ལས་བརྒྱ་པ།

The Hundred Deeds

Karmaśataka

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ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ།

las brgya tham pa

The Hundred Deeds

Karmaśataka

Toh 340

Degé Kangyur, vol. 73 (mdo sde, ha), folios 1.b–309.a, and vol. 74 (mdo sde, a), folios 1.b–128.b.

Translated by Dr. Lozang Jamspal (International Buddhist College, Thailand) and Kaia Tara Fischer under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2020
Current version v 1.3.14 (2020)
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s.

Summary

s.­1

The sūtra The Hundred Deeds, whose title could also be translated as The Hundred Karmas, is a collection of stories known as avadāna—a narrative genre widely represented in the Sanskrit Buddhist literature and its derivatives—comprising more than 120 individual texts. It includes narratives of Buddha Śākyamuni’s notable deeds and foundational teachings, the stories of other well-known Buddhist figures, and a variety of other tales featuring people from all walks of ancient Indian life and beings from all six realms of existence. The texts sometimes include stretches of verse. In the majority of the stories the Buddha’s purpose in recounting the past lives of one or more individuals is to make definitive statements about the karmic ripening of actions across multiple lifetimes, and the sūtra is perhaps the best known of the many works in the Kangyur on this theme.

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Acknowledgements

ac.­1

Translated by Dr. Lozang Jamspal (International Buddhist College, Thailand) and Kaia Fischer of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York (TCTGNY). Introduction by Nathan Mitchell, with additional material by the 84000 editorial team.

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Warm thanks to Dr. Tom Tillemans, Dr. John Canti, Dr. James Gentry, Adam Krug, Ven. Konchog Norbu, Janna White, and all the readers and editors at 84000, for their wisdom; to Huang Jing Rui, Amy Ang, and the entire administration and staff at 84000, for their compassion; to readers Dr. Irene Cannon-Geary, Dr. Natalie M. Griffin, Tom Griffin, Norman Guberman, Margot Jarrett, Dr. David Kittay, Dr. Susan Landesman, Megan Mook, and Dr. Toy-Fung Tung, as well as to every member of TCTGNY, for their diligence and sincerity; to Caithlin De Marrais, Tinka Harvard, Laren McClung, and Erin Sperry, for their adept revisions to passages of verse; to Dr. Paul Hackett, for his linguistic and technical expertise; to Dr. Tenzin Robert Thurman and the late Prof. Dr. Michael Hahn, for their insight; to Dr. Lauran Hartley, for her capable assistance in researching the introduction; to Dr. Donald J. LaRocca, for his thoughtful clarification of terms pertaining to arms and armor; and to Jennifer E. Fischer, for her generosity in formatting the translation.

ac.­3

Special thanks to Ven. Wei Wu and all of the students, faculty, and staff of the International Buddhist College, Thailand, for their warm welcome of the senior translator Dr. Jamspal, and to Cynthia H. Wong, for her kindheartedness toward the junior translator Kaia Fischer.

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Through the devoted attention of all may the Buddhadharma smile upon us for countless ages, safeguarded by knowledge of the classical Tibetan language.

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


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Work on this translation was rendered possible by the generous donations of a number of sponsors: Zhou Tian Yu, Chen Yi Qin, Irene Tillman, Archie Kao and Zhou Xun; 恒基伟业投资发展集团有限公司，李英、李杰、李明、李一全家; Thirty, Twenty and family; and Ye Kong, Helen Han, Karen Kong and family. Their help is most gratefully acknowledged.

ab.

Abbreviations

CChoné (co ne) Kangyur
DDegé (sde dge) Kangyur
HLhasa Zhöl (lha sa zhol) Kangyur
JLithang (li thang) Kangyur
KKangxi Peking (pe) Kangyur
KYYongle (g.yung lo) Kangyur
NNarthang (snar thang) Kangyur
SStok Palace Manuscript (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur
UUrga (khu)
n.

Notes

n.­1
Although commonly referred to in later Tibetan works by the short form las brgya pa, the title appears in most Kangyurs as las brgya tham pa, and in both D and S as las brgya tham pa pa. The Sanskrit title is universally given as Karmaśataka, but in Kangyurs of predominantly Thempangma line this is variously prefixed: by paravarna in S, Shey, and some of the Bhutan Kangyurs; by parivarna in the Phukdrak (phug brag) Kangyur; by parivarṇa in the Ulaanbaatar Kangyur; and by paripūrna in the Hemis, Dolpo, and Namgyal Kangyurs and the Langdo collection, this last variant meaning “full” or “complete” being the one that seems to make most sense.
n.­2
See Sarkar (1981) pp. 46–49.
n.­3
Perhaps a better definition is that of Sastri (1960) p. 72: “The word avadāna signifies a ‘great religious or moral achievement as well as the history of a great achievement.’ ”
n.­4
See Rotman (2008) pp. 19–20.
n.­5
See Chutiwongs (1978) p. 139; Sarkar (1981) p. 45.
n.­6
“Le Karma-Çataka me parait-être l’œuvre d’une École qui a voulu avoir son recueil de « Cent Légendes » se différenciant de l’Avadāna-Çataka par certaines particularités. Les deux recueils appartiendraient à deux Écoles rivales, non ennemies.” Feer (1901) p. 60.
n.­7
Some shared episodes are almost verbatim, but show interesting differences (see, for example, n.­73 and n.­76) that might on further investigation throw light on the history of its translation.
n.­8
There is a Mongolian version, but like others of its kind it is almost certain to have been translated from the Tibetan. See Skilling (2001) p. 140, n23.
n.­9
See Butön F.125.a.5, translated in Obermiller ([1932] 1986) p. 186, and in Stein and Zangpo (2013) p. 281. See also Skilling (1997) p. 89; Skilling (2001) p. 140; Ancient Tibet (1986) p. 252. Nyak Jñānakumāra is usually thought of as having worked predominantly on tantric material and to have been active only from Trisong Detsen’s reign onwards; nevertheless, traditional accounts mention that because he was already an active translator familiar with Sanskrit he was Trisong Detsen’s first emissary, sent to invite Bodhisattva Śāntarakṣita to Tibet. Even before that, according to the fourteenth century chronicle rgyal rabs gsal ba’i me long, Drenka Mūlakośa and Jñānakumāra were sent by King Tridé Tsuktsen to invite “the two paṇḍitas Buddhaguhya and Buddhaśānta” to Tibet; the two paṇḍitas declined the invitation but the two translators learned by heart five Mahāyāna sūtras, including the Karmaśataka, and brought them back with them (see Sørensen 1994, p. 352). If they were, in fact, responsible for an early Tibetan translation, it would almost certainly have been revised later, and the Tibetan that has survived in the Kangyur bears no particularly archaic characteristics.
n.­10
Denkarma, F.300.b.5; see also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008) pp. 150–51; and Nattier (1991) p. 151.
n.­11
“Ral-pa-can’s brother, Glang-dar-ma, was put on the throne with the backing of the Bon-pos and rebellious clans sometime between 836 and 841 . . . Glang-dar-ma’s reign lasted only until 841 or 842, according to most sources.” Ancient Tibet (1986) p. 305.
n.­12
“The three men are called Bod-kyi mkhas-pa mi-gsum or ‘The Three Learned Men of Tibet.’ ” Roerich (1996) p. 63 n1. “viz. Rab-sal of Tsaṅ, Yo Ge-juṅ of P’o-t’oṅ-pa and Mar Çākyamuni of Tö-luṅ.” Obermiller ([1932] 1986) p. 201.
n.­13
Roerich (1996) p. 63.
n.­14
Obermiller ([1932] 1986) p. 199.
n.­15
The Avadānaśataka exists in Sanskrit (the most complete manuscript being a 17th century Nepalese one); in a third century Chinese translation (撰集百緣經, Zhuanji Bai Yuan Jing, Taishō 200); and in an imperial period Tibetan translation by Devacandra and Jinamitra (gang po la sogs pa’i rtogs pa brjod pa brgya pa, Toh 343).
n.­16
See Skilling (2001) p. 141; cf. Przyluski and Lalou (1936) pp. 177–78.
n.­17
Feer (1901) pp. 53–54. By the accounting of the present translation the stories number 124, but because several chapters contain multiple stories a total greater than either 124 or 127 could equally well be counted.
n.­18
For a list of stories common to both collections see Feer (1901) p. 55; cf. Speyer (1992) p. xix.
n.­19
“Quoique les récits de l’un et l’autre recueil présentent la même physionomie générale, il y a entre eux des différences de détails nombreuses et notables.” Feer (1901) pp. 54–55.
n.­20
Feer (1901) p. 54.
n.­21
For an in-depth analysis of this interpretation of vyākaraṇa see Burnouf (2010) pp. 100–101.
n.­22
Przyluski and Lalou (1936) p. 178.
n.­23
See Sarkar (1981) p. 45; Winternitz (1987) p. 250.
n.­24
“Il y a un certain nombre de textes (j’en ai compté 42) que je qualifie de parallèles, parce que le récit du temps présent et celui du temps passé sont la reproduction exacte (sauf quelques modifications indispensables) l’un de l’autre, sans qu’il soit question (au moins dans les plus caractéristiques d’entre eux) de punition ou de récompense; ou, si cet élément s’y trouve, il y est secondaire et occupe très peu de place.” Feer (1901) p. 56.
n.­25
For a detailed list of similarities and differences between jātakas and avadānas see Sarkar (1981) pp. 50–51.
n.­26
“Il y a de ces textes dans lesquels le récit du temps passé se divise en plusieurs parties, le Buddha jouant un rôle dans l’une, n’en jouant pas dans d’autres. . . . Je remarque aussi un certain nombre de récits qui ont pour héros principal ou secondaires des personnages célèbres de la légende bouddhique (Devadatta, Kāçyapa, Ananda, Aniruddha, Katyāyana, Kokālika, Çāriputra, Mandgalyāyana, Gopā, Yaçodharā, Bimbisāra, Prasenajit, etc.) ou même se rattachent à des épisodes connus de ce qu’on peut appeler la biographie du Buddha et l’histoire du Bouddhisme.” Feer (1901) p. 56.
n.­27
The Tibetan nyes par spyod pa, “misdeeds,” might be a scribal error for nye bar spyod pa, “sense pleasures,” given that parallel Sanskrit source passages have kāma here.
n.­28
The translation of this stock passage is based on a very similar passage in the Avadānaśataka and the Divyāvadāna, as informed by Rotman’s rendering (2008, p. 225). The Sanskrit is as follows: ko hīyate, ko vardhate, kaḥ kṛcchraprāptaḥ kaḥ saṃkaṭaprāptaḥ, kaḥ saṃbādhaprāptaḥ kaḥ kṛcchrasaṃkaṭasambādhaprāptaḥ ko 'pāyaniṃnaḥ, ko 'pāyapravaṇaḥ ko 'pāyaprāgbhāraḥ kamahamapāyamārgādvyutthāpya svargaphale mokṣe ca pratiṣṭhāpayeyam kasya kāmapaṅkanimagnasya hastoddhāramanupradadyām kamāryadhanavirahitamāryadhanaiśvaryādhipatye pratiṣṭhāpayāmi kasyānavaropitāni kuśalamūlānyavaropayeyam kasyāvaropitāni paripācayeyam kasya pakvāni vimocayeyam, kasyājñānatimirapaṭalaparyavanaddhanetrasya jñānāñjanaśalākayā cakṣurviśodhayeyam /.
n.­29
In stock phrases like this the text alternates between “truths” in the plural and “truth” in the singular. Based on text-internal evidence we understand this to primarily refer to the “four truths of nobles beings,” so unless context dictates otherwise we have rendered it in the plural throughout.
n.­30
I.e., the saṅgha of the nuns and that of the monks.
n.­31
A portion of this passage and the others identical to it were translated with reference to similar passages in the Divyāvadāna. See Rotman (2008) p. 73; and Tatelman (2005) pp. 32–33, 110–11.
n.­32
“The unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa”; Tib. g.yung drung gi mthar thug pa grub pa dang bde ba’i mya ngan las ’das pa. The Tibetan phrase grub pa dang bde ba most likely renders the Sanskrit yogakṣema.
n.­33
At this point in the par phud printing of the Degé Kangyur available on the Buddhist Digital Resource Center site (W22084), vol. 73, F.162.a seems to have been mistakenly inserted in the place of F.12.a, though the English numbering (ostensibly done separately) is continuous. The mistakenly inserted folio is not translated here; its translation appears at the appropriate place later in the text. In D vol. 73, F.12.a is nowhere to be found; the missing portion translated here has therefore been taken from S vol. 80, F.17.a–18.a. The correct section of the text resumes in D after this one folio with vol. 73, F.12.b. This missing folio does not affect the Tibetan text seen in the Reading Room bilingual view, which was input from scans of a later printing free of this error.
n.­34
This list of five is translated in consultation with the Divyāvadāna, which has a nearly identical passage. Cf. Rotman (2008) pp. 39–41 and Tatelam (2005) p. 29.
n.­35
The par phud print of D (see n.­33) resumes here with F.12.b.
n.­36
“Committed adultery with”; Tib. byi byed pa. This term can also mean “raped.” It is unclear from the context which is intended.
n.­37
Throughout the text we have omitted reiterations of the full title that appear in the Tib. at the beginning of each bam po.
n.­38
This rendering is informed by the following Sanskrit phrase from the Avadānaśataka, which likely corresponds closely to the source text phrase for the Tibetan translation: ity uktamātre bhagavatā saptāhāvaropitair iva keśair dvādaśavarṣopasaṃpannasyeva bhikṣor īryāpathena pātrakarakavyagrahasto 'vasthitaḥ. Cf. Andy Rotman’s (2008, p. 88) translation of a very similar stock phrase. The sense, as Rotman notes (p. 406 n270), is that though newly gone forth they do not appear as novices, but as elder well-disciplined monks just prior to their weekly tonsure.
n.­39
“Four divisions of his army”; Rotman’s translation of the Divyāvadāna lists these as “the elephant corps, the cavalry, the chariot corps, and the infantry.” (2008) p. 128.
n.­40
“They sat in silence”; D: difficult to read. S: kha rog ste ’khod do.
n.­41
D pad ma here is most likely a corruption of bad sa (Vatsa), since pa and ba are easily confused in handwritten Tibetan manuscripts, and KY, J, K, N, C, and H all read sa’i instead of D (and S) ma’i.
n.­42
“Already”; D: sngan cad; S: sngan chad. This translation follows S. Rangjung Yeshe has an entry for the similar sngan chad med pa, “unprecedented.”
n.­43
Skt. paṅgu (Negi), “crawls about”; Tib. ’phye bo. The individual named Paṅgu in this story is not the same as the person with the same name whose story begins at 7.­2.
n.­44
The vinaya prohibits, among others, persons with certain disabilities from becoming bhikṣus or bhikṣuṇīs. See Miller (2018), chapter 6; see also Vinayakṣudrakavastu (Toh 6), D vol. 11, F.38.a–b (translation Jamspal and Fischer, forthcoming).
n.­45
“Ford the floodwaters”; Tib. chu bo rnams las brgal bar bya ba. A Buddhist idiom meaning “to overcome the afflictive emotions,” per Dr. Lozang Jamspal.
n.­46
“Manifest,” for Tib. rangs. We read this as a variant spelling of langs pa, “appear, arise, manifest, stand, wells up, comes up, and uplifts, p. of lang ba” (Ives Waldo).
n.­47
“Focused his mind,” for the Tib. dgongs, in contrast to the Tib. mthong, which appears in conjunction with a disciple’s actions in nearly identical passages. Some scriptures explain the omniscience of the Buddha to be such that while all knowledge is ever available to him, he must in fact direct his mind toward an object to “know” it, as seems to be the case here. Some similar passages have simply “know,” when the verb has a direct object, e.g., “The Blessed One knew the time had come . . . .”
n.­48
“Will be instrumental in,” for the Tib. ’di las brten te; alt. “Through this being the Blessed One will give an extraordinary Dharma teaching,” “The Blessed One will use this being to give an extraordinary Dharma teaching,” or the like.
n.­49
There are indeed two instances of the phrase “totally and completely awakened Buddha” in this passage.
n.­50
“Prabhāvan,” adapted from L. Chandra’s entry, which lists not a Buddha but a goddess by the same name. Tib. ’od zer can, Eng. perhaps “Having Light Rays”; probably a Skt. epithet for the sun.
n.­51
“The Bodhisattva” with a capital B, here and throughout, refers to Buddha Śākyamuni in his previous lifetimes, after he first gave rise to the resolve set on complete and perfect awakening.
n.­52
“Gopā led him up the stairs, kicked him in the head, and threw him from the top of the staircase.” Here we take the first usage of the Tib. mgo as referring to the “top” of the staircase (as earlier in the story) and the subsequent usage to refer to Devadatta’s own head; Tib. de nas sa ’tsho mas skas de nyid la mgo thur kar bstan te / mgo bor rdog pas bsnun nas / skas mgo nas bor ro.
n.­53
D bdag gis, should be bdag gi.
n.­54
D bdag gis, should be bdag gi.
n.­55
This refers to Donkey Grove.
n.­56
Tib. mnyas, probably a scribal error. Elsewhere typically mnyes.
n.­57
D: bse ru lta bu’i ’jig rten gyi yon gnas gcig pu rnams ’jig rten du ’byung ste; S: bse ru lta bu ’jig rten . . . . This translation follows S.
n.­58
“Held him dear to their hearts”; Tib. pha ma’i snying du shas cher sdug cing phangs la yid du ’ong bar gyur to.
n.­59
D: des sa sgren po la gnas; perhaps “living on bare ground” (lit: “naked earth”). S: des sgren po la gnas. This translation follows S, taking a cue from later in the D, where she is described as bu mo de sgren mor ’dug, “sitting naked on the ground” (see 2.­217).
n.­60
Tib. che ge. Lozang Jamspal compares this term to the Ladakhi dialect ’a ce, “elder sister.”
n.­61
“Capacity”; Tib. shes pa. Alt. “knowledge,” “education,” “critical faculties.” From this point forward, the text generally adds shes pa to the standard list in this stock passage. In our translation we have inverted the order of the last two qualities in the list from that in the Tib.
n.­62
“What action pleased the Blessed One, and did not displease him?” Tib. gang las gis ni bcom ldan ’das mnyes par bgyis te / mi mnyes par ma bgyis lags. This construction differs slightly also in the Tib. from elsewhere in the text.
n.­63
In the list there appear to be six. It may be that the vase and basin, for instance, belong together.
n.­64
A sign of high esteem.
n.­65
“Meanwhile” is a rhetorical insertion.
n.­66
For this list to total ten dreams, one must take “touching” and “taking . . . into his arms” the sun and moon as two different dreams, and count each of the dreams of sitting on a different being individually. The list is identical in S.
n.­67
“It quivered, shuddered, and jolted; it trembled, shook, and swayed”; the Tib. uses only two basic verbs, intensifying each twice over to make six in all: ’gul rab tu ’gul / kun du [sic] rab tu ’gul / ldeg rad tu ldeg / kun du [sic] rab tu ldeg par gyur to.
n.­68
“Finally came”; D and S both have the Tib. thod, which this translation takes as scribal error for thob.
n.­69
“Stepped”; the Tib. rdzis, here rendered as “stepped” to underscore Mati’s change of heart. The Tib. reflects this shift in Mati’s alternating uses of rkang and zhabs as he describes the incident.
n.­70
“My drum”; Tib. rol mo. Lit. “music.” His name is later given as rnga sgra (Sound of the Drum).
n.­71
“Screened windows”; obscure Tib. skar khung khol ma (Lozang Jamspal). Used also to refer to a hole in the roof for releasing smoke from cooking or heating.
n.­72
“Burning sticks of incense, incense powders, and incense cones”; Tib. bdug pa dang phye ma dang spos. This formulation appears throughout the text. In the absence of a clear delineation between these items in the available dictionaries, this translation renders these three types of incense based on (1) the meaning of bdug pa as a verb, “to cense,” thus “burning” sticks; (2) phye ma, meaning “powder,” in this context incense powder; and while (3) spos is a general term for incense, when it appears with the others we appended “cones” to differentiate them.
n.­73
The passage that follows, recounting the Buddha’s first teaching, is almost identical to the account of the same episode in The Chapter on a Schism in the Saṅgha (Saṅgha­bheda­vastu, the seventeenth chapter of the Vinaya­vastu, Toh 1), see D vol. 4 (’dul ba, nga), F.41.a.7 et seq., and therefore also the equivalent passage in The Sūtra on Going Forth (Abhi­niṣkramaṇa­sūtra, Toh 301), see D vol. 72 (mdo sde, sa), F.58.b.5 et seq., since the latter is derived from extracts of the former. These three parallel passages are more than close enough for their common origin to be almost certain, and their minor differences in wording are no doubt due to the work of editors at different times; it is worth noting that the exact wording of the version in the present text diverges further from the first two versions mentioned than the second from the first (and in this regard see n.­76 below). A quite different account of the same episode is found in The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95), see D vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha), F.195.a et seq.; or, in translation, Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2013), 26.19. A full translation of The Chapter on a Schism in the Saṅgha is in preparation (Miller, forthcoming).
n.­74
It is at this point in the narrative that the (shorter) version recounted in the Pali Dhamma­cakkappavattana-sutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya 56) begins; the Kangyur sūtra Toh 31 (D vol. 34, shes rab sna tshogs, F.180.b–183.a) is a 14th century translation made from the Pali and therefore very close to it—though not an entirely accurate match, see Skilling (1993), pp. 103–106.
n.­75
Most other Tibetan versions of this repeated passage (e.g. in the Dharmacakrasūtra, Toh 337) place the first person pronoun nga with this phrase, but here the Tibetan translators have chosen to omit it. Indeed, in the various Sanskrit versions (typically pūrvam ananuśruteṣu dharmeṣu) there is no indication of whether the phrase means the Buddha had not himself previously heard these dharmas or whether they had more generally never been heard before by anyone. The important point in this phrase is that the Buddha’s realizations of the points he is setting out came from his own experience and not from any pre-existing doctrinal transmission.
n.­76
This version of the Buddha’s first teaching follows the Sanskrit of the Saṅghabhedavastu (see n.­73), but not the Tibetan in that it does not include the term “realization” (Tib. rtogs pa) in this and the following several repetitions of this phrase. Instead the list only includes “insight (jñāna), knowledge (vidyā), and understanding (buddhi)” Gnoli (1977) p. 135. Skilling (1993), pp. 105 and 194, discusses the significance of the four to seven “epithets of insight” found in the parallel versions of this passage in Sanskrit, Pali, and Tibetan but does not mention this particular version, or this difference between the Sanskrit of the Saṅghabhedavastu and its Tibetan translation. For an English translation of another version of this foundational teaching and a discussion of its textual history and various recensions, see Dharmachakra Translation Committee, The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018. The present English rendering of this teaching closely follows that translation, but differs from it where the Tibetan source text does.
n.­77
This name means “Kauṇḍinya who has understood.”
n.­78
Conches with clockwise whorls were apparently considered more precious at this time.
n.­79
Here, “terrors,” “fearsome,” “terrifying,” “threat,” and “treacherous” all reflect the Tib. ’jigs pa’i and could alternatively all be uniformly translated as simply “the danger of,” or “dangerous.”
n.­80
“Sirens,” borrowing the familiar term from Greek mythology. Tib. srin mo khrung khrung gzhon nu ma.
n.­81
“Their boats were destroyed,” unsure. Tib. song ste bor yang. Perhaps “set out, and left (land) behind as well, but . . . .”
n.­82
Tib. song ste bor yang nor gyi gru rnams ma rungs par gyur. Perhaps “set out, and left (land) behind as well, but . . . .”
n.­83
“I betrayed him,” for the obscure Tib. bdag gis de la chu gang bor med do. Lit. “There is no throwing out all the water to him” (or “at it”). According to Dan Martin, the honorific form chab gang can mean “loyality,” “integrity,” etc.
n.­84
This is likely a reference to the episode of “The Burning of the Khāṇḍava Forest” that concludes the first book (ādiparvan) of the Mahā­bhārata. In this episode, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna set the Khāṇḍava Forest on fire and annihilate nearly all of the animals that live in the forest as they flee the flames. The reference thus evokes a scene of total annihilation. For a translation of this episode, see The Mahā­bhārata I: The Book of the Beginning (1973) pp. 412–31.
n.­85
This final verse is followed by an abbreviated summary of the foregoing verses, listing the first word of each four-line verse. This is perhaps intended as a mnemonic device for ordained persons relating the story from memory in a teaching environment. We have left this terse summary untranslated. D reads: tshigs su bcad pa ’di rnams kyi sdom ni / kyi ’dug de bde khyod sdig chos blo ’jigs bsen. S breaks up the passage in a way that makes this abbreviation more obvious: kyi ’dug / de / bde / khyod / sdig / chos / blo / ’jigs / bsen.
n.­86
“Capable”; Tib. spong nus par gyur.
n.­87
I.e., it was nearly noon, after which time he would not be permitted to eat.
n.­88
The term “bald,” though clearly implied, is not present in the Tib.
n.­89
“There’s no reason for me to do anything,” D: gyin da; S: gyin ’da’; C and H: gyi nar.
n.­90
D: sla; S and H: bla. This translation follows D.
n.­91
Tib. dud ’gro. The text switches here from referring to the subject of this story as a monster (srin) to referring to him as an animal (dud ’gro).
n.­92
This renders the Tibetan ’jig rten pa’i thugs, which renders the Sanskrit laukikam cittam, “thought concerning the world.” According to Edgerton (1953, p. 466), this refers to when the Buddha “concerns himself with the welfare of some person or persons . . . contrasted with a Buddha’s lokottara citta.”
n.­93
“Truth” and “truths” in this passage, and in this stock phrase as it appears throughout this text, translate dharma/chos.
n.­94
Here the Tib. text has an additional zhes smras nas / drang srong kai ne yas, which we have somewhat simplified in the Eng.
n.­95
These are listed in ’dul ba’i mdo as “(1) One should not go alone on the street, (2) one should not swim to the other side of the (“a”?) river, (3) one should not have physical contact with men, (4) one should not remain in the company of men, (5) one should not look upon [them], and (6) one should not hide one’s misdeeds.” The scripture goes on to give six more rules: “(1) One should not lay hands on gold, (2) one should not shave the pubic area, (3) one should not dig in the earth, (4) one should not cut green grass, (5) one should not eat feed what (“food that”?) is not freely given, and (6) one should not hoard food.”
n.­96
“A novice” is added for clarification; in the Tib. it is only implied by the statement that follows.
n.­97
The term “preceptor” has been added here for clarity. The Tibetan text reads “nun” (dge slong ma) here, not “preceptor” (mkhan mo), but, given the context, it must be assumed that this nun is the preceptor who is mentioned in the immediately preceding paragraph.
n.­98
The phrase “began to accuse her of adultery” is added here for the sake of clarity.
n.­99
“The five precepts for practicing the holy life,” i.e., not to (1) lie, (2) steal, (3) kill, (4) engage in sexual misconduct, or (5) partake of intoxicants. Sometimes the vow not to engage in sexual misconduct is a vow of celibacy, as here.
n.­100
In this instance the phrase “all material support and clothing” does not appear in the Tib.
n.­101
“Suspected”; Tib. zos, p. of za ba, taken as a short form of the tshom za ba, “to suspect.”
n.­102
Here “pimples,” “pustules,” and “boils” all reflect the Tib. ’bras; alt. “lesions” (Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary).
n.­103
Or, “one billion three hundred fifty million,” i.e., (dung phyur “100 million,” phrag “x,” ’bum “1,000” = 1,000,000,000); dang “+” (bye ba “10 million” phrag “x” sum cu rtsa lnga “35” = 350,000,000) = 1,350,000,000.
n.­104
“For their behavior” is a rhetorical interpolation.
n.­105
“Heard,” translating with S thos. D has mthong.
n.­106
“Unwavering Gait,” translating with D ma nyams pa. S has mnyam pa, “Equal Gait.”
n.­107
This verse differs somewhat from the similar verses at 4.­16 and 10.­410; here the Tib. is sbyin pa rgya cher gyur pa ’di yis ni / srid gsum sangs rgyas rang byung gyur par shog / brgal nas sngon gyi rgyal ba’i dbang rnams kyis / skye bo phal chen ma brgyal rnams kyang bsgral.
n.­108
“The Lay of the Land,” for the Tib. spyod yul (Skt. gocara). The semantic range of this Skt. term makes it difficult to translate with one unique English equivalent. See variants in the story itself.
n.­109
The two parts of the narrative in The Story of Wealth’s Delight (2.­385 et seq. and 2.­430 et seq. above) recount respectively the “sūtra” (see below) itself, verbatim, and the Buddha’s explanation of his past relationship with the five monks who were his first disciples. The present story of Maitrībala is another episode in that past relationship. Note that the sūtra named in the text (chos kyi ’khor lo skor ba’i mdo, Skt. Dharmacakrapravartanasūtra) either refers to a sūtra that no longer exists as such, or is a general way of referring to that episode in the life of the Buddha as related in longer works. The sūtra with just that name in the Kangyur (Toh 31), and the Pali work from which it was translated, the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya 56), cover only part of the Buddha’s teaching to the monks, while the Kangyur sūtra called The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma (Dharmacakrasūtra, Toh 337) is an even shorter excerpt. See also n.­73 and n.­74.
n.­110
This verse differs somewhat from the similar verses at 3.­435 and 10.­410; here the Tib. is sbyin pa chen por gyur pa ’di yis ni / ’gro bar rang byung sangs rgyas par shog / sngon gyi rgyal dbang rnams kyis ma bsgral gang / skye bo srid pa’i chu las sgrol bar shog.
n.­111
D: sla’i; S: bla’i. This translation follows S.
n.­112
Just as found in the title, “The Lay of the Land,” for the Tib. spyod yul (Skt. gocara), the semantic range of this Skt. term makes it difficult to translate with one unique Eng. equivalent. In this passage, “Don’t know my way around”; Tib. spyod yul gyi rgyus ma ’tshal na. See various uses below.
n.­113
“Where to go to”; Tib. de lta bu’i spyod yul.
n.­114
“Point another in the wrong direction”; Tib. spyod yul ma yin pa bstan.
n.­115
“Scavenger”; Tib. the rel. According to Dr. Lozang Jamspal this term is still current in Ladakhi dialect.
n.­116
This instance of this stock section of text lacks the Tib. shes pa, “capacity.”
n.­117
Since these four lines are nine syllables each, we translate them as verse, but the meter might alternatively be considered coincidental, and the passage itself as prose belonging to the section that follows.
n.­118
Tib. dge slong gi dge ’dun dang thabs cig tu na. It seems the Buddha’s name may have been mistakenly omitted here.
n.­119
“For all humanity”; Tib. rkang gnyis kyi nang na. Lit. “among the bipeds.”
n.­120
“Burden of your past deeds” to clarify the Tib. las yang bar ’gyur.
n.­121
Ray (1994) p. 165 quotes Horner (1938) pp. 296–97 and notes that the various vinaya disagree on the precise contents of the five ascetic practices promoted by Devadatta. Ray first quotes Horner’s translation of the Pali version as follows: “[1] It were good, lord, if the monks for as long as life lasted, should be forest dwellers; whoever should betake himself to the neighborhood of a village, sin [vajja] would besmirch him. [2] For as long as life lasts let them be beggars for alms; whoever should accept an invitation, sin would besmirch him. [3] For as long as life lasts let them be wearers of robes taken from the dustheap; whoever should accept a robe given by a householder, sin would besmirch him. [4] For as long as life lasts let them live at the foot of a tree; whoever should go undercover, sin would besmirch him. [5] For as long as life lasts let them not eat fish and flesh; whoever should eat fish and flesh, sin would besmirch him.”
n.­122
“Raise the life pillar,” that is, to set in place the main beam at the center of the stūpa. Tib. srog shing gzugs pa.
n.­123
“In gold”; while this number is not specified as gold here, it is on the next folio (see 4.­229).
n.­124
Note there is another story by the same name at 5.­97. The characters are apparently of no relation. We have chosen to differentiate the Eng. titles by appending “the charioteer” and “the mendicant” to their names, respectively.
n.­125
“Meditative absorption in cessation” (Skt. nirodhasamāpatti) is defined as “a state of meditation achieved in reliance upon the meditative absorption at the peak of cyclic existence (srid rtse), in which a yogi can remain for many aeons through stopping all gross feelings and perceptions. Syn. the emancipation of cessation (’gog pa’i rnam par thar ba).” Rigzin (2008) p. 64. See glossary entry for “nine successive meditative absorptions” (mthar gyis gnas pa’i snyoms par ’jug pa dgu).
n.­126
“To show for himself” is a rhetorical interpolation.
n.­127
This second instance of “there will be no more resentment between us” lacks bdag in the Tib. and is probably a scribal error.
n.­128
D is missing another instance of ma. This translation follows S: bde byed ma ma mchis.
n.­129
This translation follows S: bsngo’o.
n.­130
A rather bleak jest regarding the threat of being decapitated for disobedience to the king. Tib. bdag cag la mgo gnyis mchis sam.
n.­131
This is not a reference to the current King Brahmadatta who figures in the frame narrative for this story, but a former King Brahmadatta who ruled long before the time of Śākyamuni Buddha.
n.­132
D mnyan yod; we translate with S gnyen yod.
n.­133
Note there is another “Story of Subhadra” at 5.­97. The characters are apparently of no relation. We have chosen to differentiate the Eng. titles by appending “the charioteer” and “the mendicant” to their names, respectively.
n.­134
“Nandā and Nandabalā”; Tib. dga’ mo dang dga’ stobs. In the Lalitavistara Sūtra and elsewhere, this action is credited to the young woman Sujātā.
n.­135
Tib. gzhon nu lta bu’i mdo, Skt. Daharopama Sūtra. The Tibetan title of this sūtra, which is typically gzhon nu dpe’i mdo, has been incorrectly reconstructed as Kumāradṛṣṭānta Sūtra (Toh 296), but Sanskrit sources unanimously attest to only Daharopama Sūtra, or the simplified form, Dahara Sūtra (cf. Peter Skilling, “Notes on the Kanjur Translation Project”).
n.­136
I.e., by using it to support the Buddhist order he will generate merit for his next life.
n.­137
“Wife, servants,” for D gza’ bran, reading gza’ as an alt. spelling or scribal error for bza’, for which Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary has the secondary definition: “[royal] lady, daughter, queen, princess.”
n.­138
This Sanskrit reconstruction is based on Edgerton’s entry (1953, p. 270). The Tib. has lha mthong, which might more likely render Devadarśa; perhaps the Tibetan translation team was working with a corrupt, unclear, or different manuscript.
n.­139
“But still” is a rhetorical interpolation.
n.­140
“Bricks,” taking D phag pa as an abbreviation or corruption of the Tib. so phag, “brick,” or a transliteration of the Skt. pakva, as in “baked (brick or earth).”
n.­141
Reading S gangs instead of D gang. Moreover, chen might be in error for can.
n.­142
“Resplendent . . . at peace”; Tib. mdzes shing yid du ’thad la dbang po zhi zhing yid zhi ba bde mthong ngo, an abbreviated and slightly different version from similar passages at 2.­218 and elsewhere.
n.­143
“But this was not enough to satisfy him,” for the Tib. de nas de ma grangs nas, apparently an idiom; alt. more lit. “cool him down,” “calm him (down),” “settle him.”
n.­144
“Set out toward,” translating with KY, K zhugs instead of D, S bzhugs, “sitting.”
n.­145
The translators have inserted Aniruddha’s name here for the benefit of those who might not know they are siblings.
n.­146
“The eight great hells,” a reference to the eight hot hells, that is, the Reviving Hell (Sañjīva), the Black Thread Hell (Kālasūtra), the Crushing Hell (Saṃghāta), the Shrieking Hell (Raurava), the Screaming Hell (Mahā­raurava), the Hot Hell (Tapana), the Hell of Extreme Heat (Pratāpana), and the Hell of Ceaseless Agony (Avīci).
n.­147
Here the D Tib. reads “the brahmin magistrate went to the monastery with his son”; the Eng. text has been modified to accord with the preceding narrative as well as with the action that follows.
n.­148
“Had the impulse to eat excrement and drink urine.” This could also be translated as a direct quotation of her thoughts: “had a strong desire (or wish) in her mind: ‘I want to eat and drink excrement and urine!’ ” Tib. yid la ’dod pa’i ’di lta bu yang byung ste / phyi sa dang gcin bza’ zhing ’thung ngo snyam mo.
n.­149
“Something like,” we translate with S lta bu instead of D lha bu.
n.­150
Note there is another story by the same name at 5.­97. We have chosen to differentiate the Eng. titles by appending “the charioteer” and “the mendicant” to their names, respectively.
n.­151
“Over the garden of Prince Jeta” should perhaps read “above Rājagṛha,” or “Vulture Peak Mountain,” since Rājagṛha is maybe 350 km from Vārāṇasī, where the garden of Prince Jeta is located. We surmise that this is a scribal error. S has the same reading. It is possible that the text is implying the peacock flew from Gandhamādana Mountain to Rājagṛha via Vārāṇasī, but this would be a rather circuitous route.
n.­152
“All the different insects as well”; this phrase appears twice in the Tib.
n.­153
Rotman lists these as alt.: “Pūraṇa Kāśyapa; Maskarin, the son of Gośālī; Sañjayin, the son of Vairaṭṭī; Ajita Keśakambala; Kakuda Kātyāyana; and Nigrantha, the son of Jñāti.” Rotman (2008) p. 253.
n.­154
“Of his intention”; not explicit in the Tib.
n.­155
Here Lord Buddha begins an enumeration of the four immeasurables.
n.­156
Here the Blessed One begins an enumeration of the four formless realm states.
n.­157
“Lustful”; Tib. ’dod chags. Alt. “minds full of attachment,” “minds full of clinging.”
n.­158
“Died,” obscure Tib. honorific nongs (Lozang Jamspal), subsequently also as “passing.”
n.­159
The traditional list of seven teachers in the apostolic succession that carried on the Buddha’s teachings after his parinirvāṇa appears to end here in the Karmaśataka with Dhītika, who is normally the fifth member in the list.
n.­160
“Festival of the Fifth Year of the Doctrine of the Blessed One”; Tib. bcom ldan ’das kyi bstan pa lo lnga pa’i dus ston.
n.­161
“Defeat,” read as the Tib. rgyal. D has brgyal.
n.­162
Here the Tib. lacks “The Blessed One,” clearly implied by the use of bka’ stsal, a formulation typically reserved for the Buddha.
n.­163
“Will fall”; D: brnying, an alt. spelling of bsnying.
n.­164
“Divided his affairs,” for the obscure Tib. ’dab btang (Lozang Jamspal).
n.­165
“The Story of Subhadra the Mendicant”; the Tib. has only rab bzang. Note there is another “Story of Subhadra” at 5.­97. We have chosen to differentiate the Eng. titles by appending “the charioteer” and “the mendicant” to their names, respectively.
n.­166
“The four observations,” for the Tib. rnam pa’i bzhi’i gzigs. Though we were unable to find an exact reference in Negi or Rigzin, the closest contender, on which we have based our translation (on the assumption that the “four types of observations” here is a shorter version of the same), was, under gzigs pa lnga, Rigzin’s “pañca darśana / Buddha’s five observations; five predeterminations of Buddha Shakyamuni before he came to this world: 1. dus la gzigs pa, observation of the time for his appearance; 2. rus la gzigs pa, observation of the family of his birth; 3. rigs la gzigs pa, observation of the caste of his lineage; 4. yum la gzigs pa, observation of the mother to whom he would be born; 5. yul la gzigs pa, observation of the land in which to disseminate his doctrine.” (Rigzin, p. 366).
n.­167
D: tshur dang; S: tshur deng; this translation follows S.
n.­168
“Serika”; here D actually has the Tib. sde pa’i grong, unattested, where we have substituted the name of Nandā and Nandabalā’s village as it is given on vol. 73, F.217.a.
n.­169
“Lacks even the first monastic practitioner, and lacks the second, third, and fourth as well”; Tib. dge sbyong dang po, etc. Probably this refers to the four general classes of those who have gone forth, that is, novice and full nuns and monks.
n.­170
“What use would it have been if you had already gone to nirvāṇa?” An educated guess at the significance of the Tib. yong yang khyod der phyin du zin na ci la phan te.
n.­171
“Until they were able to” is a rhetorical interpolation to clarify the passage.
n.­172
Tib. yon rabs, being a shortened form for yon gyi rabs gdon par gsol. A litany traditionally recited in gratitude for alms or a gift; cf. ’dul ba’i mdo, Toh 261, D vol. 66 (mdo sde, za) F.80.b.
n.­173
“Consider me an equal”; obscure Tib. nyam bu shed. Lozang Jamspal: “It sounds like a saying we have in Ladakh, ‘Those kids know my measure.’ ” An equivalent Eng. idiom might be alt. “they have my number,” meaning, “they know me well enough to know what they can get away with.” The point seems to be that since they treat Ven. Ānanda as an equal, they cannot learn from him. The phrase may have its roots in the Tib. mnyam, “equal.”
n.­174
“In the intermediate state” here renders the Tib. bar ma dor, which probably renders the Skt. antarā. This interpretation is contested, however, in the traditions; it might alternatively mean “prematurely.” Cf. Edgerton’s (1953, p. 39) entry for antarā-parinirvāyin.
n.­175
Tib. pus ka ra sa ra; likely a Tibetan transliteration for Puṣkarasārin. There is no story devoted to Puṣkarasārin in the Karmaśataka, so here the text is referring the reader to an outside source. There are stories preserved about this figure in the Divyāvadāna, where a brahmin named Puṣkarasārin figures in the narrative of the Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna; the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya; and in Pāli literature where his name is recorded as Pukkasāti.
n.­176
Here the king is listing the four types of formless meditative absorptions (Tib. gzugs med snyoms ’jug bzhi, Skt. catvāri arūpasamāpatti), cf. Rigzin (2008) p. 369.
n.­177
Here and throughout this passage, “cruel” renders the Tib. gtum po (Skt. caṇḍa) and so constitutes a kind of play on words.
n.­178
Tib. pad ma yi bla ma. This is the title given in the contents section for this part; however, in the first story it is shortened to “Padma” (Tib. pad ma), and in the second story, it is shortened to Uttama. We have rendered all instances according to the title given in the contents section, Padmottama.
n.­179
Tib. rin chen gtsug tor can; Skt. Ratnaśikhin. In the contents section the title of this story is given as the Tib. rin chen gtsug tor, and here simply as rin po che, both of which we take as abbreviations for the Tib. rin chen gtsug tor can, given at the end of the story, and which we use to translate throughout.
n.­180
“Vijaya,” for the Tib. rnam par rgyal ba; title taken from the contents section, and reappears at the end of the story. At this point in the text, the title of the story is actually given as the Tib. stobs phrog, Skt. perhaps *Balaharī, Eng. perhaps “Steals Away Strength.” We have followed the contents section and rectified accordingly.
n.­181
D Tib. mi ’drul ba we take as a variant/mistaken spelling of S mi ’grul bar, “not travel with,” i.e., “not cavort with”; similarly, J and C have mi mthun par, “not associate with.”
n.­182
“The six teachers”; Tib. ston pa drug, a reference to the six teachers of false doctrines, Pūraṇa Kāśyapa and so forth, cf. 6.­56.
n.­183
Tib. bsgo ba; one of the rare instances where a verb other than bka’ stsal pa is used when the Blessed One speaks.
n.­184
Tib. pad ma yi bla ma. This is the title given in the contents section for this part; however, here it is shortened to “Padma” (Tib. pad ma), and in the second story, it is shortened to Uttama. We have rendered all instances according to the title given in the contents section, Padmottama.
n.­185
Read according to S: srung ba zhig ’dug pa’i mtsho. D reads: srung ma’i gnas dga’ ldan kyi pad ma’i mtsho.
n.­186
This is short for Padmottama (padma-uttama).
n.­187
Tib. rin chen gtsug tor can; Skt. Ratnaśikhin. In the contents section the title of this story is given as the Tib. rin chen gtsug tor, and here simply as rin po che, both of which we take as abbreviations for the Tib. rin chen gtsug tor can, given at the end of the story, and which we use to translate throughout.
n.­188
“Vijaya,” for the Tib. rnam par rgyal ba; title taken from the contents section, and reappears at the end of the story. At this point in the text, the title of the story is actually given as the Tib. stobs phrog, Skt. perhaps *Balaharī, Eng. perhaps “Steals Away Strength.” We have followed the contents section and rectified accordingly.
n.­189
“Father, or The Story of Sudarśana”; this title combines two different titles—the one given in the contents section (“The Story of Sudarśana”) and that given as a heading to the story itself (“Father”).
n.­190
Translating with S bram ze de.
n.­191
“Arranged for their marriages,” for D mchis brang dang bcas te btsems te. The Tib. btsems here is obscure; lit. “to sew.” It might carry a connotation similar to “to bring together.” Scribes also seemed to have trouble interpreting this: J and C are missing btsems te; K has instead the nearly repetitive bcas ste; N has bcas te brtsams te; and KY gives the alternative spelling btsem ste.
n.­192
D and S read tshems dang sbyar, which is obscure. KY, K, and C read tshogs instead of tshems. This line is rendered roughly according to the parallel prose passage above.
n.­193
This rendering is conjectural. D has de na min; KY, K, N, H, and S read bden mo min.
n.­194
Here the Tibetan brjid is corrected to brjed.
n.­195
Similar to the passage at 1.­16, but missing the second line, “All compounded things are suffering” (Tib. zag bcas thams cad sdug bsngal ba).
n.­196
“Pit traps,” obscure Tib. ’jol rlubs; this translation is surmised on the basis of rlubs, “pit.”
n.­197
“Father, or The Story of Sudarśana”; this title combines two different titles—the one given in the contents section (“The Story of Sudarśana”) and that given as a heading to the story itself (“Father”).
n.­198
D: “in the garden of Prince Jeta,” while S: “in Bamboo Grove” (vol. 81, F.144.a). The latter is correct considering the story’s setting in Rājagṛha. We have translated accordingly.
n.­199
Tib. bsgrogs, S ’grogs.
n.­200
D: zin; S: zun. This translation follows S.
n.­201
“What’s wrong with me?” is here an interpretive reading of the Tib. phrase ci’i phyir bdag ’di kho na ltar ma rung bar gyur; alt. more lit. “How is it that I have become ruined like this?” or the like.
n.­202
S, N, and H read rmos pa: “Plowman.”
n.­203
Here the Tib. lacks “King.”
n.­204
Tib. bzang sde’i sde mtshan rnams.
n.­205
This is read according to S: tshig dang / rtog pa dang / dpyod pa’o/—based on Kauśika’s response just below.
n.­206
This is read according to S: stog pa dang spyod pa.
n.­207
Reading S, KY, K, N, and H: sred, instead of D: srid.
n.­208
Reading S, KY, K, N, and H: sred, instead of D: srid.
n.­209
While D has rtogs pa, we translate with S, KY, K, N, H rtog pa. Read as rtogs pa, an alt. rendering might be, “Understanding has no end. / Still, I have my qualms and doubts.”
n.­210
“Blessed One”; this vocative does not appear in the Tib. We add it here to clarify the shift to second person.
n.­211
Corrected to bde ba from dben pa based on the sense of the passage, the appearance of the former in parallel passages, and the rarity of the latter’s occurence with phan pa; this is the only appearance of such throughout the entire Degé Kangyur.
n.­212
Tib. nga phyin ka log tu dam por bcings. Perhaps phyin ka log is a reference to hands tied behind the back, i.e., “the wrong way.” In that case alt. “tie my hands behind me.”
n.­213
Read according to D: mchi. S and K have instead: ’chi, “to die,” which would change this phrase to “I don’t know who will die where.”
n.­214
Tib. lag ’ongs.
n.­215
Tib. des nye dus bshugs pa tsam gyis. Alt. “handouts.”
n.­216
Devadatta and Venerable Ānanda were brothers.
n.­217
’dis bdag la lan gnyis khron par lhung ba las phyung na mi rung gis/. The Tibetan does indeed say that the hunter freed him from the well “twice,” despite the fact that this only happens once in this particular version of the story.
n.­218
D: de’i tshe mi’i rgyal po la gsol ba gang yin pa de; KY, K: de’i tshe mi rgyal po la gsol ba gang yin pa de. This translation follows the reading in the KY and K editions of the Kangyur.
n.­219
Regarding the title: S, N, and H read rmos pa: “Plowman.”
n.­220
D: zhing blas; S: zhing las. This translation follows S.
n.­221
Tib. bsang ba (Lozang Jamspal).
n.­222
Tib. yang dag par shes pa, possibly a reference to yang dag par shes pa’i ye shes bzhi, the “four right cognitions [of the mode of being of phenomena]” (Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary).
n.­223
Read according to KY and K, which have kha cig ’khor. D reads khu bcud ’khor; S, N, and H read khu bcud ’dod.
n.­224
“Heaps” (Skt. skandha, Tib. phung po) here is a play on words; it means the physical body, the psycho-physical aggregates, and a mass of material, such as a pile of wood for use in a sacrificial fire.
n.­225
This is a conjectural rendering based on S: phung po med pa zhi mchog ci yang med/ /’dod dang srid la ma chags gzhan mi ’gyur/. The first line of D reads instead: phung po med pa zhi bcom ci yang med/.
n.­226
This line is read according to S, KY, K, N, and H: kyi gshis; D has kyis gshegs. gshis is here taken as a rendering of the Sanskrit word marman, which means “vital point,” “hidden meaning,” and related terms.
n.­227
According to KY: gtan pa phebs par legs par ’ongs; D reads gtan la phebs pas les par ’ongs.
n.­228
Here and throughout this section, KY, K, N, and H read simply bdag gi, or bdag gi ba, which would mean “mine” instead of “my self.”
n.­229
Tib. tshal ba rnams, which probably renders the Skt. bhṛtya; an alt. reading might be “vegetable eaters.”
n.­230
Tib. rab gnon rnams; alt. may refer to the rulers of a city of demigods.
n.­231
Tib. gyod cig la btags; alt. perhaps “charged with a crime,” “accused of some mistake.”
n.­232
The title here lacks “King” in Tib.
n.­233
Tib. byang chub kyi phyogs.
n.­234
Here the Tib. changes to byang chub kyi yan lag, from byang chub kyi phyogs.
n.­235
Tib. ’gog pa la rten pa; the phrase “of the afflictive emotions” has been added for clarity.
n.­236
Rendered based on K and KY: /bcom ldan snyung tshabs che ba bas/ /gnod pa de las gzhegs par gyur/. This has readings shared also with S, N, and H. D, however, reads: /bcom ldan snyun tshabs che ba las/ gnod pa de las zhi bar gyur/.
n.­237
Reading S, KY, K bdag gi instead of D bdag gis.
n.­238
Here again reading H bdag gi, or S bdag, instead of D bdag gis. KY, K, and N are missing bdag and gis/gi.
n.­239
“Adherents”; Tib. rtsa ’jing. While Dan Martin and Ives Waldo translate this only as “family,” or the like, we take it for the Skt. pakṣa, per the Yogācārabhūmi glossary (Tibetan and Himalayan Library), and thus, per Monier-Williams, as “adherents.” Appearing with bgyi, below, as “to take (someone’s) side (in an argument).”
n.­240
S: bdag cag gis; D and variants recorded in the Comparative Edition all read bdag cag gi. This translation follows S.
n.­241
Tib. bshig. This seems to be a usage of ’jig pa particular to the vinaya. Cf. similar usage on vol. 74, F.127.a (10.­441).
n.­242
“Egregious, intransigent, destructive views”; it is unclear in the text whether the monk in question is referring to his own views (in regret) or those of his accusers (in defiance). Our translation had provisionally read “my egregious . . . ,” but we ultimately decided to leave the translation as ambiguous as the original. For a similar account of this schism and the associated vinaya rules, cf. Horner (1951) pp. 483–518.
n.­243
skabs ’byed pa’i las literally means “act of opening an opportunity”; it refers to the pravāraṇa, or the “lifting of restrictions” ceremony held at the end of each summer rains retreat, in which monks are given an “opportunity,” otherwise prohibited, to oppose and debate what was heard, seen, or suspected while undertaking a rains retreat (cf. Mahā­vyutpatti, pravāraṇa).
b.

Bibliography

Source Texts

las brgya tham pa (Karmaśataka). Toh 340, Degé Kangyur vol. 73 (mdo sde, ha), folios 1.b–309.a, and vol. 74 (mdo sde, a), folios 1.b–128.b.

las brgya tham 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), 2006–2009, vol. 73, pp. 3–837, and vol. 74, pp. 3–398.

las brgya tham pa (Karmaśataka). Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 80 (mdo sde, dza), folios 2–825, and vol. 81 (mdo sde, a), folios 2–474.

Works Cited
Sanskrit Works

Gnoli, Raniero and Venkatacharya, T., ed. The Gilgit manuscript of the Saṅghabhedavastu: Being the 17th and last section of the Vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivādin, Part I. Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1977.

Vaidya, P. L., ed. Avadāna-Śataka. Darbhanga: Mithilā Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1958.

Tibetan Works

Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i gter mdzod. In: gsung ’bum (zhol par ma/ ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa), vol 24 (ya), pp. 633–1055. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–1971. English translations: see Obermiller, and Stein and Zangpo, below.

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.

chos kyi ’khor lo rab tu bskor ba’i mdo (Dharmacakrapravartanasūtra). Toh 31, Degé Kangyur vol. 45 (mdo sde, ka), folios 180b–83a.

dge slong ma’i so sor thar pa’i mdo (Bhikṣunīprātimokṣasūtra). Toh 4, Degé Kangyur vol. 9 (’dul ba, ta), folios 1b–25a.

’dul ba’i mdo (Vinayasūtra). Toh 4117, Degé Tengyur vol. 261 (’dul ba, wu), folios 1a–100b.

so sor thar pa’i mdo (Prātimokṣasūtra). Toh 2, Degé Kangyur vol. 5 (’dul ba, ca), folios 1b–20a.

Secondary Sources

Ancient Tibet: Research Materials from the Yeshe De Project. Berkeley, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1986.

Angdu, Sonam. Tibeto-Sanskrit Lexographical Materials. Leh, Ladakh: Basgo Tongspon Publication, 1973.

Berzin, Alexander. “The Thirty-two Excellent Signs (Major Marks) of a Buddha’s Enlightening Body.” The Buddhist Archives of Dr. Alexander Berzin. Accessed February 2, 2013.

Obermiller, E., trans. The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet by Bu Ston (Chos-ḥbyung). Materialien zur Kunde des Buddhismus 13. Heidelberg: Institut für Buddhismus-Kunde, 1932. Reprinted Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1986.

Burnouf, Eugène. Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism. Translated by K. Buffetrille and Donald. S. Lopez, Jr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.

Chandra, Lokesh. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary. Kyōto-shi: Rinsen Shoten, 1982.

Chandra Das, Sarat. A Tibetan-English Dictionary, with Sanskrit Synonyms. Revised and edited by Graham Sandberg and A. William Heyde. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991.

Chandrakīrti and Mikyo Dorje. The Moon of Wisdom: Chapter Six of Chandrakirti’s Entering the Middle Way. Translated by Ari Goldfield et al. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2005.

Chutiwongs, Nandana. “On the Jātaka reliefs at Cula Pathon Cetiya.” Journal of the Siam Society 66, no. 1 (1978): 133–51.

Duff, Tony. The Illuminator Tibetan-English Encyclopaedic Dictionary [computer software]. Kathmandu, Nepal: Padma Karpo Translation Committee.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee. The Play in Full. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee. The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.

Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary (Volume II: Dictionary). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.

Feer, M. Léon. “Le Karma-Çataka.” Journal Asiatique 17 (1901): 53–100, 257–315, 410–86.

Gampopa. The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: The Wish-Fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings. Translated by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1998.

Gö Lotsāwa. The Blue Annals. Translated by George N. Roerich. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 1996.

Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma. Ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische. übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Kritische Neuausgabe mit Einleitung und Materialien. Vol. 367 of Philosphisch-Historische Klasse Denkschriften. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2009.

Horner, I.B., trans. The Book of Discipline (Vinaya-Piṭaka), Vol. I (Suttavibhaṅga). Sacred Books of the Buddhists, Vol. X. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1938.

———. The Book of Discipline (Vinaya-Piṭaka), Vol. IV (Mahā­vagga). Sacred Books of the Buddhists, Vol. XIV. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1951.

Jamspal, Lozang. “The Thirty-Seven Wings of Enlightenment.” Lecture conducted at International Buddhist College, Pak Thong Chai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, September 10, 2012.

Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1979.

Lessing, F.D. and A. Wayman. Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983.

The Mahā­bhārata I: The Book of the Beginning. Edited and translated by Van Buitenen, J.A.B. University of Chicago Press, 1973.

Malalasekera, Gunapala Piyasena. Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names. Melksham, UK: Pali Text Society, 1937–1938/1997. Accessed February 2, 2013.

Martin, Dan. Tibetan–English Dictionary [computer software]. Kathmandu, Nepal: Rangjung Yeshe Institute.

Miller, Robert. The Chapter on Going Forth (Pravrajyāvastu, Toh 1-1). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.

Miller, Robert. The Chapter on a Schism in the Saṅgha (Saṅghabhedavastu, Toh 1-17). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, forthcoming.

Monier-Williams, Sir Monier. A Sanskṛit-English dictionary: etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-Saxon, and other cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888.

Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna’s Letter: Nāgārjuna’s Letter to a Friend. Translated by Lobsang Therchin and Artimus B. Engel. Reprint edition, Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 1995.

National Disability Authority. Appropriate Terms to Use. Retrieved November 20, 2017.

Nattier, Jan. Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline. Berkeley, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1991.

Negi, J. S. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary, vols. 1–16. Sarnath, India: Dictionary Unit, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 2003.

Przyluski, Jean, and Marcelle Lalou. “Récits populaires et contes bouddhiques.” Journal Asiatique 228 (1936): 177–91.

Rangjung Yeshe and Erik Pema Kunsang. Tibetan–English Dictionary [computer software]. Kathmandu, Nepal: Rangjung Yeshe Institute.

Ray, Reginald. Buddhist Saints in India. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Rigzin, Tsepak. Tibetan-English Dictionary of Buddhist Terminology. Dharamsala: LTWA, 2008.

Rotman, Andy, trans. Divine Stories: Divyāvadāna Part 1. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008.

Sarkar, Sadhanchandra. A Study on the Jātakas and the Avadānas: Critical and Comparative, vol. 1. Calcutta: Saraswat Library, 1981.

Sastri, Gaurinath. A Concise History of Classical Sanskrit Literature. London: Oxford University Press, 1960.

Skilling, Peter. “Theravādin Literature in Tibetan Translation.” Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. XIX (1993), pp 69–201.

———. “From bKa’ bstan bcos to bKa’ ’gyur and bsTan ’gyur.” In Transmission of the Tibetan Canon. Edited by Helmut Eimer, 87–112. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997.

———. “Eṣā Agrā: Images of Nuns in (Mūla-)Sarvāstivādin Literature.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 24, no. 2 (2001): 135–56.

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Winternitz, Maurice. History of Indian Literature, vol. 2. Translated and revised by B. Jha. Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan, 1987.

g.

Glossary

g.­1

Abhaya

  • ’jigs med
  • འཇིགས་མེད།
  • Abhaya

A future solitary buddha.

2 passages contain this term
g.­2

Abodes of the Four Great Kings

  • rgyal chen bzhi’i ris
  • རྒྱལ་ཆེན་བཞིའི་རིས།
  • Cāturmahā­rājakāyika

One of the heavens of Buddhist cosmology, lowest among the six heavens of the desire realm. Dwelling place of the four great kings, traditionally located on a terrace of Sumeru, just below the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.

12 passages contain this term
g.­3

Absorption of neither discrimination nor non-discrimination

  • ’du shes min ’du shes med min
  • ’du shes min ’du shes med min gyi snyom ’jug
  • འདུ་ཤེས་མིན་འདུ་ཤེས་མེད་མིན།
  • འདུ་ཤེས་མིན་འདུ་ཤེས་མེད་མིན་གྱི་སྙོམ་འཇུག
  • naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñā

Fourth of the four types of formless meditative absorptions (caturārūpyasamāpatti, gzugs med snyoms ’jug bzhi) (Rigzin 369).

2 passages contain this term
g.­5

Act whose fourth member is a motion

  • gsol ba dang bzhi’i las
  • གསོལ་བ་དང་བཞིའི་ལས།
  • jñāpticaturthakarman

A formal act of the saṅgha that requires an initial motion followed by the statement of the proposed act, repeated three times. Such an act is required for several proceedings—among other occasions, to fully ordain someone, or to officially admonish an intransigent monk.

2 passages contain this term
g.­6

Act whose second member is a motion

  • gsol ba dang gnyis kyi las
  • གསོལ་བ་དང་གཉིས་ཀྱི་ལས།
  • jñāptidvitīyakarman

A formal act of the saṅgha that requires an initial motion followed by the statement of the proposed act. Such an act is needed to grant the vows of full ordination to a nun, among other occasions.

2 passages contain this term
g.­7

Action

  • las
  • ལས།
  • karma

Any volitional act, whether of body, speech, or mind. Also rendered here as “act,” “karma,” and “deed.”

239 passages contain this term
g.­8

Adumā

  • a du ma
  • ཨ་དུ་མ།
  • adumā
  • Udumā

The name of the town where Kaineya lived; traditionally spelled Udumā, the rendering in The Hundred Deeds may be derived from the Pāli/Prakṛt form Ātumā.

7 passages contain this term
g.­9

Affinity

  • dga’ ba
  • དགའ་བ།
  • —

An afflictive emotion.

6 passages contain this term
g.­10

Afflictive emotion

  • nyong mongs
  • ཉོང་མོངས།
  • kleśa

Also called “delusions,” “afflictions,” or “addictive emotions,” these are mental states that produce turmoil and confusion and thus disturb mental peace and happiness (Rigzin 133).

359 passages contain this term
g.­11

Aggregates

  • phung po rnams
  • ཕུང་པོ་རྣམས།
  • skandha

In Buddhist philosophy, the five basic constituents upon which persons are conventionally designated. They are material forms, sensations, perceptions, formations, and consciousness.

31 passages contain this term
g.­12

Agnidatta (father of Śiṣyaka)

  • mes sbyin
  • མེས་སྦྱིན།
  • Agnidatta

A certain brahmin who in the future will be from the country of Pāṭaliputra, a master of the Vedas, and father of Śiṣyaka.

Not to be confused with Agnidatta (of Vārāṇasī), one of the magistrates of King Brahmadatta (past), nor with Agnidatta of the royal palace Śobhāvatī.

4 passages contain this term
g.­13

Agnidatta (of Śobhāvatī)

  • me sbyin
  • མེ་སྦྱིན།
  • Agnidatta

A certain brahmin of the royal palace Śobhāvatī during the time of Buddha Krakucchanda.

Not to be confused with Agnidatta of Vārāṇasī, nor with the Agnidatta (father of Śiṣyaka) prophesied to appear in the future, both of whose names are the slightly different Tib. mes sbyin.

3 passages contain this term
g.­14

Agnidatta (of Vārāṇasī)

  • mes sbyin
  • མེས་སྦྱིན།
  • Agnidatta

One of King Brahmadatta’s magistrates, from Vārāṇasī. Father of Son of Fire and Tongue of Fire.

Not to be confused with Agnidatta (father of Śiṣyaka) prophesied to appear in the future, nor with Agnidatta of the royal palace Śobhāvatī.

5 passages contain this term
g.­15

Aindra school of Sanskrit grammar

  • dbang po’i brda sprod pa
  • དབང་པོའི་བརྡ་སྤྲོད་པ།
  • Aindra Vyākaraṇa

Possibly the oldest school of Sanskrit grammar, by traditional accounts traced to the god Indra himself.

1 passage contains this term
g.­16

Ajiravatī River

  • khang ldan
  • ཁང་ལྡན།
  • Ajiravatī

The modern-day Rāptīnadī. L. Chandra gives Ajiravatī for the Tib. khyams ldan.

7 passages contain this term
g.­17

Ajita Keśakambala

  • mi ’pham skra’i la ba can
  • མི་འཕམ་སྐྲའི་ལ་བ་ཅན།
  • Ajita Keśakambala

One of the six philosophical extremists who lived during the time of Buddha Śākyamuni.

5 passages contain this term
g.­18

Ājñāta­kauṇḍinya

  • kun shes kaN+Di n+ya
  • ཀུན་ཤེས་ཀཎྜི་ནྱ།
  • Ājñāta­kauṇḍinya

Another name for Kauṇḍinya. One of the five monks present for the first teaching of the four noble truths; on account of his realization he became known as Venerable “All-Knowing Kauṇḍinya” or “Kauṇḍinya who understood” (Ājñāta­kauṇḍinya).

3 passages contain this term
g.­19

Akaniṣṭha

  • ’og min
  • འོག་མིན།
  • Akaniṣṭha

See “Supreme.”

2 passages contain this term
g.­20

All-Knowing One

  • thams cad mkhyen pa
  • ཐམས་ཅད་མཁྱེན་པ།
  • sarvajña

An epithet of the buddhas. Salutation to the All-Knowing One at the beginning of a Buddhist text typically indicates its designation in the Vinaya Piṭaka.

2 passages contain this term
g.­21

Amṛtā

  • bdud rtsi ma
  • བདུད་རྩི་མ།
  • Amṛtā

One of eight children, a daughter, of King Siṃhahanu of Kapilavastu.

3 passages contain this term
g.­22

Amṛtodana

  • bdud rtsi zas
  • བདུད་རྩི་ཟས།
  • Amṛtodana

One of eight children, a son, of King Siṃhahanu of Kapilavastu.

3 passages contain this term
g.­23

Analysis of phenomena

  • chos rnam par ’byed pa
  • ཆོས་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ།
  • dharmapravicaya
1 passage contains this term
g.­25

Anāthapiṇḍada

  • mgon med zas sbyin
  • མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན།
  • Anāthapiṇḍada

A wealthy householder of Śrāvastī renowned for his generosity, he spent a small fortune to purchase the garden of Prince Jeta, built a monastery there, and offered both to the Buddha.

36 passages contain this term
g.­26

Aṅgada

  • dpung rgyan
  • དཔུང་རྒྱན།
  • Aṅgada

Disciple of Śiṣyaka, he was prophesied by the Buddha to slay the arhat Sūrata, hastening the Dharma’s disappearance from this world.

7 passages contain this term
g.­28

Aniruddha

  • ma ’gags pa
  • མ་འགགས་པ།
  • Aniruddha

The Buddha’s first cousin, born of the Śākya clan, who was among the most eminent of the Buddha’s monastic disciples.

32 passages contain this term
g.­29

Antavān River

  • mtha’ ldan
  • chu klung mtha’ dang ldan pa
  • མཐའ་ལྡན།
  • ཆུ་ཀླུང་མཐའ་དང་ལྡན་པ།
  • Antavān

A river in the province of Mallā in the vicinity of Kuśinagarī.

1 passage contains this term
g.­30

Antipathy

  • mi dga’ ba
  • མི་དགའ་བ།
  • —

An afflictive emotion.

6 passages contain this term
g.­31

Aparājita

  • gzhan gyis mi thub pa
  • གཞན་གྱིས་མི་ཐུབ་པ།
  • Aparājita

A future buddha.

1 passage contains this term
g.­32

Appropriation

  • len pa
  • ལེན་པ།
  • upādāna

Ninth of the twelve links of dependent origination.

8 passages contain this term
g.­33

Āraṇyaka

  • dgon pa pa
  • dgon pa ba
  • དགོན་པ་པ།
  • དགོན་པ་བ།
  • Āraṇyaka

“Forest Dweller,” the name of the son of householders in Śrāvastī, he preferred seclusion, eventually attaining arhatship.

4 passages contain this term
g.­35

Arhatship

  • dgra bcom pa nyid
  • དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ་ཉིད།
  • arhattva

“The state of liberation [from saṃsāra via destruction of the afflictive emotions] or the fifth path of no more to learn, attained by arhats after perfecting training in the fourth path . . .” (Rigzin 60). In this text being “established . . . in the unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa”; also appears as a synonym for the attainment of arhatship.

397 passages contain this term
g.­36

Arthadarśin

  • don gzigs pa
  • don gzigs
  • དོན་གཟིགས་པ།
  • དོན་གཟིགས།
  • Arthadarśin

Name of a former buddha; also the name of a future buddha prophesied in The Hundred Deeds.

4 passages contain this term
g.­37

Āṣāḍha

  • chu stod
  • ཆུ་སྟོད།
  • Āṣāḍha

The name of a certain householder.

2 passages contain this term
g.­39

Ascetic practices

  • sbyangs pa’i yon tan
  • སྦྱངས་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན།
  • dhūtaguṇa

An optional set of thirteen practices that monastics can adopt in order to cultivate greater detachment. They consist of (1) wearing patched robes made from discarded cloth rather than from cloth donated by laypeople; (2) wearing only three robes; (3) going for alms; (4) not omitting any house while on the alms round, rather than begging only at those houses known to provide good food; (5) eating only what can be eaten in one sitting; (6) eating only food received in the alms bowl, rather than more elaborate meals presented to the saṅgha; (7) refusing more food after indicating one has eaten enough; (8) dwelling in the forest; (9) dwelling at the root of a tree; (10) dwelling in the open air, using only a tent made from one’s robes as shelter; (11) dwelling in a charnel ground; (12) satisfaction with whatever dwelling one has; and (13) sleeping in a sitting position without ever lying down.

3 passages contain this term
g.­40

Aśoka (future buddha)

  • mya ngan med
  • མྱ་ངན་མེད།
  • Aśoka

A future buddha.

Not to be confused with the young brahmin Aśoka who was Buddha Kāśyapa’s best friend prior to his enlightenment, nor with King Aśoka who does not appear in this text.

2 passages contain this term
g.­41

Aśoka (the brahmin)

  • mya ngan med
  • མྱ་ངན་མེད།
  • Aśoka

Young brahmin who was Buddha Kāśyapa’s best friend prior to his enlightenment. The Hundred Deeds is not clear on this point, but Edgerton notes that Aśoka is understood as the nephew and disciple of Buddha Kāśyapa (Edgerton 80.2).

Not to be confused with the future buddha Aśoka, nor with the historical King Aśoka who does not appear in this text.

9 passages contain this term
g.­42

Aspiration Well Sown

  • smon lam legs par btab pa
  • སྨོན་ལམ་ལེགས་པར་བཏབ་པ།
  • —

A future buddha.

1 passage contains this term
g.­43

Aśvakarṇa tree

  • shing rta rna
  • ཤིང་རྟ་རྣ།
  • aśvakarṇa

A species of tree; Vatica robusta.

3 passages contain this term
g.­44

Āśvāsa

  • dbugs chung
  • dbugs
  • དབུགས་ཆུང་།
  • དབུགས།
  • Āśvāsa
  • Alpāśvāsa

“Breath.” The previous incarnation of the great king Dhṛtarāṣṭra as a nāga king who lived on Mount Meru, he eventually went for refuge and took the fundamental precepts.

3 passages contain this term
g.­45

Aṭavika

  • ’brog gnas
  • འབྲོག་གནས།
  • Aṭavika

A certain yakṣa lord tamed by the Buddha.

3 passages contain this term
g.­46

Atharva Veda

  • srid srung gi rig byed
  • སྲིད་སྲུང་གི་རིག་བྱེད།
  • Atharvaveda

Along with the Ṛg Veda, Yajur Veda, and Sāma Veda, one of the four Vedas, the most ancient Sanskrit religious literature of India.

17 passages contain this term
g.­47

Attainment of seeing

  • mthong ba’i snyoms par ’jug pa
  • མཐོང་བའི་སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ།
  • darśanasamāpatti

Entry point for the path of seeing, this is the direct perception of things as they are, ultimate reality, suchness.

14 passages contain this term
g.­48

Augur

  • bye brag phyed pa
  • བྱེ་བྲག་ཕྱེད་པ།
  • —

An individual who is gifted in reading natural signs and omens.

6 passages contain this term
g.­49

Avanti

  • srung byed
  • སྲུང་བྱེད།
  • Avanti

A country visited by Venerable Upasena; home of Lotus Color.

1 passage contains this term
g.­50

Avarice

  • ser sna
  • སེར་སྣ།
  • mātsarya

An afflictive emotion.

7 passages contain this term
g.­51

Ayodhyā

  • ’thab med
  • འཐབ་མེད།
  • Ayodhyā

A city ruled by King Mahā­sena long before the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni. Also said to have been ruled by King Nāgadeva (rgyal po klu lha) before the time of Buddha Śākyamuni.

5 passages contain this term
g.­52

Bāhlika

  • ba lhi ka
  • བ་ལྷི་ཀ
  • Bāhlika

Appears in The Hundred Deeds as the name of a king and a people dwelling in the “barbaric outlying region” west of Jambudvīpa.

2 passages contain this term
g.­53

Bamboo Grove

  • ’od ma’i tshal
  • འོད་མའི་ཚལ།
  • Veṇuvana

A grove of bamboo trees in Rājagṛha, where Buddha Śākyamuni sometimes dwelt.

26 passages contain this term
g.­54

Band of Six

  • drug sde
  • དྲུག་སྡེ།
  • Ṣaḍvargika

A certain band of monks of the Buddha’s order who appear throughout the vinaya literature as examples of those who break the monastic rules. In Pāli their names are given as Assaji, Punabbasu, Panduka, Lohitaka, Mettiya, and Bhummaja. The Hundred Deeds contains one story in which they trick the nun Sthūlanandā into thinking that they can help her attain magical powers.

7 passages contain this term
g.­55

Bandhumat

  • gnyen yod
  • གཉེན་ཡོད།
  • Bandhumat

A king during the time of the Tathāgata Vipaśyin.

2 passages contain this term
g.­56

Bandhumatī

  • gnyen ldan
  • གཉེན་ལྡན།
  • Bandhumatī

A city of the (past) ninety-first eon and the birthplace of Buddha Vipaśyin. In The Hundred Deeds, two women offered Vipaśyin food there and made prayers, resulting in their rebirths as Buddha Śākyamuni’s mother Mahā­māyā and his aunt Māyā.

2 passages contain this term
g.­57

Base of the universe

  • gser gyi sa gzhi
  • གསེར་གྱི་ས་གཞི།
  • kāñcanamayī bhūmi
  • kāñcanacakra

Sometimes called the “golden ground,” or “universal base,” “The mythological basis of our known world. It is made of gold and situated below Mount Sumeru” (Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary).

3 passages contain this term
g.­58

Beautiful to See

  • blta na sdug
  • བལྟ་ན་སྡུག
  • Sudarśana

Peacock who overheard the Buddha teaching on Vulture Peak Mountain.

1 passage contains this term
g.­59

Becoming

  • srid pa
  • སྲིད་པ།
  • bhava

Tenth of the twelve links of dependent origination.

4 passages contain this term
g.­60

Bhadra

  • bzang po
  • བཟང་པོ།
  • Bhadra

The name of the charioteer Subhadra’s son who is ordained, attains arhatship, and leads his parents to attain stream entry and go forth.

3 passages contain this term
g.­61

Bhādra

  • khrums stod
  • grum stod
  • khrum stod
  • ཁྲུམས་སྟོད།
  • གྲུམ་སྟོད།
  • ཁྲུམ་སྟོད།
  • Bhādra
1 passage contains this term
g.­62

Bhikṣuṇī

  • dge slong ma
  • དགེ་སློང་མ།
  • bhikṣuṇī

A fully ordained nun. Also rendered here simply as “nun.”

6 passages contain this term
g.­63

Bhūta (a brahmin)

  • ’byung po
  • འབྱུང་པོ།
  • Bhūta

The name of a certain brahmin who lived in Rājagṛha.

Not to be confused with Bhūta, the name of a merchant and a dog, and a certain class of evil beings.

1 passage contains this term
g.­64

Bhūta (the merchant and the dog)

  • ’byung po
  • འབྱུང་པོ།
  • Bhūta

The name of a certain householder’s dog and the name given to the lost infant it carried home to its owner one night, which would one day be reunited with his birth mother.

Also the name of a certain brahmin who lived in Rājagṛha, and the name of a certain class of evil beings.

6 passages contain this term
g.­65

Bimbisāra

  • bzo sbyangs gzugs can snying po
  • gzugs can snying po
  • བཟོ་སྦྱངས་གཟུགས་ཅན་སྙིང་པོ།
  • གཟུགས་ཅན་སྙིང་པོ།
  • Śreṇiya Bimbisāra
  • Bimbisāra

King of Magadha, the Buddha established him in the truth in Gayā. Also rendered here as “Śreṇiya Bimbisāra.”

31 passages contain this term
g.­66

Birth

  • skye ba
  • སྐྱེ་བ།
  • jāti

Eleventh of the twelve links of dependent origination.

4 passages contain this term
g.­67

Black (a brahmin)

  • nag po
  • ནག་པོ།
  • Kāla
  • Kṛṣṇa

A certain dark-complected brahmin youth who became a sage, then heard the Dharma from the Buddha, became ordained, and manifested arhatship.

Not to be confused with Black the yakṣa who also appears in his story, nor with Kāla the nāga king (whose name in Tib. is the same nag po).

13 passages contain this term
g.­68

Black (a yakṣa)

  • nag po
  • ནག་པོ།
  • Kāla
  • Kṛṣṇa

A certain yakṣa tamed by the Buddha and subsequently sworn to protect the people of Rājagṛha.

Not to be confused with Black the brahmin who also appears in his story, nor with Kāla the nāga king.

4 passages contain this term
g.­69

Black Thread Hell

  • thig nag
  • ཐིག་ནག
  • Kālasūtra

Second of the eight hot hells of Buddhist cosmology. The guardians of the Black Thread Hell mark the bodies of its inhabitants with a black thread before cutting and slicing them apart along those lines.

8 passages contain this term
g.­70

Blessed buddha

  • sangs rgyas bcom ldan ’das
  • སངས་རྒྱས་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
  • buddhabhagavān

An epithet of the buddhas.

350 passages contain this term
g.­71

Blessed one

  • bcom ldan ’das
  • བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
  • bhagavān

An epithet of the buddhas.

1,275 passages contain this term