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ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་ལྔ་བསྟན་པ།

Teaching the Five Perfections

Pañcapāramitānirdeśa

འཕགས་པ་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་ལྔ་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

’phags pa pha rol tu phyin pa lnga bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “Teaching the Five Perfections”

Āryapañcapāramitānirdeśanāmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 181

Degé Kangyur vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 1.b–76.b.

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

First published 2021
Current version v 1.1.5 (2022)
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co.

Summary

s.1

Teaching the Five Perfections is a compilation of five short sūtras that each present the practice of one of the five perfections in which bodhisattvas train on the path of the Great Vehicle: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, and concentration. These five perfections embody the skillful methods of the bodhisattva path, and, as these sūtras show, they should always be combined with an understanding of the state of omniscience, the sixth perfection of insight that is supposed to permeate the practice of the first five perfections. The teachings are delivered by the Buddha as well as two of his close disciples, Śāradvatīputra and Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, who both teach the five perfections inspired by the Buddha’s blessing.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Andreas Doctor and Zachary Beer with assistance from Lama Tenzin Zangpo and Karma Oser.

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

ac.2

The generous sponsorship of Liu Fan and family, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

i.1

Teaching the Five Perfections is a compilation of five individual sūtras that each present the practice of one of the five perfections (pāramitā) in which bodhisattvas train on the path of the Great Vehicle: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, and concentration. These five perfections embody the skillful methods of the bodhisattva path, and, as these sūtras emphasize, they should always be practiced in conjunction with an understanding of the state of omniscience, the sixth perfection of insight that is supposed to permeate the practice of the first five perfections. Throughout this sūtra, the perfection of insight is taught as the practice of turning one’s mind to the omniscient state while transcending conceptual reference points. Only by integrating the perfection of insight into the practice of the other five trainings do they become genuine perfections.

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

Teaching the Five Perfections

The Perfection of Generosity

[F.1.b]

1.1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Chapter 1: Rejoicing

1.2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park at Śrāvastī, attended by a great saṅgha of 1,250 monks, all of whom were worthy ones who had exhausted their defilements, were without afflictions, self-controlled, their minds liberated, and their insight liberated; were of noble birth, great elephants who had accomplished their tasks, completed their work, laid down their burden, reached their goal, and had destroyed the bonds of existence; and, due to their perfect knowledge, had liberated their minds [F.2.a] and obtained supreme perfection in mastering all mental states. He was also attended by bodhisattva great beings, most of whom were youthful,6 and had only a single birth remaining; in keeping with the wishes of beings they had freed themselves from existence, yet accepted to be born within existence; and all of them were progressing irreversibly toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening.

Chapter 2: The Skillful Means of Generosity

Chapter 3: Analogies

Chapter 4: Nonconceptuality

Chapter 5: Showing Generosity to Be Illusory

Chapter 6: The Activity of Bodhisattvas and the Teachings of Buddhas in Countless Worlds

Chapter 7: The Level of Nonregression

Chapter 8: Engaging in Bodhisattva Training

Chapter 9

The Perfection of Discipline

Chapter 1

2.1

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park at Śrāvastī, along with a great saṅgha of 1,250 monks. All of the monks were worthy ones who had exhausted their defilements. They were without afflictions and self-controlled. Their minds were liberated and their insight was liberated. They were of noble birth. They were great elephants. They had accomplished their tasks and completed their work. They had laid down their burden and reached their goal. They had destroyed the bondages of existence and, due to their perfect knowledge, their minds were liberated. They had obtained supreme perfection in mastering all mental states. Also present there were bodhisattva great beings who had gathered from buddhafields in all the ten directions, as well as splendorous gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and others who attended on and served the Blessed One. At that time, the Blessed One taught the Dharma to the four assemblies on the topic of the six perfections.

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

The Perfection of Patience

Chapter 1

3.1

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park at Śrāvastī, along with a great saṅgha of 1,250 monks. At that time the Blessed One said to Venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, “Pūrṇa, could you please elucidate the perfection of patience practiced by those bodhisattva great beings who seek to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood.”

3.2

Encouraged in this way, Venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra said to the Blessed One, “Honorable Blessed One, when bodhisattva great beings strive to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood, they should be tolerant with those who speak harshly and negatively of them. Instead, without wishing to retaliate, they should remain loving toward them. Even though bodhisattva great beings may strive to embrace the perfection of patience and develop a loving mind in this way, it is, however, by dedicating the merit toward omniscience that they come to observe the perfection of patience.”

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

The Perfection of Diligence

Chapter 1

4.1

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park at Śrāvastī, along with a great saṅgha of 1,250 monks. At that time Venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, when bodhisattva great beings strive to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood, how should they practice the perfection of diligence?”

4.2

The Blessed One said to Venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, [F.59.b] “Pūrṇa, bodhisattva great beings who wish to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood should first enter this vehicle and arouse the mind of awakening. To arouse the mind of awakening they should think, ‘I shall devote this body and mind of mine to the welfare and needs of others. I will fulfill the dreams of all beings, just like a servant who fetches water.’ Such a servant thinks, ‘I shall forfeit my own independence, without sitting around or resting. If I should wish to leave this house to go to the market, I will only do so with the permission of my master and my lady. Even when it is time for meals and drinks, I shall postpone them if I am called for. I will remain under my Lord’s command.’ Pūrṇa, in the same way bodhisattva great beings who wish to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood should engender the mind of awakening, thinking, ‘I am not the master of my own body. Instead, I will use it to benefit others with their work and needs.’ Pūrṇa, in this way bodhisattva great beings should avoid straying from the perfection of diligence. In this way they should practice the perfection of diligence.

The Perfection of Concentration

Chapter 1

5.1

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in the Jeta Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park at Śrāvastī, along with a great saṅgha of 1,250 monks. At that time Venerable Śāradvatīputra asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, when bodhisattva great beings strive to awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood, how should they train in the perfection of concentration? Blessed One, how should they practice the perfection of concentration?”

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Colophon

c.1

This was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptor Jinamitra, together with the translator-editor, Bandé Yeshé Dé, and others.

Notes

n.1

See Bongard-Levin (1997) and Karashima (2004) for transliterations of the Sanskrit fragments. The fragments correspond to the following passages in the Degé Kangyur: 23.b.6–25.a.2 (Karashima 2004) and 36.a.7–37.a.3 (Bongard-Levin 1997).

n.2

Taishō 220 (11–15).

n.3

This is further corroborated by the fact that the Phukdrak and Gondhla Kangyur versions contain individual Tibetan translator colophons for each of the five sūtras, thus reflecting their status as separate texts in Tibet too, not just in China (Tauscher 2015: p. 380).

n.4

Taishō 220 (16). In the Degé Kangyur, this sūtra is placed separately from the other five, in the Prajñāpāramitā section (Toh 14). See also Bongard-Levin 1997: pp. 93–94.

n.5

The Denkarma catalog is dated to c. 812 ᴄᴇ. Denkarma, folio 297.b.1. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008: pp. 59–60, no. 104.

n.6

Tib. byang chub sems dpa’ sems dpa’ chen po phal cher gzhon nur gyur pa; Skt. probably bodhisattvā mahāsattvā bhūyas tena sarve kumārabhūtāḥ, see Mahāvyutpatti 883. Among standard descriptions of bodhisattvas in the introductory openings of sūtras, this is less frequent than some others. It may be directly or indirectly related to “the category of bodhisattvas who are still youths” (gzhon nur gyur pa’i byang chub sems dpa’ rnam par gzhag pa), the eighth of the ten categories of bodhisattva (byang chub sems dpa’ rnam par gzhag pa bcu), successive stages described in the tenth chapter of the Avataṃsaka and also in the Ratnolkādhāraṇī (Toh 145); see Jackson, D. (tr.), The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch (2020), 1.78–1.79.

Bibliography

pha rol tu phyin pa lnga bstan pa (Pañcapāramitānirdeśa). Toh 181, Degé Kangyur vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 1.b–76.b.

pha rol tu phyin pa lnga bstan pa. 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), 2006–9, vol. 61, pp. 3–184.

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.

Bongard-Levin, G., Moscow Watanabe, and Shōgo Watanabe. “A Fragment of the Sanskrit Text of the Śīlapāramitā.” Wiener Zeitschrift Für Die Kunde Südasiens/Vienna Journal of South Asian Studies 41 (1997): 93–98.

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

Karashima, Seishi. “Sanskrit fragments of the Kāśyapaparivarta and the Pañcapāramitānirdeśa in the Mannerheim collection.” Annual Report of The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University 7 (2004): 105–18.

Tauscher, Helmut. “Manuscripts en Route.” In Cultural Flows across the Western Himalaya, edited by Patrick McAllister et al., 365–92. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2015.

Glossary

g.1

Affliction

nyon mongs

ཉོན་མོངས།

kleśa

Literally “pain,” “torment,” or “affliction.” In Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit it literally means “impurity” or “depravity.” In its technical use in Buddhism it means any negative quality in the mind that causes continued existence in saṃsāra. There are said to be 84,000 of these negative mental qualities for which the 84,000 categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote. These mental disturbances can be subsumed into the three or five poisons of attachment, anger, and ignorance plus arrogance and jealousy. Also translated here as “disturbing emotions.”

g.2

Aggregate

phung po

ཕུང་པོ།

skandha

Five collections of similar phenomena, under which all compounded dharmas may be included: form, feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness. On the individual level the five aggregates refer to the basis upon which the mistaken idea of a self is projected.

g.3

Ānanda

kun dga’ bo

ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།

Ānanda

The Buddha’s cousin and principal attendant.

g.4

Anāthapiṇḍada

mgon med zas sbyin

མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན།

Anāthapiṇḍada

A wealthy merchant in the town of Śrāvastī, famous for his generosity to the poor, who became a patron of the Buddha Śākyamuni. He bought Prince Jeta’s Grove (Skt. Jetavana), to be the Buddha’s first monastery, a place where the monks could stay during the monsoon. Although his Sanskrit name is Anāthapiṇḍada, he is better known in the West by the Pāli form of his name, Anāthapiṇḍika. Both mean “the one who gives food to the destitute.”

g.5

Asura

lha ma yin

ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།

asura

One of the six classes of sentient beings. The asuras are dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility and are incessantly embroiled in disputes with the gods. They are frequently portrayed in brahmanical and Buddhist mythology as having a disruptive effect on cosmic and social harmony.

g.7

Blessed one

bcom ldan ’das

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhagavat
bhagavān

A common epithet in Buddhist literature for Śākyamuni or any other buddha.

g.9

Defilement

zag pa

ཟག་པ།

āsrava

Literally, “to flow” or “to ooze.” Mental defilements or contaminations that “flow out” toward the objects of cyclic existence, binding us to them. Vasubandhu offers two alternative explanations of this term: “They cause beings to remain (āsayanti) within saṃsāra” and “They flow from the Summit of Existence down to the Unwavering, out of the six wounds that are the entrances” (āsayanti saṃsāre āsravanti bhavāgrādyāvadavīciṃ ṣaḍbhir āyatanavraṇair ityāsravāḥ, Abhidharmakośabhāṣya on 5.40, Pradhan 1967, p. 308). The “Summit of Existence” is the highest point within saṃsāra, while the hell called “Unwavering” is the lowest; the six entrances here refer to the five sense faculties plus the mind, i.e., the six internal entrances in the scheme of twelve entrances.

g.27

Four assemblies

’khor bzhi po

འཁོར་བཞི་པོ།

catuḥpariṣad

The assemblies of monks (Skt. bhikṣu) and nuns (Skt. bhikṣuṇī), along with laymen (Skt. upāsaka) and laywomen (Skt. upāsikā).

g.31

Gandharva

dri za

དྲི་ཟ།

gandharva

The term generally refers to a class of non-human beings sometimes known as “celestial musicians.” In Abhidharma cosmology, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by any sentient being in the realm of desire (kāmadhātu) during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”

g.32

Garuḍa

mkha’ lding

མཁའ་ལྡིང་།

garuḍa

In Indian religious mythology, the garuḍa is an eagle-like sun bird with an enormous wingspan that is regarded as the king of all birds. They are traditionally enemies of the nāgas. In the Vedas, they are said to have brought nectar from the heavens to earth.

g.35

Great being

sems dpa’ chen po

སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāsattva

An epithet of advanced bodhisattvas, often defined as having attained at least the seventh bhūmi and the path of vision. These bodhisattvas have several special qualities that bodhisattvas on the lower bhūmis do not have.

g.42

Jeta Grove

rgyal bu rgyal byed kyi tshal

རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཚལ།

Jetavana

A park in Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. It was owned by Prince Jeta, and the wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, bought it from him by covering the entire property with gold coins. It was to become the place where the monks could be housed during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It is therefore the setting for many of the Buddha’s discourses.

g.43

Jinamitra

dzi na mi tra

ཛི་ན་མི་ཏྲ།

Jinamitra

A Kashmiri paṇḍita who was resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries. He worked with several Tibetan translators on the translation of several sūtras. He is also the author of the Nyāyabindupiṇḍārtha (Degé no. 4233), which is contained in the Tengyur (bstan ’gyur).

g.44

Kinnara

mi ’am ci

མི་འམ་ཅི།

kinnara

A class of semidivine beings that resemble humans to the degree that their very name‍—which means “Is that a man?”‍—suggests some confusion as to their divine status. Kinnaras are mythological beings found in both Buddhist and Hindu literature, where they are portrayed as creatures half human, half animal (horse or bird). They are also usually depicted as highly skilled celestial musicians.

g.47

Mahoraga

lto ’phye chen po

ལྟོ་འཕྱེ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahoraga

Literally “large serpent.” A subterranean semidivine being that takes the form of a large serpent, sometimes with a human torso and head.

g.53

Nāga

ཀླུ།

nāga

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

g.61

Perfection

pha rol tu phyin pa

ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ།

pāramitā

This term is used to refer to the main trainings of a bodhisattva. Because these trainings, when brought to perfection, lead one to transcend saṃsāra and reach the full awakening of a buddha, they receive the Sanskrit name pāramitā, meaning “perfection” or “gone to the farther shore.” Most commonly listed as six: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and insight.

g.63

Pūrṇa

gang po

གང་པོ།

Pūrṇa

Same as Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra.

g.64

Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra

byams ma’i bu gang po

བྱམས་མའི་བུ་གང་པོ།

Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra

One of the closest disciples of the Buddha, known as the foremost in his ability to teach.

g.69

Śāradvatīputra

sha ra dwa ti’i bu

ཤ་ར་དྭ་ཏིའི་བུ།

Śāradvatīputra

Lit. “Son of Śāradvatī or Śāri,” more widely known as Śāriputra‍—the contracted version of his name‍—he was one of the Buddha’s foremost hearer disciples. Renowned for unparalleled wisdom and knowledge of the teachings.

g.75

Śrāvastī

mnyan yod

མཉན་ཡོད།

Śrāvastī

The capital of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kośala, and the setting for many sūtras, as the Buddha spent most rainy seasons in a park outside the city called the Jeta Grove. The city has been identified with the present-day Sāhet Māhet in Uttar Pradesh on the banks of the river Rapti.

g.88

Worthy one

dgra bcom pa

དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།

arhat

One who has achieved the fourth and final level of attainment on the path of the hearers, and who has attained liberation with the cessation of all mental afflictions. It is also used as an epithet of the buddhas. The Skt. means either “worthy one” or “one who has killed their foes” (i.e., afflictions).

g.89

Yakṣa

gnod sbyin

གནོད་སྦྱིན།

yakṣa

A class of semidivine beings said to dwell in the north, under the jurisdiction of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa. They are associated with water, trees, fertility, and treasures, and are said to haunt or protect natural places as well as towns. Yakṣas can be malevolent or benevolent, and are known for bestowing wealth and other boons.

g.90

Yeshé Dé

ye shes sde

ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།

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

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