Root Verses

Title[edit]

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^[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

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

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

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

Being unconditioned, effortless,

Not being produced^[2] through other conditions,

And possessing wisdom, compassion, and power,

Buddhahood is endowed with the two welfares. I.5

DP "I pay homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas." 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.
DP 'rtogs. RGVV makes it clear that this means "awakened" or "realized" (the same goes for udaya in I.7a).