Verse I.12

From Buddha-Nature
Ratnagotravibhāga Root Verse I.12

Verse I.12 Variations

अतर्क्यत्वादलाप्यत्वादार्यज्ञानादचिन्यता
शिवत्वादद्वयाकल्पौ शुद्‍ध्यादि त्रयनर्कवत्
atarkyatvādalāpyatvādāryajñānādacinyatā
śivatvādadvayākalpau śuddhyādi trayanarkavat
E. H. Johnston as input by the University of the West.[1]
།བརྟག་མིན་ཕྱིར་དང་བརྗོད་མིན་ཕྱིར།
།འཕགས་པས་མཁྱེན་ཕྱིར་བསམ་མེད་ཉིད།
།ཞི་ཉིད་གཉིས་མེད་རྟོག་མེད་དེ།
།དག་སོགས་གསུམ་ནི་ཉི་བཞིན་ནོ།
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.

譬如貧人舍 地有珍寶藏
彼人不能知 寶又不能言
Non analysable, inexprimable,
Connu des [seuls] êtres sublimes, il est inconcevable.
Paix, il est libre des deux [voiles] et de la pensée ;
Sa pureté et ses deux autres qualités l’assimilent au soleil.

RGVV Commentary on Verse I.12

Other English translations[edit]

Obermiller (1931) [12]
It is unthinkable, since it cannot be analysed,
Is unutterable and revealed (only) to the Saint,
It is quiescent by being devoid of the two (causes of Phenomenal Existence);
The other 3 attributes, purity and the rest
(Suggest) a resemblance with the sun.
Takasaki (1966) [13]
Because of its being beyond speculation and explanation,
And because of its being the knowledge of Saints,
Unthinkability [of the Doctrine should be known];
Because of quiescence it is non-dual and non-discriminative,
And three [qualities], purity etc., are akin to the sun.
Fuchs (2000) [14]
Not being an object of conceptual investigation, being inexpressible,
and [only] to be known by noble ones, the Dharma is inconceivable.
Since it is peace, it is free from the two [veils] and free from thought.
In its three [aspects of] purity and so on it is similar to the sun.

Textual sources[edit]

Commentaries on this verse[edit]

Academic notes[edit]

  1. Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Unicode Input
  2. Brunnhölzl, Karl. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, 2014.
  3. DP ’gog pa.
  4. Taishō 668, 467b.
  5. YDC (295) explains that improper mental engagement, in its coarse form, refers to wrong notions, such as clinging to what is impermanent as being permanent. In its subtle form, it consists of all conceptions of dualistic appearances. This improper mental engagement dwells within the luminous nature of the mind, the dharmadhātu, just like clouds in the sky (see Uttaratantra I.52–63).
  6. In the Yogācāra system, the typical triad of "mind (citta/sems)," "mentation (manas/ yid)," and "consciousness (vijñāna/rnam shes)"refers to the ālaya-consciousness, the afflicted mind, and the remaining six consciousnesses.
  7. D100, fol. 297a.7–297b.2.
  8. D45.48 (dkon brtsegs, vol. cha), fol. 272a.2–5. I follow Schmithausen’s emendation of °garbhaḥ sūcyate to °garbhaḥ ity ucyate.
  9. Throughout, both the Uttaratantra and RGVV use the terms "afflictions" and "proximate afflictions" (upakleśa) as synonyms. This differs from the standard abhidharma use of these terms as specifically referring to the six primary afflictions versus the twenty secondary afflictions. Here, however, the use of upakleśa (lit. "close afflictions") might indicate the close association of the obscuring cocoon of the afflictions with the tathāgata heart. CMW (481–82) remarks that in the specific context of the changelessness of the tathāgata heart during the phases of sentient beings and bodhisattvas, RGVV on I.51 speaks of both afflictions and proximate afflictions. According to CMW, "afflictions"in this context refers to the dense afflictions of sentient beings while "proximate afflictions"indicates the subtle afflictions of the latent tendencies of ignorance in bodhisattvas.
  10. Among the twelve links of dependent origination, the afflictiveness of afflictions corresponds to ignorance, craving, and grasping, the afflictiveness of karma to formations and becoming, and the afflictiveness of birth to the remaining seven links. Mipham Rinpoche’s commentary on the Madhyāntavibhāga (’Ju mi pham rgya mtsho 1984e, 769.5–770.2) explains that the afflictiveness of afflictions consists of (a) the causes of wrong views, (b) the causes of the three poisons (passion, aggression, and ignorance), and (c) the striving for rebirth. The remedies for (a)–(c) are the realizations of the three doors to liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, respectively. The afflictiveness of karma consists of the formation of virtuous and nonvirtuous actions. Its remedy is the realization of the door to liberation that is nonformation. The afflictiveness of birth consists of (a) being born in a new existence, (b) the minds and mental factors that occur in each moment after having born in that existence up through dying, and (c) the continuum of rebirth (the state of dying, the state of birth, and the intermediate state). The remedies for (a)–(c) are the realizations of the lack of birth, the lack of occurrence, and the lack of nature, respectively.
  11. I follow MB prajñāyate against J pravartate.
  12. Obermiller, E. "The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism." Acta Orientalia IX (1931), pp. 81-306.
  13. Takasaki, Jikido. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra): Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Serie Orientale Roma 33. Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (ISMEO), 1966.
  14. Fuchs, Rosemarie, trans. Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra. Commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul and explanations by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso. Ithaca, N. Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 2000.