāra persuasion . . ." (Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Elaborations on Emptiness: Uses of the Heart Sūtra [New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1996], 16). Mahājana is also reported to have been one of several panditas who taught Atiśa the Perfection of Wisdom and secret mantra. (Sources of Tibetan Tradition, 2013, 178)

Notes

13. The colophon of his commentary states that he collaborated in its translation with Seng ge rgyal mtshan, who was a student of Ngog bLo ldan shes rab (1059–1109).

Library Items

Book
Prajñāpāramitā, Indian "gzhan stong pas", and the Beginning of Tibetan gzhan stong
In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there is an ongoing debate about whether the gzhan stong system was "invented" by Tibetans, in particular by Dol po pa Shes rab rgyal mtshan (1292–1361), or whether there are Indian precursors of that view. Here, I will (1) discuss evidence for a number of typical positions of the gzhan stong system in several Indian texts, (2) provide a sketch of the transmission of the five works of Maitreya from India to Tibet and the beginning of a Tibetan gzhan stong tradition preceding Dol po pa, and (3) trace some typical gzhan stong assertions in a few early Tibetan works before Dol po pa that are considered by Tibetan writers as belonging to the gzhan stong system. (Brunnhölzl, introduction, 9)
Brunnhölzl, Karl. Prajñāpāramitā, Indian "gzhan stong pas", and the Beginning of Tibetan gzhan stong. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 74. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2011.
Text
Maitreya: dharmadharmatāvibhāga
One of the Five Dharma Treatises of Maitreya (byams chos sde lnga). This work exists only in Tibetan translation, of which there are two versions: the Dharmadharmatāvibhāga (chos dang chos nyid rnam par 'byed pa) presented in prose, and the Dharmadharmatāvibhāgakārikā (chos dang chos nyid rnam par 'byed pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa) presented in verse. "The text explains saṃsāra (= dharma) and the nirvāṇa (= dharmatā) attained by the śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva; like the Madhyāntavibhāga, it uses the three-nature (trisvabhāva) terminology to explain that, because there is no object or subject, the transcendent is beyond conceptualization. It presents the paths leading to transformation of the basis (aśrayaparāvṛtti), and enumerates ten types of tathatā (suchness)." (Source: The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 244)

On the topic of this person

Article
Exegeses of the Ratnagotravibhāga in Kashmir in the 11th and 12th Century
The Ratnagotravibhāga (abbr. RGV) was very likely composed around the 4th or 5th century in India. But traces of the RGV fell into obscurity after the late 6th century, and again begin to appear after the early 11th century. The teaching relating to the RGV was transmitted from India to Tibet mainly via two routes: one from Vikramaśīla through Atiśa (ca. 982–1054) and the other from Kashmir through Sajjana, rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab (ca. 1059–1109) and others. rNgog is one of the most influential masters who established exegetical traditions of the RGV in Tibet, and his understanding of the RGV is strongly influenced by the Kashmiri tradition, for he studied it in Kashmir. In this regard, the Kashmiri tradition of the RGV is crucial to learn the foundation of the Tibetan development of the RGV's exegesis. Fortunately, we have some materials to learn about how Kashmiri Buddhists understood the RGV, but they have not been systematically studied in this regard. I have focused on Sajjana's Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa in my previous paper in 2015, and in the present paper, I shall extend the range of target to wider context in Kashmir tradition in 11th to 12th century focusing on works by Sajjana, Mahājana, Amṛtākara, and Jayānanda. (Kano, "Exegeses", 1)
Kano, Kazuo. "Exegeses of the Ratnagotravibhāga in Kashmir in the 11th and 12th Century." Kōyasandaigaku daigakuin kiyō 15 (2016): 1–23.
Article
Sajjana and Mahājana: Yogācāra Exegeses in the Eleventh Century Kashmir
The present paper aims to clarify work-titles of writings of Sajjana and his son Mahājana, the 11th and 12th century lay Buddhists of Kashmir; especially Sajjana is sometimes regarded as a crucial individual for Yogācāra exegesis tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Although, until recently, their writings had not been known except for works available in Tibetan canon, further works that are not included in Tibetan canon have gradually been found in a Sanskrit manuscript, which we call here Sajjana-Mahājana codex. As for Sajjana, in addition to his Putralekha, that is, an epistile addressed to his son Mahājana (only in Tib.), two further works, i.e., Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa and Sūtrālaṃkārapiṇḍārtha, have been available (both only in Skt.). With regard to Mahājana, (1) Sūtrālaṃkārādhikārasaṅgati (only in Skt.) has become newly available found in the Sajjana-Mahājana codex, in addition to (2) his Prajñāpāramitāhṛdaya commentary (only in Tib.). In (2), Mahājana refers to two of his own writings, i.e., (3) ’Brel pa grub pa chung ngu’i yongs su shes pa and (4) rNam par nges pa’i yongs su shes pa. We can identify (3) as the Pratibandhasiddhiparicaya which is available only as a Sanskrit fragment in the Sajjana-Mahājana codex. On the baisis of this identification, we can assume the Sanskrit title of (4) as *Viniścayaparicaya (yet to be found). Accordingly, the Sanskrit title of (1) can be known as Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayaparicaya as attested in the Peking Tanjur (Derge's reading -arthaparijñāna does not seem to reflect the original). Furthermore, there are two other works with the word paricaya in their titles, i.e., Sūtrālaṃkāraparicaya and *Mahāyānottaratantraparicaya, included in the Sajjana-Mahājana codex. Although their colophons that refer to the author's name are yet to be found, these two are most prabably Mahājana's compositions as this particular title paricaya and this particular situation (being included in the same codex) suggests.
Kano, Kazuo. "Sajjana and Mahājana: Yogācāra Exegeses in the Eleventh Century Kashmir." Indogaku Bukkyogaku Kenkyu (Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies) 69, no. 2 (2021): 118–124.
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