མ་རྟག་པ་ཉད་ཀྱ་མད notes.38

notes.38

38. The Tibetan in this section treats each consecutive level of the form realm deities as its own paragraph with the requisite introductory phrase and the running refrain of the sūtra (“Those … even for them life concludes with death…”). Degé contains all four sections, 1.8a–d, but Peking omits 1.8a & b. This fourfold way of interpreting this passage is not ideal as it conflates the gods of the Pure Abodes into the enumeration of the gods of the fourth dhyāna as can be seen in 1.8d below. The translation of the Tibetan (Degé) is: 1.8a “Those gods of the form realm who have obtained the first dhyāna—those who attend Brahmā, those stationed before Brahmā, and those Great Brahmā gods—even for them life concludes with death, has its limit in death, for there is nothing that is born that will not die. 1.8b “Those gods who have obtained the second dhyāna—those of limited radiance, those of immeasurable radiance, and those who are radiant—even for them life concludes with death, has its limit in death, for there is nothing that is born that will not die. 1.8c “Those gods who have obtained the third dhyāna—those of limited splendor, those of immeasurable splendor, and those of complete splendor—even for them life concludes with death, has its limit in death, for there is nothing that is born that will not die. 1.8d “Those gods who have obtained the fourth dhyāna—those who are unclouded, those with abundant merit, those with great fruition, those who have a nature that is free from perception, and [those gods of the Pure Abodes]: those who are relatively not great, those without trouble, those of excellent appearance, those of excellent observation, and those who are highest—even for them life concludes with death, has its limit in death, for there is nothing that is born that will not die.”