Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra

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

Given that the Uttaratantra identifies the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra as its main source, it is quite surprising that this sūtra never even mentions terms such as tathāgatagarbha or buddhadhātu. It contains, however, the term "disposition/lineage of the three jewels" (Tib. dkon mchog gsum gyi rigs) six times. Of course, the Tibetan would fit very well with the term ratnagotra in Ratnagotravibhāga. However, dkon mchog gsum gyi rigs renders both triratnavaṃśa and ratnatrayagotra (or triratnagotra), and a quote from the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra in RGVV has triratnavaṃśa. The term is used in a uniform manner in the sūtra ("not interrupting the lineage of the three jewels"), paralleling the notion of bodhisattvas’ "not interrupting the buddha lineage (buddhavaṃśa)" in texts such as the Sāgaramatiparipṛcchāsūtra and the Kāśyapaparivarta (see below), which does not suggest the typical notion of buddha nature. Given this uniform use in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, it is to be assumed that the remaining occurrences of dkon mchog gsum gyi rigs in this sūtra also render triratnavaṃśa and not ratnatrayagotra (which is found in the text of RGVV proper). Thus, tempting as it may be, the assumption that the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra gave the Ratnagotravibhāga its name is very unlikely.

      The sūtra also speaks several times of "the dhātu (or basic element) of sentient beings," adding sometimes that it is impure, not stainless, and associated with afflictions or flaws. It also classifies this dhātu of sentient beings as threefold—"being certain in terms of what is correct," "being uncertain," and "being certain in terms of what is mistaken" (all of this is also found in the Uttaratantra and RGVV). In particular, the sūtra states several times that the Buddha looks at the impure dhātus of sentient beings and then guides those who are suitable through his enlightened activity.

      However, when investigating the extensive passages from the introduction and the beginning of the main part of this sūtra that RGVV and Tibetan commentaries (such as CMW) identify as the sources of the Uttaratantra ’s seven vajra points, one does not find much that corresponds to the distinct terminologies and concepts through which the Uttaratantra explains these vajra points.

      In terms of the first three vajra points, the sūtra speaks about the consummate causes of the three jewels and their infinite and unsurpassable qualities in great detail but not in the way the Uttaratantra describes the ultimate qualities of the three jewels.

      The fourth vajra point—the tathāgata heart—is said by RGVV to be explained by the sixty factors of purification in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra. However, even according to RGVV itself, those factors teach the tathāgata heart only by implication:

The buddha element is explained through a description of the sixty
kinds of factors that purify its [natural] purity because it is [only] if the
object to be purified is endowed with qualities that purifications of its
purity are justified.

Indeed, the passages in the sūtra about these factors of purification contain nothing about the tathāgata heart but only describe the four ornaments, eight illuminations, sixteen kinds of compassion, and thirty-two kinds of activities of bodhisattvas.

      The fifth through seventh vajra points—awakening, its qualities, and its enlightened activity—are said by RGVV to be taught by the sūtra’s passages on the eighty divisions of the attributes of the victors. Among these, awakening is explained through the sixteen great aspects of awakening, due to which sixteen corresponding forms of great compassion engage those who have not attained awakening. The qualities of awakening are taught as consisting of the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the eighteen unique buddha qualities (this seems to be the only part of the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra that actually matches one part in the Uttaratantra ’s explanation of its vajra points). The sūtra contains no separate discussion of the thirty-two kinds of enlightened activities other than explaining that each of the above thirty-two qualities performs a certain activity that accords with this quality (thus, these thirty-two qualities include the thirty-two kinds of enlightened activities). In addition, this section in the sūtra is followed by a further general discussion of buddha activity.

      It is this last section that contains the famous example of purifying an encrusted beryl in three stages, which is also quoted in RGVV. It is only here that we find a discussion of the impure dhātu (or basic element) in all sentient beings’ being likewise purified in three steps through the Buddha’s first teaching on impermanence, suffering, identitylessness, and impurity, secondly teaching on emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, and finally teaching on the complete purity of the three spheres, which eventually makes sentient beings enter the domain of the tathāgatas. (pp. 15-17)

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>

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'Uttaratantra'

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'

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'

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'

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'

buddhadhātu - A synonym for tathāgatagarbha widely used throughout the East Asian Buddhist traditions, as found in its translations as the Chinese term fó xìng and Japanese term busshō. Skt. बुद्धधातु Tib. སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཁམས་ Ch. 佛性

Go to the page with the definition of 'buddhadhātu'

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 'disposition'

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 'disposition'

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 'disposition'

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 'rigs'

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 'rigs'

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 'rigs'

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'Ratnagotravibhāga'

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'Ratnagotravibhāga'

RGVV - Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā

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'

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'RGVV'

dhātu - A fundamental component or essential constituent. Skt. धातु Tib. ཁམས་ Ch. 界

Go to the page with the definition of 'dhātu'

dhātu - A fundamental component or essential constituent. Skt. धातु Tib. ཁམས་ Ch. 界

Go to the page with the definition of 'basic element'

kleśa - Often referred to as poisons, these are a class of disturbing or disruptive emotional states that when aroused negatively affect or taint the mind. Skt. क्लेश Tib. ཉོན་མོངས་ Ch. 煩惱

Go to the page with the definition of 'afflictions'

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'

Taishō - Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō, Chinese Tripiṭaka

Go to the page with the definition of 'Taishō'

kun gzhi - Although it is commonly used as an abbreviation of ālayavijñāna (kun gzhi'i rnam shes), in later Tibetan traditions, particularly that of the Kagyu and the Nyingma, it came to denote an ultimate or pure basis of mind, as opposed to the ordinary, deluded consciousness represented by the ālayavijñāna. Alternatively, in the Jonang tradition, this pure version is referred to as ālaya-wisdom (kun gzhi'i ye shes). Skt. आलय Tib. ཀུན་གཞི་

Go to the page with the definition of 'ālaya'

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'

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'

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'

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'

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'

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'

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'

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'