• The Collection
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  • Discourses
  • General Sūtra Section

This rendering does not include the entire published text

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ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་མདོ།

The King of Samādhis Sūtra
Notes

Samādhi­rāja­sūtra
འཕགས་པ་ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་རང་བཞིན་མཉམ་པ་ཉིད་རྣམ་པར་སྤྲོས་པ་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa chos thams cad kyi rang bzhin mnyam pa nyid rnam par spros pa ting nge ’dzin gyi rgyal po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The King of Samādhis, the Revealed Equality of the Nature of All Phenomena”
Ārya­sarva­dharma­svabhāva­samatāvipañcita­samādhi­rāja­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra
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Toh 127

Degé Kangyur, vol. 55 (mdo sde, da), folios 1.b–170.b

Translated by Peter Alan Roberts
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2018
Current version v 1.45.25 (2022)
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84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· History of the Sūtra
· The Contents
· The Translation
· Outline
tr. The Translation
+ 40 chapters- 40 chapters
1. The Introduction
2. Śālendrarāja
3. Praise of the Buddha’s Qualities
4. Samādhi
5. Ghoṣadatta
6. Cultivating the Samādhi
7. The Attainment of Patience
8. Buddha Abhāva­samudgata
9. The Patience of the Profound Dharma
10. The Entry into the City
11. Becoming a Keeper of the Sūtra
12. The Training According to the Samādhi
13. The Teaching of the Samādhi
14. The Buddha’s Smile
15. The Elucidation of the Buddha’s Smile
16. The Past
17. The Entranceway to the Samādhi That Is Taught by Many Buddhas
18. The Entrustment of the Samādhi
19. The Teaching of the Inconceivable Dharma of the Buddha
20. Indra­ketu­dhvaja­rāja
21. The Past
22. The Teaching on the Body
23. The Teaching on the Tathāgata’s Body
24. The Inconceivable Tathāgata
25. Engaging in Discernment
26. Rejoicing
27. The Benefits of Generosity
28. The Teaching on Correct Conduct
29. Ten Benefits
30. Tejaguṇarāja
31. Benefits
32. The Teaching on the Nature of All Phenomena
33. The Benefits of Possessing the Sūtra
34. Kṣemadatta
35. Jñānāvatī
36. Supuṣpacandra
37. Teaching the Aggregate of Correct Conduct
38. Yaśaḥprabha
39. Restraint of the Body, Speech, and Mind
40. [Untitled]
c. Colophon
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 5 sections- 5 sections
· Tibetan Editions of the Samādhirājasūtra
· Sanskrit Editions of the Samādhirājasūtra
· Other canonical references
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Kangyur
· Tengyur
· Non-Canonical Tibetan Sources
· Western Publications
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

This sūtra, much quoted in later Buddhist writings for its profound statements especially on the nature of emptiness, relates a long teaching given by the Buddha mainly in response to questions put by a young layman, Candraprabha. The samādhi that is the subject of the sūtra, in spite of its name, primarily consists of various aspects of conduct, motivation, and the understanding of emptiness; it is also a way of referring to the sūtra itself. The teaching given in the sūtra is the instruction to be dedicated to the possession and promulgation of the samādhi, and to the necessary conduct of a bodhisattva, which is exemplified by a number of accounts from the Buddha’s previous lives. Most of the teaching takes place on Vulture Peak Mountain, with an interlude recounting the Buddha’s invitation and visit to Candraprabha’s home in Rājagṛha, where he continues to teach Candraprabha before returning to Vulture Peak Mountain. In one subsequent chapter the Buddha responds to a request by Ānanda, and the text concludes with a commitment by Ānanda to maintain this teaching in the future.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

Translated from the Tibetan, with reference to Sanskrit editions, by Peter Alan Roberts. The Chinese consultant was Ling-Lung Chen. Edited by Emily Bower and Ben Gleason.

This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.


ac.­2

The generous donation of an anonymous donor, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.


i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Samādhi­rāja­sūtra, or King of Samādhis Sūtra, is one of the earlier Mahāyāna sūtras to appear in India. It contains teachings on emptiness, bodhisattva conduct, and mendicancy, as well as tales of previous lifetimes and prophecies for the future. Its teaching on emptiness is much quoted by such Mādhyamaka masters as Candrakīrti and Śāntideva, as well as in later Buddhist literature.

History of the Sūtra

The Contents

The Translation

Outline


The Translation
The Mahāyāna Sūtra
The King of Samādhis, the Revealed Equality of the Nature of All Phenomena

1.
Chapter 1

The Introduction

[F.1.b] [B1]


1.­1

I pay homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas.8


1.­2

Thus have I heard at one time: The Bhagavān was residing at Vulture Peak Mountain in Rājagṛha together with a great bhikṣu saṅgha of a full hundred thousand bhikṣus, and together with eighty quintillion9 bodhisattvas,10 all of whom had one rebirth remaining, were renowned for their higher cognitions,11 and had gathered there from the worlds in the ten directions; they had complete mastery12 of the dhāraṇīs13 and sūtras; they satisfied all beings with the gift of the Dharma; they were skilled in speaking of the wisdom of the higher cognitions; they had attained the highest perfection of all the highest perfections; [F.2.a] they were skilled in the knowledge of remaining in all bodhisattva samādhis and samāpattis; they had been praised, extolled, and lauded by all the buddhas;14 they were skilled in miraculously going to all buddha realms; they were skilled in the knowledge of terrifying all māras;15 they were skilled in the correct knowledge of the nature of all phenomena; they were skilled in the knowledge of the higher and lower capabilities of all beings; they were skilled in the knowledge of accomplishing the activity of offering to all the buddhas; they were unstained by any of the worldly concerns; they had perfectly adorned bodies, speech, and minds;16 they wore the armor of great love and great compassion; they had great undiminishing diligence throughout countless eons; they roared the great lion’s roar; they could not be defeated by any opponent;17 they were sealed with nonregression; and they had received the consecration of the Dharma from all buddhas.18 They were the bodhisattva mahāsattvas Meru, Sumeru, Mahāmeru,19 Meru­śikhara­dhara,20 Meru­pradīpa­rāja, Merukūṭa, Merudhvaja, Merurāja,21 Meru­śikhara­saṁghaṭṭana­rāja,22 Merusvara, Megharāja, Dundubhisvara, Ratnapāṇi,23 Ratnākara, Ratnaketu, Ratnaśikhara, Ratnasaṁbhava, Ratnaprabhāsa, Ratnayaṣṭi, Ratna­mudrā­hasta, Ratnavyūha, Ratnajāli, Ratnaprabha, Ratnadvīpa, [F.2.b] Ratiṁkara, Dharmavyūha, Vyūharāja, Lakṣaṇa­samalaṁkṛta, Svaravyūha, Svara­viśuddhi­prabha, Ratnakūṭa, Ratnacūḍa,24 Daśa­śata­raśmihutārci,25 Jyotirasa, Candrabhānu, Saha­cittotpāda­dharma­cakra­pravartin, and Śubha­kanaka­viśuddhi­prabha, the bodhisatta mahāsattva Satatam­abhayaṁdad,26 and all the bodhisattva mahāsattvas of the Good Eon, such as the bodhisattva mahāsattva Ajita,27 and the sixty with incomparable minds,28 such as Mañjuśrī, and the sixteen good beings,29 such as Bhadrapāla,30 and the Four Mahārājas and the other Cāturmahā­rāja­kāyika devas, and so on31 up until Brahmā and the other Brahmakāyika devas. In addition there were also devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans, who were all illustrious32 and renowned as being very powerful.33


2.
Chapter 2

Śālendrarāja

2.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, I remember that in the past, when I was practicing the conduct of a bodhisattva, I became a cakravartin. I desired this samādhi and I desired to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. For many hundred thousand quintillions172 of eons on this Vulture Peak Mountain I served, venerated, revered, honored, worshiped, and made offerings to many countless, innumerable tathāgatas, arhats, perfectly enlightened buddhas with the presentation of many hundred thousand quintillions of every kind of jewel, and various kinds of beautiful flowers, incense, perfume, garlands, ointments, powders, parasols, banners, flags, music, musical instruments, flags of victory, and precious monasteries.173


3.
Chapter 3

Praise of the Buddha’s Qualities

3.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, therefore, if bodhisattva mahāsattvas wish to teach the buddha qualities as described by the Tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha, without any loss of meaning or words, and for all their words to come forth as those of the Buddha, then those bodhisattva mahāsattvas, young man, [F.10.a] should, for the sake of all beings, obtain197 this samādhi, understand198 it, preserve it,199 recite it to others,200 promote it,201 proclaim it,202 chant it,203 meditate on it with unadulterated204 meditation, promulgate it,205 and make it widely known to others.206


4.
Chapter 4

Samādhi

4.­1

Then the youth Candraprabha [F.12.b] rose from his seat, removed his robe from one shoulder, and, kneeling on his right knee with palms placed together, he bowed toward the Bhagavān and made this request: “If the Bhagavān will give me an opportunity to seek answers to them, I have a few questions for the Bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha.”


5.
Chapter 5

Ghoṣadatta

5.­1

Then the Bhagavān again addressed the youth Candraprabha, saying, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should think that they are like someone whose hair and clothes are on fire, and they should cast off father, mother, [F.14.b] son, daughter, family, kinsmen, relatives, kindred, wife, and so on, as if they were fire, throw away all the pleasures of a kingdom as if they were a lump of phlegm, turn toward solitude, and depart from home.


6.
Chapter 6

Cultivating the Samādhi

6.­1

The Bhagavān now said to the youth Candraprabha,300 “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should cultivate this samādhi.

6.­2

“Young man, what is the cultivation of this samādhi? [F.18.b] Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas with a compassionate mind are dedicated to making offerings to the tathāgatas, whether living or passed into nirvāṇa, of Dharma robes, alms, seat and bedding, medicines for when ill, and of monastic utensils, and of flowers, incense, perfume, garlands, ointments, aromatic powders, clothing, parasols, banners, and flags, and of music and musical instruments. They dedicate that root of merit to the attainment of samādhi. They do not make offerings to a tathāgata with the hope for anything at all‍—not with the hope for anything they desire, nor with the hope for any enjoyment, nor with the hope for a higher existence, nor with the hope for followers‍—but do so with the Dharma in mind. They do not even, with that wish, perceive the Tathāgata as the dharmakāya, let alone perceiving him as the rūpakāya.


7.
Chapter 7

The Attainment of Patience

7.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should become skilled in the wisdoms of the three kinds of patience. They should know the first patience. They should know the second patience. They should know the third patience. They should become skilled in the differences between the three kinds of patience and skilled in the differences between the wisdoms of the three kinds of patience.


8.
Chapter 8

Buddha Abhāva­samudgata

8.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should become skilled in the wisdom of the nonexistent nature of all phenomena.

8.­2

“Young man, what is being skilled in the wisdom of the nonexistent nature of all phenomena? Bodhisattva mahāsattvas know that all phenomena have no existence, have no essence, have no attributes, have no characteristics, have no origin, have no cessation, have no words, are empty, are primordial peace, and are pure by nature.


9.
Chapter 9

The Patience of the Profound Dharma

9.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, [F.24.b] “Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood and liberate all beings from the ocean of existence should hear this king of samādhis, in which the equality of the nature of all phenomena is revealed, which is praised by all the buddhas and is the mother of the tathāgatas. They should obtain it, preserve it, understand it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, promulgate it, and make it widely known to others.


10.
Chapter 10

The Entry into the City

10.­1

The Bhagavān then said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, you should be someone who makes practice essential, and always trains in that way. Why is that? Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who make practice essential will not even find it difficult to attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, not to mention attaining this samādhi.”


11.
Chapter 11

Becoming a Keeper of the Sūtra

11.­1

The Bhagavān came to the street on which was the home of the youth Candraprabha, and soon arrived at the home of the youth Candraprabha. Once he had arrived, he sat on the seat prepared for him. The saṅgha of bodhisattvas and the saṅgha of bhikṣus also sat on the appropriate seats that had been arranged for each of them.

11.­2

Then the youth Candraprabha, knowing that the Bhagavān, the saṅgha of bodhisattvas, and the saṅgha of bhikṣus were seated, [F.39.b] himself presented and served a series of great offerings: numerous excellent foods, with hundreds of flavors to savor as they chewed, licked, sucked, and drank.


12.
Chapter 12

The Training According to the Samādhi

12.­1

“Young man, those are the qualities and benefits that bodhisattvas who know the nature of all phenomena will have. They will describe the true, excellent qualities of the tathāgatas. They will not falsely say that which is untrue about the tathāgatas. Why is that? It is because they know perfectly that nature, which is the nature through which a tathāgata comes to be.531 They know the infinite qualities of a buddha. Why is that? Young man, the qualities of a buddha are infinite, inconceivable, beyond thought. They cannot be conceived or measured. Why is that? The mind, young man, is taught to be without a nature of its own,532 to be without form.533 Young man, that nature of the mind is also the nature of the qualities of a buddha. That nature of the qualities of a buddha is also the nature of the tathāgatas, and that is the nature of all phenomena.


13.
Chapter 13

The Teaching of the Samādhi

13.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should be skilled in teaching this samādhi.

13.­2

“Young man, what is the teaching of this samādhi? It is the true nature of all phenomena; it is equality; it is the absence of inequality; it is devoid of notions; it is devoid of concepts; it is devoid of creation; it is devoid of arising; it is devoid of production; it is devoid of cessation; it is the termination of notions, concepts, and assumptions; it is devoid of an object for the mind; it is devoid of a focus of the mind;547 it is the termination of designations; it is the termination of concepts from analysis; it is the termination of desire, anger, and ignorance; it is without a limited or limitless focus of the mind; it is the termination of any focus of the mind; it is the knowledge of the nature of the skandhas, dhātus, and āyatanas; it is the state of accomplishing the field of activity that is the performance of the conduct of mindfulness, understanding, comprehension, conscience, and stability; it is the level of freedom from corruptions;548 it is the level of peace; it is the termination of all conceptual elaboration; it is the training of all bodhisattvas; it is the field of activity of all tathāgatas; [F.45.a] and it is the perfection of all good qualities.


14.
Chapter 14

The Buddha’s Smile

14.­1

Then the youth Candraprabha rose from his seat, removed his robe from one shoulder, and, kneeling on his right knee, [F.46.b] with palms placed together he bowed toward the Bhagavān and said to him,569 “Bhagavān, it is marvelous that the Bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha has taught the equality that is the nature of all phenomena, which is the samādhi that all bodhisattvas train in.


15.
Chapter 15

The Elucidation of the Buddha’s Smile

15.­1

At that time the Bhagavān spoke these appropriate verses to Bodhisattva Maitreya:

15.­2
“This youth, Candraprabha,
Has praised the Buddha with unequaled joy.
He described the unique superior qualities of the buddhas.
All the time he is reciting their praises.613 {1}
15.­3
“In this very city of Rājagṛha in the past
He has seen ten thousand million buddhas.
In the presence of all those jinas
He asked about this supreme samādhi of peace. {2}

16.
Chapter 16

The Past

16.­1

The Bhagavān then said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas thus wish to liberate all beings from all the suffering of existence. They wish to establish beings in the noble, unsurpassable bliss and joy of samādhi. Therefore they should hear this king of samādhis, the revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena, obtain it, understand it, preserve it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, promulgate it, and make it widely known to others.


17.
Chapter 17

The Entranceway to the Samādhi That Is Taught by Many Buddhas

17.­1

When the Bhagavān had finished speaking, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya, who was seated there, in his mind recited this verse to the Bhagavān.637

17.­2
“I am going, Tathāgata,638 to the king of mountains,
Gṛdhrakūṭa, which is always the residence of the buddhas.
When I have gone there, lamp of the world,639
I will make inconceivable offerings to you.” {i}
17.­3

The Bhagavān knew the thoughts that were in the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya’s mind, and from his own mind sent this verse to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya:


18.
Chapter 18

The Entrustment of the Samādhi

18.­1

The Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, in that way know that there are four beneficial qualities possessed by bodhisattva mahāsattvas who obtain this samādhi, understand it, preserve it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, and make it widely known to others.

18.­2

“What are those four beneficial qualities? They will be unsurpassable in merit, they will be undefeatable by opponents, they will have unlimited wisdom, and they will have unending confidence of speech.


19.
Chapter 19

The Teaching of the Inconceivable Dharma of the Buddha

19.­1

The Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, in that way bodhisattva mahāsattvas, having heard the inconceivable and measureless benefits of the qualities that come from the samādhi, the revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena, through wishing not to be fearful, wishing not to be terrified, and not to be gripped by terror, will become learned in the teaching of the inconceivable Dharma of the Buddha. Aspire to the inconceivable Dharma of the Buddha. Be wise in asking questions about the inconceivable Dharma of the Buddha. Be wise in seeking the inconceivable Dharma of the Buddha. Do not be fearful, do not be terrified, and do not be gripped by terror on hearing the inconceivable Dharma of the Buddha.” [F.67.b]


20.
Chapter 20

Indra­ketu­dhvaja­rāja

20.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, in that way bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this Dharma teaching of entering great compassion and wish to attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood quickly should rely upon all roots of merit, training, qualities, and completely pure conduct.

20.­2

“Bodhisattva mahāsattvas who have few involvements, avoid bad companions, rely on kalyāṇamitras, have an inquiring nature, unrelentingly seek the Dharma, have the Dharma as their goal, desire the Dharma, delight in the Dharma, obtain the Dharma, and practice the Dharma in accord with the Dharma will, young man, develop great compassion for beings and will develop the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment.


21.
Chapter 21

The Past

21.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas should entertain no misgivings about all the teachings on the root of merits, the training, and the qualities.759 They should have few involvements, avoid bad companions, rely on kalyāṇamitras, have an inquiring nature, unrelentingly seek the Dharma, have the Dharma as their goal, desire the Dharma, delight in the Dharma, obtain the Dharma, and practice the Dharma in accord with the Dharma. They should perceive every buddha and bodhisattva as the teacher. They should with joy and veneration perceive as the teacher the person from whom they hear this Dharma teaching.


22.
Chapter 22

The Teaching on the Body

22.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should have no attachment to their life or body. Why is that? Because, young man, beings accomplish bad actions due to attachment to their lives and bodies.783


23.
Chapter 23

The Teaching on the Tathāgata’s Body

23.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should not know the Tathāgata to be the rūpakāya.785 Why is that? It is because the Buddha Bhagavān manifests because of the dharmakāya and does not manifest because of the rūpakāya. [F.74.a]


24.
Chapter 24

The Inconceivable Tathāgata

24.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, [F.76.b] “Young man, aspiring bodhisattva mahāsattvas think, ‘How can I make manifest the four discernments? What are these four? They are the discernment of meaning, the discernment of phenomena, the discernment of definitions, and the discernment of eloquence. I shall manifest these four!’ On having this thought, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas should obtain this samādhi, understand it, preserve it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, and make it widely known to others.


25.
Chapter 25

Engaging in Discernment

25.­1

“Young man, how do bodhisattva mahāsattvas who practice that discernment of phenomena, who view phenomena as phenomena, attain the highest, complete enlightenment?

“Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who practice that discernment of phenomena, who view phenomena as phenomena, do not perceive enlightenment as other than form. They do not approach enlightenment as other than form. They do not seek enlightenment as other than form. They do not attain enlightenment as other than form. They do not inspire beings to an enlightenment that is other than form. They do not see a tathāgata as other than form. They see a tathāgata in this way: ‘The Tathāgata is the fearlessness that is the nature of form.’ They do not see the tathāgata as other than form, as other than the nature of form. They do not see the nature of form as other than the tathāgata. The nature of that which is called form and that of the tathāgata are nondual. The bodhisattva mahāsattvas who see in that way are engaging in the discernment of phenomena.


26.
Chapter 26

Rejoicing

26.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should be skillful in methods. [F.87.a]882

26.­2

“Young man, in what way should bodhisattva mahāsattvas be skillful in methods? For that, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas focus their minds upon all beings. Those bodhisattva mahāsattvas rejoice in whatever roots of merit and accumulations of merit all beings have. Three times every day and three times every night they rejoice in whatever roots of merit and accumulations of merit all beings have, and the roots of merit and accumulation of merit that come from their taking omniscience as the focus of their aspiration they donate to all beings.


27.
Chapter 27

The Benefits of Generosity

27.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, as it has been said, ‘Be careful,’ you, young man, should consequently train in that way. Why is that? Because, young man, for bodhisattva mahāsattvas who are careful, the highest, complete enlightenment is not difficult to attain, let alone this samādhi.

27.­2

“Young man, in what way should bodhisattva mahāsattvas be careful? For that, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas should have perfectly pure conduct. Young man, in what way should bodhisattva mahāsattvas have perfectly pure conduct? For that, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who have perfectly pure conduct, never separating from an all-knowing mind, should practice the six perfections. Listen, for I shall teach you their benefits.


28.
Chapter 28

The Teaching on Correct Conduct

28.­1

“Young man, there are ten benefits for bodhisattva mahāsattvas from perfectly pure, correct conduct. What are the ten benefits? They are: [1] they devote890 themselves to wisdom and perfect it; [2] they follow the example of the buddhas; [3] they do not criticize the wise; [4] they do not waver from their vows; [5] they maintain their practice; [6] they turn away891 from saṃsāra; [7] they are led to attain nirvāṇa;892 [8] they live without faults arising; [F.89.a] [9] they attain samādhi; and [10] they will never be poor.893


29.
Chapter 29

Ten Benefits

29.­1

“Young man, there are ten benefits for bodhisattva mahāsattvas from maintaining patience and being kind. [F.89.b] What are these ten? They are: [1] they are not burned by fire; [2] they are not slain by weapons; [3] they are not affected by poison; [4] they do not drown in water; [5] the devas protect them; [6] they attain a body adorned by the primary signs of a great being; [7] all the doorways to their rebirth in lower existences are closed; [8] it is not difficult for them to be reborn in the paradise of Brahmā; [9] they are happy day and night; and [10] their physical sensations of comfort and pleasure are never lost.


30.
Chapter 30

Tejaguṇarāja

30.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, you should train in this way, thinking, ‘I will abandon even the pleasures of the kingship of a divine cakravartin and enter homelessness.’

30.­2

“Young man, having entered homelessness you should maintain the disciplines of mendicancy, live in solitude, and develop perfect mildness and patience.


31.
Chapter 31

Benefits

31.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who think, ‘I shall understand the languages of all beings and, knowing their higher or lesser capabilities, I will teach them the Dharma,’ those bodhisattva mahāsattvas should listen to the samādhi, the revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena, learn it, understand it, keep it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, promulgate it, and make it widely known to others.”


32.
Chapter 32

The Teaching on the Nature of All Phenomena

32.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wonder, ‘How can I know the nature of all phenomena?’ should listen to this samādhi, the revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena, learn it, understand it, keep it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, promulgate it, and make it widely known to others.”


33.
Chapter 33

The Benefits of Possessing the Sūtra

33.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish to train in purifying1056 the great higher cognition of all phenomena should listen to the samādhi, the revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena, learn it, understand it, keep it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, promulgate it, and make it widely known to others.1057


34.
Chapter 34

Kṣemadatta

34.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha,1161 “Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should abide in the absence of attributes and be dedicated to making vast offerings to a present tathāgata or to the stūpa of a tathāgata who has passed into nirvāṇa.


35.
Chapter 35

Jñānāvatī

35.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for this samādhi, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should plant roots of merit and apply themselves to practicing generosity through the Dharma or generosity through material things.

35.­2

“Those bodhisattva mahāsattvas should dedicate that generosity through four prayers of dedication.


36.
Chapter 36

Supuṣpacandra

36.­1

Then at that time Brother Ānanda rose from his seat, [F.125.b] removed his robe from one shoulder, and, kneeling on his right knee, with palms placed together he bowed toward the Bhagavān and made this request: “If the Bhagavān will give me an opportunity to seek answers to them, I have a few questions for the Bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha.”

36.­2

The Bhagavān addressed Brother Ānanda, saying, “That is why, Ānanda, I am seated upon this seat. Ask whatever question you wish to the Tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly enlightened Buddha, and I shall gratify you with answers to each and every question you have asked.”


37.
Chapter 37

Teaching the Aggregate of Correct Conduct

37.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood should hear the samādhi, the revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena, should obtain it, study it, keep it, recite it, disseminate it, transmit it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, and in other ways make it widely known. They should also maintain the aggregate of correct conduct.”


38.
Chapter 38

Yaśaḥprabha

38.­1

Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish for these and countless other wonderful1337 and marvelous bodhisattva qualities, and wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood, should hear this revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena samādhi and obtain it, understand it, preserve it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, promulgate it,1338 and make it widely known to others. [F.146.a]


39.
Chapter 39

Restraint of the Body, Speech, and Mind

39.­1

Then the Bhagavān [F.151.a] said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, you should train by thinking, ‘I shall have self-control through physical restraint.’

39.­2

“Young man, what is meant by physical restraint? That which is called ‘physical restraint’ is the physical restraint through which bodhisattva mahāsattvas are free of attachment to all phenomena.


40.
Chapter 40

[Untitled]

40.­1

“Young man, what is purity of action? Seeing the three existences as being like a dream and becoming free of desire. Young man, that is purity of action.

40.­2

“Young man, what is the transcendence of the mind’s fixation on perceptions? It is knowing that the skandhas, dhātus, and āyatanas are like illusions, and renouncing them. That is the transcendence of the mind’s fixation on perceptions.


c.

Colophon

c.­1

The Indian preceptor Śrīlendrabodhi, and the chief editor Lotsawa Bandé Dharmatāśīla, translated and revised this work. It was later modified and finalized in terms of the new translation.


ab.

Abbreviations

BHS Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.
Chinese Sixth century Chinese translation by Narendrayaśas (see introduction, i.­7).
Commentary Mañjuśrīkīrti (see bibliography).
Gilgit Sixth to seventh century Sanskrit manuscript (see introduction i.­9 and bibliography under Dutt).
Hodgson Later Nepalese Sanskrit manuscript (see introduction i.­9 and bibliography under Dutt).
Matsunami Matsunami’s Sanskrit edition (see bibliography).
Shastri Later Nepalese Sanskrit manuscript (see introduction i.­9 and bibliography under Dutt).
Vaidya Vaidya’s Sanskrit edition (see bibliography).

n.

Notes

n.­1
According to the BHS vipañcita. The Tibetan translates as rnam par spros pa.
n.­2
See Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Teaching on the Effulgence of Light, Toh 55 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022).
n.­3
Toh 129, see bibliography.
n.­4
Brian Houghton Hodgson (1801–1894) was a linguist, ethnologist, naturalist, and diplomat who lived in Nepal from 1824 to 1844, becoming British Resident; among his many other activities, he studied and collected Sanskrit Buddhist texts. Haraprasad Shastri (1853–1931) was an Indian Sanskrit scholar and historian who visited Nepal several times, also collecting and publishing manuscripts. Both scholars were associated with the Asiatic Society in Kolkata. The Sanskrit edition of the sūtra published by Dutt (as one of a series centered on the Gilgit manuscripts; see bibliography) is not only based on the Gilgit manuscript, but also represents the Hodgson and Shastri manuscripts, which Dutt refers to, respectively, as manuscripts A and B.
n.­5
Vibhuticandra; dpal bde mchog gi dkyil ’khor kyi cho ga; Śrī-samvara-maṇḍala-vidhi. Toh 1511, Degé Tengyur, Vol. 22, (rgyud, zha), 322b. 308b–334a.
n.­6
The Yogacāra tradition of Asaṅga and his followers has philosophical viewpoints quite distinct from those of the Mādhyamika tradition, of which Candrakīrti was perhaps the most uncompromising proponent.
n.­7
The Tibetan of the quote is: nga ’das lo ni nyis stong na / gdong dmar yul du bstan pa ’byung / spyan ras gzigs kyi gdul byar ’gyur / de yi bstan pa’i snyigs ma la / byang chub sems dpa’ seng ge’i sgra / karma pa zhes ba ba ’byung / ting ’dzin dbang thob ’gro ba ’dul / mthong thos dran regs bde la bkod (Rinchen Palzang, p. 650).
n.­8
This line of homage, as is customary for Kangyur texts, was added by the Tibetan translators, and therefore does not appear in the Sanskrit or Chinese. The Gilgit Sanskrit manuscript has 12 initial verses, Hodgson 14 verses, and Shastri 43 verses, none of which are in the Tibetan.
n.­9
This number depends on whether niyuta is taken to mean “one million,” as in Classical Sanskrit, or “a hundred thousand million,” as is found in BHS. The Tibetan has chosen the latter meaning, translating it as khrag khrig. Therefore the resulting number in Tibetan is “ten million [times] a hundred thousand million times eighty,” i.e., eighty million million million (eighty quintillion in the American or short scale system) (bye ba khrag khrig phrag brgyad bcu, apparently translating koṭiniyutena aśityā). The translation of the commentary by Mañjuśrīkīrti, however, has khrag khrig phrag brgyad bcu: “a hundred thousand million times eighty,” which would be eight million million, i.e., eight trillion. The Vaidya Sanskrit edition has niyuta­śata­sahasrena aśītyā which would be literally “a hundred thousand million [times] a hundred [times] a thousand times eighty,” which comes to eight hundred thousand million million, i.e., eight hundred thousand trillion. However if niyuta is taken as only one million, this would be eight million million, i.e., eight trillion, which would agree with the resulting number in Mañjuśrīkīrti’s commentary. The Dutt edition of the Gilgit manuscript has aśityā ca bodhisattva-niyutaiḥ and accordingly the translation of Gómez et al. is “eighty million,” where niyuta has presumably been given the value of one million. The Chinese simply transliterates as na-yo-ta. The Chinese tradition gives numerous, widely differing explanations of what this number means.
n.­10
In the Chinese the description of the bodhisattvas and the list of names do not appear. The Chinese continues at this point with Ajita.
n.­11
According to the BHS abhi­jñābhijñātair. The Tibetan, translating both abhijña and abhijñāta as mngon par shes pa, has mngon par shes pas mngon par shes pa. However, the translation of the commentary has a preferable translation of the second abhijñāta: rab tu grags pa.
n.­12
According to the BHS gatiṃgata. The Tibetan translates as rtogs par khong du chud pa.
n.­13
According to the commentary these are not only the dhāraṇī in recited form, but comprise the four kinds of retention (dhāraṇī): the recited dhāraṇī sentences and phrases themselves, the retention of the memory of the words of all teachings given, the retention of the memory of the meaning of these teachings, and the retention of the realization gained through meditation on that meaning.
n.­14
According to the Tibetan, though the Sanskrit compound could also be interpreted to mean “who had praised, extolled, and lauded all the buddhas.”
n.­15
According to the Tibetan and the commentary. The Sanskrit could also be interpreted, as in Gómez et al., as “knowing all the terrors [that come from] the māras.”
n.­16
According to the commentary, this means “adorned by the ten good actions: three of body, four of speech, and three of mind,” or, among the primary and secondary signs of a great being: “the voice of Brahmā, and the mind’s realization of the nature of beings so that they may be guided.”
n.­17
According to most Kangyurs, the commentary, and the Sanskrit. The Degé has kyi instead of kyis.
n.­18
According to the commentary, this means the bodhisattvas are on the tenth bhūmi, as taught in the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis. The ten-bhūmi system does not appear in the Gilgit version or the Chinese but does in the later Sanskrit versions and the Tibetan.
n.­19
According to the Sanskrit. Absent from the Tibetan.
n.­20
According to the Tibetan lhun po’i rtse mo ’dzin and Matsunami. Vaidya: Meruśikhariṁdhara. Dutt: Meruśikharindhara.
n.­21
According to the Tibetan lhun po’i rgyal po and Matsunami. Dutt: Merugāja. Does not appear in Hodgson.
n.­22
According to the Tibetan and Matsunami. Dutt: Meruśikhare saṁghaṭṭanarājena. Hodgson: Meruśikhare saṃghaḍanagajena. Shastri: Meruśikhare saṃghaṭanagajena.
n.­23
According to the Sanskrit. Absent in the Tibetan.
n.­24
According to the Sanskrit. Absent in the Tibetan.
n.­25
According to the Tibetan (nyi ma me’i ’od ’phro can) and the Hodgson. The Tibetan takes daśaśataraśmi, “a hundred thousand rays,” as an epithet of the sun and translates it simply as nyi ma (“sun”). Gilgit and Shastri: Daśaśataraśmikṛtārci with huta (“fire,” equivalent to the Tibetan me) replaced by kṛta (“made,” “created”).
n.­26
According to the Tibetan and Hodgson. Vaidya: Satatam­abhayaṁdadāna. Dutt has both versions.
n.­27
Another name for Maitreya, the bodhisattva who will be the fifth buddha of the Good Eon.
n.­28
According to the Sanskrit anupamacitta. The Tibetan has dpe med sems dpa’, whereas one would expect dpe med sems pa. The Sūtra of the Samādhi of the Seal of the Wisdom of the Tathāgatas (see bibliography) refers to this group as sems dpa’ dpe med pa, naming two of them: Pramodyarāja (mchog tu dga’ ba’i rgyal po) and Mañjuśrī (Degé Kangyur, vol. 55, F.248.a). The Sūtra of Possessing the Roots of Goodness (see bibliography) refers to byang chub sems dpa’ dpe med pa sems pa (“bodhisattvas with incomparable minds”), with Bhadrapāla being the one that is named (Degé Kangyur, vol. 48, F.48.a). Bhadrapāla is also listed as one of a group of five hundred bodhisattvas in that sūtra (F.22.b).
n.­29
This is referencing a group of beings that is listed in the White Lotus of the Good Dharma Sūtra (Degé Kangyur, vol. 67, 2.b). In that sūtra Bhadrapāla is also listed as one of a group of fifty bodhisattvas (F.142.b).
n.­30
A bodhisattva who appears prominently in certain sūtras, such as The Samādhi of the Presence of the Buddhas, and perhaps also the merchant of that name who is the principal interlocutor in the Sūtra of the Questions of Bhadrapāla the Merchant (see bibliography).
n.­31
This refers to the standard list of god realms beginning with the lowest, that of the Four Mahārājas.
n.­32
According to the Sanskrit udārodārair, which repeats udāra. The Tibetan translates as “vast and illustrious.”
n.­33
According to the Sanskrit, which uses repetition to state that each one of them has that quality, maheśākhya­maheśākhyair. The Tibetan translates as “very powerful and renowned to be very powerful.”
n.­34
Tibetan: bkur stir bya ba. Sanskrit: satkṛta.
n.­35
Tibetan: bla mar bya ba. Sanskrit: gurukṛta.
n.­36
Tibetan: ri mor bya ba. Sanskrit: mānita.
n.­37
Tibetan: mchod par bya ba. Sanskrit: pūjita.
n.­38
Tibetan: rjed par bya ba. Sanskrit: arcita.
n.­39
Tibetan: gsol ba. Sanskrit: apacāyita.
n.­40
According to the Sanskrit repetition of lokasya lokasya.
n.­41
Tibetan: phyag bya ba. Sanskrit: vandanīya.
n.­42
This epithet “youth” or “young man” has been translated by others as part of his name, resulting in “Candraprabhakumāra.” However, in the Sanskrit it is not compounded as it would be in a name, but is clearly in adjectival apposition. Kumāra can also have the meaning of “prince” and is so translated in the translation of the Gilgit manuscript. However, there is no indication that he is a prince, and therefore it more likely has its usual meaning of “a youth.”
n.­43
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit at this point has in addition, “I am a perfectly enlightened buddha,” which does not appear in the Chinese or the Tibetan.
n.­44
According to the Tibetan, Chinese, and later Sanskrit manuscripts. The Gilgit has an additional part in the sentence: “there is nothing among all phenomena in the endless, infinite worlds….”
n.­45
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit here has a number of adjectives describing his state of joy.
n.­46
According to the Tibetan gzhal med. The BHS has atuliyu (“unequaled”).
n.­47
According to the Sanskrit śāṭhyaṁ mama na vidyate.
n.­48
According to the Sanskrit sākṣī and the Tibetan dpang in the Lithang and the Lhasa Kangyurs; other Kangyurs have dbang (“power”).
n.­49
According to the Tibetan gces spras bgyid. The BHS has bahuṃkāra (“beneficial”).
n.­50
According to the Tibetan zhe sdang and Matsunami. The Dutt and Vaidya have doṣa, which is the BHS equivalent of the Classical Sanskrit dveṣa (“anger”), while the Classical Sanskrit doṣa means “fault.”
n.­51
Only this half-verse appears in the Hodgson and the Tibetan. In the Chinese, no part of this verse is present. The Shastri manuscript has a second half to this verse: “Will be without arrogance, desire, anger, and ignorance, / And will practice conduct in which all faults have ceased / So that his body becomes like space, / And all phenomena are destroyed.” The Matsunami version of this last line has prakṛti-prabhāsa instead of pramṛtiprahāra: “And all phenomena will have a radiant nature.”
n.­52
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan has: “How is there increase through wisdoms?”
n.­53
Different words are translated as quality and qualities here: the one quality is the Sanskrit dharma (Tibetan chos), which has a wide range of other meanings, while for qualities the word is the more specific guṇa (Tibetan yon tan).
n.­54
According to the Tibetan and the commentary, which must have translated from caraṇapāṇatalāḥ (“feet and hands”) instead of caraṇavaratalāḥ (“soles of the perfect feet”) as in the Sanskrit. The Chinese has only “soles.”
n.­55
The singular is according to the Sanskrit. In the commentary it is in the plural.
n.­56
From this point on in the Chinese translation, the qualities are grouped into 21 sets with 10 qualities in each set.
n.­57
The explanation of these first three qualities (counting the three kinds of restraint as one) will form chapter 39, and all of the others are explained in chapter 40.
n.­58
According to the commentary and the definitions in chapter 40. The commentary states that this is engagement in actions in order to benefit beings.
n.­59
According to the Tibetan gsal ba, the commentary’s bstan pa, and the Chinese 顯示諸因 (xian shi zhu yin). The Sanskrit dīpanā could mean “burning up.”
n.­60
According to the commentary and chapter 40, where the Sanskrit is sattvānupraveśa and the Tibetan translates accordingly. Here the Sanskrit is satyānupraveśa (“penetrating the truth”) in all available editions, and is translated accordingly in the Tibetan, although it does not match the definition given in the commentary or in chapter 40.
n.­61
According to the commentary, dharma here means “knowing the nature of phenomena” rather than “the Dharma teachings.”
n.­62
The Tibetan drang ba, literally “straight,” can also mean “honest.” The Sanskrit ārjavatā could also mean straightforwardness and honesty, as well as sincerity. In chapter 40 [F.162.a] it is defined as “uncontrived.” The commentary defines it as both “sincerity” and “directness,” as in a direct route to buddhahood, unlike the paths of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas
n.­63
According to the Tibetan mnyen pa and the Sanskrit mārdavatā. It is missing from the definitions of the terms in chapter 40 and also from the commentary. It is followed in the Sanskrit by ṛjakatā, “It is being honest,” which is absent from the Tibetan and the commentary.
n.­64
According to the Tibetan gya gyu med pa and the Sanskrit akutilatā. It is missing from the definitions of the terms in chapter 40 and also from the commentary. Apparently Matsunami has yet another item, translated by Gómez et al. as “lack of deviousness.”
n.­65
According to the Tibetan des pa, the commentary, and the Sanskrit suratatā. The list in chapter 40 [F.162.a.6] has dge ba instead of des pa, although the definition matches that in the commentary for des pa. This may be the remainder of the following ngang tshul dge ba, which is absent from the chapter 40 definitions and the commentary.
n.­66
According to the Tibetan ngang tshul dge ba and the Sanskrit suśīlatā. This is absent from the chapter 40 definitions and the commentary.
n.­67
According to the Tibetan ’byams par ’dzin pa and the Sanskrit sākhilyam. This is absent from the chapter 40 definitions and the commentary.
n.­68
According to the Tibetan ’jam pa and the Sanskrit mādhuryam, which can also mean “sweet.” In the chapter 40 definitions it is translated as mnyen pa, which in the first chapter had just been used to translate mārdavat. This was translated as “tolerant,” although it can also according to context mean “lenient,” “pliable,” “kind,” “soft,” “weak,” or “gentle.”
n.­69
According to the Tibetan, Sanskrit, and commentary. Absent from the list in chapter 40 [F.162.a.6].
n.­70
According to the BHS pūrvābhilāpitā (literally, “speaking first”), translated into Tibetan as “speaking honestly” (gsong por smra ba).
n.­71
According to the Degé Tibetan tshur shog legs par ’ong so and the Sanskrit ehīti svāgatavāditā. In both the commentary and chapter 40 [F.162.a.6-7] this item appears within the definition of “courteous.” The Degé appears to divide this into two: legs par ’ong so / tshur shog ces smra ba.
n.­72
From the Tibetan le lo med pa and the Sanskrit anālasya. Absent from the list in chapter 40 [F.162.a.7] and in the commentary, it is included within the definition of “serving the guru.”
n.­73
Tibetan: gus pa. Sanskrit: gaurava. The commentary’s explanation is to be fearful in the guru’s presence while seeing him as your teacher and being his follower at all times.
n.­74
The Chinese divides this into two qualities (respecting and making offerings) and has “venerable elders” instead of guru.
n.­75
Tibetan: sri zhu che ba. Sanskrit: guruśuśrūṣā. The Tibetan means “respect or reverence,” while the Sanskrit is “wish to listen” or “obedience.” The definition in chapter 40 [F.162.a.7] is to honor and serve the guru. The commentary defines it as the wish to listen to the guru, be near him, and look at him.
n.­76
There are spelling mistakes in the online version of the Vaidya Sanskrit: saṃghi­samuddhāta should be saṃdhi­samudghāta.
n.­77
According to the Tibetan khyad par du ’gro ba, and its definition in chapter 40 [F.162.b.7-8] and in the commentary, which say that this refers to the strengths, fearlessness, distinct qualities, and knowledge of the buddhas; the Sanskrit has jñāna­viśeṣa­gāmitā (“being brought to superior or special knowledge”).
n.­78
Bhāvanābhiniṣyandaḥ could be translated literally as “irrigation” or “outflow of meditation.” The Tibetan rgyu mthun pa has also been translated literally as “having a concordant cause.”
n.­79
According to the Sanskrit āpatti, which in this chapter was translated as nyes pa (“bad action,” “fault”). In chapter 40, when it is being defined, it is translated as ltung ba.
n.­80
According to the BHS Sanskrit (anunaya) and the Tibetan (rjes su chags pa) of chapter 40, and the first part of its definition. There appears to be a scribal error in this chapter in all the extant Sanskrit manuscripts of anuśaya for anunaya, and the Tibetan translates accordingly as bag la nyal (“latent tendency”). It is possible the scribal error is the other way around.
n.­81
Sanskrit: ājāneya. Tibetan: cang shes. Ājāneya was incorrectly defined as meaning “all-knowing” and was translated therefore into Tibetan as cang shes (“all-knowing”). The term ājāneya was primarily used for thoroughbred horses, but was also applied to people in a laudatory sense. According to chapter 40 [F.163.a.6] and the commentary, here it refers to a bodhisattva.
n.­82
According to the Tibetan and the Sanskrit. In chapter 40 [F.163.b.1] and the commentary it is translated as “a perfection of good qualities.”
n.­83
According to the definition in chapter 40 [F.163.b.4] and the commentary, where mtha’ yas pa’i ye shes is obviously translated from anantajñāna; in chapter 1 the term is samatajñāna (“knowledge of equality”), but the definition indicates that to be a scribal corruption. The word samatā appears just over a dozen items later.
n.­84
Pratisaṃdhi is translated into Tibetan in chapter 1 as tshig gi mtshams sbyor (“the connection of words”), while the commentary to chapter 1 translates this as tshig gi dgongs pa (possibly from abhisaṃdhi). The definition in chapter 40 of tshig gi mtshams sbyar ba [F.163.b.4-5] is ldem po ngag (saṃdhābhāṣya) (“words in which the intended meaning is not obvious”).
n.­85
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. It is absent from the list in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­86
The Gilgit manuscript has here an extra term pravrajyācittam, “the aspiration to mendicancy,” which does not appear in the Hodgson, Shastri, commentary, or Tibetan.
n.­87
According to the Tibetan, commentary, and Sanskrit. In the translation of chapter 40, “the words of” is omitted.
n.­88
Absent from chapter 1, but in the list in chapter 40 [F.164.a.5], the commentary, and the Sanskrit. Therefore it is added here for consistency, as it is evidently an unintended omission.
n.­89
Absent from the list of definitions in chapter 40, and from the translation of the commentary to chapter 1.
n.­90
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has īryā­patha­vikopanam instead of īryā­pathāvikopanam, so that the negation is omitted.
n.­91
The Tibetan translates avikalpa here and in the commentary as mi ’chos pa’i, but as rnam par mi rtog pa (“not conceptually fabricated”), a particular BHS meaning of the word, in chapter 40, [F.164.b] when it is being defined. The Sanskrit has īryā­patha­vikalpanam instead of īryā­pathāvikalpanam here, so that the negation is omitted, but the negation is present in chapter 40 in the Sanskrit. The commentary encompasses both meanings by saying that this means being free of negative thoughts and therefore the conduct is uncontrived, unfabricated.
n.­92
Here the Tibetan translates īryāpatha-prāsādikatā as spyod pa mdzes pa (“beautiful conduct”). The Chinese translates prāsādikatā as two different qualities: 端 (duan) (“proper,” “upright,” “dignified”), and 雅 (ya) (“elegant,” “graceful”). However, in chapter 40 [F.164.b] the Tibetan translates prāsādikatā in the more usual way as dang ba (“clear,” “serene,” “attractive”), but the Sanskrit has indriyapatha, presumably a corruption of īryāpatha, and therefore the Tibetan has dbang (“faculties”) instead of spyod pa (“conduct”). In that chapter the term is defined as the mind “being focused upon engagement with the Dharma, speaking rationally, knowing the right time, and teaching the Dharma correctly.” In this translation, for consistency, it will be translated here and in chapter 40 as spyod lam dang ba, in accord with the Sanskrit. The commentary to chapter 1, however, has dbang mdzas pa (“beautiful faculties”). The commentary states that this means seeing the equality of all phenomena, and therefore seeing what is correct and incorrect, and teaching others according to their aspirations. However, both the commentary and the definition in chapter 40 have subsumed the following two qualities as given in the sūtra’s first chapter.
n.­93
In chapter 40, this forms part of the definition of attractive conduct.
n.­94
In chapter 40, this forms part of the definition of attractive conduct.
n.­95
Literally, “the hands are always extended.” The commentary says “ready to give material possessions or the Dharma.”
n.­96
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent from the definitions in chapter 40 [F.165.a.1] and in the commentary.
n.­97
According to the Tibetan sgrub pa dang nges par sgrub pa. Sanskrit: āhāranirhāra. Cf. Edgerton (112), where āharaṇatā means “winning, getting, attainment.” The Mahāvyutpatti has ’phrogs pa (“take”), zas (“food”), and when with prefixes as brjod (“say”) and gsol (“request”), and also ’snyod cing stobs pa, which means “to feed someone.” Also there is āharana, “to take” or “to hold.” The Tibetan translators have not been consistent, as in the definitions of the terms in chapter 40 where the Tibetan is zas sgrub pa (“attainment of food”), [F.165.a.1] with āhāra here translated as “food.” The definition is “sharp wisdom,” which does not appear to be food related. The commentary also defines it as “perfecting good qualities and eliminating negative ones, and that sharp wisdom develops from that.” Gómez et al. (n. 18, p. 85) describe this compound as a problematic term and give a conjectural translation as “bringing together and taking away” (p. 57).
n.­98
According to the Tibetan nges pa’i tshig rnam par gzhag pa shes pa and the Sanskrit nirukti­vyavasthāna­jñānam. Chapter 40 and the commentary omit “definitions” and define rnam par gzhag pa shes pa and vyavasthāna­jñānam, which the commentary describes as “skill in presenting the teachings to various kinds of individuals.”
n.­99
This is absent from the list in chapter 1, but present in the list in chapter 40, in the commentary, the Sanskrit, and the Chinese.
n.­100
In chapter 40 this is called “delight in dhyāna.”
n.­101
In chapter 40 this is called “no clinging” (Tibetan: ma chags pa; BHS: anadhyavasāna).
n.­102
According to the Sanskrit kurvaṇa. Translated into Tibetan as cho ’phrul.
n.­103
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit of chapter 40, its definition there, and the commentary. Here in chapter 1 the Sanskrit has saṃskāra, translated into Tibetan as ’du byed, “composite activity.”
n.­104
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent from chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­105
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. It is later in the list in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­106
This paragraph differs in its order and contents from chapter 40 and the commentary, with an extra term, “no interest in gain and honors,” and without the two items of happiness and suffering.
n.­107
This is presented in two separate points in chapter 40.
n.­108
At this point the Matsunami Sanskrit apparently has another item in the list, translated by Gómez et al. as “gentleness.”
n.­109
According to chapter 40 [F.168.b.5], this is “not gaining profit from wisdom,” and in the commentary it is “not dishonoring the family of the tathāgata, by keeping one’s commitment.”
n.­110
The Tibetan smra ba nyung zhing mnyen pa literally means “speaking little and softly,” which could be taken as one quality. The BHS (malpabhāṣaṇatā / mitabhāṣaṇatā) and Chapter 40 have these two qualities clearly separated. In chapter 40 mnyen pa translates mārdavatā, which more explicitly means “softly.”
n.­111
According to the Tibetan; apparently does not appear in the Sanskrit, chapter 40, or the commentary.
n.­112
According to the Tibetan and the BHS meaning of avasādanatā.
n.­113
According to the commentary this is “the path of the Dharma.”
n.­114
According to the Tibetan (mi g.yo ba) and the Gilgit Sanskrit (akampya) of chapter 1, and the Sanskrit and Tibetan of chapter 40. For chapter 1 the Vaidya has aśāṭhya and the Hodgson and Shastri have sasādhya.
n.­115
According to the Tibetan gnyer pa. Sanskrit nimantraṇatā (Shastri: nimantrahatā): “to invite”; chapter 40 [F.166.a.6], and the commentary: mgron du gnyer ba (take care of as one’s guests). Does not appear in the Matsunami.
n.­116
In accordance with the commentary and chapter 40. In chapter 1, “characteristics” is absent.
n.­117
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­118
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­119
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­120
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­121
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­122
From the Sanskrit upalakṣanatā. The Tibetan has rtogs, which can mean “realize” or “understand.”
n.­123
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­124
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­125
In chapter 1 the Sanskrit has śīladṛdhatā (“stability of conduct”) and the Tibetan has tshul khrims dam pa (“excellent conduct”). In chapter 40 the Sanskrit has śīlādhiṣṭhānatā and the Tibetan has tshul khrims kyi gnas (“the basis of conduct”).
n.­126
According to the Sanskrit prajñā­pratilambhaḥ in chapter 40 [F.166.b.6] and in the commentary. Although it is absent in chapter 1, it is included here, as it has evidently been inadvertently omitted.
n.­127
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Nevertheless, this does not appear in the list of qualities as given in chapter 40 [F.166.b]. According to Gómez et al. (n.20, p.85) this ātmajñatā and the preceding item, ekāramatā, form the single compound ekālambātajñatā (“knowledge of relying on solitude”) in Matsunami’s edition, even though they are separate items in all his three sources, and in the Gilgit. However, ekārāmatjñānatā is a possible original form of the compound.
n.­128
According to the Tibetan and Matsunami. The Sanskrit separates “contentment” and “little known” into separate items: alpajñatā / santuṣti. Although the phrase alpajñatā can mean “ignorance” in Sanskrit, here the BHS meaning is being assumed (Edgerton 68).
n.­129
According to the BHS meaning of dṛṣṛikṛta (Tibetan: lta bar gyur pa in chapter 1; lta bar byas pa in chapter 40 [F.166.b.7]; and lta bas byas pa in the commentary). Edgerton (269) translates them as “heresy.”
n.­130
According to the Tibetan, the Sanskrit here and in chapter 40, and the commentary.
n.­131
According to the Sanskrit and chapter 1 in the Tibetan, which could be read as dividing these into separate terms, with “knowledge” applying to the last. According to the commentary and chapter 40 [F.167.a.1-2], sthāna is translated as gnas, and is defined as the basis or root for a time of opportunity to practice good actions. The second part of the compound according to the commentary and chapter 40 is āsthāna (“basis” or “ground”) and not asthāna (Tibetan: gnas min) as translated in chapter 1. In chapter 40 the Sanskrit is avasthāna, translated as gzhi (“basis,” “foundation,” “ground”) and in the commentary as gnas skabs (“state,” “level,” “situation”), and this is defined as “the mind as the basis for all phenomena.” Third, in chapter 1, prasthāna was translated as ’jug pa (“entry,” “engagement”). The commentary translates this as rab tu gnas, and in chapter 40 the Sanskrit is pratisthāna, translated as rten. The commentary defines this as “faith as the foundation for all buddha qualities.” The commentary agrees with the translation in chapter 1 of pratipatti as sgrub pa (“accomplishment,” or “practice”), while chapter 40 translates it as nan tan (“application”). The commentary defines it as “perfecting that which is to be accomplished through familiarization with the path.” Neither the commentary nor chapter 40 have the concluding part of the compound: jñāna (Tibetan: shes pa, “knowledge”). The Tibetan translation of chapter 1 seems to be at fault in comparison to chapter 40 and the commentary, and therefore for consistency it has not been followed. gnas dang gnas min would be the standard way of saying “the appropriate and the inappropriate.”
n.­132
According to the Sanskrit hetu, chapter 40 (rgyu), and the commentary. In chapter 1, hetu is translated as gtan tshigs (“reason”).
n.­133
According to the Sanskrit yukti. Tibetan: rigs pa.
n.­134
Sanskrit: naya. Tibetan: tshul.
n.­135
Sanskrit: kāraṇa. Tibetan: rgyu. Absent in chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­136
Sanskrit: dvāra. Tibetan: sgo. Defined in chapter 40 [F.167.a.3] as “giving up bad actions,” and defined by the commentary as “skill in methods of eliminating faults, which is the doorway into the city of liberation.”
n.­137
Sanskrit: mārga. Tibetan: lam. In chapter 40 this is part of the definition of “practice.”
n.­138
The Tibetan here in chapter 1 appears to translate pratipatti as two separate terms: nan tan dang sgrub pa, which does not occur in chapter 40 or in the commentary. The Sanskrit follows pratipatti with saṃdeśa (“teaching”), which is absent from the Tibetan, the commentary, and chapter 40.
n.­139
From the Tibetan phrin. Does not appear in the Sanskrit, chapter 40, or the commentary.
n.­140
Sanskrit: avavāda. Tibetan: gdams pa. The Sanskrit is in chapter 40, but the Tibetan is absent.
n.­141
According to the Tibetan of most Kangyurs: bstan pa la spyod pa. The Sanskrit divides this into two: anuśasanī caryā (“the instruction and the conduct”). The Degé has bsten pa (“reliance”), which is a scribal error.
n.­142
Absent from chapter 40 and the commentary. In chapter 6 [F.19.a.3] it is defined as patience that is in accord with the Buddha’s teaching, in which there is no doubt about the Buddha’s teaching and no negative conduct is engaged in.
n.­143
According to the Sanskrit and chapter 1 Tibetan. In chapter 40 and the commentary there is only “the level.”
n.­144
According to the Sanskrit akṣāntivigama and the Tibetan mi bzod pa dang bral ba. However, in chapter 40 and the commentary this is jātivigama (skye ba dang bral ba), “freedom from rebirth.”
n.­145
Yogācārabhūmi. Here, “yoga” according to chapter 40 is “meditation on the thirty-seven aspects of enlightenment.” It does not refer here to “the Yogācāra tradition of Asaṅga.”
n.­146
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Absent from chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­147
This is divided into two points in chapter 40.
n.­148
According to the Sanskrit vandanīyā. Tibetan: phyag bya ba (“pays homage,” “bows down to”).
n.­149
This is in the plural, because although Brahmā is the presiding deity over a thousand million worlds, each of those worlds has a Śakra or Indra upon its central mountain.
n.­150
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Absent from chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­151
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Absent from chapter 40 [F.167.b.7] and the commentary, which instead have, “It is freedom from misery.”
n.­152
According to the Sanskrit viṣaya. Tibetan: g.yul, “battle,” which may be a scribal corruption of yul, perhaps because they are homophones and the copying was done by dictation.
n.­153
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Absent from chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­154
According to the Sanskrit kola. The Tibetan gzings can mean “a boat,” but also “a ferry,” which in Tibet was sometimes a raft.
n.­155
According to the commentary and chapter 40, which has “anger” (zhe sdang), while this chapter has “evil” or “wickedness” (nyes pa), mistakenly translating doṣa according to its meaning in Classical Sanskrit, while the BHS doṣa is the equivalent of the Classical Sanskrit dveṣa (“anger”).
n.­156
In the Sanskrit this appears earlier in the list, after “medicine for the sick.” Absent from chapter 40 and the commentary.
n.­157
In the Vaidya Sanskrit there follows at this point, “It is the liberation of all beings,” which is absent in the Tibetan, the commentary, and the Matsunami edition. The Dutt edition, online page 225, is not available.
n.­158
According to the Tibetan in chapter 1: sgrub pa. The Sanskrit āhārikā was translated by Gómez et al. according to an alternate meaning, “that which brings.” Chapter 40 has asaṃhartya, and therefore in that chapter and in the commentary it is accordingly translated as mi ’phrogs (“cannot be taken away”). The Sanskrit and Tibetan of chapter 1 better fit the definition of this term as given in chapter 40, but the commentary specifies that it cannot be undermined by māras or tīrthikas.
n.­159
Sanskrit: dharmakāya. Tibetan: chos kyi sku. Here, according to the commentary and chapter 40 [F.168.b.4], this does not refer to the immaterial state of buddhahood, but to the thirty-two physical signs that adorn the evident body of a buddha. However, this definition explaining what is meant by “adornment” may possibly refer instead to the next item but one, “the adornment of the bodhisattvas,” since both in chapter 40 and the commentary only one instance of “adornment” is mentioned.
n.­160
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Absent from chapter 40 and the commentary. The text has only “conduct,” and “bodhisattva” is implied.
n.­161
Sanskrit: buddhaputra, Tibetan: sangs rgyas kyi sras. Literally, “sons of the buddhas.”
n.­162
Literally, “eldest sons.” Sanskrit: jyeṣṭhaputra; Tibetan: sras thu bo. A designation for the principal bodhisattvas.
n.­163
In chapter 40 this is combined with the next quality, while omitting “the wisdom of buddhahood.”
n.­164
In the commentary and chapter 40 this and the preceding quality appear to have been combined into one, perhaps due a scribal ommission.
n.­165
According to the Tibetan thos pa, and the Sanskrit śruta. The commentary has thob pa (“attainment”) in error for thos pa.
n.­166
This is separated into three points in chapter 40.
n.­167
According to the Tibetan and the Vaidya Sanskrit. Absent from chapter 40 and the commentary, but apparently partially present, conjoined with the preceding term, in the Matsunami.
n.­168
Sanskrit: sūratā. Tibetan: des pa. It can also mean “pleasant,” “heroic,” “noble.”
n.­169
Depending on the value of nayuta, which means “a million” in classical Sanskrit and can mean “a hundred thousand million” in BHS. It is the latter meaning that has been taken here, translated as khrag khrig. Thus, “eighty hundred thousand,” which is “eight million million,” which is “eight trillion.”
n.­170
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has just “a thousand,” though “a hundred thousand” is mentioned at the beginning of the sūtra.
n.­171
According to the Tibetan dge slong ma. The Sanskrit repeats bhikṣu.
n.­172
Literally, “ten million times a hundred thousand times a hundred thousand million.”
n.­173
According to the Sanskrit vihāra. Tibetan: gtsug lag khang. These are equivalents in the Mahāvyutpatti, but gtsug lag khang can also mean “temple” in Tibetan.
n.­174
Literally, “a hundred thousand [times a] hundred thousand million.”
n.­175
Literally, “seventy-six hundred thousand.”
n.­176
Literally, “eighteen thousand ten-millions.”
n.­177
Literally, “seventy-six thousand ten-millions.”
n.­178
Literally, “fourteen thousand ten-millions.”
n.­179
According to the Tibetan and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts. The prose up to this point does not appear in the Chinese or the Gilgit manuscript.
n.­180
The Sanskrit is in the third person in this first line of the verse, and the Tibetan is non-specific, but the first person is used here to avoid an appearance of contradiction.
n.­181
I.e. buddhas. In the Chinese, “who have the ten strengths” does not appear, but it is in the Tibetan and all Sanskrit versions.
n.­182
In all appearances in the translation that read “bodhisattva conduct,” “bodhisattva” is only implied in the original, but added in the translation for clarity.
n.­183
Literally, “biped” in the Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan.
n.­184
According to the Sanskrit sadā. Does not appear in the Tibetan or Chinese.
n.­185
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has the plural “those jinas,” which does not fit the narrative here. The Chinese does not specify singular or plural.
n.­186
Literally, “biped.” The Chinese has “who save(s) beings from lower realms.”
n.­187
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan btsun mo is honorific for “wife,” but could also mean “queen.”
n.­188
Sanskrit: bimbara (variants: viṃbara, viṃvara, vivara). Tibetan: dkrigs. In the Sanskrit the value of the number varies between “a hundredth of a kaṅkara” or “a hundred kaṅkara.” According to Edgerton (p. 400), bimbara in the Tibetan tradition is synonymous with kaṅkara. In the Tibetan tradition of numbers, dkrigs is “a hundred thousand trillion.” In this verse, the number is “a thousand million dkrigs,” yielding “a hundred million million million million,” a hundred followed by 24 zeros, i.e., a hundred septillion. The Chinese has a number that is most likely four billion.
n.­189
According to the Tibetan lag rkang and the Chinese. “Legs” does not appear in the available Sanskrit. Unavailable in the Gilgit manuscript.
n.­190
The Buddha’s hometown. In the Sanskrit and Chinese there is only the shorter form, Kapila.
n.­191
According to the Sanskrit yuga. According to the Mahāvyutpatti, the Tibetan equivalent would be zung (pair). The Tibetan here seems corrupt. The Degé has ’phrul (“miracle”). Kangyurs such as Lithang, Peking, and Narthang have phrugs. However, this is clearly intended to be a reference to the Buddha’s two principal students. The Chinese has a transliteration that resembles śiṣya.
n.­192
According to the Sanskrit alolupa, the Chinese, and the Yongle and Peking Kangyurs, brkam. The Degé has bskam (“withered”).
n.­193
According to the Sanskrit īryāya caryāya, īryā (lifestyle of a mendicant) and caryā, which regularly implies that the conduct is that of a bodhisattva. Tibetan: spyod dang spyod lam, which could be translated as “just conduct and behavior.” The Chinese combines them both into one: 安住威儀諸行等 (an zhu wei yi zhu xing deng), which usually refers to the conduct of the ordained saṅgha, but can refer to bodhisattva conduct as well.
n.­194
According to the Sanskrit pratibhāna and the Chinese. The Tibetan spobs pa is “confidence,” though it implies confidence in teaching.
n.­195
According to the Sanskrit ananta and the Chinese. Absent from the Tibetan.
n.­196
According to the Tibetan, Hodgson, and Shastri. The Gilgit and Chinese have “the buddhas in the ten directions / who have appeared in the past.”
n.­197
From the Sanskrit udgrahītavya. Tibetan: gzung.
n.­198
From the BHS paryavāptavya. Tibetan: kun chub pa.
n.­199
From the Sanskrit dhārayitavya. Tibetan: bcang.
n.­200
From the Sanskrit vācayitavya. Tibetan: klog.
n.­201
From the Sanskrit pravartayitavya. Tibetan: rab tu gdon pa.
n.­202
From the Sanskrit uddeṣṭavya. Tibetan: lung mnod par bya.
n.­203
From the Sanskrit svādhyātavya. Tibetan: kha ton du bya.
n.­204
From the Sanskrit araṇa, which also means “passionless, sinless, without impurity.” This is regularly translated into Tibetan as nyon mongs, which is also used to translate kleśa. Gómez et al. have interpreted it as “being in solitude,” presumably from an edition with araṇya (“solitude”).
n.­205
From the Sanskrit bahulīkartavya. Tibetan: mang du bya.
n.­206
From the Sanskrit parebhyaśca vistarena saṃprakāśayitavya. Tibetan: gshan dag la yang rgya cher rab tu bstan par bya. This entire list is simplified in the Chinese to three elements: “should recite, uphold / retain, and explain it to others widely.”
n.­207
Sanskrit: vidyā­caraṇa­saṃpannaḥ; Tibetan: rig pa dang zhabs su ldan pa. A common description of buddhas. According to the commentary, it refers to the eightfold path, with “wisdom” being the right view and “conduct” the other seven aspects of the path.
n.­208
From the Sanskrit āgama. Tibetan: gzhi (“basis”), but the commentary defines it as “a direct perception by those who are worthy.”
n.­209
According to the Tibetan. “Blossomed” does not appear in the Sanskrit. The Chinese is similar to the Tibetan interpretation, but uses the verb “attain” 得諸相花 (de zhu xiang hua).
n.­210
According to the Tibetan bsam gyis mi khyab. The Sanskrit has ananta (“infinite,” “endless”) and the Chinese has “infinite.” Apparently absent from the Mitsunami.
n.­211
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. Absent from the Tibetan.
n.­212
From one of the meanings of the Sanskrit saṃvrta. Tibetan: bsdams pa.
n.­213
According to the Tibetan. BHS Sanskrit: grantha (“fetters”); the Chinese corresponds to the Sanskrit. The commentary defines this as “the bondage of the māras.”
n.­214
Sanskrit literally, “burning” (paridāha).
n.­215
According to the Sanskrit tṛṣṇa and the Yongle and Peking sred pa. The Degé has srid pa (“becoming”) in error for sred pa. Sred pa is also confirmed by the commentary. The Chinese seems to have combined this with the preceding quality into one 盡諸渴愛 (jin zhu ke ai): literally, “the exhaustion of all thirsts (渴, ke, derived from “burning”) and cravings (愛, ai),” which can be understood as “strong cravings.”
n.­216
This long passage, starting from “The Bhāgavan is thus…” (3.­3) forms the text of the sūtra Remembering the Buddha (Toh 279, Buddhanusmṛti). Although composed of groups of epithets, many of which are found elsewhere (particularly in the Vinaya texts), the passage as a whole is only found in the Kangyur in these two places, and the King of Samādhis is therefore presumably the source of the shorter text. See also i.­15.
n.­217
According to the Tibetan bsngags pa. The Sanskrit varṇa has a number of meanings, including “color” and “caste.” In this instance it could mean “qualities,” “nature,” “splendor,” and so on, which could have been a more appropriate translation.
n.­218
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit and Chinese are much briefer: “Then at that time, the Bhagavān recited these verses.”
n.­219
Literally, “ten millions.” Sanskrit: koṭi. Tibetan: bye ba. The highest number in Classical Sanskrit. Does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­220
The Chinese adds 無量 (wu liang), “numerous, countless times.”
n.­221
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “I showed great kindness at all times.”
n.­222
The order of verses 7 and 8 is reversed in the Sanskrit. Verse 7 is not present in the Chinese.
n.­223
According to the Sanskrit śīla. Tibetan: ngang tshul.
n.­224
According to the Tibetan translation of matsarī, which accords with the Mahāvyutpatti and the Chinese, whereas in Sanskrit dictionaries it is said to mean “envy.”
n.­225
According to the Sanskrit īrṣya, the Mahāvyutpatti definition, and the Chinese. The Tibetan repeats ser sna (“stinginess”).
n.­226
According to the Sanskrit nimantraṇa. The Tibetan and Chinese translate it by the more usual meaning “invite.”
n.­227
According to the Tibetan dad pa. Sanskrit: prema (affection).
n.­228
The order of the first and second half of this four-line verse is reversed in the Sanskrit and Chinese.
n.­229
Chinese: “those with the ten strengths” 諸十力 (zhu shi li).
n.­230
According to the Sanskrit where samāhita is in the accusative. The Tibetan translates it as instrumental, “through meditation,” probably through an error of pas for pa’i, which was used in an earlier verse: “verses of meditation.” Chinese: “one verse of this samādhi.”
n.­231
At this point in the Gilgit, Sanskrit, and Chinese (but not in the Tibetan, Hodgson, or Shastri), there is a prose section where the Buddha tells Candraprabha that a bodhisattva should preserve and promulgate this teaching.
n.­232
According to the Tibetan, which here has the unusual spelling mnod pa. For the Sanskrit here, uddiśatha, the Mahāvyutpatti has both “give” (phog pa) and “receive” (nod pa), as in “receive instruction.” Uddiśatha is a BHS word that usually means “propose” or “calculate.” The Classical Sanskrit uddiśatha can mean “show, explain.” The Chinese word used here is 說 (shuo), which literally means “tell,” but can also mean “teach, explain.”
n.­233
This alternative title for the sūtra was used in a few instances by Indian authors quoting it, e.g. Śāntarakṣita and Kamalaśīla (see Gómez et al., 1989, p. 16).
n.­234
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Chinese: “sandalwood is the best of all kinds of incense.”
n.­235
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has vana (“wood”) in error for varṇa (“praise”).
n.­236
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Chinese: 實不聞香 (shi bu wen xiang), “never smelled that incense.”
n.­237
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Chinese: “There will be bhikṣus with inappropriate conduct,” 不應式比丘 (bu ying shi bi qiu).
n.­238
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Chinese: “There will be bhikṣus...”
n.­239
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Chinese: “There will be bhikṣus...”
n.­240
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Chinese: “…by teaching it.”
n.­241
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Chinese: “There will be bhikṣus...”
n.­242
The Sanskrit is maruta, which can mean specifically the deities of storms and winds, but is also used generally for “deities,” and therefore like deva was translated into the Tibetan as lha. Chinese: “gods and dragons.”
n.­243
Verses 31 and 32 are combined into one in the Chinese.
n.­244
According to the Tibetan. BHS: atuliyu (“unequaled”).
n.­245
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Chinese: 若得三昧微妙地,智者便得廣智藏 (ruo de san mei wei miao di, zhi zhe bian de gang zhi zang), “If he attains the level of subtle samādhi, the wise will gain the vast treasure of wisdom (or the treasure of vast wisdom).”
n.­246
Verse 33 in the Chinese.
n.­247
According to the BHS saukhya. The Tibetan has skyed (“born”) in error for skyid (“happiness”). Chinese: “all kinds of happiness.”
n.­248
According to the Sanskrit pūrvamgama (“going first”), which is usually translated as ’dren pa (“leader”). The Chinese also has 上首 (shang shou, “leader”).
n.­249
According to the commentary, the title of this chapter is “Mindfulness of the Buddha’s Qualities.”
n.­250
According to Tibetan, Hodgson, and Shastri. In the Gilgit manuscript, the opening of this chapter is just one sentence: “Then the youth Candraprabha asked the Bhagavān.” This opening does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­251
Sanskrit: upapatti. Tibetan: skyes pa. Chinese: 無所起 (wu suo qi) This term is also used for “physical,” but here the commentary defines it as “the non-arising of thoughts in samādhi.”
n.­252
Sanskrit apratisaṃdhi. Tibetan: mtshams sbyor ba med pa. This is the negation of pratisaṃdhi, a term that is used for the transition between lives, i.e., conception in the womb, but here the commentary defines it as being “the continued process of thinking.”
n.­253
Sanskrit pratisaṃdhi­jñāna. According to the commentary this means that it is not a state of cessation but a continuous clear knowledge. Translation according to the Tibetan, Gilgit, Hodgson, and Shastri. However, the Matsunami edition apparently has “knowledge of non-continuation.” The Chinese agrees with the Matsunami edition: 無和合智 (wu he he zhi).
n.­254
The commentary has khung in error for khur.
n.­255
According to the commentary, the burden comprises the skandhas, the kleśas, vows, and diligence.
n.­256
According to the Tibetan, Matsunami, and Chinese. The BHS Sanskrit doṣa is the equivalent of the Classical Sanskrit dveṣa (“anger”), while in Classical Sanskrit doṣa means “fault” or “wickedness.”
n.­257
These are listed as three, 7-9, in Chinese.
n.­258
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Vaidya Sanskrit has akuśala (“wickedness”) in error for kuśala (“goodness”).
n.­259
According to the commentary, this means “abstaining from sleeping in the first and last of the three periods of the night, in order to engage in virtuous activities.”
n.­260
Sanskrit: prahāṇa. Tibetan spong ba. Gómez et al. (p. 87) discuss its alternative meaning of “exertion.” Its definition seems to not be present in the commentary. The Chinese has “not abandoning samādhi,” 不捨禪定 (bu she chan ding).
n.­261
According to the Sanskrit upapattiṣu, most Kangyurs skye ba, and the Chinese. The Degé has skye bo (“beings”), which occurs later in this list as the translation of pṛthagjaneṣu. The commentary defines it as “not creating the causes of continuing in saṃsāra.”
n.­262
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Vaidya Sanskrit adds karmaṇām, “the activities of the internal āyatanas.”
n.­263
[23] is not present in the Chinese.
n.­264
According to Tibetan gzi chen po and Matsunami. The Vaidya has BHS mahaujaskatā, which can mean both “great might” and “great majesty” or “great brilliance.” The Chinese has “great merit” 大福德 (da fu de).
n.­265
The Chinese has 善知識 (shan zhi shi) from the Sanskrit kalyāṇa-mitra.
n.­266
According to the Sanskrit. In the Tibetan, this has been conjoined with “not harming those with good conduct.” The Chinese has combined [30], [31], and [35] into one, 無怒恚心 (wu nu hui xin), and added “abandoning crude and malicious speech” 捨麁惡言 (she cu er yan) and “helping and protecting others” 救護於彼 (jiu hu yu bi).
n.­267
According to the Tibetan and the commentary. The Vaidya Sanskrit divides this into two: “the emptiness of phenomena” and “analogous patience.”
n.­268
The Chinese has combined [39] and [40] into one quality: 於一切智而得順忍 (yu yi qie zhi er de shun ren).
n.­269
The Gilgit and Chinese have simply, “Then, the Bhagavān taught these extensive verses.”
n.­270
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan has thos (“hear”), apparently in error for thob (“attain”).
n.­271
As elsewhere in the sūtra, āhārī is translated into Tibetan as “taking food.” This does not make much sense here, and so it is translated here in one of its other Sanskrit meanings. The Chinese also translates as 食 (shi), which is “food” as a noun and “eating (and drinking)” as a verb, but interprets the entire verse as a vipaśyanā practice: “If jealousy arises in your mind because of food, you should meditate on the impurity of food. If you strive for accomplishment with boundless effort and meditate deeply on this, you will attain samādhi.” 若為食起嫉妬心, 當觀食已無有淨, 用功無量乃得成, 若深觀此能得定 (ruo wei shi qi ji du xin, dang guan shi yi wu you jing, yong gong wu liang nai de cheng, ruo shen guan ci neng de ding).
n.­272
According to the BHS arthi. Absent from the Tibetan, but added here for clarity.
n.­273
This verse is described by Gómez et al. as being problematic in Sanskrit. The Tibetan and Chinese translations differ from each other.
n.­274
According to the Tibetan and Dutt. The Hodgson, Shastri, and Matsunami have the unusual na yubuddhi instead of bhayubuddhi. The Chinese has a slightly different translation of this line.
n.­275
I.e., the buddhas.
n.­276
The commentary explains that this means “knowing the equality of the composite and noncomposite.”
n.­277
Chinese: 此緣佛相是有作, 能除一切有相想 (ci yuan fo xiang shi you zuo, neng chu yi qie you xiang xiang) “such an attribute of the Buddha is created, it can eliminate the conceptualization of attributes.”
n.­278
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “having ceased conceptualizing ‘nothing.’ ”
n.­279
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit mahānubhava has many meanings, such as “great experience” or “great authority.” Gómez et al. translate it as “overpowering inspiration.” Chinese: “buddhas of the ten directions.”
n.­280
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit does not have “suffering.”
n.­281
According to the Tibetan ’ongs dang mi ’ongs, literally, “come (i.e. ‘is present’) and not come,” and the Sanskrit anāgatā āgatā. This was translated in Gómez et al. (p. 78) as “past and future,” though “past” is usually gata (which also means “gone”), but “past” is implied and therefore added to the translation. The Chinese has simply “all phenomena.”
n.­282
According to most Kangyurs rkyal pa and the Sanskrit vastra. The Degé has the scribal corruption rgyal ba. Chinese: “excellent medicines,” 良妙藥 (liang miao yao).
n.­283
According to the Tibetan, Vaidya, Sanskrit, and Chinese. The Matsunami edition appears to be quite different from the translation by Gómez et al.
n.­284
According to the Tibetan. The title of this chapter in the Sanskrit is Buddhānusmṛti (“Remembering the Buddha,” or “Mindfulness of the Buddha”). This is the end of fascicle 1 in the Chinese.
n.­285
This entire opening does not appear in the Gilgit or Chinese. There is simply, “Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha.”
n.­286
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan appears to translate as “more innumerable than innumerable.”
n.­287
The Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese use two synonymous phrases.
n.­288
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan in the Degé has the negative: “they are not concerned with their next life.” Chinese: “They are merely concerned with this life and their next life.”
n.­289
Chinese: “They do not emphasize the accumulation …”
n.­290
There is a paragraph in the Gilgit Sanskrit and the Chinese that does not appear in the later Sanskrit or the Tibetan: “What, young man, is the concern for the present life? It is the intention to have the five sensory pleasures. What, young man, is the concern for the next life? It is attaining rebirth in higher existences.”
n.­291
The Chinese has a different interpretation here: 我今說如是法, 令眾生於其檀行不為究竟勝供養, 但以無上行而供養我 (wo jin shuo ru shi fa, ling zhong sheng yu qi tan xing bu wei jiu jing sheng gong yang, dan yi wu shang xing er gong yang wo) “I will now teach this Dharma so that beings will not perceive their acts of generosity as the ultimate supreme offering; instead, they will make their unsurpassable conduct / practice as their offering to me.”
n.­292
According to the Tibetan skyo bar bya ba (literally, “to make sad”) and the BHS saṃvejana (“to shudder at”). Chinese: 覺悟 (jue wu), literally, “waking them up,” and also “making them realize, or enlightening them.”
n.­293
According to the Tibetan, the commentary, and the Hodgson Sanskrit. The commentary states that the Buddha has praised entering the homeless life. In the Gilgit and Shastri Sanskrit: “He does not praise the perfection of generosity, he does not praise the perfection of conduct. He praises the ultimate conclusion.” Chinese: 如來非說檀波羅蜜以為究竟清淨,究竟吉祥,究竟梵行,究竟窮盡,究竟最後,究竟涅槃 (ru lai fei shuo tan po luo mi yi wei jiu jing qing jing, jiu jing ji xiang, jiu jing fan xing, jiu jing qiong jin, jiu jing zui hou, jiu jing nie pan) The Chinese interprets this as, “He does not consider the generosity paramita as ultimate purity,” and so on. The Chinese sentence includes more items.
n.­294
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. Sanskrit: “800,000.”
n.­295
This name does not appear in the Sanskrit, but śūra as the original of dpa’ ba, rather than vīra, is based on the name that his followers attain.
n.­296
According to the bye phrag of the Urga Kangyur. The Degé has bye brag, which does not match the prose passage. The Chinese has eight “yi” 八億, which can be “800,000” or “80 million.”
n.­297
This verse does not appear in the Chinese, but is present in the Sanskrit, including the Gilgit.
n.­298
According to the Tibetan, Hodgson, and Chinese. The Gilgit and Shastri Sanskrit have “as an offering to the Dharma.”
n.­299
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “Through all that good karma.”
n.­300
Not in the Gilgit or Chinese.
n.­301
Chinese: 若人增上修此忍 (ruo ren zeng shang xiu ci ren), “If a person practices this patience with great force.”
n.­302
According to the Sanskrit and the commentary. The Tibetan translation here reads, “This is the path to deathlessness.” Chinese: 非此能證甘露道 (fei cie neng zheng gan lu dao), which can mean, “abandoning this (incorrect view) is the path to deathlessness.”
n.­303
Chinese: 勸捨惡道住善趣 (quan she er dao zhu shan qu), “Therefore they advise beings to abandon the wrong / nonvirtuous path and dwell in the correct / virtuous path.”
n.­304
There is a play on words in the Sanskrit in relation to why the word bodhisattva is used, which is not evident in Tibetan or English. In the first line, the words “knows” (Tibetan: rtogs) and “beings” (sems can), which are the first two words of the verse, are in Sanskrit: bodheti sattvān.
n.­305
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese for clarity. The Tibetan has “There is no soul within the body / And you have not attained buddhahood.” The commentary has “If as many millions of māras as there are sands in the Ganges came before them in the forms of buddhas, and said, ‘There are beings and souls,’ and so on, they would, with an unwavering mind, answer them in this way: ‘Through the power of the realization of selflessness by valid knowledge, I have realized correctly that there are no beings, souls, and so on. And you are not buddhas!’ ”
n.­306
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits “within.” Chinese: 悉斷惡見煩惱盡 (xi duan er jian fan nao jin), “They have terminated all wrong views and exhausted all defilements.”
n.­307
According to the Sanskrit nara, the commentary skye ba, and the Chinese 眾生及壽命 (zhong sheng ji shou ming). The Tibetan has ming (“name”) in error for mi (“human,” “man”).
n.­308
According to the Sanskrit stabdha. The Tibetan translates as “proud” (nga rgyal). The Chinese has 姦偽 (jian wei, “crafty”), 兇暴 (xiong bao, “cruel, violent”), and 不攝斂 (bu she nian, “unrestrained, undisciplined”).
n.­309
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit (BHS) has prasādu (to be attracted to, or to have faith in).
n.­310
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese, for the sake of clarity. The Tibetan appears to have blended together the last two groups to create “brings fulfilment” (don, artha), “benefit” (phan pa, hita), “and happiness to a multitude of beings, to humans, and devas.”
n.­311
These are the four retentions (dhāraṇī) explained in this sūtra (see 24.­63) to be retention of all that is taught about the infinite composite phenomena, retention of what is said in infinite sounds, retention of everything that is taught about the infinite kleśas, and retention of everything that is taught about the infinite benefits of the qualities of purification.
n.­312
The corresponding Chinese verse is a summary of the three kinds of patience.
n.­313
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “the best of humans, the sugatas, see him.” The Chinese has, “When the sugatas see such bodhisattvas,” 善逝見彼菩薩時 (shan shi jian bi pu sa shi).
n.­314
BHS: āryacetikā (revered noble ones). The Tibetan mchod rten could be misunderstood to mean “stūpa.” The Chinese devotes the last three lines to various auspicious signs instead.
n.­315
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan seems to be the result of a corruption so that jāyati (birth) was changed to perhaps jānāti (“know,” “perceive”): “The emptinesses do not see / are not seen and have no death.”
n.­316
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit vijānatha 
is the present-tense, second-person-plural form, but presumably this is the Sanskritization of a second-person-plural middle-Indic optative, such as the Pali second-person-plural optative ending yetha.
n.­317
The first part of the chapter until this point is missing in the Gilgit and the Chinese.
n.­318
The name means “arising from nonexistence,” 無所有起 (wu suo you qi) in the Chinese.
n.­319
According to the Sanskrit tṛṇa and the Yongle and Peking rtswa. The Degé has rtsa ba (“roots”).
n.­320
The Sanskrit adds auṣadha (“herbs”) before “forests.” Chinese: “trees, forests, and medicinal herbs.”
n.­321
According to the Tibetan ri. Sanskrit: auṣadha (“herbs”).
n.­322
According to the Tibetan dpa’ bo. The Sanskrit dhīra can mean “constant and resolute and calm” as well as “brave and courageous.”
n.­323
The past passive participle nirvṛta means “extinguished,” so the line reads literally, “he was extinguished like a flame.” Nirvāna literally means “extinguishment.”
n.­324
These concluding eleven verses do not appear in the Chinese. Instead there is this concluding sentence: “Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, ‘Young man, you should reflect that this samādhi has such great power. It can cause a bodhisattva to attain perfect buddhahood.’ ”
n.­325
The Sanskrit has an additional concluding verse exhorting those who wish to attain buddhahood to possess this sūtra.
n.­326
This opening of the chapter until this point is absent in the Gilgit and the Chinese.
n.­327
In Gilgit, this verse was the last verse of the preceding chapter. This verse and the preceding prose that begin this chapter do not appear in the Chinese.
n.­328
Sanskrit: “who wish for this samādhi.” Absent from the Tibetan. “Who wish to attain quickly the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood” does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­329
Chinese: “should rest in.”
n.­330
According to the Sanskrit, including Gilgit. The Chinese is briefer: “Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas should rest in the patience of profound Dharma.” The entire passage in Chinese is: “Young man, you should know that this samādhi has such great power; it will enable bodhisattva mahāsattvas to attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. Young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas should rest in the patience of profound Dharma.”
n.­331
According to the commentary: “They arise from oneself and not from illusions created by another.” In this sentence, the Chinese includes another analogy: “like a wild horse” 如野馬 (ru ye ma).
n.­332
The Chinese repeats all the analogies here.
n.­333
According to the Tibetan mi ’jigs pa thob pa, the Gilgit abhayaprāpta, and the Chinese 無畏 (wu wei). The Dutt has arūpaprāpta (attainment of formlessness), apparently from the Hodgson and Shastri, which is repeated in the Vaidya edition.
n.­334
According to the commentary, this means “the memory of previous lives.”
n.­335
According to the Tibetan rtogs pa can and the BHS meaning of gatiman. The Chinese has translated it literally as 去者 (qu zhe), “those who have gone to.”
n.­336
According to the BHS ananganaḥ and the Chinese. The Tibetan translates as nyon mongs med pa, which it also uses as the translation for niṣkleśa (being without kleśas) just a little further on in this list.
n.­337
Sanskrit: ājāneya. Tibetan: cang shes. Ājāneya was incorrectly defined as meaning “all-knowing” and was translated therefore into Tibetan as cang shes (“all-knowing”). The term ājāneya was primarily used for thoroughbred horses, but was also applied to people in a laudatory sense. The commentary at a later point states this this means both “tamed” and “fearless.” Chinese translates as “those who are tamed” 調伏者 (tiao fu zhe).
n.­338
This term probably has its origins in the Middle Indic mahānāga, from which came the BHS Sanskrit mahānagna, meaning “a great champion,” “a man of distinction and nobility.” The BHS nagna can mean both “champion” and “naked” while in Classical Sanskrit it only means “naked.” Nāga can mean “elephant” and can also refer to the cobra deity that is called “nāga” in this translation. Therefore the Chinese translated this as “great dragon” 大龍 (da long).
n.­339
In this passage the prestigious titles of those in the traditional brahmanical tradition are used as titles of those who have mastered the Buddhist path. The commentary states, “the bodhisattvas are brahmins because they do no bad actions.”
n.­340
For snātaka, see glossary; Chinese: “one who has bathed” 沐浴者 (mu yu zhe). However, the commentary states here that bodhisattvas are snātaka because they have been washed clean of all the stains of the kleśas and remain in the water of patience.
n.­341
The Sanskrit of the threefold description here (of which this is the first) is pāragaḥ vedakaḥ śrotriyaḥ. The commentary states that bodhisattvas are masters (pāraga, pha rol du song ba) of the Vedas, as they have reached their ultimate conclusion (rig byed kyi mthar thug pa’i pha rol du song bas so, F.43.b.4).
n.­342
The commentary states that bodhisattvas are vedaka (rig par byed), as they know the nature of whatever is taught.
n.­343
For śrotriya, see glossary. However, the commentary states here that bodhisattvas are śrotriya because they have renounced everything.
n.­344
The commentary states that “Śākya” refers to Buddha Śākyamuni, who was born in the Śākya clan.
n.­345
The commentary states that this means there are no more “thorns of māras, kleśas, and so on,” that appear.
n.­346
According to the Tibetan and Chinese; does not appear in the Vaidya Sanskrit or the commentary.
n.­347
This is an analogy to the defensive trench around a fortification, which the commentary states is a boundary created by anger, and so on.
n.­348
The commentary states this is a boundary created by the kleśas.
n.­349
The commentary states this refers to the habitual tendency for the kleśas.
n.­350
The commentary states this means the vicious disease of the kleśas.
n.­351
The commentary states this means that they utter the lion’s roar that proclaims selflessness.
n.­352
The commentary states this means that their minds are at rest in meditation at all times.
n.­353
The commentary states this means that they are both trained and fearless in the battle with the kleśas.
n.­354
The commentary states this means that they are able to pull the heavy burden of benefiting all beings.
n.­355
The commentary states this means that they are victorious over the māras.
n.­356
The commentary states this means that they can single-handedly overcome the strength of the māras.
n.­357
The commentary states this means that their qualities are a delight to beings.
n.­358
The commentary states this means that they are unstained by the mud of saṃsāra.
n.­359
The commentary states this means that thay are filled with “white,” i.e. good, qualities.
n.­360
The commentary states this means that they know how to tame the most malicious beings.
n.­361
The commentary states this means that they bring delight and light that is like amrita to beings.
n.­362
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan and Chinese omit “human.”
n.­363
Verses 9 and 10 are condensed into one verse in the Chinese.
n.­364
According to the Sanskrit śailavanāntare and the commentary gcong rong du. The Tibetan translates this as nags ri’i khrod (“a mountain forest”). The Chinese translates it as “mountain valley” 山谷 (shan gu).
n.­365
Verses 13 and 14 are condensed into one verse in the Chinese.
n.­366
The numbering follows the Sanskrit. Verse 17 is absent in the Tibetan, but it is commented on in the commentary. It repeats much of the content of verse 16: “When the mother’s son dies / In a dream she loudly laments. / But no son died for that mother. / Know that all phenomena are like that.” Absent in the Chinese as well.
n.­367
Tibetan: de ni ’dus ma byas kyi rigs zhes bya. Sanskrit: asaṃskṛtaṃ gotramidaṃ pravucyati. The language of the Tibetan and the commentary, and the notion of a noncomposite lineage (gotra) is here reminiscent of tathāgatagarbha theory.
n.­368
This verse is not present in the Chinese.
n.­369
The Chinese has “four methods of mindfulness.”
n.­370
The Sanskrit uses the term kāyasakṣin, “one who has the body as a witness,” which is explained in, for example, the Pali Kāyasakkhisutta as someone whose body has experienced the qualities, such as bliss and samādhi, of the four dhyānas. That is, they have directly experienced it for themselves.
n.­371
BHS: pṛthu sarva manyanā, “all worldly pride.”
n.­372
The order of verses 7–35 is heavily rearranged in the Chinese.
n.­373
The commentary states that Udraka was also known as Digambhara, which is also the name of a Jain school. However, the name Udraka (Rudraka in some texts) is best known in Buddhism as one of the first teachers of the Buddha. The Buddha stated that after death he was born in the formless realm but would eventually be reborn as an animal. The story for Udraka given in the commentary is that his motivation to meditate was to attain miraculous powers. He succeeded and was famous for being able to fly. But when he was told that his path was not genuine, he fell from the sky and went to the hells.
n.­374
According to the Sanskirt hanyate. The Tibetan translates as bcom (“vanquished”). The Chinese has “he will be killed ….”
n.­375
According to the Tibetan mi rgod. The Sanskrit caura is “bandit” or “thief.” The Chinese omits “thousands” and describes the bandits or thieves as “strong and carrying spears.” In Tibetan mi rgod can also mean “an ape” and could be used for “bandits.”
n.­376
The singular form is according to the Sanskrit.
n.­377
According to the Tibetan mar. The Sanskrit arpimaṇḍa actually means the scum formed when heating melted butter in order to create ghee. The Chinese has “like two clarified butters in accord” 猶二醍醐合 (you er ti hu he).
n.­378
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has “eat and drink.” The Chinese does not contain either verb and inteprets generally as, “Without proper understanding of the way.” 不應於其法 (bu ying yu qi fa).
n.­379
According to the Sanskrit bisā and the commentary pad ma’i rtsa ba. The Tibetan here has simply rtsa ba. Here the Chinese translates the Sanskrit bisā as 泥藕 (ni ou), “mud and lotus roots,” rather than simply as “lotus roots,” denoting that lotus roots grow in the mud and are covered in mud when the elephants rip them up from the mud.
n.­380
According to the Sanskrit hastipota. The Mahāvyutpatti has glang for “elephant,” though in later translations this was used exclusively for “oxen.” The Chinese has “elephant.”
n.­381
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit has “birth and illness.”
n.­382
According to the Sanskrit. In Tibetan “beyond description” is an adjective only for the true nature of the jinas. In Chinese, it works both as a noun and an adjective.
n.­383
The prose and verse from this point down to “Young Candraprabha adorned the road with many different precious arrangements” 10.­30 do not appear in the Chinese, apart from the one prose sentence in which Candraprabha requests the Buddha to come to his home. There is somewhat more in the Gilgit manuscript than in the Chinese.
n.­384
The Roman numerals indicate verses that are not contained in the Gilgit manuscript and therefore are not in the Vaidya edition, but are given in footnotes in the Dutt edition of the Gilgit manuscript.
n.­385
The commentary states that this means that anything the samādhi is focused upon will be overcome.
n.­386
The commentary states that this means that whatever is desired will appear from space.
n.­387
The commentary states that this means that it is invulnerable to all distractions.
n.­388
The commentary states that this means that one can go miraculously anywhere at the speed of thought.
n.­389
The commentary states that this means that all forms can be perceived.
n.­390
The commentary states that this means that one can directly perceive the tathāgatas in infinite realms.
n.­391
The commentary states that this means the consecration of the perfection of wisdom, which has the direct perception of the essence of all emptiness.
n.­392
The usual traditional list is of eight liberations, but as in the Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra, this term can be used for any method that brings liberation.
n.­393
According to the commentary, these four enemies are the four māras: the māra of the kleśas, the māra of death, the divine māra (of distracting pleasures), and the māra of the aggregates (of the mind and body).
n.­394
Literally deva, and translated into Tibetan as lha, but this was a term of respect used for kings, as the equivalent of “Your Majesty,” and so on. It is not meant to be taken literally as “a deity.”
n.­395
According to the Sanskrit toraṇa. Translated into Tibetan as rta babs.
n.­396
Synonymous with agallochum and aloeswood. A dark resin in the heartwood of certain tropical trees.
n.­397
According to the Sanskrit. Basically the same as damaru. Translated into Tibetan as mkhar rnga.
n.­398
The text gives both the Sanskrit tuṇava and the Tibetan translation pi wang rgyud gcig pa.
n.­399
A kettle drum played horizontally, wider in the middle with the skin at both ends, played by the hands. One drumhead is smaller than the other. It is a South Indian drum, and maintains the rhythm in Karnataka music.
n.­400
Tibetan rnga mu kun da. Also called rnga zlum (“round drum”). From its representation in a sculpture of a mukunda drummer, it appears to be a much smaller version of the mṛḍaṅga drum, held in the middle with one hand with one end beaten by the other hand.
n.­401
Tibetan rdza rnga chen po (“large kettle drum”). It is a kettle drum played horizontally. Unlike the mṛdaṅga, one half of the body of the drum is wider than the other. The Sanskrit for the list of instruments is in Dutt (116). There the spelling is muruja.
n.­402
Considered the purest form of gold, found in the rivers, and believed to have come from a legendary site beyond the Himalayas.
n.­403
The Chinese account of this event resumes here, after a few introductory sentences. The Gilgit also omits all the preceding passage, apart from the description of Candraprabha taking leave of the Buddha and returning home.
n.­404
From the Sanskrit svādanīya (“tasty,” “flavorful”). The Tibetan translates as a noun: myang ba.
n.­405
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit niryūha can also mean “a pinnacle” or “turret.”
n.­406
According to the Tibetan ba gam, which is an ornamental roof. The Sanskrit pañjara principally means “a cage,” and therefore could be “railings.”
n.­407
Tibetan: skar khung dra ba ris (“window-net pattern”). Sanskrit jāla (“net”), though jālaka does mean “lattice-window.”
n.­408
Sanskrit: ardhacandra. Tibetan: zla ba kham pa. This appears to have been a prominent part of a building’s design.
n.­409
None of the verses with Roman numerals appear in the Gilgit or the Chinese.
n.­410
According to the Sanskrit. Absent in the Tibetan, perhaps as a result of a scribal omission in the Sanskrit manuscript, or an omission in translation, as the next name is Durabhisambhava.
n.­411
The commentary states that this is on the south side of the city. Rājagṛha is well known for its natural hot springs. This passage does not appear in the Chinese from “accompanied by many adorned horses” up to this point.
n.­412
From this point until Candraprabha speaks does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­413
The following seven verses and two lines of prose do not appear in the Chinese or the Gilgit manuscript.
n.­414
According to most Kangyurs: zan. Degé: bran.
n.­415
According to the Narthang, Cone, and Degé: ’dong. Pedurma: ’dod.
n.­416
“After speaking these lines” does not appear in the Gilgit or the Chinese.
n.­417
“kumbhāṇḍas, pretas, pūtanas” does not appear in the Gilgit.
n.­418
Literally “ten million [times] a hundred thousand million [times] a hundred thousand, which adds up to “a hundred thousand quintillion.” The Chinese has 百千萬億那由他 (bai qian wan yi na yu ta), “one thousand million” (yi’ nayuta).
n.­419
Also known in the past as “Indian blue jay.”
n.­420
According to the Gilgit Sanskrit. Absent in the Tibetan, presumably accidentally.
n.­421
Also called “red avadavats,” “strawberry finches,” and “kalavinka sparrows.” Dictionaries have erroneously identified them as cuckoos; kalaviṅka birds outside India have evolved into a mythical half-human bird. The avadavat is a significant bird in the Ganges plain and is renowned for its beautiful song.
n.­422
The birds do not appear in Gilgit manuscript. The following prose and verses do not appear in the Chinese.
n.­423
From the Sanskrit muṣala. Yongle, Lithang, Peking Narthang, Cone, and Lhasa: rdung ’dzin. Degé: gtun ’dzin. Musala here refers to a large pestle, about three feet long, which is also used as a weapon, like a mace, by a deity such as a yakṣa who hurls it at an enemy.
n.­424
These are the four traditional divisions of the army: cavalry, elephants, chariots, and infantry. These are also the basis for the game of chess, which originated in India.
n.­425
These do not appear in the Gilgit manuscript.
n.­426
The Gilgit manuscript fragment has tilaka[ba]kula with what appears to be an omission of the syllable ba (sesame flowers, medlar flowers).
n.­427
This prose section does not appear in the Gilgit, but is present in the Shastri and Hodgson (Dutt p. 121).
n.­428
In the BHS verse their names are given as Avalokitu and Sthāmu.
n.­429
In the BHS verse this name is shortened to Amogha.
n.­430
In the verse this is given in the short form, “Ratna.” The commentary states that this is another name for Ratnapāṇi, a bodhisattva who appears in Mahāyāna sūtras.
n.­431
The BHS verse uses this synonym for Subāhu.
n.­432
In the BHS verse his name is given as Durabhisambhavu.
n.­433
In the BHS verse the name is shortened to Vīra.
n.­434
According to the BHS jina­pādānubaddha. The Tibetan could be interpreted as just meaning “attendants.”
n.­435
Synonym for Maitreya. In the BHS verse the form is Matraku.
n.­436
The Tibetan erroneously translates the kāya in bhāvitakāya as lus (body).
n.­437
Here the Tibetan has three lines of verse, where the Sanskrit has four. The BHS verse is: “He is one who has cultivated love, rejoicing, and equanimity, / He is a great being who has developed compassion, / And through the qualities of the teaching of the Dharma / He has infinite understanding of the qualities of the Lord of jinas.” The Tibetan translation therefore has the last line of each verse being the first line of the following verse, as compared to the Sanskrit. In addition, the last three lines of the final śloka in Sanskrit are not present in the Tibetan.
n.­438
According to the BHS. The Tibetan, zhabs ’bring byed, could be interpreted as “attended to.”
n.­439
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “those humans.”
n.­440
In the verse, for the sake of the meter, the name is given as Mañjuśirī.
n.­441
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan appears to mean “many thousands of millions of Mañjuśrīs.”
n.­442
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Who have accomplished bodies with the qualities of superior powers.” The Tibetan may have been translating śura instead of śarira.
n.­443
The Sanskrit here uses the synonym Śārisuta for Śāriputra.
n.­444
The Sanskrit here is “Maudgal,” which is the name shortened for the verse.
n.­445
BHS: Bhradrikurāja. Usually referred to simply as “Bhadrika.”
n.­446
In the BHS verse the name is given as Kauñciku. This may be Katyayāna (also known as Kaccāyana or Kaccāna), the only one of the Buddha’s ten principal students not to appear in this list.
n.­447
In the BHS verse the name is given as Koṣṭhilu.
n.­448
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has stong du, which appears to be a scribal error for stong dgu.
n.­449
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit also has vrata (“vows of discipline”), which would have been translated into Tibetan as brtul zhugs.
n.­450
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “And had mastered the recitation of curses and beneficial incantations.”
n.­451
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: Kārttika, the twelfth month of the Indian year, named after the Pleiades constellation, as the full moon appears near that constellation. In the Western calendar it is in October / November. In India, this is the time after the monsoon has ended and the sky is at its clearest.
n.­452
The Sanskrit uses the synonym dānava instead of asura.
n.­453
The Tibetan concludes here. The Sanskrit has the final line of that verse being the first of a four-line verse: “Scattered excellent flowers and supreme incense, / And an abundant variety of sandalwoods. / They circumambulated the Instructor, / And bowed down to the enlightened one.”
n.­454
The Chinese account of this event resumes again. This paragraph is brief in the Gilgit and Chinese.
n.­455
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: ṛṣabha-gaṇa, “herds of bulls.” Chinese: “a hundred thousand.”
n.­456
Chinese: “kings of bulls.”
n.­457
According to the Sanskrit dvirada and the Chinese. The Tibetan translates both “bull” and “elephant” with glang.
n.­458
The BHS has parihāraka, equivalent to the Sanskrit parihaṭaka, which can mean “anklet” or “bracelet.” “Anklet” is chosen here, as the others follow. The Tibetan translates this and the following ornament identically as gdu bu.
n.­459
From the Sanskrit kaṭaka.
n.­460
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: ambarakusumān (“cloth and flowers”).
n.­461
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: maṇisūtra (“strings of jewels”).
n.­462
According to the Tibetan mtsho bya (“lake birds”). The Sanskrit has haṃsa-krauñca (“ducks / geese and cranes”).
n.­463
The last half of this verse in the Sanskrit does not appear in the Tibetan. The entire verse does not appear in the Chinese. In the Gilgit and Shastri the second half is: “They were free from the net of fear, evil, and ignorance / And wished to bow down before the Sugata.” Hodgson has “stains” (mala) instead of “fear” (bhaya).
n.­464
The Chinese has “the body of the Buddha with the ten strengths.”
n.­465
Literally, a hundred-thousand ten-million.
n.­466
Chinese: “The celestial palaces became empty, as devas had come to see the Buddha.”
n.­467
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: lokanātha (“Lord of the World”). Chinese: “the Buddha, the Lord with the ten strengths.”
n.­468
This verse is absent in the Chinese.
n.­469
The main road connecting towns.
n.­470
Literally “principal and intermediate directions.” Chinese: “ten directions.”
n.­471
This verse is in the Gilgit, Shastri, and Hodgson, but does not appear in the Tibetan or the Chinese.
n.­472
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­473
This verse does not appear in the Chinese, but there is an alternative verse that relates how joy arose in those who saw the Buddha and that they wondered when they, too, could make supreme offerings.
n.­474
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit does not have “in saṃsāra.” Chinese: “difficult to encounter for a long time,” 久遠難值遇 (jiu yuan nan zhi yu).
n.­475
According to the Sanskrit mahānubhāva and most Kangyurs. The Degé has thub chen (“great muni / sage”). The Chinese has 大比丘眾 (da bi qiu zhong), from the Sanskrit bhikṣu-saṃgha.
n.­476
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “precious jewels.” (BHS maṇiratana = Sanskrit maṇiratna.)
n.­477
The Sanskrit has Śubhamarutāḥ. Maruta is a synonym for deva, and Śubha is a shorter form for the name of the Parī­ttaśubha paradise.
n.­478
The Sanskrit has the synonym “Aparimitaśubha.”
n.­479
The Chinese has an additional verse about other devas coming to see the Lord of the World.
n.­480
This refers to the Mahābrahma paradise, where Brahmā resides, and is the highest of the three deva realms that are the realms of the first dhyāna in the form realm.
n.­481
Both the Sanskrit and Tibetan give here the shortened form of the name of this realm: Paranirmita; gzhan ’phrul. Chinese: 他化天 (ta hua tian), a shortened form too.
n.­482
The Sanskrit gives a shortened form tridaśa (thirty) instead of the usual Trāyastriṃśa (“thirty-three”). The Tibetan and Chinese, however, translate as thirty-three.
n.­483
This first line is conjoined into Verse 53 in the Chinese; the rest is omitted.
n.­484
It is Virūpākṣa that is traditionally said to be the lord over the nāgas. Nevertheless, this may reflect an earlier variant tradition. Not mentioned in the Chinese.
n.­485
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit omits this and instead has “Also countless Māladhāra devas.”
n.­486
This verse is in the Gilgit manuscript but not present in the Chinese.
n.­487
This verse and the following two do not appear in the Gilgit manuscript or the Chinese. They are present in the Shastri and Hodgson. The Tibetan corresponds with the Hodgson version of the verses.
n.­488
According to the Tibetan gdengs ka can and the Mahāvyutpatti. Gilgit: Bhogaka.
n.­489
This verse is not present in the Gilgit or the Chinese.
n.­490
According to the Sanskrit, which is in the singular. The Chinese assumes the plural, referring to all the previous nāga kings.
n.­491
Vachellia farnesiana. The common English name is “needle bush,” because of its numerous thorns. The Sanskrit name is kept in both the English and Chinese translation because it is the origin of the nāga’s name.
n.­492
According to the Sanskrit, which has the adjective “little,” and also the account in the Vinaya, which states that as a monk in the time of Buddha Kāśyapa he cut down the thorny bush at the entrance of his cave because it always snagged his robes. Cutting down bushes or even grass is contrary to the bhikṣu rules. Therefore he was reborn as a nāga with a tree growing out of his head. This caused him pain whenever the wind blew. In Chinese the word 小 (xiao), as an adjective, means “little,” as in the Sanskrit. As a verb it means “belittle” or “make something small.” The main verb used is 壞 (huai), i.e., “to destroy or damage,” rather than “to cut down.” These two verbs together, 壞小 (huai xiao), could be interpreted as “cutting the bush to make it small,” or “cutting the bush in contempt.”
n.­493
This verse is considerably different in the Chinese.
n.­494
In terms of early Mahāyāna cosmology, “the king of Alakavatī” is Kubera, king of the yakṣas. In the tantric tradition, Alakavatī is the realm of Vajrapāṇi.
n.­495
This is the first of eight verses that in the Chinese are reduced to three verses listing names.
n.­496
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan here translates the names, earlier translated as lngas rtsen and shā kya ’phel, as dus ’phel lnga po, which appears to indicate a corruption in the Sanskrit text that was used for the translation, resulting in kālavṛddho (“time increase”), which would match dus ’phel (“time increase”).
n.­497
This verse and the following verses are absent in the Chinese.
n.­498
This name seems to appear twice, once in transliteration and once in translation in another line: mi’u thung (dwarf).
n.­499
According to the Sanskrit nadi and the Chinese 河 (he). The Tibetan ’bab chu could have been interpreted to mean “waterfall.”
n.­500
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “rejoiced at the Jina’s entry.” The line order follows the Sanskrit. The last two lines are not present in the Chinese.
n.­501
Chinese: “When the Buddha and others had concluded their meals, put down their alms bowls, and washed their hands…”
n.­502
The Tibetan ras bcos bu (literally, “processed cotton”) is said in Tibetan-English dictionaries to mean “calico.” The Sanskrit has “divine duṣya cloths.” Duṣya in Sanskrit can mean “cotton” and “calico.” Calico was traditionally made in Karnataka, but was always the cheapest cloth, and therefore it is unlikely that it would have that meaning here. Dūṣya is probably a Sanskritization of a Middle Indic word such as the Pali dussa, which means “woven cloth.” In ancient India, cloth was usually made of cotton, but as the cloth referred to here is extremely expensive it may literally mean “divine cotton,” or alternatively, “silk,” which at that time in ancient India could only be imported from China and was very expensive.
n.­503
Only the number is given. In the Sanskrit the number is ninety-nine trillion. In the Chinese it is ten thousand. It is assumed that the reader will know this refers to silver coins, the raupya (the origin of the present day rupee), which was also tied to the value of silver until the end of the nineteenth century.
n.­504
The following verses are not in the Gilgit, Sanskrit, or Chinese, but are in the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts.
n.­505
According to the Sanskrit kroṣṭaka. The Tibetan translates this as wa (“fox”), and the Chinese also translates it as “fox,” as the jackal is not native to China. However, the analogy is clearly concerning the rivalry between lions and jackals, the latter generally eating what the lions leave. The Chinese has “lion’s roar” rather than “lion.”
n.­506
The Sanskrit uses the same word as in the first line, svabhāva, translated in the first line as rang bzhin. In this second line svabhāva is translated into Tibetan as ngo bo nyid instead of rang bzhin (“nature”), and prakṛti (which can also mean “character” as well as “nature”) is translated as rang bzhin.
n.­507
The Tibetan translates prakṛti as rang bzhin, which in the first line had been used to translate svabhāva.
n.­508
In the Sanskrit but absent in the Tibetan is vipāka­lakṣaṇānārambhaṇa­lakṣaṇān.
n.­509
This is repeating with different words what is said in verse 27 of chapter 2. Here prabhāṣa is equivalent to pratibhāṇa (“confident eloquence”) in that verse. The Tibetan has here byang chub (“enlightenment”), possibly from a corruption of bhoti (“will be”) to bodhi (“enlightenment”) in the manuscript it was translated from. The Chinese version is slightly different: 若說如是法, 菩薩了知者, 彼得無愛辯, 說億修多羅 (ruo shuo ru shi fa, pu sa liao zhi zhe, bi de wu ai bian, shuo yi xiu duo luo). The equivalent of pratibhāṇa is used.
n.­510
The Tibetan sngon pa’i mtha’ from the Sanskrit pūrvāntaṃ means “the past.” The commentary explains this as knowing that phenomena have no past or future. However, this may be the result of an early corruption in the text, perhaps of prakṛtatvaṃ or similar, as the Chinese translates it more cogently as “they know the nature of the sound,” and so on.
n.­511
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. The Chinese has “nature.”
n.­512
The Sanskrit has hriyate (“ashamed”). The Tibetan ’phrogs appears to have translated from something like hāryate (“taken away”). Chinese: 染 (ran), (“polluted / afflicted”).
n.­513
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. The Chinese has “nature.”
n.­514
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits “on birth.”
n.­515
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan appears to have translated from a manuscript in which duḥkhaṃ had been corrupted to dharmaṃ, with the resulting meaning “cessation of phenomena.”
n.­516
Literally, buddhaputra (“sons of the buddhas”).
n.­517
Sanskrit: mitrabhadra. This is synonymous with kalyāṇamitra.
n.­518
According to the Tibetan srin po. Sanskrit: niśācarā, a synonym for rākṣasa.
n.­519
According to the Tibetan and the Chinese 柔何處眾演說法 (rou he chu zhong yan shuo fa). Vaidya Sanskrit: paryāyasūtrato, “teaches the Dharma according to the way of the sūtra.”
n.­520
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan appears to say, “they teach the buddhas.”
n.­521
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “always skilled.”
n.­522
According to the Tibetan and Dutt’s Gilgit vipāka (ripening). The Shastri and Gilgit have vibhakti (“different categories”) and the Hodgson has the corruption virakti instead of vipāka. Chinese: 為人顯示因果理 (wei ren xian shi yin guo), “they reveal to others the principle / law of cause and results.”
n.­523
According to the Tibetan and Dutt’s Gilgit. The Vaidya Sanskrit has sbhṛti (“no meaning”) instead of smṛti (“memory”). The Chinese does not have “pure.”
n.­524
Unusually here nāga has been translated not just as klu but as klu ’brug, adding the syllable for “dragon.” Chinese: “dragon.”
n.­525
All four lines of this verse begin with vipula (“vast”), though this is not reflected in the Tibetan translation. There the word is translated differently in each line, but here an attempt has been made to keep the repetition in English.
n.­526
Chinese: 廣大 (guang da), “vast,” appears in the first and third line only.
n.­527
According to the Sanskrit rāṣṭra, translated into Tibetan as grong, which could mean “village,” “town,” or “city.” Chinese: “of the world” 世間.
n.­528
The name is in a BHS form: Maitraka.
n.­529
According to the Sanskrit. The order of the lines in the Tibetan translation is rather awkward, and it appears that the second and third lines have changed place. Rearranged they would be: “Similarly Buddha Amitāyus also / Has taught many kinds of benefits: / ‘All who wish (’dod) for my Sukhāvatī / Will go to Abhirati and see Buddha Akṣobhya.’ The Chinese does not include the name “Abhirati.”
n.­530
This last verse appears to be spoken by Candraprabha in the Sanskrit and Tibetan. In the Chinese, however, these are the words of the Buddha: “Now I have explained such innumerable benefits and merits / qualities. Those who wish to attain merits / qualities similar to mine should uphold this sūtra during the time of degeneration.”
n.­531
From the Sanskrit prabhāvyate. The Tibetan appears to have translated from a manuscript with something like pravbhidyate or prabhedyate (“divide,” “categorize”).
n.­532
According to the Sanskrit, the commentary, and the Chinese. The Tibetan translates as “the nature of the mind is without form,” presumably translating from svabhāvam arūpyam as a corruption of niḥsvabhāvam arūpyam.
n.­533
The Chinese adds “and cannot be seen.”
n.­534
According to the BHS and the Chinese. The Tibetan has either translated from a corruption in a manuscript from akṣara-vibhāvita-jñāna to akṣaya-vibhāvita-jñāna (“letters” being changed into “indestructible, unending”) or chosen akṣara’s alternative meaning, “imperishable.” The BHS meaning of vibhāva can be “to be free of.” However, vibhāva can be translated into Tibetan as “meditation” as well as “non-existing,” and so on. Therefore the Tibetan has, “They meditate on unending wisdom,” which does not appear to fit the context.
n.­535
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan and Chinese omit “the words.”
n.­536
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan and Chinese omit “the words.”
n.­537
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan omits “the knowledge.”
n.­538
According to the Sanskrit karmakṛtāyāḥ. The Tibetan yongs su sbyang ba could be translated as “completely purified.” The Chinese omits “who created the karma (or completely purified) in previous lifetimes.”
n.­539
According to the Tibetan ’khyil ba and the Sanskrit avartāyāḥ, though it could also be translated as “repetition of dharāṇīs.”
n.­540
The commentary states that here “retention” (dhāraṇī) is equivalent to wisdom. The reference to retentions does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­541
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has the list of qualities as all being attainments. The commentary has “unobscured patience.” The Chinese 得修無障法忍 (de xiu wu zhang fa ren) can be interpreted as “became capable of practicing unobscured patience.”
n.­542
This verse is very different in the Chinese.
n.­543
According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan has only “They know all phenomena.”
n.­544
This verse is very different in the Chinese.
n.­545
According to the Tibetan, presumably translating from śīlaṃ, though the Sanskrit has śikṣāṃ (“learning,” “study”).
n.­546
Chinese: “They would rather forsake their own life than violate the teaching of the tathāgatas.”
n.­547
The Sanskrit manasikāra and the Tibetan yid la byed pa can mean, according to context, “fixed attention,” “concentration,” “focused reflection,” etc. The commentary states that the samādhi being devoid of such factors is in relation to mind and thoughts, subject and object, action and object, and so on. The negative of the term (amanasikāra, yid la mi byed pa) was later adapted into the mahāmudrā tradition.
n.­548
The BHS term raṇā is synonymous with kleśa, and both are translated into Tibetan as nyon mongs.
n.­549
In the Chinese, this line uses an unusual expression in conjunction with equality: 平等非嶮地 (ping deng fei xian di). 平等 (ping deng) is “equality,” 非 (fei) “not,” 嶮地 (xian) is the same as 險 and means “steep, lofty, precipitous,” and 地 (di) is “land, level, bhūmi.” The term samādhi does not appear.
n.­550
According to the Sanskrit: na… asti. The commentary and various Kangyurs, including the Degé, have yod med. The Pedurma has yong med.
n.­551
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “grasping.”
n.­552
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “grasping.”
n.­553
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “without attachment.”
n.­554
According to the Sanskrit spṛśi. Tibetan: dran pa, translated from a corruption of spṛśi to smrti (“mindfulness” without pride).
n.­555
According to the Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Chinese: “is the noble path.”
n.­556
According to the Sanskrit śantibhūmi. The Tibetan has “level of buddhahood,” perhaps translating from buddhabhūmi.
n.­557
According to the Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Chinese: “meditation and wisdom.”
n.­558
According to the Sanskrit and the commentary. The Tibetan has “peace” instead of “meditation.”
n.­559
Some of the lines of this verse have been exchanged with lines from the subsequent verse for a clearer reading.
n.­560
In the Chinese, the order of this and the preceding verse is reversed.
n.­561
According to the Sanskrit and the Kangyurs that have the genitive gi. The Degé has the instrumental gis.
n.­562
From the Sanskrit dharmadhātumaya, and as in the Chinese. The Tibetan may be translated from a manuscript that read dharmadhātunaya: “the way of the essence of phenomena.”
n.­563
According to the Tibetan mya ngan. The BHS has aṅgana (“blemish,” “impurity,” “evil”). The Chinese 惱 agrees with the BHS.
n.­564
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. The Chinese has “It cannot be understood through words. This is because phenomena do not have characteristics.” This is also a legitimate translation if it is assumed that in sarvadharmāṇa lakṣaṇam the latter word is actually alakṣaṇam.
n.­565
According to the Sanskrit and most Kangyurs. The Degé has dga’ (“joy”).
n.­566
The Chinese appears to mean, “through language only knowledge is gained.”
n.­567
The Degé has erroneously repeated the first two lines of the last verse at the beginning of this penultimate verse, making it into six lines.
n.­568
There is a play of words here on saṃpāra (“the further side”) and the BHS pārami (“perfection”). The Chinese translates as “the other side” and translates the verse as “a command to the listener.”
n.­569
Chinese: “Then the youth Candraprabha said these words to the Bhagavān.”
n.­570
According to the Tibetan spobs. The Sanskrit pratibhāti could also mean “elucidates this for me.”
n.­571
Chinese: “tormented by sickness, old age, and death.”
n.­572
According to the Tibetan dpa’ bo, which appears to have translated from a manuscript that had vīra instead of the Sanskrit vīrye, “with diligence.” Chinese: 善哉, the most common translation of Sanskrit sādhu, (“holy man,” “saint”).
n.­573
According to the Sanskrit krudhyase. The Tibetan translates as ’khrugs, which primarily has the meaning of “disturbed.” According to the Mahāvyuttpati this would be a translation of kṣubhyase, meaning “disturbed.” Therefore this may be a translation from a scribal corruption in the Sanskrit.
n.­574
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan has “maintain various views.”
n.­575
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan appears to make this line the voice of devas that are accompanying the music.
n.­576
According to the Sanskrit kalaviṅka, translated into Tibetan here as “cuckoo,” even though earlier they were listed separately where kalaviṅka was simply transliterated. The Chinese transliterates as 迦陵頻伽. The avadavat was unknown in Tibet while the cuckoo was very familiar. However, the avadavat is a bird known in North India for its beautiful song.
n.­577
The Sanskrit is literally “twice born,” referring to first the egg being laid and then the hatching.
n.­578
According to the Tibetan, the Gilgit manuscript, and the Chinese. The later Sanskrit manuscripts from Nepal (the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts) have here the line about musical instruments‍—conches, drums, and so on‍—that will occur in the next verse in this version. There are two verses in the Tibetan and Gilgit version compared to one in the later Sanskrit manuscripts and the Chinese.
n.­579
The Tibetan here translates paṭaha as rdza rnga, which is usually the translation for the mṛḍaṅga drum.
n.­580
The Tibetan translation here (rnga bo che) does not make a very strong distinction between the bherī and the earlier muraja drum (rdza rnga chen po). The Chinese has simply “drums” and does not differentiate the two kinds, but also has “three-stringed lutes, lutes, and flutes.”
n.­581
This verse is in the Gilgit manuscript and the Tibetan. It does not appear in the later Sanskrit versions. In the Chinese this is a continuation of the previous verse without the line about the deva maidens.
n.­582
In the Chinese, this verse is preceded by a verse describing how the songs and music played by the king of the kinnaras cannot compare to the Buddha’s speech. This verse is not found in the Tibetan or Sanskrit.
n.­583
In the Sanskrit the synonym sura is used.
n.­584
In the Sanskrit the synonym dānu is used. In the Chinese both deva and dānu were translated by the same term.
n.­585
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan translates it as mkhar rnga (“gong”).
n.­586
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has just rnga (“drums”).
n.­587
Unidentified Indian musical instrument. It appears in two lists of instruments in the Lalita­vistara­sūtra (see The Play in Full 15.39 and 15.67) with a stringed instrument preceding and following it, but some recent Tibetan-English dictionaries have “cymbals.”
n.­588
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit appears to be still describing the music: “delightful, beautiful, and divine.”
n.­589
Literally, marutas and apsarases.
n.­590
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­591
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­592
Literally, “Lord of the Gods,” another name for Indra / Śakra.
n.­593
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “by the Buddha’s light rays.” The Chinese has “one light ray emitted by the Buddha.”
n.­594
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “unequaled.”
n.­595
According to the Tibetan and close to the version in Dutt’s “manuscript A” (the Shastri manuscript). Chinese: “requests the Buddha to be compassionate.”
n.­596
The Chinese has an extra verse here, requesting a prophecy, which does not appear in the Tibetan or the Sanskrit.
n.­597
The Chinese has different epithets.
n.­598
From the first half of the Sanskrit compound ratha-pattiya; the meaning of the second half is obscure, as is the Tibetan translation: rta rkang thang. The commentary glosses it as shing rta mchog (“perfect chariots”).
n.­599
According to the Tibetan. “Pearls” does not appear in the Sanskrit, but instead, “male and female slaves” (dāsadāsi). The Chinese has “male and female slaves, jewels, pearls, gold, cows, and sheep.”
n.­600
The commentary states that these lotuses appear as seats for the bodhisattvas.
n.­601
Chinese: “innumerable.”
n.­602
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has rnga (“drums”) and the Chinese also just has “drums.”
n.­603
According to the Tibetan mkhar rnga. Sanskrit: tunava (“flutes”). Chinese: 鐃, similar to “cymbals.”
n.­604
From the Sanskrit krauñca. Tibetan: khrung khrung. According to the Mahāvyutpatti, the Tibetan for krauñca is krung krung. See Julia Leslie, A Bird Bereaved: The identity and significance of Vālmīki’s krauñca, for the identification of this bird. Present Sanskrit dictionaries state it is a curlew. However, it is specifically the Sarus crane, which in Sanskrit is also called the sārasa krauñca, which can also be confusing because sārasa, as in this sūtra, is the word for “swan.”
n.­605
Chinese: 拘翅 (jue chi), 頻迦 (pin jia), 鵞鶴 (er he). The first two are from the pronunciation of the Sanskrit, and the third is a Chinese name, referring to one kind of crane.
n.­606
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “tender ones.” Chinese: “tamed and gentle ones.”
n.­607
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan could have been interpreted as “speak to Mañjughoṣa,” except for the adverbial particle su. Chinese: 和潤語, “harmonious and gentle speech.”
n.­608
Literally in Sanskrit, “sound of the clouds.” Chinese: “thunder” 雷霆.
n.­609
Although translated earlier in the text as bzhad (in accord with the Mahāvyutpatti), the Tibetan here simply transliterated sārasa (sa ra sa).
n.­610
According to the Tibetan. Vaidya Sanskrit: “You are sublime because of the results of good actions.”
n.­611
From the Sanskrit jīvaṃjīva (Tibetan: shang shang te’u). According to the Mahesh Sharma (141), jīvjīva is a pheasant, and jīvaṃjīva (as in Monier-Williams) is the chukar partridge (Alectoris chukar, also known as the Greek partridge). In later times, in China and Tibet this became a legendary half-human bird, or a two-headed bird. The Chinese transliterates: 命命鳥.
n.­612
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­613
The Chinese has 47 consecutive verses: the first 16 verses are in chapter 15 of the Tibetan-Sanskrit version and the remaining 31 verses are in chapter 16.
n.­614
According to the Sanskrit, and the Degé, Lithang, Narthang, and Lhasa Kangyurs: dpang. The Pedurma has dbang (“power”).
n.­615
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­616
According to the Sanskrit aviruddha, and the Chinese 不為他壞不違他.
n.­617
Sanskrit: ogha. A term also found in the Pali tradition, it refers to ignorance, desire, and so on. Translated in the Chinese as its implied meaning.
n.­618
Sanskrit: grantha. A term also found in the Pali tradition (gantha), it refers to the knots that bind one to existence. Chinese: “knots.”
n.­619
According to the Sanskrit tṛṣṇa. The Tibetan has srid pa (“existence”) in error for sred pa.
n.­620
The prose section that begins this chapter does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­621
According to the Sanskrit, the Tibetan klag, and the Chinese. Degé: lhogs.
n.­622
According to the commentary (’dod pa can) and the Sanskrit lubdha, which can also mean “confused,” hence the Tibetan translation brkam (“scattered”).
n.­623
Chinese: 放逸 (“careless”), 毀禁 (“do not follow precepts”), and 多慳吝 (“covetous”).
n.­624
According to the commentary, the Sanskrit, and the Chinese. The Tibetan has “attached to towns.”
n.­625
Chinese: “slander.”
n.­626
A euphemism for sexual activity. The Chinese is less specific in its descriptions.
n.­627
According to the Sanskrit parakumārī and the Tibetan gzhan gyi bu mo (“the girls of others”). Chinese: 童女 “girls” or “virgins.”
n.­628
Sanskrit: “path of the mendicant.”
n.­629
In the Chinese this verse is preceded by “one describing deviations from the path of the mendicant.”
n.­630
According to dhenu in the Sanskrit and gzho in the Mahāvyutpatti. The Tibetan Kangyurs have gzhon and bzhon in error for gzho or bzho.
n.­631
According to the Tibetan. In the Sanskrit and Chinese it could mean “among a hundred thousand.”
n.­632
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has, “They become intoxicated.”
n.­633
Chinese: 若得虛名自欣慶 (ruo de xu ming zi xin qing), “if they gain false reputation and become overjoyed.”
n.­634
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­635
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­636
According to the Tibetan, Chinese, and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts. The Dutt and Vaidya have vihāru, “play with each other.”
n.­637
This entire opening section about Maitreya and his miraculous activities does not appear in the Gilgit manuscript and therefore not in the Vaidya either. The Tibetan follows the version in the Hodgson manuscript.
n.­638
According to the Sanskrit, where tathāgata is clearly in the vocative and the verb “to go” is in the first-person singular.
n.­639
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Lamp of the three worlds.”
n.­640
There is a play on words here as “conquered the māras” is jitamārā, and Maitreya’s alternative name is “Ajita.”
n.­641
The first part of this chapter up to this point does not appear in the Gilgit or the Chinese.
n.­642
This sentence does not appear in the Gilgit or the Chinese.
n.­643
“Through the gateway of peace” does not appear in the Gilgit or the Chinese.
n.­644
“Kneeling on his right knee, with palms placed together, bowed toward the Bhagavān” does not appear in Gilgit or the Chinese.
n.­645
The Chinese gives the full name of the samādhi.
n.­646
The Chinese gives the full name of the samādhi.
n.­647
The Sanskrit has an additional quality at this point: “wish to leave them.”
n.­648
The Sanskrit has an additional quality at this point: “have no endurance for them.”
n.­649
Chinese: 深怖三界起驚畏心 (shen bu san jie qi jing wei xin), “they are deeply terrified of the three realms and develop a fearful mind”; 厭離三界起不染心 (yan li san jie qi bu ran xin), “they are determined to leave the three realms and develop the aspiration to be free from defilements”; 不著三界起逼惱心 (bu zhuo san jie qi bi nao xin), “they are not attached to the three realms and develop the aspiration to overcome suffering.”
n.­650
The Chinese omits part of these two sentences, apparently in error, resulting in: “If they accomplish this, they will attain this samādhi” and gives the full name of the samādhi.
n.­651
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Chinese: “are widely learned.”
n.­652
According to the Tibetan. In the Sanskrit and Chinese this is phrased as a question.
n.­653
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “proved,” “tried.” The Chinese has “trained in.”
n.­654
According to the Sanskrit (Hodgson and Shastri manuscripts). Absent in the Tibetan.
n.­655
According to the Tibetan and all Sanskrit. This paragraph does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­656
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. The Chinese has one yi 一憶 (yi yi), which can mean 100,000, one million, or ten million in various Buddhist scriptures.
n.­657
According to the Sanskrit and most Kangyurs. The Degé has mi in error for me.
n.­658
According to the Tibetan bye ba. The Sanskrit has ṣaḍvarṣakoṭyaḥ: “sixty times ten million,” i.e., six hundred million.
n.­659
According to the Tibetan nyin zhag. The Sanskrit has rātrimdivā (“day and night”).
n.­660
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “thirty thousand years.”
n.­661
The Chinese lists twelve buddhas in twelve verses up to this point.
n.­662
According to the Tibetan. The Nepalese manuscripts appear to divide this into two names, and the Gilgit certainly does: brahmā ca devas tathā.
n.­663
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: Svara­brahma­datta.
n.­664
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has Brahmaghoṣa (tshangs pa’i dbyangs).
n.­665
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit appears to be two names.
n.­666
Much of this verse repeats the names from the preceding verse, and there may have been a corruption. It is possible that they were meant to be variations of the same compounds but with a group beginning with Dānta, followed by a group beginning with Śānta. This would give: “Dāntottara, Dānta, Sudāntacitta, / Sudānta, Dāntendriya, Dāntamānasa, / Dāntottara, Dāntaśirin, Pradānta, / Dāntīyapāraṃgata and Dāntaśūra, [23] Śantottara, Śānta, Suśāntacitta, / Suśānta, Śāntendriya, Śāntamānasa, / Śāntottara, Śānta­śriya­jvalanta, / Śāntapraśānteśvara, Śāntiśūra. [24]”
n.­667
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan here translates parivarta as le’u (“chapter”) and omits nirhāra. This paragraph is absent in the Chinese.
n.­668
According to the Sanskrit viśārada. Tibetan: “very great fame” (grags pa shin tu che). Absent from the Chinese.
n.­669
The last line of this verse is in the next verse in the Chinese version.
n.­670
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. Sanskrit: “forsaken the world in all their words.”
n.­671
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has, literally, “He renounced the earth for accomplishing food,” which differs from all Sanskrit versions. In the Tibetan rendering, nirhāra is translated as sgrub pa (“accomplish”), though its other meanings are “to extract, remove, take, acquire, accumulate, or store,” which seems more appropriate here for food; and sthapetva (“established in”) as bor ba (“renounce”). The Chinese has “remained in peace and practiced great diligence.”
n.­672
According to the BHS vasthitu. The Tibetan apparently translates as “being upright, standing” (’greng).
n.­673
Literally, “elephant-king.”
n.­674
The order of this and the previous verse is reversed in the Chinese.
n.­675
According to the Sanskrit śānti. The Tibetan has bzhi (“four”) in error for zhi (“peace”).
n.­676
The Chinese has an additional line: 於諸白法常無厭 (yu zhu bai fa chang wu yan), “never tired of engaging in virtuous actions [white dharmas].”
n.­677
The Tibetan ’chad could mean “to teach” or “to explain,” as well as “to cut through, destroy.” The latter meaning is supported by the Sanskrit uccheda and the Chinese 斷 (duan).
n.­678
Chinese: “termination of the speech (or views) of ordinary people.”
n.­679
The Chinese has an additional verse at this point concerning not violating precepts and not having attachment to families.
n.­680
According to the BHS niḥsṛti. The Tibetan translates as ’byung ba.
n.­681
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­682
According to the Sanskrit sadā. The Tibetan and Chinese use synonyms for the first and second line: the Tibetan has rtag tu and khor mo; Chinese: 常 (chang) and 恆 (heng). The third line also uses sadā but with a negative in Tibetan. The Chinese is a simple negative without the meaning “never.”
n.­683
According to the BHS gatiṃgata.
n.­684
According to the Sanskrit anartha, translated into Tibetan as gnod pa (“harm”), interpreting it to mean “non-beneficial.” The Chinese also translates as “non-beneficial.” Its other meaning has been translated here, as it appears to be more appropriate to the context.
n.­685
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan lists three separate elements.
n.­686
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit appears to have no negative: “there is mingling with…”
n.­687
The online Vaidya has vajane in error for varjane.
n.­688
Darśī is translated into Tibetan as “seen.” The Chinese translation focuses on how the certainty is arrived at: 心境相稱詞決定 (xin jing xiang chen ci jue ding).
n.­689
This verse is absent in the Gilgit and Hodgson, but present in the Tibetan and Shastri.
n.­690
According to the Sanskrit śīla. The Tibetan has only tshul instead of tshul khrims.
n.­691
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. The Chinese lists all four qualities as doorways that are entered.
n.­692
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan makes the second and third lines into a single sentence.
n.­693
The Chinese here translates yoga as “method.”
n.­694
Sanskrit: ayuktayogin. Translated into Tibetan as mi rigs brtson pa.
n.­695
The online Vaidya has abhūbhi in error for abhūmi.
n.­696
In Chinese the order of the first two lines is reversed, and it begins, “the level of buddhahood is vast but not the level of the two [other] yānas.”
n.­697
According to the Sanskrit anubuddha and the Chinese. The Tibetan translates as rjes su ’brang (“followed”) instead of the expected khong du chud pa, or the like.
n.­698
According to the Tibetan grags pa chen po, which appears to have translated mahāyaśānām, although all Sanskrit versions have mahāśayānām (“those with great aspiration”). The Chinese translates as “those of the Mahāyāna.”
n.­699
The Tibetan adds “mantra” to make it vidyāmantra. The Chinese uses the unusual term 作明術 (zuo ming shu), literally meaning “techniques of clarifying,” which can be understood as “knowledge.”
n.­700
The Chinese has an additional verse before this one. It refers to emptiness and cessation.
n.­701
According to BHS niraṅga. Chinese: “free of kleśas.”
n.­702
Chinese: “can quickly attain wisdom.”
n.­703
According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: “seeks bliss.”
n.­704
According to all Sanskrit versions and the Chinese. The Tibetan has “ninety-nine,” which appears to be an early scribal corruption in the Tibetan transmission.
n.­705
In the Chinese this verse is preceded by an additional verse not found in the Sanskrit or Tibetan.
n.­706
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has “In which there are no extremes or desire,” where anantasaṅga was taken as being negated and saṅga as having a negative meaning. The Chinese has “So that they can see many buddhas after their lives have ended.”
n.­707
At the beginning of this chapter he is the first in the list of past buddhas related by Śākyamuni, though the Tibetan and Chinese translations of the name differ from previous translations of the name.
n.­708
According to the Sanskrit prasannacitta. The Tibetan only translates citta (“mind”).
n.­709
Chinese: “in the past” instead of “numerous eons.”
n.­710
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “numerous acts of generosity.”
n.­711
Chinese: “If I were to describe them it would take a long time.”
n.­712
Chinese: “go with you.”
n.­713
The Sanskrit has, in contrast to the earlier spelling, Śīrībala.
n.­714
Buddha Śākyamuni’s mother.
n.­715
This verse is not in the Gilgit or Chinese, but is in the Tibetan and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts, and is mentioned in the commentary.
n.­716
Buddha Śākyamuni’s father.
n.­717
This verse is not in the Gilgit or Chinese, but is in the Tibetan and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts, and is referred to in the commentary.
n.­718
According to the Tibetan, and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts.
n.­719
Chinese: End of fascicle 4.
n.­720
According to the Tibetan.
n.­721
Chinese: “mendicancy and perfect conduct.”
n.­722
According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: “Those who have qualities of conduct and who have few requisites.” Chinese: “Numerous qualities of meditation and peace.”
n.­723
According to the Tibetan, Chinese, and the Dutt edition of the Sanskrit: literally, “destroyed.” The Vaidya edition has loke, “in the world,” in error for lope, “destroyed, ruined.”
n.­724
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan repeats “beings.”
n.­725
This verse does not appear in the Chinese, though a variation of it appears four verses later.
n.­726
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Buddha.” Chinese: “Lord of Munis.”
n.­727
A verse in the Sanskrit and Chinese, which is a variation of a preceding verse, is absent in the Tibetan: “After eight hundred million eons / They will all, within the same eon, / Become guides of the world, / Compassionate and wishing to benefit.” The earlier version is absent in the Chinese.
n.­728
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Chinese: “seventy.”
n.­729
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Chinese: “and are moved to tears and weep.”
n.­730
From the Sanskrit satkṛta. Tibetan: mchod pa. Chinese: “offering.”
n.­731
According to the BHS ārocayāmi.
n.­732
According to the Sanskrit sparśita (“reached”). The Tibetan has thob corrupted to thos (“heard”).
n.­733
The passage from this point on until “the gandharva Pañcaśikha” (19.­9) is present in the Tibetan, Shastri, and Hodgson; it is briefly referenced in the commentary, but it is absent in the Gilgit.
n.­734
According to the Sanskrit padāni. The Tibetan tshig could mean “words.”
n.­735
These preceding three paragraphs are absent in the Chinese.
n.­736
The Sanskrit has them making the sounds ha ha and kilikilā. The Tibetan translates as “a la la.”
n.­737
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan translates as “a la la.”
n.­738
Literally, “son of a gandharva.”
n.­739
According to the Sanskrit ahaṃ. The Tibetan has bdag cag (“we”).
n.­740
The Sanskrit pañcamātra, “fivefold” music, was not translated into Tibetan. It presumably refers, as in the White Lotus of Compassion Sūtra, to the five tempos (Sanskrit: pañcāṅgika; Tibetan: yan lag lnga dang ldan pa), referring to the number of strokes per beat. This is a characteristic of South Indian music, particularly that of Karnataka.
n.­741
According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: “five hundred holders of musical instruments.”
n.­742
According to the Sanskrit saṃyukta. Tibetan: dang ldan pa (“possessing”).
n.­743
This paragraph does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­744
According to the BHS upīḍa for utpīḍa, and the Chinese 逼窄. Tibetan: gnod par byed pa (“causing harm”).
n.­745
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Chinese: “sixteen.”
n.­746
According to the Sanskrit ramaṇīyāḥ. The Tibetan dbyangs dga’ ba may be a scribal corruption. Absent in the Chinese.
n.­747
Literally, maruta, here used as a synonym for deva. Both the Tibetan and Chinese translate deva and maruta by the same term.
n.­748
The Sanskrit here changes to the singular. The plural has been kept for consistency.
n.­749
The Sanskrit has “tathāgatas.”
n.­750
According to the Sanskrit kāmān and the Chinese. The Tibetan has a scribal corruption of ’dod to gdod.
n.­751
According to the BHS mata jñātaṃ. The Tibetan has rig dang bye brag phyed (“known and discriminated”). Chinese: 憶念, literally, “remembered”; can mean “have known.”
n.­752
According to the Sanskrit. Translated into Tibetan as bdud (“Māra”), which here has the same meaning. Chinese: 魔, a simple term that refers to both Māra and Namuci.
n.­753
In accordance with the Tibetan and the Hodgson and Shastri manuscripts. “The sound of the lute” is absent in the Gilgit manuscript and the Chinese.
n.­754
The prose introduction for this chapter is more concise in the Chinese.
n.­755
According to the BHS. Tibetan: “It is taught to all foolish (childlike) beings.”
n.­756
According to the Sanskrit paitṛkadhana. The Tibetan translates as “the wealth of the other shore” or “transcendent wealth,” pha rol nor, presumably from a corruption in a Sanskrit manuscript.
n.­757
According to the BHS and the commentary, where this is singular. The Kangyur version translates it as plural in this and the next verse. The commentary adds that Buddha Śākyamuni is stating that this is his previous life.
n.­758
This verse is in the Tibetan, and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts, but not in the Gilgit manuscript.
n.­759
According to the Tibetan, in which the verb here is gdon mi za bar bya’o. The Sanskrit of the Hodgson and Shastri manuscripts has “…should depend upon the duties and qualities of the training that is the root of all merit” (śikṣāguṇa­dharmaniśrita). They also have at this point “…should have pure conduct through depending on roots of merit…” and so on. The Gilgit manuscript chapter is composed only of the verses.
n.­760
According to the BHS nirhāra. The Tibetan translates as mos pa (“aspire”), which does not appear to fit the context.
n.­761
The prose introduction to this chapter is absent in the Gilgit manuscript and the Chinese.
n.­762
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit has jambusāhvaye (“called Jambu”).
n.­763
According to the commentary they were sons of merchants. Chinese: 二不放逸長者子 (er bu fang yi zhang zhe zi) “two sons of elders.”
n.­764
Kṣatriya is absent in the Chinese.
n.­765
According to the Sanskrit and the Yongle Kangyur. The other editions have lam in error for las.
n.­766
Tibetan rgyal po’i glang po, translating the Sanskrit rājakuñjara (literally, “king-elephant”), which has the meaning “preeminent king.” It is classified in Sanskrit as a metaphor, i.e., “a king who is an elephant,” meaning “an elephant among kings,” in contrast to the simile “a king who is like an elephant.” The Chinese translates this epithet either as simply “king” or “great king.”
n.­767
The Sanskrit and Tibetan omit the number “ten million” so that it becomes six trillion, but this is evidently a brief way of referring to the entire sixty quintillion in the army, as later that number is said to have all developed the aspiration to enlightenment. Chinese: six yi, which can mean “sixty thousand,” “six million,” or “sixty million.”
n.­768
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­769
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Chinese: “protector.”
n.­770
According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. Chinese: “great king.”
n.­771
According to the Sanskrit ghātaya and the Chinese. Tibetan: spong (“abandon”).
n.­772
Chinese: “The king should remain with friends who act according to the Dharma.”
n.­773
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. Chinese: “This deva speaks the truth to the king; please do not abandon the Buddhadharma.”
n.­774
The commentary states that this refers to the bhikṣus. The Chinese translates as “was stationed at the border to safeguard the nation.”
n.­775
The Dutt and therefore the Vaidya divide the verses into fewer numbers with six lines each.
n.­776
The Chinese adds: “and would not let you live.”
n.­777
In the Chinese this verse is preceded by an additional verse. The Gilgit manuscript repeats the earlier verse that begins, “You must kill those two dharmabhāṇakas.”
n.­778
According to the commentary, “the king” in this and the succeeding three verses is not the king himself but “the king’s brother.” This is further established by the supplementary verses that were not present in the Gilgit manuscript. The Chinese translates as “the king’s brother.” The Sanskrit and Tibetan have just “king” or “elephant king,” which is confusing.
n.­779
In the Chinese the last line states that one should avoid bad friends. The following verses are absent in the Chinese.
n.­780
This is the final verse in the Gilgit manuscript. The Hodgson and Shastri manuscripts and the Tibetan have three additional verses.
n.­781
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Those dharmabhāṇakas.”
n.­782
According to the Tibetan rgyal po. This verse is absent in the Gilgit. The Hodgson and Shastri have maitreyurāhu. The Tibetan may have been translating from a manuscript that read maitreyurāju.
n.­783
The Chinese adds: “Therefore, bodhisattvas should know about the dharmakāya and the rūpakāya.” The rest of this chapter does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­784
In the Sanskrit manuscripts and in the commentary, chapter 22 continues and includes the chapter numbered 23 in the Tibetan.
n.­785
This paragraph does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­786
The Chinese adds “born from immeasurable merit.”
n.­787
According to the Tibetan, Chinese, and Hodgson manuscript, budhyā ekarthani. The Gilgit and Shastri have budhyānekarthani (“many meanings” instead of “one meaning”).
n.­788
Chinese: “this is because all phenomena arise from causes.”
n.­789
Chinese: “It is devoid of all features because it is profound.”
n.­790
Chinese: “It is immeasurable because it has no limits.”
n.­791
Chinese: “It is without attributes because it has no nature of its own.”
n.­792
Chinese: “It is without attributes because it is devoid of attributes.”
n.­793
Chinese: “It is unwavering because it abides in tranquility.” This is followed by a few additional descriptions: “It is nondual because it has only one aspect. It is unchanging because it is free from conceptualization. It is indescribable because it transcends words / languages.” After these, there are a few extra and missing verses here and there, compared to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. For example, an extra verse is: “Phenomena have no base because they transcend all views.”
n.­794
This sentence does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­795
The Gilgit manuscript follows this with “It cannot be shown,” which is absent in the later manuscripts and the Tibetan.
n.­796
Sanskrit: aniketa. The Tibetan translates as gnas med pa. Earlier in the list apratiṣṭhita (“no location”) was translated as mi gnas pa. Not present in the Chinese.
n.­797
According to the Sanskrit and the commentary. The Tibetan here interprets this as “has the quintessence that transcends the scope of words …”
n.­798
According to the Tibetan and the BHS: doṣapatha in Classical Sanskrit would mean “the path of wickedness.” The Chinese puts “transcendence of desire, anger, and ignorance and their respective causes” together in one phrase, and follows it with “because all phenomena are empty in essence.”
n.­799
Chinese: “It is unborn because it has ended all births.” At this point the Gilgit manuscript also has “It is undefiled as it transcends the ripening [of karma]. It is permanent…” This is all absent in the later manuscripts and the Tibetan. See also the following note.
n.­800
According to the Gilgit Sanskrit nityo vyāhāreṇa vyavahāraś ca śūnyaḥ. The words vyavahāraś ca śūnyaḥ are omitted from the later Sanskrit manuscripts, whereas the commentary was evidently based on a text that omitted only ca śūnya, but retained nityo vyāhāreṇa (“ ‘permanent’ in terms of words”). The Tibetan appears to be based on a manuscript that also omitted nityo so that the resulting vyāhareṇa vyavahāra was translated as meaning “through language there is terminology.” The commentary, because of the absence of ca śūnya, explains “terminology” as referring to nirvāṇa. The corresponding Chinese phrase seems to be 以無常但言説故(yi wu chang dan yan shuo gu), which could be understood as “It is impermanent because it is [permanent] only in terms of words or speech.”
n.­801
According to the commentary no differentiation is taken as a cause for nirvāṇa, which is just a term used in the world, and there is no difference between the nirvāna of buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, and śrāvakas.
n.­802
Literally, nirvṛta, the past passive participle “extinguished.” According to the commentary this means that it is indescribable through words.
n.­803
According to the commentary: “The words that are like an echo pacify the concepts of the subject that is talked about, and therefore there is peace.”
n.­804
According to the commentary: “Designations are merely concepts, and therefore mere designations can act as terminology for anything.”
n.­805
According to the commentary the correct speech uses synonyms, such as “truth,” “true nature,” and “the ultimate,” which are used to teach the ultimate truth.
n.­806
According to the Sanskrit and the commentary. The Tibetan in the Kangyur translates as “there is calmness because of the absence of anguish” because they are corollaries. The same words could mean “There is coolness, the absence of fever.” The commentary states: “anguish or fever means the kleśas.” The Chinese has 以清涼離惱熱故 (yi qing liang li nao re gu), in which 清涼 (qing liang) literally means “coolness” but can be understood as “calmness.” 惱熱 (nao re) literally means “the fever of agitated mind,” but can also mean “anguish” and “kleśas.”
n.­807
From the Sanskrit animitta, translated into Tibetan as gnas med pa, here meaning “baseless,” or “groundless,” even though gnas med pa had just been used to translate aniketa.
n.­808
The Sanskrit has anindita, and the commentary has smad du med pa (“cannot be denigrated” or “irreproachable”).
n.­809
The commentary states that this is because its qualities are endless. The Tibetan translates “description” literally as “teaching its color,” which is not quite appropriate in this context. In the Chinese this is followed by: “There is no end to the description of its merit.”
n.­810
Chinese: “If someone wishes to see the Lord of the World and know his body.”
n.­811
The commentary states that this is because the nature of the samādhi and the Buddha’s body are the same.
n.­812
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has added “hundred,” presumably for metrical reasons.
n.­813
Chinese: “His body.”
n.­814
According to the commentary, these three bad perceptions are those arising from aversion, attachment, and ignorance.
n.­815
According to the commentary, but not the Sanskrit manuscripts, chapter 22 ends here.
n.­816
According to the Sanskrit acintya and most Kangyurs. The Degé has bstan (resulting in “unteachable,” or “unshowable”) instead of bsam.
n.­817
This paragraph is more concise in the Chinese.
n.­818
The Dutt divides up the verses unevenly.
n.­819
According to the Sanskrit naikakāle prajānitum. The Tibetan may have been translated from a corrupt manuscript and has du ma dag ni shes mi sla (“the numerous that are not easy to know.”) Chinese: “I can look at all beings, whose number is greater than that of these particles, and know their aspirations and motivations all at the same time.” 我觀一切生, 多於彼塵數, 發心及起信, 於一時悉知 (wo guan yi qie zhong sheng, duo yu bi chen shu, fa xin ji qi xin, yu yi shi xi zhi).
n.­820
According to the Tibetan, Chinese, Gilgit, and Shastri manuscripts (naiva). The Hodgson has only caiva, without any negation.
n.­821
According to the Sanskrit niittakarmanā, which is in the instrumental, but the Tibetan has dang (“and”) instead of kyis (“through”).
n.­822
Sanskrit: varṇa. Translated into Tibetan as kha mdog (“color”).
n.­823
According to the Tibetan, presumably translating from tatrākalpitam. There appears to be no negation in the Sanskrit tatra kalpitam.
n.­824
End of the fascicle 5 and beginning of fascicle 6 in the Song, Yuan, Min, Gong, and Sheng editions, but in the Taisho edition fascicle 5 continues. 卷第五終【宋】【元】【明】【宮】【聖】本.
n.­825
According to the Sanskrit varṇavyāhāra and the Mahāvyutpatti’s translation of varṇa and vyāhāra as brjod pa. The Tibetan in both the sūtra and the commentary is bsngags brjod pa (“expression of praise”), which does not fit the context here, and may be a scribal corruption of ngag brjod pa.
n.­826
The text has just “inconceivable,” which is used numerous times in this chapter, but with the meaning of an inconceivable number, rather than one of the inconceivability of the words expressed.
n.­827
This first part of the chapter up to this point does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­828
From this point on, the Gilgit lists the names of the sets of four with the nature of the four merely implied because of the repetition. The Tibetan, Hodgson, and Shastri have the same variation in the list, and the contents of each set of four are given in full.
n.­829
From the Sanskrit udbhāva. The Tibetan translates this freely as sgrol ba (“liberation”). The Chinese translates as 度 (du), which means “reach the other shore.” This is the same word that translates paramitas.
n.­830
This is followed in the Sanskrit by a list of vyavāhāra (“practices”), absent in the Tibetan and Chinese.
n.­831
According to the Tibetan and the commentary. Not present in the Sanskrit.
n.­832
According to the Tibetan and the commentary. Not present in the Sanskrit.
n.­833
According to the Tibetan and the commentary. Not present in the Sanskrit.
n.­834
According to the Tibetan spyad pa. Not present in the Sanskrit manuscripts or the commentary.
n.­835
Here both “countless” and “inconceivable” are translating the same word: acintya; bsam gyis mi khyab pa. However, the first appears from context to mean “an inconceivable number.”
n.­836
According to the commentary these words prove that there is no center and no edge, no past and no future.
n.­837
According to the Tibetan rgyu ba med pa and the commentary. The commentary explains that this means that there is no coming or going by anyone. The Hodgson and Shastri have pracārapadāni (“conduct”) at this point.
n.­838
Tibetan: gzhal du med pa, which in the Mahāvyutpatti corresponds with atulya. Gilgit: [a]tulyapatha. The Chinese translates from atulya (不可稱, bu ke cheng). Hodgson and Shastri: aparyantapāda (“unlimited words”). The commentary states that the words describe qualities that are unequaled or incomparable because there are no phenomena like them.
n.­839
According to the commentary, this means that these words are the cause for the listening, contemplation, and meditation that give rise to wisdom.
n.­840
According to the BHS chanda. The commentary states that this means “teaching definitions through various languages so as to bring delight to beings.”
n.­841
According to the Sanskrit and BHS prajñapana.
n.­842
According to the Sanskrit prakāśana.
n.­843
According to the Sanskrit prasthānapa.
n.­844
According to the BHS uttānīkaraṇa. The Tibetan has gsal bar byed pa (“make clear”).
n.­845
According to the BHS anela. The commentary has tshig mi ’dres pa (“unmixed”). Tibetan: tshig mi ’dor (“casting out”).
n.­846
According to the Tibetan. Absent in the Sanskrit and commentary.
n.­847
According to the Tibetan. Absent in the Sanskrit and commentary.
n.­848
The Chinese has an additional verse that precedes this one.
n.­849
According to the BHS jānamī and the Chinese 我知 (wo zhi). The Tibetan has bshad pa (“teach”), which may be a scribal corruption of shes through copying from dictation.
n.­850
According to the Sanskrit guṇāḥ and the Chinese 功德 (gong de). The Tibetan has bsngags (“praise”).
n.­851
Sanskrit: “highest of engagements with discernment.”
n.­852
From “They do not seek enlightenment as other than consciousness” to this point does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­853
According to the Tibetan, presumably translating from a text that read śabdena saṃprakāśitam, and the commentary. The Sanskrit has śabdenāsaṃprakāśitam (“is not taught through words”).
n.­854
Dutt’s edition accidentally numbers this verse as 9, so that all subsequent verses are misnumbered.
n.­855
According to the Sanskrit niḥsṛta and the Chinese. The Tibetan has mi brten par (“without being based on”), perhaps from a text that had śrita instead of sṛta.
n.­856
These apparently extra lines in this verse appear in both the Sanskrit and the Tibetan.
n.­857
According to the Tibetan. All the Sanskrit manuscripts have “Cannot be defeated / By many ten millions of māras.” The Chinese has “will not be disturbed by millions of māras.”
n.­858
In the Chinese the order of this and the preceding verse is reversed.
n.­859
According to one meaning of the Sanskrit pranaṣṭa, and the Chinese. Translated into Tibetan in this verse as brlag (destroyed) and in the next verse as shin tu ’khyams (“wandering far”).
n.­860
According to the Sanskrit bhave cābhāvasaṃjinaḥ, the Chinese, and the commentary, which explains that this means “not believing in the existence of nirvāṇa and the ultimate nature.” The Tibetan basically repeats the first line.
n.­861
According to the Tibetan interpretation of the Sanskrit compound jñātralabha. However, these terms appear uncompounded in other texts, meaning “acquisition and reputation.” The Chinese has “close relations (families) 親 (qin) (presumably from a manuscript that had jñatri), wealth / possessions 財 (cai), and profits 利 (li).”
n.­862
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit pranaṣṭa literally means “destroyed” or “lost.” The Chinese has “lost” (有失, you shi).
n.­863
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit, including the Gilgit, has “will think of their sons and daughters as being their wives.”
n.­864
The Chinese specifies the five lay precepts.
n.­865
According to the Sanskrit avadata. The Degé has skya bo (“white”). The Yongle, Peking, Narthang, and Lhasa Kangyurs have skye bo.
n.­866
A conical or bowl kettle drum, also called a nagada. The upper surface is beaten with sticks. Often played in pairs, one larger than the other.
n.­867
A kettle drum played with the hands. Held horizontally, it is wider in the middle with the skin at both ends. One drumhead is smaller than the other. It is a South Indian drum; it maintains the rhythm in Karnataka music.
n.­868
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “They will perceive the enlightenment of buddhahood / Through being incited by false words.”
n.­869
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Will prattle on about the wisdom of buddhahood.”
n.­870
The Chinese of this verse is different: “I have never heard of or seen those with that kind of conduct, who are ignorant and dwell in bad ways, attaining the wisdom of buddhahood.”
n.­871
The Chinese of this verse is different: “If I were to talk for an eon / About the various faults of those / Who claim to be bodhisattvas, / I could mention only a fraction. 我若一劫中, 說彼諸過失, 自謂菩薩者, 但能說小分 (ruo wo yi jie zhong, shuo bi zhu guo shi, zi wei pu sa zhe, dan neng shuo xiao fen).
n.­872
According to the Sanskrit saṃstava, the Lithang, Narthang, and Cone Kangyurs, and the Chinese. The Degé has ston (“teach”) instead of sten.
n.­873
Literally, “guides.” Chinese: “buddhas.”
n.­874
According to the Sanskrit vaipulya and the Chinese 我學習不廣 (wo xue xi bu guang). The Tibetan mtshungs med appears to have translated from a corruption to atulya (“unequaled”). The Hodgson manuscript has a corruption to puṇya (“merit”).
n.­875
Chinese: “the merit of correct conduct.”
n.­876
The Chinese has an additional verse following this one.
n.­877
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “the bliss of meditation.”
n.­878
According to the Tibetan, Chinese, Shastri (vidhāraṇīmukham), and Hodgson (dhāraṇīye mukham). The Gilgit manuscript, however, has evaṃ hi dhārayet sukham (“and thus you should possess happiness”).
n.­879
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “the wisdom of enlightenment.”
n.­880
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­881
Literally, “the Teacher.” Chinese: 汝今得值佛, 發於菩提心 (ru jin de zhi fo, fa yu pu ti xin), “Now that you have met the Buddha, you should arouse bodhicitta.”
n.­882
Beginning of fascicle 6 of the Taisho ed., and fascicle 7 of the Song, Yuan, Ming, Gong, and Sheng eds.
n.­883
There are two verses in the Gilgit manuscript, numbered 4 and 5, that are also present in the Chinese, but do not appear in the later Sanskrit manuscripts, are not mentioned in the commentary, and are absent in the Tibetan: “I rejoice in those who do not believe in a self, / Who do not believe in existence or believe in a soul. / I rejoice in those who do not have bad views, / Who have seen emptiness and developed contentment. / I rejoice in those who follow the Sugata’s teaching, / Who attain the state of a mendicant, / And who have few desires, dwell content in the forest, / And have peaceful conduct and the practice of meditation.”
n.­884
This verse does not appear in the Gilgit manuscript or the Chinese, and does not appear to be mentioned in the commentary.
n.­885
According to the Tibetan and the commentary. This verse does not appear in the Gilgit manuscript or the Chinese.
n.­886
According to the Tibetan and the commentary. This verse does not appear in the Gilgit manuscript or the Chinese.
n.­887
Divided into two points in the Chinese.
n.­888
Points 8 and 9 are combined into one point in the Chinese.
n.­889
The Chinese adds “that is, the disciples of the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and śrāvakas.”
n.­890
From the BHS anuparivārayati and according to the definition in the commentary. The Tibetan translates with the alternative meaning of “encircling” or “surrounding.” The Gilgit version has pariśodhayati (“purifies”). The Chinese translates this sentence as “They will perfect wisdom of all kinds.” 滿足一切智 (man zu yi qie zhi).
n.­891
According to the Sanskrit, the commentary, and most Kangyurs, except for the Degé which has ’byor pa in error for ’byol ba. Chinese: “They abandon all concern about life and death.” 棄捨生死 (qi she sheng si).
n.­892
Tibetan: thob par byed pa (“cause to obtain”). Sanskrit: arpayati (see Mahāvyutpatti 7428). Chinese: “They long for the joy of nirvāṇa,” 慕樂涅槃 (mu le nie pan).
n.­893
Chinese: “They will not lack faith or wealth,” 不乏信財 (bu fa xin cai).
n.­894
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan repeats “the wise ones.”
n.­895
Chinese: “obstructions” or “obstacles,” 無障礙 (wu zhang ai).
n.­896
According to the Sanskrit niraṅga. Translated into Tibetan as nyon mongs med pa.
n.­897
Literally, “they are difficult to approach.” The commentary explains that this means they have such a complete attainment of qualities that they cannot easily be surpassed. Chinese: “Others cannot surpass their attainments.”
n.­898
The Chinese adds the point: “their confidence of speech increases,” 增長辯才 (zeng zhang bian cai).
n.­899
According to the Sanskrit musala and the Mahāvyupatti. The Chinese combines 9 and 10 as the tenth point. The verses that follow do not expand on the last analogy, but the commentary’s explanation (F.85.a.7) of these two last benefits is: “Their positive qualities progressively increase without being contaminated by the mud of saṃsāra’s defects, without gradually being worn down like the metal of a pestle, and without giving rise to suffering.”
n.­900
Chinese: “their attainments are difficult to surpass.” See note n.­897.
n.­901
Gilgit and Chinese: “without anguish or kleśas,” 其心無惱熱 (qi xin wu nao re).
n.­902
Chinese: “always,” 常 (chang).
n.­903
Does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­904
At this point the Chinese has an additional two lines concerning discernment and wisdom.
n.­905
This line does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­906
The first half of this verse is absent in the later Sanskrit and the Tibetan. The Gilgit has: “He maintains what he has learned / And is presented with what he has not learned.” The order of qualities in this and the succeeding verse differs in the Tibetan from all three Sanskrit manuscripts.
n.­907
In the Chinese this four-line verse is in a shorter form as the first half of a verse.
n.­908
At this point, Dutt has a second half-verse that is said to be reconstructed from the Tibetan and absent in the Sanskrit (although these lines are not present in the Degé, their absence is not noted in the Pedurma, and they are not present in the Stok Palace): “When it comes time to die, / It is similarly fruitful for them.” The commentary does not gloss any of these verses. Here, the Chinese has: “In this way, after hearing the Dharma / They develop the Dharma they have heard. / They remember it constantly, / Day and night, without intermission.”
n.­909
The commentary states that this refers to “the levels, the six perfections, and so forth.” The Chinese has “engage in the field of loving kindness,” 行慈境界.
n.­910
According to the commentary, this means that in a state of meditation the senses are disengaged from their objects. The Chinese has “protected,” 守護 (shou hu).
n.­911
Chinese: “bliss without food.” “Without food” is a synonym for the meditative state.
n.­912
The Tibetan here has bsam gtan (as in the prose opening on this topic), while the Sanskrit has samādhi both here and in the last line of the preceding verse.
n.­913
According to the commentary, this means that there is no conceptualized fixation upon the diligent activity of body, speech, or mind.
n.­914
Chinese: “Their minds cannot be swayed by other views,” 於他言論其心不動 (yu ta yan lun qi xin bu dong).
n.­915
The commentary explains that involvement with the composite is like darkness and the bodhisattvas’ wisdom is like a light that eliminates that darkness. The Chinese here has: 能達生死海底 (neng da sheng si hai), literally, “they have reached the bottom of the ocean of life and death,” which means, “they know the depth of the ocean of saṃsāra” or “they transcend saṃsāra.”
n.­916
These two qualities are the ninth and tenth benefits in the Chinese.
n.­917
This does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­918
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. Here the Sanskrit has vimukta (“liberation”) instead of the earlier vivikta (“isolation”).
n.­919
“Wise” does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­920
According to the Sanskrit, here māra is in the singular, while earlier it was in the plural. Neither is indicated in the Tibetan or Chinese.
n.­921
Chinese: “They are unswayed by other views.”
n.­922
According to the Sanskrit gādha. The Tibetan has gting, “depth.” The Chinese uses the expression, “have reached the bottom of (the ocean of) life and death (compare n.­915),” to mean “knowing the depth of samsara, or the composite.” Gādha translated into Chinese can mean “shallowness” or “depth.”
n.­923
Chinese: “faith and wisdom.”
n.­924
Chinese: “They know the kleśas.”
n.­925
Chinese: “They know purification.”
n.­926
According to the Sanskrit pratiṣthate (“to be upon”) and the Yongle and Peking Kangyur sten (“to rely upon”). The Degé has ston (“teach”).
n.­927
The commentary explains that this means that they dedicate the merit they have to the beings who do not have that merit. The Chinese translates as “portion of merit.”
n.­928
According to the Sanskrit singular form. The Chinese has “realms.”
n.­929
According to the later Sanskrit manuscripts and the Tibetan. The Gilgit has “the highest.” Chinese: “as the Buddha has taught.”
n.­930
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit bodhimaṇḍaṃ samārūḍha means, “He has taken his seat upon the Bodhimaṇḍa.”
n.­931
According to the commentary, the dwelling of the Buddha is emptiness.
n.­932
According to the Tibetan mi gnas pa. The BHS aniśrita and the Chinese could be translated as “nondependent.”
n.­933
The Chinese adds “of any kind.”
n.­934
According to the Sanskrit parmāṛṣati and the Chinese 於戒不取 (yu jie bu qu). Translated into Tibetan as mchog tu ’dzin pa (literally, “holding as supreme”). According to the commentary this means there is freedom from the concepts of a self who maintains conduct, a conduct that is being maintained, and a goal that is to be achieved through that conduct. Śīla­vrata­parāmarśa (tshul khrims dang brtul zhugs mchog tu ’dzin pa), “clinging to conduct and observance,” is one of the four kinds of attachment (upādana, len pa) as well as one of the ten fetters (saṃyojana, kun tu sbyor ba).
n.­935
Commentary: “they see the empty nature of all things.” Chinese: “they are without conflict.”
n.­936
According to the commentary: “they remain in the meditation of emptiness, which is detached, separate, or isolated from all kleśas.” Chinese: “detached from all bad matters.”
n.­937
According to the commentary, disparaging the Buddha means claiming that the Buddha’s true teaching was the existence of individuals, and so on, instead of the emptiness of all phenomena.
n.­938
Chinese: “all white, pure Dharma.”
n.­939
Chinese: “have immaculate conduct,” 成就無漏戒 (cheng jiu wu lou jie), from anāsravaśīla.
n.­940
According to the Sanskrit and the prose section. The Tibetan adds “path” here, making it the superior, or noble, path rather than a superior being.
n.­941
The Chinese has a different version of the second half of the verse: “They will not be born in lower realms, 不生惡道中 (bu sheng yu er dao zhong) / And will always remain within noble families 常安住聖種 (chang an zhu sheng zhong).”
n.­942
Chinese: “There is no fixation on the bliss of dhyāna,” 不依禪定樂 (bu yi chan ding le).
n.­943
Sanskrit: aniśrita (“nondependent”). Chinese: “teachings on emptiness.”
n.­944
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has āryas (the superior, noble ones). The Chinese has “buddhas and āryas” (佛勝人, fo sheng ren).
n.­945
According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. The commentary, however, has chos (“Dharma”) instead of the similarly sounding spyod (“conduct”). However, the definition of it as both “realization” and “scriptural transmission” indicates that it was “Dharma” in the Sanskrit commentary.
n.­946
According to the commentary: “they do not have any doubt as to whether the Buddha’s wisdom exists, or their ability to attain it.” Chinese: “wisdom of the Buddha.”
n.­947
According to the commentary this means engaging in looking at the Buddha, paying homage to him, making offerings to him, and so on, as a result of knowing the qualities that come from hearing, contemplating, and meditating on the Dharma. The Chinese has only “they have gratitude.”
n.­948
Chinese: “disparage,” 謗 (bang).
n.­949
According to the commentary these are the kleśas and karma that arise from ignorance, aversion, and attachment.
n.­950
The Tibetan has the plural here, while the Sanskrit is in the singular, as in other lines of this passage. For this translation, as in many other similar passages, the plural has been preferred because it avoids the use of gender-specific pronouns.
n.­951
According to the commentary, this means the four noble truths. The Chinese does not have “four.”
n.­952
According to the commentary, this is referring to “households from which they receive food on their alms rounds, maintaining equanimity or impartiality toward them all.” Chinese: “they are devoid of attachment and aversion.”
n.­953
According to the Sanskrit nirāmiṣa and the commentary. The Tibetan translates vaguely as zang zing (“material goods”). Āmiṣa can mean gifts in general and also specifically food. The Chinese integrates this into the previous point. Chinese: “They teach the Dharma without expectation of food.”
n.­954
Chinese: “These are the qualities of austere mendicancy.”
n.­955
Chinese: “These are the qualities of austere mendicancy.”
n.­956
This verse is absent in the Chinese.
n.­957
The beginning of this chapter, up to this point, is absent in the Chinese.
n.­958
“In order to explain this topic” does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­959
According to the Sanskrit. Absent in the Tibetan.
n.­960
This is a reference to the Haṃsajātaka, the story of the Buddha’s previous life as a goose king named Dhṛtarāṣṭra who taught the Dharma to a king and queen.
n.­961
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit vihaga is usually a generic word for “birds.”
n.­962
According to the commentary this is referring to the Samkhya view of a puruṣa (“individual”) and his or her jīva (“soul”), which keeps them bound to prakṛti (“nature”). Chinese: “lifespan,” 壽 (shou).
n.­963
According to the Sanskrit nara, Chinese 人 (ren), and Yongle, Peking, Lithang, Narthang, and Cone Kangyurs mi. Degé: ming (“name”).
n.­964
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has phena (“foam”), and this is matched by the Tibetan of the commentary (dbu ba). The Tibetan may therefore have been translated according to a variant Sanskrit manuscript not represented today.
n.­965
Instead of “dreams / foam or a plantain tree,” the Chinese has “like a wild horse.”
n.­966
At this point in the Shastri manuscript there is a verse that begins, “The three realms are like a dream…” which is absent in the Gilgit, Chinese, Tibetan, and the Hodgson manuscript, and yet is quoted by Candrakīrti in the seventh century.
n.­967
Chinese: “six.”
n.­968
According to the BHS nipuṇa. The Tibetan translates incorrectly according to its classical Sanskrit meaning mkhas pa (wise, or skillful). Absent in the Chinese.
n.­969
In this and the following verses, there is much word-play in both Sanskrit and Tibetan between the closely related (see glossary) terms for “movement” or “going” (Sanskrit gati, Tibetan ’gro), and “mode” (Sanskrit gatī, Tibetan ’gros).
n.­970
According to the BHS nipuna and the Chinese 微細 (wei xi). The Tibetan translates incorrectly according to its classical Sanskrit meaning mkhas pa (“wise,” “skillful”).
n.­971
Chinese: “true.”
n.­972
According to the Sanskrit nipurṇārtha. The Tibetan has zhi ba’i don (“peaceful meaning”). The Sanskrit nipurṇārtha is sometimes translated into Chinese as “true,” and sometimes as “subtle.” Here it is translated as “mode of true meaning,” 真義道 (zhen yi dao).
n.­973
The Chinese has a different order for this and the preceding three verses.
n.­974
According to the Gilgit manuscript tada, and the commentary; does not appear in the Shastri. The Hodgson has sadā, and the Tibetan has translated from sadā as rtag (“always”), which does not seem to fit the context.
n.­975
Here the synonym “Jambudhvaja” (Jambu Banner) is used. The Chinese has “Jambudvīpa,” 閻浮提 (yan fu ti).
n.­976
In the Chinese there are an additional two lines to make the second half of a verse, about pursuing the bliss of bodhicitta.
n.­977
In the Chinese there are an additional two lines to make the second half of a verse, about suffering and lack of faith.
n.­978
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan has the obscure bla ma yi chad pa, presumably meaning “punishment from on high.”
n.­979
Replaced by a different verse in the Chinese.
n.­980
Chinese: “they guard their own fortune but rob others of their wealth.”
n.­981
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has translated as mkhas pa (“wise”).
n.­982
Chinese: “When they see a Dharma teacher make a small mistake, / They would exaggerate it and add hundreds or thousands more to it.” 若見法師少過失,增長加說百千種 (ruo jian fa shi shao guo shi, zeng zhang jia shuo bai qian zhong).
n.­983
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “do not praise.” Chinese: “do not get close to,” 勿親近 (wu qin jin).
n.­984
According to the Sanskrit nirvrtti. The Tibetan translates as mnya nga las ’das pa (nirvāṇa). This verse does not appear in the Gilgit manuscript or the Chinese.
n.­985
According to the Sanskrit rucira. The Tibetan perhaps translated from a text that had cūrna (“powders”) translated as “incense.”
n.­986
This verse does not appear in the Gilgit manuscript or the Chinese.
n.­987
According to the Sanskrit vipañcī. Apparently replaced in Tibetan by the word sna tshogs (“various”).
n.­988
According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has “wiped clean.” The Chinese has “skillfully made and adorned with precious materials,” 眾寶善巧而雕飾 (zhong bao shan qiao er diao shi).
n.­989
This verse is absent in the Gilgit manuscript and the Chinese.
n.­990
This verse is absent in the Gilgit manuscript and the Chinese.
n.­991
Absent in the Chinese.
n.­992
In the Chinese, this verse is followed by an additional verse about offerings.
n.­993
Sanskrit: śila. These are ammonite shell fossils, of great significance and value in India.
n.­994
From the Sanskrit ghana. The Tibetan appears to have translated from a manuscript that had dhāna (“grain”).
n.­995
Sanskrit sīhanukāḥ, Tibetan seng ge can rin chen. The meaning is obscure.
n.­996
No number in the Chinese.
n.­997
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “hundreds.”
n.­998
Chinese: “There were hundreds and thousands (or many hundred thousands) of other kinds of hardship, which I endured to the point that my body was totally exhausted.”
n.­999
Chinese: “How did I attain this samādhi? By freeing others from hundreds and thousands of kinds of suffering.”
n.­1000
According to the Sanskrit, in which, in all manuscripts, there is the adjective maitraka. The commentary glosses this as meaning Maitreya after he has attained buddhahood. The Tibetan rgyal ba byams pa grags pa mtha’ yas could be translated as “infinitely famous Jina Maitreya,” and possibly, “the Jina with infinitely famous kindness.”
n.­1001
“Infinite fame” does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­1002
According to the Tibetan, presumably translating from manuja and the Chinese 人. The Sanskrit has maruta, which is a synonym for “the devas.”
n.­1003
According to the Tibetan ’byung po and the Gilgit manuscript bhūta. The Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts have deva. The Chinese has a combination of two words: “spirits” and “worldly gods,” 鬼神.
n.­1004
Chinese: “Do not have a mind of love and desire.”
n.­1005
According to the Sanskrit gira and the Yongle and Peking Kangyurs dbyangs. Other Kangyurs have the incorrect dbyings. Chinese: “delightful voice.”
n.­1006
According to the Sanskrit krauñca. The Tibetan translation is khrung khrung, which usually means “the crane.” Sanskrit dictionaries normally identify this as “the curlew.” The Mahāvyutpatti has krung krung for krauñca.
n.­1007
The Chinese does not have “crane,” but has “peacocks, avadavats, and various musical instruments.”
n.­1008
This refers to the sixteen vowels and thirty-four consonants in Sanskrit. The Chinese describes the voice as the melodious sounds of geese, bells, and drums blended with the sound of a hundred musical instruments.
n.­1009
According to the Tibetan grong. The Sanskrit has kula (“families”).
n.­1010
Chinese: “every family who has come to pay their respects all praise them,” 往詣家家皆讚歎.
n.­1011
This verse is followed in the Chinese by an additional verse about rebirth in Sukhāvatī.
n.­1012
According to the Tibetan, presumably from supraśāntamana. The Sanskrit has suviśuddhamana (“a pure mind”).
n.­1013
The Sanskrit is in the singular, the Tibetan in the plural. This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­1014
These are taught in the Sūtra of the Ten Bhūmis (see bibliography).
n.­1015
This verse is not in any of the Sanskrit sources, nor in the Chinese, but is glossed in the commentary.
n.­1016
These are taught in,the Tathāgatotpattisambhavanirdeśa (“The Teaching on the Emergence of the Tathāgata”), chapter 43 in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra.
n.­1017
According to the commentary, power over life means that the bodhisattva can remain alive for countless eons.
n.­1018
According to the commentary, power over karma means that the bodhisattva can control the time when it ripens.
n.­1019
According to the commentary, power over materials means that the bodhisattva can adorn many worlds.
n.­1020
According to the commentary, power over devotion means that the bodhisattva can see all worlds filled with buddhas.
n.­1021
According to the commentary, power over aspiration means that the bodhisattva can choose the time and world of his buddhahood.
n.­1022
According to the commentary, power over miracles means that the bodhisattva can manifest every kind of miracle.
n.­1023
According to the commentary, power over birth means that the bodhisattva can manifest taking birth in every world.
n.­1024
According to the commentary, power over Dharma means that the bodhisattva can teach every kind of Dharma.
n.­1025
According to the commentary, power over mind means that the bodhisattva is able to remain in countless samādhis.
n.­1026
According to the commentary, power over wisdom means that the bodhisattva can without fear teach the understanding of all the strengths of the Buddha. This verse is not in any of the Sanskrit sources, or in the Chinese, but is glossed in the commentary.
n.­1027
This verse is absent in the Chinese.
n.­1028
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “He obtains the highest happiness, the happiness of dhyāna, the noble happiness.” Chinese: “nirvāṇa.”
n.­1029
According to the Sanskrit akhila (“complete,” “without a gap”) and the Yongle and Peking Kangyurs dag (“pure,” “correct”). Other Kangyurs have dge (“virtuous”).
n.­1030
Chinese: “restrain the sense faculties.”
n.­1031
According to the Tibetan and the Shastri manuscript priyabhaṇi. Other Sanskrit manuscripts: priyavāṇi.
n.­1032
The Sanskrit and Chinese add “and truthfully.”
n.­1033
Chinese: “pride.”
n.­1034
Chinese: “patient,” and also “they remain honest, avoid sharp language, and are lovable.”
n.­1035
This verse is expanded into two in the Chinese.
n.­1036
“Like a kinnara’s song” does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­1037
Chinese: “Their voice is like five hundred kinds of pleasant sounds,” 亦如五百美妙音 (yi ru wu bai mei miao yin).
n.­1038
Chinese: “Their fame spreads into numerous worlds,” 名聞遍彰諸世間 (min wen pian zhang zhu shi jian).
n.­1039
This verse is in the Tibetan, and referred to in the commentary. It is in the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts, but does not appear in the Gilgit or Chinese.
n.­1040
Chinese: “they have wisdom and miraculous power,” 智慧及神足 (zhi hui ji shen zu).
n.­1041
According to the Sanskrit and the commentary. The Tibetan in all Kangyurs has gzugs in error for gzungs.
n.­1042
Chinese: “they know dhāraṇīs and have reached the other shore” (or “the way to reach the other shore”), 總持到彼岸 (zong chi dao bi an).
n.­1043
Chinese: “They know how to cure kleśas.”
n.­1044
Chinese: “they are skilled in removing poisonous arrows.”
n.­1045
The Sanskrit adds: “and a jina.” This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­1046
This verse does not appear in the Chinese, which has another verse about the quality of non-attachment and being worthy of offering.
n.­1047
Chinese: “the skandhas are empty in nature.”
n.­1048
Chinese: “lions.”
n.­1049
Chinese: “The strength of their patience is as vast as Mt. Meru.”
n.­1050
The Degé and other Kangyurs of the tshal pa group have the verb of this sentence as mi gtong (“not letting go”), which would not make much sense. The Stok Palace Kangyur has mi mthong (“not seeing”), closer to the sense of the Sanskrit and the commentary.
n.­1051
In the Chinese this verse is followed by an additional verse concerning knowing the three times and the three realms.
n.­1052
These are, according to the commentary, the four retentions (dhāraṇīs), which might mean either of the two sets of four (see glossary). The commentary has gzugs (“forms,” or “bodies”) in error for gzungs.
n.­1053
The Sanskrit has “ten million māras.” This verse is present in the Tibetan, and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts, but absent in the Gilgit and Chinese.
n.­1054
This verse is present in the Tibetan, and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts, but absent in the Gilgit and Chinese.
n.­1055
Conclusion of fascicle 6 in the Chinese.
n.­1056
According to the Tibetan byi dor bya ba yongs su sbyang ba. The Sanskrit pari­karma­dhāraya could be translated as “maintaining or gaining the preparation for.”
n.­1057
This paragraph is in a simpler form in the Gilgit and Chinese.
n.­1058
See also n.­934.
n.­1059
According to the main classical meaning of vivekadarśana and its description and translation, or gloss, in the commentary as de bzhin nyid mthong ba. The Tibetan translates according to its alternate meaning of “separation,” dben pa.
n.­1060
The five “aggregates” mentioned here are the “five undefiled aggregates” (Tibetan zag med kyi phung po lnga, known in Sanskrit according to Mahāvyutpatti 103 as the “five aggregates of those equal to the unequaled ones,” asamasama­pañca­skandhaḥ). See glossary under “aggregate of correct conduct.” The Gilgit manuscript adds here “insight into the empty nature of all phenomena,” which is absent in the later Sanskrit manuscripts and the Tibetan.
n.­1061
According to the Tibetan of the commentary, the Sanskrit, and the Chinese. The Tibetan of the sūtra has “emptiness.”
n.­1062
According to the Sanskrit na durlabhāḥ and the Chinese. The Tibetan has dkon ma yin (“are not rare”), perhaps in a scribal error of dkon for dka’.
n.­1063
There is a play on words here that is lost in translation, as phenomena and the Buddha’s teaching are both called “dharma.” The commentary explains that this is because the nature of phenomena (dharmatā) is such that no phenomenon ever transcends its nature of emptiness.
n.­1064
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­1065
According the commentary and the Sanskrit yāvanta. The Tibetan ’jig rten (“worldly”) in the sūtra may be a translation of a corruption in a Sanskrit manuscript. Chinese: “various.”
n.­1066
According to the commentary, the Sanskrit, and the Chinese. The sūtra’s Tibetan has sangs rgyas sgra (“the word buddha”), perhaps translating from buddhaśabda in error for buddhadharma. Also, throughout this passage, Dharma is in the plural, meaning “the numerous Dharma teachings,” though rendered here into English as singular.
n.­1067
The Gilgit manuscript has a verse 26 (anāsravā hi te dharmā […] nena ucyanti hi / stṛtā aparyāpannā daśadiśe eṣā buddhan deśanā) that does not appear in the Hodgson, Shastri or Tibetan, but is present in the Chinese.
n.­1068
According to the Sanskrit pratibhāsa, the commentary, and the Chinese. The Tibetan here has mig yor (“mirages” or “optical illusions,” as defined by the tshig mdzod chen mo), another meaning of pratibhāsa, and the Mahāvyupatti gives mig yor as the equivalent, while gzugs brnyan (“reflection”) is given as the equivalent of pratibimba. Pratibhāsa and pratibimba both appear in the same list of types of illusory appearances, where pratibhāsa evidently does not mean “reflection.” The etymology of mig yor makes it unlikely that the Tibetan translator intended it to mean “reflection.”
n.­1069
I.e., rūpakāya (“form body”).
n.­1070
Here the word for “body” in Sanskrit is vigraha and not kaya. The Tibetan translates as lus gzugs (“body-form”). Chinese: “shapes and forms / images,” 形像 (xing xiang). The Sanskrit vigraha is variably translated as “images,” “shapes,” “body,” and so on.
n.­1071
The plural forms of dharmakāya and buddha are in accordance with the Sanskrit. The Tibetan and Chinese could be either singular or plural.
n.­1072
The Gilgit manuscript has a verse 34 (aprāpti [prāpti] nirdiṣṭā sattvānāṃ jñātva āśayam / yo sandhābhāṣyottarate na so kena vihanyate) that does not appear in the Hodgson, Shastri, or Tibetan. It is present in the Chinese.
n.­1073
According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan has the synonym rgyal ba’i sras (jinaputra).
n.­1074
The Chinese has simply “no attachment.”
n.­1075
Intentional change from singular to plural.
n.­1076
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “practiced by all the buddhas.”
n.­1077
According to the Tibetan. Not present in the Sanskrit or Chinese.
n.­1078
According to the Tibetan and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts. According to the Gilgit manuscript and the Chinese it would be “And they attain the highest enlightenment.”
n.­1079
According to the Sanskrit vṛkṣa and the Chinese “marvelous trees,” 復化作妙樹 (fu hu zuo miao shu). The Tibetan has zhing (“realm”), which appears to be a scribal corruption of shing (“tree”), though a translation from a manuscript corruption to kṣetra is possible.
n.­1080
According to the Sanskrit saharṣika, which is an obscure term, but presumably adjectival from saharṣa (“delight”). The Tibetan translates as pu shu bcas, (“having harṣa” which would still seem to mean “having delight”) with pu shu meaning “the water gutter” usually, but can mean “balcony” or “upper level.” The Chinese has no adjective.
n.­1081
Sanskrit vimāna. This term, while it can generally mean “a palace” may refer, as it seems to here, to a particular architectural style. Vimāna is a South Indian term (South Indian terminology appearing to be distinctively present in a number of sūtras), with the northern equivalent being śikhara. It means “a tapering tower with progressively smaller stories of pavilions.”
n.­1082
According to the Sanskrit puṣkariṇī. The Tibetan translates simply as “ponds.” The Chinese has literally, “flower ponds,” implying, as does the Sanskrit, “lotuses.”
n.­1083
According to the Tibetan and the Shastri and Hodgson manuscripts (upalambhika). The Gilgit and Chinese have tīrthikas.
n.­1084
This verse is in the Tibetan and the later Sanskrit manuscripts, but not in the Gilgit. However, it is present in the Chinese.
n.­1085
This verse does not appear in the Chinese.
n.­1086
According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: “That which is a concept is taught.”
n.­1087
According to the Gilgit, Chinese, and the Shastri manuscript. The Hodgson manuscript has “The nature of conceptions is wisdom” (with jñāna in error for jñāta); the Tibetan translates accordingly.
n.­1088
According to the Tibetan, the Hodgson manuscript, the Vaidya edition, and the Chinese. The Gilgit and Shastri manuscript do not have the negative na but have ca (“and”) instead.
n.­1089
Chinese: 不寂者是想 (bu ji zhe shi xiang), “Conceptions are detachment”; 寂滅者是智 (ji mie zhe shi zhi), “Detachment is wisdom.” 若知想自性 (ruo zhi xiang zi xing), “If one knows the nature of conception,” 便離於諸想 (bian li yu zhu xiang), “Then he is free from conceptions.”
n.­1090
Chinese: 名心盡法者 (ming xin jin fa zhe), “[though] the name and thought of cessation exist,” 盡中本無智 (jin zhong ben wu zhi), “there is no wisdom in [that] cessation.”
n.­1091
According to the Tibetan sgra shes pa. The Sanskrit and Chinese have “knowledge of a level” (bhūmi; 地).
n.­1092
According to the Tibetan and the Hodgson manuscript, which has saṃvṛti (“conventional” or “relative”). According to the Gilgit and Shastri, it is nirvṛti (extinction).
n.­1093
According to the Tibetan dmigs pa med, and the Shastri manuscript nirālambhā. The Gilgit and Hodgson have nirābhogā, which in BHS means “without desire.” Chinese: “naturally free of defilements.”
n.­1094
This line is missing in the Degé. The Chinese has “having faith in the teaching of the Buddha,” 於佛語決定 (yu fo yu jue ding).
n.­1095
This verse is followed by an additional verse in the Chinese that is absent in all Sanskrit versions and the Tibetan.
n.­1096
According to the Tibetan and the later Sanskrit manuscripts. The Gilgit has, “They roar the lion’s roar, / The inconceivable roar of the buddhas.”
n.­1097
According to the Tibetan mtha’ yas. The Sanskrit analpa and the Chinese 無量 (wu liang) mean “a great number,” or “a multitude.”
n.­1098
According to the Tibetan and the Shastri manuscript. The Gilgit, Hodgson, and Chinese have “domain of the bodhisattvas.”
n.­1099
According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit (atuliyanāyakānāṃ) could mean “offerings to the unequaled guides.” Chinese: “buddhas” 佛 (fo).
n.­1100
According to the Tibetan and Chinese. “Teaching” does not appear in the Sanskrit.
n.­1101
According to the Tibetan and the commentary’s explanation. The Sanskrit and Chinese have “stainless” (vimala; 無垢, wu gou ). The Tibetan has rgya che (“vast”) perhaps translating from a corruption in a Sanskrit manuscript from vimala to vipulya.
n.­1102
According to the commentary, this means that one cannot color with thoughts the mind that is in the nondual state of the samādhi.
n.­1103
Chinese: “ten.”
n.­1104
According to the Tibetan ma chags. Sanskrit: anopalipta (“undefiled”); Chinese: “undefiled by the world.”
n.­1105
This verse does not appear in the Chinese,
n.­1106
According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “will never dwell in…”
n.­1107
The Chinese has a different version of the second half of this verse: “No beings in the three existences are comparable to them. / Only buddhas of the three existences are their equals.”
n.­1108
According to the commentary this is referring, of the three realms, to the desire realm and the form realm, with the formless realm implied. Chinese: “rebirth in the gods’ realm,” 生天 (sheng tian).
n.­1109
According to the Sanskrit svarga. The Tibetan has rgyal srid (“kingdom”), which from the context may be a translation of a corruption to rājya.
n.­1110
According to the Tibetan spos. Sanskrit: saṃga (“meeting”).
n.­1111
The following six verses are not present in the Gilgit manuscript or the Chinese.
n.­1112
According to the Tibetan and the Chinese.