The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (2)
Glossary
Toh 293
Degé Kangyur, vol. 71 (mdo sde, sha), folios 265.b–267.a
- Jinamitra
- Prajñāvarman
- Bandé Yeshé Dé
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Buddha instructs his monks on how to overcome their fears by recollecting the qualities of the Buddha through a set of epithets. This is likened to how Śakra rallies his celestial troops with the sight of his military crest insignia. The sūtra concludes with verses summarizing the teaching and also recommending the recollection of the Dharma and Saṅgha. This is the shorter of two Mahāsūtras with the same title and similar themes.
Acknowledgements
This text was translated by Adam T. Miller. The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. David Fiordalis and John Canti edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
Introduction
The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (2), which we will refer to hereafter by its Sanskrit title, Dhvajāgrasūtra [2], is a short work in which the Buddha instructs his monks at Śrāvastī on how to alleviate fear by recollecting the Buddha (and, in the concluding verses, the Dharma and Saṅgha as well) and outlines the benefits and efficacy of doing so.
The Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] has the same Sanskrit title as the closely related Mahāsūtra that immediately precedes it in the Degé Kangyur (The Crest Insignia (1), Toh 292,1 hereafter Dhvajāgrasūtra [1]). In Tibetan, the titles of these two Mahāsūtras are differentiated by alternative translations of the word agra (as dam pa in the present text, Toh 293, and mchog in Toh 292), but we have translated the title in the same way in both texts based on the identical Sanskrit title Dhvajāgra. The term dhvajāgra itself refers to a symbol or insignia that was mounted at the end of a long pole, which was employed as a martial ensign on the battlefield in ancient India.2
In the prose portion of the sūtra, the Buddha advises his monks, should they become afraid wherever they happen to be, to recollect him using a formula composed of a set of epithets that describe his qualities, traditionally said to be nine in number but with some differences between versions of the text.3 By recollecting him in this way, he assures them, all their fears will be allayed. He intercalates his teaching in this prose section with a story centered on Śakra and the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three that illustrates and encourages this practice. When the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three are faced with the fearsome prospect of battle against the asuras, Śakra tells them to recollect his crest insignia, or military ensign, and this, he says, will alleviate their fear. If the gods trust Śakra and are indeed relieved of their fear through engaging in the practice he advises, the Buddha continues, how much more so should the monks likewise trust the Buddha and know that the practice he advises will be efficacious, for he is superior to Śakra in all ways.
The work concludes with a modified reiteration of the teaching in verse. The verse summary advises the recollection not solely of the Buddha but of the Dharma and the Saṅgha as well. Recollecting the Three Jewels, leading as it does to the four truths of the noble ones and hence knowledge of the path, and ultimately to nirvāṇa, is the supreme refuge.
The inclusion of this work in the group of canonical texts known as the Mahāsūtras (literally “Great Sūtras”)4 reflects its status in early Buddhism as a “text recited for protection” (paritta in Pali or rakṣā in Sanskrit).5 An extensive study of this and the other Mahāsūtras has been published by Peter Skilling.6 The nine or ten texts that belong to this collection have a long and complex history, and the recensions that are preserved in Tibetan translation have many parallels in Buddhist literature as a whole.
Versions of the present sūtra are extant in Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan. A Pali work with the title Dhajaggasutta is found in the Sakkasamyutta in the first part of the Samyutta Nikāya (11.3).7 A Sanskrit work with the title Dhvajāgra(mahā)sūtra is known through manuscript fragments found in Central Asia.8 There are two Chinese translations. One is a translation produced in the mid-fifth century ᴄᴇ by Guṇabhadra as part of the Samyuktāgama (Taishō 99, no. 981). Another is a translation by Dharmanandi (曇摩難提) made as part of the Ekottarāgama (Taishō 125, ch. 24.1) and edited by Gautama Saṅghadeva in 397–98 ᴄᴇ. The Tibetan translation was produced in the late eighth or early ninth century by Yeshé Dé, Jinamitra, and Prajñāvarman.9 Along with the other eight Mahāsūtras likewise produced by this translation team, it is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial catalogs of translated texts.10
According to Peter Skilling, the present work is “one of the most popular of Buddhist sūtras”11 on account of its content—the recollection of the Buddha, or of all Three Jewels, being a common theme throughout Buddhist literature—and its ritual use. The work is quoted or otherwise referenced in a small handful of Buddhist commentarial works: Buddhaghoṣa’s Sāratthappakāsinī, for example, and Sthiramati’s Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇavaibhāṣya (Toh 4066).12 The well-known formula for recollecting the Buddha is found in a wide variety of canonical texts and ritual works, including a short standalone scripture in the Kangyur with the title Buddhānusmṛti (Toh 279), of unknown origin but possibly derived in part from the two Dhvajāgrasūtras and their parallels.
The Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] had not been translated into English until recently, when it appeared alongside Dhvajāgrasūtra [1] and the Pali Dhajaggasutta in Skilling 2024.
This translation was made from the version of the Tibetan text in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the critical edition published by Skilling13 based on twelve Tibetan versions, including the Peking, Lithang, Degé, and Narthang xylographs, the Stok palace manuscript, and two “independent editions” from monasteries that “do not reproduce any other single Kanjur, and do not have any significant descendants.”14 While there are quite a few differences between the sources and parallel texts that Skilling compared in his comprehensive study of this work,15 none of them much affects the meaning of the translation presented here.
Text Body
The Crest Insignia (2)
The Translation
Homage to the Three Jewels.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in Śrāvastī, in Jeta Grove, the park of Anāthapiṇḍada. The Blessed One addressed the monks, saying, “Monks, whether you stay in the wilderness, under a tree, or in an empty house, in the event that you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should recollect me thus through these epithets: ‘The Blessed One is a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, a learned and virtuous one, a well-gone one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed leader of those to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, an awakened one, and a blessed one.’16 [F.266.a] If at that time you recollect me through these epithets, then whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.
“Monks, previously, when a battle between the gods and the asuras was about to break out, Śakra, the king of the gods, called out to the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, saying, ‘If friends, when you go into the battle between the gods and the asuras, you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should at that time recall my crest insignia Vaijayanta. If at that time you recollect my crest insignia Vaijayanta, whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.’
“Monks, similarly, whether in the wilderness, under a tree, or in an empty house, in the event that you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should recollect me thus through these epithets: ‘The Blessed One is a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, a learned and virtuous one, a well-gone one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed leader of those to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, an awakened one, and a blessed one.’ Monks, if at that time you recollect me through these epithets, whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.
“Monks, Śakra, the lord of the gods, still has desire, hatred, and delusion, and he is not liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, [F.266.b] sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance. He also experiences fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice. Several times has he experienced fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice. Monks, the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three confidently regard the words of Śakra, the lord of the gods—who still possesses desire, hatred, and delusion, who is not liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance, and who experiences fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice—as something to be heard and obeyed. Considering that, given that I am a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one—one who is without desire, hatred, and delusion, one who is liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance, and one who does not experience fear, trepidation, alarm, or cowardice—these words of mine are worthy of being heeded, of what they say to be put into practice, and of being propagated accordingly.” [F.267.a]
This is what the Blessed One said, and the Well-Gone One having spoken those words, the Teacher continued:17
When the Blessed One had spoken these words, the monks were delighted and praised what the Blessed One had said.
This completes the Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia.”
Colophon
Translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Prajñāvarman, the senior editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé, and others.
Notes
Bibliography
mdo chen po rgyal mtshan dam pa (Dhvajāgramahāsūtra). Toh 293, Degé Kangyur vol. 71 (mdo sde, sha), folios 265.b–267.a.
mdo chen po rgyal mtshan dam 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. 71, pp. 710–14.
mdo chen po rgyal mtshan mchog (Dhvajāgramahāsūtra). Toh 292, Degé Kangyur vol. 71 (mdo sde, sha), folios 262.a–265.b. English translation The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (1) 2024.
Asaṅga (attr.). sangs rgyas rjes su dran pa’i grel pa (Buddhānusmṛtivṛtti). Toh 3982, Degé Tengyur vol. 113 (mdo sde, ngi), folios 11.b–15.a.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan[/lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
84000. The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma (Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna, dam pa’i chos dran pa nye bar gzhag pa, Toh 287). Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.84000.
———. The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (1) (Dhvajāgramahāsūtra, mdo chen po rgyal mtshan mchog, Toh 292). Translated by 84000 Associate Translators. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
———. “Mahāsūtras.” Online Knowledge Base. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Harrison, Paul M. “Commemoration and Identification in Buddhānusmṛti.” In In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, edited by Janet Gyatso, 215–38. Albany: SUNY Press, 1992.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Skilling, Peter. Mahāsūtras: Great Discourses of the Buddha. 2 vols. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1994–97.
Zhao, Wen. “The Conception of Seeing the Buddha and Buddha Embodiments in Early Prajñāpāramitā Literature.” PhD diss., Ludwig Maximilian University, 2018.
Glossary
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Attested in source text
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Attested in other text
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Approximate attestation
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Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering
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Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering
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crest insignia
- rgyal mtshan mchog
- རྒྱལ་མཚན་མཆོག
- dhvajāgra
eightfold path of the noble ones
- ’phags lam yan lag brgyad pa
- འཕགས་ལམ་ཡན་ལག་བརྒྱད་པ།
- āryāṣṭāṅgamārga AO
Heaven of the Thirty-Three
- sum cu rtsa gsum pa
- སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གསུམ་པ།
- trāyastriṃśa AO
Jeta Grove
- rgyal bu rgyal byed kyi tshal
- རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཚལ།
- jetavana AO
learned and virtuous one
- rig pa dang zhabs su ldan pa
- རིག་པ་དང་ཞབས་སུ་ལྡན་པ།
- vidyācaraṇasampanna AO
perfectly awakened one
- yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas
- rdzogs sangs rgyas
- rdzogs sangs rgyas pa
- ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས།
- རྫོགས་སངས་རྒྱས།
- རྫོགས་སངས་རྒྱས་པ།
- samyaksaṃbuddha AO
teacher of gods and humans
- lha dang mi rnams kyi ston pa
- ལྷ་དང་མི་རྣམས་ཀྱི་སྟོན་པ།
- devamanuṣyaśāstṛ AO
unsurpassed leader of those to be trained
- skyes bu gdul bya’i kha lo sgyur ba bla na med pa
- སྐྱེས་བུ་གདུལ་བྱའི་ཁ་ལོ་སྒྱུར་བ་བླ་ན་མེད་པ།
- anuttarapuruṣadamyasārathi AO
Yeshé Dé
- ye shes sde
- ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།
- —