Calling Witness with a Hundred Prostrations
Notes

Calling Witness with a Hundred Prostrations is widely known and revered as one of the first Buddhist texts to come to Tibet, arriving during the third century according to the dating by traditional Tibetan historians, or during the fifth century, according to Western scholars such as Hugh Richardson and Erik Haarh.1 In any case, this was long before the people of Tibet became Buddhist or had a written language. This history is substantiated by the text’s own colophon, as well as Butön’s seminal History of Buddhism in India and Tibet. As Butön (bu ston) relates, in Obermiller’s translation:

Although the text probably arrived in Tibet not later than the fifth century, it was not translated for several more, as there was not yet even a script for the Tibetan language. It was only translated in the mid-seventh century, almost immediately after Tibet’s written language was developed. Thus, Calling Witness with a Hundred Prostrations may be not only the first Buddhist scripture to arrive in Tibet, it was also among the first to be translated and written in the new Tibetan script.

Although the introduction of the text itself does not state from which language it was translated, and the colophon does not state who initially translated it, both Butön and Mangthö Ludrup Gyatso (mang thos klu sgrub rgya mtsho)5 state that this text was first translated by Thönmi Sambhoṭa (thon mi sambhoṭa), the famous Tibetan scholar who is said to have developed the Tibetan alphabet and writing system circa 650 ᴄᴇ and who also translated several texts from Sanskrit. Thus it could well have been one of the first texts to be written in the newly developed Tibetan writing system.

Thönmi is traditionally said to have been active as a scholar and translator during the time that the Potala palace and Jokhang temples were being built in Lhasa. Butön implies that this text may have been read or studied by the first great Tibetan Dharma King, Songtsen Gampo (srong btsan sgam po; r. ca. 618–650). As Butön explains:

Although its contents are not widely cited in scriptural references and there are no commentaries on it in the Tengyur, Calling Witness with a Hundred Prostrations is of very great historical and religious significance. Even today, keeping a copy of this text is said to bless the building in which it is kept with protection against obstacles. Due to its status as the first Buddhist text to come to Tibet, it has been revered for centuries as the auspicious beginning of the Dharma in Tibet.

This translation into English is based upon the Degé (sde dge) version of the Kangyur, with reference to the differences between various other versions of the Kangyur as found in the dpe bsdur ma comparative edition. The few small variations between the versions of the Kangyur change only a word or two of the English translation, and these variants have been noted.

According to the Tōhoku Catalogue of Buddhist Canons,9 no Sanskrit or Chinese version of this sūtra is known to exist.

Calling Witness with a Hundred Prostrations incorporates the central Mahāyāna Buddhist practices of prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing, refuge, and the thought of enlightenment. It also incorporates the names of many of the most important buddhas, bodhisattvas, disciples of the Buddha, and types of scripture to be regarded as objects of prostration and offering.

Written to be recited for personal practice, the text opens with 108 prostrations and praises to the many buddhas of the ten directions and three times, to the twelve categories of scripture contained in the Tripiṭaka, to the bodhisattvas of the ten directions, and to the arhat disciples of the Buddha. After making offerings to them, confessing and purifying nonvirtue, and making the aspiration to perform virtuous actions in every life, the text includes recitations of the vows of refuge in the Three Jewels, and of generating the thought of enlightenment. The text concludes with a passage rejoicing in the virtues of the holy ones, a request for the buddhas to bestow a prophecy to achieve enlightenment, and the aspiration to pass from this life in a state of pure Dharma.

One of the difficult aspects of translating this text was the title itself, in Tibetan dpang skong phyag brgya pa. The translation adopted here, Calling Witness with a Hundred Prostrations, differs considerably from Obermiller’s early loose translation of the title as One Hundred Precepts Concerning Worship, cited above. The phrase dpang skong means “calling witness.” It is the same word used to call a witness in a trial. In this context, it probably refers to inviting the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions to be a witness to one’s practice of Dharma, particularly to the confession and purification of nonvirtue which is contained in this sūtra, as ideally such confession and purification is done in the presence of holy beings. Following the confession, the buddhas and bodhisattvas also serve as witnesses to the vows of refuge and the thought of enlightenment, and to the subsequent rejoicing and aspiration to virtuous deeds. As for the phrase phyag brgya, it means “one hundred prostrations” or “one hundred homages.”

Another difficult aspect of translating this sūtra was translation of the many names of the buddhas, particularly those names that are composed of long compounds. We have rendered the buddhas’ names from Tibetan back into Sanskrit when possible, following reliable glossaries and dictionaries such as, inter alia, the Mahāvyutpatti, F. Edgerton’s Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary, and J.S. Negi’s Tibetan Sanskrit Dictionary.10 Otherwise, we have rendered the Tibetan in English, following as closely as possible the grammar of the compound name as it appears in Tibetan.