A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes

{{Book
|TileDescription=A translation of Sakya Paṇḍita's famous work on the three sets of Buddhist vows.
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|PersonPage=Sa skya paN+Di ta
|PersonName=Sakya Paṇḍita
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|TextTranslated=Texts/Sdom gsum rab dbye
|BookEssay=Tibetan Buddhists often describe their religion, and the path of practice it teaches, in terms of "three vows" (''sdom gsum'')-namely, the three codes of discipline associated with the monastic traditions of the Vinaya, the progressive path of the bodhisattva, and the esoteric precepts of the tantras. Mastery of the three codes implies broad and deep scriptural learning as well as scrupulous attention to every detail of one's personal conduct and deportment. For such mastery to be recognized means the achievement of an authoritative status within the religious community. Hence, in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, the three codes were subject to intensive scrutiny and became a focal point of sustained commentary and debate.

Among the many works of Tibetan masters devoted to the three codes, none has enjoyed more notoriety than ''A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes'' (''sDom pa gsum pi rab tu dbye ba'') by the celebrated author Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltshen (or Sapan, n82-I251), presented here in a Western translation for the first time. Not so much a text on the content of the codes themselves as an examination of the many particular questions that relate to the codes-questions that Sapan saw as subject to misunderstanding on the part of his Tibetan contemporaries- The Three Codes has a strongly polemical character. Thus it is easy to see why some readers found the work objectionable in places, others praised it, and all became fascinated by it. Few indigenous Tibetan writings have inspired so abundant and diverse a body of later commentary, commentary that rivals even that on the great Indian Buddhist treatises in its extent.

Whatever one may conclude about the correctness of Sakya Pandita's opinions on any given topic, there can be no doubt that by raising so many questions so trenchantly, Sapan roused Tibetan Buddhists from doctrinal complacency and contributed mightily to the formation of the remarkable intellectual culture that has long distinguished the Buddhist monastic colleges of Tibet. It is for this reason that Sakya Pandita is remembered as the first of the three great thinkers renowned in Central Tibet as emanations of Mañjuśrī, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. The two who followed him-the great Dzokchen master Longchen Rabjampa (1308-1364) and the peerless scholar and adept Je Tsongkhapa (1357-I419)-were themselves indebted to Sakya Pandita in myriad ways.

MATTHEW T. KAPSTEIN
Editor, SUNY Buddhist Studies Series
|BookToc=*{{i|Foreword|ix}}
*{{i|Acknowledgments|xi}}
*{{i|Note on Transcription|xii}}
*{{i|List of Abbreviations|xiii}}

*{{i|Part I: Sakya Pandita’s Life and Work}}
**{{i|Introduction|3}}

*{{i|Part II: A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes}}
**{{i|Prologue|39}}
**{{i|Vows of Individual Liberation|41}}
**{{i|Vows of the Bodhisattva|81}}
**{{i|Vows of the Vajra Vehicle|95}}
**{{i|Epilogue|199}}

*{{i|Part III: Six Letters by Sakya Pandita}}
**{{i|1. Reply to the Questions of the Translator from Chak|205}}
**{{i|2. Reply to the Questions of the Translator of Lowo|225}}
**{{i|3. A Letter to the Noble-Minded|229}}
**{{i|4. A Letter to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions|241}}
**{{i|5. Reply to the Questions of Dokorwa the Kadampa|259}}
**{{i|6. Reply to the Questions of Namkha Bum the Kadampa|267}}

*{{i|Appendix A: Gorampa's Outline of A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes|273}}
*{{i|Appendix B: Transliteration of the Tibetan Text of A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes|277}}

*{{i|Glossary|331}}
*{{i|Bibliography|337}}
*{{i|Index|349}}
*{{i|About the Cover|370}}
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