Mahāyānottaratantraśāstraṭippaṇī

Commentary of [[]]

D   ·  [ T]

SOURCE TEXT

Relevance to Buddha-nature

LinksTranslationsRecensionsScholarly notesIn When the Clouds PartPositionsMetadata

Adarsha
[ Thesaurus Literaturae Buddhicae]
[ Buddhist Digital Resource Center]
[ The AIBS Buddhist Canons Research Database]
[ The 84000 Project]
[ Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages]
[ Asian Classics Input Project]
[ Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]
[ SAT Daizōkyō Text Database]
[ Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon] [ Timeless Treasury] [ Lotsawa House]

Description from When the Clouds Part

The Sanskrit manuscript of this brief commentary (VT) in nine folios is among the texts photographed by Rāhula Sāṃkṛtyāyana and later by Giuseppe Tucci at Ngor EVAṂ Monastery in Tibet. It is written in the so-called Māgadhī of the Pāla period and is datable between the eleventh and thirteen centuries. However, its authorship is not clear because there were two paṇḍitas by the name Vairocanarakṣita.

      The first Vairocanarakṣita is an eleventh-century contemporary of Atiśa from Vikramaśīla who authored the Śikṣākusumāñjalī (a commentary on Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya), a Bodhisattvacaryāvatārapañjikā, and a Śiṣyalekhaṭippaṇī. Given the sūtra-based nature of the Uttaratantra and the scholarly style of VT, this Vairocanarakṣita may seem a more likely candidate as VT’s author, but this is not conclusive.

      The second Vairocanarakṣita is a twelfth-century tantric master from Somapurī in Dakṣiṇa Kośala (present-day western Orissa), who stayed in Nepal for some time between 1101 and1106 and in Tibet in the 1140s and 1150s. It is known that Vairocanarakṣita/-rakṣa was another name of Vairocanavajra, and the biographies under each name show several common features, in particular the birth place, the same time of flourishing, certain practices, the prominent role in the transmission and translation of the dohās, and the same students. Therefore, we must be looking at the same figure. When Vairocanarakṣita stayed at Nālandā, he received many pith instructions from a yogin named Surapāla, which included Maitrīpa’s cycle on mental nonengagement, many dohās, Mahāmudrā, and the Hevajratantra. Later, he also studied prajñāpāramitā, Madhyamaka, and various tantras with Paṇḍita Guṇarakṣita from Vikramaśīla. He received Śāntideva’s texts and many sādhanas from Dhanarakṣita and also learned from Jayākara and the paṇḍitas Śarana, Sudhanagupta, and Abhayākaragupta. He traveled widely in India, went to China, and visited Tibet five times. He was a main figure in the dohā tradition and also became a teacher of the Nepalese Asu Kyemé Dorje, the First Karmapa, Lama Shang Dsöndrü Tragpa, and Tropu Lotsāwa Jampa Bal.

      In the Tengyur, besides the above sūtric works authored by the first Vairocanarakṣita, we find the name Vairocanakṣita as the author of a sādhana and a maṇḍala ritual for Vajrabhairava, as well as the translator of Saraha’s Dohākośanāmamahāmudrōpadeśa, Āryaśūra’s Pāramitāsamāsa, Viśeṣamitra’s Vinayasaṃgraha, and several sādhanas. The name Vairocanavajra is given as the translator of Saraha’s Kakhasya Dohā and its autocommentary, the Dohākośas of Kṛṣṇa and Tilopa, Maitrīpa’s Dohakoṣapañjikā, the Śrīvirūpapadacaturaśīti, as well as a number of sādhanas and other tantric texts.

Vairocanarakṣita’s brief commentary VT does not present his own philosophical view or any general discussions but simply glosses selected words or phrases from the Uttaratantra and RGVV by offering synonyms and sometimes analyzing the grammatical structure of certain words and phrases. This commentary is no doubt very helpful for understanding the Uttaratantra and RGVV and is also useful in establishing the correct reading of the Sanskrit manuscript of RGVV. However, it obviously had no noticeable impact on the Tibetan exegetical tradition of the Uttaratantra. (pp. 300-301)

Philosophical positions of this text

Is buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?

  

Click for more on this topic

Does this text belong to definitive or provisional meaning?

  

Click for more on this topic

Do all beings have buddha-nature?

  

Click for more on this topic

To which "turning of the wheel" do the buddha-nature teachings belong?

  

Click for more on this topic

Is buddha-nature equated with emptiness or alayavijnana?

  

Click for more on this topic

Do buddha-nature teachings belong to the zhentong or rangtong view of emptiness?

  

Click for more on this topic

Are there one or three vehicles on the path to buddhahood?

  

Click for more on this topic

Do the author's writings belong to the analytic or meditative tradition of Uttaratantra exegesis?

  

Click for more on this topic

What is Buddha-nature?

  

Click for more on this topic

Does the author advocate the Svatantrika or Prasangika view of emptiness?

  

Click for more on this topic

Other Titles	~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Text exists in	~ ~ table expected.
Notes on languages
Canonical Genre	~ ]]
Literary Genre	~ ]]
Commentary of	~ [[]]
Commentaries on this text

This Text on [ Adarsha] - If it doesn't load here, refresh your browser.

[[Category:]][[Category:Level ]]

<ul><li> "Lua error in Module" has not been listed as valid URI scheme.</li> <!--br--><li>Property "BuNayAuthor" (as page type) with input value "Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not recognized as a Boolean (true/false) value.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (Books, Articles, Dissertations, Periodicals, Periodical Issues, Tibetan Publications, Sanskrit Publications, Classical Works, Digital Content, Multimedia, ...) of allowed values for the "Classification" property.</li> <!--br--><li>Property "Editor" (as page type) with input value "Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.</li> <!--br--><li>Property "Pagename" (as page type) with input value "Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.</li> <!--br--><li>"" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value -203.</li> <!--br--><li>Property "Translations" (as page type) with input value "Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.</li> <!--br--><li>Property "Translator" (as page type) with input value "Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (Definitive, Provisional) of allowed values for the "PosBuNayDefProv" property.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (Yes, No, Qualified Yes, Qualified No) of allowed values for the "PosAllBuddha" property.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (First Turning, Second Turning, Third Turning, (Fourth Turning)) of allowed values for the "PosWheelTurn" property.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (Yogācāra, Madhyamaka) of allowed values for the "PosYogaMadhya" property.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (Zhentong, Rangtong) of allowed values for the "PosZhenRang" property.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) of allowed values for the "PosVehicles" property.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (Analytic Tradition, Meditative Tradition) of allowed values for the "PosAnalyticMedit" property.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (Tathāgatagarbha as the Emptiness That is a Non-implicative Negation (without enlightened qualities), Tathāgatagarbha as the Emptiness That is an Implicative Negation (with enlightened qualities), Tathāgatagarbha as Mind's Luminous Nature, Tathāgatagarbha as the Unity of Emptiness and Luminosity, Tathāgatagarbha as a Causal Potential or Disposition (gotra), Tathāgatagarbha as the Resultant State of Buddhahood, Tathāgatagarbha as the Latent State of Buddhahood that is Obscured in Sentient Beings, There are several types of Tathāgatagarbha, Tathāgatagarbha was Taught Merely to Encourage Sentient Beings to Enter the Path) of allowed values for the "PosEmptyLumin" property.</li> <!--br--><li>"Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." is not in the list (Svātantrika (རང་རྒྱུད་), Prāsaṅgika (ཐལ་འགྱུར་)) of allowed values for the "PosSvataPrasa" property.</li> <!--br--><li>Property "BuNayTopicTags" (as page type) with input value "Lua error in Module:GetTextValue at line 1: Module:TextData returned boolean, table expected." contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.</li></ul>

sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt. सूत्र Tib. མདོ། Ch. 佛经

Go to the page with the definition of 'sūtra'

These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.

Go to the page with the definition of 'Uttaratantra'

Uttaratantra - The Ultimate Continuum, or Gyü Lama, is often used as a short title in the Tibetan tradition for the key source text of buddha-nature teachings called the Ratnagotravibhāga of Maitreya/Asaṅga, also known as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra. Skt. उत्तरतन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་ Ch. 寶性論

Go to the page with the definition of 'Uttaratantra'

Mahāmudrā - Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā. Skt. महामुद्रा Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།

Go to the page with the definition of 'Mahāmudrā'

Prajñāpāramitā - A class of Mahāyāna sūtras which represents some of the earliest known literature of this genre of Buddhism. There are around forty texts associated with this category, though the most widespread is the exceedingly brief Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra, popularly known as the Heart Sūtra. This class of literature is typically associated with the second turning of the dharma wheel and especially with the teachings on emptiness (śūnyatā). As such, these texts were the primary scriptural source for the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school. Skt. प्रज्ञापारमिता Tib. ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་,ཤེར་ཕྱིན་ Ch. 般若波羅蜜多

Go to the page with the definition of 'prajñāpāramitā'

Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

Go to the page with the definition of 'Madhyamaka'

sādhana - Sādhana refers to a method of practice through which one can actualise a specific spiritual result, and by extension to the texts and manuals which present such methods. A sādhana in the Vajrayāna Buddhist context generally involves the worship and visualisation of a tantric deity, chanting of mantras, and associated practices. The practice often begins with verses of taking refuge and cultivating altruistic thought, then carrying out meditation on emptiness and the mandala of deity, seven-part worship, chanting of mantras, and finally the dissolution of the deity which was visualised. Skt. साधन Tib. སྒྲུབ་ཐབས། Ch. 修行

Go to the page with the definition of 'sādhana'

RGVV - Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā

Go to the page with the definition of 'RGVV'

According to the Tibetan tradition this is Asaṅga's commentary to the Uttaratantra.

Go to the page with the definition of 'RGVV'

Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhyā - This is the title of Asaṅga's commentary to the Gyü Lama that is given by Tibetan sources instead of the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā. Skt. महायानोत्तरतन्त्रशास्त्रव्याख्या Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་རྣམ་པར་བཤད་པ།

Go to the page with the definition of 'RGVV'

neyārtha - Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true. Skt. नेयार्थ Tib. དྲང་དོན་

Go to the page with the definition of 'provisional'

śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt. शून्यता Tib. སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ Ch. 空,空門

Go to the page with the definition of 'emptiness'

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

Go to the page with the definition of 'zhentong'

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

Go to the page with the definition of 'zhentong'

rang stong - The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena. Tib. རང་སྟོང་

Go to the page with the definition of 'rangtong'

rang stong - The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena. Tib. རང་སྟོང་

Go to the page with the definition of 'rangtong'

Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt. योगाचार Tib. རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་ Ch. 瑜伽行派

Go to the page with the definition of 'Yogācāra'

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

Go to the page with the definition of 'Zhentong'

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

Go to the page with the definition of 'Zhentong'

rang stong - The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena. Tib. རང་སྟོང་

Go to the page with the definition of 'Rangtong'

rang stong - The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena. Tib. རང་སྟོང་

Go to the page with the definition of 'Rangtong'

tathāgatagarbha - Buddha-nature, literally the "womb/essence of those who have gone (to suchness)." Skt. तथागतगर्भ Tib. དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ Ch. 如来藏

Go to the page with the definition of 'Tathāgatagarbha'

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

Go to the page with the definition of 'Luminosity'

gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

Go to the page with the definition of 'gotra'