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

Ultimately, however, the single refuge

Of the world is buddhahood

Because the sage possesses the body of the dharma

And because it is the consummation of the assembly. I.21

They are jewels because their appearance is difficult to encounter,

Because they are stainless, because they possess power,

Because they are the ornaments of the world,

Because they are supreme, and because they are changeless. I.22

'Suchness with stains, the one without stains,

Stainless buddha qualities, and the activity of the victors

Are the objects of those who see the ultimate,

From which the three splendid jewels arise. I.23

The disposition of the three jewels

Is the object of those who see everything. {D85b}

It is fourfold and is inconceivable

For four reasons in due order I.24

Since it is pure and yet associated with afflictions,

Since it is not afflicted and yet becomes pure',

Since its qualities are inseparable,

And since [its activity] is effortless and nonconceptual. I.25

As for what is to be awakened, awakening,

Its branches, and what causes awakening, in due order,

One point is the cause and three

Are the conditions for its purity. I.26

Verse I.27

Since buddha wisdom enters into the multitudes of beings,

Since its stainlessness is nondual by nature,

And since the buddha disposition is metaphorically referred to by

[the name of] its fruition,

All beings are said to possess the buddha [heart]. I.27

Verse I.28

Since the perfect buddhakāya radiates,

Since suchness is undifferentiable,

And because of the disposition,

All beings always possess the buddha heart. I.28

In terms of nature and cause, fruition, function, endowment, manifestation,

Phases, all-pervasiveness,

Ever-changeless qualities, and inseparability,

The topic in mind, the ultimate basic element, should be understood. I.29

It is always unafflicted by nature,

Just like a pure jewel, space, and water.

It comes to life through having faith in the dharma,

Supreme prajñā, samādhi, and compassion. I.30

By virtue of its nature of power,

Being unchanging, and being moist,

It resembles the qualities

Of a wish-fulfilling jewel, space, and water. I.31

Now, what is taught by the latter half of verse [I.30]?

Hostility toward the dharma, views about a self,

Fear of saṃsāra’s suffering,

And indifference about the welfare of sentient beings—

These are the four obscurations I.32 {P91b}

Of those with great desire, tīrthikas,

Śrāvakas, and self-arisen [buddhas],

The causes of purity are the four dharmas

Of having faith and so forth. I.33

Those whose seed is the faith in the supreme yāna,

Whose mother is the prajñā that gives birth to the buddha qualities, {J30}

Whose womb is blissful samādhi, and whose nanny is compassion

Are the children who take after the sages. I.34

{P93a} Now, [there is] a verse in terms of (3) the topic of the fruition and (4) the topic of the function [of the tathāgata heart].

The fruition consists of the pāramitās that are

The qualities of purity, self, bliss, and permanence.

It has the function of being weary of suffering

As well as striving and aspiring to attain peace. I.35

What is taught by the first half of this verse here?

In brief, the fruition of those [causes]

Is characterized by being the remedies

That counteract the four kinds of

Mistakenness about the dharmakāya. I.36

Because the [dharmakāya] is naturally pure {P96a}

And free from latent tendencies, it is pure.

It is the supreme self because the reference points

Of self and no-self are at peace. I.37

It is bliss because the skandha of a mental nature

And its causes have come to an end.

It is permanent because the equality

Of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is realized. I.38

With prajñā, they cut through all self-cherishing without exception.

Because they cherish sentient beings, those full of compassion do not approach peace.

Relying in this way on intelligence and compassion, the two means for awakening,

The noble ones approach neither saṃsāra nor nirvāṇa. I.39

If the buddha element did not exist,

There would be no weariness of suffering,

Nor would there be the wish, striving, {D94a}

And aspiration for nirvāṇa. I.40

{J36} As [the Śrīmālādevīsūtra] says: {P97a}

Bhagavan, if the tathāgata heart did not exist, there would be no weariness of suffering nor the wish, striving, and aspiration for nirvāṇa.

Here, in brief, even in those sentient beings who have [the dispositions that are] certain in terms of what is mistaken, the buddha element, which is the disposition for purity, readily procures this twofold function. It gives rise to weariness of saṃsāra based on seeing the flaws of suffering, and it produces the longing, wish, striving, and aspiration for nirvāṇa based on seeing the benefits of [its] bliss. Here, "longing" [means] "desire." As for "wish," "striving," and "aspiration,""wish" [refers to] not being cowardly about one’s desired aim.

"Striving" [means] to search for the means to attain one’s desired aim. "Aspiration" [refers to] applying one’s intention and mind to one’s desired aim.

This seeing of the flaws of suffering and the qualities of happiness

In [saṃsāric] existence and nirvāṇa

Occurs [only] when the disposition exists

Because it does not [occur] in those without the disposition. I.41

Just like the ocean, [the disposition of the victors] is an inexhaustible source

Of immeasurable jewels [in the form of its] qualities.

Just like a lamp, it is endowed with

Inseparable qualities by its nature. I.42

Since the basic element consists of the dharmakāya,

As well as the wisdom and the compassion of the victor,

It is taught to be like the ocean

In terms of a vessel, jewels, and water. I.43

In the stainless foundation, the supernatural knowledges,

Wisdom, and stainlessness are inseparable from suchness.

Therefore, they are similar, respectively, to

The light, heat, and color of a lamp. I.44

Manifesting differently as the suchness

Of ordinary beings, noble ones, and perfect buddhas,

The disposition of the victors is taught

To sentient beings by those who see true reality. I.45

Ordinary beings are mistaken,

Those who see reality are the opposite,

And tathāgatas are most exactly unmistaken

And free from reference points. I.46

Its being impure, its being both impure and pure,

And its being completely pure, in due order,

Are expressed as "the basic element of sentient beings,"

"Bodhisattva," and "tathāgata." I.47

The basic element that consists of these

Six topics, such as [its] nature,

Is taught through three names

In its three phases. I.48

Just as space with its character

Of nonconceptuality is present everywhere,

So the stainless basic element that is'

The nature of the mind is omnipresent. I.49

[Its] general characteristic is that it pervades

Flaws, qualities, and perfection,

Just as space [pervades] inferior, middling,

And supreme kinds of forms. I.50

Since it is adventitiously associated with flaws

And since it is naturally endowed with qualities,

Its true nature of being changeless

Is the same before as after. I.51

Just as all-pervasive space

Is untainted due to its subtlety,

So this [basic element] that abides everywhere

In sentient beings is untainted. I.52

Just as the worlds everywhere

Are born and perish in space,

So the faculties arise and perish

In the unconditioned basic element. I.53

Just as space was never {D97b}

Burned before by any fires, {P101a}

So this [basic element] is not consumed

By the fires of death, sickness, and aging. I.54

Earth rests upon water, water on wind,

And wind on space,

[But] space does not rest on the elements

Of wind, water, or earth. I.55

Likewise, skandhas, dhātus, and faculties

Rest on karma and afflictions,

And karma and afflictions always rest on

Improper mental engagement. I.56

Improper mental engagement

Rests on the purity of the mind',

[But] this nature of the mind does not rest

On any of these phenomena'. I.57

The skandhas, āyatanas, and dhātus

Should be understood as being like the element of earth.

The karma and afflictions of living beings

Should be understood as resembling the element of water. I.58 {J43}

Improper mental engagement

Is to be known as being like the element of wind.

Being without root and not resting [on anything],

[Mind’s] nature is similar to space. I.59

Improper mental engagement

Rests on the nature of the mind,

And improper mental engagement

Produces karma and afflictions. I.60

Skandhas, āyatanas, and dhātus

Arise and disappear

From water-like karma and afflictions,

Just as the evolution and dissolution of the [world]. I.61

Lacking causes and conditions,

Lacking aggregation, and lacking

Arising, ceasing, and abiding',

The nature of the mind resembles space'. I.62

The luminous nature of the mind

Is completely unchanging, just like space.

It is not afflicted by adventitious stains,

Such as desire, born from false imagination. I.63

The mass of water-like karma

And afflictions does not generate it,

Nor do the raging fires of death,

Sickness, and aging consume it. I.64

The three fires—the fire at the end of an age,

The one in hell, and ordinary [fire]—

Should be understood, in due order, as the examples

For the three fires of death, sickness, and aging. I.65