• The Collection
  • The Kangyur
  • Dhāraṇī
  • Compendium of Dhāraṇīs

This rendering does not include the entire published text

The full text is available to download as pdf at:
https://read.84000.co/data/toh847_84000-the-dharani-of-the-jewel-torch.pdf

དཀོན་མཆོག་ཏ་ལ་ལའི་གཟུངས།

The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch

Ratnolkādhāraṇī
འཕགས་པ་དཀོན་མཆོག་ཏ་ལ་ལའི་གཟུངས་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa dkon mchog ta la la’i gzungs zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch”
Āryaratnolkānāmadhāraṇīmahāyānasūtra
84000 logo

Toh 847

Degé Kangyur, vol. 100 (gzungs, e), folios 3.b–54.b

Translated by David Jackson

under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2020
Current version v 1.4.22 (2022)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.17.7

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.

Logo for the license

This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.

Options for downloading this publication

This print version was generated at 7.28pm on Monday, 13th March 2023 from the online version of the text available on that date. If some time has elapsed since then, this version may have been superseded, as most of 84000’s published translations undergo significant updates from time to time. For the latest online version, with bilingual display, interactive glossary entries and notes, and a variety of further download options, please see
https://read.84000.co/translation/toh847.html.


co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
+ 8 sections- 8 sections
· Overview
· Narrative and Doctrinal Content
· The Sūtra, the Avataṃsaka, and the Chinese Translation
· Why Is the Sūtra Also a Dhāraṇī?
· The Title and Its Variants
· The Sūtra in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya and Other Treatises
· The Sūtra’s Impact on Tibetan Works
· The Translation
tr. The Translation
+ 2 chapters- 2 chapters
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
c. Colophon
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 2 sections- 2 sections
· Tibetan and Sanskrit Texts
· Other Sources
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch starts with a profound conversation between the Buddha and the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī on the nature of the dharmadhātu, buddhahood, and emptiness. The bodhisattva Dharma­mati then enters the meditative absorption called the infinite application of the bodhisattva’s jewel torch and, at the behest of the millions of buddhas who have blessed him, emerges from it to teach how bodhisattvas arise from the presence of a tathāgata and progress to the state of omniscience. Following Dharma­mati’s detailed exposition of the “ten categories” or progressive stages of a bodhisattva, the Buddha briefly teaches the mantra of the dhāraṇī and then, for most of the remainder of the text, encourages bodhisattvas in a long versified passage in which he recounts teachings by a bodhisattva called Bhadraśrī on the qualities of bodhisattvas and buddhas. Some verses from this passage on the virtues of faith have been widely quoted in both India and Tibet.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

Translated by David Jackson and edited by the 84000 editorial team. The introduction, also by the 84000 editorial team, expands on an original version by David Jackson. The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

ac.­2

The generous sponsorship of Make and Wang Xiao Juan (馬珂和王曉娟), which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.


i.

Introduction

Overview

i.­1

In this profound Mahāyāna sūtra, The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch, the Buddha Śākyamuni explains, with the help of the bodhisattvas Mañjuśrī, Samanta­bhadra, and Dharma­mati, how bodhisattvas progress toward awakening.

i.­2

Although seen as a sūtra in its own right, it is closely connected to the family of texts belonging to the Avataṃsakasūtra, two chapters of which it shares. As its title suggests, it can also be seen as a dhāraṇī, or as a sūtra about a dhāraṇī.

Narrative and Doctrinal Content

The Sūtra, the Avataṃsaka, and the Chinese Translation

Why Is the Sūtra Also a Dhāraṇī?

The Title and Its Variants

The Sūtra in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya and Other Treatises

The Sūtra’s Impact on Tibetan Works

The Translation


The Translation
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch

1.

Chapter 1

[B1] [F.3.b]


1.­1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!


1.­2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling on the Vulture Peak of Rājagṛha, seated together with a great gathering of fully ordained monks, all of whom had perfected virtuous [F.4.a] qualities, roared mighty lion’s roars as great teachers, and were expert in seeking an immeasurable accumulation of gnosis, in all more than a thousand fully ordained monks.

1.­3

A great gathering of bodhisattvas was also assembled there, including the bodhisattva great being Samanta­bhadra, the bodhisattva great being Ratna­mudrā­hasta, the bodhisattva great being Nityodyukta, the bodhisattva great being Ornamented by Good Qualities, the bodhisattva great being Announcing Merits, the bodhisattva great being Mahāmati, the bodhisattva great being Array of Good Qualities, the bodhisattva great being Vajra Intelligence, the bodhisattva great being Vajragarbha, the bodhisattva great being Light of a Vajra, the bodhisattva great being Weapon of a Vajra, the bodhisattva great being Adamantine Vajra, the bodhisattva great being Dhāraṇī­dhara, the bodhisattva great being Dhāraṇī­mati, the bodhisattva great being Seeing All Purposes, the bodhisattva great being Avaloki­teśvara, the bodhisattva great being Mahā­sthāmaprāpta, the bodhisattva great being Dṛḍhamati, the bodhisattva great being Vajrapāṇi, the bodhisattva great being Mañjuśrī Kumāra­bhūta, the bodhisattva great being Avoiding Evil Destinies, the bodhisattva great being Overcoming All Sorrow and Darkness, [F.4.b] the bodhisattva great being Suvikrānta­vikrāmin, the bodhisattva great being Not Taking or Rejecting, the bodhisattva great being Essence of Sandalwood, the bodhisattva great being Sāgara­mati, the bodhisattva great being Durabhi­sambhava, the bodhisattva great being Arising Joy, the bodhisattva great being Intelligence of Conduct, the bodhisattva great being Pratibhākūṭa, the bodhisattva great being Essence of Speed, and the bodhisattva great being Maitreya.


2.

Chapter 2

2.­1

Then the venerable Ānanda arose from his seat and, covering one shoulder with his robe, knelt on one knee. Bowing with folded hands toward the seat of the Blessed One, he said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, this Dharma discourse is profound.”

2.­2

The Blessed One said, “Ānanda, so it is. Because the aggregate of form is profound, it is profound. Because the aggregates of feeling, perception, mental forces, and cognition are profound, it is profound. Because emptiness is profound, it is profound. Because the element of space is profound, it is profound.”


c.

Colophon

c.­1

Translated, checked, and verified by the Indian preceptor Surendra­bodhi and the chief editor and translator, Bandé Yeshé Dé.


n.

Notes

n.­1
It is from this section that the long passage of some two hundred and thirty stanzas making up much of the eighteenth chapter of the Śikṣāsamuccaya is quoted, constituting the longest quotation of any scripture in Śāntideva’s text; see below.
n.­2
See Denkarma F.297.b.4.
n.­3
See Phangthangma (F.2) p. 5. The other texts in the Phangthangma list, apart from the 105 bam po Buddhāvataṃsaka itself, are the Lokottaraparivarta (ch. 44 in the Degé version of Toh 44), the Daśabhūmika (ch. 31), and the Tathāgatotpattisambhavanirdeśa (ch. 43).
n.­4
See Skilling and Saerji (2012).
n.­5
See Skilling and Saerji (2013) p. 199, n35.
n.­6
See n.­34 and n.­81.
n.­7
See also n.­100 and n.­141. The equivalent passage in the Tibetan Avataṃsaka­sūtra starts on Degé Kangyur vol. 35 (phal po che, ka) F.219.b.
n.­8
大方廣總持寶光明經 (Da fangguang puxian suoshuo jing).

b.

Bibliography

Tibetan and Sanskrit Texts

’phags pa dkon mchog ta la la’i gzungs (Ratnolkānāmadhāraṇī). Toh 145, Degé Kangyur vol. 57 (mdo sde, pa), folios 34.a–82.a.

’phags pa dkon mchog ta la la’i gzungs (Ratnolkānāmadhāraṇī). Toh 847, Degé Kangyur vol. 100 (gzungs, e), folios 3.b–54.b.

’phags pa dkon mchog ta la la’i gzungs. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 57, pp. 94–207.

Dzamthang Lama Ngawang Lodrö Drakpa. dpal ldan jo nang pa’i chos ’byung. Beijing: krung go’i bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun khang, 1992.

‍—‍—‍—. dpal ldan jo nang pa’i chos ’byung. Bir: Tsondu Senghe, 1983.

Drolungpa Lodrö Jungné. bstan rim chen mo. gsung ’bum: blo gros ’byung gnas. 2 volumes. n.p., n.d.

Bendall, Cecil (ed.). Çikshāsamuccaya: A Compendium of Buddhistic Teaching Compiled by Çāntideva Chiefly from Earlier Mahāyāna-Sūtras. Bibliotheca Buddhica I. St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des Sciences, 1902.

Other Sources

Bendall, Cecil, and W.H.D. Rouse, trans. Śikṣā-Samuccaya: A Compendium of Buddhist Doctrine Compiled by Śāntideva Chiefly from Earlier Mahāyāna Sūtras. First edition in Indian Texts Series, London: John Murray, 1922. Reprinted New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1971 and 1981.

Braarvig, Jens. “Dhāraṇī and Pratibhāna: Memory and Eloquence of the Bodhisattvas.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 8, no. 1 (1985): 17–30.

Burchardi, Anne, trans. The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata (Toh 147, Tathāgata­mahā­karuṇā­nirdeśa­sūtra). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.

Buswell, Robert E. and Donald S. Lopez, eds. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.

Davidson, Ronald M. “Studies in Dhāraṇī Literature I: Revisiting the Meaning of the Term Dhāraṇī.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 37 (2009): 97–147.

‍—‍—‍—. “Studies in Dhāraṇī Literature II: Pragmatics of Dhāraṇīs.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 77 (2014): 5–61.

“Dharani.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed September 15, 2018. https://www.britannica.com/topic/dharani-Buddhism-and-Hinduism.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Play in Full (Toh 95, Lalitavistara). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.

Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. 2 vols. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1977.

Fischer-Schreiber, Ingrid, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, and Michael S. Diebner. The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1991.

Goldstein, Melvyn C. The New Tibetan-English Dictionary of Modern Tibetan. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.

Goodman, Charles. The Training Anthology of Śāntideva: A Translation of the Śikṣā-samuccaya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Gyatso, Janet. “Letter Magic: A Peircean Perspective on the Semiotics of Rdo Grub-chen’s Dhāraṇī Memory.” In In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.

Inagaki, Hisao. A Tri-Lingual Glossary of the Sukhāvatāvyūha Sūtras: Indexes to the Larger and Smaller Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtras. Kyoto: Nagata Bunshodo, 1984.

Kapstein, Matthew. The Tibetans. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.

Krang Dbyi-sun, et al. Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo [Great Tibetan–Chinese Dictionary]. Beijing: Minzu chubanshe, 1985.

Lokesh Chandra and Raghu Vira. Sanskrit texts from the imperial palace at Peking, in the Manchurian, Chinese, Mongolian and Tibetan scripts. Śata-piṭaka Series, vol. 71. New Delhi: Institute for the Advancement of Science and Culture, 1966–1976.

McBride, Richard D. “Dhāraṇī and Spells in Medieval China.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 28, no. 1 (2005): 85–114.

Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899.

Nattier, Jan. “The Heart Sūtra: A Chinese Apocryphal Text?” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 15, no. 2 (1992): 153–223.

Negi, J. S. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary. 16 vols. Sarnath, Varanasi: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993–2005.

The Nyingma Edition of the sDe-dge bKa’-’gyur and bsTan-’gyur: Research Catalogue and Bibliography. Oakland: Dharma Publishing/Dharma Mudranālaya, 1977–1983.

Pagel, Ulrich. Mapping the Path: Vajrapadas in Mahāyāna Literature. Studia Philologica Buddhica Monograph Series, XXI. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 2007.

Red Pine. The Heart Sūtra: The Womb of the Buddhas. Berkeley: Counterpoint, 2004.

Roberts, Peter, and Emily Bower, trans. The Basket’s Display (Toh 116, Kāraṇḍavyūha). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.

Roesler, Ulrike, Ken Holmes, and David Jackson. Stages of the Buddha’s Teachings: Three Key Texts. Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2015.

Sakaki, Ryozaburo, ed. Mahāvyutpatti. 2 vols. Tokyo: Kokusho Kankōkai, 1962.

Skilling, Peter, and Saerji. “ ‘O Son of the Conqueror’: a note on jinaputra as a term of address in the Buddhāvataṃsaka and Mahāyāna sūtras.” In Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology (ARIRIAB), vol. XV, pp. 127–130. Tokyo: Soka University, 2012.

‍—‍—‍—‍—. “The Circulation of the Buddhāvataṃsaka in India.” In Annual Report of the International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology (ARIRIAB), vol. XVI, pp. 193–216. Tokyo: Soka University, 2013.

Winternitz, Moritz. Der Mahāyāna-Buddhismus nach Sanskrit- und Prakrittexten. Tübingen: Verlag von J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1930.


g.

Glossary

g.­1

Absence of conceptual elaborations

  • spros med
  • spros pa med pa
  • སྤྲོས་མེད།
  • སྤྲོས་པ་མེད་པ།
  • —

Also translated here as “without conceptual elaborations.”

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­23
  • g.­325

Links to further resources:

  • 8 related glossary entries
g.­2

Absence of entities

  • dngos po med pa
  • དངོས་པོ་མེད་པ།
  • —

13 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­5
  • 1.­6
  • 1.­23
  • 1.­26
  • 1.­27
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­77
  • 1.­145
  • 1.­160
  • 1.­207
  • 1.­219
  • 1.­221
  • 1.­226

Links to further resources:

  • 7 related glossary entries
g.­3

Absence of phenomenal marks

  • mtshan ma med pa
  • མཚན་མ་མེད་པ།
  • —

5 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­4
  • 1.­75
  • 1.­77
  • 1.­160
  • 1.­204

Links to further resources:

  • 36 related glossary entries
g.­4

Adamantine Vajra

  • rdo rje sra ba
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་སྲ་བ།
  • Dṛḍhavajra

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3
g.­15

Ānanda

  • kun dga’ bo
  • ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།
  • Ānanda

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).

Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.

14 passages contain this term:

  • i.­8
  • i.­9
  • 1.­195
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­10
  • 2.­399

Links to further resources:

  • 78 related glossary entries
g.­17

Announcing Merits

  • bsod nams mngon bsgrags
  • བསོད་ནམས་མངོན་བསྒྲགས།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3
g.­22

Arising Joy

  • dga’ ’byung
  • དགའ་འབྱུང་།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­23

Array of Good Qualities

  • yon tan bkod pa
  • ཡོན་ཏན་བཀོད་པ།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3
g.­29

Avaloki­teśvara

  • spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug
  • སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག
  • Avaloki­teśvara

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the “eight close sons of the Buddha,” he is also known as the bodhisattva who embodies compassion. In certain tantras, he is also the lord of the three families, where he embodies the compassion of the buddhas. In Tibet, he attained great significance as a special protector of Tibet, and in China, in female form, as Guanyin, the most important bodhisattva in all of East Asia.

4 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213
  • 2.­17
  • n.­97

Links to further resources:

  • 58 related glossary entries
g.­30

Avoiding Evil Destinies

  • ngan song spong
  • ངན་སོང་སྤོང་།
  • Apāyajaha

Negi gives the Skt. apāyajaha for ngan song spong ’joms pa, where it refers to the name of a bodhisattva.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­36

Bhadraśrī

  • bzang po’i dpal
  • bzang po dpal
  • བཟང་པོའི་དཔལ།
  • བཟང་པོ་དཔལ།
  • Bhadraśrī

9 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­8
  • i.­12
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­27
  • 2.­29
  • 2.­395
  • n.­100
  • n.­141

Links to further resources:

  • 2 related glossary entries
g.­38

Blessed one

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

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In Buddhist literature, an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term‍—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa‍—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).

103 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­2
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­6
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­11
  • 1.­12
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­16
  • 1.­17
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­19
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­36
  • 1.­37
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­39
  • 1.­40
  • 1.­41
  • 1.­42
  • 1.­43
  • 1.­44
  • 1.­52
  • 1.­53
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­182
  • 1.­183
  • 1.­184
  • 1.­186
  • 1.­187
  • 1.­188
  • 1.­189
  • 1.­190
  • 1.­196
  • 1.­197
  • 1.­209
  • 1.­210
  • 1.­211
  • 1.­212
  • 1.­213
  • 1.­214
  • 1.­215
  • 1.­217
  • 1.­218
  • 1.­219
  • 1.­220
  • 1.­229
  • 1.­230
  • 1.­231
  • 1.­232
  • 1.­233
  • 1.­234
  • 1.­235
  • 1.­236
  • 1.­237
  • 1.­238
  • 1.­239
  • 1.­240
  • 1.­241
  • 1.­243
  • 1.­244
  • 1.­245
  • 1.­249
  • 1.­250
  • 1.­252
  • 1.­253
  • 1.­254
  • 1.­255
  • 1.­257
  • 1.­258
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­2
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­9
  • 2.­10
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­13
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­16
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­19
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­397
  • 2.­398
  • 2.­399
  • 2.­400
  • n.­82
  • n.­89

Links to further resources:

  • 116 related glossary entries
g.­76

Dhāraṇī­dhara

  • sa ’dzin
  • ས་འཛིན།
  • Dhāraṇī­dhara

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 8 related glossary entries
g.­77

Dhāraṇī­mati

  • gzungs kyi blo gros
  • གཟུངས་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • Dhāraṇī­mati

Lit. “Intelligence of Dhāraṇī.”

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­78

Dharma discourse

  • chos kyi rnam grangs
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་གྲངས།
  • —

30 passages contain this term:

  • i.­20
  • 1.­54
  • 1.­179
  • 1.­181
  • 1.­182
  • 1.­208
  • 1.­212
  • 1.­222
  • 1.­229
  • 1.­236
  • 1.­237
  • 1.­240
  • 1.­241
  • 1.­243
  • 1.­248
  • 1.­249
  • 2.­1
  • 2.­3
  • 2.­4
  • 2.­5
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­7
  • 2.­8
  • 2.­10
  • 2.­11
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­19
  • 2.­397
  • 2.­399

Links to further resources:

  • 16 related glossary entries
g.­79

Dharmadhātu

  • chos kyi dbyings
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས།
  • dharmadhātu

18 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­4
  • i.­11
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­6
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­37
  • 1.­56
  • 1.­58
  • 1.­66
  • 1.­74
  • 1.­84
  • 1.­88
  • 1.­142
  • 1.­158
  • 1.­159

Links to further resources:

  • 59 related glossary entries
g.­80

Dharma­mati

  • chos kyi blo gros
  • ཆོས་ཀྱི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • Dharma­mati

18 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­6
  • i.­11
  • i.­18
  • i.­19
  • 1.­55
  • 1.­56
  • 1.­57
  • 1.­58
  • 1.­59
  • 1.­60
  • 1.­85
  • 1.­87
  • 1.­88
  • 1.­179
  • 1.­180
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 2 related glossary entries
g.­89

Dṛḍhamati

  • blo gros brtan pa
  • བློ་གྲོས་བརྟན་པ།
  • Dṛḍhamati

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 8 related glossary entries
g.­91

Durabhi­sambhava

  • ’byung dka’
  • འབྱུང་དཀའ།
  • Durabhi­sambhava

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 2 related glossary entries
g.­96

Emptiness

  • stong pa nyid
  • སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།
  • śūnyatā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.

10 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­19
  • 1.­19
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­39
  • 1.­201
  • 1.­202
  • 1.­203
  • 1.­204
  • 2.­2

Links to further resources:

  • 34 related glossary entries
g.­105

Essence of Sandalwood

  • tsan dan snying po
  • ཙན་དན་སྙིང་པོ།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3
g.­106

Essence of Speed

  • mgyogs pa’i snying po
  • མགྱོགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3
g.­122

Gnosis

  • ye shes
  • ཡེ་ཤེས།
  • jñāna

30 passages contain this term:

  • i.­19
  • 1.­2
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­56
  • 1.­57
  • 1.­61
  • 1.­76
  • 1.­83
  • 1.­84
  • 1.­240
  • 2.­35
  • 2.­41
  • 2.­44
  • 2.­82
  • 2.­83
  • 2.­87
  • 2.­88
  • 2.­104
  • 2.­105
  • 2.­132
  • 2.­135
  • 2.­176
  • 2.­194
  • 2.­195
  • 2.­257
  • 2.­273
  • 2.­318
  • 2.­351
  • 2.­358
  • 2.­384

Links to further resources:

  • 33 related glossary entries
g.­143

Intelligence of Conduct

  • spyod pa’i blo gros
  • སྤྱོད་པའི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­150

Jewel torch

  • dkon mchog ta la la
  • དཀོན་མཆོག་ཏ་ལ་ལ།
  • —

32 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­5
  • i.­6
  • i.­14
  • i.­17
  • i.­19
  • i.­21
  • 1.­11
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­55
  • 1.­179
  • 1.­184
  • 1.­185
  • 1.­186
  • 1.­188
  • 1.­189
  • 1.­196
  • 1.­197
  • 1.­198
  • 1.­199
  • 1.­205
  • 1.­206
  • 1.­211
  • 1.­213
  • 1.­215
  • 1.­221
  • 1.­257
  • 1.­258
  • 1.­259
  • 1.­260
  • 2.­6
  • 2.­9
g.­164

Light of a Vajra

  • rdo rje’i ’od
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་འོད།
  • —

Not in Negi. rdo rje ’od ma appears in Negi as Skt. Vajrābha.

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­168

Mahāmati

  • blo gros chen po
  • བློ་གྲོས་ཆེན་པོ།
  • Mahāmati

Lit. “Great Intelligence.”

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 4 related glossary entries
g.­171

Mahā­sthāmaprāpta

  • mthu chen thob
  • མཐུ་ཆེན་ཐོབ།
  • Mahā­sthāmaprāpta

Lit. “Attained Great Magical Power.”

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 25 related glossary entries
g.­173

Maitreya

  • byams pa
  • བྱམས་པ།
  • Maitreya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is said to currently reside in Tuṣita heaven, as Śākyamuni’s regent, where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. He is the only bodhisattva widely accepted outside the Mahāyāna traditions, though his role there is much less central than in the Mahāyāna schools of India, China, Tibet, Japan, Vietnam, and Korea. His future coming as a buddha is predicted in the Pali Canon, where he is mentioned in the Cakkavattisīhanādasutta of the Dīgha Nikāya, and in the Mahāvastu, a canonical text of the Lokottaravāda school of the Mahāsaṅghikas. The prophecy of the future awakening of Maitreya is told in the Mūla­sarvāstivādavinaya, in the Bhaiṣajya­vastu, the sixth chapter of the Vinayavastu (The Chapter on Medicines, Bhaiṣajya­vastu, Toh 1, ch. 6). Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma. His name literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita.

In the Kangyur, we find a few short sūtras, such as Maitreya’s Rebirth in the Heaven of Joy (Toh 199), describing the circumstances leading to his awakening, his future appearance in the world, and the methods to apply if one wishes to be reborn close to him at that time. On his bodhisattva career and the circumstances for his initial arousing of the mind set on awakening, see Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198). Other sūtras in which previous lives of the bodhisattva Maitreya are recounted include The White Lotus of the Good Dharma (Toh 113), The Sublime Golden Light (Toh 555–57), and The Question of Maitreya (Toh 85). Maitreya also occupies a central role in some of the most famous Mahāyāna sūtras, such as The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Toh 176), The Rice Seedling (Toh 210), The Stem Array (Toh 44-45), The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Toh 12), and The King of Samādhis (Toh 127).

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 83 related glossary entries
g.­177

Mañjuśrī

  • ’jam dpal
  • འཇམ་དཔལ།
  • Mañjuśrī

Also rendered here as “Mañjuśrī Kumāra­bhūta.”

44 passages contain this term:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­5
  • i.­7
  • i.­18
  • 1.­12
  • 1.­13
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­15
  • 1.­16
  • 1.­17
  • 1.­24
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­26
  • 1.­27
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­29
  • 1.­32
  • 1.­39
  • 1.­44
  • 1.­46
  • 1.­49
  • 1.­50
  • 1.­193
  • 1.­199
  • 1.­200
  • 1.­201
  • 1.­202
  • 1.­203
  • 1.­206
  • 1.­207
  • 1.­222
  • 1.­223
  • 1.­224
  • 1.­225
  • 1.­226
  • 1.­230
  • 1.­232
  • 1.­233
  • 1.­241
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­26
  • 2.­27
  • g.­178

Links to further resources:

  • 109 related glossary entries
g.­178

Mañjuśrī Kumāra­bhūta

  • ’jam dpal gzhon nur gyur pa
  • འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ནུར་གྱུར་པ།
  • Mañjuśrī Kumāra­bhūta

Also rendered here as “Mañjuśrī.”

29 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­11
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­20
  • 1.­22
  • 1.­33
  • 1.­38
  • 1.­44
  • 1.­45
  • 1.­190
  • 1.­191
  • 1.­192
  • 1.­194
  • 1.­197
  • 1.­198
  • 1.­205
  • 1.­206
  • 1.­208
  • 1.­213
  • 1.­221
  • 1.­222
  • 1.­227
  • 1.­228
  • 1.­229
  • 1.­231
  • 1.­241
  • 2.­24
  • 2.­400
  • g.­177

Links to further resources:

  • 109 related glossary entries
g.­190

Nityodyukta

  • rtag tu brtson
  • རྟག་ཏུ་བརྩོན།
  • Nityodyukta

Lit. “Always Energetic.”

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 8 related glossary entries
g.­199

Not Taking or Rejecting

  • mi len mi ’dor ba
  • མི་ལེན་མི་འདོར་བ།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3
g.­204

Ornamented by Good Qualities

  • yon tan gyis brgyan pa
  • ཡོན་ཏན་གྱིས་བརྒྱན་པ།
  • —

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213
g.­207

Overcoming All Sorrow and Darkness

  • mya ngan dang mun pa thams cad ’joms pa
  • མྱ་ངན་དང་མུན་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་འཇོམས་པ།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3
g.­229

Pratibhākūṭa

  • spobs pa brtsegs pa
  • སྤོབས་པ་བརྩེགས་པ།
  • Pratibhākūṭa

Lit. “Heap of Eloquence.”

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 6 related glossary entries
g.­239

Rājagṛha

  • rgyal po’i khab
  • རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།
  • Rājagṛha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The ancient capital of Magadha prior to its relocation to Pāṭaliputra during the Mauryan dynasty, Rājagṛha is one of the most important locations in Buddhist history. The literature tells us that the Buddha and his saṅgha spent a considerable amount of time in residence in and around Rājagṛha enjoying the patronage of King Bimbisāra and then of his son King Ajātaśatru. Rājagṛha is also remembered as the location where the first Buddhist monastic council was held after the Buddha Śākyamuni passed into parinirvāṇa. Now known as Rajgir and located in the modern Indian state of Bihar.

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­4
  • 1.­2

Links to further resources:

  • 79 related glossary entries
g.­241

Ratna­mudrā­hasta

  • lag na phyag rgya rin po che
  • ལག་ན་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ།
  • Ratna­mudrā­hasta

Lit. “Jewel Mudrā in Hand.”

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 8 related glossary entries
g.­257

Sāgara­mati

  • blo gros rgya mtsho
  • བློ་གྲོས་རྒྱ་མཚོ།
  • Sāgara­mati

3 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 6 related glossary entries
g.­258

Samanta­bhadra

  • kun tu bzang po
  • ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ།
  • Samanta­bhadra

60 passages contain this term:

  • i.­1
  • i.­4
  • i.­5
  • i.­7
  • i.­11
  • i.­18
  • i.­19
  • 1.­3
  • 1.­5
  • 1.­6
  • 1.­7
  • 1.­8
  • 1.­9
  • 1.­10
  • 1.­11
  • 1.­14
  • 1.­17
  • 1.­18
  • 1.­20
  • 1.­21
  • 1.­22
  • 1.­23
  • 1.­24
  • 1.­25
  • 1.­26
  • 1.­28
  • 1.­30
  • 1.­31
  • 1.­34
  • 1.­35
  • 1.­91
  • 1.­179
  • 1.­181
  • 1.­197
  • 1.­209
  • 1.­211
  • 1.­213
  • 1.­215
  • 1.­218
  • 1.­220
  • 1.­221
  • 1.­228
  • 1.­234
  • 1.­235
  • 1.­236
  • 1.­237
  • 1.­253
  • 1.­254
  • 1.­255
  • 1.­257
  • 1.­258
  • 2.­12
  • 2.­13
  • 2.­14
  • 2.­15
  • 2.­16
  • 2.­17
  • 2.­18
  • 2.­20
  • 2.­400

Links to further resources:

  • 24 related glossary entries
g.­266

Seeing All Purposes

  • don kun mthong
  • དོན་ཀུན་མཐོང་།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 1 related glossary entry
g.­281

Surendra­bodhi

  • su ren+d+ra bo d+hi
  • སུ་རེནྡྲ་བོ་དྷི།
  • Surendra­bodhi

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­3
  • c.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 25 related glossary entries
g.­283

Suvikrānta­vikrāmin

  • rab kyi rtsal gyis rnam par gnon pa
  • རབ་ཀྱི་རྩལ་གྱིས་རྣམ་པར་གནོན་པ།
  • Suvikrānta­vikrāmin

Lit. “Pressing with Utmost Skill.”

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 6 related glossary entries
g.­312

Vajra Intelligence

  • rdo rje’i blo gros
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་བློ་གྲོས།
  • Vajramati

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 5 related glossary entries
g.­315

Vajragarbha

  • rdo rje’i snying po
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་སྙིང་པོ།
  • Vajragarbha

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3

Links to further resources:

  • 6 related glossary entries
g.­316

Vajrapāṇi

  • lag na rdo rje
  • ལག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།
  • Vajrapāṇi

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Vajrapāṇi means “Wielder of the Vajra.” In the Pali canon, he appears as a yakṣa guardian in the retinue of the Buddha. In the Mahāyāna scriptures he is a bodhisattva and one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha.” In the tantras, he is also regarded as an important Buddhist deity and instrumental in the transmission of tantric scriptures.

2 passages contain this term:

  • 1.­3
  • 1.­213

Links to further resources:

  • 37 related glossary entries
g.­323

Vulture Peak

  • bya rgod kyi phung po’i ri
  • བྱ་རྒོད་ཀྱི་ཕུང་པོའི་རི།
  • Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Gṛdhra­kūṭa, literally Vulture Peak, was a hill located in the kingdom of Magadha, in the vicinity of the ancient city of Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir, in the state of Bihar, India), where the Buddha bestowed many sūtras, especially the Great Vehicle teachings, such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras. It continues to be a sacred pilgrimage site for Buddhists to this day.

2 passages contain this term:

  • i.­4
  • 1.­2

Links to further resources:

  • 54 related glossary entries
g.­324

Weapon of a Vajra

  • rdo rje’i mtshon cha
  • རྡོ་རྗེའི་མཚོན་ཆ།
  • —

1 passage contains this term:

  • 1.­3
g.­339

Yeshé Dé

  • ye shes sde
  • ཡེ་ཤེས་སྡེ།
  • —

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Yeshé Dé (late eighth to early ninth century) was the most prolific translator of sūtras into Tibetan. Altogether he is credited with the translation of more than one hundred sixty sūtra translations and more than one hundred additional translations, mostly on tantric topics. In spite of Yeshé Dé’s great importance for the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet during the imperial era, only a few biographical details about this figure are known. Later sources describe him as a student of the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, and he is also credited with teaching both sūtra and tantra widely to students of his own. He was also known as Nanam Yeshé Dé, from the Nanam (sna nam) clan.

3 passages contain this term:

  • i.­3
  • i.­29
  • c.­1

Links to further resources:

  • 67 related glossary entries
0

    Table of Contents


    Search this text


    Other ways to read

    Download PDF
    Download EPUB
    Download AZW3 (Kindle)
    Open in the 84000 App

    Spotted a mistake?

    Please use the contact form provided to suggest a correction.


    How to cite this text

    The following is an example of how to correctly cite this publication. Links to specific passages can be derived by right-clicking on the milestones markers in the left-hand margin (e.g. s.1). The copied link address can replace the url below.

    David Jackson (tr.). The Dhāraṇī of the Jewel Torch (Ratnolkādhāraṇī, Toh 847). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022:
    https://read.84000.co/translation/toh847.html


    Other links

    84000 Homepage
    Reading Room Lobby
    Published Translations
    Search the Reading Room
    Sponsor Translation

    Bookmarks

    Copyright © 2011-2022 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha - All Rights Reserved
    • Website: https://84000.co
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy