Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva
Toh 184
Degé Kangyur, vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 96.b–105.b.
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2020
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Table of Contents
Summary
This sūtra takes place in the city of Vaiśālī, where the Buddha Śākyamuni and his retinue of monks have gone to gather alms. When the Buddha enters Vaiśālī a number of miracles occur in the city, and these draw the attention of a three-year-old boy named Ratnadatta. As the child encounters the Buddha, a dialogue ensues with the monks Maudgalyāyana and Śāriputra and the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, in which the boy delivers a teaching on the practice of bodhisattvas and a critique of those who fail to take up such practices.
Acknowledgements
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Anna Zilman and Adam Krug and edited by Andreas Doctor.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Introduction
Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva opens in a forest on the outskirts of the city of Vaiśālī, where the Buddha Śākyamuni has been living with a great assembly of worthy ones and bodhisattvas. One morning the Buddha and his assembly proceed to Vaiśālī to beg for alms, and as Śākyamuni crosses the threshold of the city a number of miracles take place. Suddenly blind people can see, deaf people can hear, and all beings in all realms of existence are filled with joy. A three-year-old boy named Ratnadatta witnesses these miracles and asks his mother how they have come to pass, and his mother responds with a set of verses that outline the precious qualities, inconceivable realization, and physical marks of the Buddha.
This piques the boy Ratnadatta’s sense of devotion and adoration toward the Buddha, so he asks his mother to place him in the window so he might see the Thus-Gone One himself. As Śākyamuni and his assembly make their way to Ratnadatta’s door, he devises a plan to make an offering to the Buddha. Ratnadatta holds his toy, a thousand-petal golden lotus, in his hand and throws himself out of the window. Using his miraculous power, the Buddha halts Ratnadatta in midair, and, hovering there, the child tosses his golden lotus as an offering. The Buddha then performs another miracle by transforming it into a jeweled lotus parasol as Ratnadatta recites a short set of verses explaining his offering.
This opening narrative sets the stage for a sequence of dialogues between the three-year-old Ratnadatta and the Buddha’s close disciples Maudgalyāyana and Śāriputra as well as the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. Much in the same way that famous works such as the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra and Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra frame Mahāyāna doctrine within an inversion of traditional hierarchies of authority, Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva places such esteemed elders as Maudgalyāyana and Śāriputra on the receiving end of a critique delivered by a three-year-old boy. This is a startling inversion and can be interpreted as a bodhisattva’s critique of the path leading to the attainment of a worthy one. Additionally, with its primary interlocutor being a small child, Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva can be classified together with a number of other works in which a young boy (dāraka) or girl (dārikā) boldly challenges one or more of the elder disciples of the Buddha and defeats them in philosophical debate.1
The dialogues that unfold between Ratnadatta, Maudgalyāyana, Śāriputra, Mañjuśrī, and the Buddha Śākyamuni proceed through a series of critiques of the ābhidharmika theory of phenomena and the assumption that any object of apprehending can be the foundation for the attainment of unsurpassed and perfect awakening. At the center of this critique is Ratnadatta’s assertion that the true practice of a bodhisattva rejects any religious view or practice that involves grasping founded upon the mental activity of apprehending (dmigs pa, ālambana). Those who continue to engage in such grasping, the child Ratnadatta tells us, are nothing but “childish beings.” Ratnadatta delivers a critique of Buddhists who reject the doctrine of emptiness, construct a distinction between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa by imputing entities and their cessation, and mischaracterize insight (prajñā) as a “seed.” Ratnadatta’s teaching then concludes with a final bit of advice to Mañjuśrī on how to teach beginner bodhisattvas. This final teaching constitutes a complete inversion of the foundational elements of the cultivation of virtue in traditional Buddhism.
Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva appears to have been cited only once in the extant Indian commentarial literature, in the Sūtrasamuccaya attributed to Nāgārjuna.2 It appears in both the Denkarma3 and Phangthangma4 royal Tibetan inventories of translated works, indicating that the first Tibetan translation of the text was completed by the early ninth century. The translators’ colophon to the text tells us it was translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra (ca. eighth century) and Prajñāvarman (ca. eighth century) along with the chief editor-translator Yeshé Dé (ca. eighth century) and others, which pushes the date of the Tibetan translation back to the late eighth century. The text was translated into Chinese twice; the first translation (T. 1583) was produced by the Kaśmīri monk Guṇavarman in 431 ᴄᴇ5 and the second (T. 488) was completed by Fa-hsien several centuries later in 989 ce.6
This translation was prepared based on the Tibetan translation in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Kangyur. The translators and editors also benefited from consulting Jens Braarvig’s, edition, study, and translation of this text.
Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling at the Kūṭāgāraśālā in the forest outside Vaiśālī [F.97.a] together with a great assembly of one thousand monks. All of them were worthy ones whose defilements were exhausted. They were without afflictions and in control. Their minds were perfectly free, and their insight was perfectly liberated. They were of noble birth. They were great elephants who had completed their objectives and done what must be done. They had laid down their burdens and fulfilled their aims. They had eliminated that which binds to existence. Their minds had been perfectly liberated by correct knowledge. They had obtained supreme perfection in mastering all mental states. Their behavior was peaceful, disciplined, free, and natural. The only exception was Venerable Ānanda, but the Blessed One had instructed him in the practice as well, and he had been prophesied to become a worthy one in this life.
Also present were one thousand bodhisattvas. All of them had attained the stage free from regression. All of them had obtained retention. All of them possessed the patience of equanimity. All of them had reached the stage where one practices exactly what has been proclaimed. They were wise, honest, and faithful. They were extremely confident and exceedingly graceful. They always smiled and never frowned angrily. They were steadfast and successful. They had realized the nature of phenomena and never tired of teaching the Dharma. They had encountered the wisdom of a buddha and were bringing it to full maturity. They possessed unerring patience regarding allusive speech. They had attained the stage of being unmistaken regarding all objects. They knew the right time, season, occasion, and moment. They were free from agitation and arrogance. Their behavior was natural and perfect. They were skilled in the meditative absorption on emptiness. They had relinquished arising and disintegration. They possessed the meditative absorption on wishlessness. They had practiced bodhisattva conduct in cyclic existence for a long time. They possessed the meditative absorption on signlessness. They correctly understood the characteristics of all the content of mental constructs. [F.97.b] They were skilled in maturing beings. They were free from ideation. They were skilled in the presentation of the Hearer Vehicle. They engaged in properly distinguishing the teachings of the Dharma. They taught the Solitary Buddha Vehicle. They praised tranquility. They inspired beings to become bodhisattvas. They behaved appropriately, teaching the Dharma without hatred or animosity.
Among them were the bodhisattva great being Maitreya, Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, Pratibhānakūṭa, Ratnapāṇi, Gandhaprabha, Anantaprabhāsamati, Apāyajaha, Siddhārthacintin, Guṇarājaprabhāsa, Sarvaśokāndhakārāpohamati, Sarvaviṣamadarśin, Tatsvabhāvāpratiṣṭhita, Anantamati, Vīrya, Vikramasaṃdarśakacintin, Ratnākara, Vyūharāja, Vikurvāṇarāja, Avyabhicāraprabhāva, Viśeṣamati, Samantaprāsādika, Anāvaraṇadarśin, Vikrīḍamāna, Suvarṇottamaprabhāśrī, Sarvadharmanityadarśanadhīmat, Āśugandhadānakusumita, Jyeṣṭhakūṭa, Aśokaśrī, Merudāra, Avalokiteśvara, Gandheśvararāja, Prāmodyarāja, Anantamatipratipatti, Sarvasaddharmāvismaraṇasthita,7 and the bodhisattva great being Siṃhanādābhinādin. Also dwelling with them were many thousands of other bodhisattvas.
One morning the Blessed One donned his lower and upper robes, took up his alms bowl, [F.98.a] and went to collect alms in the city of Vaiśālī accompanied and attended by two thousand monks. As soon as the Blessed One placed his foot at the threshold of the city gates, the following wondrous miracles occurred, miracles that occur whenever the blessed buddhas enter a city: blind people gained sight, deaf people gained hearing, and the insane regained their senses. A rain of divine flowers fell, a bright light shone, and the roads became free of filth. The enchanting musical instruments of the gods resounded even without being played. All beings, from the Hell of Uninterrupted Torment up to the Highest Heaven, became completely happy.
At that time in the city of Vaiśālī there was a boy named Ratnadatta who had been born as the son of a Licchavi man named Siṃha. The three-year-old was sitting on his mother’s lap on the top floor of their house, and when he witnessed these miraculous signs, the boy Ratnadatta spoke the following verses to his mother:
Ratnadatta’s mother answered him in the following verses:
Then the boy Ratnadatta said to his mother, [F.100.a] “Mother, put me in the window so I can see the Thus-Gone One,” so his mother sat him in the window. The Blessed One knew what Ratnadatta was thinking, so he walked right down his street. When the boy saw the Blessed One walking he thought, “Whoever sees the Thus-Gone One, who possesses all good qualities, and does not generate the mind of awakening is indeed unfortunate.” The Blessed One proceeded right up to Ratnadatta’s door and the boy thought, “Since it is difficult to meet such an extraordinary being even in a trillion eons, I should jump down from this house.”
With that thought, Ratnadatta placed his toy, a golden lotus with a hundred thousand petals, in the palm of his hand and jumped off the house. However, due to the Buddha’s power, he remained floating in midair. Ratnadatta then offered the golden lotus with a hundred thousand petals to the Blessed One. As soon as Ratnadatta let go of the lotus, the Blessed One transformed it into a lotus parasol adorned with a net of jewels, and it hovered in the sky directly above the Blessed One’s head. When that happened, the boy Ratnadatta recited the following verses:
Then, Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana recited the following verse to the boy Ratnadatta:
Ratnadatta replied to Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana with the following verses:
Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana replied to Ratnadatta, saying, “Child, tell me, has the Thus-Gone One not become a complete buddha who has manifested unsurpassed and perfect awakening? Furthermore, has he not taught the Dharma?”
“Maudgalyāyana,” Ratnadatta replied, “a wise person should not conceptualize awakening or formulate opinions about the Thus-Gone One. They should not impute concepts such as the thought that phenomena do not arise, the thought that all phenomena are conditioned, or the thought that all phenomena are unconditioned. They should not impute concepts such as ‘all phenomena arise, do not arise, [F.101.a] are existent, or are nonexistent,’ ‘grasping and letting go,’ ‘meeting and separating,’ ‘going, coming, remaining, transmigrating, phenomena associated with attachment, hatred, and delusion, and right and wrong.’12 They should not impute the concept that ‘ignorance and the like13 up to and including the qualities of hearers, the qualities of solitary buddhas, the qualities of the buddhas, the factors of pollution, the factors of purification, the physical and nonphysical, perception and lack of perception, marks and lack of marks, pure conduct, sameness, difference, body, mind, and all correct and incorrect qualities arise.’ So you tell me, Maudgalyāyana—do you think the thus-gone ones are complete buddhas who manifest unsurpassed and perfect awakening?”
Maudgalyāyana replied, “That is not the case.”
The boy said, “Do you assert that the thus-gone ones are not included in suchness, that awakening is not included in suchness, or that ordinary beings are not included in suchness?”
Maudgalyāyana said, “That is not the case.”
“Maudgalyāyana,” the boy responded, “do you conceptualize the lack of conceptualization?”
“I teach by means of the conventions of the world,” Maudgalyāyana replied.
The boy continued, “Maudgalyāyana, the world is a fake, deceptive, and illusory appearance that tricks childish beings.”
“If the world is a fake and deceptive phenomenon,” said Maudgalyāyana, “then this teaching is also a fake and deceptive phenomenon. Why, then, do you teach it?”
“Maudgalyāyana,” answered the boy, “phenomena cannot be demonstrated. [F.101.b] They cannot be demonstrated, attained, actualized, abandoned, understood, or meditated upon.”
Maudgalyāyana replied, “If that is the case, what is the point of you making an offering to the Thus-Gone One?”
“Maudgalyāyana,” the boy asked, “do you apprehend a Thus-Gone One, someone who gives a gift, or an act of giving?”
Venerable Maudgalyāyana remained silent, so the boy Ratnadatta continued, “Maudgalyāyana, with this in mind, I have given up becoming a thus-gone one and say those who form the resolve set on the vehicle of the hearers ‘are indeed unfortunate.’ ”
Maudgalyāyana replied,
Ratnadatta replied with the following verses:
Venerable Śāriputra then asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, how long has this boy Ratnadatta practiced this teaching?”
The Blessed One replied, “When the thus-gone one Dīpaṁkara gave his prophecy that I would attain acceptance of the nonarising of phenomena, at that point he was foremost among those bodhisattvas who abided in emptiness according to Dīpaṁkara’s teachings. At the moment when I first generated the mind set on unsurpassed and perfect awakening, three hundred thousand eons had passed since he attained acceptance.”
“Blessed One,” asked Śāriputra, “what cause and what conditions are responsible for the boy Ratnadatta not becoming a complete buddha who has manifested unsurpassed and perfect awakening?”
“You should ask Ratnadatta himself this question. He will tell you,” the Blessed One responded.
So Venerable Śāriputra asked the boy Ratnadatta, “Why have you not become a complete buddha who has manifested unsurpassed and perfect awakening?” [F.102.b]
“The reason I do not become a complete manifest buddha,” Ratnadatta replied, “is that I do not apprehend unsurpassed and perfect awakening.”
“If that is so,” Śāriputra asked, “since this thus-gone one is a complete manifest buddha, do you apprehend him?”
Ratnadatta replied, “If someone grasps at the Thus-Gone One as a complete manifest buddha, and if he becomes the referent object of that grasping, then the Dharma he teaches will not cause that person to become a complete manifest buddha, and it will not even bring about renunciation.”
“Since you equate complete maturation with accomplishing the four factors,14 what is your acceptance based on?” Śāriputra asked.
The boy Ratnadatta replied, “I do not perceive even a single phenomenon that is truly established, much less four. What is there truly established in them? ‘Knowing the Dharma’ is apprehending. ‘Awakening’ is apprehending. ‘The Thus-Gone One’ is grasping. ‘Liberation’ is a mental construct.”
“Son of the lineage,” Śāriputra replied, “what a wonder that you experience things in this way and that you have attained such a miraculous birth whereby you were born in the presence of the buddhas and will always go forth!”
Ratnadatta then replied with the following verses:
Then Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta asked Ratnadatta, “Child, what is ‘awakening’ a verbal designation for?”
“Mañjuśrī,” Ratnadatta replied, “awakening is devoid of verbal designations.”
Ratnadatta replied, “Mañjuśrī, since reality is inconceivable, I consider it as such and then express it.”
Mañjuśrī asked, “How should beginner bodhisattvas be given instructions on this? How should they be taught about it?” [F.103.b]
Ratnadatta replied, “One should say the following: ‘Do not abandon desire. Do not get rid of anger. Do not clear away delusion. Do not rise above the body. Practice nonvirtue. Do not vanquish views. Do not remove15 fetters. Grasp at the aggregates. Make the elements into a single mass. Engage the sense spheres. Do not go beyond the level of childish beings. Realize nonvirtue. Abandon virtue. Do not contemplate the Buddha. Do not think about the Dharma. Do not make offerings to the Saṅgha. Do not take up the trainings. Do not strive to pacify existence. Do not cross over the river.’
“It is with such instructions that one should instruct and teach beginner bodhisattvas. Why is that? Because only this state is the state of phenomena. Childish beings declare that phenomena arise and declare that phenomena cease. The realm of phenomena is discerned through nonconceptuality. If someone receives the instruction that understanding the nature of phenomena in this way is awakening, and if they are not afraid, scared, or frightened by it, then that person is a bodhisattva who will truly never regress. That bodhisattva who has reached the stage free from regression should be considered a fortunate one. Through these instructions, one should give rise to true joy again and again.”
At that point, eight monks who maintained the view of apprehending refused to follow this Dharma teaching, rejected it, and left the assembly. They all vomited warm blood and died, and after they died they were reborn in the Great Wailing Hell. At that point Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta alerted the Blessed One saying, “Blessed One, see how those monks have suffered such great harm by listening to this Dharma teaching!” [F.104.a]
“Do not say such things, Mañjuśrī,” the Blessed One replied. “If these monks had not heard this Dharma teaching, they would not have secured higher births for millions of eons, let alone meeting and serving any buddhas. Since they just listened to this Dharma teaching with doubt, they are right now dying and transmigrating from the Great Wailing Hell and being reborn among the gods in the Heaven of Joy. For sixty-eight eons, they will serve billions of thus-gone ones. In all these lives they will only take miraculous birth and become universal monarchs. In a later eon they will become thus-gone ones, worthy ones, perfect complete buddhas known as Vimalaprabhāsa.”
Then, having heard the prophecy16 with their divine hearing, those gods, together with eighty thousand gods, traveled to where the Blessed One was. When they arrived, they scattered divine flowers all over Vaiśālī. They rejoiced in this Dharma teaching, saying, “Blessed One, we rejoice! Please cause the system of the awakening of the thus-gone ones to flourish!” The moment that they rejoiced in this way, their progress toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening became irreversible. Eighty-four thousand beings of the great city of Vaiśālī also attained irreversible progress toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Twelve thousand beings removed the dust from the Dharma eye that sees all phenomena, rendering it stainless and pure.”
The Blessed One continued to address Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, saying, “Mañjuśrī, since someone who listens to this Dharma teaching with doubt generates far greater merit than a bodhisattva who practices the six perfections without skillful means for one hundred thousand eons [F.104.b], why mention someone who has no doubt when they hear it? And why mention those who write it down, explain it, hold it, and teach it extensively to others? Therefore, Mañjuśrī, those who want to attain the state of a worthy one should train in this teaching, those who want to attain the state of a solitary buddha should train in this teaching, and those who want to become a complete buddha who manifests unsurpassed and perfect awakening should train in this teaching.”
The boy Ratnadatta then said to his mother, “Mother, please give me some food, and I will offer it to the Blessed One.” Ratnadatta’s mother filled a metal bowl with delicious food and gave it to the child. Ratnadatta then addressed the Blessed One, saying, “Blessed One, since it is true that all phenomena are inexhaustible, may the food in this metal bowl not diminish until the entire saṅgha of monks has been satisfied.” Ratnadatta filled the Blessed One’s alms bowl first and then addressed the saṅgha of monks, saying, “Venerable Ones, may these alms be accepted out of compassion for me by someone who can ensure that I obtain a great result. May these alms be accepted by someone who does not purify the gift with the body, who does not purify it with the mind; someone who will not generate merit or ripen karma when it is offered to them; someone who has no physical, verbal, or mental karma; someone who abides neither in the conditioned nor in the unconditioned; someone who is not stained by the qualities of ordinary beings; [F.105.a] someone who does not rely upon the teachings of the hearers; someone who is not skilled in the vehicle of the buddhas; and someone who has no wish to be skilled in it!”
No one in the saṅgha of monks took up the bowl, so the child Ratnadatta continued, “Venerable Ones, I wish to make a gift, and you also wish to eat. I do not expect anything in return from you venerable ones, so please eat! If it is true that my buddha realm will have a display of qualities that is a billion times greater than the display of qualities present in the buddha realms of billions of bodhisattvas who are of the same stature as Mañjuśrī, and if it is true that what I have spoken is the truth, then by these true statements may all your bowls be filled from this metal bowl, and may this bowl never be emptied!” All the alms bowls of the saṅgha of monks were then filled. The child Ratnadatta fed the entire population of Vaiśālī with delicious food, and even then the alms did not run out.
Then the Blessed One addressed the child Ratnadatta, saying, “Ratnadatta, these five are a bodhisattva’s purification of a gift: not apprehending a body, not apprehending a mind, having no attachment to the gift, not desiring any ripening, and no ripening for the recipients. Moreover, Ratnadatta, a bodhisattva should always manifest the following four things: the meditative concentration of emptiness, recollecting the Buddha, great compassion, and the ripening of one’s own karma.”
The Blessed One addressed [F.105.b] Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, saying, “Mañjuśrī, in thirty eons, this child Ratnadatta will become a complete buddha who has manifested unsurpassed and perfect awakening. He will appear in the world as a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfect buddha, learned and virtuous, a blissful one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed charioteer who tames beings, a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha called Amoghabalakīrti.17 Those who gather in his retinue will be infinite in number, and all of them will be bodhisattvas who do not regress. They will be infinitely radiant and have immeasurable lifespans.”
Mañjuśrī then asked the Blessed One, “Blessed One, what is the name of this Dharma teaching? How should it be remembered?”
The Blessed One replied, “You should remember it as Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva, or you can also remember it as A Being Born from Reality.”
When the Blessed One and the saṅgha of monks had eaten their alms, they went on their way.
After the Blessed One had thus given these teachings, the bodhisattva Ratnadatta, the entire retinue, and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised what the Blessed One had said.
This concludes the noble Great Vehicle sūtra “Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva.”
Colophon
Translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Prajñāvarman and the chief editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé and others.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations
Editions of the Tibetan Kangyur consulted through variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma):
| C | Choné |
|---|---|
| D | Degé |
| H | Lhasa |
| J | Lithang |
| K | Kangxi |
| KY | Yongle |
| L | London |
| N | Narthang |
| S | Stok |
| T | Tokyo |
Notes
Bibliography
Source Texts
byang chub sems dpa’i so sor thar pa chos bzhi sgrub pa zhes bya ba’i theg pa chen po’i mdo (Bodhisattvapratimokṣacatuṣkanirhāranāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 248, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 46.b–59.a.
chos bzhi pa’i mdo (Caturdharmakasūtra). Toh 250, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 59.b–60.a.
’phags pa byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Bodhisattvacaryānirdeśasūtra). Toh 184, Degé Kangyur vol. 61 (mdo sde, tsa), folios 96.b–105.b.
’phags pa byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Bodhisattvacaryānirdeśasūtra). 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. 61, 263–87.
’phags pa byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ta), folios 330.a–343.a.
’phags pa bzhi pa sgrub pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryacatuṣkanirhāranāmahāyānasūtra). Toh 252, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 61.a–69.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2020). [Full citation listed under works cited]
’phags pa chos bzhi bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryacaturdharmanirdeśanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 249, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 59.a–59.b. English translation in Pearcey, Adam (2019). [Full citation listed under works cited]
’phags pa chos bzhi pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryacaturdharmakanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 251, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 60.b–61.a.
pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag [Denkarma]. Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Reference Works
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2004.
Monier-Williams, Sir Monier. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2005.
Negi, J.S. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary (bod skad dang legs sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo). 16 vols. Sarnath: Central Institute of higher Tibetan Studies, 1993.
Works Cited
Braarvig, Jens. “The Practice of the Bodhisattvas: Negative Dialectics and Provocative Arguments: Edition of the Tibetan text of the Bodhisattvacaryānirdeśa with a translation and introduction.” Acta Orientalia 55 (1994): 113–60.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Fourfold Accomplishment (Catuṣkanirhāra, Toh 252). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
dkar chag ’phang thang ma. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed October 19, 2018. http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/index.html.
Pearcey, Adam, trans. The Sūtra Teaching the Four Factors (Caturdharmanirdeśasūtra, Toh 249). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2019.
Glossary
Acceptance of the nonarising of phenomena
- mi skyes ba’i chos la bzod pa
- མི་སྐྱེས་བའི་ཆོས་ལ་བཟོད་པ།
- anutpattikadharmakṣānti
The stage of acceptance that is associated with the realization of an eighth bhūmi bodhisattva.
Afflictions
- nyon mongs
- ཉོན་མོངས།
- kleśa
The harmful and mistaken mental states to which beings become accustomed and that (along with karma) bind beings to rebirth in cyclic existence.
Amoghabalakīrti
- stobs dang grags pa don yod pa
- སྟོབས་དང་གྲགས་པ་དོན་ཡོད་པ།
- Amoghabalakīrti
The name that the Buddha Śākyamuni gives in his prophecy of the boy Ratnadatta’s attainment of Buddhahood.
Ānanda
- kun dga’ bo
- ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།
- Ānanda
The name of the Buddha’s close attendant and disciple.
Anantamati
- blo mtha’ yas
- བློ་མཐའ་ཡས།
- Anantamati
The name of a bodhisattva.
Anantamatipratipatti
- blo mtha’ yas sgrub pa
- བློ་མཐའ་ཡས་སྒྲུབ་པ།
- Anantamatipratipatti
The name of a bodhisattva. “Accomplished Limitless Intellect.”
Anantaprabhāsamati
- mtha’ yas snang ba’i blo gros
- མཐའ་ཡས་སྣང་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
- Anantaprabhāsamati
The name of a bodhisattva. “Infinite Radiant Intellect.”
Anāvaraṇadarśin
- sgrib med ston
- སྒྲིབ་མེད་སྟོན།
- Anāvaraṇadarśin
The name of a bodhisattva.
Apāyajaha
- ngan song spong
- ངན་སོང་སྤོང་།
- Apāyajaha
The name of a bodhisattva.
Apprehending
- dmigs pa
- དམིགས་པ།
- ālambana
- upalabdhi
A term for the apprehending of a subject, an object, and the relationships that exist between subjects and objects. The term might also be translated as “referentiality,” meaning a system based on the existence of referent objects, referent subjects, and the referential relationships that exist between them. As part of their doctrine of “threefold non-apprehending/non-referentiality” (’khor gsum mi dmigs pa), Mahāyāna Buddhists famously assert that all three categories of apprehending lack substantiality.
Aśokaśrī
- mya ngan med pa’i dpal
- མྱ་ངན་མེད་པའི་དཔལ།
- Aśokaśrī
The name of a bodhisattva.
Āśugandhadānakusumita
- spos dri myur sbyin me tog kun tu rgyas
- སྤོས་དྲི་མྱུར་སྦྱིན་མེ་ཏོག་ཀུན་ཏུ་རྒྱས།
- Āśugandhadānakusumita
The name of a bodhisattva. “Instantly Fragrant Blooming Flower.”
Avalokiteśvara
- spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug
- སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག
- Avalokiteśvara
The name of a bodhisattva.
Avyabhicāraprabhāva
- khrul pa med pa’i mthu rtsal
- ཁྲུལ་པ་མེད་པའི་མཐུ་རྩལ།
- Avyabhicāraprabhāva
The name of a bodhisattva. “Unerring Power.”
Bimba
- bim pa
- བིམ་པ།
- bimba
Momordica monadelpha, which has a bright red fruit.
Blessed one
- bcom ldan ’das
- བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
- bhagavat
- bhagavān
An epithet for a buddha. Here used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
Content
- rnam pa
- རྣམ་པ།
- ākāra
An epistemological term that signifies the mental content that results from sensory contact, which is often understood as a kind of “image” that presents itself before the mind.
Curled hair
- mdzod spu
- མཛོད་སྤུ།
- ūrṇā
A single curled hair or tuft of hair located between the eyebrows of a buddha.
Dīpaṁkara
- mar me mdzad
- མར་མེ་མཛད།
- Dīpaṁkara
A thus-gone one of a previous eon who is famous for having issued the prophecy of Śākyamuni’s awakening as a Buddha.
Elements
- khams
- ཁམས།
- dhātu
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 objects, and mind consciousness). It can also refer to the six elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness.
Endless knot
- dpal gyi be’u
- དཔལ་གྱི་བེའུ།
- śrīvatsa
An auspicious sign found on the chest of the Buddha. In non-Buddhist traditions it is also found on the chest of certain deities, such as Viṣṇu.
Four factors
- chos bzhi
- ཆོས་བཞི།
- caturdharma
Teaching the Practice of the Bodhisattva lists these four as 1) knowing the Dharma; 2) awakening; 3) the Thus-Gone One; and 4) liberation.
Gandhaprabha
- spos ’od
- སྤོས་འོད།
- Gandhaprabha
The name of a bodhisattva.
Gandheśvararāja
- spos kyi dbang phyug rgyal po
- སྤོས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- Gandheśvararāja
The name of a bodhisattva. “Fragrant Sovereign King.”
Great Wailing Hell
- dmyal ba chen po ngu ’bod
- དམྱལ་བ་ཆེན་པོ་ངུ་འབོད།
- Mahāraurava
The name of a hell realm. One of the eight hot hells.
Guṇarājaprabhāsa
- yon tan rgyal po snang
- ཡོན་ཏན་རྒྱལ་པོ་སྣང་།
- Guṇarājaprabhāsa
The name of a bodhisattva.
Hearer
- nyan thos
- ཉན་ཐོས།
- śrāvaka
A term for someone who follows the Vehicle of the Hearers or those who “hear” the teachings from a Buddha.
Heaven of Joy
- dga’ ldan
- དགའ་ལྡན།
- tuṣita
The third of the six heavens of the desire realm.
Hell of Uninterrupted Torment
- mnar med
- མནར་མེད།
- Avīci
The lowest hell; the eighth of the eight hot hells.
Highest Heaven
- ’og min
- འོག་མིན།
- Akaniṣṭha
The highest heaven of the form realm.
Insight
- shes rab
- ཤེས་རབ།
- prajñā
The mental factor responsible for ascertaining the specific qualities of a given object, such as its specific qualities or whether or not it should be taken up or rejected.
Jinamitra
- dzi na mi tra
- ཛི་ན་མི་ཏྲ།
- Jinamitra
An Indian paṇḍita resident in Tibet during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.
Jyeṣṭhakūṭa
- gtso bo brtsegs
- གཙོ་བོ་བརྩེགས།
- Jyeṣṭhakūṭa
The name of a bodhisattva. “Highest Summit.”
Kūṭāgāraśālā
- khang pa brtsegs pa
- ཁང་པ་བརྩེགས་པ།
- Kūṭāgāraśālā
An important early monastery outside of Vaiśālī. The name Kūṭāgāraśālā means “hall with an upper chamber.” It refers to a temple with one ground-floor room and at least one additional upper room within the structure.
Licchavi
- li tsa byi
- li ts+tsha bI
- ལི་ཙ་བྱི།
- ལི་ཙྪ་བཱི།
- Licchavi
The name of a people that inhabited the Licchavi republican state located in present-day north India.
Mahāmaudgalyāyana
- maud gal gyi bu chen po
- མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ་ཆེན་པོ།
- Mahāmaudgalyāyana
See “Maudgalyāyana.”
Maitreya
- byams pa
- བྱམས་པ།
- Maitreya
The name of a bodhisattva.
Mañjuśrī
- ’jam dpal
- འཇམ་དཔལ།
- Mañjuśrī
A great bodhisattva, one of the eight “close sons” of the Buddha, the embodiment of wisdom. Also called here Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, literally “Youthful Mañjuśrī.”
Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta
- ’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa
- འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ།
- Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta
See “Mañjuśrī.”
Māra
- bdud
- བདུད།
- Māra
The demon who assailed Śākyamuni prior to his awakening; any demonic force; the personification of conceptual and emotional obstacles.
Maudgalyāyana
- maud gal gyi bu
- མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ།
- Maudgalyāyana
One of the principal hearer disciples of the Buddha, paired with Śāriputra, he was renowned for his miraculous powers. His family clan was descended from Mudgala, hence his name Maudgalyāyana, “the son of Mudgala’s descendants.” Respectfully referred to as Mahāmaudgalyāyana.
Meru
- ri rab
- རི་རབ།
- Meru
The highest mountain at the center of our world according to traditional Buddhist cosmology.
Poetic embellishment
- gsung gi rgyan
- གསུང་གི་རྒྱན།
- —
This is an honorific term describing the Buddha Śākyamuni’s speech that invokes the use of sgra rgyan (śabdālaṁkāra), a term that signifies the use of various aspects of poetic speech.
Prajñāvarman
- pradz+nyA warma
- པྲཛྙཱ་ཝརྨ།
- Prajñāvarman
An Indian Bengali paṇḍita resident in Tibet during the late eighth/early ninth centuries. Arriving in Tibet on an invitation from the Tibetan king, he assisted in the translation of numerous canonical scriptures. He is also the author of a few philosophical commentaries contained in the Tibetan Tengyur (bstan ’gyur) collection.
Prāmodyarāja
- mchog tu dga’ ba’i rgyal po
- མཆོག་ཏུ་དགའ་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- Prāmodyarāja
The name of a bodhisattva.
Pratibhānakūṭa
- spobs pa brtsegs pa
- སྤོབས་པ་བརྩེགས་པ།
- Pratibhānakūṭa
The name of a bodhisattva.
Ratnadatta
- rin chen byin
- རིན་ཆེན་བྱིན།
- Ratnadatta
A three-year-old boy who plays the role of interlocutor in Teaching the Practice of a Bodhisattva.
Ratnākara
- rin chen ’byung gnas
- རིན་ཆེན་འབྱུང་གནས།
- Ratnākara
The name of a bodhisattva.
Ratnapāṇi
- lag na rin chen dang ldan
- ལག་ན་རིན་ཆེན་དང་ལྡན།
- Ratnapāṇi
The name of a bodhisattva.
Reality
- chos nyid
- ཆོས་ཉིད།
- dharmatā
The intrinsic or real nature of phenomena.
Retention
- gzungs
- གཟུངས།
- dhāraṇī
A power that bodhisattvas gain that allows them to perfectly retain the words and meaning of all that they have learned.
Śākyamuni
- shAkya thub pa
- ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།
- Śākyamuni
The name of the historical Buddha, Siddhārtha Gautama; he was a muni (sage) from the Śākya clan.
Samantaprāsādika
- kun nas mdzas
- ཀུན་ནས་མཛས།
- Samantaprāsādika
The name of a bodhisattva.
Śāriputra
- shA ri’i bu
- ཤཱ་རིའི་བུ།
- Śāriputra
One of the principal hearer disciples of the Buddha, paired with Maudgalyāyana, he was renowned for his discipline and for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise. His father, Tiṣya, named him Śāriputra, “Śārikā’s Son,” to honor Śāriputra’s mother Śārikā.
Sarvadharmanityadarśanadhīmat
- chos thams cad la rtag tu lta ba’i blo ldan
- ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་རྟག་ཏུ་ལྟ་བའི་བློ་ལྡན།
- Sarvadharmanityadarśanadhīmat
The name of a bodhisattva. “Intelligence That Always Sees All Phenomena.”
Sarvasaddharmāvismaraṇasthita
- dam pa’i chos thams cad mi brjed par gnas pa
- དམ་པའི་ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་མི་བརྗེད་པར་གནས་པ།
- Sarvasaddharmāvismaraṇasthita
The name of a bodhisattva. “Not-Forgetting All the Sacred Teachings”
Sarvaśokāndhakārāpohamati
- mya ngan gyi mun pa thams cad sel ba’i blo gros
- མྱ་ངན་གྱི་མུན་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་སེལ་བའི་བློ་གྲོས།
- Sarvaśokāndhakārāpohamati
The name of a bodhisattva. “Intelligence Dispelling All Darkness of Sorrow.”
Sarvaviṣamadarśin
- mi mnyam pa thams cad ston pa
- མི་མཉམ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་སྟོན་པ།
- Sarvaviṣamadarśin
The name of a bodhisattva. “Unequaled Teacher of All.”
Seat of awakening
- byang chub snying po
- བྱང་ཆུབ་སྙིང་པོ།
- bodhimaṇḍa
A name for the platform beneath the Bodhi tree, where the Buddha Śākyamuni attained awakening.
Siddhārthacintin
- don grub sems pa
- དོན་གྲུབ་སེམས་པ།
- Siddhārthacintin
The name of a bodhisattva. “Intending to Accomplish the Goal.”
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.
Siṃhanādābhinādin
- seng ge ltar sgra mngon par sgrogs pa
- སེང་གེ་ལྟར་སྒྲ་མངོན་པར་སྒྲོགས་པ།
- Siṃhanādābhinādin
The name of a bodhisattva.
Solitary buddha
- rang sangs rgyas
- རང་སངས་རྒྱས།
- pratyekabuddha
Someone who obtains personal liberation through very little or no instruction from others.
Suchness
- de bzhin nyid
- དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད།
- tathatā
The ultimate nature of things beyond all concepts.
Suvarṇottamaprabhāśrī
- gser mchog ’od dpal
- གསེར་མཆོག་འོད་དཔལ།
- Suvarṇottamaprabhāśrī
The name of a bodhisattva. “Glorious Golden Light.”
Svastika
- bkra shis ldan
- བཀྲ་ཤིས་ལྡན།
- svastika
An ancient Indian symbol of auspiciousness and eternity.
Tatsvabhāvāpratiṣṭhita
- de’i rang bzhin du mi gnas pa
- དེའི་རང་བཞིན་དུ་མི་གནས་པ།
- Tatsvabhāvāpratiṣṭhita
The name of a bodhisattva. “Naturally Nonabiding.”
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.
Vaiśālī
- yangs pa can
- ཡངས་པ་ཅན།
- Vaiśālī
The ancient capital of the Licchavi republican state, the Buddha visited this city several times during his lifetime. It is perhaps most famous as the location where, on different occasions, Buddha cured a plague, admitted the first nuns into the Buddhist order, was offered a bowl of honey by monkeys, and announced his parinirvāṇa three months prior to his departure.
Vikramasaṃdarśakacintin
- rtsal brtan por sems pa
- རྩལ་བརྟན་པོར་སེམས་པ།
- Vikramasaṃdarśakacintin
The name of a bodhisattva. “Capable Steadfast Intention.”
Vikrīḍamāna
- rnam par rtse
- རྣམ་པར་རྩེ།
- Vikrīḍamāna
The name of a bodhisattva. “Playful One.”
Vikurvāṇarāja
- rnam par ’phrul pa’i rgyal po
- རྣམ་པར་འཕྲུལ་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- Vikurvāṇarāja
The name of a bodhisattva.
Vimalaprabhāsa
- dri med pa’i ’od
- དྲི་མེད་པའི་འོད།
- Vimalaprabhāsa
The name of a certain number of thus-gone ones.
Vīrya
- brtson ’grus
- བརྩོན་འགྲུས།
- Vīrya
The name of a bodhisattva. “Effort.”
Viśeṣamati
- khyad par blo gros
- ཁྱད་པར་བློ་གྲོས།
- Viśeṣamati
The name of a bodhisattva.
Vyūharāja
- bkod pa’i rgyal po
- བཀོད་པའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།
- Vyūharāja
The name of a bodhisattva.
Wishlessness
- smon pa med pa
- སྨོན་པ་མེད་པ།
- apraṇihita
One of the three gateways to liberation; the absence of conceptual modes of mind.
Worthy one
- dgra bcom pa
- དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
- arhat
A person who has accomplished the final fruition of the path of the hearers and is liberated from saṃsāra.
Yeshé Dé
- ye shes sde
- ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།
- —
A prolific Tibetan translator active during the late eighth and early ninth centuries.