Root Verses

Title

Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra—An Analysis of the Jewel Disposition, A Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahāyāna

Oṃ namaḥ Śrī Vajrasattvāya—Oṃ I pay homage to Glorious Vajrasattva

Verse I.1

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

Verse I.2

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

Verse I.3

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

Chapter 1
The Three Jewels and the Tathāgata Heart

Verse I.4

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

Verse I.5

Being unconditioned, effortless,

Not being produced through other conditions,

And possessing wisdom, compassion, and power,

Buddhahood is endowed with the two welfares. I.5

Verse I.6

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. I.6

Verse I.7

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

Verse I.8

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

Verse I.9

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. I.9

Verse I.10

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. I.10

Verse I.11

Freedom from attachment {P81a} consists of

The two realities of cessation and the path.

In due order, these two are to be understood

Through three qualities each. I.11

Verse I.12

Because of being inscrutable, because of being inexpressible,

And because of being the wisdom of the noble ones, it is inconceivable.

Because of being peaceful, it is free from the dual and without conceptions.

[In its] three [qualities] such as being pure, it is like the sun. I.12

Verse I.13

They perfectly realize that the endpoint of the identitylessness of the entire world is peace

Because they see that, by virtue of the natural luminosity of the minds in this [world], the afflictions are without nature. {D82a}

I pay homage to those who see that perfect buddhahood is allpervading, whose intelligence is unobscured,

And whose wisdom vision has the purity and infinitude of beings as its objects. I.13

Verse I.14

By virtue of the purity of the inner

Wisdom vision of suchness and variety,

The assembly of the irreversible intelligent ones

Is [endowed] with unsurpassable qualities. I.14

Verse I.15

[The wisdom of] suchness by virtue of

Realizing the world’s true nature of peace

Is due to the natural complete purity [of the mind]

And due to seeing the primordial termination of the afflictions. I.15

Verse I.16

[The wisdom of] being variety is due to

The intelligence that encompasses the entire range of the knowable

Seeing the existence of the true nature

Of omniscience in all sentient beings. I.16

Verse I.17

Such a realization is the vision

Of one’s own personal wisdom.

It is pure in the stainless basic element

Because it lacks attachment and lacks obstruction. I.17

Verse I.18

By virtue of this purity of the vision of wisdom,

The noble ones, who are irreversible

From unsurpassable buddha wisdom,

Are the refuge of all that lives. I.18

Verse I.19

For the purpose of the teacher, the teaching, and the disciples,

The three refuges are taught

With regard to those in the three yānas

And those who have faith in the three activities. I.19

Verse I.20

Because of being abandoned, because of having a deceptive nature,

Because of being nonexistent, and because of being fearful,

The twofold dharma and the noble saṃgha

Are not the ultimate supreme refuge. I.20