Jitāri (940-1000)

Besides the Tibetan rendering of the name Dzitāri we also find Dzetāri = *Jetāri (cf. Tucci 1956 p. 250) and *Guhyajitāri (Dietz, ed. 1981 p. 45). He was a teacher of: Atiśa (cf. Roerich 1949 p. 243) and Durvekamiśra (Hetubinduṭīkāloka (p. 411.2 in Sanghavi and Muni Shri Jinavijayaji, eds. 1949); Dharmottarapradīpa (pp. 149.24 and 257.23 in Malvania, ed. 1955).

Life dates: ca. 940–1000, t.p. Bhāsarvajña (cf. Shirasaki 1978), t.a. Ratnakīrti (Thakur, ed. 1957 31,22, 101,17); cf. also Dietz, ed. 1981 p. 46f. and Tucci 1956, pp. 250–252; on life and works cf. Shirasaki 1987. pp. 139–161.

The sequence of Jitāri's works is undetermined. Thakur (Introduction in Thakur, ed. 1957 p. 18) says that a Prajñāsāra by Jitāri is preserved in Tibetan translation, but Steinkellner and Much 1995 p. 86 say they do not know anything about this.

(B. Kellner, 07 August 2019) Photocopies of two Sanskrit manuscripts of works by Jitāri were identified in the collection of the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing. These attest to new and earlier unknown works, and in some cases to works which may be already known works under a different title. For a discussion of these materials see Chu and Franco 2016.