Atisha Quotes
Atisha Dipankara Shrijnana was a Bengali Buddhist philosopher and monk, abbot of the great Indian monastic university of Vikramashila, who, late in life, accepted an invitation from the Tibetan king Yeshe-O to come to Tibet, where he spent his last twelve years restoring monastic discipline and the integrity of Buddhist teaching. His Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, a brief verse summary of the entire Buddhist path written in Tibet, became the model for the later Tibetan stages-of-the-path literature and exerted an enduring influence on every major Tibetan school. The quotes below are attributed to Atisha, organized by topic.
Atisha on God
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“Excerpt from the Prithvi Sukta in the Atharva Veda 12.1-63 (trans. by Maurice Bloomfield, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, 1897). The Prithvi Sukta is often regarded as the first national song, e.g. C.f. Jain, M. (2010). Parallel pathways: Essays on Hindu-Muslim relations, 1707-1857. chapter V.”
She who bears plants endowed with many varied powers, may Prithivī for us spread wide and favour us. In whom the sea, and Sindhu, and the waters, in whom our food and corn-lands had their being. -
“God is really one, only one.”
Atharva Veda, in A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics , p.56
Atisha on Justice
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“A King should address the Assembly thus: Let the leader of the Assembly abide by the just laws passed by the Assembly, let other members do the same.”
Atharva Veda quoted by Urmila Sharma, in Indian Political Thought:Swaraj ,p.139
Atisha on Knowledge
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“She who bears plants endowed with many varied powers, may Prithivī for us spread wide and favour us. In whom the sea, and Sindhu, and the waters, in whom our food and corn-lands had their being.”
Excerpt from the Prithvi Sukta in the Atharva Veda 12.1-63 (trans. by Maurice Bloomfield, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. 42, 1897). The Prithvi Sukta is often regarded as the first national song, e.g. C.f. Jain, M. (2010). Parallel pathways: Essays on Hindu-Muslim relations, 1707-1857. chapter V. -
“Atharva Veda, in A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics , p.56”
God is really one, only one. -
“Whoever knows Atharva Veda knows all.”
Vyasa on Atharva Veda quoted in [ Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kr̥ṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata (Google eBook) , p.5 -
“Vyasa on Atharva Veda quoted in [ Seer of the Fifth Veda: Kr̥ṣṇa Dvaipāyana Vyāsa in the Mahābhārata (Google eBook) , p.5”
Whoever knows Atharva Veda knows all. -
“Ralph T.H. Griffith , in The Hymns of the Atharvaveda”
The Atharva Veda is a Vedic-era collection of spells , prayers , charms , and hymns. There are prayers to protect crops from lightning and drought, charms against venomous serpents, love spells, healing spells, hundreds of verses, some derived from the Rig Veda , all very ancient.
Atisha on Love
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Attributed to Atisha:
“Bodhicitta is the seed of every Buddha; without it, all other practice is in vain.”
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“The Atharva Veda is a Vedic-era collection of spells , prayers , charms , and hymns. There are prayers to protect crops from lightning and drought, charms against venomous serpents, love spells, healing spells, hundreds of verses, some derived from the Rig Veda , all very ancient.”
Ralph T.H. Griffith , in The Hymns of the Atharvaveda
Atisha on Mind
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Attributed to Atisha:
“When the mind tames itself, the world it inhabits is at peace.”
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Attributed to Atisha:
“What is meditated upon repeatedly becomes the very stuff of the mind.”
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“Atharva Veda quoted by Urmila Sharma, in Indian Political Thought:Swaraj ,p.139”
A King should address the Assembly thus: Let the leader of the Assembly abide by the just laws passed by the Assembly, let other members do the same.
Atisha on Virtue
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Attributed to Atisha:
“Three kinds of beings walk the path: those who seek their own peace, those who seek a higher rebirth, and those who seek awakening for the sake of all.”
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Attributed to Atisha:
“Receive every teaching as if it were medicine for the precise illness of your own heart.”