Acharya Shanti Dev
A commemorative postage stamp on Shantideva, an 8th-century Buddhist Scholar (Madhyamaka philosophy of Nagarjuna) from Nalanda, author of ‘Bodhicharyavatara‘ :
Issued by India
Issued on Jul 28, 1988
Description of Designs : The stamp has been designed by India Security Press Nashik Road. The first day cover design has been prepared by Shri Sankha Samantha and cancellation by Smt. Alka Sharma.
Type : Stamp, Postal Used
Colour : Single colour
Denomination : 60 Paise
Overall size : 3.91 x 2.90 cms.
Printing size : 3.54 x 2.53 cms.
Perforation : 13 x 13
Paper : Indigenous unwater marked P.G. Matt coated gummed stamp paper
Number Printed : 10,00,000
Number per issue sheet : 35
Printing Process : Photogravure
Printed : India Security Press
Name : Shanti Varman
Born on 687 AD
Died on 763 AD
About :
- Shri Shanti Dev, Sanskrit poet and the author of ‘Bodhicharyavatar’ a classic of Mahayana Buddhism was born in 687 A.D. in the royal family of Gujarat. His father was King Kushala Varman and mother Vajrayogini.
- On his father’s death Shanti Dev, who was then known as Shanti Varman, became heir to the throne. But a few days before his coronation, Bodhisattva Manjushri appeared to him in a dream and beckoned him to follow the path of Dharma. On waking up, Shanti Dev left the place quietly.
- After travelling for 21 days, he reached Nalanda and studied the Buddhist scriptures, mastering Sanskrit and Pali. It is said that he started writing poems in Sanskrit. The scholars in the University challenged him to write philosophical work in verse. Shanti Dev’s reply was the ‘Bodhicharyavatar’, his masterpiece, which describes the various stages in the life of a Bodhisattva, who need not necessarily be a monk or even a celibate. The essential quality to develop is the Bodhichitta, the Mind of Enlightenment, which has a single goal – to enter the stream and become a Spiritual Son of the Buddha. The sorrows of this world become blessings in the spiritual path.
- Translated into major world languages, ‘Bodhicharyavatar’ is recited daily by millions of monks and laymen, professing Mahayana Buddhism in the Himalayan border States of India from Ladakh and H.P. in North-West to Arunachal Pradesh in the North-East, as also in Mongolia and China. The Bodhicharyavatar in 10 chapters containing 913 verses achieves a unique quality of perfection both as Sanskrit poetry and as a philosophical treatise, elucidating the Madhyamika system of Buddhist philosophy, whose chief exponent was the celebrated Acharya Nagarjuna. ‘Shiksha Samuchaya’ weaves over one hundred Sutras around 27 verses and is a complimentary work to ‘Bodhicharyavatar’.
- It is said that Shanti Dev defeated many scholars of eminence in debates and composed other works, namely, ‘Shiksha Samuchaya’, a compendium of Mahayana Sanskrit Sutras in Sanskrit, and ‘Sutara Samuchaya’. Not only was he a great saint and scholar, he was also a great benefactor of the poor and the lowly, and an apostle of peace and goodwill. At the time of a famine in Gujarat, he is said to have worked as a social worker and provided food to thousands of starving persons. On another occasion he intervened to prevent a bloody quarrel between two factions.
- He is said to have realised and declared “Everything is like space”. He passed away at the age of 78.
- Text Courtesy: Shri N. C. Parashar.
