Root Verses

From Buddha-Nature

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]

Verse I.1[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Verse I.4[edit]

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[edit]

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

Verse I.6[edit]

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. [3] I.6

Verse I.7[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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.[4] I.9

Verse I.10[edit]

By virtue of its being inconceivable, free from the dual, nonconceptual,
Pure, manifesting, and a remedial factor,[5]
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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

[The wisdom of] suchness[6] 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[edit]

[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[edit]

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[edit]

By virtue of this purity of the vision of wisdom,
The noble ones, who are irreversible[7]
From unsurpassable buddha wisdom,[8]
Are the refuge of all that lives. I.18

Verse I.19[edit]

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[edit]

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[9] 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[10] jewels arise.[11] 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
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].[12] I.27
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,[13] 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[14] 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,[15] 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.[16] 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[17] 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.[18]

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."[19] As for "wish," "striving," and "aspiration,"[20]"wish" [refers to] not being cowardly[21] 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.[22]

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.[23] 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.[24] 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[25] are inseparable from suchness.
Therefore, they are similar, respectively, to
The light, heat, and color of a lamp.[26] I.44
Manifesting differently as the suchness
Of ordinary beings, noble ones, and perfect buddhas,[27]
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.[28] 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[29] of sentient beings,"
"Bodhisattva," and "tathāgata." I.47
The basic element that consists of[30] these
Six topics, such as [its] nature,
Is taught[31] 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.[32] I.55
Likewise, skandhas, dhātus, and faculties[33]
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[34] 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[35]
For the three fires of death, sickness, and aging. I.65

Footnotes[edit]

  1. 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.
  2. DP 'rtogs. RGVV makes it clear that this means "awakened" or "realized" (the same goes for udaya in I.7a).
  3. śāntadharmaśarīra.
  4. VT (fol. 11v.1) glosses "all objects" as "cognitive obscurations," "passion and aggression" as "afflictive obscurations," and "darkness" as bewilderment.
  5. J vipakṣa/pratipakṣa, which literally means "opponent" or "adversary,"but for stylistic reasons, I follow the Tibetan gnyen po.
  6. I follow MB yathāvattvaṃ jagac° (confirmed by DP ji lta nyid) against J yathāvat taj jagac°.
  7. I follow Takasaki’s and Schmithausen’s emendation of MB and J avaivartyād to avaivartyā, which is confirmed by VT (fol. 11v5) avivartyā.
  8. The translation of I.18bc follows Schmithausen’s relating buddhajñānād anuttarāt to avaivartyā, which is confirmed by VT (fol. 11v5) anuttarād buddhajñānād avivartyā āryā bhavanti. However, lines I.18bc could also be read as "Buddha wisdom is unsurpassable. Therefore, the irreversible noble ones . . . ,"which is suggested by DP sang rgyas ye shes bla med phyir / ’phags pa phyir mi ldog pa ni / and RGVV’s comments on these lines.
  9. I follow the interlinear gloss in SM, which has ekaṃ tu in I.21a against J ekatra.
  10. J śubha, which can also mean "beautiful," "good," "virtuous," "pleasant," "eminent," "bright," and "pure"; DP dge ba. GC (209.21–23) explains that dge ba can refer to Sanskrit śuddhi ("pure"), sukha ("bliss"), and śobha ("beautiful" or "excellent"). What this means here is that the three jewels possess all these qualities.
  11. I follow Schmithausen’s reading of MB °sambhavo against J °sargako.
  12. In the Tibetan editions of the Uttaratantra, this verse follows I.28, and some editions omit it altogether. JKC (50) notes this fact and says that it does belong to the text since Dölpopa, Karma Könshön (a student of the Third Karmapa), Rongtön, Gö Lotsāwa, and others quote and comment on it extensively.
  13. Despite the plural "qualities" (sadāvikāritvaguṇesv) here, the comments in the text below make it clear that this point does not so much refer to the qualities of the tathāgata heart’s being changeless (which is also true), but to its very quality of being changeless. Almost all Tibetan commentaries take "qualities"in DP rtag tu mi ’gyur yon tan dbyer med ni as relating to the next point, thus speaking of "ever-changelessness, and the inseparability of the qualities."
  14. J anvaya (lit. "descendant" or "the logical connection between cause and effect"), DP "arises" (byung ba).
  15. J icchantika, DP ’dod chen. VT (fol. 12r4) glosses this term as "those who desire saṃsāra." This term is also used to describe those beings who, according to some, have absolutely no disposition or potential for ever achieving nirvāṇa or buddhahood. However, texts such as RGVV take this term to mean that though these beings possess buddha nature just like all other beings, it is so densely obscured that it will take them a very long time to enter the dharma and attain nirvāṇa.
  16. I follow MA/MB °vyupaśāntitaḥ and DP nye bar zhi ba against J 'kṣayaśāntitaḥ.
  17. Following Schmithausen and DP ’khor ba, saṃvṛtiṃ is emended to saṃsṛtiṃ.
  18. D45.48, fol. 274b.5.
  19. This sentence, which the context clearly calls for, is missing in Sanskrit, but is preserved in DP (de la ’dun pa ni mngon par ’dod pa’o; reconstructed by Takasaki as tatra cchando ’bhilāsa) and C.
  20. DP and C omit this phrase.
  21. Skt. asaṃkoca, DP phyogs pa ("directing [one’s mind] toward").
  22. DP "one’s mind truly striving for one’s desired aim" (gang mngon par ’dod pa’i don la sems mngon par ’dun par byed pa’o). YDC (286–87) explains that upon seeing the benefit of the happiness of nirvāṇa, beings develop the striving of seeing this happiness as a quality, the wish to attain what possesses this quality, the pursuing that seeks for the means to attain it, and the aspiration of delighting in accomplishing the outcome of these means.
  23. I follow MB agotrāṇāṃ na tad yataḥ and DP gang phyir de / rigs med pa dag med pa’i phyir against J agotrāṇāṃ na vidyate.
  24. The translation follows Schmithausen’s suggestion to understand °guṇayuktasvbhāvataḥ as a predicative ablative that qualifies "disposition of the victors" (jinagarbhaḥ) in I.45c. Takasaki 1966a (400ff.) already pointed out that verses I.30, 35, 42, and 45, though interrupted by several commentarial verses, are to be considered as a unit, with jinagarbhaḥ in I.45c being the subject that is common to all four verses. As mentioned above, the six topics of nature, cause, fruition, function, endowment, and manifestation in these four verses are described in a similar way in verses IX.56–59 of the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra (which are also found as concluding verses in the Buddhabhūmisūtra), where they pertain to the purity of the dharmadhātu as the common subject. As for Takasaki’s different rendering of I.42cd ("because of its nature of being endowed with properties indivisible [from it]"), it seems to correspond exactly to DP dbyer med yon tan dang ldan pa’i / ngo bo nyid phyir.
  25. VT (fol. 12v4) glosses "wisdom" as "the wisdom of the termination of contamination" and "stainlessness"as "the termination of contamination."
  26. I follow Schmithausen’s emendation of MB dīpāloṣṇatāvarṇṇasya [or °sā°] dharmamālāśraye to dīpālokoṣṇavarṇasādharmyaṃ amalāśraye against J dīpālokoṣṇavarṇasya sādharmyaṃ vimalāśraye.
  27. I follow MB °tathatābhinnavṛttitaḥ and DP de bzhin nyid dbye’i ’jug pa las against J °tathatāvyatirekataḥ. The translation follows Schmithausen’s suggestion to understand this compound as a predicative ablative (as in I.42) qualifying "the disposition of the victors" (thus, closely corresponding in meaning to °bhinnavṛttikaḥ in Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra IX.59b). However, as Schmithausen remarks, RGVV interprets vṛtti as pravṛtti in the sense of the more or less unmistaken ways in which ordinary beings, bodhisattvas, and buddhas engage the tathāgata heart. Besides "manifestation" and "engagement,"both terms can also mean "behavior," "activity," and "function." Further meanings of vṛtti include "mode of being," "nature," "state," and "condition,"while pravṛtti can also mean "advancing" and "cognition."
  28. This verse closely parallels the words and the meaning of Madhyāntavibhāga IV.12.
  29. DP omit "basic element."
  30. I follow DP ’di drug gis ni bsdus pa yi / khams . . . against J and MA/MB, thus replacing samāsataḥ by samāsitaḥ.
  31. I follow MB nirdiṣṭo against J vidito.
  32. This refers to the ancient Indian cosmological model of worlds arising in space due to the four elemental spheres of wind, fire, water, and earth being stacked up in that order and thus supporting the upper spheres. As VT (fol. 13r1) confirms, the element of fire is not mentioned among the four elements in this text because fire is used to illustrate sickness, aging, and death, which destroy one’s prior state of existence.
  33. Here, the text has indriya, which is always replaced by āyatana below.
  34. Given the example of space’s being completely unaffected by what arises and ceases in it, I follow DP’s negative before "afflicted" (the Sanskrit and C lack this negative).
  35. I follow MA/MB tadupamā against J ta upamā.

These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.

Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt. महायान Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ། Ch. 大乘

dhātu - A fundamental component or essential constituent. Skt. धातु Tib. ཁམས་ Ch. 界

vajrapada - Literally, vajra-footing, or base. In the context of the Ratnagotravibhāga, this is the name given to the seven subjects that are addressed in the treatise. These seven are the buddha, dharma, saṅgha, the element (dhātu), enlightenment (bodhi), enlightened qualities (guṇa), and enlightened activities (karman). Skt. वज्रपद Tib. རྡོ་རྗེའི་གནས་

kleśa - Often referred to as poisons, these are a class of disturbing or disruptive emotional states that when aroused negatively affect or taint the mind. Skt. क्लेश Tib. ཉོན་མོངས་ Ch. 煩惱

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

tathatā - Suchness itself, absolute reality, or thusness, as in the ultimate state of being of phenomena. Skt. तथता Tib. དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད་

gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

advaya - Literally, "without duality," it refers to that which is indivisible, in that it is not divided into two. Skt. अद्वय Tib. གཉིས་མེད་ Ch. 不二

prajñā - One of the key terms for wisdom or knowledge, most often having the sense of insight, transcendent knowledge, or perhaps gnosis. In some contexts it can also refer to cognition or intellectual understanding. Skt. प्रज्ञा Tib. ཤེས་རབ་ Ch. 般若

ātman - Though it can simply be used as the expression "I" or "me", in Indian thought the notion of self refers to a permanent, unchanging entity, such as that which passes from life to life in the case of people, or the innate essence (svabhāva) of phenomena. Skt. आत्मन् Tib. བདག་ Ch. 我,灵魂

āvaraṇa - Literally, that which obscures or conceals. Often listed as a set of two obscurations (sgrib gnyis): the afflictive emotional obscurations (Skt. kleśāvaraṇa, Tib. nyon mongs pa'i sgrib pa) and the cognitive obscurations (Skt. jñeyāvaraṇa, Tib. shes bya'i sgrib pa). By removing the first, one becomes free of suffering, and by removing the second, one becomes omniscient. Skt. आवरण Tib. སྒྲིབ་པ་

bīja - A seed, commonly used figuratively in the sense of something which has the potential to develop or grow, and likewise as the basic cause for this development or growth. Skt. बीज Tib. ས་བོན་ Ch. 無漏種

dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt. धर्मकाय Tib. ཆོས་སྐུ་ Ch. 法身

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt. बोधिसत्त्व Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ། Ch. 菩薩

niṣprapañca - Freedom from conceptual elaborations. Skt. निष्प्रपञ्च Tib. སྤྲོས་བྲལ་

āgantukamala - Mental stains that are not inherent to the nature of the mind but are temporarily present as the residue of past actions or habitual tendencies. It is sometimes iterated as adventitious defilements (Skt. āgantukakleśa, Tib. glo bur gyi nyon mongs), which references the fickle and temporary nature of disturbing emotions that lack an ultimately established basis for existence. Skt. आगन्तुकमल Tib. གློ་བུར་གྱི་དྲི་མ་

Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhyā - This is the title of Asaṅga's commentary to the Gyü Lama that is given by Tibetan sources instead of the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā. Skt. महायानोत्तरतन्त्रशास्त्रव्याख्या Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་རྣམ་པར་བཤད་པ།

According to the Tibetan tradition this is Asaṅga's commentary to the Uttaratantra.

RGVV - Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā

pratipakṣa - An antidote or remedy that contributes or supports the elimination or pacification of a particular ailment or affliction. Skt. प्रतिपक्ष Tib. གཉེན་པོ་ Ch. 對治

Uttaratantra - The Ultimate Continuum, or Gyü Lama, is often used as a short title in the Tibetan tradition for the key source text of buddha-nature teachings called the Ratnagotravibhāga of Maitreya/Asaṅga, also known as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra. Skt. उत्तरतन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་ Ch. 寶性論

These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.

icchantika - Literally, "those with great desire," icchantikas could be rendered as hedonists or addicts. However, the term is generally used to refer to those who, due to their insatiable desire, are incapable of enlightenment. Skt. इच्छन्तिक Tib. འདོད་ཆེན་,འདོད་ཆེན་པོ་ Ch. 一闡提

gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

dharmadhātu - The fundamental expanse from which all phenomena emerge. Skt. धर्मधातु Tib. ཆོས་དབྱིངས་ Ch. 法界

ngo bo - Essence or the most basic, fundamental nature or natural state of being. It is often used as a synonym for rang bzhin. Skt. भाव Tib. ངོ་བོ་

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