Aryadeva Quotes
Aryadeva was an Indian Buddhist Madhyamaka philosopher and the principal pupil of Nagarjuna, traditionally identified as a south Indian or Sinhalese monk who succeeded his teacher in directing the philosophical school. His Catuhsataka, or Four Hundred Verses, defended and extended Nagarjuna's middle-way philosophy through a systematic critique of the views of opponents both Buddhist and non-Buddhist, while his Sata-sastra became the most widely studied summary of Madhyamaka in early Chinese Buddhism. The quotes below are attributed to Aryadeva, organized by topic.
Aryadeva on God
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“Aryavarata was the sacred land of Dharma, the elevated path to Heaven and to Moksha; where men were nobler than the Devatas themselves; where all knowledge, thought and worship were rooted in the Vedas, revealed by the Devatas themselves.”
Vishnupuranam, II, 3, 4; trans. and paraphrased in Sandeep Balakrishna - Invaders and Infidels_ From Sindh to Delhi_ The 500-Year Journey of Islamic Invasions. Bloomsbury India (2020)
Aryadeva on Justice
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“That (country) which (lies) between the Himavat and the Vindhya (mountains) to the east of Prayaga and to the west of Vinasana (the place where the river Sarasvati disappears) is called Madhyadesa (the central region). But (the tract) between those two mountains (just mentioned), which (extends) as far as the eastern and the western oceans, the wise call Aryavarta (the country of the Aryans).”
Manu smriti, ch. ii
Aryadeva on Knowledge
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“Vishnupuranam, II, 3, 4; trans. and paraphrased in Sandeep Balakrishna - Invaders and Infidels_ From Sindh to Delhi_ The 500-Year Journey of Islamic Invasions. Bloomsbury India (2020)”
Aryavarata was the sacred land of Dharma, the elevated path to Heaven and to Moksha; where men were nobler than the Devatas themselves; where all knowledge, thought and worship were rooted in the Vedas, revealed by the Devatas themselves. -
“Visaladeva, the Chahamana king, proudly declares that “he once more made Aryavarta (Northern India) what its name signifies (abode of the Aryas i.e. Hindus) by repeatedly exterminating the Mlechchhas (Muslims, who had rendered the name meaningless by their occupation of the country).”
quoted in R.C. Majumdar editor, Volume 5 : The Struggle for Empire [1000-1300 A.D.] p 497-502 -
“quoted in R.C. Majumdar editor, Volume 5 : The Struggle for Empire [1000-1300 A.D.] p 497-502”
Visaladeva, the Chahamana king, proudly declares that “he once more made Aryavarta (Northern India) what its name signifies (abode of the Aryas i.e. Hindus) by repeatedly exterminating the Mlechchhas (Muslims, who had rendered the name meaningless by their occupation of the country). -
“The Vedic Hindus called themselves Aryas, and the tract in which they settled themselves in India has the distinctive name of Aryadesa ... The Aryadesa or Arya-vartta [sic!] of Manu is bounded on the north by the Himalaya; and on the south by the Vindhyan chain.”
Rajendralala Mitta, Indo-Aryans:Contributions Indo-Aryans: contributions towards the elucidation of their ancient and mediaeval history the EJ11cilltl- tum of their Ancinst 11ntl Metlinlll Hisuwy, vol. II, pp. 438-9., 21.. in Indira Chowdhury - The Frail Hero and Virile History_ Gender and the Politics of Culture in Colonial Bengal-Oxford University Press (1998)
Aryadeva on Nature
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Attributed to Aryadeva:
“What arises in dependence does not arise in itself.”
Aryadeva on Politics
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“Rajendralala Mitta, Indo-Aryans:Contributions Indo-Aryans: contributions towards the elucidation of their ancient and mediaeval history the EJ11cilltl- tum of their Ancinst 11ntl Metlinlll Hisuwy, vol. II, pp. 438-9., 21.. in Indira Chowdhury - The Frail Hero and Virile History_ Gender and the Politics of Culture in Colonial Bengal-Oxford University Press (1998)”
The Vedic Hindus called themselves Aryas, and the tract in which they settled themselves in India has the distinctive name of Aryadesa ... The Aryadesa or Arya-vartta [sic!] of Manu is bounded on the north by the Himalaya; and on the south by the Vindhyan chain.
Aryadeva on Truth
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Attributed to Aryadeva:
“Emptiness is the medicine for those who suffer from the disease of intrinsic existence.”
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Attributed to Aryadeva:
“The Buddha is no thesis; what he taught is no doctrine.”
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Attributed to Aryadeva:
“He who clings to emptiness has not yet understood emptiness.”
Aryadeva on Virtue
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Attributed to Aryadeva:
“The wise refute the views of others not from contention, but to free their interlocutors from clinging.”