Chandragomin was one of the eight great philologists of the “Land of Aryas” (India). He is also one of those who are popularly known as the “two marvellous masters”, with the other being Shantideva. He was born as the son of the pandit Vishsakha in the eastern part of India, known as Varendra. Right after his birth, he respectfully bowed to his mother and asked, “Didn’t you get weary over the ten months?” Hearing this, his mother thought that it was not suitable for a child to speak so soon after his birth, so she told him to remain silent. Thereafter he did not speak for seven years.
During that time, a tirthika composed a few verses that assembled the entire meaning of philology and simultaneously refuted the Buddhist tenets. Then he sent it to the king of that place with a letter which stated, “If anyone is unable to explain these verses, then that person must respect me.” The king distributed the letter to the congregation of the wise and ordered them to decipher it. The letter also reached the house of Chandragomin’s father. He examined it for a long time and thought to himself, “How could I answer these verses when I cannot even understand the words or the meaning of this.” Thinking the matter over he went out for work. When the seven-year-old Chandragomin looked at the letter, he understood it and whispered, “It’s not hard to answer.” Then, he wrote a description of those verses, along with a refutation.
When his father came home, he saw what Chandragomin had written. He asked his wife about it, who had been there in his absence. “Nobody came in. It was written by your dumb son,” she replied. The father questioned to the son but he simply stared at his mother. Right after his mother commanded him to speak, he said, “I wrote this. It is not that hard to answer an opponent like this one.”
“Then you must debate with the tirthika,” insisted his father.
The father then sent the letter written by the boy to the king. Seeing the answers, the king ordered a debate to be arranged after a week. When the time came, everyone was seated in their respective seats: the king in the middle, Chandragomin on the right and the tirthika on the left. There were many Buddhist and non-Buddhist scholars along with many groups of people who had gathered to witness the debate.
The tirthika said, “When even the great pandits are unable to debate with me, how could a small child like you confront me? So, take him off that seat and let a learned one be seated on the throne,” and insulted him.
To that, Chandragomin replied, “Alas! Even a sharp iron hook can tame an elephant but is the iron hook as big as an elephant? Even a burning lamp can illuminate the darkness but is the lamp as vast as the darkness? If a vajra is pricked on a rocky mountain, it pierces the mountain, but is the vajra as large as the mountain? Similarly, if there is mental strength, then one need not rely on the body of a grownup.”
Hearing this, the thirthika thought, “How could an ordinary child flawlessly speak the language that bears the potential to subjugate the opponent like this? This child is unmistakably the incarnation of either Lord Shiva or the goddess Sarasvati.” Thinking thus, he gave up the debate and became a Buddhist along with all his retinue. Chandragomin was rewarded handsomely by the king.
Right from his childhood, he knew philology, logic, and grammar all by himself. He took refuge in the Triple Gem from a Mahayana teacher. He received many teachings from many noble masters and had a vision of Lord Avalokiteshvara and the goddess Tara. He became such a great scholar that even the master Chandrakirti praised him, saying, “Chandragomin’s teachings are very pure.” His popularity pervaded every direction. He taught medicinal treatment, spelling, carpentry, and specifically propagated philology in the land ruled by the king Barakha. Later, he married one of the princesses. The king even gave him a piece of countryside along with some servants.
One day he heard an attendant calling his wife by the name “Tare”. He thought, “It is not right to live a life together with a wife who bears the same name as one’s wisdom deity.” Therefore, he planned to leave for another place but the king anticipated his plan before it was put into effect. Fearing that he would run away, the king told him that if he should run away, he would be punished by putting him inside a box and throwing him in the river Ganga.
But he did not listen to the king, so he was eventually thrown into the river. He prayed to the goddess Tara and was able to emerge onto one of the islands. The island is considered to have been manifested by the goddess Tara, and is popularly known as “Moon Island”. He stayed there for a long period of time. He carved the statues of Avalokiteshvara and Tara on stone. In the beginning, only a few fishermen knew about him. Gradually many people, as many as almost seven thousand households, had gathered around. Later, he undertook the upāsaka vow as directed by Avalokiteshvara.
In the course of time, even the king who punished him became devoted to him. As per the request from some people, he went to the “Land of the Lion” (Sri Lanka). There were lots of lepers in that place. So, he built a temple which caused the disease to subside. There he taught medicinal treatments, grammar and Mahayana teachings. He received wealth from the guardian of that land which was used to build the foundation of the Dharma in that region.
Then, he went to the southern part. There, in a temple, he saw a sketch depicting the nagas listening to the teaching on philology. He also saw the commentary of Panini by a naga called Shekha. Seeing that, he said, “This commentary needs to be shorter, with great meaning, not repetitive and fully intact, but the nagas are so unintelligent. They have many repeated words with less meaning and they aren’t complete.” Stating thus, he composed a commentary expounding the meaning of Panini called ‘Chandrapa’ that is comprised of twenty-four chapters.
Then he went to Nalanda. In Nalanda at that time there was a system that the wise individuals who were able to debate tirthikas gave teachings in the outskirts of the settlement whereas those who were unable to do so taught inside the settlement. While Chandrakirti was at the outskirts carrying his umbrella, he saw Chandragomin coming from far away and thought that that person was likely to be someone who had come here for a debate with him. So he inquired, “Where did you come from? What do you know about the Dharma?”
“I came from the south. I only know the philology of Panipa, Manjushrinamasamskriti (“Calling the Names of Manjushri”) and “One Hundred and Fifty Praises”. Apart from these three, I don’t know any other,” replied Chandragomin with humbleness.
But in reality, he was saying that he knew all three: philology, sutra and tantra. So the wise Chandrakirti understood him and asked, “Are you Chandragomin?”
“People call me by that name,” replied Chandragomin.
“If so, you will be received by the congregation of monks. For the time being please wait here,” said Chandrakirti.
“But it is not right for the monks to welcome an upāsaka like me,” Chandragomin protested.
But Chandrakirti dismissed this. “This will not interfere with your welcome. On the top of the chariot, we will place the statue of Manjushri and you will be seated behind this. So, this will be the welcoming of the lord Manjushri.”
After much insistence, Chandragomin accepted to be received. As the monks of Nalanda carried out the event as planned, Chandragomin saw the statue as the real Manjushri and uttered a fourteen-stanza praise for Lord Manjushri. Just then, the statue of Lord Manjushri said, “Do I really have these many qualities?” turning his head a bit towards the left in the manner of listening to the praise. The statue was then known as “The Slightly Turned, Speaking Manjushri”. This became one of the main relics at Nalanda.
After the reception, Chandrakirti and Chandragomin started a debate that lasted for seven years. During this debate, the wise Chandrakirti answered quickly; Chandragomin answered some of the questions the next day or the day after, but his answers were short, profound and to the point. So Chandrakirti became sceptical. He secretly followed Chandragomin to his compartment. There he heard someone teaching as if a student being taught by a teacher. When he raised himself a bit and peeped through, he saw the stone statue of Avalokiteshvara pointing a finger and teaching him. He instantly said, “Does the noble one have partiality?” Thereon, the statue froze with his finger still pointing. Thereafter, the statue came to known as “Pointing Avalokiteshvara”.
When Chandragomin was at Nalanda, a beggar woman asked him for wealth but he did not have anything other than the robe he wore and a text volume that he carried with him. So, he prayed to a portrait of Tara adorned with jewelry for wealth. No sooner had he finished praying than the image actually took off its jewelry and gave it to him. He then handed that to the beggar and fulfilled her wish.
During his staying at Nalanda, he taught carpentry, philology, logic, medicine, grammar, dance, terminology, poetry, astrology and other subjects. He also composed many texts. As per the wish of the deities to propagate the Mahayana teachings, he always taught the profound Sutra on the Ten Bhumis, the Laṅkāvatārā Sutra and others. He realised the ultimate nature of all phenomena and accomplished the purpose of sentient beings. The treatises that he composed were superior to others and specifically the book on philology called Chandrapa was prophesized by Lord Manjushri that it would accomplish the purpose of sentient beings in the future. Finally, he passed away after benefitting countless beings.
By Ridzod Editors
NREC, 2018
