བློ་གྲོས་རྒྱ་མཚོས་ཞུས་པ།

The Questions of Sāgaramati

Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā

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འཕགས་པ་བློ་གྲོས་རྒྱ་མཚོས་ཞུས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

’phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Questions of Sāgaramati”

Āryasāgaramatiparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 152

Toh 152, Degé Kangyur, vol. 58, (mdo sde, pha), folios 1.b–115.b.

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2020
Current version v 1.5.7 (2021)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.1.18

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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Summary

s.1

Heralded by a miraculous flood, the celestial bodhisattva Sāgaramati arrives in Rājagṛha to engage in a Dharma discussion with Buddha Śākyamuni. He discusses an absorption called “The Pristine and Immaculate Seal” and many other subjects relevant to bodhisattvas who are in the process of developing the mind of awakening and practicing the bodhisattva path. The sūtra strongly advises that bodhisattvas not shy away from the afflictive emotions of beings—no matter how unpleasant they may be—and that insight into these emotions is critical for a bodhisattva’s compassionate activity. The sūtra deals with the preeminence of wisdom and non-grasping on the path. In the end, as a teaching on how to deal with māras, the sūtra illuminates the many pitfalls possible on the path of the Great Vehicle.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Timothy Hinkle, who also wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor checked the translation against the Tibetan and edited the text.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.2

The generous sponsorship of Zhou Tian Yu, Chen Yi Qin, Zhou Xun, and Zhao Xuan, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

i.1

The Questions of Sāgaramati begins in a courtyard in the city of Rājagṛha, where the Buddha Śākyamuni, a celestial bodhisattva named Sāgaramati, and many other gods and bodhisattvas converse on a wide variety of subjects relevant to the Great Vehicle. Sāgaramati’s arrival in our world is preceded by a great miracle in which the world is flooded like a vast ocean, a miracle prompted by Sāgaramati’s departure from a distant realm for our world, where he can receive the Buddha’s teachings in person. The conversation between the Buddha Śākyamuni and Sāgaramati in Rājagṛha touches on many issues of the bodhisattva path. They converse about the adversities that bodhisattvas must face, the preeminence of wisdom, how māras are to be defeated, the necessity of understanding the afflictive emotions of sentient beings, the importance of diligence, the commonalities between all phenomena and buddhahood, the nature of the Dharma, and the importance of dedication. Much of the dialogue presupposes a duality between agents and objects, but at times Mañjuśrī and other exalted beings challenge this and articulate the teachings in the light of the wisdom of nonduality.

Chapter One: Refining the Precious Mind of Omniscience

1.1

[B1] [F.1.b] Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

1.2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying at Rājagṛha, domain of the thus-gone ones, in a jeweled pavilion. It is the home of the thus-gone ones, adorned with accumulations of great merit, produced by great deeds, the result of the ripening of all qualities of buddhahood; the home of great bodhisattvas; an infinite display; a place blessed with the thus-gone ones’ magic; an entry point to wisdom’s unobstructed domain; a source of great joy; a gateway to mindfulness, intelligence, and realization; a place without blame; [F.2.a] a place formed with wisdom; a gateway to unobstructed wisdom; a place that has been praised for limitless eons; and a place that embodies an immeasurable accumulation of positive qualities.

Chapter Two: Accepting Harm and Gaining Certainty

2.1

“Sāgaramati, how does one accept challenges to the jewel of developing the mind directed toward omniscience? What are the challenges to the jewel of developing the mind directed toward omniscience?

2.2

“Sāgaramati, once bodhisattva great beings have engendered the jewel of developing the mind directed toward omniscience in the aforementioned manner, they will not lose their development of the intention to awaken in the face of ignoble beings who have corrupt discipline, māras, gods of the echelon of māra, those blessed by māras, threats from Māra’s messengers, menaces, disturbances, violent disturbances, agitation, violent agitation, threats, or abuse. [F.14.a] They will not lose their compassionate diligence that seeks to free all beings. They will not lose the effort needed to keep the lineage of the Three Jewels unbroken. They will not lose their training in the roots of virtue that manifest the qualities of buddhahood. They will not lose their accumulation of merit that manifests the major and minor marks of perfection. They will not lose the effort needed to actualize the purification of buddha realms. They will not lose their effort to give up concern for body and life and uphold the sublime Dharma. They will not lose the effort to ripen all beings nor will they lose their lack of attachment to their personal happiness.

Chapter Five: Practicing Diligence

5.1

The Blessed One then spoke to the bodhisattva great being Sāgaramati: “Sāgaramati, bodhisattvas must practice diligence. Bodhisattvas must always persevere and show great determination. They should not give up their dedication. Sāgaramati, unsurpassed and perfect awakening is not difficult to discover for bodhisattvas who practice diligence. And why not? Sāgaramati, where there is diligence there is awakening. Awakening is far and distant from those who are lazy. Those who are lazy have no generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, insight, personal benefit, or benefit for others. Sāgaramati, one should understand from this lesson that unsurpassed and perfect awakening is not difficult for bodhisattvas who practice diligence.

Chapter Six: Teaching on the Qualities of Buddhahood

6.1

Then, Mahābrahmā Great Compassionate One asked the bodhisattva great being Sāgaramati, “Noble son, what does the term qualities of buddhahood refer to?”

Bodhisattva Sāgaramati responded, “Brahmā, ‘the qualities of buddhahood’ refers to all phenomena.22 Why is this? Brahmā, a thus-gone one does not awaken to perfect buddhahood in a restricted and limited manner. Rather, a thus-gone one awakens to perfect buddhahood in an unrestricted and unlimited manner [F.47.a] due to realizing the sameness of all phenomena. Brahmā, realizing all phenomena to be sameness is awakening. Therefore, Brahmā, all phenomena are qualities of buddhahood. Brahmā, all phenomena are precisely the qualities of buddhahood. The essence of all phenomena is the essence of all the qualities of buddhahood. The qualities of buddhahood are realized to be disengaged because all phenomena are disengaged. Because all phenomena are empty, the qualities of buddhahood are realized as emptiness. Brahmā, because all phenomena are dependently originated, realizing dependent origination is awakening. The qualities of buddhahood are seen by a thus-gone one in the same way that all phenomena are seen.”

Chapter Seven: Entrustment

7.1

Then, the bodhisattva great being Light King of Qualities, who was seated amongst the assembly, addressed the Blessed One: “Blessed One, you have said that all phenomena that you understand are indescribable. In that case, Blessed One, since all phenomena are indescribable, how is the Dharma to be upheld?”

7.2

“Noble son,” answered the Blessed One, “that is true. You have described it accurately. Any phenomenon that I understand is indescribable. However, noble son, while all phenomena are indescribable and unconditioned, [F.52.b] using linguistic definitions to apprehend, perceive, teach, demonstrate, define, elucidate, distinguish, clarify, or teach such phenomena is what is meant by upholding the Dharma. Moreover, noble son, when Dharma teachers uphold, teach, or practice a sūtra such as this, that is also upholding the Dharma. Likewise, when others attend such Dharma teachers and rely upon them while extending them honor, reverence, service, respect, praise, care, protection, shielding, and shelter, that is also upholding the Dharma. Likewise, so is providing them with clothing, food, bedding, medicine, or provisions; as is offering them approval, protection, preservation of their virtues, praise, or concealment of their unflattering sides. Moreover, noble son, having faith in emptiness, trusting signlessness, believing in wishlessness, and gaining certainty that suchness is the unconditioned state is also upholding the sublime Dharma. Moreover, noble son, seeking to avoid debate, yet using proper Dharma arguments to defeat those who argue against the Dharma, is also upholding the sublime Dharma. Moreover, noble son, giving Dharma to others with a mind free of anger, an intention to gather and free beings, and a mind free of concern for material things, is also upholding the sublime Dharma. Moreover, noble son, disregarding one’s body and life and staying in solitude to preserve, conceal, and practice sūtras such as this is also upholding the sublime Dharma. Moreover, noble son, even a single step or a single inhalation or exhalation of the breath that comes from the cause of having either studied or taught the Dharma [F.53.a] is also upholding the sublime Dharma. Moreover, noble son, not grasping to or appropriating any phenomena is also upholding the sublime Dharma. Light King of Qualities, based on this explanation, you should understand this point.

10.

Chapter Ten: A Tale of What Came Before

10.1

Then the bodhisattva Sāgaramati said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, even though bodhisattvas guard against confusion to this extent, they must work hard to be free from confusion. Blessed One, for that reason bodhisattvas are continuously skilled in dedication and skilled in means. Why is this? Blessed One, through skillful means, when bodhisattvas practice concentration, freedom, absorption, and equipoise, they are not disturbed by the concentration, freedom, absorption, and equipoise. Through skill in means, they demonstrate all these deeds but do not fall prey to doing things. [F.84.b] They sustain the sameness of phenomena and teach the Dharma in order to bring beings who have gone astray to the fixed state of reality. Until they complete their intention, they do not themselves fall into that state.”

11.

Chapter Eleven: The Revelation of Buddha Realms

11.1

Then the Blessed One said to Sāgaramati, [F.94.b] “Therefore, Sāgaramati, bodhisattva great beings who wish to swiftly and fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood should follow your training, sublime being. Bodhisattvas should not be verbose and obsessed with the use of words; rather, they should practice what they preach. How do bodhisattvas practice what they preach, you ask? Sāgaramati, they do so by appreciating how easy it is to say, ‘I am going to become a buddha,’ yet how hard it is to actually accomplish the virtues of the factors of awakening. Sāgaramati, any bodhisattva who regales beings with the gift of Dharma, announcing to them, ‘You will be satisfied by my gift of Dharma,’ and then teaches them extensively, but himself acts otherwise, failing to strive toward the virtues of the factors of awakening, has let those beings down. He has not practiced what he preached. However, Sāgaramati, when he regales everyone with the gift of the factors of awakening, announcing to them, ‘You will be satisfied by my gift of Dharma,’ and then teaches them extensively and himself strives toward the virtues of the factors of awakening, then he has practiced what he preached.

Colophon

c.1

This was translated, proofed, and finalized according to the new terminological register by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Buddhaprabhā, as well as the editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.

Notes

n.1

On these citations, see Skilling 2018, 441-42. Moreover, the jātaka tale told in this sūtra, in which the Buddha, in a former life as a lion, saves two baby monkeys from the clutches of a vulture by offering his own flesh and blood as ransom, was also included in the Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra attributed to Nāgārjuna (Lamotte 2007, pp. 1902–6).

n.2

See The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara (2) (Toh 154), i.2.

n.3

On these dates see Lamotte, p. 1902. Taishō 397, the Mahāsaṃnipāta, is 大方等大集經 (Dafang deng daji jing); Taishō 400 is 佛說海意菩薩所問淨印法門經 (Haiyi pusa suowen jing famen jing).

n.4

See Griffiths 2015 (p. 994) and Skilling 2018.

n.5

The Denkarma catalogue is dated to c. 812 ᴄᴇ. In this catalogue, The Questions of Sāgaramati is included among the “Miscellaneous Sūtras” (mdo sde sna tshogs) less than ten sections (bam po) long. Denkarma, 297.a.3. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 49, no. 86.

n.6

In Tibet most commentators appear to have classified this sūtra under the rubric of Yogācāra-Mādhyamika (rnal ’byor spyod pa’i dbu ma), such as, for example, the sixteenth century scholar Pekar Sangpo (pad dkar bzang po) in his survey of the sūtras (Pekar Sangpo 2006, p. 228).

n.7

Conze 1955, p. 136.

n.8

See for example Ju Mipham 2004 and Tsongkhapa 2000. Numerous other such brief citations have appeared in translation.

n.9

This section is very similar to a description of the Dharma teaching found in the Akṣayamatinirdeśa (Toh 175, see Braarvig 2020, The Teaching of Akṣayamati, 1.6). Notably, however, in that version the miracle that follows is not one of water, but of golden light.

n.10

theg pa read as shes pa following the Narthang and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 17, n. 6.

n.11

bstan pa read as brtan pa following the Yongle, Lithang, Narthang, Kangxi, Choné, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 21, no. 2.

n.12

nges pa read as des pa following the Narthang, Urga, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 21, n. 3.

n.13

byang chub sems sogs read as byang chub sems dpa’ following the Yongle, Lithang, Narthang, Kangxi, Choné, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 28, n. 10.

n.14

bsam read as bas following the Lithang, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 30, n. 1.

n.15

nang read as nad following the Kangxi, Narthang, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 30, n. 2.

n.16

bdag gis read as bdag gi following the Yongle, Kangxi, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 33, n. 9.

n.17

dib dib po read as rib rib po following the Narthang and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 55, n. 1.

n.18

Translation tentative. Tib. ngo za ring gi tshig med pa.

n.19

Translation tentative. Tib. sems dang yid dang rnam par shes pa des rig pa med par tshor ba yang so sor myong la / sangs rgyas kyi chos rnams yongs su ma dzogs kyi bar du tshor ba ’gog pa mngon sum du yang mi byed de /.

n.20

yang dag min read as yang dag nyid following the Stok Palace manuscript, p. 39.b.

n.21

spyangs pa read as sbyangs pa following the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 65, n. 13.

n.22

Whereas the single word dharma (Tib. chos) can be used in both Sanskrit and Tibetan to denote a range of meanings, we have to translate it variably here as “qualities” and “phenomena.”

n.23

kyi chos kyi chos read as kyi chos following the Stok Palace manuscript, p. 68.a.

n.24

The passage that follows makes use of a series of alphabetical correspondences and puns that are lost in translation, not only in translation from Tibetan to English, but also the original act of translation from Sanskrit to Tibetan.

n.25

A dhāraṇī that is included in a number of Great Vehicle sūtras and is said to encapsulate and thus give access to the full scope of the Buddha’s teachings.

n.26

The Sanskrit of the passage starting with this sentence and continuing down to the end of the next paragraph (10.6) survives as a quote (48.19–50.7) in Asaṅga’s Ratnagotravibhāga-vyākhya (RGVV, Toh 4025), in which an important doctrinal point is made about how bodhisattvas take voluntary rebirth in the world (according to some commentaries in the “body of a mental nature,” manomayakāya, yid kyi rang bzhin gyi lus). The Sanskrit of the passage corresponding to this present paragraph is as follows: yad āha | paśya sāgaramate dharmāṇām asaratām akārakatāṃ nirātmatāṃ niḥsattvatāṃ nirjīvatāṃ niḥpudgalatām asvāmikatām | tatra hi nāma yatheṣyante tathā viṭhapyante viṭhapitāś ca samānā na cetayanti na prakalpayanti | imāṃ sāgaramate dharmaviṭhapanām adhimucya bodhisattvo na kasmiṃścid dharme parikhedam utpādayati | tasyaiva jñānadarśanaṃ śuci śuddhaṃ bhavati | nātra kaścid upakāro vāpakāro vā kriyata iti | evaṃ ca dharmāṇāṃ dharmatāṃ yathābhūtaṃ prajānāti | evaṃ ca mahākaruṇāsaṃnāhaṃ na tyajati. In the RGVV this quote follows after the one mentioned below in n.29. The Tibetan text in the Tengyur (translated by Sajjana and Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab) differs in several respects from the Tibetan rendering here in the sūtra itself (translated by Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, Buddhaprabhā, and Yeshé Dé).

n.27

The Degé Kangyur Tibetan reads chos rnam par bsgrub pa ’di la, but the Tibetan of the quote in the RGVV reads gzhan du mi ’gyur ba’i chos ’di la.

n.28

The quoted passage mentioned above in n.26 ends here, although as noted in n.29 below the following passage is also quoted in the same text (but in reverse order).

n.29

The Sanskrit of the passage starting with this sentence and continuing down to the end of 10.9 survives as a quote (47.6–48.13) in Asaṅga’s Ratnagotravibhāga-mahāyānottaratantraśāstra (Toh 4025). In that text this quote precedes the one mentioned above in n.26.

n.30

The quoted passage mentioned in n.29 ends here.

n.31

This and the other dhāraṇīs in the English translation represent a transcription of the phonetic Sanskrit provided in the Degé version of the Tibetan translation. No attempt has been made to compare it to other versions of the dhāraṇī, nor has it been edited to conform with normative Sanskrit orthography and syntax.

Bibliography

’phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Toh 152, Degé Kangyur vol. 58 (mdo sde, pha), folios 1.b–115.b.

’phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 58, pp. 3–270.

’phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. In bka’ ’gyur (stog pho brang bris ma). Vol. 66 (mdo sde ba), folios 1.b– 166.a.

Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan [/ lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Degé Tengyur, vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b - 310.a.

Pekar Sangpo (pad dkar bzang po). mdo sde spyi’i rnam bzhag. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang [Minorities Publishing House], 2006.

Braarvig, Jens (tr.). The Teaching of Akṣayamati (Akṣayamatinirdeśa, Toh 175). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.

Conze, Edward. Buddhist Texts Through the Ages. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1955.

Griffiths, Arlo. “Epigraphy: Southeast Asia” in Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, Volume One: Literature and Languages. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2015.

Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Wien: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.

Ju Mipham (’jam mgon mi pham rgya mtsho). Speech of Delight: Mipham’s Commentary on Śāntarakṣita’s Ornament of the Middle Way. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2004.

Lamotte, Étienne. The Treatise on the Great Virtue of Wisdom of Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra), Vol. 5. English translation from the French (Le Traité de La Grande Vertu De Sagesse, Louvain 1944–1980) by Gelongma Karma Migme Chodron, 2007.

Skilling, Peter. “Sāgaramati-paripṛcchā Inscriptions from Kedah, Malaysia” in Lutz Edzard, Jens W. Borgland, and Ute Hüsken (eds). Reading Slowly: A Festschrift for Jens. E. Braarvig. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2018

Tsongkhapa. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Vol. 1. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2000.

Glossary

g.1

Absorption

ting nge ’dzin
ting ’dzin

ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།
ཏིང་འཛིན།

samādhi

A synonym for meditation, this refers to the state of deep meditative immersion that results from different modes of Buddhist practice.

g.2

Absorption of the heroic gait

dpa’ bar ’gro ba

དཔའ་བར་འགྲོ་བ།

śūraṃgama

g.3

Acceptance of phenomena concurring with reality

rjes su ’thun pa’i chos la bzod pa
rjes su ’thun pa’i chos kyi bzod pa

རྗེས་སུ་འཐུན་པའི་ཆོས་ལ་བཟོད་པ།
རྗེས་སུ་འཐུན་པའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་བཟོད་པ།

ānulomikadharmakṣānti

A particular realization attained by a bodhisattva on the sixth bodhisattva level. This realization arises as a result of analysis of the essential nature of phenomena (dharmas).

g.4

Adorned with Every Pleasure

bde ba thams cad kyis brgyan pa

བདེ་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས་བརྒྱན་པ།

An eastern buddha realm where the buddha Mārapramardaka resides.

g.5

Adorned with Immaculate and Countless Precious Qualities

yon tan rin po che dri ma dang bral ba dpag tu med pa bkod pas brgyan pa

ཡོན་ཏན་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་དྲི་མ་དང་བྲལ་བ་དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པ་བཀོད་པས་བརྒྱན་པ།

A buddha realm below our world where the buddha Master of the Ocean with Noble and Playful Super-knowledge resides.

g.6

Aggregate

phung po

ཕུང་པོ།

skandha

The five psycho-physical components of personal experience: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

g.7

Ānanda

kun dga’ bo

ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།

Ānanda

The Buddha’s cousin and principal attendant.

g.8

Application of mindfulness

dran pa nye bar bzhag pa

དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་བཞག་པ།

smṛtyupasthāna

See four applications of mindfulness.

g.9

Asaṅga

thogs med

ཐོགས་མེད།

Asaṅga

Indian commentator from the late fourth- early-fith centuries; closely associated with the works of Maitreya and the Yogācāra philosophical school.

g.10

Astounding Sight

shin tu rnam par bltas pa

ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣམ་པར་བལྟས་པ།

A past buddha realm where the buddha Dīptavīrya resided.

g.11

Asura

lha ma yin

ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།

asura

One of the six classes of sentient beings according to the Buddhist tradition. The asuras are engendered and dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility, who are metaphorically described as being incessantly embroiled in disputes with the gods (deva). They are frequently portrayed in brahmanical mythology as having a disruptive effect on cosmological and social harmony.

g.12

Bases of miracles

rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa

རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ།

ṛddhipāda

The four factors that serve as the basis for magical abilities: Intention, diligence, attention, and discernment.

g.13

Bhṛgu

ngan spong

ངན་སྤོང་།

Bhṛgu

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.14

Blessed One

bcom ldan ’das

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhagavat

In Buddhist literature, an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generically means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts implies that a buddha is in possession of the virtous qualities and wisdom associated with complete awakening.

g.15

Brahmā

tshangs pa

ཚངས་པ།

Brahmā

One of the primary deities of the Brahmanical pantheon, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two deities (the other being Indra/Śakra) that are said to have first exhorted Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Among his epithets is “Lord of Sahā World” (Sahāṃpati).

g.16

Branches of awakening

byang chub kyi yan lag

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག

bodhyaṅga

Mindfulness, discrimination, diligence, joy, pliability, absorption, and equanimity.

g.17

Buddha realm

sangs rgyas kyi zhing

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཞིང་།

buddhakṣetra

A pure realm manifested by a buddha or advanced bodhisattva through the power of their great merit and aspirations.

g.18

Buddhaprabha

bud dha pra bha

བུད་དྷ་པྲ་བྷ།

Buddhaprabha

One of the Indian preceptors who assisted in translating this text.

g.19

Caretaker of Beings

gro ba ’dzin

གྲོ་བ་འཛིན།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.20

Consciousness

rnam par shes pa

རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ།

vijñāna

One of the five aggregates; also counted as the sixth of the six elements.

g.21

Continuous Intelligence

blo gros rgyun mi ’chad pa

བློ་གྲོས་རྒྱུན་མི་འཆད་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.22

Correct discriminations

so so yang dag par rig pa

སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ།

pratisaṃvid

Genuine discrimination with respect to dharmas, meaning, language, and eloquence.

g.23

Dānaśīla

dA na shI la

དཱ་ན་ཤཱི་ལ།

Dānaśīla

One of the Indian preceptors who assisted in translating this text.

g.24

Desire realm

’dod pa’i khams

འདོད་པའི་ཁམས།

kāmadhātu

In Buddhist cosmology, our sphere of existence where beings are driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification and attachment to material substance. See also three realms.

g.25

Dhāraṇī

gzungs

གཟུངས།

dhāraṇī

An incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula that distills essential points of the Dharma. It is used by practitioners as an aid to memorize and recall detailed teachings, and to attain mundane and supramundane goals. According to context, this term has also been rendered here as “recollection.”

g.26

Dharma Teacher

chos smra ba

ཆོས་སྨྲ་བ།

Name of a bodhisattva great being.

g.27

Diligent Intelligence

brtson ’grus blo gros

བརྩོན་འགྲུས་བློ་གྲོས།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.28

Dīpaṃkara

mar me mdzad

མར་མེ་མཛད།

Dīpaṃkara

A former buddha in front of whom Buddha Śākyamuni (in a past life) first formed the aspiration to awaken.

g.29

Dīptavīrya

brtson ’grus ’bar ba

བརྩོན་འགྲུས་འབར་བ།

Dīptavīrya

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.30

Dīptavīrya

brtson ’grus ’bar ba

བརྩོན་འགྲུས་འབར་བ།

Dīptavīrya

A buddha in a world called Astounding Sight and an eon in the past called Flower Origin.

g.31

Discerning Vision

nges par brtags te blta ba

ངེས་པར་བརྟགས་ཏེ་བལྟ་བ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.32

Eight branches

yan lag brgyad

ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭāṅga

This can refer either to what is also known as the eightfold path (’phags lam yan lag brgyad): (1) right view, (2) right intention, (3) right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood, (6) effort, (7) mindfulness, and (8) meditative concentration. Or to what is also known as the eight precepts (bsnyen gnas yan lag brgyad): (1) abstaining from killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) lying, (5) intoxication, (6) eating after noon, (7) dancing and singing, and (8) lying on an elevated bed.

g.33

Eight wrong modes

log pa nyid brgyad

ལོག་པ་ཉིད་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭamithyātva

Wrong view, wrong thought, wrong speech, wrong actions, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong recollection, and wrong samādhi.

g.34

Element

khams

ཁམས།

dhātu

In the context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of eighteen elements (eye, form, and eye consciousness; ear, sound, and ear consciousness; nose, odor, and nose consciousness; tongue, taste, and tongue consciousness; body, touch, and body consciousness; mind, mental phenomena, and mind consciousness).

These also refer to the elements of the physical world, which cab enumerated as four, five, or six elements may be enumerated. The four elements are earth, water, fire, and air. A fifth, space, is often added. The six elements are: earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness.

g.35

Eloquence

spobs pa

སྤོབས་པ།

pratibhāna

The capacity of realized beings to speak in a confident and inspiring manner.

g.36

Emanation

shin tu sprul pa

ཤིན་ཏུ་སྤྲུལ་པ།

A past buddha realm where the buddha Infinite Light resided.

g.37

Emptiness

stong pa yid

སྟོང་པ་ཡིད།

śūnyatā

In the Great Vehicle this is the term for how phenomena are devoid of any nature of their own. Also, one of the three gateways to liberation.

g.38

Excellent Garland

phreng ba bzang po

ཕྲེང་བ་བཟང་པོ།

A monk disciple of the Buddha.

g.39

Excellent Intelligence

blo gros legs pa

བློ་གྲོས་ལེགས་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.40

Excessive pride

mngon pa’i nga rgyal

མངོན་པའི་ང་རྒྱལ།

abhimāna

A conceited, false sense of attainment. One of seven types of pride related to the spiritual path.

g.41

Factors of awakening

byang chub kyi phyogs kyi chos

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།

bodhipakṣadharma

The qualities necessary as a method to attain the awakening of a hearer, solitary buddha, or buddha. There are thirty-seven of these: (1–4) the four applications of mindfulness: mindfulness of body, sensations, mind, and phenomena; (5–8) the four right abandonments: the intention to not do bad actions that are not done, to give up bad actions that are being done, to do good actions that have not been done, and increase the good actions that are being done; (9–12) the bases of miracles: intention, diligence, attention, and discernment; (13–17) five faculties: faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and wisdom; (18–22) five strengths: an even stronger form of faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and wisdom; (23–29) seven branches of awakening: correct mindfulness, correct discrimination of phenomena, correct diligence, correct joy, correct pliability, correct absorption, and correct equanimity; and (30–37) the eightfold noble path: right view, examination, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and absorption.

g.42

Faculties

dbang po

དབང་པོ།

indriya

The term “faculties,” depending on the context, can refer to the five senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste) plus the mental faculty, but also to spiritual “faculties,” see “five faculties.”

g.43

Feeling

tshor ba

ཚོར་བ།

vedanā

One of the five aggregates.

g.44

Five faculties

dbang po lnga

དབང་པོ་ལྔ།

pañcendriya

These are spiritual “faculties” (indriya) or capacities to be developed: faith (śraddhā), diligence (vīrya), mindfulness (smṛti), absorption (samādhi), and insight (prajña). These are included in the thirty-seven factors of awakening. See also “five strengths.”

g.45

Five obscurations

sgrib pa lnga

སྒྲིབ་པ་ལྔ།

pañcanivaraṇa

These are five impediments that hinder meditation (dhyāna): desire (kāmacchanda), malice (vyāpāda), torpor and sloth (styānamiddha), wildness and excitement (auddhatyakaukṛtya), and doubt or skepticism (vicikitsā).

g.46

Five strengths

stobs lnga

སྟོབས་ལྔ།

pañcabala

Similar to the five faculties but at a further stage of development and thus cannot be shaken by adverse conditions, these are: faith (śraddhā), diligence (vīrya), mindfulness (smṛti), absorption (samādhi), and insight (prajña).

g.47

Flower Source

me tog ’byung gnas

མེ་ཏོག་འབྱུང་གནས།

Name of a past eon, when the buddha Dīptavīrya resided in the buddha realm Astounding Sight.

g.48

Form

gzugs

གཟུགས།

rūpa

One of the five aggregates.

g.49

Form realm

gzugs kyi khams

གཟུགས་ཀྱི་ཁམས།

rūpadhātu

In Buddhist cosmology, the sphere of existence one level more subtle than our own (the desire realm), where beings, though subtly embodied, are not driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification. See also “three realms.”

g.50

Form realm

gzugs kyi khams

གཟུགས་ཀྱི་ཁམས།

rūpadhātu

g.51

Formation

’du byed

འདུ་བྱེད།

saṃskāra

One of the five aggregates; formative forces concomitant with the production of karmic seeds causing future samsaric existence.

g.52

Formless realm

gzugs med pa’i khams

གཟུགས་མེད་པའི་ཁམས།

ārūpyadhātu

In Buddhist cosmology, the sphere of existence two levels more subtle than our own (the desire realm), where beings are no longer physically embodied, and thus not subject to the sufferings that physical embodiment brings. See also three realms.

g.53

Four applications of mindfulness

dran pa nye bar bzhag pa bzhi

དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་བཞག་པ་བཞི།

catuḥsmṛtyupasthāna

Mindfulness of the (1) body, (2) feelings, (3) mind, and (4) mental phenomena.

g.54

Four concentrations

bsam gtan gzhi

བསམ་གཏན་གཞི།

caturdhyāna

The four levels of meditative absorption of the beings of the form realms.

g.55

Four elements

khams bzhi

ཁམས་བཞི།

caturdhātu

The four “great” outer elements (mahābhūta, ’byung ba chen po): earth, water, fire, and air. See also “element.”

g.56

Four errors

phyin ci log bzhi

ཕྱིན་ཅི་ལོག་བཞི།

caturviparyāsa

Taking what is impermanent to be permanent, what is painful to be delightful, what is unclean to be clean, and what is no-self to be a self.

g.57

Four fearlessnesses

mi ’jigs pa rnam pa bzhi

མི་འཇིགས་པ་རྣམ་པ་བཞི།

caturvaiśāradya

The four types of fearlessnes possessed by all buddhas: They have full confidence that 1) they are fully awakened; 2) they have removed all defilements; 3) they have taught about the obstacles to liberation; and, 4) have shown the path to liberation.

g.58

Four floods

chu bo bzhi

ཆུ་བོ་བཞི།

caturogha

Sensual desire, desire for cyclic existence, holding views, and ignorance.

g.59

Four immeasurables

tshad med bzhi

ཚད་མེད་བཞི།

caturpramāṇa

These are (1) loving kindness, (2) compassion, (3) joy, and (4) equanimity.

g.60

Four means of attracting disciples

bsdu ba’i dngos po bzhi

བསྡུ་བའི་དངོས་པོ་བཞི།

catuḥsaṃgrahavastu

Generosity, kind talk, meaningful actions, and practicing what one preaches.

g.61

Four reliances

rtan po bzhi

རྟན་པོ་བཞི།

catuspratisaraṇa

A bodhisattva should 1) rely on the meaning, not the expression; 2) on the teaching, not the person; 3) on wisdom, not on normal consciousness; and 4) on discourses the definitive meaning, not on the interpretable meaning.

g.62

Four right abandonments

spong ba bzhi
yang dag par spong ba bzhi

སྤོང་བ་བཞི།
ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ་བཞི།

catuḥprahāṇa
catuḥsamyakprahāṇa

Four types of right effort consisting in (1) abandoning existing negative mind states, (2) abandoning the production of such states, (3) giving rise to virtuous mind states that are not yet produced, and (4) letting those states continue.

g.63

Four truths of the noble ones

’phags pa’i bden pa bzhi

འཕགས་པའི་བདེན་པ་བཞི།

catvāry āryasatyāni
caturāryasatya

The four truths that the Buddha realized and transmitted in his first teaching: (1) suffering, (2) the origin of suffering, (3) the cessation of suffering, and (4) the path to the cessation of suffering.

g.64

Gandharva

dri za

དྲི་ཟ།

gandharva

Gandharvas are a class of spirits, sometimes described as celestial musicians. In other contexts the term can also refer to beings in the bardo-state.

g.65

Gaṇḍī

gaN DI

གཎ་ཌཱི།

gaṇḍī

A wooden gong used to summon monks.

g.66

God

ལྷ།

deva

According to the Buddhist tradition, one of the five or six classes of sentient beings, specifically engendered and dominated by exaltation, indulgence, and pride. The gods are said to exist in many levels of celestial or divine realms, higher than that of the human realm, within in the desire realm (kāmadhātu), and also in the form realm (rūpadhātu) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu).

g.67

Great Compassionate One

snying rje chen po sems pa

སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་སེམས་པ།

A divine being from the Brahmā world.

g.68

Great Compilation

’dus pa chen po

འདུས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

Mahāsannipāta

An anthology of Great Vehicle Sūtras. A collection of seventeen sūtras under this title is available in Chinese translation, but The Questions of Sāgaramati is not included among them. It is thus likely that there were more than one anthology using this title.

g.69

Great Crest

tog chen po

ཏོག་ཆེན་པོ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.70

Guardians (of the world)

skyong ba

སྐྱོང་བ།

pāla

In this case, “guardians” seems to refer to the Four Great Kings of the cardinal directions, namely: Vaiśravaṇa, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Virūḍhaka, and Virūpākṣa, who pledged to protect the Dharma and practitioners.

g.71

Guṇarājaprabhāsa

yon tan gyi rgyal po snang ba

ཡོན་ཏན་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་སྣང་བ།

Guṇarājaprabhāsa

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.72

Hearer

nyan thos

ཉན་ཐོས།

śrāvaka

Derived from the Sanskrit verb “to hear,” the term is used in reference to followers of the non-Great Vehicle traditions of Buddhism, in contrast to the bodhisattvas who follow the Great Vehicle path.

g.73

Heaven of Joy

dga’ ldan gyi gnas

དགའ་ལྡན་གྱི་གནས།

tuṣita

A divine world located in the Desire Realm; in Great Vehicle Buddhist thought, it is where all future buddhas dwell prior to their awakening.

g.74

Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations

gzhan ’phrul dbang byed pa

གཞན་འཕྲུལ་དབང་བྱེད་པ།

paranirmitavaśavartin

The highest of the six heavens of the desire realm.

g.75

Heaven of the Thirty-Three

sum cu rtsa gsum

སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ།

Trāyastriṃśa

One of the heavens of Buddhist cosmology. Counted among the six heavens of the desire realm, it is traditionally located atop Sumeru, just above the terrace of the Abodes of the Four Great Kings.

g.76

Hidden

kun tu sbas

ཀུན་ཏུ་སྦས།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.77

Hill of Fallen Sages

drang srong lhung ba

དྲང་སྲོང་ལྷུང་བ།

ṛṣipatana

A hill near the deer park at Sarnath where the Buddha first taught the Dharma following his awakening.

g.78

Incense Elephant

glang chen spos kyi bal glang

གླང་ཆེན་སྤོས་ཀྱི་བལ་གླང་།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.79

Inexhaustible Treasury

mdzod mi zad pa

མཛོད་མི་ཟད་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.80

Infinite Eloquence

spobs pa mtha’ yas

སྤོབས་པ་མཐའ་ཡས།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.81

Infinite Light

’od zer snang ba mtha’ yas

འོད་ཟེར་སྣང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས།

A buddha from a previous eon.

g.82

Intellect of Pure Conduct

spyod pa rnam dag blo gros

སྤྱོད་པ་རྣམ་དག་བློ་གྲོས།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.83

Jambudvīpa

’dzam bu gling

འཛམ་བུ་གླིང་།

jambudvīpa

The continent to the south of Mt. Sumeru, where according to Buddhist cosmology “the world as we know it” is located.

g.84

Jinamitra

dzi na mi tra

ཛི་ན་མི་ཏྲ།

Jinamitra

An Kashmiri paṇḍita who was resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.

g.85

Kapilabhadrā

ser skya bzang mo

སེར་སྐྱ་བཟང་མོ།

Kapilabhadrā

A famous nun who was the wife of Mahākāśyapa for twelve years prior to their ordination.

g.86

Kauśika

kau shi ka

ཀཽ་ཤི་ཀ

Kauśika

An epithet of Śakra.

g.87

Kesara

ke sa ra

ཀེ་ས་ར།

keśara
kesara

Kesara can be the name of several species of plants.

g.88

King of Seers

dus dpog rgyal po

དུས་དཔོག་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.89

King of Splendors

dpal brtsegs rgyal po

དཔལ་བརྩེགས་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.90

King of the Immense Lamp

lhun po’i sgron me’i rgyal po

ལྷུན་པོའི་སྒྲོན་མེའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.91

Kinnara

mi’am ci

མིའམ་ཅི།

kinnara
kiṃnara

A class of semidivine beings depicted as half-horse and half-human, or half-bird and half-human.

g.92

Lamp Holder

sgron ma ’dzin

སྒྲོན་མ་འཛིན།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.93

Lesser Vehicle

theg pa dman pa

ཐེག་པ་དམན་པ།

hīnayāna

It is a collective term used by proponents of the Great Vehicle to refer to the śrāvakayāna (hearer vehicle) and pratyekabuddhayāna (solitary buddha vehicle). The name stems from their goal—i.e. nirvāṇa and personal liberation—being seen as small or lesser than the goal of the Great Vehicle—i.e. buddhahood and liberation of all sentient beings.

g.94

Light King of Qualities

yon tan gyi rgyal po snang ba

ཡོན་ཏན་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་སྣང་བ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.95

Lightning Gaze

glog ltas

གློག་ལྟས།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.96

Limit of reality

yang dag pa’i mtha’

ཡང་དག་པའི་མཐའ།

bhūtakoṭi

This term has three meanings: (1) a synonym for the ultimate nature, (2) the experience of the ultimate nature, and (3) the quiescent state of a worthy one (arhat) to be avoided by bodhisattvas.

g.97

Limitless Intelligence

blo gros tshad med pa

བློ་གྲོས་ཚད་མེད་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.98

Lion of the Śākyas

shA kya seng ge

ཤཱ་ཀྱ་སེང་གེ

Śākyasiṃha

An epithet of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.99

Lokāyata

’jig rten rgyang ’phen pa

འཇིག་རྟེན་རྒྱང་འཕེན་པ།

lokāyata

An ancient school of Indian philosophy whose doctrine, outlined primarily in the Bārhaspatya Sūtras, is characterized by atheism and a strict form of materialism.

g.100

Lord of Mountains

ri dbang rgyal po

རི་དབང་རྒྱལ་པོ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.101

Lover of the Stars

skar ma la dga’ ba

སྐར་མ་ལ་དགའ་བ།

Name of a buddha.

g.102

Mahābrahmā

tshangs pa chen po

ཚངས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

Mahābrahma

g.103

Mahākāśyapa

’od srung chen po

འོད་སྲུང་ཆེན་པོ།

Mahākāśyapa

A senior student of Buddha Śākyamuni, famous for his austere lifestyle.

g.104

Maitreya

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

Maitreya

Bodhisattva of loving kindness; the next buddha to follow Śākyamuni.

g.105

Major and minor marks of perfection

mtshan dang dpe byad bzang po

མཚན་དང་དཔེ་བྱད་བཟང་པོ།

lakṣaṇānuvyañjana

The thirty-two major and the eighty minor distinctive physical attributes of a buddha or a superior being.

g.106

Mañjuśrī

’jam dpal

འཇམ་དཔལ།

Mañjuśrī

One of the eight “close sons” of the Buddha, the embodiment of wisdom. In this text, he is one of the main interlocutors of the Buddha.

g.107

Māra

bdud

བདུད།

māra

The demon who assailed Śākyamuni prior to his awakening. When used in the plural, the term refers to a class of beings who, like Māra himself, are the primary adversaries and tempters of people who vow to take up the religious life. Figuratively, they are the personification of everything that acts as a hindrance to awakening, and are often listed as a set of four: the Māra of the aggregates, the Māra of the afflictions, the Māra of the Lord of Death, and the Māra of the gods.

g.108

Mārapramardaka

bdud rab tu ’joms pa

བདུད་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་པ།

Mārapramardaka

A buddha that resides in an eastern world system called Adorned with Every Pleasure.

g.109

Master of the Ocean with Noble and Playful Super-knowledge

rgya mtsho’i mchog mnga’ ba’i blos rnam par rol pa mngon par ’phags pa’i mgnon par mkhyen pa

རྒྱ་མཚོའི་མཆོག་མངའ་བའི་བློས་རྣམ་པར་རོལ་པ་མངོན་པར་འཕགས་པའི་མགནོན་པར་མཁྱེན་པ།

A buddha that resides in a world system below our world called Adorned with Immaculate and Countless Precious Qualities.

g.110

Meaningful Contemplative

don legs sems

དོན་ལེགས་སེམས།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.111

Mind of awakening

byang chub kyi sems

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས།

bodhicitta

The intent at heart of the Great Vehicle, namely to obtain buddhahood in order to liberate all sentient beings from suffering. In it’s relative aspect, it is both this aspiration and the practices towards buddhahood. In it’s absolute aspect, it is the realization of emptiness or the awakened mind itself.

g.112

Nāga

ཀླུ།

nāga

A semidivine class of beings who live in subterranean acquatic environments and who are known to hoard wealth and esoteric teachings. They are associated with snakes and serpents.

g.113

Nāgārjuna

klu sgrub

ཀླུ་སྒྲུབ།

Nāgārjuna

Second- or third-century Indian master whose writings formed the basis for the Madhyamaka tradition.

g.114

Nārāyaṇa

sred med kyi bu

སྲེད་མེད་ཀྱི་བུ།

Nārāyaṇa

In the ancient Indian tradition, the son of the first man; later seen as a powerful avatar of Viṣṇu, but also as the progenitor of Brahmā. In Buddhist texts, he figures in various ways including as a bodhisattva, while still one of the most powerful gods of the form realm.

g.115

Nine things that harm

gnod pa’i dngos po dgu

གནོད་པའི་དངོས་པོ་དགུ

āghātavastu

Nine points of reference that inflame one’s anger and hostility: 1) my enemy has harmed me, 2) is harming me, and 3) will harm me; 4) my enemy has harmed my friend, 5) is harming my friend, and 6) will harm my friend; 7) my enemy has assisted other enemies, 8) is assisting other enemies, and 9) my enemy will assist my other enemy.

g.116

Noble Bliss

dga’ ba ’phags pa’i bskal pa

དགའ་བ་འཕགས་པའི་བསྐལ་པ།

Name of an eon (kalpa).

g.117

Non-aggressive Intellect

zhes ’gras pa med pa’i blo gros

ཞེས་འགྲས་པ་མེད་པའི་བློ་གྲོས།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.118

Non-referential Concentration

dmigs pa med pa’i bsam gtan pa

དམིགས་པ་མེད་པའི་བསམ་གཏན་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.119

Padmavyūha

pad ma bkod pa

པད་མ་བཀོད་པ།

Padmavyūha

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.120

Perception

’du shes

འདུ་ཤེས།

saṃjñā

One of the five aggregates.

g.121

Perfectly Immaculate Being

shin tu dri med sems pa

ཤིན་ཏུ་དྲི་མེད་སེམས་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.122

Pinnacle of Nonattached Fearlessness

chags pa med pa’i mi ’jigs pa brtsegs pa

ཆགས་པ་མེད་པའི་མི་འཇིགས་པ་བརྩེགས་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.123

Prajñākūṭa

shes rab brtsegs

ཤེས་རབ་བརྩེགས།

Prajñākūṭa

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.124

Prātimokṣa

so sor thar pa

སོ་སོར་ཐར་པ།

prātimokṣa

“Prātimokṣa” is the name given to the code of conduct binding on monks and nuns. The term can be used to refer both to the disciplinary rules themselves and to the texts from the Vinaya that contain them. There are multiple recensions of the Prātimokṣa, each transmitted by a different monastic fraternity in ancient and medieval India. Three remain living traditions, one of them the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya of Tibetan Buddhism. Though the numbers of rules vary across the different recensions, they are all organized according to the same principles and with the same disciplinary categories. It is customary for monastics to recite the Prātimokṣa Sūtra fortnightly. According to some Mahāyana sūtras, a separate set of prātimokṣa rules exists for bodhisattvas, which are based on bodhisattva conduct as taught in that vehicle.

g.125

Preceptor

mkhan po

མཁན་པོ།

upādhyāya

Teacher, (monastic) preceptor; “having approached him, one studies from him” (upetyādhīyate asmāt).

g.126

Priest

bram ze

བྲམ་ཟེ།

brāhmaṇa

A member of the Indian priestly caste, a brahmin.

g.127

Priyadarśana

mthong dga’

མཐོང་དགའ།

Priyadarśana

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.128

Pure City

grong khyer shin tu rnam par dag pa

གྲོང་ཁྱེར་ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣམ་པར་དག་པ།

Name of a palace.

g.129

Pure Domain

yul shin tu rnam par dag pa

ཡུལ་ཤིན་ཏུ་རྣམ་པར་དག་པ།

A universal monarch in the past who ruled over a world called Emanation.

g.130

Pure Intellect

blo gros rnam par dag pa

བློ་གྲོས་རྣམ་པར་དག་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.131

Pure Light

’od rnam par dag pa

འོད་རྣམ་པར་དག་པ།

A past buddha realm where the buddha Teacher of the Power of Great Wisdom resided.

g.132

Qualities of buddhahood

sangs rgyas kyi chos

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།

buddhadharma
buddhadharmāḥ

The specific qualities of a buddha; may sometimes be used as a general term, and sometimes referring to sets such as the ten strengths, the four fearlessnesses, the four correct discriminations, the eighteen unique qualities of buddhahood, and so forth; or, more specifically, to another set of eighteen: the ten strengths; the four fearlessnesses; mindfulness of body, speech, and mind; and great compassion.

Alternatively, in the context of this sūtra, see Chapter Six.

g.133

Rāhu

sgra gcan

སྒྲ་གཅན།

Rāhu

The asura who is said to cause eclipses by seizing the sun and moon.

g.134

Rāhula

sgra gcan zin

སྒྲ་གཅན་ཟིན།

Rāhula

The Buddha’s son who became the first novice monk and a prominent member of his monastic saṅgha.

g.135

Rājagṛha

rgyal po’i khab

རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།

rājagṛha

The ancient capital of Magadha, and the site where many Great Vehicle sūtras take place.

g.136

Razor

spu gri ba

སྤུ་གྲི་བ།

A vulture king.

g.137

Reality

chos nyid

ཆོས་ཉིད།

dharmatā

Lit. the “nature of phenomena” or “phenomena themselves.” The quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms.

(Note that the term “reality” has also been used to render terms of similar meaning such as yang dag nyid and others.)

g.138

Realm of phenomena

chos kyi dbyings

ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས།

dharmadhātu

The “sphere of dharmas,” a synonym for the nature of things.

g.139

Recollection

gzungs

གཟུངས།

dhāraṇī

Often paired with “eloquence” (pratibhāna), recollection is the capacity to properly retain and recall the teachings.

g.140

Sāgaramati

blo gros rgya mtsho

བློ་གྲོས་རྒྱ་མཚོ།

Sāgaramati

A bodhisattva from the world Adorned with Immaculate and Countless Precious Qualities. The protagonist of this discourse, his name can be translated as Oceanic Intelligence, which is referenced in the omen of the flooding of the trichiliocosm at the beginning of the sūtra.

g.141

Sage

thub pa

ཐུབ་པ།

muni

An ancient title given to ascetics, monks, hermits, and saints. namely, someone who has attained the realization of a truth through their own contemplation and not by divine revelation.

Here also used as a specific epithet of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.142

Sahā world

mi mjed

མི་མཇེད།

sahā

A name for the world in which we live.

g.143

Śakra

brgya byin

བརྒྱ་བྱིན།

Śakra

A divine being who rules the Heaven of the Thirty Three; equivalent to, or identified with, Indra.

g.144

Śākyamuni

shAkya thub pa

ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།

Śākyamuni

The buddha of this age; the historical buddha.

g.145

Sameness

mnyam pa nyid

མཉམ་པ་ཉིད།

samatā

(The state of) “equality,” “equal nature,” “equanimity,” or “equalness.”

g.146

Śāntamati

zhi ba’i blo gros

ཞི་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།

Śāntamati

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.147

Śāntideva

zhi ba’i lha

ཞི་བའི་ལྷ།

Śāntideva

Indian commentator from the eighth century renowned for his work The Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāra).

g.148

Śāradvatīputra

sha ra dwa ti’i bu

ཤ་ར་དྭ་ཏིའི་བུ།

Śāradvatīputra

One of the closest disciples of the Buddha, known for his pure observance of discipline. Also known as Śāriputra.

g.149

Śāriputra

sh’a ri’i bu

ཤའ་རིའི་བུ།

Śāriputra

See Śāradvatīputra.

g.150

Sārthavāha

ded dpon

དེད་དཔོན།

Sārthavāha

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.151

Seat of awakening

byang chub kyi snying po

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།

bodhimaṇda

The seat of awakening, which can mean both the physical location where buddhas sit to become awakened and the state of awakening itself.

g.152

Seer of Light

snang ba mthong ba

སྣང་བ་མཐོང་བ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.153

Sense source

skye mched

སྐྱེ་མཆེད།

āyatana

These can be listed as twelve or as six sense sources (sometimes also called sense fields, bases of cognition, or simply āyatanas):

In context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of twelve sense sources, which can be divided into inner and outer sense sources, namely: 1-2) eye and form, 3-4) ear and sound, 5-6) nose and odor, 7-8) tongue and taste, 9-10) body and touch, 11-12) mind and mental phenomena.

In the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, only six sense sources are mentioned and they are the inner sense sources (similar to the six faculties) of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

g.154

Seven bases of consciousness

rnam par shes pa’i gnas bdun

རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པའི་གནས་བདུན།

sapta-vijñānasthiti

Seven categories that describe living beings in the higher realms, from humans up to the formless realm: 1) those different in body and different in perception; 2) those different in body and equal in perception; 3) those equal in body but different in perception; 4) those equal in body and equal in perception; 5) those reborn in the sphere of boundless space; 6) those reborn in the sphere of boundless consciousness; and 7) those reborn in the sphere of nothingness.

g.155

Seven precious materials

rin po che sna bdun

རིན་པོ་ཆེ་སྣ་བདུན།

saptaratna

The list of seven precious materials varies. Either they are: gold, silver, turquoise, coral, pearl, emerald, and sapphire; or else they are: ruby, sapphire, beryl, emerald, diamond, pearls, and coral.

g.156

Signlessness

mtshan ma med pa

མཚན་མ་མེད་པ།

animitta

One of the three gateways to liberation; the ultimate absence of marks and signs in perceived objects.

g.157

Silky White Mane And Perfect Limbs

dar dkar lta bu’i ral pa can yang lag ma smad pa

དར་དཀར་ལྟ་བུའི་རལ་པ་ཅན་ཡང་ལག་མ་སྨད་པ།

A lion king.

g.158

Siṃhaketu

seng ge’i tog

སེང་གེའི་ཏོག

Siṃhaketu

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.159

Six perfections

pha rol tu phyin pa drug

ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་དྲུག

ṣaṭpāramitā

The six practices or qualities that a follower of the Great Vehicle perfects in order to transcend cyclic existence. They are generosity (dāna, byin pa), discipline (śīla, tshul khrims), patience or acceptance (kṣānti, bzod pa), diligence (vīrya, brtson ’grus), meditative concentration (dhyāna, bsam gtan), and insight (prajñā, shes rab).

g.160

Solid Armor

go cha sra ba

གོ་ཆ་སྲ་བ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.161

Solitary buddha

rang sangs rgyas

རང་སངས་རྒྱས།

pratyekabuddha

Beings who attain buddhahood without relying on a teacher in their final lifetime. They may live alone or with peers, but do not teach the path of liberation to others because of a lack of motivation or the requisite merit.

g.162

Son of Manu

shed bu

ཤེད་བུ།

mānava

Manu is the archetypal human and the progenitor of humanity in Indian lore. Thus, “son of Manu” is a synonym for humanity in general. Also rendererd “born of Manu.”

g.163

Source of Happiness

dga’ ba ’byung ba

དགའ་བ་འབྱུང་བ།

A city in the world called Emanation.

g.164

Special insight

lhag mthong

ལྷག་མཐོང་།

vipaśyanā

An important form of Buddhist meditation focusing on developing insight into the nature of phenomena. Often presented as part of a pair of meditation techniques, the other being “tranquility.”

g.165

Śrīgarbha

dpal gyi snying po

དཔལ་གྱི་སྙིང་པོ།

śrīgarbha

A type of red-colored precious gemstone.

g.166

Śrīgupta

dpal sbas

དཔལ་སྦས།

Śrīgupta

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.167

Star-Color

skar mdog

སྐར་མདོག

Name of an eon (kalpa).

g.168

Steadfast Intelligence

blo gros brtan pa

བློ་གྲོས་བརྟན་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.169

Suchness

de bzhin nyid

དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད།

tathatā

The ultimate nature of things, or the way things are in reality, as opposed to the way they appear to non-enlightened beings.

g.170

Sunirmita

rab ’phrul

རབ་འཕྲུལ།

Sunirmita

The principal deity in Nirmāṇarata, the second highest paradise in the desire realm.

g.171

Super-knowledge

mngon par shes pa

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།

abhijñā

Traditionally listed as five: divine sight, divine hearing, the ability to know past and future lives, the ability to know the minds of others, and the ability to produce miracles.

g.172

Suryagarbha

nyi ma’i snying po

ཉི་མའི་སྙིང་པོ།

Suryagarbha

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.173

Susārthavāha

ded dpon bzang po

དེད་དཔོན་བཟང་པོ།

Susārthavāha

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.174

Teacher of the Power of Great Wisdom

ye shes chen po’i stobs kyi bsgrags pa

ཡེ་ཤེས་ཆེན་པོའི་སྟོབས་ཀྱི་བསྒྲགས་པ།

A buddha that resided in a previous world called Pure Light.

g.175

Ten levels

sa bcu

ས་བཅུ།

daśabhūmi

The ten levels of a bodhisattva’s development into a fully enlightened buddha.

g.176

Ten nonvirtuous deeds

mi dge ba bcu

མི་དགེ་བ་བཅུ།

daśākuśala

Killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, gossip, covetousness, ill will, and wrong views.

g.177

Ten strengths

stobs pa rnam pa bcu

སྟོབས་པ་རྣམ་པ་བཅུ།

daśabala

The ten strengths are (1) the knowledge of what is possible and not possible; (2) the knowledge of the ripening of karma; (3) the knowledge of the variety of aspirations; (4) the knowledge of the variety of natures; (5) the knowledge of the different levels of capabilites; (6) the knowledge of the destinations of all paths; (7) the knowledge of various states of meditation (dhyāna, liberation, samādhi, samāpatti, and so on); (8) the knowledge of remembering previous lives; (9) the knowledge of deaths and rebirths; and (10) the knowledge of the cessation of defilements.

g.178

Thinker of Good Thoughts

bsam pa legs par sems

བསམ་པ་ལེགས་པར་སེམས།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.179

Three gateways of liberation

rnam thar sgo gsum

རྣམ་ཐར་སྒོ་གསུམ།

trivimokṣadvāra

Emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.

g.180

Three realms

khams gsum

ཁམས་གསུམ།

tridhātu
traidhātuka

The three realms are the desire realm (kāmadhātu, ’dod khams), form realm (rūpadhātu, gzugs khams) and the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu, gzugs med khams), i.e., the three worlds that make up saṃsāra. The first is composed of the six sorts of beings (gods, asuras, humans, animals, hungry ghosts and hell beings), whereas the latter two are only realms of gods and are thus higher, more ethereal states of saṃsāra. See also three realms of existence.

g.181

Three realms of existence

srid pa gsum

སྲིད་པ་གསུམ།

tribhava
tribhuvana

This alternatively refers to the underworlds, earth, and heavens, or can be synonymous with the three realms of desire, form, and formlessness (see three realms).

g.182

Three spheres

’khor gsum

འཁོར་གསུམ།

trimaṇḍala

Subject, object, and the various physical and cognitive actions that proliferate based on that duality.

g.183

Three vows

sdom pa gsum

སྡོམ་པ་གསུམ།

trisaṃvara

In Great Vehicle treatises, the vows of a layperson or monk (prātimokṣa), the vows of a solitary buddha, and the vows of a bodhisattva.

g.184

Thus-gone one

de bzhin gshegs pa

དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ།

tathāgata

A frequently used synonym for a buddha. The expression is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has arrived at the realization of the ultimate state.

Here also used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.185

Tranquility

zhi gnas

ཞི་གནས།

śamatha

One of the basic forms of Buddhist meditation, which focuses on calming the mind. Often presented as part of a pair of meditation techniques, the other being “special insight.”

g.186

Transitory collection

’jig tshogs

འཇིག་ཚོགས།

satkāya

The transitory collection of the five aggregates, the basis for the view of a self or that which belongs to a self.

g.187

Trichiliocosm

stong gsum gyi stong chen po’i ’jig rten gyi khams

སྟོང་གསུམ་གྱི་སྟོང་ཆེན་པོའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།

trisāhasramahāsāhasralokadhātu

The largest universe described in Buddhist cosmology. This term, in Abhidharma cosmology, refers to 1,000³ world systems, i.e., 1,000 “dichiliocosms” or “two thousand great thousand world realms” (dvisāhasramahāsāhasralokadhātu), which are in turn made up of 1,000 first-order world systems, each with its own Mount Meru, continents, sun, and moon, as well as desire, form and formless realms, heavens of gods, etc.

g.188

Unimpeded Light

’od zer thogs pa med pa

འོད་ཟེར་ཐོགས་པ་མེད་པ།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.189

Unique qualities of buddhahood

sangs rgyas rnams kyi ma ’dras chos

སངས་རྒྱས་རྣམས་ཀྱི་མ་འདྲས་ཆོས།

āveṇikabuddhadharma

Eighteen qualities that are exclusively possessed by a buddha. These are listed in the Dharmasaṃgraha as follows: The tathāgata does not possess: (1) confusion; (2) noisiness; (3) forgetfulness; (4) loss of meditative equipoise; (5) cognition of distinctness; or (6) nonanalytical equanimity. A buddha totally lacks: (7) degeneration of motivatedness; (8) degeneration of perseverance; (9) degeneration of mindfulness; (10) degeneration of samādhi; (11) degeneration of prajñā; (12) degeneration of complete liberation; and (13) degeneration of seeing the wisdom of complete liberation. (14) A tathāgata’s every action of body is preceded by wisdom and followed through with wisdom; (15) every action of speech is preceded by wisdom and followed through with wisdom; (16) a buddha’s every action of mind is preceded by wisdom and followed through with wisdom. (17) A tathāgata engages in seeing the past through wisdom that is unattached and unobstructed and (18) engages in seeing the present through wisdom that is unattached and unobstructed.

g.190

Universal monarch

’khor los sgyur ba’i rgyal po

འཁོར་ལོས་སྒྱུར་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

cakravartin

The term “universal monarch” denotes a just and pious king who rules over the universe according to the laws of Dharma. Such a monarch is called a cakravartin because he wields disc (cakra) that rolls (vartana) over continents, worlds, and world systems, bringing them under his power. A univerisal monarch is often considered the secular, polticial correlate of a buddha.

g.191

Unsurpassed Diligence

brtson ’grus gong na med

བརྩོན་འགྲུས་གོང་ན་མེད།

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.192

Ūrṇa hair

mdzod spu

མཛོད་སྤུ།

ūrṇakeśa

A hair between the eyebrows of a buddha. One of the marks of an awakened being.

g.193

Vairocana

rnam par snang byed

རྣམ་པར་སྣང་བྱེད།

Vairocana

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.194

Vārāṇasī

bA rA Na sI

བཱ་རཱ་ཎ་སཱི།

vārāṇasī

An ancient city in North India close to which the Buddha first taught the Dharma.

g.195

Vimalaprabhā

’od dri ma med pa

འོད་དྲི་མ་མེད་པ།

Vimalaprabha

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.196

Vinaya

’dul ba

འདུལ་བ།

vinaya

The Buddha’s teachings that lay out the rules and disciplines for his followers.

g.197

Vīra

dpa’ bo

དཔའ་བོ།

Vīra

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.198

Viśeṣagāmin

khyad par du ’gro ba

ཁྱད་པར་དུ་འགྲོ་བ།

Viśeṣagāmin

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.199

Vyūharāja

bkod pa’i rgyal po

བཀོད་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

Vyūharāja

A bodhisattva in the retinue of Buddha Śākyamuni.

g.200

Wishlessness

smon pa med pa

སྨོན་པ་མེད་པ།

apraṇihita

One of the three gateways to liberation; the ultimate absence of any wish, desire, or aspiration, even those directed towards buddhahood.

g.201

Worthy one

dgra bcom pa

དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།

arhat

According to Buddhist tradition, one who has conquered the enemies, i.e. mental afflictions or emotions, (kleśa-ari-hata) and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It’s the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by hearers. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.

g.202

Yakṣa

gnod sbyin

གནོད་སྦྱིན།

yakṣa

A class of semi-divine beings that haunt or protect natural places and cities. They can be malevolent or benevolent, and are known for bestowing wealth and worldly boons. They are associated with Kubera, the god of wealth, who is often counted as their king.

g.203

Yeshé Dé

ye shes sde

ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།

A prolific Tibetan translator active during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.

g.204

Youthful Mañjuśrī

’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa

འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ།

Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta

See Mañjuśrī.

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བློ་གྲོས་རྒྱ་མཚོས་ཞུས་པ།

The Questions of Sāgaramati

Sāgaramati­paripṛcchā

འཕགས་པ་བློ་གྲོས་རྒྱ་མཚོས་ཞུས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

’phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Questions of Sāgaramati”

Ārya­sāgaramati­paripṛcchā­nāma­mahā­yāna­sūtra

Toh 152

Summary

Acknowledgements

Colophon

Notes

Bibliography

Glossary

Absorption

69 passages contain this term

Absorption of the heroic gait

1 passage contains this term

Acceptance of phenomena concurring with reality

2 passages contain this term

Adorned with Every Pleasure

15 passages contain this term

Adorned with Immaculate and Countless Precious Qualities

6 passages contain this term

Aggregate

28 passages contain this term

Ānanda

7 passages contain this term

Application of mindfulness

4 passages contain this term

Asaṅga

4 passages contain this term

Astounding Sight

6 passages contain this term

Asura

11 passages contain this term

Bases of miracles

13 passages contain this term

Bhṛgu

1 passage contains this term

Blessed One

223 passages contain this term

Brahmā

35 passages contain this term

Branches of awakening

12 passages contain this term

Buddha realm

40 passages contain this term

Buddhaprabha

1 passage contains this term

Caretaker of Beings

1 passage contains this term

Consciousness

30 passages contain this term

Continuous Intelligence

1 passage contains this term

Correct discriminations

4 passages contain this term

Dānaśīla

3 passages contain this term

Desire realm

13 passages contain this term

Dhāraṇī

9 passages contain this term

Dharma Teacher

4 passages contain this term

Diligent Intelligence

1 passage contains this term

Dīpaṃkara

1 passage contains this term

Dīptavīrya

1 passage contains this term

Dīptavīrya

10 passages contain this term

Discerning Vision

1 passage contains this term

Eight branches

1 passage contains this term

Eight wrong modes

1 passage contains this term

Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā

Āryasāgaramatiparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra