Nītiśāstra
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nītiśāstra (T. lugs kyi bstan bcos). A “treatise on worldly affairs (nīti)”; a work that provides guidance on how to lead an ethical, successful, and joyful life.[1]
José Ignacio Cabezón states:
- It is sometimes said that among the four classical Indian “goals of life” or puruṣārthas—duty or righteousness (dharma), wealth (artha), sexual pleasure (kāma), and liberation (mokṣa)—the nīti literature is mostly concerned with the first two. I find this useful as a rule of thumb.[1]
And also:
- Nīti treatises are works on ethics or moral righteousness as well as on wealth, power, and the general material aspects of human flourishing. They deal only tangentially with love or sex, and although they frequently allude to religious ideals, they are not concerned with complex doctrinal issues. From the earliest times, some of the nīti literature dealt with kingship and statecraft: how kings in particular should lead their lives, and especially how they could become effective and just rulers. Nīti treatises often included explanations of the intellectual and moral qualities that a king should cultivate, the ethical principles that should guide him, and the ideals that ought to prevail in his kingdom. But the nīti works often included much else: theories of the origin of the institution of kingship, advice on how to constitute a functional administration and conduct foreign relations, the art of war, and so forth.[1]
Types of nīti treatises
José Ignacio Cabezón identifies two types of nīti treatises:[1]
- rājanīti, or “ethics for kings,” which deal with governance and statecraft: how kings should lead their lives to be effective and just rulers
- subhāṣita, “well-spoken” or “well-turned” verses—wise sayings or adages that set forth fundamental truths about life and offer practical moral advice
Notable nītiśāstras
Indian nītiśāstras
There are eight Indian nītiśāstras that were translated into Tibetan during the 9th to 11th centuries and included in the Tibetan Tengyur.[2] These are:[2][3]
- Three works attributed to Nagarjuna:[2][3]
- Prajñādaṇḍa ("Staff of Wisdom")
- Prajñāśataka ("The Hundred Verses on Wisdom")
- Jantupoṣaṇabiṇḍu ("A Drop of Nourishment for the People")
- Gāthākośa ("Treasury of Stanzas") by Ravigupta
- Śatagāthā ("Hundred Stanzas") by Vararuci
- Vimalapraśnottara Ratnamālā ("A Precious Garland of Flawless Questions and Answers") by Amoghavarṣa
- Rājanītiśāstra ("Treatise on Ethics for Kings") by Cāṇakya
- Nītiśāstra by Masūrākṣa
See also:
Nītiśāstra section of the Tengyur, 84000 Collection
Tibetan nītiśāstras
Notable nītiśāstras composed by Tibetan authors include:[2]
- Sakya Lekshé, by Sakya Pandita
- A Treatise on Ethics for Kings: An Ornament for Rulers, by Mipam Gyatso
- A Treatise on Ethics: A Jewel That Brings Together the Gods and Glory, by Mipam Gyatso
- Virtuous Good Advice (dge ldan legs bshad), by Panchen Sonam Drakpa
- A Treatise on Water and Trees (chu shing bstan bcos), by Gung Thang Tenpay Dronmay
- Two short compositions by the 5th Dalai Lama
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Jamgon Mipham 2017, Appendix 1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Sakya Pandita 2000, Introduction.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jamgon Mipham 2017, Appendix 1 and Bibliography.
Sources
Jamgon Mipham (2017), The Just King: The Tibetan Buddhist Classic on Leading an Ethical Life, translated by José Ignacio Cabezón, Snow Lion- Sakya Pandita (2000), Ordinary Wisdom: Sakya Pandita's Treasury of Good Advice, translated by John T. Davenport, Boston: Wisdom. Archive version
External links
ལུགས་ཀྱི་བསྟན་བཅོས་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
Works related to Ancient Proverbs and Maxims From Burmese Sources; or, The Nîti Literature at Wikisource
