Root Verses
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This page also allows the reader to view the verses and commentary in a variety of languages, namely Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, English, and French. We have undertaken this concordance with the understanding that none of these texts are the same; ours is at best an approximation. This is because both the Tibetan and the Chinese versions are not translations of the surviving Sanskrit text, which was discovered in a Tibetan monastery in the 1930s. At best the three versions can be said to share a common ancestor. The English translation we have used from Karl Brunnhölzl is based on both the Tibetan and the Sanskrit.
As for the sources of the various languages presented, the English is taken from Karl Brunnhölzl's translation of the Ratnagotravibhāga published in his book When the Clouds Part and the French is from Christian Charrier and Patrick Carré's 2019 translation, Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule. However, on the individual verse pages we have also presented a selection of alternative translations as well. The Tibetan is taken from the Derge edition of the Tengyur (sde dge bstan 'gyur), with the verses extracted from Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos and the commentary extracted from the Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa. The digitized input of these were drawn from the input provided on the Adarsha website. As for the Sanskrit, both the verses and the commentary were taken from E. H. Johnston's 1950 publication of the Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, with the digitized text extracted from the input created by the University of the West as part of the Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Project. And, finally, the Chinese verses have been extracted from the website of the Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association. Furthermore, readers can find links to these various sources on the individual verse pages, as well.
In terms of the numbering of the verses and their order, we have followed Brunnhölzl's presentation in When the Clouds Part.[2] The order appears to be fairly standard, except for one instance in which verses I.27 and I.28 are reversed in the Tibetan edition found in the Derge Tengyur. However, in terms of the numbering, there are a couple of instances in which verses appear to have been added to the Tibetan redactions. In these cases, such as the two verses appearing between verses I.83 and I.84, these presumed additions have been numbered as I.83.1 and I.83.2 in order to maintain the numbering schema of the core verses. There are many complex issues with the Chinese text where it does not match as closely to the other versions and we hope to get expert input on updating the information here for Chinese readers.
Oṃ namaḥ Śrī Vajrasattvāya—Oṃ I pay homage to Glorious Vajrasattva[3]
Chapter I
I.1
སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་ཚོགས་ཁམས་དང་བྱང་ཆུབ་དང་། །
ཡོན་ཏན་སངས་རྒྱས་ཕྲིན་ལས་ཐ་མ་སྟེ། །
བསྟན་བཅོས་ཀུན་གྱི་ལུས་ནི་མདོར་བསྡུ་ན། །
རྡོ་རྗེ་ཡི་ནི་གནས་བདུན་འདི་དག་གོ། །
Buddha, dharma, assembly, basic element,
Awakening, qualities, and finally buddha activity–
The body of the entire treatise
Is summarized in these seven vajra points.
बुद्धश्च धर्मश्च गणश्च धातु-
र्बोधिर्गुणाः कर्म च बौद्धमन्त्यम्
कृत्स्नस्य शास्त्रस्य शरीरमेतत्
समासतो वज्रपदानि सप्त
佛法及眾僧性道功德業
略說此論體七種金剛句
- Buddha, dharma, assembly, basic element,
- Awakening, qualities, and finally buddha activity—
- The body of the entire treatise
- Is summarized in these seven vajra points. I.1
{P75a} "Vajra point"[4] refers to the footing or locus of the actuality of the realization that is like a vajra. This actuality, which is to be realized through personally experienced [wisdom] and has an inexpressible nature, is to be understood as being like a vajra because it is difficult to penetrate by any cognitions that arise from studying and reflecting.[5] The words that express this actuality[6] through teaching the path that accords with attaining it are [also] called "footings" because they serve as the support of this [actuality]. In this way, in the sense of being what is difficult to penetrate and in the sense of being [its] support, respectively, that actuality and the letters [that describe it] are [both] to be understood as "vajra footings."
So what does "actuality" and what does "letters" refer to? "Actuality" refers to the sevenfold actuality of realization, that is, the actuality of the Buddha, the actuality of the dharma, the actuality of the assembly, the actuality of the basic element, the actuality of awakening, the actuality of [its] qualities, {J2} and the actuality of [enlightened] activity. These are called "actuality." The words that point out and elucidate this sevenfold actuality of realization are called "letters."
This discussion of the vajra points should be known in detail according to [a number of] sūtras.
Ānanda, the Tathāgata is indemonstrable. He cannot be seen with the eyes. Ānanda, the dharma is inexpressible. It cannot be heard with the ears. Ānanda, the saṃgha is unconditioned. It cannot be worshipped with body or mind.[7]
Thus, these three vajra points should be understood by following the Dṛḍhādhyāśayaparivarta.[8]
Śāriputra, {D75a} this actuality[9] is the object of the Tathāgata and [solely] the sphere of the Tathāgata. First of all, Śāriputra, this actuality cannot be correctly [known,][10] seen, or discriminated even by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas through their own prajñā, let alone by ordinary naive beings, unless they realize [this actuality] through trust in the Tathāgata. {P75b} Śāriputra, what is to be realized through trust is the ultimate. Śāriputra, "the ultimate" is a designation for the basic element of sentient beings.[11] Śāriputra, "the basic element of sentient beings" is a designation for the tathāgata heart. Śāriputra, "the tathāgata heart" is a designation for the dharmakāya.[12]
Thus, the fourth vajra point is to be understood by following the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta. {J3}
Bhagavan, "supreme awakening" is a designation for the dhātu of nirvāṇa. Bhagavan, "the dhātu of nirvāṇa" is a designation for the dharmakāya of the Tathāgata.[13]
Thus, the fifth vajra point is to be understood by following the Āryaśrīmālā[devī]sūtra.
Śāriputra, the dharmakāya that is taught by the Tathāgata is endowed with inseparable attributes and qualities that [can]not be realized as being divisible [from it],[14] which [manifest] in the form of the attributes of a tathāgata that far surpass the sand grains in the river Gaṅgā [in number].[15]
Thus, the sixth vajra point is to be understood by following the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta.
Mañjuśrī, the Tathāgata does not think and does not conceptualize. Nevertheless, his activity, which has such a nature, operates effortlessly and without thinking and conceptualizing.[16]
Thus, the seventh vajra point {D75b} is to be understood by following the Tathāgataguṇajñānācintyaviṣayāvatāranirdeśa.
In brief, these seven vajra points should be known as the "body" of the entire treatise, in the form of the [seven] summary topics that are the gateways to [what this treatise] teaches.
- English translation by Karl Brunnhölzl, When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, 2014. All footnotes are from same following the numbers in the printed book. French translation by Christian Charrier and Patrick Carré. Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule (Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra). Avec le commentaire de Jamgön Kongtrul Lodreu Thayé ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas) L'Incontestable Rugissement du lion. Tsadra Foundation Series. Plazac, France: Éditions Padmakara, 2019.
- Brunnhölzl, When the Clouds Part, p. 1060:
Throughout this translation of RGVV, numbers preceded by J, D, and P in "{ }" indicate the page numbers of Johnston’s Sanskrit edition and the folio numbers of the Tibetan versions in the Derge and Peking Tengyur, respectively. In my translation, I have relied on the corrections of the Sanskrit in Takasaki 1966a, 396–99; Kano 2006, 545; de Jong 1968; and Schmithausen 1971; as well as on most of the latter two’s corrections of Takasaki’s and Obermiller’s (1984) English renderings. In the notes on my translation, D and P without any numbers refer to the Tibetan translation of RGVV in the Derge and Peking Tengyur, respectively, while C indicates its version in the Chinese canon.
- The Tibetan versions [DP] have "I pay homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas."
- I generally render vajrapada—lit. "vajra foot(ing)"—as "vajra point." Among the many meanings of pada, those that are relevant here are "footing" (or "basis") and "word."
- Compare the explanation of "vajra"in the Eighth Karmapa’s Lamp (15–16): "The means to generate the actual type of realization of the vajra-like samādhi are as follows. In the beginning, the minds and mental factors of ordinary beings are made pure through the power of the triad of study, reflection, and meditation. Thereafter, without having to rely on the power of any [element] among the triad of study, reflection, and meditation, but in a self-arisen manner, the vajra-like wisdom of realization is able to overcome the hosts of ignorance right upon the light of wisdom’s meeting them for a single moment at the same time. This is just as the orb of the sun, in a single instant of its shining, roots out completely the darkness of the latent tendencies of ignorance. This is the meaning of ‘vajra,’ and therefore it is [also] the meaning of ‘the seven vajra points’ in the Uttaratantra."JKC (10–12) explains the following on what the Uttaratantra teaches and the meaning of "vajra." The basis of explanation of the Uttaratantra is the heart of the matter taught by the Buddha, which is that "all sentient beings always possess the tathāgata heart." Though there are infinite different approaches of explaining this by following distinct scriptures, reasonings, and meditations in both India and Tibet, the masters of the Madhyamaka of definitive meaning assert the following. The entirety of the definitive meanings of all three dharma wheels is included in the two kinds of identitylessness. The ultimate meaning of these is the emptiness of the duality of apprehender and apprehended in terms of persons and in terms of phenomena. However, the manner of being empty is not just a nonimplicative negation. Madhyāntavibhāga I.20 says:
- Emptiness here is the nonbeing
- Of persons and phenomena.
- The real being of this nonbeing
- In it is another emptiness.
- Accordingly, it is the manner of being empty that is an implicative negation—the essence of self-lucid self-awareness—that is taught as the tathāgata heart in the context of the Uttaratantra. This is the vajra of the definitive meaning, which becomes threefold through being divided by its phases, as in Uttaratantra I.47:
- Its being impure, its being both impure and pure,
- And its being completely pure, in due order,
- Are expressed as "sentient being,"
- "Bodhisattva," and "tathāgata."
- Its phase of not being pure of adventitious stains is described as "sentient being," and this expanse is also called "disposition" or "the basic element that is the tathāgata heart." Its phase of possessing both impurity and purity is described as the persons who have entered the path, and from the perspective of isolates, the expanse represents the dharma and the saṃgha. That is, from the perspective of the isolate that is the mere wisdom of the path of seeing, it is the saṃgha. From the perspective of the uninterrupted path, it is the path. From the perspective of the path of liberation and its distinctive features, it is cessation. Its phase of being completely pure is described as the Tathāgata and so on, and the expanse is called "dharmakāya." If this is divided in terms of isolates, it is threefold—awakening, the qualities, and enlightened activity. Therefore, through these internal subdivisions, that vajra is also taught as the seven vajra points. It is easy to understand that the entire definitive meaning of the two latter dharma wheels is included in it, but you may wonder how the definitive meaning of the first wheel—personal identitylessness—is included in it. The basis of purification, the means of purification, and the result of purification of the inferior paths are all included in the suchness with stains. Therefore, the main topic of this treatise is the tathāgata heart, and one should understand that the entirety of the definitive meanings of all three dharma wheels is included in it.
- Skt. artha can also mean "topic" or "meaning," as in a meaning and the words that express it. However, as made clear in the preceding sentence, here the term refers to the actual true nature of all phenomena, which is not a semantic, conceptual, or abstract meaning or topic, but something to be perceived directly. GC (20.25–21.6) also makes this very clear, saying that the seven vajra points are very difficult to be understood through study and reflection because these two are conceptual and the actuality of the vajra points cannot be made a direct object of conceptions. Rather, this actuality is the object of what has the nature of the personally experienced direct perception that arises from meditation. Since this actuality is to be personally experienced and thus is inexpressible, it cannot arise right away on the basis of words. However, it still serves as the subject matter of this treatise because this text teaches the cognitions of study and reflection that represent the causes that accord with, and are the path to, attaining what is to be personally experienced. This is similar to expressing the city Pātaliputra when saying, "This is the way leading to Pāṭaliputra." The same is said in Uttaratantra V.16.
- Sthirādhyāśayaparivartasūtra, D224, fol. 172b.2–3. VT (fol. 9v.2–3) glosses this passage as the Tathāgata’s being "unarisen and characterized by unconditioned wisdom."
- The Kangyur has the title of this text as Sthirādhyāśayaparivartasūtra.
- VT (fol. 9v.3) glosses "this actuality" as "the actuality of the dhātu," with "dhātu" referring to natural purity and "awakening," to the purity of being free from stains.
- This is inserted in accordance with DP.
- Though Edgerton 1953 and Takasaki 1966a take the term sattvadhātu to mean "mass of beings,"this makes no sense in the context of RGVV. Rather, as clearly explained throughout RGVV (particularly on I.48), the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta (see the next sentence in this quote as well as other passages from that sūtra on J40 and J41), and the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (J6), sattvadhātu is an equivalent of tathāgatagarbha.
- Taishō 668, 467a. YDC (243) comments on this quote as follows. "Object" and "sphereto meditative equipoise and subsequent attainment, respectively. As for "known, seen, or discriminated," according to Ngog Lotsāwa, this refers to the knowing during preparation, main practice, and conclusion or the knowing during the paths of preparation, seeing, and familiarization. According to Shang Chökyi Lama, this refers to the knowing through study, reflection, and meditation.
- D45.48, fol. 269a.1–2.
- J dharmakāyaḥ so ’yam avinirbhāgadharmā ’vinirmuktajñānaguṇo, DP chos kyi sku gang yin pa de ni ’di lta ste . . . de bzhin gshegs pa’i chos dag dang / rnam par dbyer med pa’i chos dang ldan pa ma bral ba’i ye shes kyi yon tan can yin no. Schmithausen 1971 suggests to understand the compound avinirmuktajñāna° as vinirmuktatvena jñānam yeṣām na bhavati ("with which knowing them to be divisible [from the dharmakāya] never happens"). The corresponding passage grol bas shes pa in the Śrīmālādevīsūtra (D45.48, fol. 272b.1) seems to support that (though it should read ma grol bas shes pa, which is instead found for the afflictions, which are actually realized as being divisible). Schmithausen also suggests a second possibility of reading this compound as vinirmuktaṃ jñānaṃ yeṣām na bhavati ("whose realization is not divisible [from the realization of the dharmakāya]"). I follow Schmithausen 1971 and Mathes 2008a in translating "qualities that cannot be realized as being divisible" (which corresponds to how the Śrīmālādevīsūtra uses this phrase). However, guṇa is here in the singular, which seems also how GC (24.15–17) understands it (though taking avinirmuktajñāna to mean "inseparable wisdom"). GC comments that the dharmakāya is endowed with inseparable attributes because they are of the same nature as buddha wisdom. Even at the time of being obscured by the afflictions, it possesses the quality of inseparable wisdom (or the feature of wisdom’s being inseparable from it). In brief since the tathāgata heart and its qualities have a connection of identity, the term "kāya" refers to "nature."
- Taishō 668, 467a.
- D185, fol. 187b.4–5.
BDRCbuddhaśca dharmaśca gaṇaśca dhātu-
rbodhirguṇāḥ karma ca bauddhamantyam/
kṛtsnasya śāstrasya śarīrametat
samāsato vajrapadāni sapta//1//
vajropamasyādhigamārthasya padaṃ sthānamiti vajrapadam/ tatra śruticintāmayajñānaduṣprativedhādanabhilāpyasvabhāvaḥ pratyātmavedanīyo'rtho vajravadveditavyaḥ/ yānyakṣarāṇi tamarthamabhivadanti tatprāptyanukūlamārgābhidyotanatastāni tatpratiṣṭhābhūtatvāt padamityucyante/ iti duṣprativedhārthena pratiṣṭhārthena ca vajrapadatvamarthavyañjanayoranugantavyam/ tatra katamo'rthaḥ katamadvyañjanam/ artha ucyate saptaprakāro'dhigamārtho yaduta buddhārtho dharmārthaḥ saṃghārtho dhātvartho bodhyartho guṇārthaḥ karmārthaśca/ ayamucyate'rthaḥ/ yairakṣaraireṣa saptaprakāro'dhigamārthaḥ sūcyate prakāśyata idamucyate vyañjanam/ sa caiṣa vajrapadanirdeśo vistareṇa yathāsūtramanugantavyaḥ/
anidarśano hyānanda tathāgataḥ/ sa na śakyaścakṣuṣā draṣṭum/ anabhilāpyo hyānanda dharmaḥ/ sa na śakyaḥ karṇena śrotum/ asaṃskṛto hyānanda saṃghaḥ/ sa na śakyaḥ kāyena vā cittena vā paryupā situm/ itīmāni trīṇi vajrapadāni dṛḍhādhyāśayaparivartānusāreṇānugantavyāni/
tathāgataviṣayo hi śāriputrāyamarthastathāgatagocaraḥ/ sarvaśrāvakapratyekabuddhairapi tāvacchāriputrāyamartho na śakyaḥ samyak svaprajñayā xxx draṣṭuṃ vā pratyavekṣituṃ vā/ prāgeva bālapṛthagjanairanyatra tathāgataśraddhāgamanataḥ/ śraddhāgamanīyo hi śāriputra paramārthaḥ/ paramārtha iti śāriputra sattvadhātoretadadhivacanam/ sattvadhāturiti śāriputra tathāgatagarbhasyaitadadhivacanam/ tathāgatagarbha iti śāriputra dharmakāyasyaitadadhivacanam/ itīdaṃ caturthaṃ vajrapadamanūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivartānusāreṇānugatavyam/
anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhiriti bhagavan nirvāṇadhātoretadadhivacanam/ nirvāṇadhāturiti bhagavan tathāgatadharmakāyasyaitadadhivacanam/ itīdaṃ pañcamaṃ vajrapadamāryaśrīmālāsūtrānusāreṇānugantavyam/
yo'yaṃ śāriputra tathāgatanirdiṣṭo dharmakāyaḥ so'yamavinirbhāgadharmā/ avinirmuktajñānaguṇo yaduta gaṅgānadīvālikāvyatikrāntaistathāgatadharmaiḥ/ itīdaṃ ṣaṣṭhaṃ vajrapadmanūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśānusāreṇānugantavyam/
na mañjuśrīstathāgataḥ kalpayati na vikalpayati/ athavāsyānābhogenākalpayato'vikalpayata iyamevaṃrūpā kriyā pravartate/ itīdaṃ saptamaṃ vajrapada tathāgataguṇajñānācintyaviṣayāvatāranirdeśānusāreṇānugantavyam/ itīmāni samāsataḥ sapta vajrapadāni sakalasyāsya śāstrasyoddeśamukhasaṃgrāhārthena śarīramiti veditavyam/
佛法及眾僧 性道功德業 略說此論體 七種金剛句
此偈明何義言金剛者猶如金剛難可沮壞所證之義亦復如是故言金剛所言句者以此論句能與證義為根本故此明何義內身證法無言之體以聞思智難可證得猶如金I.2
འདི་དག་རང་མཚན་ཉིད་ཀྱི་རྗེས་འབྲེལ་བ། །
གོ་རིམས་ཇི་བཞིན་གཟུངས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་མདོར། །
གླེང་གཞི་ལས་ནི་གནས་གསུམ་རིག་བྱ་སྟེ། །
བཞི་ནི་བློ་ལྡན་རྒྱལ་ཆོས་དབྱེ་བ་ལས། །
In accordance with their specific characteristics
And in due order, the [first] three points of these [seven]
Should be understood from the introduction in the Dhāraṇirājasūtra
And the [latter] four from the distinction of the attributes of the intelligent and the victors.
स्वलक्षणेनानुगतानि चैषां
यथाक्रमं धारणिराजसूत्रे
निदानतस्त्रीणि पदानि विद्या-
च्चत्वारि धीमज्जिनधर्मभेदात्
七種相次第總持自在王
菩薩修多羅序分有三句
餘殘四句者在菩薩如來
智慧差別分應當如是知
- In accordance with their specific characteristics {P76a}
- And in due order, the [first] three points of these [seven]
- Should be understood from the introduction in the Dhāraṇirājasūtra
- And the [latter] four from the distinction of the attributes of the intelligent and the victors. I.2
Among these seven vajra points, in accordance with the discussion of their specific characteristics and in due order, the first three points should [also] be understood from the introductory section of the Āryadhāraṇīśvararājasūtra[1] and the remaining four thereafter from [this sūtra’s sections on] the distinction of teaching the [various] attributes of bodhisattvas and tathāgatas.[2] This [sūtra] says:
The Bhagavān has completely and perfectly awakened to the equality of all phenomena, has excellently turned the wheel of dharma, and was endowed with limitless very disciplined assemblies of disciples.[3]
Through these three basic phrases, in due order, one should understand the presentation of [how] to arrive at the full knowledge of the successive arising of the three jewels. The remaining four points are to be understood as the instructions on accomplishing the causes that correspond to the arising of the three jewels.
Here, when dwelling on the eighth bhūmi of bodhisattvas, the [Buddha] attained mastery over all phenomena. {J4} Therefore, [the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra] says that he who went to the supreme heart of awakening is "the one who has completely and perfectly awakened to the equality of all phenomena." When dwelling on the ninth bhūmi of bodhisattvas, he was endowed with [the power of] proclaiming the supreme dharma,[4] correctly knew the ways of thinking of all sentient beings, attained the highest perfection of [teaching in accordance with their] faculties, and was skilled in destroying the concatenations of the latent tendencies of the afflictions of all sentient beings.[5] {D76a} Therefore, [this sūtra] says that he who has completely and perfectly awakened is "the one who has excellently turned the wheel of dharma." On the tenth bhūmi, immediately upon having received the empowerment of a crown prince of the supreme dharma of the Tathāgata, {P76b} his effortless buddha activity became [completely] unhindered. Therefore, [this sūtra] says that he who excellently turned the wheel of dharma is "the one who was endowed with limitless very disciplined assemblies of disciples." That he superbly guided limitless assemblies of disciples[6] is also taught immediately after [the above passage in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra] by the following passage:
- . . . together with a great bhikṣu saṃgha . . . together with an immeasurable saṃgha of bodhisattvas.[7]
Since [the Buddha] is the one who has superbly guided [disciples] in a progressive manner to the awakening of śrāvakas and the awakening of buddhas, [this sūtra says that he was together with] "those who are endowed with all these qualities."[8]
Then, immediately after the discussion of the praiseworthy qualities of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas, one should know the presentation that discriminates the qualities of the jewel of the Buddha through [the passage about] the manifestation of a palace[9] richly adorned with jewels, which is based on the inconceivable supreme samādhi[10] of the Buddha, the gathering of the retinues of the Tathāgata, their arranging various kinds of offerings of divine substances, and their showering down clouds of praises.[11]
Following that, one should know the presentation that discriminates the qualities of the jewel of the dharma through [the passage about] the splendid arrangement of the dharma throne, light [emerging from the Buddha’s forehead], and the proclamation of the names and the qualities of [various] specifications of the dharma.[12]
Right after that, one should know the presentation that discriminates the qualities of the jewel of the saṃgha through [the passage about] the mutual display of the powers of the spheres that are the objects of the samādhis of bodhisattvas and the description of praising their various qualities.[13]
Thereafter, {J5} again, [one should know] the presentation that discriminates the supreme qualities of these three jewels in their due order, which is to be regarded as the end of the introductory section [of the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra].[14] [This is taught] by [Dhāraṇīśvararāja,] this oldest son of the supreme dharma king, becoming endowed with the highest fearlessness and self-confidence through [having received] the empowerment of the Buddha’s light rays. {D76b} {P77a} Based on this, he presents a praise of the ultimate [as embodied in] the true qualities of the Tathāgata and discusses the subject matters of the highest dharma of the mahāyāna. [Finally, the Buddha refers to the saṃgha by] describing [how] to attain the fruition of realizing the [mahāyāna dharma], which is the supreme mastery over [all] phenomena.[15]
Next, after the introductory section of the sūtra, 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. Taking up this motive, [the Daśabhūmikasūtra] adduces the specific example of the purification [process] of gold [to illustrate the purification process of the buddha element] on the ten bhūmis of bodhisattvas.[16] In this [Dhāraṇīśvararāja] sūtra here, following the description of [the thirty-two kinds of] the activity of the Tathāgata, the example of an impure beryl[17] gem is used:
O son of noble family, take an expert jeweler who knows the procedure of refining gems very well. Having extracted unrefined precious gems from a jewel mine, he washes them in a caustic alkaline solution and then polishes them by cleansing them with a black-hair cloth. However, he does not cease his efforts at [having done] just that. Next, he washes them in caustic [acidic] food liquid[18] and polishes them by cleansing them with a woolen towel.[19] [Again,] however, he does not cease his efforts at [having done] just that. Next, he washes them in a great medicinal elixir[20] and polishes them by cleansing them with a very fine cloth. Thus cleansed and freed from impure substances, [a refined beryl] is called "a noble beryl." {J6} Likewise, O son of noble family, the Tathāgata too, {P77b} upon perceiving the impure basic element of sentient beings, creates weariness in those sentient beings who delight in saṃsāra through his fear-provoking discourses on impermanence, suffering, identitylessness, and impurity, {D77a} thus making them enter the noble discipline of the dharma. However, the Tathāgata does not cease his efforts at [having done] just that. Next, he makes them realize the guiding principle of the tathāgatas through his discourses on emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.[21] [Again,] however, the Tathāgata does not cease his efforts at [having done] just that. Next, through his discourses on the dharma wheel of irreversibility,[22] that is, his discourses on the complete purity of the three spheres,[23] he makes sentient beings enter the domain of the tathāgatas. Those [sentient beings] with various causal natures [of entering this domain] who enter it all together and realize the true nature of a tathāgata are called "unsurpassable venerable ones."[24]
Having in mind the pure disposition, the tathāgata element, it is said:
- Just as within stony debris
- Pure gold is not seen,
- And then becomes visible through being purified,
- Tathāgatas [become visible] in the world.[25]
Now, what are those sixty kinds of factors of purifying the buddha element? They are the four kinds of ornaments of bodhisattvas,[26] the eight kinds of illuminations of bodhisattvas,[27] the sixteen kinds of the great compassion of bodhisattvas,[28] and the thirty-two kinds of the activity of bodhisattvas.[29]
After the discussion of that, [the sūtra] explains buddha awakening through teaching the sixteen kinds of the great compassion of great awakening.[30] Following the discussion of that, the buddha qualities are explained through teaching the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the eighteen unique qualities of a buddha.[31] {P78a} After the discussion of that, buddha activity is explained through teaching the thirty-two kinds of the unsurpassable activity of a buddha.[32] In this way, the seven vajra points should be understood in detail by way of discussing their specific characteristics according to the [Dhāraṇīśvararāja]sūtra. {D77b}
- The actual title of this sūtra is Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśasasūtra.
- The actual first chapter of this sūtra is called "Array of Ornaments" (rgyan bkod pa zhes bya ba ’dus pa’i le’u; D147, fols. 154a.1–179a.7). However, as we will see, what RGVV calls "introductory section"extends into the next section of the sūtra, which contains the discussion of the various attributes of bodhisattvas and buddhas, but is not marked as a separate chapter. According to GC (25.10–11) and RYC (6), the fourth vajra point (the basic element) is discussed in the section on the attributes of bodhisattvas, while the last three vajra points are found in the section on the attributes of a buddha.
- D147, fol. 142a.4–5. The last phrase is translated in accordance with the sūtra and RGVV (DP), while the Sanskrit of RGVV has the compound anantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinītaḥ, which is to be read as a bahuvrīhi with the different meaning "[the Bhagavān by whom] limitless assemblies of disciples were superbly guided." The same phrase is quoted again in RGVV and is adapted in accordance with the sūtra. However, right thereafter, RGVV clearly explains the above compound to mean "[the Buddha] is the one who has superbly guided [disciples] in a progressive manner to the awakening of śrāvakas and the awakening of buddhas." Thus, the author of RGVV either had a different manuscript of the sūtra or interpreted this phrase differently.
- This phrase is missing in MA, MB, and GC, but J adds the compound anuttaradharmabhāṇakatvasaṃpannaḥ in accordance with DP and C (which is further confirmed by the same phrase appearing in CMW, 437).
- As attributes of the Buddha, this list is also found in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fol. 142a.5.
- As already mentioned, different from what the sūtra says, RGVV’s Sanskrit compound anantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinītatāṃ here is to be read as "the fact that limitless assemblies of disciples were superbly guided [by the Bhagavān]." This is also clear from RGVV’s explanation as to where the Buddha guided his disciples ("the awakening of śrāvakas and the awakening of buddhas").
- Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fol. 142a.6–142b.2.
- Ibid., fol. 143a.1.
- I follow °maṇḍalamāda° in MB and VT (fol. 9v5) against J °maṇḍalavyūha°.
- Lit. "bull-like samādhi."
- Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fols. 143a.2–152a.2.
- Ibid., fols. 152a.2–153b.6.
- Ibid., fols. 153b.6–157a.6.
- The actual first chapter of the sūtra ends after the preceding section (that is, fol. 157a.6).
- Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fols. 157a.6–159a.6. For the identification of these passages in the sūtra, see also CMW and Kano 2006, 605–8.
- C, CMW (447–48), GC (30.9–14), and Ngog Lotsāwa’s commentary (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fol. 16b.2) all confirm that this example comes from the Daśabhūmikasūtra. The corresponding passage says: "O sons of the victors, it is as follows. For example, to whichever extent pure gold is heated in a fire by a skilled goldsmith, to that extent it becomes refined, pure, and pliable as he pleases. O sons of the victors, likewise, to the extent that bodhisattvas make offerings to the buddha bhagavāns, make efforts in maturing sentient beings, and are in a state of adopting these kinds of dharmas that purify the bhūmis, to that extent their roots of virtue that they dedicate to omniscience will become refined, pure, and pliable as they please" (for the Sanskrit, see Mathes 2008a, 505).
- Skt. vaiḍūrya. Though this term is often rendered as "lapis lazuli"in translations, this is wrong. The Western name "beryl," chemical formula Be3Al2(SiO3)6, derives from Latin beryllus and Greek beryllos, which come from the Prakrit veruliya and the Sanskrit vaiḍūrya, which is of Dravidian origin and means "to become pale" (interestingly, the word "brilliance" also derives from beryllus). Originally, this term referred to "a precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone" (usually some kind of aquamarine) but later became used for the mineral beryl in general. Pure beryl is colorless (which is very rare), but there are many varieties of different colors due to its being mixed with other minerals. Beryl crystals range from very small to several meters in size and many tons in weight. The main varieties are aquamarine (blue), emerald (green), golden beryl (pale yellow to brilliant gold), heliodor (green-yellow), Morganite (pink or rose-colored), and red beryl.
- VT (fol. 9v5–6) glosses this as kāñjikādi (kāñjika means "sour gruel" or "water of boiled rice in a state of spontaneous fermentation").
- VT (fol. 9v6) reads gaṇḍikā ("piece of wood"), which fits with the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and C saying "a piece of wood covered with a cloth." However, VT gives tikṣṇarajaḥ ("acid dust") as its synonym.
- Skt. mahābhaiṣajyarasa, which here seems to refer to mercury (in itself, rasa can also mean mercury, which is used as one of the most potent ingredients in āyurvedic and Tibetan medicine). As for the three cleansing liquids, Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and DP agree with J on the last one. As for the first two, 'Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra has "alkali" and "caustic mercury,"while DP say "caustic salty water" and "caustic food liquid" (D mistakenly has zangs instead of zas). YDC (330) says that according to Ngog Lotsāwa and Chaba Chökyi Sengé, the three are "rock salt," "fish broth," and "mercury," while Patsab Lotsāwa speaks of "alkali," "the three fruits (chebulic, beleric, and emblic myrobalans)," and "sulfur." Glosses in RYC (17) say "alkali," "fish broth," and "mercury or a toxic liquid." Thus, this cleansing process here begins with an alkaline solution, continues with an acidic one, and ends with quicksilver.
- These are the three doors to liberation taught extensively in the prajñāpāramitā sūtras—the nature of phenomena is emptiness, causes lack any signs or defining characteristics, and the appearance of results is not bound to expectations or wishes.
- VT (fol. 9v6) glosses this as "the discourses of the mahāyāna."
- Usually, this means to be free from the three notions of agent, object, and action. However, the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (D147, fol. 177a.6–7) itself explains this purity of the three spheres as follows: "What is the termination of the three spheres? It is that [state] in which mind does not engage in the past, consciousness does not run after the future, and there is no mental engagement in what occurs at present. Since this is the nonabiding of mind, mentation, and consciousness, there is no conceiving of the past, no thinking about the future, and no discursiveness about what occurs at present." In effect, this means that all eight consciousnesses do not operate in this state ("mind" refers to the ālaya-consciousness, "mentation" to the afflicted mind, and "consciousness" to the six remaining consciousnesses). Naturally, mind’s not engaging in the three times as described is reminiscent of similar instructions in the Mahāmudrā tradition. GC (41.7–11) explains the purity of the three spheres according to Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra XII.11ab and its Bhāṣya, which comments that this purity is threefold in terms of that through which buddhas teach (speech and words), how they teach (in the form of instructions and so on), and those who are taught (those who understand through concise or through elaborate statements). Thus, GC says that this refers to the pure speech of those who explain the dharma (such as those who are renowned at Nālandā), the pure dharma to be explained, and the pure mind streams of the disciples.
- Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fol. 215b.1–7. GC (41.11–24) explains "the dharma wheel of irreversibility" as follows. Since wisdom is irreversible on the eighth bhūmi, it is called "the bhūmi of irreversibility." This means that before that, some people become tired of sitting on a cushion and meditating, thus rising from their cushion as well as from their meditative equipoise. Thus, they do not have poised readiness for meditative equipoise. On the eighth bhūmi, bodhisattvas do not rise from their resting in meditative equipoise in the nature of nonarising. Therefore, it is referred to as "poised readiness for nonarising." Since it also means being irreversible from unarisen wisdom, the teachings that are primarily given on this bhūmi are called "irreversible." Since they are transferred into the mind streams of disciples, they are called a "wheel," which consists of the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and the other sūtras belonging to this dharma wheel of irreversibility. Those to be guided directly by this dharma wheel are "sentient beings with various causal natures,"with "natures" referring to their dispositions. These sentient beings are the results arisen from different dispositions and thus possess them as their causes. This corresponds to the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra speaking of "those who have entered all yānas." The fruition of this dharma wheel is "to enter the domain of the tathāgatas"—suchness or the nature of phenomena. Thus, such bodhisattvas realize the true nature of a tathāgata, such as knowing the minds of sentient beings in terms of the true nature of these minds, and, upon having become buddhas, attain the arhathood of the unsurpassable yāna. Therefore, they are called "unsurpassable venerable ones" (see also n. 1183 on "irreversible bodhisattvas"). As for the three dharma wheels with respect to the example of cleansing a beryl, GC (42.25–43.2) says that the first one washes away the afflictions that arise from views about a self. The second one purifies coarse and subtle thoughts of clinging to (real) entities. The third one purifies what are called "the appearances of objects in the mind" because these are obstructions to seeing the tathāgata heart well. Note that GC (44.20–74.26; Mathes 2008a, 243–304) goes into great detail in establishing the superiority of the third dharma wheel in all respects. The Eighth Situpa, in his introduction to the table of contents of the Derge Kangyur (Chos kyi ’byung gnas 1988, 52–53), says that the three wheels of turning the dharma as presented in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra are the wheel that speaks of revulsion toward saṃsāra, the wheel about the three doors to liberation, and the irreversible wheel. As for the rationale behind this division, according to the Uttaratantra (II.41 and II.57–59), those to be guided enter the path of peace (of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas) through first being exhorted by way of the teaching on developing revulsion toward their attachment to saṃsāra. Then, through speaking about emptiness, they are matured in the mahāyāna. Finally, through the contents of the irreversible wheel, they engage in the object of all tathāgatas and receive the great prophecy about their own awakening (on the eighth bhūmi). The Seventh Karmapa’s commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Chos grags rgya mtsho n.d., 74–84) compares the three turnings in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the three stages in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra, concluding that the first and second stages match perfectly in terms of both their topics and recipients, while the third ones are not the same. For the wheel of irreversibility in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra corresponds to the teachings on the tathāgata heart in general and the third phase explained in the Uttaratantra. The Eighth Karmapa’s commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2003, 1:32–35) agrees with this and elaborates as follows. "The wheel of prophecy"in the Uttaratantra is the dharma wheel that teaches that all sentient beings are endowed with the tathāgata heart. It is obvious that Maitreya coined this conventional terminology as a comment on the presentation in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra. As for Maitreya’s third "wheel of prophecy" and Nāgārjuna’s third "wheel that puts an end to all views,"Karmapa Rangjung Dorje said that these two come down to the same essential point in a general way, in the sense that whatever is the final wheel must necessarily be the wheel that teaches freedom from reference points. However, more specifically, Nāgārjuna’s final "wheel that puts an end to all views" states nothing but sheer freedom from reference points, while Maitreya’s final "wheel of prophecy" explains that wisdom free from reference points is the distinctive feature of what is to be experienced by personally experienced wisdom. This is the only difference in terms of these two wheels not representing the same essential point. As for what is of expedient and definitive meaning in the three wheels in the Uttaratantra, the Eighth Karmapa quotes the great Kashmiri paṇḍita Ratnavajra as follows: "The wheel that introduces to the path of peace is the expedient meaning. The wheel of maturation is the wheel that is predominantly of definitive meaning and contains some parts of expedient meaning. The wheel of prophecy is the wheel of nothing but the definitive meaning." According to the Seventh Karmapa (Chos grags rgya mtsho n.d., 85), in themselves, the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra and the Uttaratantra do not explicitly make a distinction in terms of expedient and definitive meaning. However, Asaṅga’s RGVV (J76; D4025, fols. 113b.7–114a.4) states that Uttaratantra I.155, through saying that the buddha heart is empty of adventitious stains but not empty of being the buddha heart, teaches the unmistaken emptiness by virtue of its being free from the extremes of superimposition and denial. Thus, implicitly, these texts hold that statements about the buddha heart’s being empty (of itself) are of expedient meaning. Ngog Lotsāwa’s commentary on the Uttaratantra (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 1b.2–2a.1) also connects the dharma wheel of irreversibility with the Uttaratantra, saying that the latter explains the true reality of the meaning of the mahāyāna—the intention of the sūtras of definitive meaning (the irreversible dharma wheel), which teach the dharmadhātu as the single principle. The other four Maitreya works, through explaining the meanings of the sūtras of expedient meaning, make beings into suitable vessels for this perfect dharma because they present seeming reality as well as the ultimate that is based on the thinking of others. For further details on the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, see Bu ston rin chen grub 1931, 2:45–56; Brunnhölzl 2004, 527–49; Brunnhölzl 2010, 23–28 and 213–15; and Brunnhölzl 2012a, 48–49).
- CMW (448) says that this verse is from the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. However, this sūtra contains only a partly similar verse (X.751; translated from the Sanskrit):
- The color of gold and the pure gold
- In gravel become visible
- Through cleansing it—so it is with the ālaya
- In the skandhas of sentient beings.
- The Tibetan version ends with "so it is with sentient beings in the skandhas." Note also that RGVV’s verse is in Prakrit, while there is no known Prakrit version of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. The Ghanavyūhasūtra (D110, fol. 7b.1–3) also contains a verse that corresponds closely to the first three lines of the verse in question:
- In pulverized stone,
- Gold does not appear to exist.
- Through specific cleansing activities,
- The gold will appear.
- GC (44.18–19) quotes this verse from the Ghanavyūhasūtra and identifies it as the basis of RGVV’s citation. The lines that follow this verse in that sūtra say that if one cleanses entities such as the skandhas, dhātus, and āyatanas, buddha does not exist as an entity. However, that does not mean that buddha is nonexistent—those endowed with yoga see the buddha possessing the thirty-two major marks. Another verse in the same sūtra (D110, fol. 13a.5) says:
- The tathāgata heart
- Abides like gold in stone.
- Mentation arises from the ālaya,
- And so does the mental consciousness.
- These are discipline, samādhi, prajñā, and dhāraṇī (Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 159a.6–167b.1). In due order, VT (fol. 9v6–7) glosses them as not harming sentient beings, loving-kindness, inquisitiveness, and not lacking recollection. According to GC (75.18–19), these four are called "ornaments" because, just as people delight in ornaments adorning the body, one’s retinue takes delight when one possesses these four factors.
- According to VT (fols. 9v7–10r2), these are the illuminations that consist of (1) mindfulness (not letting previously accomplished virtue be lost and striving for virtue not yet accomplished), (2) insight (into the meaning, not just letters), (3) realization (of all phenomena and the intentions of all sentient beings), (4) dharmas (mundane and supramundane dharmas), (5) wisdom (the characteristics of the wisdom of stream-enterers up through buddhas), (6) reality (through being in accordance with reality, being disciplined, and attaining all the fruitions such as stream-enterer), (7) the supernatural knowledges (the illumination of seeing due to beholding all forms through the divine eye and so on), and (8) practice (the illuminations of wisdom and prajñā through practice). The Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (D147, fols. 167b.1–171a.1) explains the first seven of the eight illuminations as being eightfold and the eighth one as being ninefold. According to GC (76.10), they are called "illuminations" because the entire mahāyāna path is seen through them.
- These are the ways in which bodhisattvas aspire to teach the dharma in order to eliminate sixteen sets of flaws of sentient beings, beginning with thinking, (1) "I will teach the dharma to sentient beings who are bound by the views about a real personality and are mixed up with various views, in order that they relinquish all their views." Furthermore, bodhisattvas aspire to teach the dharma to sentient beings who (2) entertain the fourfold mistakenness of taking what is impermanent to be permanent, suffering to be happiness, what is without a self to be a self, and what is repulsive to be beautiful, in order that these beings relinquish all these mistakennesses, (3) cling to "me" and what is mine and take nonentities to be entities, in order that these beings relinquish their clinging to "me" and what is mine, (4) are obscured by the five obscurations of being tormented by desire, having a lot of anger, being attached to dullness and sleep, having regrets about what is not genuine, and not having gained certainty about the profound dharma, in order that these beings relinquish all these obscurations, (5) are attached by way of the six āyatanas, that is, cling to the characteristics of forms, sounds, scents, tastes, tangible objects, and phenomena that they perceive through their six consciousnesses, in order that these beings relinquish such attachment, (6) entertain pride (feeling superior to inferior beings), excessive pride (feeling superior to one’s peers), overbearing pride (feeling superior to those who are superior to oneself), self-centered pride (claiming everything from form to consciousness as being the self—thinking, "I am all that makes up my existence"), showing-off pride (pride in qualities that one does not actually have), pri e of thinking less of oneself (saying, "I am so insignificant compared to those great beings" with the implication that one can never reach the greatness of one’s teachers but that one is quite important due to having such teachers), and perverted pride (pride about a wrong view’s being the correct view or pride about having something that is actually not a positive quality), in order that these beings relinquish all aspects of pride, (7) have entered bad paths and lack the path of the noble ones, in order that these beings relinquish bad paths and make them attain the path of the noble ones, (8) are the slaves of their craving, cling to wives and children, and, due to lacking self-control, cannot judge themselves, in order that these beings have self-control, are able to judge themselves, and are enabled to go where they like to, (9) are in discord with each other and have a lot of anger, hatred, and malice for each other, in order that these beings relinquish their anger, hatred, and malice, (10) are under the sway of evil companions, lack spiritual friends, and commit evil actions, in order that these being are taken care of by spiritual friends and abandon their evil companions, (11) are over- whelmed by attachment, are not content, and lack the prajñā of the noble ones, in order that these beings relinquish attachment and give rise to the prajñā of the noble ones, (12) regard any maturation of karma as nonexistent and dwell in views about permanence or extinction, in order to introduce these beings to profound dependent origination and the law of karma, (13) are blinded by ignorance and dullness and cling to a self, a sentient being, a life-force, a life-sustainer, an individual, and a person, in order that these beings purify the eye of the prajñā of the noble ones and relinquish all views, (14) delight in saṃsāra and are in the grip of the executioners of the five skandhas, in order to help them emerge from all three realms, (15) are bound by the fetters that are the nooses of the māras and who dwell in deceit and conceit, in order to liberate these beings from all these fetters and have them relinquish their deceit and conceit, and to (16) those for whom the door to nirvāṇa is closed while the door to the lower realms is open, in order to open the door to nirvāṇa and close the door to the lower realms. Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 171a.1–172b.4. VT (fol. 10r2–6) agrees with these explanations, providing them in abbreviated form.
- On the basis of the sixteen kinds of great compassion, these thirty-two remedy thirty-two forms of improper states of mind or behaviors of beings. Both the sūtra and VT call them "the thirty-two unique activities of bodhisattvas." (1) Bodhisattvas see that sentient beings are asleep in the sleep of ignorance, while they themselves have awoken through prajñā, thus awakening sentient beings through prajñā. (2) Seeing that sentient beings aspire for what is small or inferior, while they aspire for what is vast, they make sentient beings embrace the mahāyāna. (3) Seeing that sentient beings wish for what is not the dharma, while they abide in the dharma, they establish them in wishing for the dharma. (4) Seeing that sentient beings engage in impure livelihood, while they have pure livelihood, they establish them in pure livelihood. (5) Seeing that sentient beings are drowning in wrong views, while they engage in the correct view, they establish them in the correct view of the noble ones. (6) Seeing that sentient beings are unaware and are immersed in improper mental engagement, while they dwell in proper mental engagement that accords with awareness, they establish them in such proper mental engagement. (7) Seeing that sentient beings abide in wrong dharmas, while they engage in the right dharma, they teach them the dharma in order to make them practice the right dharma. (8) Seeing that sentient beings are miserly and thus have a state of mind of clinging, while they give away all material things, they establish them in giving away all such things. (9) Seeing that sentient beings have bad discipline and do not abide by the vows, while they abide by correct discipline, they establish them in the vows of discipline. (10) Seeing that sentient beings have a lot of malice and anger, while they abide in the power of patience and in love, they establish them in the power of patience and in love. (11) Seeing that sentient beings are lazy and have little vigor, while they lack laziness and apply vigor, they establish them in applying vigor. (12) Seeing that sentient beings are distracted and weak in mindfulness, while they rest in meditative equipoise and cultivate samādhi, they establish them in nondistraction, mindfulness, and alertness. (13) Seeing that sentient beings possess corrupted prajñā and thus are inferior and dull, while they possess prajñā and lack dullness, they establish them in great prajñā and being free from dullness. (14) Seeing that sentient beings fall into what is not appropriate and commit improper actions, while they are endowed with skillful means and commit right actions, they establish them in skillful means and committing right actions. (15) Seeing that sentient beings are overwhelmed by their afflictions and engage in the sphere of imagination, conception, and ideation, while they have turned away from all afflictions, they establish them in relinquishing all afflictions. 16) Seeing that sentient beings are fettered by their views about a real personality and entertain reference points, while they understand the views about a real personality and are liberated from being fettered by reference points, they establish them in fully understanding the views about a real personality and being free from reference points. (17) Seeing that sentient beings are not disciplined, restrained, and refined, while they are disciplined and so on, they establish them in being disciplined and so on. (18) Seeing that sentient beings do not repay kindness, do not know that someone has been kind to them, and thus destroy their roots of virtue, while they repay kindness, know that someone has been kind to them, and thus guard their roots of virtue, they establish them in repaying kindness, knowing that someone has been kind to them, and not wasting their roots of virtue. (19) Seeing that sentient beings are under the sway of having fallen into the four rivers and desiring nonvirtue, while they are beyond all these rivers, they establish them in being beyond all these rivers (the four rivers are ignorance, views, becoming, and craving or birth, aging, sickness, and death). The first half of VT (10v2) "[establishing] those who have come through striking with weapons in going beyond all reference points" is strange and probably corrupt (hetyā praharaṇenāgatān sarvopalambhasamatikrame; Nakamura 1992 wants to read hetvāpraharaṇāgatān sarvopalambham abhikrame and translates this as "those who are going to give up the cause overcome all thoughts (which are) construed in their mind," which is not very helpful either). (20) Seeing that sentient beings do not heed and follow advice, while they do so, they establish them in doing so too. VT (10v2) says "[establishing] those who use bad language in using good language." (21) Seeing that sentient beings are ruined in many ways and cling to what is not genuine, while they are not ruined and dwell in the nectar of virtue, they establish them in nonclinging and dwelling in the roots of virtue. (22) Seeing that sentient beings are poor and lack the riches of the noble ones, while they possess the seven riches of the noble ones, they establish them in attaining these riches (the seven riches of the noble ones are confidence, discipline, study, giving, shame, embarrassment, and prajñā). (23) Seeing that sentient beings are always sick and seized by the venomous snakes of the four elements, while their health without any disease is unchanging, they establish them in relinquishing all sickness. (24) Seeing that sentient beings are engulfed in the darkness of ignorance and lack the light of wisdom, while they have attained the light of wisdom, they establish them in the great light of wisdom. (25) Seeing that sentient beings are attached to the three realms and enter the wheel of saṃsāra of the five kinds of beings, while knowing that they themselves are experts in fully understanding the three realms, they establish them in becoming such experts. (26) Seeing that sentient beings have entered the left-sided path and lack the right-sided path, while they dwell on the right-sided path, they establish them on the right-sided path (in India, the left hand is considered impure, so "left-handed" or "left-sided" generally refers to what is impure or wrong, while "right-sided" means pure or correct). (27) Seeing that sentient beings are attached to body and life-force and do not see their flaws, while they disregard body and life-force and see their flaws, they establish them in disregarding body and life-force and seeing their flaws. (28) Seeing that sentient beings are separated from the three jewels, while they abide in not interrupting the continuum of the disposition of the three jewels, they introduce them to not interrupting the continuum of the disposition of the three jewels. (29) Seeing that sentient beings deviate from the genuine dharma, while they fully embrace that dharma, they establish them in fully embracing the dharma. (30) Seeing that sentient beings are distant from the precious teacher and lack the six recollections, while they never let go of these recollections, they establish them in cultivating the six recollections (recollecting the Buddha, the dharma, the saṃgha, discipline, giving, and deities; for details, see Brunnhölzl 2011b, 104 and 270–72). (31) Seeing that sentient beings are obscured by the obscurations of karma and afflictions, while they are free from karma and afflictions, they establish them in such freedom. (32) Seeing that sentient beings are endowed with all nonvirtuous dharmas and have relinquished all virtuous dharmas, while they have relinquished all nonvirtuous dharmas and are endowed with all virtuous dharmas, they establish them in relinquishing all nonvirtuous dharmas and perfecting all virtuous dharmas. Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 172b.4–174b.6. Apart from the exceptions mentioned above, VT (fol. 10r6–10v4) agrees with these explanations, providing them in abbreviated form.
- Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 175b.1–185a.6. For the contents of this sūtra passage, see CMW, 450–51.
- Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 185a.6–215a.3. For these, see the text below and CMW, 451–52.
- In the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, in terms of their respective functions, the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen unique qualities are described as "buddha activities" and are numbered as such up to thirty-two. Thus, the sūtra does not contain a separate section on thirty-two kinds of buddha activity apart from this description of the functions of the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen unique qualities. This section is followed by a further general discussion of buddha activity (D147, fols. 215a.3–217a.4), which includes the example of purifying a beryl. For further details and variations on the correspondences and the contents of the passages in RGVV about the qualities of the three jewels up through the thirty-two kinds of enlightened activity of buddhas as presented in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, see CMW (435–52) and Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b (fols. 9a.6–19a.1; translated in Kano 2006, 391–414), and GC (75.5–78.15; translated in Mathes 2008a, 304–11).
BDRCsvalakṣaṇenānugatāni caiṣāṃ
yathākramaṃ dhāraṇirājasūtre/
nidānatastrīṇi padāni vidyā-
ccatvāri dhīmajjinadharmabhedāt//2//
eṣāṃ ca saptānāṃ vajrapadānāṃ svalakṣaṇanirdeśena yathākramamāryadhāraṇīśvararājasūtranidānaparivartānugatāni trīṇi padāni veditavyāni/ tata ūrdhvamavaśiṣṭāni catvāri bodhisattvatathāgatadharmanirdeśabhedāditi/ tasmādyaduktam/
bhagavān sarvadharmasamatābhisaṃbuddhaḥ supravartitadharmacakro'nantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinīta iti/ ebhistribhirmūlapadairyathākramaṃ trayāṇāṃ ratnānāmanupūrvasamutpādasamudāgamavyavasthānaṃ veditavyam/ avaśiṣṭāni catvāri padāni triratnotpattyanurūpahetusamudāgamanirdeśo veditavyaḥ/ tatra yato'ṣṭamyāṃ bodhisattvabhūmau vartamānaḥ sarvadharmavaśitāprāpto bhavati tasmāt sa bodhimaṇḍavaragataḥ sarvadharmasamatābhisaṃbuddha ityucyate/ yato navamyāṃ bodhisattvabhūmau vartamāno'nuttaradharmabhāṇakatvasaṃpannaḥ sarvasattvāśayasuvidhijña indriyaparamapāramitāprāptaḥ sarvasattvakleśavāsanānusaṃdhisamudghātanakuśalo bhavati tasmāt so'bhisaṃbuddhabodhiḥ supravartitadharmacakra ityucyate/ yato daśamyāṃ bhūmāvanuttaratathāgatadharmayauvarājyābhiṣekaprāptyanantaramanābhogabuddhakāryāpratipraśrabdho bhavati tasmāt sa supravartitadharmacakro'nantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinīta ityucyate/ tāṃ punaranantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinītatāṃ tadanantaramanena granthena darśayati/ mahatā bhikṣusaṃghena sārdha yāvadaprameyeṇa ca bodhisattvagaṇena sārdhamiti/ yathākramaṃ śrāvakabodhau buddhabodhau ca suvinītatvādevaṃguṇa samanvāgatairiti/
tataḥ śrāvakabodhisattvaguṇavarṇanirdeśānantaramacintyabuddhasamādhivṛṣabhitāṃ pratītya vipularatnavyūhamaṇḍalavyūha nirvṛttitathāgatapariṣatsamāvartanavividhadivyadravyapūjāvidhānastutimeghābhisaṃpravarṣaṇato buddharatnaguṇavibhāgavyavasthānaṃ veditavyam/ tadanantaramudāradharmāsanavyūhaprabhādharmaparyāyanāmaguṇaparikīrtanato dharmaratnaguṇavibhāgavyavasthānaṃ veditavyam/ tadanantaramanyonyaṃ bodhisattvasamādhigocaraviṣayaprabhāva saṃdarśanatadvicitraguṇavarṇanirdeśataḥ saṃgharatnaguṇavibhāgavyavasthānaṃ veditavyam/ tadanantaraṃ punarapi buddharaśmyabhiṣekairanuttaradharmarājajyeṣṭhaputraparamavaiśāradyapratibhānopakaraṇatāṃ pratītya tathāgatabhūtaguṇaparamārthastutinirdeśataśca mahāyānaparamadharmakathāvastūpanyasanataśca tatpratipatteḥ paramadharmaiśvaryaphalaprāptisaṃdarśanataśca yathāsaṃkhyameṣāmeva trayāṇāṃ ratnānāmanuttaraguṇavibhāgavyavasthānaṃ nidānaparivartāvasānagatameva draṣṭavyam/
tataḥ sūtranidānaparivartānantaraṃ buddhadhātuḥ ṣaṣṭyākāratadviśuddhiguṇaparikarmanirdeśena paridīpitaḥ/ viśodhye'rthe guṇavati tadviśuddhiparikarmayogāt/ imaṃ cārthavaśamupādāya daśasu bodhisattvabhūmiṣu punarjātarūpaparikarmaviśeṣodāharaṇamudāhṛtam/ asminneva ca sūtre tathāgatakarmanirdeśānantaramaviṃśuddhavaiḍūryamaṇidṛṣṭāntaḥ kṛtaḥ/
tadyathā kulaputra kuśalo maṇikāro maṇiśuddhisuvidhijñaḥ/ sa maṇigotrādaparyavadāpitāni maṇiratnāni gṛhītvā tīkṣṇena khārodakenotkṣālya kṛṣṇena keśakambalaparyavadāpanena paryavadāpayati/ na ca tāvanmātreṇa vīrya praśrambhayati/ tataḥ paścāt tīkṣṇenāmiṣarasenotkṣālya khaṇḍikāparyavadāpanena paryavadāpayati/ na ca tāvanmātreṇa vīrya praśrambhayati/ tataḥ sa paścānmahābhaiṣajyarasenotkṣālya sūkṣmavastraparyavadāpanena paryavadāpayati/ paryavadāpitaṃ cāpagatakācama bhijātavaiḍūryamityucyate/ evameva kulaputra tathāgato'pyapariśuddhaṃ sattvadhātuṃ viditvānityaduḥkhānātmāśubhodvegakathayā saṃsārābhiratān sattvānudvejayati/ ārye ca dharmavinaye'vatārayati/ na ca tāvanmātreṇa vīrya praśrambhayati/ tataḥ paścācchūnyānimittapraṇihitakathayā tathāgatanetrīmavabodhayati/ na ca tāvanmātreṇa tathāgato vīryaṃ praśrambhayati/ tataḥ paścādavivartyadharmacakrakathayā trimaṇḍalapariśuddhikathayā ca tathāgataviṣaye tān sattvānavatārayati nānāprakṛtihetukān/ avatīrṇāśca samānāstathāgatadharmatāmadhigamyānuttarā dakṣiṇīyā ityucyanta iti/
etadeva viśuddhagotraṃ tathāgatadhātumabhisaṃdhāyoktam/
yathā pattharacuṇṇamhi jātarūpaṃ na dissati/
parikammena tad diṭṭhaṃ evaṃ loke tathāgatā iti//
tatra katame te buddhadhātoḥ ṣaṣṭyākāraviśuddhiparikarmaguṇāḥ/ tadyathā caturākāro bodhisattvālaṃkāraḥ/ aṣṭākāro bodhisattvāvabhāsaḥ/ ṣoḍaśākārī bodhisattvamahākaruṇā/ dvātriṃśadākāraṃ bodhisattvakarma/
tannirdeśānantaraṃ buddhabodhiḥ ṣoḍaśākāramahābodhikaruṇānirdeśena paridīpitā/ tannirdeśānantaraṃ buddhaguṇā daśabalacaturvaiśāradyaṣṭādaśāveṇikabuddhadharmanirdeśena paridīpitāḥ/ tannirdeśānantaraṃ buddhakarma dvātriṃśadākāra niruttaratathāgatakarmanirdeśena paridīpitam/ evamimāni sapta vajrapadāni svalakṣaṇanirdeśato vistareṇa yathāsūtramanugantavyāni/
是故偈言
七種相次第 總持自在王 菩薩修多羅 序分有三句 餘殘四句者 在菩薩如來 智慧差別分 應當如是知
此偈明何義以是七種金剛字句總攝此論一切佛法廣說其相如陀羅尼自在王經序分中三句餘四句在彼修多羅菩薩如來法差別分應知云何序分有初三句彼修多羅序分中言婆伽婆平等證一切法善轉法輪善能教化調伏無量諸弟子眾如是三種根本字句次第示現佛法僧寶說彼三寶次第生起成就應知餘四句者說隨順三寶因成就三寶因應知此明何義以諸菩薩於八地中十自在為首具足得一切自在是故菩薩坐於道場勝妙之處於一切法中皆得自在是故經言婆伽婆平等證一切法故以諸菩薩住九地時於一切法中得為無上最大法師善知一切諸眾生心到一切眾生譬如石鑛中 真金不可見 能清淨者見 見佛亦如是 向說佛性有六十種淨業功德何謂六十所謂四種菩薩莊嚴八種菩薩光明十六種菩薩摩訶薩大悲三十二種諸菩薩業
已說佛性義次說佛菩提有十六種無上菩提大慈悲心
已說功德次說如來三十二種無上大業如是七種金剛句義彼修多羅廣說體相如是應知問
I.3
སངས་རྒྱས་ལས་ཆོས་ཆོས་ལས་འཕགས་པའི་ཚོགས། །
ཚོགས་ལས་སྙིང་པོ་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཁམས་ཐོབ་མཐར། །
ཡེ་ཤེས་དེ་ཐོབ་བྱང་ཆུབ་མཆོག་ཐོབ་སོགས། །
སེམས་ཅན་ཀུན་དོན་བྱེད་ཆོས་རྣམས་དང་ལྡན། །
From the Buddha [comes] the dharma and from the dharma, the noble saṃgha.
Within the saṃgha, the [tathāgata] heart leads to the attainment of wisdom.
The attainment of that wisdom is the supreme awakening that is endowed with
The attributes such as the powers that promote the welfare of all sentient beings.
बुद्धाद्धर्मो धर्मतश्चार्यसंघः
संघे गर्भो ज्ञानधात्वाप्तिनिष्ठः।
तज्ज्ञानाप्तिश्चाग्रबोधिर्बलाद्यै-
र्धमैर्युक्ता सर्वसत्त्वार्थकृद्भिः
從佛次有法次法復有僧
僧次無礙性從性次有智
十力等功德為一切眾生
而作利益業有如是次第
What is the connection between these [seven points]? {J7}
- From the Buddha [comes] the dharma and from the dharma, the noble saṃgha.
- Within the saṃgha, the [tathāgata] heart leads to the attainment of wisdom.
- The attainment of that wisdom is the supreme awakening that is endowed with
- The attributes such as the powers that promote the welfare of all sentient beings. I.3
This describes the connection of [the seven vajra points in] the treatise.[1]
BDRCkaḥ punareṣāmanuśleṣaḥ/
buddhāddharmo dharmataścāryasaṃghaḥ
saṃghe garbho jñānadhātvāptiniṣṭhaḥ/
tajjñānāptiścāgrabodhirbalādyai-
rdhamairyuktā sarvasattvārthakṛdbhiḥ//3//
uktaḥ śāstrasaṃbandhaḥ/
I.4
གང་ཞིག་ཐོག་མ་དབུས་མཐའ་མེད་ཞི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཉིད་རང་རྣམ་སངས་རྒྱས། །
སངས་རྒྱས་ནས་ནི་མ་རྟོགས་རྟོགས་ཕྱིར་འཇིག་མེད་རྟག་པའི་ལམ་སྟོན་པ། །
མཁྱེན་བརྩེའི་རལ་གྲི་རྡོ་རྗེ་མཆོག་བསྣམས་སྡུག་བསྔལ་མྱུ་གུ་གཅོད་མཛད་ཅིང་། །
སྣ་ཚོགས་ལྟ་ཐིབས་ཀྱིས་བསྐོར་ཐེ་ཚོམ་རྩིག་པ་འཇིག་མཛད་དེ་ལ་འདུད། །
You awakened to peaceful buddhahood without beginning, middle, or end.
Upon your self-awakening, you taught the fearless everlasting path so that the unawakened may awake.
I pay homage to you who wield the supreme sword and vajra of wisdom and compassion, cut the sprouts of suffering to pieces,
And break through the wall of doubts concealed by the thicket of various views.
यो बुद्धत्वमनादिमध्यनिधनं शान्तं विबुद्धः स्वयं
बुद्ध्वा चाबुधबोधनार्थमभयं मार्गं दिदेश ध्रुवम्
तस्मै ज्ञानकृपासिवज्रवरधृग्दुःखङ्कुरैकच्छिदे
नानादृग्गहनोपगूढविमतिप्राकारभेत्त्रे नमः
佛體無前際及無中間際
亦復無後際寂靜自覺知
既自覺知已為欲令他知
是故為彼說無畏常恒道
佛能執持彼智慧慈悲刀
及妙金剛杵割截諸苦芽
摧碎諸見山覆藏顛倒意
及一切稠林故我今敬禮
[Now,] the meaning of these verses is to be explained. Those sentient beings who are guided by the Tathāgata, having taken refuge in the Tathāgata, also take refuge in the dharma and the saṃgha due to their openness that is the natural outflow of the nature of phenomena. Therefore, first [there is] a verse on the jewel of the Buddha.
- You awakened to peaceful buddhahood without beginning, middle, or end.
- Upon your self-awakening, you taught the fearless everlasting path so that the unawakened may awake.
- I pay homage to you who wield the supreme sword and vajra of wisdom and compassion, cut the sprouts of suffering to pieces,
- And break through the wall of doubts concealed by the thicket of various views. I.4
BDRCidānīṃ ślokānāmartho vaktavyaḥ/ ye sattvāstathāgatena vinītāste tathāgataṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchanto dharmatāniṣyandābhiprasādena dharma ca saṃghaṃ ca śaraṇaṃ gacchanti/ atastatprathamato buddharatnamadhikṛtya ślokaḥ/
yo buddhatvamanādimadhyanidhanaṃ śāntaṃ vibuddhaḥ svayaṃ
buddhvā cābudhabodhanārthamabhayaṃ mārgaṃ dideśa dhruvam/
tasmai jñānakṛpāsivajravaradhṛgduḥkhaṅkuraikacchide
nānādṛggahanopagūḍhavimatiprākārabhettre namaḥ//4//
已說一品具攝此論法義體相次說七品具攝此論法義體相解釋偈義應知歸敬三寶者此明何義所有如來教化眾生彼諸眾生歸依於佛尊敬如來歸依於法尊敬如來歸依於僧依於三寶說十二偈初明佛寶故說四偈◎
◎佛寶品第二
佛體無前際 及無中間際 亦復無後際 寂靜自覺知 既自覺知已 為欲令他知 是故為彼說 無畏常恒道 佛能執持彼 智慧慈悲刀 及妙金剛杵 割截諸苦芽 摧碎諸見山 覆藏顛倒意
I.5
འདུས་མ་བྱས་ཤིང་ལྷུན་གྱིས་གྲུབ། །
གཞན་གྱི་རྐྱེན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་མིན་པ། །
མཁྱེན་དང་བརྩེ་དང་ནུས་པར་ལྡན། །
དོན་གཉིས་ལྡན་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཉིད། །
Being unconditioned, effortless,
Not being produced through other conditions,
And possessing wisdom, compassion, and power,
Buddhahood is endowed with the two welfares.
असंस्कृतमनाभोगमपरप्रत्ययोदितम्
बुद्धत्वं ज्ञानकारुण्यशक्त्युपेतं द्वयार्थवत्
無為體自然不依他而知
智悲及以力自他利具足
What is taught by this?
- Being unconditioned, effortless,
- Not being produced[1] through other conditions,
- And possessing wisdom, compassion, and power,
- Buddhahood is endowed with the two welfares. I.5
This [verse] describes buddhahood in brief as consisting of eight qualities. What are these eight qualities? They are being unconditioned, effortless, an awakening not through other conditions, {P78b} wisdom, compassion, power,[2] the fulfillment of one’s own welfare, and the fulfillment of the welfare of others.
BDRCanena kiṃ darśayati/
asaṃskṛtamanābhogamaparapratyayoditam/
buddhatvaṃ jñānakāruṇyaśaktyupetaṃ dvayārthavat//5//
anena samāsato'ṣṭābhirguṇaiḥ saṃgṛhītaṃ buddhatvamudbhāvitam/ aṣṭau guṇāḥ katame/ asaṃskṛtatvamanābhogatāparapratyayābhisaṃbodhirjñānaṃ karuṇā śaktiḥ svārthasaṃpat parārthasaṃpaditi/
I.6
ཐོག་མ་དབུས་མཐའ་མེད་པ་ཡི། །
རང་བཞིན་ཡིན་ཕྱིར་འདུས་མ་བྱས། །
ཞི་བ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྐུ་ཅན་ཕྱིར། །
ལྷུན་གྱིས་གྲུབ་ཅེས་བྱ་བར་བརྗོད། །
It is unconditioned because its nature
Is to be without beginning, middle, and end.
It is declared to be effortless
Because it possesses the peaceful dharma body.
अनादिमध्यनिधनप्रकृतत्वादसंस्कृतम्
शान्तधर्मशरीरत्वादनाभोगमिति स्मृतम्
非初非中後自性無為體
及法體寂靜故自然應知
- It is unconditioned because its nature
- Is to be without beginning, middle, and end.
- It is declared to be effortless
- Because it possesses the peaceful dharma body. [1] I.6
- It is not produced through other conditions
- Because it is to be realized personally. {D78a}
- Thus, it is wisdom because it is threefold awakening.
- It is compassion because it teaches the path. I.7
- It is power because it overcomes suffering
- And the afflictions through wisdom and compassion.
- One’s own welfare is by virtue of the first three qualities
- And the welfare of others by virtue of the latter three. I.8
Being "unconditioned" should be understood as the opposite of being conditioned. Here, what is called "conditioned" is that in which arising is perceived and abiding and ceasing are perceived too. Because of the lack of these [three characteristics], buddhahood is to be regarded as being without beginning, middle, and end and as consisting of the unconditioned dharmakāya. It is effortless because all reference points and conceptions are at peace.
It is not produced by other conditions because it is to be realized by self-arisen wisdom (here, udaya means "awakening" and not "arising").[2] Even though it is unconditioned and has the characteristic of being inactive, from tathāgatahood all activities of the perfect Buddha unfold without effort in an unimpeded and uninterrupted manner until the end of saṃsāra. Thus, buddhahood, which is a truly amazing and inconceivable object, is completely and perfectly realized as being inexpressible in nature by [the Buddha] himself, [that is,] not after having heard [about it] from others, but through the self-arisen wisdom that is not caused by a master. Thereafter, in order to help awaken[3] others, who have not awakened to such an awakening {P79a} and are blind by birth,[4] [the Buddha] teaches them the path that leads to that [awakening].[5] Therefore, one should understand that [the Buddha] is endowed with unsurpassable wisdom and compassion.
The fearlessness of the path is due to its being beyond the world. Its being beyond the world is due to its never turning back. In due order, the examples of a sword and a vajra elucidate that both the wisdom and compassion of the Tathāgata have the power to overcome the roots of the suffering and the afflictions of others. Here, in brief, the root of suffering consists of anything that comes about as [the five skandhas of] name and form within [any possible saṃsāric] existence. The root of the afflictions {D78b} consists of any views and doubts that are preceded by clinging to a real personality. Here, by virtue of its characteristic of coming forth, the suffering that consists of name and form is to be understood as being represented by a sprout. {J9} Since the power of both the wisdom and the compassion of the Tathāgata cuts through this [suffering], it should be known to be illustrated by the example of a sword. The afflictions to be relinquished through seeing, which consist of said views and doubts and are difficult to understand through mundane wisdom, are difficult to penetrate. Therefore, they resemble a wall concealed by a thick forest. Due to being what breaks through these [afflictions], the power of both the wisdom and the compassion of the Tathāgata should be understood to be illustrated by the example of a vajra.[6]
The instruction on the detailed analysis of these six qualities of the Tathāgata as described should be known in this order according to the Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra. There it is said:
Mañjuśrī, [through this specification,] "what is without arising and without ceasing" {P79b} [should be understood to be a designation of] the Tathāgata Arhat, the completely perfect Buddha.[7]
Through this, it is explained first that the Tathāgata has the characteristic of being unconditioned. Right after this, the Tathāgata’s being without arising and without ceasing [is illustrated] by nine examples, starting with the example of a reflection of Śakra[8] on a ground of stainless beryl.[9] With regard to the meaning [of this], [the sūtra] says:
Mañjuśrī, likewise, the Tathāgata Arhat, the completely perfect Buddha, does not move, does not reflect, is not discursive, does not think, and does not conceptualize. He is without thought, without conception, without reflection, without mental engagement, peaceful, without arising, and without ceasing. He cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be smelled, cannot be tasted, and cannot be touched. {D79a} He is without characteristics, without cognizing, and without being cognizable.[10]
Thus and further goes the [sūtra’s] discussion of different aspects of peacefulness.[11] Through this, it is explained that the Tathāgata is effortless because in his own actions all discursiveness and conceptions are at peace. Then, the discussion of the [nine] examples in the following passage [of the sūtra] explains the completely perfect awakening of the Tathāgata without any other conditions with regard to the gateways to the completely perfect awakening to the suchness of all phenomena. At the end, after having taught the sixteen aspects of the awakening of the Tathāgata, [the sūtra] says the following:
Here, Mañjuśrī, once the Tathāgata has completely and perfectly awakened to all phenomena’s having such a nature and {P80a} has seen the dharmadhātu of sentient beings to be impure, not stainless, and blemished,[12] {J10} his great compassion, which is called "playful mastery," unfolds for [all] sentient beings.[13]
This states that the Tathāgata is endowed with unsurpassable wisdom and compassion. [In this passage,] "all phenomena’s having such a nature" [refers to phenomena] as they have been taught above as having the nature of the lack of entity.[14]"Completely and perfectly awakened" [means] "realized by nonconceptual buddha wisdom that accords with reality." "Of sentient beings" [means] "of those who are categorized as the groups [whose disposition] is certain [in terms of what is correct], [whose disposition] is uncertain, and [whose disposition] is certain in terms of what is mistaken."[15] "The dharmadhātu" [refers to their] tathāgata heart, which in essence is not different from the [Buddha’s] own true nature.[16] "Has seen" [means] "having seen all the aspects [of this tathāgata heart in different beings] with the Buddha’s unobscured eyes." "Impure" [refers to the impurity] of ordinary naive beings due to their afflictive obscurations. "Not stainless" [refers to the impurity] of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas due to their cognitive obscurations. {D79b} "Blemished" [refers to the impurity] of bodhisattvas due to their remainders of either one of both of those [obscurations]. [The Buddha’s compassion is called] "playful mastery" because of having entered into various gateways of perfect means of guidance. That this "compassion unfolds for [all] sentient beings" is because [the Buddha], as being the one who possesses the awakening of having completely and perfectly awakened for the sake of all sentient beings due to [their] being equal [for him to himself], has the intention to [make them] attain the realization of [the Buddha’s] own true nature [that abides in them too]. Thereafter, due to the unfolding of unsurpassable wisdom and compassion, [the Buddha] engages in bringing about his turning of the wheel of the unequaled dharma in an uninterrupted manner. {P80b} This is to be understood as the power of both [wisdom and compassion] with regard to promoting the welfare of others.
Here, from among these six qualities of the Tathāgata, in due order, to be endowed with the first three' [qualities] (such as being unconditioned) represents the fulfillment of one’s own welfare, while [being endowed] with the latter three (such as wisdom) represents the fulfillment of the welfare of others. Or, [one can say that] it is [the quality of] wisdom that elucidates the fulfillment of one’s own welfare, which is due to its having the property of being the basis of the completely perfect self-awakening that is the supreme and eternal abode of peace. Compassion and power [indicate] the fulfillment of the welfare of others due to their having the property of being the basis of [the activity of] turning the wheel of the great unsurpassable dharma.
- śāntadharmaśarīra.
- I follow de Jong’s emendation of ’bhipretotpādaḥ to ’bhipreto notpādaḥ, which is also supported by DP ’dod kyi skye ba ni ma yin no.
- MB avabodhāya against J anubodhāya.
- MB jātyandhabhūtānām against J jātyandhānām.
- I follow MB tadanugamamārga° (DP de rjes su rtogs pa’i lam) and VT (fol. 10v6) °vyapadeśa° against J tadanugāmimārgavyupadeśa.
- VT (fol. 10v5) says that the sword of wisdom cuts through suffering, while the vajra of compassion breaks through the wall (of views and doubts).
- D100, fol. 284b.3 (the insertions in "[ ]"stem from D100).
- This is another name of the god Indra.
- 'Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra, D100, fol. 280a.2–4. Note that, in the sūtra, this passage precedes the former one.
- Ibid., fol. 280a.4–6.
- J upaśamaprabhedapradeśa (DP nye bar zhi ba’i tshig gi rab tu dbye ba). According to Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra, D100, the difference between śama and upaśama is that the realization of phenomena’s not really existing results in the mind’s being free from clinging to them.
- J aśuddham avimalaṃ sāṅganam (DP ma dag pa dri ma dang bral ba skyon dang bcas pa). However, the Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra (D100, fol. 298a.7) has "pure, stainless, and unafflicted" (dag pa dri ma med pa nyon mongs pa med pa), which is confirmed and explained several times with regard to a number of phenomena right before that passage.
- Ibid., fol. 298a.6–7. In D100 this sentence reads, "Here, Mañjuśrī, [in] the Tathāgata, who has completely and perfectly realized all phenomena to be like that and has seen the basic element of sentient beings, great compassion, which is called "playful mastery,"arises for sentient beings because sentient beings are [ultimately] pure, stainless, and undefiled."
- With Takasaki, J abhāvasvabhāvāt is emended to abhāvasvabhāvān.
- See the text below (J29.1ff.) for an explanation of which sentient beings belong to which of these three groups.
- I follow MB °nirviśiṣṭaṃ tathāgatagarbham against J °nirviśiṣṭatathāgatagarbham.
BDRCanādimadhyanidhanaprakṛtatvādasaṃskṛtam/
śāntadharmaśarīratvādanābhogamiti smṛtam//6//
pratyātmamadhigamyatvādaparapratyayodayam/
jñānamevaṃ tridhā bodhāt karuṇā mārgadeśanāt//7//
śaktirjñānakṛpābhyāṃ tu duḥkhakleśanibarhaṇāt/
tribhirādyairguṇaiḥ svārthaḥ parārthaḥ paścimaistribhiḥ//8//
saṃskṛtaviparyayeṇāsaṃskṛtaṃ veditayvam/ tatra saṃskṛtamucyate yasyotpādo'pi prajñāyatesthitirapi bhaṅgo'pi prajñāyate/ tadabhāvādbuddhatvamanādimadhyanidhanamasaṃskṛtadharmakāya prabhāvitaṃ draṣṭavyam/ sarvaprapañcavikalpopaśāntatvādanābhogam/ svayaṃbhūjñānādhigamyatvādaparapratyayodayam/ udayo'trābhisaṃbodho'bhipretotpādaḥ/ ityasaṃskṛtādapravṛttilakṣaṇādapi tathāgatatvādanābhogataḥ sarvasaṃbuddhakṛtyamā saṃsārakoṭeranuparatamanupacchinnaṃ pravartate/
ityevamatyadbhutācintyaviṣayaṃ buddhatvamaśrutvā parataḥ svayamanācāryakeṇa svayaṃbhūjñānena nirabhilāpyasvabhāvatāmabhisaṃbudhya tadanubodhaṃ pratyabudhānāmapi jātyandhānāṃ pareṣāmanubodhāya tadanugāmimārgavyupadeśakaraṇādanuttarajñānakaruṇānvitatvaṃ veditavyam/ mārgasyābhayatvaṃ lokottaratvāt/ lokottaratvamapunarāvṛttitaśca/ yathākramaṃ paraduḥkhakleśamūlasamudghātaṃ pratyanayoreva tathāgatajñānakaruṇayoḥ śaktirasivajradṛṣṭāntena paridīpitā/ tatra duḥkhamūlaṃ samāsato yā kacidbhaveṣu nāmarūpābhinirvṛttiḥ/ kleśamūlaṃ ya kācitsatkāyābhiniveśapūrvikā dṛṣṭirvicikitsā ca/ tatra nāmarūpasaṃgṛhītaṃ duḥkhamabhinirvṛttilakṣaṇatvādaṅkurasthānīyaṃ veditavyam/ tacchettṛtve tathāgatajñānakaruṇāyoḥ śaktirasidṛṣṭantenopamitā veditavyā/ dṛṣṭivicikitsāsamgṛhīto darśanamārgapraheyaḥ/ kleśo laukikajñānaduravagāho durbhedaṃtvādvanagahanopagūḍhaprākārasadṛśaḥ/ tadbhettṛtvāt tathāgatajñānakaruṇayoḥ śaktirvajradṛṣṭāntenopamitā veditavyā/
ityete yathāddiṣṭāḥ ṣaṭ tathāgataguṇā vistaravibhāganirdeśato'nayaivānupūrvyā sarvabuddhaviṣayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtrānusāreṇānugantavyāḥ/ tatra yaduktamanutpādo'nirodha iti mañjuśrīstathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddha eṣa ityanena tāvadasaṃskṛtalakṣaṇastathāgata iti paridīpitam/ yatpunaranantaraṃ vimalavaiḍūryapṛthivīśakrapratibimbodāharaṇamādiṃ kṛtvā yāvannavabhirudāharaṇairetamevānutpādānirodhatathāgatārthamadhikṛtyāha/ evameva mañjuśrīstathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho neñjate na viṭhapati na prapañcayati na kalpayati na vikalpayati/ akalpo'vikalpo'citto'manasikāraḥ śītibhūto'nutpādo'nirodho'dṛṣṭo'śruto'nāghrāto'nāsvādito'spṛṣṭo'nimitto'vijñaptiko'vijñapanīya ityevamādirupaśamaprabhedapradeśanirdeśaḥ/ anena svakriyāsu sarvaprapañcavikalpopaśāntatvādanābhogastathāgata iti paridīpitam/ tata ūrdhvamudāharaṇanirdeśādavaśiṣṭena granthena sarvadharmadharmatathatābhisaṃbodhamukheṣvaparapratyayābhisaṃbodhastathāgatasya paridīpitaḥ/ yatpunarante ṣoḍaśākārāṃ tathāgatabodhiṃ nirdiśyaivamāha/ tatra mañjuśrīstathāgatasyaivaṃrūpān sarvadharmānabhisaṃbudhya sattvānāṃ ca dharmadhātuṃ vyavalokyāśuddhamavimalaṃ sāṅganaṃ vikrīḍitā nāma sattveṣu mahākaruṇā pravartata iti/ anena tathāgatasyānuttarajñānakaruṇānvitatvamudbhāvitam/ tatraivaṃrūpān sarvadharmāniti yathāpūrva nirdiṣṭānabhāvasvabhāvāt/ abhisaṃbudhyeti yathābhūtamavikalpabuddhajñānena jñātvā/ sattvānāmiti niyatāniyatamithyāniyatarāśivyavaśitānām/ dharmadhātumiti svadharmatāprakṛtinirviśiṣṭattathāgatagarbham/ vyavalokyeti sarvākāramanāvaraṇena buddhacakṣuṣā dṛṣṭvā/ aśuddhaṃ kleśāvaraṇena bālapṛthagjanānām/ avimalaṃ jñeyāvaraṇena śrāvakapratyekabuddhānām/ sāṅganaṃ tadubhayānyatamaviśiṣṭatayā bodhisattvānām/ vikrīḍitā vividhā saṃpannavinayopāyamukheṣu supraviṣṭatvāt/ sattveṣu mahākaruṇā pravartata iti samatayā sarvasattvanimittamabhisaṃbuddhabodheḥ svadharmatādhigamasaṃprāpaṇāśayatvāt/ yadita ūrdhvamanuttarajñānakaruṇāpravṛtterasamadharmacakrapravartanābhinirhāraprayogāśraṃsanamiyamanayoḥ parārthakaraṇe śaktirveditavyā/ tatraiṣāmeva yathākramaṃ ṣaṇṇāṃ tathāgataguṇānāmādyaistribhirasaṃskṛtādibhiryogaḥ svārthasaṃpat/ tribhiravaśiṣṭairjñānādibhiḥ parārthasaṃpat/ api khalu jñānena paramanityopaśāntipadasvābhisaṃbodhisthānaguṇāt svārthasaṃpat paridīpitā/ karuṇāśaktibhyāmanuttaramahādharmacakrapravṛttisthānaguṇāt parārthasaṃpaditi/
偈言
非初非中後 自性無為體 及法體寂靜 故自然應知 唯內身自證 故不依他知 如是三覺知 慈心為說道 智悲及力等 拔苦煩惱刺 初三句自利 後三句利他
此偈明何義遠離有為名為無為應知又有為者生住滅法無彼有為是故佛體非初中後故得名為無為法身應知偈言佛體無前際[＊]及無中間際[＊]亦復無後際故又復遠離一切戲論虛妄分別寂靜體故名為自然應知偈言寂靜故不依他知者不依他因緣證知故不依他因緣證知者不依他因緣生故不依他因緣生者自覺不依他覺故如是依於如來無為法身相故一切佛事無始世來自然而行常不休息如是希有不可思議諸佛境界不從他聞不從他聞者不從師聞自自在智無言之體而自覺知偈言自覺知故既自覺知已然後為他生盲眾生令得覺知為彼證得無為法身說無上道是故名為無上智悲應知偈言既自覺知已為欲令他知是故為彼說無畏常恒道故無畏I.7
སོ་སོ་རང་གིས་རྟོགས་བྱའི་ཕྱིར། །
གཞན་གྱི་རྐྱེན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་མིན་པ། །
དེ་ལྟར་རྣམ་གསུམ་རྟོགས་ཕྱིར་མཁྱེན། །
ལམ་སྟོན་ཕྱིར་ན་ཐུགས་བརྩེ་བ། །
It is not produced through other conditions
Because it is to be realized personally.
Thus, it is wisdom because it is threefold awakening.
It is compassion because it teaches the path.
प्रत्यात्ममधिगम्यत्वादपरप्रत्ययोदयम्
ज्ञानमेवं त्रिधा बोधात् करुणा मार्गदेशनात्
唯內身自證故不依他知
如是三覺知慈心為說道
- It is unconditioned because its nature
- Is to be without beginning, middle, and end.
- It is declared to be effortless
- Because it possesses the peaceful dharma body. [1] I.6
- It is not produced through other conditions
- Because it is to be realized personally. {D78a}
- Thus, it is wisdom because it is threefold awakening.
- It is compassion because it teaches the path. I.7
- It is power because it overcomes suffering
- And the afflictions through wisdom and compassion.
- One’s own welfare is by virtue of the first three qualities
- And the welfare of others by virtue of the latter three. I.8
Being "unconditioned" should be understood as the opposite of being conditioned. Here, what is called "conditioned" is that in which arising is perceived and abiding and ceasing are perceived too. Because of the lack of these [three characteristics], buddhahood is to be regarded as being without beginning, middle, and end and as consisting of the unconditioned dharmakāya. It is effortless because all reference points and conceptions are at peace.
It is not produced by other conditions because it is to be realized by self-arisen wisdom (here, udaya means "awakening" and not "arising").[2] Even though it is unconditioned and has the characteristic of being inactive, from tathāgatahood all activities of the perfect Buddha unfold without effort in an unimpeded and uninterrupted manner until the end of saṃsāra. Thus, buddhahood, which is a truly amazing and inconceivable object, is completely and perfectly realized as being inexpressible in nature by [the Buddha] himself, [that is,] not after having heard [about it] from others, but through the self-arisen wisdom that is not caused by a master. Thereafter, in order to help awaken[3] others, who have not awakened to such an awakening {P79a} and are blind by birth,[4] [the Buddha] teaches them the path that leads to that [awakening].[5] Therefore, one should understand that [the Buddha] is endowed with unsurpassable wisdom and compassion.
The fearlessness of the path is due to its being beyond the world. Its being beyond the world is due to its never turning back. In due order, the examples of a sword and a vajra elucidate that both the wisdom and compassion of the Tathāgata have the power to overcome the roots of the suffering and the afflictions of others. Here, in brief, the root of suffering consists of anything that comes about as [the five skandhas of] name and form within [any possible saṃsāric] existence. The root of the afflictions {D78b} consists of any views and doubts that are preceded by clinging to a real personality. Here, by virtue of its characteristic of coming forth, the suffering that consists of name and form is to be understood as being represented by a sprout. {J9} Since the power of both the wisdom and the compassion of the Tathāgata cuts through this [suffering], it should be known to be illustrated by the example of a sword. The afflictions to be relinquished through seeing, which consist of said views and doubts and are difficult to understand through mundane wisdom, are difficult to penetrate. Therefore, they resemble a wall concealed by a thick forest. Due to being what breaks through these [afflictions], the power of both the wisdom and the compassion of the Tathāgata should be understood to be illustrated by the example of a vajra.[6]
The instruction on the detailed analysis of these six qualities of the Tathāgata as described should be known in this order according to the Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra. There it is said:
Mañjuśrī, [through this specification,] "what is without arising and without ceasing" {P79b} [should be understood to be a designation of] the Tathāgata Arhat, the completely perfect Buddha.[7]
Through this, it is explained first that the Tathāgata has the characteristic of being unconditioned. Right after this, the Tathāgata’s being without arising and without ceasing [is illustrated] by nine examples, starting with the example of a reflection of Śakra[8] on a ground of stainless beryl.[9] With regard to the meaning [of this], [the sūtra] says:
Mañjuśrī, likewise, the Tathāgata Arhat, the completely perfect Buddha, does not move, does not reflect, is not discursive, does not think, and does not conceptualize. He is without thought, without conception, without reflection, without mental engagement, peaceful, without arising, and without ceasing. He cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be smelled, cannot be tasted, and cannot be touched. {D79a} He is without characteristics, without cognizing, and without being cognizable.[10]
Thus and further goes the [sūtra’s] discussion of different aspects of peacefulness.[11] Through this, it is explained that the Tathāgata is effortless because in his own actions all discursiveness and conceptions are at peace. Then, the discussion of the [nine] examples in the following passage [of the sūtra] explains the completely perfect awakening of the Tathāgata without any other conditions with regard to the gateways to the completely perfect awakening to the suchness of all phenomena. At the end, after having taught the sixteen aspects of the awakening of the Tathāgata, [the sūtra] says the following:
Here, Mañjuśrī, once the Tathāgata has completely and perfectly awakened to all phenomena’s having such a nature and {P80a} has seen the dharmadhātu of sentient beings to be impure, not stainless, and blemished,[12] {J10} his great compassion, which is called "playful mastery," unfolds for [all] sentient beings.[13]
This states that the Tathāgata is endowed with unsurpassable wisdom and compassion. [In this passage,] "all phenomena’s having such a nature" [refers to phenomena] as they have been taught above as having the nature of the lack of entity.[14]"Completely and perfectly awakened" [means] "realized by nonconceptual buddha wisdom that accords with reality." "Of sentient beings" [means] "of those who are categorized as the groups [whose disposition] is certain [in terms of what is correct], [whose disposition] is uncertain, and [whose disposition] is certain in terms of what is mistaken."[15] "The dharmadhātu" [refers to their] tathāgata heart, which in essence is not different from the [Buddha’s] own true nature.[16] "Has seen" [means] "having seen all the aspects [of this tathāgata heart in different beings] with the Buddha’s unobscured eyes." "Impure" [refers to the impurity] of ordinary naive beings due to their afflictive obscurations. "Not stainless" [refers to the impurity] of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas due to their cognitive obscurations. {D79b} "Blemished" [refers to the impurity] of bodhisattvas due to their remainders of either one of both of those [obscurations]. [The Buddha’s compassion is called] "playful mastery" because of having entered into various gateways of perfect means of guidance. That this "compassion unfolds for [all] sentient beings" is because [the Buddha], as being the one who possesses the awakening of having completely and perfectly awakened for the sake of all sentient beings due to [their] being equal [for him to himself], has the intention to [make them] attain the realization of [the Buddha’s] own true nature [that abides in them too]. Thereafter, due to the unfolding of unsurpassable wisdom and compassion, [the Buddha] engages in bringing about his turning of the wheel of the unequaled dharma in an uninterrupted manner. {P80b} This is to be understood as the power of both [wisdom and compassion] with regard to promoting the welfare of others.
Here, from among these six qualities of the Tathāgata, in due order, to be endowed with the first three' [qualities] (such as being unconditioned) represents the fulfillment of one’s own welfare, while [being endowed] with the latter three (such as wisdom) represents the fulfillment of the welfare of others. Or, [one can say that] it is [the quality of] wisdom that elucidates the fulfillment of one’s own welfare, which is due to its having the property of being the basis of the completely perfect self-awakening that is the supreme and eternal abode of peace. Compassion and power [indicate] the fulfillment of the welfare of others due to their having the property of being the basis of [the activity of] turning the wheel of the great unsurpassable dharma.
- śāntadharmaśarīra.
- I follow de Jong’s emendation of ’bhipretotpādaḥ to ’bhipreto notpādaḥ, which is also supported by DP ’dod kyi skye ba ni ma yin no.
- MB avabodhāya against J anubodhāya.
- MB jātyandhabhūtānām against J jātyandhānām.
- I follow MB tadanugamamārga° (DP de rjes su rtogs pa’i lam) and VT (fol. 10v6) °vyapadeśa° against J tadanugāmimārgavyupadeśa.
- VT (fol. 10v5) says that the sword of wisdom cuts through suffering, while the vajra of compassion breaks through the wall (of views and doubts).
- D100, fol. 284b.3 (the insertions in "[ ]"stem from D100).
- This is another name of the god Indra.
- 'Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra, D100, fol. 280a.2–4. Note that, in the sūtra, this passage precedes the former one.
- Ibid., fol. 280a.4–6.
- J upaśamaprabhedapradeśa (DP nye bar zhi ba’i tshig gi rab tu dbye ba). According to Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra, D100, the difference between śama and upaśama is that the realization of phenomena’s not really existing results in the mind’s being free from clinging to them.
- J aśuddham avimalaṃ sāṅganam (DP ma dag pa dri ma dang bral ba skyon dang bcas pa). However, the Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra (D100, fol. 298a.7) has "pure, stainless, and unafflicted" (dag pa dri ma med pa nyon mongs pa med pa), which is confirmed and explained several times with regard to a number of phenomena right before that passage.
- Ibid., fol. 298a.6–7. In D100 this sentence reads, "Here, Mañjuśrī, [in] the Tathāgata, who has completely and perfectly realized all phenomena to be like that and has seen the basic element of sentient beings, great compassion, which is called "playful mastery,"arises for sentient beings because sentient beings are [ultimately] pure, stainless, and undefiled."
- With Takasaki, J abhāvasvabhāvāt is emended to abhāvasvabhāvān.
- See the text below (J29.1ff.) for an explanation of which sentient beings belong to which of these three groups.
- I follow MB °nirviśiṣṭaṃ tathāgatagarbham against J °nirviśiṣṭatathāgatagarbham.
BDRCanādimadhyanidhanaprakṛtatvādasaṃskṛtam/
śāntadharmaśarīratvādanābhogamiti smṛtam//6//
pratyātmamadhigamyatvādaparapratyayodayam/
jñānamevaṃ tridhā bodhāt karuṇā mārgadeśanāt//7//
śaktirjñānakṛpābhyāṃ tu duḥkhakleśanibarhaṇāt/
tribhirādyairguṇaiḥ svārthaḥ parārthaḥ paścimaistribhiḥ//8//
saṃskṛtaviparyayeṇāsaṃskṛtaṃ veditayvam/ tatra saṃskṛtamucyate yasyotpādo'pi prajñāyatesthitirapi bhaṅgo'pi prajñāyate/ tadabhāvādbuddhatvamanādimadhyanidhanamasaṃskṛtadharmakāya prabhāvitaṃ draṣṭavyam/ sarvaprapañcavikalpopaśāntatvādanābhogam/ svayaṃbhūjñānādhigamyatvādaparapratyayodayam/ udayo'trābhisaṃbodho'bhipretotpādaḥ/ ityasaṃskṛtādapravṛttilakṣaṇādapi tathāgatatvādanābhogataḥ sarvasaṃbuddhakṛtyamā saṃsārakoṭeranuparatamanupacchinnaṃ pravartate/
ityevamatyadbhutācintyaviṣayaṃ buddhatvamaśrutvā parataḥ svayamanācāryakeṇa svayaṃbhūjñānena nirabhilāpyasvabhāvatāmabhisaṃbudhya tadanubodhaṃ pratyabudhānāmapi jātyandhānāṃ pareṣāmanubodhāya tadanugāmimārgavyupadeśakaraṇādanuttarajñānakaruṇānvitatvaṃ veditavyam/ mārgasyābhayatvaṃ lokottaratvāt/ lokottaratvamapunarāvṛttitaśca/ yathākramaṃ paraduḥkhakleśamūlasamudghātaṃ pratyanayoreva tathāgatajñānakaruṇayoḥ śaktirasivajradṛṣṭāntena paridīpitā/ tatra duḥkhamūlaṃ samāsato yā kacidbhaveṣu nāmarūpābhinirvṛttiḥ/ kleśamūlaṃ ya kācitsatkāyābhiniveśapūrvikā dṛṣṭirvicikitsā ca/ tatra nāmarūpasaṃgṛhītaṃ duḥkhamabhinirvṛttilakṣaṇatvādaṅkurasthānīyaṃ veditavyam/ tacchettṛtve tathāgatajñānakaruṇāyoḥ śaktirasidṛṣṭantenopamitā veditavyā/ dṛṣṭivicikitsāsamgṛhīto darśanamārgapraheyaḥ/ kleśo laukikajñānaduravagāho durbhedaṃtvādvanagahanopagūḍhaprākārasadṛśaḥ/ tadbhettṛtvāt tathāgatajñānakaruṇayoḥ śaktirvajradṛṣṭāntenopamitā veditavyā/
ityete yathāddiṣṭāḥ ṣaṭ tathāgataguṇā vistaravibhāganirdeśato'nayaivānupūrvyā sarvabuddhaviṣayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtrānusāreṇānugantavyāḥ/ tatra yaduktamanutpādo'nirodha iti mañjuśrīstathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddha eṣa ityanena tāvadasaṃskṛtalakṣaṇastathāgata iti paridīpitam/ yatpunaranantaraṃ vimalavaiḍūryapṛthivīśakrapratibimbodāharaṇamādiṃ kṛtvā yāvannavabhirudāharaṇairetamevānutpādānirodhatathāgatārthamadhikṛtyāha/ evameva mañjuśrīstathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho neñjate na viṭhapati na prapañcayati na kalpayati na vikalpayati/ akalpo'vikalpo'citto'manasikāraḥ śītibhūto'nutpādo'nirodho'dṛṣṭo'śruto'nāghrāto'nāsvādito'spṛṣṭo'nimitto'vijñaptiko'vijñapanīya ityevamādirupaśamaprabhedapradeśanirdeśaḥ/ anena svakriyāsu sarvaprapañcavikalpopaśāntatvādanābhogastathāgata iti paridīpitam/ tata ūrdhvamudāharaṇanirdeśādavaśiṣṭena granthena sarvadharmadharmatathatābhisaṃbodhamukheṣvaparapratyayābhisaṃbodhastathāgatasya paridīpitaḥ/ yatpunarante ṣoḍaśākārāṃ tathāgatabodhiṃ nirdiśyaivamāha/ tatra mañjuśrīstathāgatasyaivaṃrūpān sarvadharmānabhisaṃbudhya sattvānāṃ ca dharmadhātuṃ vyavalokyāśuddhamavimalaṃ sāṅganaṃ vikrīḍitā nāma sattveṣu mahākaruṇā pravartata iti/ anena tathāgatasyānuttarajñānakaruṇānvitatvamudbhāvitam/ tatraivaṃrūpān sarvadharmāniti yathāpūrva nirdiṣṭānabhāvasvabhāvāt/ abhisaṃbudhyeti yathābhūtamavikalpabuddhajñānena jñātvā/ sattvānāmiti niyatāniyatamithyāniyatarāśivyavaśitānām/ dharmadhātumiti svadharmatāprakṛtinirviśiṣṭattathāgatagarbham/ vyavalokyeti sarvākāramanāvaraṇena buddhacakṣuṣā dṛṣṭvā/ aśuddhaṃ kleśāvaraṇena bālapṛthagjanānām/ avimalaṃ jñeyāvaraṇena śrāvakapratyekabuddhānām/ sāṅganaṃ tadubhayānyatamaviśiṣṭatayā bodhisattvānām/ vikrīḍitā vividhā saṃpannavinayopāyamukheṣu supraviṣṭatvāt/ sattveṣu mahākaruṇā pravartata iti samatayā sarvasattvanimittamabhisaṃbuddhabodheḥ svadharmatādhigamasaṃprāpaṇāśayatvāt/ yadita ūrdhvamanuttarajñānakaruṇāpravṛtterasamadharmacakrapravartanābhinirhāraprayogāśraṃsanamiyamanayoḥ parārthakaraṇe śaktirveditavyā/ tatraiṣāmeva yathākramaṃ ṣaṇṇāṃ tathāgataguṇānāmādyaistribhirasaṃskṛtādibhiryogaḥ svārthasaṃpat/ tribhiravaśiṣṭairjñānādibhiḥ parārthasaṃpat/ api khalu jñānena paramanityopaśāntipadasvābhisaṃbodhisthānaguṇāt svārthasaṃpat paridīpitā/ karuṇāśaktibhyāmanuttaramahādharmacakrapravṛttisthānaguṇāt parārthasaṃpaditi/
偈言
非初非中後 自性無為體 及法體寂靜 故自然應知 唯內身自證 故不依他知 如是三覺知 慈心為說道 智悲及力等 拔苦煩惱刺 初三句自利 後三句利他
此偈明何義遠離有為名為無為應知又有為者生住滅法無彼有為是故佛體非初中後故得名為無為法身應知偈言佛體無前際[＊]及無中間際[＊]亦復無後際故又復遠離一切戲論虛妄分別寂靜體故名為自然應知偈言寂靜故不依他知者不依他因緣證知故不依他因緣證知者不依他因緣生故不依他因緣生者自覺不依他覺故如是依於如來無為法身相故一切佛事無始世來自然而行常不休息如是希有不可思議諸佛境界不從他聞不從他聞者不從師聞自自在智無言之體而自覺知偈言自覺知故既自覺知已然後為他生盲眾生令得覺知為彼證得無為法身說無上道是故名為無上智悲應知偈言既自覺知已為欲令他知是故為彼說無畏常恒道故無畏I.8
ནུས་པ་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཡིས། །
སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཉོན་མོངས་སྤོང་ཕྱིར་རོ། །
དང་པོ་གསུམ་གྱིས་རང་དོན་ཏེ། །
ཕྱི་མ་གསུམ་གྱིས་གཞན་དོན་ཡིན། །
It is power because it overcomes suffering
And the afflictions through wisdom and compassion.
One’s own welfare is by virtue of the first three qualities
And the welfare of others by virtue of the latter three.
शक्तिर्ज्ञानकृपाभ्यां तु दुःखक्लेशनिबर्हणात्
त्रिभिराद्यैर्गुणैः स्वार्थः परार्थः पश्चिमैस्त्रिभिः
智悲及力等拔苦煩惱刺
初三句自利後三句利他
- It is unconditioned because its nature
- Is to be without beginning, middle, and end.
- It is declared to be effortless
- Because it possesses the peaceful dharma body. [1] I.6
- It is not produced through other conditions
- Because it is to be realized personally. {D78a}
- Thus, it is wisdom because it is threefold awakening.
- It is compassion because it teaches the path. I.7
- It is power because it overcomes suffering
- And the afflictions through wisdom and compassion.
- One’s own welfare is by virtue of the first three qualities
- And the welfare of others by virtue of the latter three. I.8
Being "unconditioned" should be understood as the opposite of being conditioned. Here, what is called "conditioned" is that in which arising is perceived and abiding and ceasing are perceived too. Because of the lack of these [three characteristics], buddhahood is to be regarded as being without beginning, middle, and end and as consisting of the unconditioned dharmakāya. It is effortless because all reference points and conceptions are at peace.
It is not produced by other conditions because it is to be realized by self-arisen wisdom (here, udaya means "awakening" and not "arising").[2] Even though it is unconditioned and has the characteristic of being inactive, from tathāgatahood all activities of the perfect Buddha unfold without effort in an unimpeded and uninterrupted manner until the end of saṃsāra. Thus, buddhahood, which is a truly amazing and inconceivable object, is completely and perfectly realized as being inexpressible in nature by [the Buddha] himself, [that is,] not after having heard [about it] from others, but through the self-arisen wisdom that is not caused by a master. Thereafter, in order to help awaken[3] others, who have not awakened to such an awakening {P79a} and are blind by birth,[4] [the Buddha] teaches them the path that leads to that [awakening].[5] Therefore, one should understand that [the Buddha] is endowed with unsurpassable wisdom and compassion.
The fearlessness of the path is due to its being beyond the world. Its being beyond the world is due to its never turning back. In due order, the examples of a sword and a vajra elucidate that both the wisdom and compassion of the Tathāgata have the power to overcome the roots of the suffering and the afflictions of others. Here, in brief, the root of suffering consists of anything that comes about as [the five skandhas of] name and form within [any possible saṃsāric] existence. The root of the afflictions {D78b} consists of any views and doubts that are preceded by clinging to a real personality. Here, by virtue of its characteristic of coming forth, the suffering that consists of name and form is to be understood as being represented by a sprout. {J9} Since the power of both the wisdom and the compassion of the Tathāgata cuts through this [suffering], it should be known to be illustrated by the example of a sword. The afflictions to be relinquished through seeing, which consist of said views and doubts and are difficult to understand through mundane wisdom, are difficult to penetrate. Therefore, they resemble a wall concealed by a thick forest. Due to being what breaks through these [afflictions], the power of both the wisdom and the compassion of the Tathāgata should be understood to be illustrated by the example of a vajra.[6]
The instruction on the detailed analysis of these six qualities of the Tathāgata as described should be known in this order according to the Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra. There it is said:
Mañjuśrī, [through this specification,] "what is without arising and without ceasing" {P79b} [should be understood to be a designation of] the Tathāgata Arhat, the completely perfect Buddha.[7]
Through this, it is explained first that the Tathāgata has the characteristic of being unconditioned. Right after this, the Tathāgata’s being without arising and without ceasing [is illustrated] by nine examples, starting with the example of a reflection of Śakra[8] on a ground of stainless beryl.[9] With regard to the meaning [of this], [the sūtra] says:
Mañjuśrī, likewise, the Tathāgata Arhat, the completely perfect Buddha, does not move, does not reflect, is not discursive, does not think, and does not conceptualize. He is without thought, without conception, without reflection, without mental engagement, peaceful, without arising, and without ceasing. He cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be smelled, cannot be tasted, and cannot be touched. {D79a} He is without characteristics, without cognizing, and without being cognizable.[10]
Thus and further goes the [sūtra’s] discussion of different aspects of peacefulness.[11] Through this, it is explained that the Tathāgata is effortless because in his own actions all discursiveness and conceptions are at peace. Then, the discussion of the [nine] examples in the following passage [of the sūtra] explains the completely perfect awakening of the Tathāgata without any other conditions with regard to the gateways to the completely perfect awakening to the suchness of all phenomena. At the end, after having taught the sixteen aspects of the awakening of the Tathāgata, [the sūtra] says the following:
Here, Mañjuśrī, once the Tathāgata has completely and perfectly awakened to all phenomena’s having such a nature and {P80a} has seen the dharmadhātu of sentient beings to be impure, not stainless, and blemished,[12] {J10} his great compassion, which is called "playful mastery," unfolds for [all] sentient beings.[13]
This states that the Tathāgata is endowed with unsurpassable wisdom and compassion. [In this passage,] "all phenomena’s having such a nature" [refers to phenomena] as they have been taught above as having the nature of the lack of entity.[14]"Completely and perfectly awakened" [means] "realized by nonconceptual buddha wisdom that accords with reality." "Of sentient beings" [means] "of those who are categorized as the groups [whose disposition] is certain [in terms of what is correct], [whose disposition] is uncertain, and [whose disposition] is certain in terms of what is mistaken."[15] "The dharmadhātu" [refers to their] tathāgata heart, which in essence is not different from the [Buddha’s] own true nature.[16] "Has seen" [means] "having seen all the aspects [of this tathāgata heart in different beings] with the Buddha’s unobscured eyes." "Impure" [refers to the impurity] of ordinary naive beings due to their afflictive obscurations. "Not stainless" [refers to the impurity] of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas due to their cognitive obscurations. {D79b} "Blemished" [refers to the impurity] of bodhisattvas due to their remainders of either one of both of those [obscurations]. [The Buddha’s compassion is called] "playful mastery" because of having entered into various gateways of perfect means of guidance. That this "compassion unfolds for [all] sentient beings" is because [the Buddha], as being the one who possesses the awakening of having completely and perfectly awakened for the sake of all sentient beings due to [their] being equal [for him to himself], has the intention to [make them] attain the realization of [the Buddha’s] own true nature [that abides in them too]. Thereafter, due to the unfolding of unsurpassable wisdom and compassion, [the Buddha] engages in bringing about his turning of the wheel of the unequaled dharma in an uninterrupted manner. {P80b} This is to be understood as the power of both [wisdom and compassion] with regard to promoting the welfare of others.
Here, from among these six qualities of the Tathāgata, in due order, to be endowed with the first three' [qualities] (such as being unconditioned) represents the fulfillment of one’s own welfare, while [being endowed] with the latter three (such as wisdom) represents the fulfillment of the welfare of others. Or, [one can say that] it is [the quality of] wisdom that elucidates the fulfillment of one’s own welfare, which is due to its having the property of being the basis of the completely perfect self-awakening that is the supreme and eternal abode of peace. Compassion and power [indicate] the fulfillment of the welfare of others due to their having the property of being the basis of [the activity of] turning the wheel of the great unsurpassable dharma.
- śāntadharmaśarīra.
- I follow de Jong’s emendation of ’bhipretotpādaḥ to ’bhipreto notpādaḥ, which is also supported by DP ’dod kyi skye ba ni ma yin no.
- MB avabodhāya against J anubodhāya.
- MB jātyandhabhūtānām against J jātyandhānām.
- I follow MB tadanugamamārga° (DP de rjes su rtogs pa’i lam) and VT (fol. 10v6) °vyapadeśa° against J tadanugāmimārgavyupadeśa.
- VT (fol. 10v5) says that the sword of wisdom cuts through suffering, while the vajra of compassion breaks through the wall (of views and doubts).
- D100, fol. 284b.3 (the insertions in "[ ]"stem from D100).
- This is another name of the god Indra.
- 'Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra, D100, fol. 280a.2–4. Note that, in the sūtra, this passage precedes the former one.
- Ibid., fol. 280a.4–6.
- J upaśamaprabhedapradeśa (DP nye bar zhi ba’i tshig gi rab tu dbye ba). According to Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra, D100, the difference between śama and upaśama is that the realization of phenomena’s not really existing results in the mind’s being free from clinging to them.
- J aśuddham avimalaṃ sāṅganam (DP ma dag pa dri ma dang bral ba skyon dang bcas pa). However, the Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra (D100, fol. 298a.7) has "pure, stainless, and unafflicted" (dag pa dri ma med pa nyon mongs pa med pa), which is confirmed and explained several times with regard to a number of phenomena right before that passage.
- Ibid., fol. 298a.6–7. In D100 this sentence reads, "Here, Mañjuśrī, [in] the Tathāgata, who has completely and perfectly realized all phenomena to be like that and has seen the basic element of sentient beings, great compassion, which is called "playful mastery,"arises for sentient beings because sentient beings are [ultimately] pure, stainless, and undefiled."
- With Takasaki, J abhāvasvabhāvāt is emended to abhāvasvabhāvān.
- See the text below (J29.1ff.) for an explanation of which sentient beings belong to which of these three groups.
- I follow MB °nirviśiṣṭaṃ tathāgatagarbham against J °nirviśiṣṭatathāgatagarbham.
BDRCanādimadhyanidhanaprakṛtatvādasaṃskṛtam/
śāntadharmaśarīratvādanābhogamiti smṛtam//6//
pratyātmamadhigamyatvādaparapratyayodayam/
jñānamevaṃ tridhā bodhāt karuṇā mārgadeśanāt//7//
śaktirjñānakṛpābhyāṃ tu duḥkhakleśanibarhaṇāt/
tribhirādyairguṇaiḥ svārthaḥ parārthaḥ paścimaistribhiḥ//8//
saṃskṛtaviparyayeṇāsaṃskṛtaṃ veditayvam/ tatra saṃskṛtamucyate yasyotpādo'pi prajñāyatesthitirapi bhaṅgo'pi prajñāyate/ tadabhāvādbuddhatvamanādimadhyanidhanamasaṃskṛtadharmakāya prabhāvitaṃ draṣṭavyam/ sarvaprapañcavikalpopaśāntatvādanābhogam/ svayaṃbhūjñānādhigamyatvādaparapratyayodayam/ udayo'trābhisaṃbodho'bhipretotpādaḥ/ ityasaṃskṛtādapravṛttilakṣaṇādapi tathāgatatvādanābhogataḥ sarvasaṃbuddhakṛtyamā saṃsārakoṭeranuparatamanupacchinnaṃ pravartate/
ityevamatyadbhutācintyaviṣayaṃ buddhatvamaśrutvā parataḥ svayamanācāryakeṇa svayaṃbhūjñānena nirabhilāpyasvabhāvatāmabhisaṃbudhya tadanubodhaṃ pratyabudhānāmapi jātyandhānāṃ pareṣāmanubodhāya tadanugāmimārgavyupadeśakaraṇādanuttarajñānakaruṇānvitatvaṃ veditavyam/ mārgasyābhayatvaṃ lokottaratvāt/ lokottaratvamapunarāvṛttitaśca/ yathākramaṃ paraduḥkhakleśamūlasamudghātaṃ pratyanayoreva tathāgatajñānakaruṇayoḥ śaktirasivajradṛṣṭāntena paridīpitā/ tatra duḥkhamūlaṃ samāsato yā kacidbhaveṣu nāmarūpābhinirvṛttiḥ/ kleśamūlaṃ ya kācitsatkāyābhiniveśapūrvikā dṛṣṭirvicikitsā ca/ tatra nāmarūpasaṃgṛhītaṃ duḥkhamabhinirvṛttilakṣaṇatvādaṅkurasthānīyaṃ veditavyam/ tacchettṛtve tathāgatajñānakaruṇāyoḥ śaktirasidṛṣṭantenopamitā veditavyā/ dṛṣṭivicikitsāsamgṛhīto darśanamārgapraheyaḥ/ kleśo laukikajñānaduravagāho durbhedaṃtvādvanagahanopagūḍhaprākārasadṛśaḥ/ tadbhettṛtvāt tathāgatajñānakaruṇayoḥ śaktirvajradṛṣṭāntenopamitā veditavyā/
ityete yathāddiṣṭāḥ ṣaṭ tathāgataguṇā vistaravibhāganirdeśato'nayaivānupūrvyā sarvabuddhaviṣayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtrānusāreṇānugantavyāḥ/ tatra yaduktamanutpādo'nirodha iti mañjuśrīstathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddha eṣa ityanena tāvadasaṃskṛtalakṣaṇastathāgata iti paridīpitam/ yatpunaranantaraṃ vimalavaiḍūryapṛthivīśakrapratibimbodāharaṇamādiṃ kṛtvā yāvannavabhirudāharaṇairetamevānutpādānirodhatathāgatārthamadhikṛtyāha/ evameva mañjuśrīstathāgato'rhan samyaksaṃbuddho neñjate na viṭhapati na prapañcayati na kalpayati na vikalpayati/ akalpo'vikalpo'citto'manasikāraḥ śītibhūto'nutpādo'nirodho'dṛṣṭo'śruto'nāghrāto'nāsvādito'spṛṣṭo'nimitto'vijñaptiko'vijñapanīya ityevamādirupaśamaprabhedapradeśanirdeśaḥ/ anena svakriyāsu sarvaprapañcavikalpopaśāntatvādanābhogastathāgata iti paridīpitam/ tata ūrdhvamudāharaṇanirdeśādavaśiṣṭena granthena sarvadharmadharmatathatābhisaṃbodhamukheṣvaparapratyayābhisaṃbodhastathāgatasya paridīpitaḥ/ yatpunarante ṣoḍaśākārāṃ tathāgatabodhiṃ nirdiśyaivamāha/ tatra mañjuśrīstathāgatasyaivaṃrūpān sarvadharmānabhisaṃbudhya sattvānāṃ ca dharmadhātuṃ vyavalokyāśuddhamavimalaṃ sāṅganaṃ vikrīḍitā nāma sattveṣu mahākaruṇā pravartata iti/ anena tathāgatasyānuttarajñānakaruṇānvitatvamudbhāvitam/ tatraivaṃrūpān sarvadharmāniti yathāpūrva nirdiṣṭānabhāvasvabhāvāt/ abhisaṃbudhyeti yathābhūtamavikalpabuddhajñānena jñātvā/ sattvānāmiti niyatāniyatamithyāniyatarāśivyavaśitānām/ dharmadhātumiti svadharmatāprakṛtinirviśiṣṭattathāgatagarbham/ vyavalokyeti sarvākāramanāvaraṇena buddhacakṣuṣā dṛṣṭvā/ aśuddhaṃ kleśāvaraṇena bālapṛthagjanānām/ avimalaṃ jñeyāvaraṇena śrāvakapratyekabuddhānām/ sāṅganaṃ tadubhayānyatamaviśiṣṭatayā bodhisattvānām/ vikrīḍitā vividhā saṃpannavinayopāyamukheṣu supraviṣṭatvāt/ sattveṣu mahākaruṇā pravartata iti samatayā sarvasattvanimittamabhisaṃbuddhabodheḥ svadharmatādhigamasaṃprāpaṇāśayatvāt/ yadita ūrdhvamanuttarajñānakaruṇāpravṛtterasamadharmacakrapravartanābhinirhāraprayogāśraṃsanamiyamanayoḥ parārthakaraṇe śaktirveditavyā/ tatraiṣāmeva yathākramaṃ ṣaṇṇāṃ tathāgataguṇānāmādyaistribhirasaṃskṛtādibhiryogaḥ svārthasaṃpat/ tribhiravaśiṣṭairjñānādibhiḥ parārthasaṃpat/ api khalu jñānena paramanityopaśāntipadasvābhisaṃbodhisthānaguṇāt svārthasaṃpat paridīpitā/ karuṇāśaktibhyāmanuttaramahādharmacakrapravṛttisthānaguṇāt parārthasaṃpaditi/
偈言
非初非中後 自性無為體 及法體寂靜 故自然應知 唯內身自證 故不依他知 如是三覺知 慈心為說道 智悲及力等 拔苦煩惱刺 初三句自利 後三句利他
此偈明何義遠離有為名為無為應知又有為者生住滅法無彼有為是故佛體非初中後故得名為無為法身應知偈言佛體無前際[＊]及無中間際[＊]亦復無後際故又復遠離一切戲論虛妄分別寂靜體故名為自然應知偈言寂靜故不依他知者不依他因緣證知故不依他因緣證知者不依他因緣生故不依他因緣生者自覺不依他覺故如是依於如來無為法身相故一切佛事無始世來自然而行常不休息如是希有不可思議諸佛境界不從他聞不從他聞者不從師聞自自在智無言之體而自覺知偈言自覺知故既自覺知已然後為他生盲眾生令得覺知為彼證得無為法身說無上道是故名為無上智悲應知偈言既自覺知已為欲令他知是故為彼說無畏常恒道故無畏I.9
གང་ཞིག་མེད་མིན་ཡོད་མིན་ཡོད་མེད་མ་ཡིན་ཡོད་མེད་ལས་གཞན་དུའང་། །
བརྟག་པར་མི་ནུས་ངེས་ཚིག་དང་བྲལ་སོ་སོ་རང་གིས་རིག་ཞི་བ། །
དྲི་མེད་ཡེ་ཤེས་འོད་ཟེར་སྣང་ལྡན་དམིགས་པ་ཀུན་ལ་ཆགས་པ་དང་། །
སྡང་དང་རབ་རིབ་རྣམ་པར་འཇོམས་མཛད་དམ་ཆོས་ཉི་མ་དེ་ལ་འདུད། །
Inscrutable as neither nonexistent nor existent nor [both] existent and nonexistent nor other than existent and nonexistent,
Free from etymological interpretation, to be personally experienced, and peaceful—
I pay homage to this sun of the dharma, which shines the light of stainless wisdom
And defeats passion, aggression, and [mental] darkness with regard to all focal objects.
यो नासन्न च सन्न चापि सदसन्नान्यः सतो नासतो
ऽसक्यस्तर्कयितुं निरुक्त्यपगतः प्रत्यात्मवेद्यः शिवः
तस्मै धर्मदिवाकराय विमलज्ञानावभासत्विषे
सर्वारम्वण रागदोषतिमिरव्याघातकर्त्रे नमः
非有亦非無 亦復非有無
亦非即於彼 亦復不離彼
不可得思量 非聞慧境界
出離言語道 內心知清涼
彼真妙法日 清淨無塵垢
大智慧光明 普照諸世間
能破諸曀障 覺觀貪瞋癡
一切煩惱等 故我今敬禮
Then, since the jewel of the dharma arises from the jewel of the Buddha, after the [presentation of the Buddha], there follows a verse on the [dharma]:
- Inscrutable as neither nonexistent nor existent nor [both] existent and nonexistent nor other than existent and nonexistent,
- Free from etymological interpretation, to be personally experienced, and peaceful—{J11}
- I pay homage to this sun of the dharma, which shines the light of stainless wisdom
- And defeats passion, aggression, and [mental] darkness with regard to all focal objects.[1] I.9
BDRCato buddharatnāddharmaratnaprabhāvaneti tadanantaraṃ tadadhikṛtya ślokaḥ/
yo nāsanna ca sanna cāpi sadasannānyaḥ sato nāsato
'sakyastarkayituṃ niruktyapagataḥ pratyātmavedyaḥ śivaḥ/
tasmai dharmadivākarāya vimalajñānāvabhāsatviṣe
sarvāramvaṇa rāgadoṣatimiravyāghātakartre namaḥ//9//
已說佛寶次明法寶
究竟一乘寶性論法寶品第三
論曰依彼佛寶有真法寶以是義故次佛寶後示現法寶依彼法寶故說四偈
非有亦非無 亦復非有無 亦非即於彼 亦復不離彼 不可得思量 非聞慧境界 出離言語道 內心知清涼
大智慧光明 普照諸世間 能破諸曀障 覺觀貪瞋癡 一切煩惱等 故我今敬禮
I.10
བསམ་མེད་གཉིས་མེད་རྟོག་མེད་པ། །
དག་གསལ་གཉེན་པོའི་ཕྱོགས་ཉིད་ཀྱིས། །
གང་ཞིག་གང་གིས་ཆགས་བྲལ་བ། །
བདེན་གཉིས་མཚན་ཉིད་ཅན་དེ་ཆོས། །
By virtue of its being inconceivable, free from the dual, nonconceptual,
Pure, manifesting, and a remedial factor,
It is what is and what makes free from attachment, respectively—
The dharma that is characterized by the two realities.
अचिन्त्याद्वयनिष्कल्पशुद्धिव्यक्तिविपक्षतः
यो येन च विरागोऽसौ धर्मः सत्यद्विलक्षणः
不思議不二無分淨現對
依何得何法離法二諦相
What is taught by this?
- By virtue of its being inconceivable, free from the dual, nonconceptual,
- Pure, manifesting, and a remedial factor,[1]
- It is what is and what makes free from attachment, respectively—
- The dharma that is characterized by the two realities. I.10
This [verse] describes the jewel of the dharma in brief as consisting of eight qualities. {D80a} What are these eight qualities? They are its being inconceivable, free from the dual, nonconceptual, pure, making manifest, being a counteractive factor, being free from attachment, and being the cause of being free from attachment.
BDRCanena kiṃ darśitam/
acintyādvayaniṣkalpaśuddhivyaktivipakṣataḥ/
yo yena ca virāgo'sau dharmaḥ satyadvilakṣaṇaḥ//10//
anena samāsato'ṣṭābhirguṇaiḥ saṃgṛhītaṃ dharmaratnamudbhāvitam/ aṣṭau guṇāḥ katame/ acintyatvamadvayatā nirvikalpatā śuddhirabhivyaktikaraṇaṃ pratiparkṣatā virāgo virāgaheturiti/
