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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2025}}
'''Vāgīśvarakīrti''' (also known by the monastic name of '''Śīlakīrti''') was an 11th-century [[History of Buddhism in India|Indian Buddhist]] monk and scholar at the monastery of [[Vikramashila]] in the modern-day state of [[Bihar]].<ref name=Schneider2018>{{cite journal |last1=Schneider |first1=J |title=Vāgīśvarakīrti |journal=Brill's Encyclopedia of Buddhism Online |date=2018 |doi=10.1163/2467-9666_enbo_COM_2070 |url=https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/entries/ENBO/COM-2070.xml|url-access=subscription }}</ref> He played a significant role in the development of [[Vajrayana|esoteric]] Buddhism.<ref name=Szanto2020>{{cite book |last1=Szánto |first1=P.D |title=Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions |chapter=On Vāgīśvarakīrti's Influence in Kashmir and among the Khmer |date=2020 |pages=170–193 |doi=10.1163/9789004432802_009 |isbn=978-90-04-43280-2 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004432802/BP000010.xml?language=en|hdl=1887/3160649 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==Life==
[[file:Vikramashila University.jpg|thumb|Panorama of Vikramaśīla monastery, modern day [[Bhagalpur district]], [[Bihar]].]]
The exact dates of Vāgīśvarakīrti life are uncertain. As per the 16th-century Tibetan monk, [[Taranatha]] who provided a detailed account of his life, Vāgīśvarakīrti was born into a noble family in [[Varanasi]]. He was initiated as a monk by Hāsavajra who taught him [[Cakrasaṃvara Tantra]]. He roamed throughout the [[Magadha]] region and arrived at the monastery of [[Vikramashila]] where he became one of the so-called "six gate-keepers". He was said to have been a contemporary of [[Ratnākaraśānti]].<ref name= Schneider2018 />

Later in his life, he travelled to [[Nepal]]. At a dedication ceremony which took place in the [[Swayambhunath]] temple complex in [[Kathmandu]], Vāgīśvarakīrti was the officiant at a [[Ganachakra]] ritual. As per legends that emerged in the 15th century, he is still said to be residing there.<ref name= Schneider2018 /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Quintman |first1=Andrew |title=Himalayan Passages: Tibetan and Newar Studies in Honor of Hubert Decleer |date=2014 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |page=360 |isbn=978-1-61429-092-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n6QqAwAAQBAJ&dq=Vāgīśvarakīrti&pg=PT271}}</ref>

==Influence==
As per the scholar, Péter-Dániel Szántó, Vāgīśvarakīrti's works were notable enough during his lifetime, to merit contestation and discussion in [[Kashmir]] and in the [[Khmer Empire]].<ref name= Szanto2020 />

The Kashmiri monk, Ratnavajra, launched an attack on Vāgīśvarakīrti in his work, the Gūḍhapadā which is a commentary on the [[Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti]]. He states that he has read Vāgīśvarakīrti's work, the Caturthāloka and believes the author to be an "ignoramus" as he disagrees with the idea of a fourth initiation (Caturthābhiṣeka).<ref name= Szanto2020 />

The Sab Bāk inscription was discovered in what is now [[Nakhon Ratchasima province]], [[Thailand]]. The inscription mixes Sanskrit verses with [[Old Khmer]]. Part of the inscription is believed to echo Vāgīśvarakīrti's words:<ref name= Szanto2020 />

"''In all my existences, may I become a servant of the servant who has supreme devotion and stainless faith in the glorious Samāja. Having thus heard the command of the supreme guru, I respect it with praises, (and) having repeated it with devotion, I always pay homage to the glorious Samāja.''"

Szántó states that this is Vāgīśvarakīrti's "signature verse" and a reference to his works which had spread to the Khmer Empire.<ref name= Szanto2020 />

===White Tara===
[[File:White Tara - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Tibetan painting of White [[Tara (Buddhism)|Tara]]]]
Vāgīśvarakīrti also played a role in the propagation of the worship of White [[Tara (Buddhism)|Tara]] and this deity was the focus of his text, the ''Mṛtyuvañcanopadeśa'' in conjunction with other deities. He was also held to have received a personal revelation from White Tara and is therefore used as a source for her worship in [[Tibet]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keul |first1=Istvan |title=Transformations and Transfer of Tantra in Asia and Beyond |date=2012 |publisher=De Gruyter |page=275 |isbn=978-3-11-025811-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38gxbEft3-4C&dq=V%C4%81g%C4%AB%C5%9Bvarak%C4%ABrti&pg=PA275}}</ref>

==Works==
His surviving works relate to Vajrayana Buddhism and were originally written in [[Sanskrit]]. These are:<ref name= Szanto2020 />

*''Mṛtyuvañcanopadeśa'', an anthology of rites on how to cheat death once the signs have been spotted. This work was translated into [[Tibetic languages|Tibetan]] by [[Atisa]] who knew Vāgīśvarakīrti personally and brought the text with him during his journey to [[Tibet]].<ref name= Schneider2018 />
*''Saṃkṣiptābhiṣekavidhi'', an initiation manual relating to [[Guhyasamāja Tantra]].
*''Tattvaratnāvaloka'', a 21 verse treatise
*''Saptāṅga'', a treatise of which the original Sanskrit version has been lost.

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Monks of Vikramashila]]
[[Category:11th-century Indian monks]]
[[Category:11th-century Buddhist monks]]
[[Category:Indian scholars of Buddhism]]

Vāgīśvarakīrti - Revision history

Krrissh: added new details