• The Collection
  • The Tengyur
  • Sūtra commentary and philosophy
  • Perfection of Wisdom

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འཕགས་པ་ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་འབུམ་པ་དང་། ཉི་ཁྲི་ལྔ་སྟོང་པ་དང་། ཁྲི་བརྒྱད་སྟོང་པའི་རྒྱ་ཆེར་བཤད་པ།

The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines
Explanation of the Maitreya Chapter: Chapter 83

*Ārya­śata­sāhasrikā­pañca­viṃśati­sāhasrikāṣṭā­daśa­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā­bṛhaṭṭīkā
by
  • Daṃṣṭrasena (Diṣṭasena)?
  • Vasubandhu?
Translated into Tibetan by
  • Surendrabodhi
  • Yeshé Dé
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Toh 3808

Degé Tengyur, vol. 93 (sher phyin, pha), folios 1.b–292.b

Translated by Gareth Sparham
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2022
Current version v 1.2.3 (2023)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.19.1

84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· The Translator’s Acknowledgments
· Acknowledgement of Sponsorhip
i. Introduction
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· The Work, its Tibetan Translation, and its Titles and Monikers
· The Work and its Original Author
· Structure of Bṭ3
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· Introduction
· Explanation of the Doctrine
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· Brief teaching
· Intermediate teaching
· Detailed teaching
· Summary of the Chapters of Bṭ3
+ 7 sections- 7 sections
· I. Introduction
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· I.1 Introduction common to all sūtras
· I.2 Introduction unique to the Perfection of Wisdom
· I.3 Presentation of the single vehicle system
· II. Summary of Contents
· III. Explanation of the Brief Teaching
· IV. Explanation of the Intermediate Teaching
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· IV.1 Brief teaching
· IV.2 Detailed teaching
· V. Explanation of the Detailed Teaching
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· V.1 Part One
· V.2 Part Two
· VI. Explanation of the Maitreya Chapter
· Using This Commentary with the Long Sūtras
tr. The Translation
+ 7 sections- 7 sections
1. Introduction
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· Introduction common to all sūtras
· Introduction unique to the Perfection of Wisdom
+ 5 sections- 5 sections
· First, radiating light from the major and minor parts of the body
· Second, radiating light from the pores of the body
· Third, radiating natural light
· Fourth, radiating light from the tongue
· Helping the world of inhabitant beings
· Presentation of the single vehicle system
2. Summary of Contents
3. Explanation of the Brief Teaching
4. Explanation of the Intermediate Teaching
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Brief teaching
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Practice of the perfections
· Practice of the dharmas on the side of awakening
· Practice without harming that brings beings to maturity
· Practice that brings the buddhadharmas to maturity
· Detailed Teaching
+ 8 sections- 8 sections
· Why bodhisattvas endeavor
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· They want to make themselves familiar with the three vehicles
· They want the greatnesses of bodhisattvas
· They want the greatnesses of buddhas
· How bodhisattvas endeavor
· The defining marks of those who endeavor
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· The intrinsic nature of each‍—of form and so on, separately‍—that cannot be apprehended
· The intrinsic nature of them as a collection that cannot be apprehended
· Their defining marks that cannot be apprehended
· The totality of dharmas that cannot be apprehended
· Those who endeavor
· Instructions for the endeavor
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Instructions for making an effort by using names and conventional terms conventionally
· Instructions for making an effort without apprehending beings
· Instructions for making an effort by not apprehending words for things
· Instructions for making an effort when all dharmas cannot be apprehended
· Benefits of the endeavor
· Subdivisions of the endeavor
+ 6 sections- 6 sections
· Practice free from the two extremes
· Practice that does not stand
· Practice that does not fully grasp
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· Not Fully Grasping Dharmas
· Not Fully Grasping Causal Signs
· Not Fully Grasping Understanding
· Practice that has made a full investigation
· Practice of method
· Practice for quickly fully awakening
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Training in the meditative stabilization spheres
· Training in not apprehending all dharmas
· Training in the illusion-like
· Training in skillful means
· Specific instruction for coming to an authoritative conclusion about this exposition
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Part One: The twenty-eight [or twenty-nine] questions
+ 13 sections- 13 sections
· 1a. What is the meaning of the word bodhisattva?
· 1b. What is the meaning of the term great being?
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· The Lord’s intention
· Śāriputra’s intention
· Subhūti’s intention
· 1c. How are they armed with great armor?
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Pūrṇa’s intention
· 2. How have they set out in the Great Vehicle?
· 3. How do they stand in the Great Vehicle?
· 6. How is it a great vehicle?
+ 19 sections- 19 sections
· 2. Great Vehicle of all the emptinesses
· 3. Great Vehicle of all the meditative stabilizations
· 4. Great Vehicle of the applications of mindfulness
· 5. Great Vehicle of the right abandonments
· 6. Great Vehicle of the legs of miraculous power
· 7. Great Vehicle of the faculties
· 8. Great Vehicle of the powers
· 9. Great Vehicle of the limbs of awakening
· 10. Great Vehicle of the path
· 11. Great Vehicle of the liberations
· 12. Great Vehicle of the knowledges
· 13. Great Vehicle of the three faculties
· 14. Great Vehicle of the three meditative stabilizations
· 15–16. Great Vehicle of the mindfulnesses and the five absorptions
· 17. Great Vehicle of the ten powers
+ 8 sections- 8 sections
· First power
· Second power
· Third power
· Fourth power
· Fifth power
· Sixth power
· Seventh power
· Eighth to tenth powers
· 18. Great Vehicle of the four fearlessnesses
· 19. Great Vehicle of the four detailed and thorough knowledges
· 20. Great Vehicle of the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha
· 21. Great Vehicle of the dhāraṇī gateways
· 7. How have they come to set out in the Great Vehicle?
· 8. From where will the Great Vehicle go forth?
· 9. Where will that Great Vehicle stand?
· 10. Who will go forth in this vehicle?
· 11. It surpasses the world with its gods, humans, and asuras and goes forth. Is that why it is called a great vehicle?
· 12. That vehicle is equal to space
· The remaining sixteen questions
· Part Two
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· The results of paying attention to the nonconceptual
· The questions and responses of the two elders
5. Explanation of the Detailed Teaching
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Part One
+ 7 sections- 7 sections
· Explanation of Chapters 22 and 23
+ 5 sections- 5 sections
· What is the bodhisattva great beings’ perfection of wisdom?
· How should bodhisattva great beings stand in the perfection of wisdom?
· How should bodhisattva great beings train in the perfection of wisdom?
· The sustaining power of the tathāgata
· The perfection of wisdom is great, immeasurable, infinite, and limitless
· Explanation of Chapters 24 to 33
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· Beneficial qualities
· Merits
· Rejoicing and dedication
· Explanation of Chapters 34 to 36
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Wheel of the Dharma and the perfection of wisdom
· Not bound and not freed
· Purity
· Attachment and nonattachment
· Explanation of Chapters 37 and 38
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Benefits of purity
· Glosses
· Explanation of Chapters 39 to 42
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Absence of a practice and signs of completion
· Last of the five hundreds
· Explanation of the work of Māra
· Revealing this world
· Explanation of Chapters 43 to 45
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Marks
· Appreciation and gratitude
· How those new to the bodhisattva vehicle train
· Nine qualities of the doers of the difficult
· Explanation of Chapters 46 to 50
+ 6 sections- 6 sections
· Cultivation and disintegration
· Suchness and its indivisibility
· Shaking of the universe
· Synonyms of suchness
· Is it hard or not hard to become awakened?
· Signs of bodhisattvas irreversible from progress toward awakening
· Part Two
+ 6 sections- 6 sections
· Subhūti’s Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven Questions
· Explanation of Chapters 51 to 55
+ 5 sections- 5 sections
· The deep places
· Which moment of thought causes awakening?
· Karma in a dream and the waking state
· Fully mastering emptiness
· Questions 18 to 27
· Explanation of Chapters 56 to 63
+ 5 sections- 5 sections
· No duality and no nonduality
· Cyclic existence and nirvāṇa
· Standing in the knowledge of all aspects
· The three knowledges
· The meaning of pāramitā
· Explanation of Chapters 64 to 72
· Explanation of Chapter 73
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Major marks and minor signs of a buddha
· Explanation of Chapters 74 to 82
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Emptiness of a basic nature
6. Explanation of the Maitreya Chapter: Chapter 83
c. Colophon
ap. Outline
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 4 sections- 4 sections
· Primary Sources‍—Tibetan
· Primary Sources‍—Sanskrit
· Secondary References
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Sūtras
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Indic Commentaries
+ 1 section- 1 section
· Indigenous Tibetan Works
· Secondary Literature
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines is a detailed explanation of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, presenting a structural framework for them that is relatively easy to understand in comparison to most other commentaries based on Maitreya-Asaṅga’s Ornament for the Clear Realizations. After a detailed, word-by-word explanation of the introductory chapter common to all three sūtras, it explains the structure they also all share in terms of the three approaches or “gateways”‍—brief, intermediate, and detailed‍—ending with an explanation of the passage known as the “Maitreya chapter” found only in the Eighteen Thousand Line and Twenty-Five Thousand Line sūtras. It goes by many different titles, and its authorship has never been conclusively determined, some Tibetans believing it to be by Vasubandhu, and others that it is by Daṃṣṭrāsena.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This commentary was translated by Gareth Sparham under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

The Translator’s Acknowledgments

ac.­2

I thank the late Gene Smith, who initially encouraged me to undertake this work, and I thank all of those at 84000‍—Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, the sponsors, and the scholars, translators, editors, and technicians‍—and all the other indispensable people whose work has made this translation possible.

I thank all the faculty and graduate students in the Group in Buddhist Studies at Berkeley, and Jan Nattier, whose seminars on the Perfection of Wisdom were particularly helpful. At an early stage, Paul Harrison and Ulrich Pagel arranged for me to see a copy of an unpublished Sanskrit manuscript of a sūtra cited in Bṭ3. I thank them for that assistance.

I also take this opportunity to thank the abbot of Drepung Gomang monastery, Losang Gyaltsen, and the retired director of the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics, Kalsang Damdul, for listening to some of my questions and giving learned and insightful responses.

Finally, I acknowledge the kindness of my mother, Ann Sparham, who recently passed away in her one hundredth year, and my wife Janet Seding.

Acknowledgement of Sponsorhip

ac.­3

We gratefully acknowledge the generous sponsorship of Kelvin Lee, Doris Lim, Chang Chen Hsien, Lim Cheng Cheng, Ng Ah Chon and family, Lee Hoi Lang and family, the late Lee Tiang Chuan, and the late Chang Koo Cheng. Their support has helped make the work on this translation possible.


i.

Introduction

i.­1

The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines (hereafter Bṭ3) is a line-by-line explanation of the three Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, presenting a structural framework common to all three sūtras that is easy for readers unfamiliar with the Perfection of Wisdom to understand. It should not be confused with the commentary with which it is often associated, The Long Commentary on the One Hundred Thousand (hereafter Bṭ1), which has the same generic name Bṛhaṭṭīkā, the same opening verse of homage, and many similar passages. The two works are grouped together in the Degé Tengyur and are described in Tsultrim Rinchen’s Karchak (dkar chag) of the Degé Tengyur as together constituting the third of the four great “pathbreaker” traditions of interpreting the Perfection of Wisdom, which is characterized by the “three approaches and eleven formulations” (sgo gsum rnam grangs bcu gcig).1

The Work, its Tibetan Translation, and its Titles and Monikers

The Work and its Original Author

Structure of Bṭ329

Introduction

Explanation of the Doctrine

Brief teaching

Intermediate teaching

Detailed teaching

Summary of the Chapters of Bṭ3

I. Introduction

I.1 Introduction common to all sūtras

I.2 Introduction unique to the Perfection of Wisdom

I.3 Presentation of the single vehicle system

II. Summary of Contents

III. Explanation of the Brief Teaching

IV. Explanation of the Intermediate Teaching

IV.1 Brief teaching

IV.2 Detailed teaching

V. Explanation of the Detailed Teaching

V.1 Part One

V.2 Part Two

VI. Explanation of the Maitreya Chapter

Using This Commentary with the Long Sūtras


The Translation
The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines

1.

Introduction

[F.1.b] [B1]38


1.­1

We prostrate to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta.

Introduction common to all sūtras

1.­2
Having reverently bowed to the Mother of Victors,
The foremost perfection in the form of wisdom,
I want to make a Path where the Thorns Have Been Trodden Down
Because the tradition of the gurus has been of benefit to me.39
1.­3

Thus did I hear P25k P18k

and so on. Because he has been charged with protecting the form body and the true collection of teachings,40 the great noble bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi, asked in the assembly, says to noble Maitreya that this is the explanation of the perfection of wisdom that he has heard, with “Thus did I hear.”

Introduction unique to the Perfection of Wisdom

First, radiating light from the major and minor parts of the body

Second, radiating light from the pores of the body

Third, radiating natural light

Fourth, radiating light from the tongue

Helping the world of inhabitant beings

Presentation of the single vehicle system


2.

Summary of Contents

2.­1

“Here, Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings who want to fully awaken to all dharmas in all forms should make an effort at the perfection of wisdom.” P25k P18k

2.­2

In regard to this explanation of the perfection of wisdom, the Lord presents an exegesis by means of three gateways and eleven rounds of teaching. Taking three types of trainees as the point of departure‍—those who understand the perfection of wisdom by means of a brief indication, those who understand when there is an elaboration, and those who need to be led‍—it explains by means of


3.

Explanation of the Brief Teaching

3.­1

Now I shall teach the meaning of the words in the brief statement. There, in, “Here, Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings who want to fully awaken to all dharmas in all forms should make an effort at the perfection of wisdom,”

“Śāriputra [Son of Śāradvatī]” P25k P18k

is called by the name of the elder’s mother.

3.­2

“Here” P18k

should be construed as “in this” Great Vehicle discourse, or “in this” perfection of wisdom discourse, that is, put it together as: The bodhisattva great beings stand in this Great Vehicle, or in this perfection of wisdom.


4.

Explanation of the Intermediate Teaching

Brief teaching

4.­1

Then the elder Śāriputra, for the sake of those who understand when there is an elaboration, starts the intermediate teaching with this question:

“How then, Lord, should bodhisattva great beings who want to fully awaken to all dharmas in all forms make an effort at the perfection of wisdom?” P25k P18k

4.­2

This is a fourfold question about the Dharma: What are “bodhisattva great beings”? What is “want to fully awaken to all dharmas in all forms”? What is “should make an effort at”? And what is “the perfection of wisdom”? Again, there will be an explanation of the four below in their appropriate context.

Practice of the perfections

Practice of the dharmas on the side of awakening

Practice without harming that brings beings to maturity

Practice that brings the buddhadharmas to maturity

Detailed Teaching

Why bodhisattvas endeavor

They want to make themselves familiar with the three vehicles

They want the greatnesses of bodhisattvas

They want the greatnesses of buddhas

How bodhisattvas endeavor

The defining marks of those who endeavor

The intrinsic nature of each‍—of form and so on, separately‍—that cannot be apprehended

The intrinsic nature of them as a collection that cannot be apprehended

Their defining marks that cannot be apprehended

The totality of dharmas that cannot be apprehended

Those who endeavor

Instructions for the endeavor

Instructions for making an effort by using names and conventional terms conventionally

Instructions for making an effort without apprehending beings

Instructions for making an effort by not apprehending words for things

Instructions for making an effort when all dharmas cannot be apprehended

Benefits of the endeavor

Subdivisions of the endeavor512

Practice free from the two extremes

Practice that does not stand

Practice that does not fully grasp

Not Fully Grasping Dharmas

Not Fully Grasping Causal Signs

Not Fully Grasping Understanding

Practice that has made a full investigation575

Practice of method587

Practice for quickly fully awakening

Training in the meditative stabilization spheres

Training in not apprehending all dharmas

Training in the illusion-like

Training in skillful means

Specific instruction for coming to an authoritative conclusion about this exposition

Part One: The twenty-eight [or twenty-nine] questions

1a. What is the meaning of the word bodhisattva?

1b. What is the meaning of the term great being?

The Lord’s intention

Śāriputra’s intention

Subhūti’s intention

1c. How are they armed with great armor?

Pūrṇa’s intention

2. How have they set out in the Great Vehicle?699

3. How do they stand in the Great Vehicle?

6. How is it a great vehicle?736

2. Great Vehicle of all the emptinesses741

3. Great Vehicle of all the meditative stabilizations

4. Great Vehicle of the applications of mindfulness

5. Great Vehicle of the right abandonments

6. Great Vehicle of the legs of miraculous power

7. Great Vehicle of the faculties

8. Great Vehicle of the powers

9. Great Vehicle of the limbs of awakening

10. Great Vehicle of the path

11. Great Vehicle of the liberations

12. Great Vehicle of the knowledges

13. Great Vehicle of the three faculties

14. Great Vehicle of the three meditative stabilizations

15–16. Great Vehicle of the mindfulnesses and the five absorptions

17. Great Vehicle of the ten powers826

First power

Second power

Third power839

Fourth power

Fifth power

Sixth power

Seventh power

Eighth to tenth powers

18. Great Vehicle of the four fearlessnesses

19. Great Vehicle of the four detailed and thorough knowledges

20. Great Vehicle of the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha

21. Great Vehicle of the dhāraṇī gateways

7. How have they come to set out in the Great Vehicle?892

8. From where will the Great Vehicle go forth?921

9. Where will that Great Vehicle stand?

10. Who will go forth in this vehicle?

11. It surpasses the world with its gods, humans, and asuras and goes forth. Is that why it is called a great vehicle?

12. That vehicle is equal to space

The remaining sixteen questions996

Part Two

The results of paying attention to the nonconceptual

The questions and responses of the two elders1052


5.

Explanation of the Detailed Teaching

Part One

Explanation of Chapters 22 and 23

5.­1

Thus, first of all, along with a teaching of miraculous powers and along with a teaching of the results, the intermediate explanation of the perfection of wisdom has been completed. As explained,1078 the Tathāgata in this perfection of wisdom1079 gives a threefold teaching: brief, middling, and detailed. Of them, the teaching in brief and middling modes based on trainees is finished.

What is the bodhisattva great beings’ perfection of wisdom?

How should bodhisattva great beings stand in the perfection of wisdom?

How should bodhisattva great beings train in the perfection of wisdom?

The sustaining power of the tathāgata

The perfection of wisdom is great, immeasurable, infinite, and limitless

Explanation of Chapters 24 to 33

Beneficial qualities

Merits

Rejoicing and dedication

Explanation of Chapters 34 to 36

Wheel of the Dharma and the perfection of wisdom

Not bound and not freed

Purity

Attachment and nonattachment

Explanation of Chapters 37 and 38

Benefits of purity

Glosses

Explanation of Chapters 39 to 42

Absence of a practice and signs of completion

Last of the five hundreds

Explanation of the work of Māra

Revealing this world

Explanation of Chapters 43 to 45

Marks

Appreciation and gratitude

How those new to the bodhisattva vehicle train

Nine qualities of the doers of the difficult

Explanation of Chapters 46 to 50

Cultivation and disintegration

Suchness and its indivisibility

Shaking of the universe

Synonyms of suchness

Is it hard or not hard to become awakened?

Signs of bodhisattvas irreversible from progress toward awakening

Part Two

Subhūti’s Two Hundred and Seventy-Seven Questions

Explanation of Chapters 51 to 55

The deep places

Which moment of thought causes awakening?

Karma in a dream and the waking state

Fully mastering emptiness

Questions 18 to 27

Explanation of Chapters 56 to 63

No duality and no nonduality

Cyclic existence and nirvāṇa

Standing in the knowledge of all aspects

The three knowledges

The meaning of pāramitā

Explanation of Chapters 64 to 72

Explanation of Chapter 73

Major marks and minor signs of a buddha

Explanation of Chapters 74 to 82

Emptiness of a basic nature


6.

Explanation of the Maitreya Chapter: Chapter 83

6.­1

Having thus finished explaining Her Ladyship the One Hundred Thousand, I will now explain what is in the Twenty-Five Thousand.1933

6.­2

Then, for the sake of future living beings and for the sake of those gathered in the retinue at that time, the noble

Maitreya asked… “Lord, how do bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom who want to train in a bodhisattva’s training train in form?” P25k P18k

6.­3

A bodhisattva’s training is in the correct comprehension of all dharmas, so he asks, “how do bodhisattvas who want to train in a bodhisattva’s training train in form,” and so on, up to, finally,

“the buddhadharmas.” P25k P18k

6.­4

Then the Lord, to teach that the training in emptiness is a bodhisattva’s training, says

“[they] should train in ‘form is a mere name,’… up to ‘buddhadharmas are a mere name’ ”‍— P25k P18k

all dharmas are simply mere names.

6.­5

“Lord, when this‍—namely, the designation1934 form‍—is apprehended together with a basis,” P25k P18k

and so on, teaches the following. He asks: How could form and so on be just a name? The designation of “form,” “feeling,” and so on does not indicate simply a mere name, it indicates a basis, because the name is first given and then the aspect of the basis presents itself to the mind. He means: Were that name to be without a basis, [F.282.a] either it would be illogical to say “a mere name,” or else, if it is taken to exist as form and so on that is not a basis, as a name, based on what and on account of what basis would that name be referring to something? That word would not exist either. Therefore, it is illogical to say “mere name.”

6.­6

“This‍—namely, form‍—is a name plucked out of thin air… for this or that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon.” P25k P18k

The Lord is saying that form and so on is not a nominal entity.1935 If it were a nominal entity, then it would be feasible that by merely saying it even those who do not know what it is connected to would know what those bases are, as entities with their various specific attributes. But they do not know those, so words are one thing and the bases, form and so on, are something else. He means it is simply conventionally suitable that later on there are those words “for this or that basis.” Therefore, form and so on is not in its intrinsic nature a name. “Plucked out of thin air” means comes about later, in the sense of “fabricated.” As for a “basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon,” it is “compounded” because it has arisen from cause and conditions; a “causal sign” because it appears to consciousness; and a “basis” because it is in the form of a basis. A place for an appearance as a compounded dharma is called a “basis.”

6.­7

Having said that, the noble Maitreya, unable to bear the thought of a word plucked out of thin air, asks,

“Lord, is it not the case that in the absence of the name form, there is no being aware of, realizing, or knowing the name form through a basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon?” P25k P18k

and so on. Without the name, from seeing simply the mere basis, you do not become aware “this is form”;1936 and without seeing the basis, just from the word being said you do not become aware of the basis. He means: There, logically, if the name for form were to come about later and is not its entity,1937 [F.282.b] even without the name being said those who do not know what the name is connected to will comprehend “it is form.” And even after the name has been said, since the word would be plucked out of thin air the awareness that arises would not be of the actual reality of the basis. Either way it is one of these two,1938 so form and so on is not in its intrinsic nature a name.

6.­8

In regard to “in the absence of the name… through that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon:” construe “in the absence” as when the word is set aside; “through that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon” it is not tenable that there is awareness that that basis “is form.”

6.­9

With,

“So then, Maitreya, I will ask you a question,” P25k P18k

and so on, the Lord teaches in three parts that names are plucked out of thin air and that bases are not in their intrinsic nature names.

6.­10

He makes it known that names are plucked out of thin air in three parts: because you do not know what something is from just the basis without the name being said; because there are many names for a single basis; and because there is one name for many bases.

6.­11

There, in reference to the first part, it says

“Maitreya, what do you think‍—without resorting to, without standing on, without having to stand on the designation form for this or that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon, do you think this‍—namely, ‘this is form’‍—about this or that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon?” P25k P18k

and so on. If that form is taken to be a nominal entity, why do those who are ignorant of the term, who do not know that the word form stands for the form that is the basis, not have the realization in words that “this is form” by seeing just that basis? If that name is taken to be that entity that is a basis, just as a consciousness that grasps the specific defining marks of the basis arises from properly seeing the basis, similarly it would make sense that a consciousness that knows the name would arise as well. But it does not arise, so form and so on is not the nominal entity.

6.­12

In reference to the second part it says,

“Maitreya, what do you think, do a variety of kinds of words, conventional terms, conventional labels, and designations [F.283.a] designate, or conventionally refer to, or label, or apply to this basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon?” P25k P18k

and so on. Let a basis be taken to be a nominal entity. There are many names for a single basis; for example, just the one feeling is called feeling, experience, state of awareness, pleasure, suffering, and equanimity. There, if that basis is taken to be a nominal entity, whereas it would make sense that when the single basis, feeling, is spoken about with many names it would become many entities,1939 that is not the case. Therefore, you should know that form and so on is not a name entity.

6.­13

In reference to the third part it says,

“Maitreya, what do you think‍—here, does someone designate… to just that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon a name for a basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon different from it?” P25k P18k

and so on. Were that basis taken to be the nominal entity, then when a name for many bases has been said, like, for example, “aggregates, sense fields, and constituents,” then all the dharmas would become a single entity.1940 But that is not the case. Therefore, you should know that form and so on is not a nominal entity.

6.­14

What is being taught with,

Having said that, the noble Maitreya asked him, “In that case, Lord, would it not then be just that basis that is the causal sign of a compounded phenomenon that is apprehended as the form entity?”1941 P25k P18k

This is teaching: The Lord has taught that the word labeled onto a basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon is together with a basis and together with a foundation; he has not taught that it is without a basis and without a foundation. Therefore, because it1942 is grounded in the basis that is causal sign of a compounded phenomenon, it seems that the entity that is the basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon is the word.

6.­15

Then the Lord, with

“Maitreya, what do you think, … the form entity, or is it simply merely designated?”1943 [F.283.b] P25k P18k

sorts out Maitreya’s statement, teaching: Are you saying that those who use the word form for that basis are giving voice to the entity that is its defining mark, or are they just saying a word? He1944 thus says that they are saying a word. Therefore, it is apparent that those words are giving voice to the name of that basis, not the entity, like, for example, in common parlance the child’s name Devadatta (“God-given”) and so on. Therefore, it is teaching that form and so on is not the name entity.1945

6.­16

Having said that, the noble Maitreya asked him, “Lord, … if form is simply just a designation, name, conventional term, label, and conventional designation,” P25k P18k

and so on, is saying that it is the entities of form and so on that are bases that are apprehended. It is saying: given that the Lord has said “form is a mere name,” and “feeling is a mere name” too, in that case the name form becomes the form entity and the name feeling becomes the feeling entity.

6.­17

In order to sort that out as well,

Having asked that, the Lord asked him in return, “Maitreya, what do you think, is that form that is simply just a designation, name, conventional term, label, and conventional designation produced or stopped, or defiled or purified?” P25k P18k

and so on. It is understood in the world that form and so on are subject to production and stopping and are subject to defilement and purification. If the dharmas, form and so on, were taken to be name entities, there would then be no production or stopping, or defilement or purification over and above that of the name,1946 but such does occur. Therefore, you should know that a name is not the intrinsic nature of the dharmas.

6.­18

“Lord, does form just not exist at all? Is it without any mark at all?” [F.284.a] P25k P18k

and so on. The bodhisattva is asking: What about what you have said before, Lord, that “form is a mere name,” and “feeling is a mere name?” By saying that, do you intend that a mark of form and so on does not exist in any way at all, or that form just does not exist at all?

6.­19

Having said that, the Lord, concerned about it being taken nihilistically, refutes it with,

“Maitreya, I do not say ‘form just does not exist at all without any mark at all.’ ” P25k P18k

6.­20

Then the bodhisattva asks about its mode of existence with,

“How then, Lord, does form exist?” P25k P18k

and so on.

6.­21

With,

“Maitreya, form exists as an ordinary term and convention,” P25k P18k

and so on, the Lord differentiates and teaches that it exists from the perspective of the conventional truth but does not exist from the perspective of the ultimate truth.

6.­22

Then the noble Maitreya says,

“Lord, the way I understand what you have said,”1947 P25k P18k

and so on. He is saying: If you are saying that ultimately form and so on do not exist at all, in that case, you have gone to the extreme of the nihilists and so on. There the Lord’s intention in saying “ultimately it does not exist” is this: a basis1948 that can be designated by a name form and so on ultimately does not exist; a basis that cannot be named, that is

“inexpressible,” P25k P18k

has an ultimate existence. Having said that he asks,

6.­23

“Lord, if that inexpressible element ultimately exists, then how can it be a basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon designated by the name form plucked out of thin air?” P25k P18k

and so on. If the ultimate element is inexpressible by the entity that is the name and word for form and so on, [F.284.b] how could that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon designated by the name ever have any sort of existence or nonexistence? Having asked that, Maitreya also asks,

“And if ultimately it does not exist, then how could it be an inexpressible element?” P25k P18k

6.­24

What does this teach? It is teaching that he has asserted that very basis that is the causal sign of a compounded phenomenon is its base because there is nothing else serving as a base of the inexpressible ultimate element. If that basis that is the causal sign of a compounded phenomenon ultimately does not exist, it does not make sense to say that “the inexpressible element is based on the basis that is the causal sign of a compounded phenomenon.” He is saying that you cannot call the basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon the “inexpressible element.”

6.­25

Then the Lord, wanting to teach the way in which the basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon does not exist, and how, even though it does not exist, it serves as the foundation,1949 with,

“So then, Maitreya, I will ask you a question,” P25k P18k

and so on, asks him about just that. With,

“Maitreya, what do you think‍—when abiding in the correct practice of wisdom connected with the inexpressible element,”1950 P25k P18k

and so on, he goes on to say: “Maitreya, when you take up the thoroughly purified wisdom, the inexpressible element,1951 at that point does the basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon appear or does it not appear?” And the bodhisattva says,

“Lord, I do not apprehend it.” P25k P18k

He means it does not appear.

6.­26

Then the Lord said, “From this one of many explanations, Maitreya”‍— P25k P18k

what does this teach? It says: “Understand that since the basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon does not appear when you are cultivating attention to the ultimate, it does not exist ultimately, but it exists as a convention.” That conventional reality, furthermore, cannot ultimately be expressed as just that or as other. Therefore, it says,

6.­27

“You should know that [F.285.a] this basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon is not the inexpressible element, and the inexpressible element is not other than this basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon.” P25k P18k

6.­28

Then, to teach the flaws in the position that it is just that,1952 it says,

“Maitreya, this basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon… if they are taken to be the inexpressible element, well then, all foolish ordinary people would be in nirvāṇa.” P25k P18k

If the conventional reality itself is the ultimate, well then, the very basis of a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon would be the inexpressible element. In that case, by having directly witnessed the basis of a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon they would have directly witnessed the inexpressible element.

6.­29

Then, to teach the flaws in the position that it is other,1953 it says

“Maitreya, if the inexpressible element is taken to be other than this basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon, well then, given that even the causal sign would not be apprehended,” P25k P18k

and so on. If the ultimate is something other than conventional reality, then the inexpressible element would be “other than,” that is, broken off from the basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon, and if that were the case the true nature of a phenomenon would be other than the phenomenon.

6.­30

And what would be wrong with that?

“A realization of the inexpressible,” P25k P18k

the ultimate

“element,” P25k P18k

would not be accomplished. How so? Given that the ultimate element is without a causal sign, in what form would that absence of a causal sign come to appear to consciousness? When that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon and the dharma-constituent are not different, it is correct that the compounded thing and the dharma-constituent then become awakening’s cause. The intention is this: they first take the element with a causal sign as the basis they apprehend, then later, when they are carrying out an analysis with wisdom, apprehend it as the ultimate constituted as a nonexistent basis. That is correct.

6.­31

Thus, the Lord teaches that a compounded basis ultimately does not exist [F.285.b] and also that the ultimate is released from being just that or another.1954 Then the noble Maitreya, worried there is a mistake again, asks,

“Lord, if, when bodhisattvas are abiding in the correct practice of wisdom connected with the inexpressible element,” P25k P18k

and so on. When bodhisattvas cultivating attention to the inexpressible element do not apprehend a compounded basis, is that basis

“not apprehended” P25k P18k

because it does not exist, or is it

“not apprehended” P25k P18k

because the practice of wisdom connected with the inexpressible element does not engage with the basis?

6.­32

Then the Lord said, “Maitreya, that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon has no independence or existence at all.”1955 P25k P18k

This teaches the following: Even though the basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon is unreal, still foolish, ordinary people lack the strength to take hold of the ultimate because, governed by the error of ignorance and the maturation of karma and so on as cause and conditions, bases that are dependent phenomena and are not independent still appear to consciousness as the opposite of how they actually are. When bodhisattvas are working hard at cultivating paying attention to that, the ignorance and so on that are the cause and conditions are not there, so the earlier appearance constituted as a phenomenon dependent on them thus does not appear. In the absence of ignorance and so on as cause, that compounded basis does not still have the strength to arise independently. Therefore, it says “that basis… has no independent existence at all.” And therefore it also says “nonexistence” is “not apprehended.”

6.­33

“Maitreya, when you conceive of that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon,” P25k P18k

and so on,1956 teaches when a dependent phenomenon occurs constituted by error, and true reality when the error does not occur. This means that when there is conceptualization the apprehending is in error dependent on the power of something else, the conceptualization, [F.286.a] and when there is no conceptualization the apprehending is without error as just the ultimate, because the dependent phenomenon does not exist. Having been asked that by the Lord, with

“it is, Lord,” P25k P18k

noble Maitreya accepts it.

6.­34

Then the Lord posits it1957 as just conceptualization, with,

“If that is so, Maitreya, … [it] is simply just conceptualization,” P25k P18k

and then, in order to eliminate that it is something that really exists, asks,

6.­35

“When they are thus abiding in the nonconceptual element free from conceptualizations, what existence does it… have?” P25k P18k

There, “they” are the bodhisattvas; “thus” when they ultimately do not exist; “abiding in the nonconceptual element”‍—in the ultimate element; and “what existence does it have” is what existence does that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon have? This means it is just nonexistent.

6.­36

“What existence can be apprehended?” P25k P18k

Were it to exist, it would be apprehended.

6.­37

Noble Maitreya, in order to again differentiate and teach all phenomena, form and so on, from the perspective of the conventional and ultimate, then asks,

“Lord, how many designations for the separate aspects of form should a bodhisattva practicing the perfection of wisdom, involved in skillfully making a differentiation of a dharma, know?” P25k P18k

6.­38

Then the Lord, with

“Maitreya, … should know three… modes of form,” P25k P18k

and so on, gives an exposition of their divisions. From

“imaginary form, … conceptualized form, and … the true dharmic nature of form,” P25k P18k

up to

“imaginary buddhadharmas, … conceptualized buddhadharmas, and… the true dharmic nature of buddhadharmas,” P25k P18k

it teaches that all ordinary and extraordinary phenomena [F.286.b] are included within the three aspects.

6.­39

Then, when noble Maitreya again asks,

“What is imaginary form?” P25k P18k

and so on,

the Lord said, “Maitreya, based on the designation, name, label, and conventional designation form for this or that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon, this imagining that it is the intrinsic nature of form is imaginary form,” P25k P18k

and so on.1958 This means: based on a conventional designation, relative to the compounded basis that is the reason for the conventional designation, that name and term form, when designated as the intrinsic nature of form, is falsely imagined form.1959

6.­40

As for the nature of phenomena there are three: a falsely imagined nature, a dependent nature, and a thoroughly established nature.

6.­41

There, for the phenomena, form and so on: the expression mode of appearance1960 as “form” and so on is the falsely imagined nature; the mode of erroneous appearance as the dharmas to consciousness1961 because of the power of ignorance and so on is the dependent nature; and the inexpressible, signless mode of appearance separated from those names and that mode of erroneous appearance is the ultimate, thoroughly established nature. You should grasp this in detail from the text.

6.­42

Those three natures‍—here “falsely imagined form, conceptualized form, and the true dharmic nature of form”‍—are explained sequentially.

6.­43

There it talks about “falsely imagined form, falsely imagined feeling, falsely imagined perception,” and so on, that are the names “form, feeling, perception” and so on. It teaches them with

“based on the designation, name, label, and conventional designation form for this or that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon,” P25k P18k

and so on.

6.­44

After that [F.287.a] it teaches two aspects, with

“that basis which is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon, an expression dependent on conceptualization established in the true dharmic nature of mere conceptualization,” P25k P18k

and so on. A mind arising and appearing in the mode of an appearance of an existent thing1962 for foolish, ordinary persons whose minds have become distorted, governed by afflictive emotions and the maturation of karma, and so on, as cause and conditions, is “conceptualized form.” “That basis which is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon” and so on teaches that.

6.­45

“Established in the true dharmic nature of mere conceptualization”‍—there is no other nature except the mode of appearance when something has been conceptualized by an intellectually active state of mind,1963 so that basis is established as a merely conceptualized nature. Just that which is established as that is called “conceptualization.”

6.­46

Thus “dependent on,” taking as its point of departure just that “conceptualization” established as the mere mode of appearance when something has been conceptualized by an intellectually active state of mind, the thoroughly distracted1964 mode of appearance constituted as a basis connected with an expression is called “an expression.” Thus, dependent on that mode of appearance “established as the mode of appearance when something has been conceptualized by an intellectually active state of mind,” the appearance in the form of a basis to the intellectually active state of mind is called “conceptualized form.”1965

6.­47

You should connect this in the same way with

“feeling” P25k P18k

and so on as well.

6.­48

Then, in regard to the true dharmic nature of form, it says

“whether the tathāgatas arise or whether the tathāgatas do not arise,” P25k P18k

and so on. This “whether the tathāgatas arise” teaches that the true dharmic nature, not impermanence, is its intrinsic nature. In regard to “the true dharmic nature of form,” where it says

“this eternally eternal, constantly constant absence of imaginary form as the intrinsic nature of conceptualized form,” P25k P18k

when just that mode of appearance in a nonconceptual intellectually active state of mind1966 has become separated from a falsely imagined phenomenon described before‍—a mode of appearance suited, as the expressed and expression mode of appearance, to name and designation‍—[F.287.b] then, that mode of appearance established, in itself, in an inexpressible form as an absence of conceptualization is “the true dharmic nature of form.”

6.­49

“The nonexistence of an intrinsic nature,” P25k P18k

because the falsely imagined nature does not exist;

6.­50

“the nonexistence of a self in dharmas”‍— P25k P18k

the nonexistence of a mode of appearance that is the essential nature of a dharma;

6.­51

“suchness”‍— P25k P18k

a mode of appearance without distortion; and

6.­52

“the very limit of reality”‍— P25k P18k

the culmination of such a mode of appearance. You should connect this in the same way with

“feeling” P25k P18k

and so on as well.

6.­53

“Maitreya, view the form that is imaginary as not a material reality,” P25k P18k

because it is absolutely nonexistent.

6.­54

“View conceptualized form as a material reality based on the material reality of a conceptualization.” P25k P18k

This means it does exist because it exists conventionally. It is a material reality because as a compounded phenomenon it is destroyed and exists as form.1967 So this is an explanation that it is existent as a conceptualized nature and is a material reality.

6.­55

“But not because it is there under its own power”‍— P25k P18k

it says that because it has a dependent nature.

6.­56

“The true dharmic nature of form… as neither a nonmaterial reality nor a material reality and in the category of the ultimate”‍— P25k P18k

this is the true dharmic nature of form. It is not suitable to say “it does not exist” because it exists as an inexpressible entity, so it is not “a nonmaterial reality.” It is not suitable to say “it exists” because it exists in the form of a conceptualized basis, so “nor” is it “a material reality.” This therefore teaches a middle way avoiding two extremes. “The category of the ultimate” means the nature of the ultimate.1968 The word “category” means nature. Finally, you should connect this in the same way with them all, up to

“buddhadharmas” P25k P18k

as well.

6.­57

Having discussed the three marks from the perspective of the three natures, to set the scene for teaching the mark of nonduality, noble Maitreya says,

“this that the Lord has said”1969 P25k P18k

earlier,1970 in the discussion of the brief exposition of the perfection of wisdom section, the twenty-eighth question,1971 [F.288.a]

“namely, ‘anything called form is counted as not two,’ ” P25k P18k

and so on. What does

“Maitreya, what do you think, is the absence of material reality in imaginary form, or is it not” P25k P18k

teach?

6.­58

Just that nonexistence of “form or not form” in each of these three‍—falsely imagined form, conceptualized form, and the true dharmic nature of form‍—individually is the nondual, is suchness, is the absence of a self in dharmas. Thus, the words form, feeling, and so on, when enumerated as suchness, are counted as not two. That is the meaning, and wanting to teach just that, to teach the mark of each of those three aspects of form as free from form and not form, first, based on falsely imagined form, it says, “Is the absence of material reality in imaginary form, form, or is it not?”

6.­59

It is not suitable to say falsely imagined form is the intrinsic nature of form because it does not exist as what constitutes form; but it is not suitable to say that it does not constitute form either, because it does exist relative to form’s name and what has been designated form. Therefore, it says,

“Is then form” P25k P18k

that‍—

“just the mere designation, name, label, and conventional designation form for it?”1972 P25k P18k

6.­60

This means form is not nonexistent based on what has been designated, but, because the intrinsic nature of form does not exist, it is not form either, so “it is not two.”

6.­61

“Maitreya, what do you think, is conceptualized form, the material reality… not form?”1973 P25k P18k

The conceptualized form that is that1974 appears as constituting form, so the intrinsic nature of form is not nonexistent; but [F.288.b] it is also ultimately not the intrinsic nature of form because it is an intrinsic nature separated from the perception of form. Therefore, it says

“is that imaginary form of just that conceptualized form‍—that which is not its intrinsic nature, not its defining mark‍—form?” P25k P18k

6.­62

Thus, this means that form is not nonexistent because that conceptualized form appears as the intrinsic nature of form suitable to be named form, but it is also not form because ultimately it does not have the defining mark of form, so “it is not two.”

6.­63

“Is that true dharmic nature of form, form in the category of selflessness, form?” P25k P18k

Form that is the thoroughly established true nature of dharmas is not the intrinsic nature of form because it is an intrinsic nature separated from all causal signs; but it is not not the intrinsic nature of form either because it is the intrinsic nature of form‍—the true nature of dharmas. Therefore, it says,

“Is that true dharmic nature of form that is just that true dharmic nature of form, not form?”1975 P25k P18k

6.­64

It is not form because the true nature of dharmas is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature, but it is not not form because it is the true dharmic nature of form. That is the meaning of nondual. Therefore, it is

“counted as nondual” P25k P18k

in the sense of “counted as suchness.”

6.­65

Similarly, connect this with them all, up to the buddhadharmas

“are nondual.” P25k P18k

Having taught in this way that form is‍—up to, finally, the buddhadharmas are‍—nondual, then to teach in another way that the four truths are marked by nonduality, it says

“[they] neither comprehend nor do not comprehend form, and just that is their comprehension.”1976 P25k P18k

6.­66

Bodhisattvas paying attention to the mark of all dharmas in meditative equipoise do not comprehend. While not in meditative equipoise like śrāvakas, [F.289.a] with the knowledge of mastery they comprehend, just as it has been explained before.1977 Therefore just that not comprehending absolutely like that is their comprehension. Similarly, also connect this with

“abandon… actualize… and cultivate.” P25k P18k

6.­67

Then, to teach what they become skilled in when such skill in the mark of nonduality arises, it teaches nirvāṇa with,

“Maitreya, the nirvāṇa of bodhisattvas is deep, extremely deep.” P25k P18k

6.­68

Having asked

“why is [it]… deep?” P25k P18k

it explains,

6.­69

“It is because the nirvāṇa of bodhisattvas is neither nirvāṇa nor not nirvāṇa; that is why it is called ‘deep, extremely deep.’ ” P25k P18k

6.­70

Take “the nirvāṇa of bodhisattvas” as the extremely pure transformation of the basis. That transformation of the basis, furthermore, is in the intrinsic nature of a complete nirvāṇa beyond all afflictive obscuration and obscuration to knowledge, the intrinsic nature of a complete nirvāṇa beyond the maturation of karma. Therefore, it is nirvāṇa. Thus, unlike śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas they work for the welfare of beings for as long as saṃsāra exists. Therefore, it is not nirvāṇa.

6.­71

Then Maitreya says,

“Lord, if, taking the welfare of others as the point of departure, bodhisattvas do not totally reject saṃsāra… how do they not totally reject nirvāṇa?” P25k P18k

He is asking: if for as long as saṃsāra exists bodhisattvas working for welfare of others do not constantly and always reject saṃsāra, how in that case will [a bodhisattva’s nirvāṇa] be nirvāṇa?

6.­72

Then,1978

The Lord said, “Maitreya, taking the welfare of others as the point of departure, it is not nirvāṇa because they do not totally reject saṃsāra; taking their own welfare as the point of departure, it is not not nirvāṇa because they do not totally reject nirvāṇa.” [F.289.b] P25k P18k

6.­73

“Taking the welfare of others as the point of departure, there is not a total rejection of saṃsāra and appropriation of a nirvāṇa without aggregates, therefore it is not a nirvāṇa; but taking their own welfare as the point of departure, because the work has been done, there is not a total rejection of nirvāṇa and there is no appropriation of a life in saṃsāra, therefore it is a nirvāṇa. What is the Lord teaching with this? He is explaining that it is nirvāṇa when they take the dharma body as the point of departure, but from the perspective of the complete enjoyment body and magically created body it is not nirvāṇa.

6.­74

“Lord, if, taking the welfare of others as the point of departure, bodhisattvas do not totally reject saṃsāra, by not totally rejecting saṃsāra how do they not totally reject nirvāṇa?” P25k P18k

With this teaching it is asking: If for the sake of others they do not totally reject saṃsāra, they will have totally rejected nirvāṇa. If for their own sake they do not totally reject nirvāṇa, they will have totally rejected saṃsāra. Therefore, given that these “not totally rejecting and rejecting saṃsāra,” and “passing into nirvāṇa and not passing into nirvāṇa,” are contradictory, how is it not a contradiction?

6.­75

Then the Lord, with

“[they] do not even conceive of saṃsāra as actually saṃsāra,” P25k P18k

and so on, teaches that they are not contradictory. This means bodhisattvas do not conceive of all dharmas. Seeing them all as just the same, they do not entertain in their mind in regard to saṃsāra the construct “it is saṃsāra,” nor in regard to nirvāṇa the construct “it is nirvāṇa.” Thus, they stay in the same state, and while remaining in that same state do not, for instance, recoil mentally from anything because of seeing a defect or get attracted to anything because of seeing an advantage. [F.290.a]

6.­76

Then the noble Maitreya, still unhappy with that, asked,

“Well then, Lord, will it not be the case that just as bodhisattvas standing in the realm without thought construction… have not totally rejected a life in saṃsāra they will similarly not have appropriated it, and just as they have not totally rejected nirvāṇa they will similarly not have appropriated that, either? And Lord, if there is no appropriation, how can there be no rejection?” P25k P18k

6.­77

“Bodhisattvas do not conceive of saṃsāra or nirvāṇa, apprehending them as being the same. There is therefore no rejection of saṃsāra or nirvāṇa and there is no appropriation of them either.” So he asks about that: if there is no appropriating there, how is there no rejection?

6.­78

“Maitreya, I1979 do not say they ‘appropriate’ or ‘do not appropriate’ a life in saṃsāra.” P25k P18k

This says: I do not say they appropriate or forsake based on abandoning or not abandoning a life in saṃsāra; I say it, contingent on the need for it, based on the work being done, because, through the force of the clairvoyances, they do not make an absolute break in the stream of work for the welfare of the mass of beings at all times in infinite world systems. Therefore, I say “they do not totally reject saṃsāra,” but not because they do not abandon saṃsāra.

6.­79

Thus, taking the realm of

“emptiness, the realm that gives no basis for apprehending anything” P25k P18k

as the point of departure, he has taught that they remain in that, and therefore says, “They appropriate nirvāṇa.”

6.­80

“Lord, how in the absence of conceptualization1980 should the collection of marks be viewed?” P25k P18k

is asking how is the absence of conceptualization completed and finalized.

6.­81

“The nonduality… of an existent thing and a nonexistent thing” P25k P18k

is the absence of the duality of “existing” and “not existing.”

6.­82

“Nonelaboration” P25k P18k

is not conceptualizing those dharmas as anything at all in any way at all.

6.­83

“Lord, are all śrāvakas absolutely with certainty located in nirvāṇa?”1981 [F.290.b] P25k P18k

He asks this intending: since bodhisattvas have been found not to appropriate a life in saṃsāra, are śrāvakas, who are without appropriation, absolutely in a state of nirvāṇa?

6.­84

“Many families and dispositions of beings can be found.” P25k P18k

There are “many families and dispositions of beings,” which is to say, there are three “families.” Also “dispositions” differ on account of particular aspirations, proclivities, beliefs, faculties, and so on.

6.­85

“Strive for a superior qualification, who gain just the superior qualification”‍— P25k P18k

because of their disposition, from the start, they want perfect, complete awakening and, in accord with what they want, “gain” it.

6.­86

“Inferior”‍— P25k P18k

śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha awakening.

6.­87

“Understand that it is lacking, are not satisfied just by that” P25k P18k

means that they become noble beings and, having gained the state of a śrāvaka, later become buddhas.

6.­88

“…does not take rebirth, so how do they reach it?” P25k P18k

This intends that when there is rebirth in saṃsāra the accumulations for awakening can be completed.

6.­89

“The Lord has not said… is their rebirth.” P25k P18k

stream enterers do not arise in an eighth existence here; once-returners appropriate a single existence here; non-returners do not appropriate even a single existence here; and worthy ones do not appropriate any existence at all, so rebirth has ceased.

6.­90

“Maitreya, I do not say that their rebirth is dictated by karma and afflictive emotion; I say that theirs is an inconceivable rebirth, magically created and dedicated.”1982 P25k P18k

In this, take the “rebirth dictated by karma and afflictive emotion” with the stream enterers and so on.

6.­91

Those who have the three births have nothing to do with that. They have a threefold birth‍—“an inconceivable birth, magically created birth, and birth through a prayer that is a vow.”

6.­92

There, if those not necessarily destined to be in the śrāvaka family have come into the presence of a tathāgata, at that time the tathāgata, [F.291.a] seeing the particular features of their family, will explain to them the doctrine in the sort of way that produces a desire for unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. Having connected them with that sort of path, if they do not forsake that desire, having actualized the very limit of reality they gain the result of stream enterer and so on. Thus, the buddhas with skillful means and with the system of the perfection of wisdom establish them on the path to all-knowledge. Whether they have become those in training or not in training, because they have not given up wanting unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, even though they actualize nirvāṇa they do not generate an absolutely intense admiration for it as do those who are certain to be śrāvakas. To illustrate, some, when viewing a town or village, think “I am going to live right there.” Then, their admiration for it turns into an admiration for something else when they have seen it, and they think, “I am going to go elsewhere.” They have a change of mind when they have seen it. Similarly, here too when there is a desire for unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, the desire for nirvāṇa turns into something else and they become different from those who are certain to be śrāvakas. Therefore some, even though they have abandoned the afflictions, become special because of the power of residual impressions and so on, and because of the power of a compassionate aspiration and so on they do not get extremely repulsed by saṃsāra. They want to work for the benefit of beings like someone who sees their young son fallen into a filthy cesspool, sees that the cesspool is filthy, but still does not get repulsed because of wanting to get him out. Those like that, in training or not in training, under the guidance of a tathāgata dedicate the wholesome roots of the extraordinary noble path without outflows and so on like this‍—they dedicate them with the thought: “In order to be of benefit to beings may all of my extraordinary wholesome roots without outflows be directed toward birth in saṃsāra.” through the power of such a dedication the uncontaminated good of the path and so on causes them to be born in saṃsāra. They have [F.291.b] wholesome dharmas similar to afflictions that function as a cooperative condition. Thus, as the other sūtras say:1983

6.­93

“Sāgaramati, what are these afflictions accompanying the wholesome roots that keep saṃsāra going? They are dissatisfaction with their accumulation of merit, taking up birth in existence having the intention to do so, fixation on meeting with buddhas, not getting depressed when bringing beings to maturity, trying to grasp the good Dharma, making an effort at whatever work beings do, nonseparation from thoughts of attachment to the Dharma, and not giving up the practice of the perfections. Sāgaramati, those are the afflictions accompanying the wholesome roots that keep saṃsāra going. Bodhisattvas are in close contact with them,1984 but they are not stained by the faults of the afflictions.”

6.­94

[Sāgaramati] asked, “Lord, if they are wholesome roots why are they called ‘afflictions’?”

The Lord said: “Sāgaramati, it is because through these sorts of afflictions bodhisattvas are in close contact with1985 the three realms and the three realms come about from afflictions. Bodhisattvas are in close contact with1986 the three realms at will through the power of their skillful means and their production of wholesome roots. That is why they are called ‘afflictions accompanying wholesome roots.’ They are afflictions to the extent that they connect them to the three realms, but not because they afflict their minds.”

6.­95

Therefore, it is said that “through the force of such a dedication, because of the wholesome roots without outflows they are born in saṃsāra.”

6.­96

Certain non-returners or worthy ones endowed with a special clairvoyance generated through the force of meditative stabilization demonstrate birth in various magical creations, work for the infinite welfare of beings, and complete the equipment for awakening. That is called magically created birth.

6.­97

For others, through the force of relying on spiritual friends, [F.292.a] the special features of such prayers that are vows have come together from the start and they accomplish dedicated births that have the fruition of those prayers of theirs as their nature. That is called dedicated birth.

6.­98

Why, though, without reaching the result of stream enterer and so on, do they not complete the equipment for awakening?1987 It is because they are powerless to do so because their afflictions are more intense and their faculties duller. Without the necessary purification of faculties and abandonment of afflictions they are incapable of completing the equipment for awakening. Therefore, with skillful means a tathāgata causes them to become endowed with that sort of supreme force. As the other sūtras say:1988

6.­99

“Lord, how should we view the Tathāgata’s prophesy of śrāvakas to unsurpassed, perfect awakening?”

The Lord: “The prophesy of śrāvakas to unsurpassed, perfect awakening is a prophesy that has in view their lineage.”

6.­100

“Lord, if even śrāvakas without outflows who have cut the fetters to suffering existence are in the lineage, how will they awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening?”

6.­101

The Lord: “I will teach an analogy for that. Listen! Child of good family, a king who receives the royal consecration on the crown of his head has a son. He studies all the sciences but has dull faculties, not sharp faculties, so he studies what you study later earlier, and studies later what you study earlier. So, child of good family, what do you think, is that boy, on account of that, not the son of the king?”

“Not so, Lord, not so, Sugata. You still say of him that he is the king’s son.”

6.­102

The Lord: “In the same way, child of good family, bodhisattvas [F.292.b] with dull faculties who are in the lineage, earlier will put an end to afflictions on the path of meditation, and later will fully awaken to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. What do you think, child of good family, on account of that will they not have fully awakened to unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening?”

“Not so, Lord; not so, Sugata.”

6.­103

Therefore, reborn through the power of these three sorts of birth they complete the equipment for awakening.

6.­104

“The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines” is completed.


c.

Colophon

c.­1

Revised and finalized by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the chief editor-translator monk Yeshé Dé.


ap.
Appendix

Outline

ap1.­1

Introduction

I.1 Introduction common to all sūtras

I.2 Introduction unique to the Perfection of Wisdom

I.2.A First, radiating light from the major and minor parts of the body

I.2.B Second, radiating light from the pores of the body

I.2.C Third, radiating natural light

I.2.D Fourth, radiating light from the tongue

I.2.E Helping the world of inhabitant beings

I.3 Presentation of the single vehicle system

Summary of Contents

Explanation of the Brief Teaching (The single sentence at the beginning of Chapter 2 in all three sūtras)

Explanation of the Intermediate Teaching (Chapters 2 to 21 in the Eighteen Thousand, Chapters 2 to 13 in the Twenty-Five Thousand and One Hundred Thousand)

IV.1 Brief teaching

IV.1.A Practice of the perfections

IV.1.B Practice of the dharmas on the side of awakening

IV.1.C Practice without harming that brings beings to maturity

IV.1.D Practice that brings the buddhadharmas to maturity

IV.2 Detailed teaching

IV.2.A Why bodhisattvas endeavor

IV.2.A.i They want to make themselves familiar with the three vehicles

IV.2.A.ii They want the greatnesses of bodhisattvas

IV.2.A.iii They want the greatnesses of buddhas

IV.2.B How bodhisattvas endeavor

IV.2.C The defining marks of those who endeavor

IV.2.C.i The intrinsic nature of each‍—of form and so on, separately‍—that cannot be apprehended

IV.2.C.ii The intrinsic nature of them as a collection that cannot be apprehended

IV.2.C.iii Their defining marks that cannot be apprehended

IV.2.C.iv The totality of dharmas that cannot be apprehended

IV.2.D Those who endeavor

IV.2.E Instructions for the endeavor

IV.2.E.i Instructions for making an effort by using names and conventional terms conventionally

IV.2.E.ii Instructions for making an effort without apprehending beings

IV.2.E.iii Instructions for making an effort by not apprehending words for things

IV.2.E.iv Instructions for making an effort when all dharmas cannot be apprehended

IV.2.F Benefits of the endeavor

IV.2.G Subdivisions of the endeavor

IV.2.G.i Practice free from the two extremes

IV.2.G.ii Practice that does not stand

IV.2.G.iii Practice that does not fully grasp

IV.2.G.iii.a Not Fully Grasping Dharmas

IV.2.G.iii.b Not Fully Grasping Causal signs

IV.2.G.iii.c Not Fully Grasping Understanding

IV.2.G.iv Practice that has made a full investigation

IV.2.G.v Practice of method

IV.2.G.vi Practice for quickly fully awakening

IV.2.G.vi.a Training in the meditative stabilizations

IV.2.G.vi.b Training in not apprehending all dharmas

IV.2.G.vi.c Training in the illusion-like

IV.2.G.vi.d Training in skillful means

IV.2.H Specific instruction for coming to an authoritative conclusion about this exposition

IV.2.H1 Part One: The twenty-eight [or twenty-nine] questions (starting at Chapter 11 in the Eighteen Thousand, Chapter 8 in the Twenty-Five Thousand and One Hundred Thousand)

IV.2.H1.i 1a. What is the meaning of the word “bodhisattva?”

IV.2.H1.ii 1b. What is the meaning of the term “great being?”

IV.2.H.ii.a The Lord’s intention

IV.2.H.ii.b Śāriputra’s intention

IV.2.H.ii.c Subhūti’s intention

IV.2.H1.iii 1c. How are they armed with great armor?

IV.2.H.iii.a Pūrṇa’s intention

IV.2.H1.iv 2. How have they set out in the Great Vehicle?

IV.2.H1.v 3. How do they stand in the Great Vehicle?

IV.2.H1.vi 6. How is it a great vehicle?

IV.2.H1.vi.a 2. Great Vehicle of all the emptinesses

IV.2.H1.vi.b 3. Great Vehicle of all the meditative stabilizations

IV.2.H1.vi.c 4. Great Vehicle of the applications of mindfulness

IV.2.H1.vi.d 5. Great Vehicle of the right abandonments

IV.2.H1.vi.e 6. Great Vehicle of the legs of miraculous power

IV.2.H1.vi.f 7. Great Vehicle of the faculties

IV.2.H1.vi.g 8. Great Vehicle of the powers

IV.2.H1.vi.h 9. Great Vehicle of the limbs of awakening

IV.2.H1.vi.i 10. Great Vehicle of the path

IV.2.H1.vi.j 11. Great Vehicle of the liberations

IV.2.H1.vi.k 12. Great Vehicle of the knowledges

IV.2.H1.vi.l 13. Great Vehicle of the three faculties

IV.2.H1.vi.m 14. Great Vehicle of the three meditative stabilizations

IV.2.H1.vi.n 15–16. Great Vehicle of the mindfulnesses and the five absorptions

IV.2.H1.vi.o 17. Great Vehicle of the ten powers

IV.2.H1.vi.o.1 First power

IV.2.H1.vi.o.2 Second power

IV.2.H1.vi.o.3 Third power

IV.2.H1.vi.o.4 Fourth power

IV.2.H1.vi.o.5 Fifth power

IV.2.H1.vi.o.6 Sixth power

IV.2.H1.vi.o.7 Seventh power

IV.2.H1.vi.o.8 Eighth to Tenth powers

IV.2.H1.vi.p 18. Great Vehicle of the four fearlessnesses

IV.2.H1.vi.q 19. Great Vehicle of the four detailed and thorough knowledges

IV.2.H1.vi.r 20. Great Vehicle of the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha

IV.2.H1.vi.s 21. Great Vehicle of the dhāraṇī gateways

IV.2.H1.vii 7. How have they come to set out in the Great Vehicle?

IV.2.H1.viii 8. From where will the Great Vehicle go forth?

IV.2.H1.ix 9. Where will that Great Vehicle stand?

IV.2.H1.x 10. Who will go forth in this vehicle?

IV.2.H1.xi 11. It surpasses the world with its gods, humans, and asuras and goes forth. Is that why it is called a great vehicle?

IV.2.H1.xii 12. That vehicle is equal to space

IV.2.H1.xiii The remaining sixteen questions

IV.2.H2 Part Two

IV.2.H2.i The results of paying attention to the nonconceptual

IV.2.H2.ii The questions and responses of the two elders


ab.

Abbreviations

AAV Āryavimuktisena (’phags pa rnam grol sde). ’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan gyi tshig le’ur byas pa’i ’grel pa (Ārya­pañca­viṃśati­sāhasrikā­prajñā-pāramitopadeśa­śāstrābhisamayālaṃkāra­kārikā­vārttika). Toh 3787, Degé Tengyur vol. 80 (shes phyin, ka), folios 14b–212a.
AAVN Āryavimuktisena. Abhi­samayālamkāra­vrtti (mistakenly titled Abhi­samayālaṅkāra­vyākhyā). Nepal German Manuscript Preservation Project A 37/9, National Archives Kathmandu Accession Number 5/55. The numbers follow the page numbering of my own undated, unpublished transliteration of the part of the manuscript not included in Pensa 1967.
AAVārt Bhadanta Vimuktisena (btsun pa grol sde). ’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan gyi tshig le’ur byas pa’i rnam par ’grel pa (*Ārya­pañca­viṃśati­sāhasrikā­prajñā-pāramitopadeśa­śāstrābhisamayālaṃkāra­kārikā­vārttika). Toh 3788, Degé Tengyur vol. 81 (shes phyin, kha), folios 1b–181a.
AAtib shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan zhes bya ba tshig le’le’urur byas pa (Abhi­samayālaṃkāra-nāma-prajñā­pāramitopadeśa­śāstra­kārikā) [Ornament for the Clear Realizations]. Toh 3786, Degé Tengyur (shes phyin, ka), folios 1b–13a.
Abhisamayālaṃkāra Abhi­samayālaṃkāra-nāma-prajñā­pāramitopadeśa­śāstra. Numbering of the verses as in Unrai Wogihara edition. Abhisamayālaṃkārālokā Prajñāpāramitā Vyākhyā: The Work of Haribhadra. Tokyo: The Toyo Bunko, 1932–5; reprint ed., Tokyo: Sankibo Buddhist Book Store, 1973.
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brgyad stong pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa bryad stong pa (Aṣṭa­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā) [“Eight Thousand”]. Toh 12, Degé Kangyur vol. 33 (shes phyin, brgyad stong pa, ka), folios 1a–286a.
khri brgyad shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa khri brgyad stong pa (Aṣṭā­daśa­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā) [“Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines”]. Toh 10, Degé Kangyur vols. 29–31 (shes phyin, khri brgyad, ka, kha, and in ga folios 1b–206a). English translation in Sparham 2022.
khri pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa khri pa (Daśa­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā) [“Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand Lines”]. Toh 11, Degé Kangyur vols. 31–32 (shes phyin, khri brgyad, ga folios 1b–91a (second repetition of numbering), and in shes phyin, khrid pa, nga, folios 92b-397a). English translation in Dorje 2018.
le’u brgyad ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañca­viṃśati­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā) [Haribhadra’s “Eight Chapters”]. Toh 3790, vols. 82–84 (shes phyin, ga, nga, ca). Citations are from the 1976–79 Karmapae chodhey gyalwae sungrab partun khang edition, first the Tib. vol. letter in italics, followed by the folio and line number.
nyi khri shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañca­viṃśati­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā) [Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Toh 9, Degé Kangyur vols. 26–28 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ka–ga). Citations are from the 1976–79 Karmapae chodhey gyalwae sungrab partun khang edition. English Translation in Padmakara 2023.
rgyan snang Haribhadra. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa’i bshad pa mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan gyi snang ba, (Aṣṭa­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā-vyākhyānābhi­samayālaṃkārālokā) [“Illumination of the Abhisamayālaṃkāra”]. Toh 3791, Degé Tengyur vol. 85 (shes phyin, cha), folios 1b–341a.
sa bcu pa sangs rgyas phal po che zhes bya ba las, sa bcu’i le’u ste, sum cu rtsa gcig pa’o (sa bcu pa’i mdo) (Daśa­bhūmika­sūtra) [“The Ten Bhūmis”]. Toh 44-31, Degé Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, kha), folios 166.a–283.a. English translation in Roberts 2021.
snying po mchog Ratnākaraśānti. ’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa’i dka’ ’grel snying po mchog. (Sāratamā) [“Quintessence”]. Toh 3803, Degé Tengyur vol. 89 (shes phyin, tha), folios 1b–230a.
ŚsPK Śata­sāhasrikā­prajña­paramitā. Edited by Takayasu Kimura. Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin 2009 (II-1), 2010 (II-2, II-3), 2014 (II-4). Available online (input by Klaus Wille, Göttingen) at GRETIL.
ŚsPN3 Śata­sāhasrikā­prajña­paramitā NGMPP A 115/3, NAK Accession Number 3/632. Numbering of the scanned pages.
ŚsPN4 Śata­sāhasrikā­prajña­paramitā NGMPP B 91/3, NAK Accession Number 3/633. Numbering of the scanned pages.
ŚsPN4/2 Śata­sāhasrikā­prajña­paramitā NGMPP B 91/3, NAK Accession Number 3/633 (part two). Numbering of the scanned pages.
’bum shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa (Śata­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā) [Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines]. Toh 8, Degé Kangyur vols. 14–25 (shes phyin, ’bum, ka–a). Citations are from the 1976–79 Karmapae chodhey gyalwae sungrab partun khang edition, first the Tib. vol. letter in italics, followed by the folio and line number.

n.

Notes

n.­1
Degé Tengyur vol. 213 (dkar chag, shrI), F.432b–433a. The four great “pathbreaker” traditions of interpretation (shing rta chen po’i srol bzhi or shing rta’i srol ’byed bzhi) are: (1) the Ornament for the Clear Realizations and all the commentaries based on it, (2) the Madhyamaka “corpus based on reasoning” (dbu ma rig pa’i tshogs, i.e. Nāgārjuna’s writings categorized as the Yuktikāya and by extension the Madhyamaka treatises in general), (3) the two Bṛhaṭṭīka commentaries discussed here, and (4) Dignāga’s Prajñāpāramitā­saṃgraha­kārikā (Toh 3809, also known as the Piṇḍārtha­saṃgraha), said to be characterized by its thirty-two topics, and its subcommentary the Prajñāpāramitā­saṃgraha­kārikā­vivaraṇa (Toh 3810).
n.­2
Denkarma, folio 305.a.6; see also Herrmann-Pfandt, pp. 293-294, no. 515. Phangthangma 2003, p. 35. The only substantial difference in the titles, as with so many canonical texts, is that “noble” is added as an honorific in present editions of the Tibetan canon.
n.­3
Among modern writers, Lama Chimpa and Alaka Chattopadhyaya (1997), Kazuo Kano and Xuezhu Li (2012, 2014), and Karl Brunnhölzl (2011b) use the title Bṛhaṭṭīkā.
n.­4
Abhisamayālaṅkārāloka (Toh 3791), Degé Tengyur vol. 85 F.2.a.
n.­5
Bhagavaty­āmnāyānusāriṇī­nāma­vyākhyā (bcom ldan ’das ma’i man ngag gi rjes su ’brang ba zhes bya ba’i rnam par bshad pa), Toh 3811.
n.­6
shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa ’bum pa rgya cher ’grel pa.
n.­7
’di yi gzhung ’grel gnod ’joms bya bar ’dod.
n.­8
One may understand the verse as follows: “Having reverently (gus par, ādārāt) bowed (phyag ’tshal te, namaskṛ) to the Mother of Victors (rgyal ba’i yum, jinajananī), the foremost perfection (pha rol phyin pa’i gtso, pāramitāgrā) in the form of wisdom (shes rab bdag nyid, prajñātmakā), I want to make (bya bar ’dod, cikīrṣitā) a Path (gzhung ’grel, paddhati) there on which the Thorns Have Been Trodden Down (gnod ’joms, marditakaṇṭakā) so the later scriptures (bla ma’i lung, uttarāgama) will be of benefit to me (bdag la phan pa’i phyir, ātmahitāya).” Alternative translation of the last part: “because the tradition of the gurus (bla ma’i lung, gurvāgama) has been of benefit to me (bdag la phan pa’i phyir, ātmahitāt).”
n.­29
See outline of Bṭ3 in the appendix.
n.­38
The translators have inserted into the text here the notation bam po dang po (the “first bam po,” or bundle of pages equal to about 300 lines of original text), together with their own homage.
n.­39
Alternatively, bdag la phan pa’i phyir could be rendered “In order that the tradition of the gurus will be of benefit to me.”
n.­40
Alternatively, chos kyi tshogs renders dharmakāya (“dharma body”).
n.­512
This section begins the seventh of the eight subsections introduced earlier (2.­5).
n.­575
khri brgyad 8.­40–8.­54.
n.­587
Earlier (4.­501) our author calls this division “the practice of method.” Here (F.104.a) he calls this section brtson par sgrub pa, “practice as perseverance,” and (4.­620, F.105.a) brtson pa’i sgrub pa “practice of perseverance,” with the practice of method as a subset.
n.­699
Cf. 4.­678.
n.­736
This is the sixth of the twenty-eight or twenty-nine questions listed earlier (4.­678). The numbering here jumps to six, leaving out four and five, because the first three questions go together as 1a, 1b, and 1c, followed by 2 and then 3.
n.­741
Our author begins with an explanation of the second Great Vehicle because he has already explained the six perfections in response to the earlier question.
n.­826
Our author’s presentation is a paraphrase of, and often a direct citation from, The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata (Toh 147, Tathāgata­mahā­karuṇā­nirdeśa­sūtra) 2.­258 ff. (Burchardi 2020), cited in the AAV (Sparham 2006–11, vol. 4, p. 80) by the name of the questioner, Dhāraṇīśvararāja. The same explanation is also in The Bodhisattva’s Scriptural Collection of the Heap of Jewels collection (byang chub sems dpa’i sde snod, Degé Kangyur [dkon brtsegs, ga], 11a ff.). Mppś English (vol. 3, p. 1239 ff.) lists earlier sources for the powers, including the Majjhimanikāya.
n.­839
TMN takes dhātu and adhimukti together in a single section and deals with adhimukti first. Mppś English (p. 1264) takes adhimukti (“aspiration”) as the fifth power and dhātu (“acquired disposition”) as the sixth.
n.­892
This is the seventh of Subhūti’s twenty-eight questions at 4.­678.
n.­921
This is the eighth of Subhūti’s twenty-eight questions (4.­678).
n.­996
The remainder of Subhūti’s twenty-eight questions ( 4.­678) and the responses are khri brgyad 20.­1–20.­106. First are the statements made by Subhūti (khri brgyad 20.­8–20.­10) that are then queried by Śāriputra (khri brgyad 20.­11), and then answered by Subhūti up to the end of the chapter (khri brgyad 20.­106).
n.­1052
4.­679.
n.­1078
2.­2.
n.­1079
K, N de bzhin gshegs pas. The reading in D, de bzhin gshegs pa, may intend, “In this tathāgata the perfection of wisdom is a threefold teaching: brief, middling, and detailed.”
n.­1933
As this statement makes clear, the Maitreya Chapter was not included in the version of the Hundred Thousand that our author was following. In fact, among the long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras as they were brought to Tibet, it may only have been included in the Twenty-Five Thousand (in which it is chapter 72) and the Eighteen Thousand (in which it is chapter 83). In both sūtras its title, as given in the chapter colophon, is “Categorization of a Bodhisattva’s Training.” The traditional explanation is that this particular chapter, along with the three other final chapters recounting the narrative of Sadāprarudita, were held back by the nāgas when Nāgārjuna brought the text of the Hundred Thousand from their realm to the human world. While the versions of the Hundred Thousand in the Degé Kangyur and in most Kangyurs of both Tshalpa and Themphangma lineages thus do not include it, it is present in the versions in the Narthang and Lhasa Kangyurs, following a tradition (mentioned in the Degé Kangyur dkar chag F.117.a) of completing the text by adding these chapters from the other long sūtras.
n.­1934
The difference between ming (nāman) and ming du brjod pa (nāmadheya) is a variable of context: ming is used as the freestanding word for something (the ontological status of which is to be determined), ming du brjod pa when you are saying that word is being used for, or designating, something. Neither prejudges the status of the “content,” although, as our author says at the outset, saying things are nāmamātra is a way of teaching emptiness.
n.­1935
What this means is that it is not exactly the same as the name.
n.­1936
This translation is based on parts of two readings: D ming med pa’i dngos po tsam ’ba’ zhig ma mthong bas ’di ni gzugs yin no zhes mi rig par mi ’gyur ro, and K, N ming med par dngos po tsam ’ba’ zhig mthong bas ’di ni gzugs yin no zhes ming rig par mi ’gyur ro.
n.­1937
This renders de’i ngo bo nyid ma yin du zin na, in the sense of “if the word does not have some intrinsic connection with what it refers to.”
n.­1938
Either you would know what the word means from just saying a name without being told what it refers to, or else just from seeing what it is for you would know what it is called even without being told the name.
n.­1939
K, N ngo bo nyi du mar ’gyur; D ngo bo nyid du de las gzhan par ’gyur, “as an entity become something other than that.”
n.­1940
Our author takes a word for a generality (for example, “aggregate”) to be related to a basis that is the causal sign of a compounded phenomenon in the same way that a particular (for example, “form” aggregate) is.
n.­1941
LSPW p. 645, folios 578–79: “Is then form, etc. actually apprehended by way of an own-being (as a result of taking hold of) that entity which is the sign of something conditioned and on account of which there takes place the name, notion, concept and conventional expression, ‘this is form’, etc.”
n.­1942
The subject here is form, feeling, and so on.
n.­1943
“Is the basis that is the causal sign of a compounded phenomenon when form is… working as a subsequent conventional designation for form, form, the form entity, or is it simply merely designated?”
n.­1944
The subject here is Maitreya.
n.­1945
Our author is saying that the name does not actually articulate exactly what the thing is, like calling a soldier “lion heart.” It does not get to the actual heart of what something is‍—the true dharmic nature of something.
n.­1946
D ming dang; K, N ming las logs shig na.
n.­1947
khri brgyad 83.­26.
n.­1948
dngos po can render either vastu (“basis”) or bhāva (“real thing”).
n.­1949
He means “serves as the foundation of the name.”
n.­1950
khri brgyad 83.­27, Lhasa ’bum na 478a6 brjod du med pa’i dbyings dang ’brel pa’i shes rab kyi spyod pa la gnas pa, “abiding in the practice of wisdom connected with the inexpressible element”; MQ (236) yathā te nirabhilapyadhātau prajñāpracāro bhavati. upalabhase tvaṃ tasmin samaye saṃskāranimittaṃ vastu yatra idam āgantukaṃ nāmadheyaṃ prakṣiptam; LSPW p. 646, folio 579: “when your wisdom becomes united with the inexpressible realm.”
n.­1951
D; K, N: “when thoroughly purified wisdom takes up the inexpressible element.”
n.­1952
To teach the flaws in the position that it‍—the basis‍—is just that‍—the inexpressible element.
n.­1953
To teach the flaws in the position that it‍—the inexpressible element‍—is other than the basis.
n.­1954
The ultimate is not just the basis, and is not quite other than the basis.
n.­1955
This reading is corroborated by khri brgyad 83.­31 and Lhasa ’bum na 479a6–7. The rang dbang in rang dbang nyid dam yod pa nyid is perhaps incorporating a gloss from an oral tradition. The explanation below explains the reading at nyi khri 72.­31 (ga 347b5), rang dbang du yod pa nyid dam/ med pa nyid du ’gyur pa, “has no independent existence or nonexistence”; MQ (p. 237), PSP 6-8: 150 na… tasya saṃskāranimittasya vastunaḥ kācid vidyamānatā vāvidyamānatā vā.
n.­1956
khri brgyad 83.­31.
n.­1957
khri brgyad 83.­32. The “it” is “that basis that is a causal sign of a compounded phenomenon that has been thus designated by these‍—namely, the names form, feeling, perception, volitional factors, consciousness, up to buddhadharmas plucked out of thin air.”
n.­1958
MQ (39, 238) yā Maitreya tasmin samskāranimitte vastuni rūpam iti nāma­samjna­samketa­prajnapti­vyavahāran niśritya rūpasvabhāvatayā parikalpanā-idam parikalpitam rūpam; cf. Brunnhöltzl (2011, p. 11).
n.­1959
Brunnhöltzl (2011, p. 26) renders this passage: “The notion and designation ‘form’ with regard to the cause of that convention‍—a conditioned entity that, based on a convention, is designated as having the nature of form‍—is the meaning of ‘this is falsely imagined form.’ ”
n.­1960
Griffiths (1990, p. 93): “Every mental event has (or, perhaps better, is) a particular way of appearing to its subject. This is its ākāra, its ‘mode of appearance’.” Griffith’s “phenomenological content of a mental event” nicely conveys what is meant by the three natures or entities that are “aspects” or “modes of appearance” of a phenomenon.
n.­1961
D. K, N read rnam par shes pa chos rnams su phyin ci log tu snang, “the mode of consciousness erroneously appearing as the dharmas.”
n.­1962
“Real thing” renders dngos (bhāva). If it renders vastu the translation should be “in the form of a basis.” Brunnhöltz (2011, p. 27): “what arises and appears in the mind as the aspect of an entity.”
n.­1963
D. K, N blo rnam par brtags pa’i rnam pa ma gtogs, “except for the intellectually active state of mind that is the conceptualized mode of appearance.”
n.­1964
Golden 403a3 kun tu g.yengs ba’i; D kun tu g.yongs ba’i?
n.­1965
Cf. Brunnhöltzl: “Through apprehending it based on this conception (being grounded in the nature of the mere aspect of what is mentally conceived), the aspect of being distracted about what is connected with [mental] expressivity [by mistaking it] as having the character of an entity is called ‘expression.’ What appears to the mind as having the character of an entity based on this aspect of ‘being grounded in the nature of the aspect of what is mentally conceived’ is the meaning of ‘conceived form.’ ”
n.­1966
This renders D rnam par mi rtog pa’i, “nonconceptual.” Golden 403b1 (rnam par brtags pa) says, “When it has become separated from that conceptualized phenomenon, just that mode of appearance in an intellectually active state of mind‍—a falsely imagined phenomenon described before, a mode of appearance suited, as the expressed and expression mode of appearance, to name and designation‍—then that mode of appearance established, in itself, in an inexpressible form as an absence of conceptualization is “the true dharmic nature of form.” ”
n.­1967
This renders rūpaṇā, the definition of rūpa (“form”).
n.­1968
Our author is glossing the pra of prabhāvita (“category”; LSPW p. 581 “derived from”) with the sva of svabhāva (“intrinsic nature”).
n.­1969
khri brgyad 83.­41.
n.­1970
Cf. khri brgyad 21.­21 (Śāriputra then asked, “Venerable Subhūti, why do you say, ‘Anything called form is counted as not two’?”); ’bum nga 169b4, nyi khri ka 353b7 gang yang gzugs zhes bgyi pa ’di ni gnyis su ma mchis shing nyam pa ma mchis pa’i chos kyi grangs su bgyis ba’o.
n.­1971
Earlier (2.­14, 4.­677) and here it says there are twenty-eight questions, but the list adds up to twenty-nine and 4.­1247 says there is a list of twenty-nine questions. Take nyi shu rtsa brgyad to mean nyi shu rtsa brgyad pa.
n.­1972
khri brgyad 83.­43.
n.­1973
khri brgyad 83.­45.
n.­1974
The form that is materially real.
n.­1975
khri brgyad 83.­49 has “Is that true dharmic nature of form that is just that true dharmic nature of form, form?”
n.­1976
khri brgyad 83.­52.
n.­1977
4.­52, 5.­1009–5.­1021.
n.­1978
The order of these statements is reversed in khri brgyad 83.­57–83.­58, which makes more sense.
n.­1979
Emend da to nga.
n.­1980
khri brgyad 83.­62, MQ 241 avikalpanāyā; nyi khri ga 352a7–b1 mi rtog pa la mtshan nyid thams cad (avikalpanāyāṃ?), a locative, is easier to understand than a genitive absolute.
n.­1981
khri brgyad ga 162a6 gcig tu nges par gtan du, *ekāntātyantikī in place of MQ (p. 241) ekāṃśeṇaikāṃśikī, “partially in part”; cf. nyi khri ga 352b3 phyogs gcig pa’am/ shin tu, “in part or absolutely” (*ekāṃśeṇaikāntikī); LSPW “absolute assurance.”
n.­1982
This is cited earlier (1.­229). The reading sprul pa dang yongs su bsngos pa is corroborated by khri brgyad ga 162b4 sprul pa dang yongs su bsngos pa and le’u brgyad ma ca 322b3 sprul pa dang yongs su bsgyur pa. The Tib translators read nirmāṇa or nirmita and pariṇāmita in place of MQ p. 241 nirvāṇa and pāragāminīm; nyi khri ga 353a2 bsam gyis mi khyab pa mya ngan las ’das par ’gyur pa, “becomes an inconceivable nirvāṇa.” PSP 6-8: 157 api tv acintyān nirvāṇa­pāragāminīm arhato ’py upapattiṃ prajñāpayām, “the birth of a worthy one that gives passage to an inconceivable nirvāṇa is taught too”; LSPW: “an unthinkable rebirth which allows him to advance to the beyond of Nirvana.”
n.­1983
This is from The Questions of Sāgaramati (Sāgara­mati­paripṛcchā), Toh 152, 10.­7–10.­8 (Dharmachakra 2020) cited earlier at Bṭ3 1.­213–1.­216.
n.­1984
Earlier 1.­213 nyon mongs pa (saṁkliṣyante), “afflicted by.”
n.­1985
Earlier 1.­214 nyon mongs pa (saṁkliṣyante), “afflicted by.”
n.­1986
Earlier 1.­214 nyon mongs pa (saṁkliṣyante), “afflicted by.”
n.­1987
D reads phyogs in place of tshogs, “not complete the [dharmas on] the side of awakening.”
n.­1988
This is the Daśa­dharmaka­sūtra cited earlier 1.­223–1.­226.

b.

Bibliography

Primary Sources‍—Tibetan

’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa ’bum dang / nyi khri lnga sgong pa dang / khri brgyad stong pa rgya cher bshad pa (Ārya­śata­sāhasrikā­pañca­viṃśati­sāhasrikāṣṭādaśa-sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitābṭhaṭṭīkā) [The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines]. Vasubandhu/Daṃṣṭrāsena. Toh 3808, Degé Tengyur vol. 93 (shes phyin, pha), folios 1b–292b.