________________ xxii INTRODUCTION We have already seen in the Preface that Dharmapala commented upon the last eight chapters of the CS. He was one of the ancient Upadhyayas (snon gyi mkhan po mentioned in the Ma ha v y ut patti, SS 177, 9, and seems to have been the teacher of Silabhadra, who received Hiuen-tsang at Nalanda. (656 A.D.). Silabhadra was then very old. Dharmapala must have died before the arrival of the Chinese pilgrim at that place ; and it appears from the observation given below of Candrakirtti that they were contemporaries; or it may be that the former was a little earlier than the latter. Candra kirtti quotes him not only here in his commentary on the CS, but also in his.Ma dhya ma ka va tara (Tibetan version), p. 407. I think, Poussin' is not right when he calls him (p. 426) Dharmaraksita. It is due to his wrong translation of Chos skyon which in Sanskrit is Dharmapala and not Dharma-raksita. (Cf. Hjig rten skyon=Lokapala.) As regards Dharmapala's commentary which is only on the last eight chapters some light is thrown by Candrakirtti. He says (I. 1): This Catuh sa ta ka sastra is divided by the present (da Ita) poet, venerable Dharmapala into two parts in accordance with the arrangement (found in the book): one consisting of (two) hundred (of karikas) teaching dharma (chos bstan pa brgya pa=dharmasasanasataka), and the other consisting of (two) hundred (of karikas) regarding disputations (tshod pa brgya pa= vigrahasataka). But now I take this Catuh sa ta ka sastra as one unit. For, in this way the former arrangement is maintained, and at the same time those who require benefit are benefited, as all the subject matters intended to be discussed in the sastra being taken the objects of one's own self as well as of others are fully attained.1 i de hdi da ltahi snan nag (X dnags) mkhan gyis rnam gnis byas bstan bcos bz'i brgya pa de ni da Itahi snan nag (X dnags) mkhan btsun pa chos skyon gis ji Itar dgod pa phy nas rnam pa guis su byas te gcig nichos bstan pa brgya pa nid duho | gzan ni stsod pa brgya pa nid duho || da ni bdag gis gcig tu de ranm dbye bar bya da ni bstan bcos bz'i brgya pa de goig tu byas nas bdag gis rnam par dbye bar byaho || de ltar byas dan bkod pa sna ma yan yons subskyans par hgyur la des phan gdags par bya ba rnams phan btags par yan hgyur te bstan bcos kyi don brjod par hdod pa mthah dag blans pas ran dan gz'an gyi don yan dag par hgrub pahi phyir roli
