The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines
Notes
- Daṃṣṭrasena (Diṣṭasena)?
- Vasubandhu?
- Surendrabodhi
- Yeshé Dé

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 1.2.0 (2023)
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Table of Contents
Summary
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.
Acknowledgements
This commentary was translated by Gareth Sparham under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The Translator’s Acknowledgments
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 At an early stage, Paul Harrison and Ulrich Pagel arranged for me to see a copy of an unpublished Sanskrit manuscript of a sūtra cited in Bṭ3.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
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.
Colophon
Revised and finalized by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the chief editor-translator monk Yeshé Dé.
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. |
Amano | Amano, Koei H. Abhisamayālaṃkāra-kārikā-śāstra-vivṛti: Haribhadra’s Commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra-kārikā-śāstra edited for the first time from a Sanskrit Manuscript. Kyoto: Heirakuji Shoten, 2000. |
Aṣṭa | Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā. Page numbers are Wogihara (1973) that includes the edition of Mitra (1888). |
BPS | ’phags pa byang chub sems dpa’i sde snod ces bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryabodhisattvapiṭakanāmamahāyānasūtra) [The Bodhisattva’s Scriptural Collection]. Toh 56, Degé Kangyur vols. 40–41 (dkon brtsegs, kha, ga), folios 255b1–294a7, 1b1–205b1. |
Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo | Zhang, Yisun, ed. Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo. Pe-cing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang 2000. |
Buddhaśrī | shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa sdud pa’i tshig su byas pa’i dka’ ’grel (Prajñāpāramitāsaṃcayagāthāpañjikā). Toh 3798, Degé Tengyur vol. 87 (shes phyin, nya), folios 116a–189b. |
Bṭ1 | Anonymous/Daṃṣṭrāsena. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa ’bum gyi rgya cher ’grel (Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitābṛhaṭṭīkā) [Bṛhaṭṭīkā]. Toh 3807, Degé Tengyur vols. 91–92 (shes phyin, na, pa). |
Bṭ3 | Vasubandhu/Daṃṣṭrāsena. ’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) [Bṛhaṭṭīkā]. Degé Tengyur vol. 93 (shes phyin, pha), folios 1b–292b. |
C | Choné (co ne) Kangyur and Tengyur. |
D | Degé (sde dge) Kangyur and Tengyur. |
DMDic | Dan Martin Dictionary. Part of The Tibetan to English Translation Tool, version 3.3.0, compiled by Andrés Montano Pellegrini. Available from https://www.bdrc.io/blog/2020/12/21/dan-martins-tibetan-histories/. |
Edg | Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary. New Haven, 1953. |
Eight Thousand | Conze, Edward. The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines & Its Verse Summary. Bolinas, Calif.: Four Seasons Foundation, 1973. |
GRETIL | Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages. |
Ghoṣa | Ghoṣa, Pratāpachandra, ed. Śatasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā. Asiatic Society of Bengal. Calcutta, 1902–14. |
Gilgit | Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts (revised and enlarged compact facsimile edition). Vol. 1. by Raghu Vira and Lokesh Chandra. Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica Series No. 150. Delhi 110007: Sri Satguru Publications, a division of Indian Books Center, 1995. |
GilgitC | Conze, Edward, ed. and trans. The Gilgit Manuscript of the Aṣṭādaśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā: Chapters 55 to 70 Corresponding to the 5th Abhisamaya. Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1962. |
Golden | snar thang gser bri ma. Golden Tengyur/Ganden Tengyur. Produced between 1731 and 1741 by Polhane Sonam Tobgyal for the Qing court, published in Tianjing 1988. BDRC W23702. |
H | Lhasa (zhol) Kangyur and Tengyur |
Haribhadra (Amano) | Abhisamayālaṃkārakārikāśāstravivṛti. Amano edition. |
Haribhadra (Wogihara) | Abhisamayālaṃkārālokā Prajñāpāramitāvyākhyā. Wogihara edition. |
LC | Candra, Lokesh. Tibetan Sanskrit Dictionary. Śata-piṭaka Series Indo-Asian Literature, Vol. 3. International Academy of Indian Culture (1959–61) third reprint edition 2001. |
LSPW | Conze, Edward. The Large Sutra on Perfection Wisdom. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press, 1975. First paperback printing, 1984. |
MDPL | Conze, Edward. Materials for a Dictionary of the Prajñāpāramitā Literature. Tokyo: Suzuki Research Foundation, 1973. |
MQ | Conze, Edward and Shotaro Iida. “ ‘Maitreya’s Questions’ in the Prajñāpāramitā.” In Mélanges d’India a la Mémoire de Louis Renou, 229–42. Paris: Éditions E. de Boccard, 1968. |
MSAvy | Asaṅga / Vasubandhu. Sūtrālaṃkāravyākhyā. |
MSAvyT | Asaṅga / Vasubandhu. mdo sde’i rgyan gyi bshad pa (Sūtrālaṃkāravyākhyā). Toh 4026, Degé Tengyur vol. 225 (sems tsam, phi), folios 129b–260a. |
MW | Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit-English dictionary: Etymologically and Philologically Arranged with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899. |
Mppś | Lamotte, Étienne. Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñā-pāramitā-śāstra). Vol. I and II: Bibliothèque du Muséon, 18. Louvain: Institut Orientaliste, 1949; reprinted 1967. Vol III, IV and V: Publications de l’Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, 2, 12 and 24. Louvain: Institut Orientaliste, 1970, 1976 and 1980. |
Mppś | English Gelongma Karma Migme Chodron. The Treatise on the Great Virtue of Wisdom of Nāgārjuna. Gampo Abbey Nova Scotia, 2001. English translation of Étienne Lamotte (1949–80). |
Mvy | Mahāvyutpatti (bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa chen po. Toh. 4346, Degé Tengyur vol. 306 (bstan bcos sna tshogs, co), folios 1b-131a. |
N | Narthang (snar thang) Kangyur and Tengyur. |
NAK | National Archives Kathmandu. |
NGMPP | Nepal German Manuscript Preservation Project. |
PSP | Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā. Edited by Takayasu Kimura. Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin 2007–9 (1-1, 1-2), 1986 (2-3), 1990 (4), 1992 (5), 2006 (6-8). Available online (input by Klaus Wille, Göttingen) at GRETIL. |
RecA | Skt and Tib editions of Recension A in Yuyama 1976. |
RecAs | Sanskrit Recension A in Yuyama 1976. |
RecAt | Tibetan Recension A in Yuyama 1976. |
Rgs | Ratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā. |
S | Stok Palace (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur. |
Skt | Sanskrit. |
Subodhinī | Attributed to Haribhadra. bcom ldan ’das yon tan rin po che sdud pa’i tshig su byas pa’i dka’ ’grel shes bya ba (Bhagavadratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā-pañjikānāma) [A Commentary on the Difficult Points of the “Verses that Summarize the Perfection of Wisdom”]. Toh 3792, Degé Tengyur vol. 86 (shes phyin, ja), folios 1b–78a. |
TGN | de bshin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa’i bstan pa (Tathāgatācintyaguhyakanirdeśa) [“Explanation of the Inconceivable Secrets of the Tathāgatas”]. Toh 47, Degé Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 100a7–203a. |
TMN | de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po chen po nges par bstan pa (Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśasūtra) [“The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata”]. Toh 147, Degé Kangyur vol. 57 (mdo sde, pa), folios 42a1–242b7. English translation in Burchardi 2020. |
Tempangma | bka’ ’gyur rgyal rtse’i them spang ma. The Gyaltse Tempangma manuscript of the Kangyur preserved at National Library of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. |
Tib | Tibetan. |
Toh | Tōhoku Imperial University A Complete Catalogue of the Tibetan Buddhist Canons. (bkaḥ-ḥgyur and bstan-ḥgyur). Edited by Ui, Hakuju; Suzuki, Munetada; Kanakura, Yenshō; and Taka, Tōkan. Tohoku Imperial University, Sendai, 1934. |
Vetter | Vetter, Tilmann. “Compounds in the Prologue of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā,” Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens, Band XXXVII, 1993: 45–92. |
Wogihara | Wogihara, Unrai. Abhisamayālaṃkārālokā Prajñāpāramitā Vyākhyā: The Work of Haribhadra. Tokyo: The Toyo Bunko, 1932–5; reprint ed., Tokyo: Sankibo Buddhist Book Store, 1973. |
Z | Zacchetti, Stefano. In Praise of the Light. Bibliotheca Philologica et Philosophica Buddhica, Vol. 8. The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology. Tokyo: Soka University, 2005. |
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. |