[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Buddhist Sanskrit literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit) › [Āgama sūtras of the mainstream schools](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama) › [Other mainstream sūtras](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other) › [Ekagāthā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha) › [ཚིགས་སུ་བཅད་པ་གཅིག་པ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo) › The Single Stanza # The Single Stanza Translation of [ཚགས་ས་བཅད་པ་གཅག་པ (ཚིགས་སུ་བཅད་པ་གཅིག་པ)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo) - **Language:** English - **Translator:** [Giuliano Proença](https://indike.org/pramana/person/giuliano-proenca) - **Extent:** 26 passages, 920 words - **Text:** complete digital text - **Source:** 84000 · Published by 84000 (v 1.0.0 2025). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha,… · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha). Shown whole and unaltered, with its notes, on a… ## Contents - [intro 84000's introduction](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro) — 8 parts - [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.1) - [notes Notes](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes) — 17 parts ## Text ### 84000's introduction ### [intro.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro.1) The Single Stanza is a praise to the Buddha in one verse. It states that there is no ascetic equal to the Buddha, neither among the gods nor in the ordinary world. ### [intro.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro.2) The Single Stanza is a praise to the Buddha in one verse. It states that there is no ascetic equal to the Buddha, neither among the gods nor in the ordinary world. ### [intro.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro.3) The Single Stanza is quoted in the Mahā­vibhāṣā, so it must have been composed by the third century.¹ It is cited in Vasubandhu’s Gāthāsaṃ­graha­śāstra (Toh 4102), the Abhi­dharmakośa­bhāṣya (Toh 4090), and several other Abhidharma works,² and it also appears in the Avadānaśataka (Toh 343). Moreover, there are two Indian commentaries on The Single Stanza in the Tengyur, one attributed to Vasubandhu³ and the other to Dignāga,⁴ which further attests to its importance. ### [intro.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro.4) Kano concludes that The Single Stanza was part of a set of five texts used for recitation in India.⁵ Others in the set were The Dhāraṇī of the Six Gates (Toh 141, 526, 916),⁶ The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī (Toh 143, 611, 918),⁷ The Four Stanzas (Toh 324),⁸ and The Prayer of Good Conduct (Toh 1095, 4377).⁹ Initially, these five texts circulated individually. However, they had become popular in India as a set by the time of Advayavajra or Ratnākaraśānti (eleventh century) and were later incorporated into the dhāraṇī collections of Nepal. ### [intro.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro.5) The Sanskrit text of The Single Stanza is extant in several manuscripts from Nepal. Gergely Hidas edited one of these manuscripts as part of his edition of two dhāraṇī collections.¹⁰ Kazuo Kano has also published a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of The Single Stanza,¹¹ together with a Japanese translation. The Sanskrit text aligns closely with the Tibetan translation of The Single Stanza. ### [intro.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro.6) The canonical version of The Single Stanza closely matches the version found in the Tibetan translation of Vasubandhu’s commentary, which is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma catalogs.¹² Therefore, it is likely that the Tibetan translation of The Single Stanza was also completed by the early ninth century. The Single Stanza is found in the Sūtra section of the Kangyurs of the Tshalpa, Thempangma, and mixed lines, and in that of the Phukdrak Kangyur. Some Western Tibetan collections also include The Single Stanza.¹³ It is not known who translated The Single Stanza into Tibetan, for neither the colophons nor Tibetan historical works mention the translators.¹⁴ ### [intro.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro.7) The Tibetan scholar Tāranātha (1575–1634) composed a commentary on The Single Stanza as well as sequential commentaries on three of the other five texts in the above-mentioned set,¹⁵ corroborating Kano’s view that these texts were seen as related.¹⁶ The importance of The Single Stanza and the other texts in the set for recitation is evident. In Tibet, they are included in extracts from sūtra and tantra (gces btus), collected liturgical texts (chos spyod), collections of mantras and dhāraṇīs for recitation, and collections of sādhanas. They are also sometimes mentioned as texts for recitation in preliminary practices. ### [intro.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.intro.8) This English translation is based on the Degé print and Kano’s Sanskrit edition, in consultation with the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), the Phukdrak and the Stok Palace manuscripts, as well as Vasubandhu’s commentary on The Single Stanza. ### [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.1) Homage to the Three Jewels!¹⁷ Foremost among humans, there is no other great ascetic like you, Neither in the heavenly lands, in this world, in Vaiśravaṇa’s abode, In the excellent abodes of the gods’ palaces, nor in the cardinal and intermediate directions. How could there be another one like you on this vast earth with its mountains and forests? ### Notes ### [notes.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.1) 1. Compiled probably during the second or third century ce and extant in Chinese: Mahāvibhāṣā (Apidamo da piposha lun 阿毘達磨大毘婆沙論 ), Taishō 1545, 27.890b25–26. ### [notes.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.2) 2. Saṅghabhadra’s Abhi­dharma­kośaśāstra­kārikā­bhāṣya (Toh 4091), Yaśomitra’s Abhi­dharmakośa­ṭīkā (Toh 4092), Pūrṇavardhana’s Abhi­dharmakośa­ṭīkā­lakṣaṇānusāriṇī­nāma (Toh 4093), and Sthiramati’s Abhi­dharmakośa­bhāṣya­ṭīkā­tattvārtha­nāma (Toh 4421). For parallels in the Chinese canon see Kano 2011, p. 85, n. 52. ### [notes.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.3) 3. The Ekagāthābhāṣya (Toh 3988) is also included in Vasubandhu’s Gāthāsaṃgraha­śāstrārtha­nāma (Toh 4103). ### [notes.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.4) 4. Ekagāthāṭīkā (Peking Kangyur 2063, missing in Degé). ### [notes.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.5) 5. Kano concludes this by studying the sūtras listed in Ratnākaraśānti’s Muktāvalī (Toh 1189), Kāṇha’s Yogaratnamālā (Toh 1183), and Advayavajra’s Kudṛṣṭi­nirghātana, as well as by analyzing the structure of the Tibetan canonical collections, the Nepali collections of dhāraṇīs, and several Tibetan commentaries. ### [notes.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.6) 6. Ṣaṇmukhī­dhāraṇī , Toh 141, 526, 916. ### [notes.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.7) 7. Gāthādvaya­dhāraṇī , Toh 143, 611, 918. ### [notes.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.8) 8. Caturgāthā , Toh 324. ### [notes.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.9) 9. Bhadracaryā­praṇidhāna , Toh 1095, 4377. ### [notes.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.10) 10. Cambridge manuscript Add.1680.8 (fragmentary, in palm leaf, ca. twelfth/thirteenth century). See Hidas 2021, p. 32. ### [notes.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.11) 11. His sources are four manuscripts from Nepal, three on paper (one from 1792), and one palm leaf manuscript: Matsunami no. 419 (A.D.1792 = samvat 912), no. 202 (date unknown), NGMPP A131/9, and Asiatic Society of Bengal no. 9987. See Kano 2011, pp. 61–65. ### [notes.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.12) 12. Denkarma, folio 309.a. See also Herrmann-Pfandt, pp. 370–71; Yoshimura 1950, p. 67, no. 659; and Phangthangma 2003, p. 45. ### [notes.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.13) 13. The Egoo, Stagrimo, Stongde, Bardan, and Reruk collections. ### [notes.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.14) 14. The Single Stanza is not listed in the imperial catalogs as an independent text, but it is included in Butön’s History of Buddhism. See Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub), folio 161.b. ### [notes.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.15) 15. The Dhāraṇī of the Six Gates (Toh 141, 526, 916), The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī (Toh 143, 611, 918), and The Four Stanzas (Toh 324). See Jonang Jetsün Tāranātha (jo nang rje btsun tA ra nA tha), pp. 709–54. ### [notes.16](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.16) 16. In the Phukdrak Kangyur and the Bardan, Stagrimo, and Stongde collections, The Single Stanza, The Four Stanzas, and The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī also appear in sequence. In the Bardan collection, The Prayer for Good Action comes before The Single Stanza, so that the four texts are grouped together. ### [notes.17](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000.notes.17) 17. Kano’s Sanskrit edition (2011): oṃ namo buddhāya. “Oṃ! Homage to the Buddha!” --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.agama.other.ekagatha*bo~en-84000) · Pramāṇa