Buddhajñānapāda

Buddhajñānapāda (also known as Buddhaśrījñāna, Jñānapāda and Śrījñānapāda) (c. 770–820 CE) was an Indian Buddhist monk and scholar. He is associated with the transmission of the Guhyasamāja Tantra of the Vajrayana school of Buddhism.

He is notable for being the first abbot of the mahavihara of Vikramashila which is now situated in the modern-day state of Bihar. He was probably a guru working in the court of the Pala Empire prior to this and was a disciple of Haribhadra who was the preceptor of Dharmapala. His writings survive in both their original Sanskrit as well as in later Tibetan translations. Life

Sources on Buddhajñānapāda come from his own treatise, entitled the Mukhāgama and also from the subsequent commentaries that followed this, some by his disciples. This work now only survives in its Tibetan translation which has therefore left some uncertainty regarding place names. Following his stay at Nalanda, he then travelled to the region of Oddiyana where he received teachings from a monk called Vilāsavajra. Hagiographic sources then identify that his next teacher was the goddess Lakshmi who instructed him for a period of eight months at a locality that has been identified as possibly the Wakhan corridor. At the time, the Wakhan region was under the occupation of the Tibetan Empire. He also spent time around Rajgir where he composed further works and taught students. He also spent time around Rajgir where he composed further works and taught students. As per Buddhajñānapāda himself, he had eighteen students in his retinue at this time.