ལས་བརྒྱ་ཐམ་པ་པ notes: Notes

The Hundred Deeds notes

Language: English

Notes

notes.1

1. Although commonly referred to in later Tibetan works by the short form las brgya pa, the title appears in most Kangyurs as las brgya tham pa, and in both D and S as las brgya tham pa pa. The Sanskrit title is universally given as Karmaśataka, but in Kangyurs of predominantly Thempangma line this is variously prefixed: by paravarna in S, Shey, and some of the Bhutan Kangyurs; by parivarna in the Phukdrak (phug brag) Kangyur; by parivarṇa in the Ulaanbaatar Kangyur; and by paripūrna in the Hemis, Dolpo, and Namgyal Kangyurs and the Langdo collection, this last variant meaning “full” or “complete” being the one that seems to make most sense.

notes.2

2. See Sarkar (1981) pp. 46–49.

notes.3

3. Perhaps a better definition is that of Sastri (1960) p. 72: “The word avadāna signifies a ‘great religious or moral achievement as well as the history of a great achievement.’ ”

notes.4

4. See Rotman (2008) pp. 19–20.

notes.5

5. See Chutiwongs (1978) p. 139; Sarkar (1981) p. 45.

notes.6

6. “Le Karma-Çataka me parait-être l’œuvre d’une École qui a voulu avoir son recueil de « Cent Légendes » se différenciant de l’Avadāna-Çataka par certaines particularités. Les deux recueils appartiendraient à deux Écoles rivales, non ennemies.” Feer (1901) p. 60.

notes.7

7. Some shared episodes are almost verbatim, but show interesting differences (see, for example, and ) that might on further investigation throw light on the history of its translation.

notes.8

8. There is a Mongolian version, but like others of its kind it is almost certain to have been translated from the Tibetan. See Skilling (2001) p. 140, n23.

notes.9

9. See Butön F.125.a.5, translated in Obermiller ([1932] 1986) p. 186, and in Stein and Zangpo (2013) p. 281. See also Skilling (1997) p. 89; Skilling (2001) p. 140; Ancient Tibet (1986) p. 252. Nyak Jñānakumāra is usually thought of as having worked predominantly on tantric material and to have been active only from Trisong Detsen’s reign onwards; nevertheless, traditional accounts mention that because he was already an active translator familiar with Sanskrit he was Trisong Detsen’s first emissary, sent to invite Bodhisattva Śāntarakṣita to Tibet. Even before that, according to the fourteenth century chronicle rgyal rabs gsal ba’i me long, Drenka Mūlakośa and Jñānakumāra were sent by King Tridé Tsuktsen to invite “the two paṇḍitas Buddhaguhya and Buddhaśānta” to Tibet; the two paṇḍitas declined the invitation but the two translators learned by heart five Mahāyāna sūtras, including the Karmaśataka, and brought them back with them (see Sørensen 1994, p. 352). If they were, in fact, responsible for an early Tibetan translation, it would almost certainly have been revised later, and the Tibetan that has survived in the Kangyur bears no particularly archaic characteristics.

notes.10

10. Denkarma, F.300.b.5; see also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008) pp. 150–51; and Nattier (1991) p. 151.

notes.11

11. “Ral-pa-can’s brother, Glang-dar-ma, was put on the throne with the backing of the Bon-pos and rebellious clans sometime between 836 and 841 … Glang-dar-ma’s reign lasted only until 841 or 842, according to most sources.” Ancient Tibet (1986) p. 305.

notes.12

12. “The three men are called Bod-kyi mkhas-pa mi-gsum or ‘The Three Learned Men of Tibet.’ ” Roerich (1996) p. 63 n1. “viz. Rab-sal of Tsaṅ, Yo Ge-juṅ of P’o-t’oṅ-pa and Mar Çākyamuni of Tö-luṅ.” Obermiller ([1932] 1986) p. 201.

notes.13

13. Roerich (1996) p. 63.

notes.14

14. Obermiller ([1932] 1986) p. 199.

notes.15

15. The Avadānaśataka exists in Sanskrit (the most complete manuscript being a 17th century Nepalese one); in a third century Chinese translation (撰集百緣經, Zhuanji Bai Yuan Jing, Taishō 200); and in an imperial period Tibetan translation by Devacandra and Jinamitra (gang po la sogs pa’i rtogs pa brjod pa brgya pa, Toh 343).

notes.16

16. See Skilling (2001) p. 141; cf. Przyluski and Lalou (1936) pp. 177–78.

notes.17

17. Feer (1901) pp. 53–54. By the accounting of the present translation the stories number 124, but because several chapters contain multiple stories a total greater than either 124 or 127 could equally well be counted.

notes.18

18. For a list of stories common to both collections see Feer (1901) p. 55; cf. Speyer (1992) p. xix.

notes.19

19. “Quoique les récits de l’un et l’autre recueil présentent la même physionomie générale, il y a entre eux des différences de détails nombreuses et notables.” Feer (1901) pp. 54–55.

notes.20

20. Feer (1901) p. 54.

notes.21

21. For an in-depth analysis of this interpretation of vyākaraṇa see Burnouf (2010) pp. 100–101.

notes.22

22. Przyluski and Lalou (1936) p. 178.

notes.23

23. See Sarkar (1981) p. 45; Winternitz (1987) p. 250.

notes.24

24. “Il y a un certain nombre de textes (j’en ai compté 42) que je qualifie de parallèles, parce que le récit du temps présent et celui du temps passé sont la reproduction exacte (sauf quelques modifications indispensables) l’un de l’autre, sans qu’il soit question (au moins dans les plus caractéristiques d’entre eux) de punition ou de récompense; ou, si cet élément s’y trouve, il y est secondaire et occupe très peu de place.” Feer (1901) p. 56.

notes.25

25. For a detailed list of similarities and differences between jātakas and avadānas see Sarkar (1981) pp. 50–51.

notes.26

26. “Il y a de ces textes dans lesquels le récit du temps passé se divise en plusieurs parties, le Buddha jouant un rôle dans l’une, n’en jouant pas dans d’autres…. Je remarque aussi un certain nombre de récits qui ont pour héros principal ou secondaires des personnages célèbres de la légende bouddhique (Devadatta, Kāçyapa, Ananda, Aniruddha, Katyāyana, Kokālika, Çāriputra, Mandgalyāyana, Gopā, Yaçodharā, Bimbisāra, Prasenajit, etc.) ou même se rattachent à des épisodes connus de ce qu’on peut appeler la biographie du Buddha et l’histoire du Bouddhisme.” Feer (1901) p. 56.

notes.27

27. The Tibetan nyes par spyod pa, “misdeeds,” might be a scribal error for nye bar spyod pa, “sense pleasures,” given that parallel Sanskrit source passages have kāma here.

notes.28

28. The translation of this stock passage is based on a very similar passage in the Avadānaśataka and the Divyāvadāna, as informed by Rotman’s rendering (2008, p. 225). The Sanskrit is as follows: ko hīyate, ko vardhate, kaḥ kṛcchraprāptaḥ kaḥ saṃkaṭaprāptaḥ, kaḥ saṃbādhaprāptaḥ kaḥ kṛcchrasaṃkaṭasambādhaprāptaḥ ko 'pāyaniṃnaḥ, ko 'pāyapravaṇaḥ ko 'pāyaprāgbhāraḥ kamahamapāyamārgādvyutthāpya svargaphale mokṣe ca pratiṣṭhāpayeyam kasya kāmapaṅkanimagnasya hastoddhāramanupradadyām kamāryadhanavirahitamāryadhanaiśvaryādhipatye pratiṣṭhāpayāmi kasyānavaropitāni kuśalamūlānyavaropayeyam kasyāvaropitāni paripācayeyam kasya pakvāni vimocayeyam, kasyājñānatimirapaṭalaparyavanaddhanetrasya jñānāñjanaśalākayā cakṣurviśodhayeyam /.

notes.29

29. In stock phrases like this the text alternates between “truths” in the plural and “truth” in the singular. Based on text-internal evidence we understand this to primarily refer to the “four truths of nobles beings,” so unless context dictates otherwise we have rendered it in the plural throughout.

notes.30

30. I.e., the saṅgha of the nuns and that of the monks.

notes.31

31. A portion of this passage and the others identical to it were translated with reference to similar passages in the Divyāvadāna. See Rotman (2008) p. 73; and Tatelman (2005) pp. 32–33, 110–11.

notes.32

32. “The unsurpassed, supreme welfare of nirvāṇa”; Tib. g.yung drung gi mthar thug pa grub pa dang bde ba’i mya ngan las ’das pa. The Tibetan phrase grub pa dang bde ba most likely renders the Sanskrit yogakṣema.

notes.33

33. At this point in the par phud printing of the Degé Kangyur available on the Buddhist Digital Resource Center site (W22084), vol. 73, F.162.a seems to have been mistakenly inserted in the place of F.12.a, though the English numbering (ostensibly done separately) is continuous. The mistakenly inserted folio is not translated here; its translation appears at the appropriate place later in the text. In D vol. 73, F.12.a is nowhere to be found; the missing portion translated here has therefore been taken from S vol. 80, F.17.a–18.a. The correct section of the text resumes in D after this one folio with vol. 73, F.12.b. This missing folio does not affect the Tibetan text seen in the Reading Room bilingual view, which was input from scans of a later printing free of this error.

notes.34

34. This list of five is translated in consultation with the Divyāvadāna, which has a nearly identical passage. Cf. Rotman (2008) pp. 39–41 and Tatelam (2005) p. 29.

notes.35

35. The par phud print of D (see ) resumes here with F.12.b.

notes.36

36. “Committed adultery with”; Tib. byi byed pa. This term can also mean “raped.” It is unclear from the context which is intended.

notes.37

37. Throughout the text we have omitted reiterations of the full title that appear in the Tib. at the beginning of each bam po.

notes.38

38. This rendering is informed by the following Sanskrit phrase from the Avadānaśataka, which likely corresponds closely to the source text phrase for the Tibetan translation: ity uktamātre bhagavatā saptāhāvaropitair iva keśair dvādaśavarṣopasaṃpannasyeva bhikṣor īryāpathena pātrakarakavyagrahasto 'vasthitaḥ. Cf. Andy Rotman’s (2008, p. 88) translation of a very similar stock phrase. The sense, as Rotman notes (p. 406 n270), is that though newly gone forth they do not appear as novices, but as elder well-disciplined monks just prior to their weekly tonsure.

notes.39

39. “Four divisions of his army”; Rotman’s translation of the Divyāvadāna lists these as “the elephant corps, the cavalry, the chariot corps, and the infantry.” (2008) p. 128.

notes.40

40. “They sat in silence”; D: difficult to read. S: kha rog ste ’khod do.

notes.41

41. D pad ma here is most likely a corruption of bad sa (Vatsa), since pa and ba are easily confused in handwritten Tibetan manuscripts, and Y, J, K, N, C, and H all read sa’i instead of D (and S) ma’i.

notes.42

42. “Already”; D: sngan cad; S: sngan chad. This translation follows S. Rangjung Yeshe has an entry for the similar sngan chad med pa, “unprecedented.”

notes.43

43. Skt. paṅgu (Negi), “crawls about”; Tib. ’phye bo. The individual named Paṅgu in this story is not the same as the person with the same name whose story begins at .

notes.44

44. The vinaya prohibits, among others, persons with certain disabilities from becoming bhikṣus or bhikṣuṇīs. See Miller (2018), chapter 6; see also Vinayakṣudrakavastu (Toh 6), D vol. 11, F.38.a–b (translation Jamspal and Fischer, forthcoming).

notes.45

45. “Ford the floodwaters”; Tib. chu bo rnams las brgal bar bya ba. A Buddhist idiom meaning “to overcome the afflictive emotions,” per Dr. Lozang Jamspal.

notes.46

46. “Manifest,” for Tib. rangs. We read this as a variant spelling of langs pa, “appear, arise, manifest, stand, wells up, comes up, and uplifts, p. of lang ba” (Ives Waldo).

notes.47

47. “Focused his mind,” for the Tib. dgongs, in contrast to the Tib. mthong, which appears in conjunction with a disciple’s actions in nearly identical passages. Some scriptures explain the omniscience of the Buddha to be such that while all knowledge is ever available to him, he must in fact direct his mind toward an object to “know” it, as seems to be the case here. Some similar passages have simply “know,” when the verb has a direct object, e.g., “The Blessed One knew the time had come….”

notes.48

48. “Will be instrumental in,” for the Tib. ’di las brten te; alt. “Through this being the Blessed One will give an extraordinary Dharma teaching,” “The Blessed One will use this being to give an extraordinary Dharma teaching,” or the like.

notes.49

49. There are indeed two instances of the phrase “totally and completely awakened Buddha” in this passage.

notes.50

50. “Prabhāvan,” adapted from L. Chandra’s entry, which lists not a Buddha but a goddess by the same name. Tib. ’od zer can, Eng. perhaps “Having Light Rays”; probably a Skt. epithet for the sun.

notes.51

51. “The Bodhisattva” with a capital B, here and throughout, refers to Buddha Śākyamuni in his previous lifetimes, after he first gave rise to the resolve set on complete and perfect awakening.

notes.52

52. “Gopā led him up the stairs, kicked him in the head, and threw him from the top of the staircase.” Here we take the first usage of the Tib. mgo as referring to the “top” of the staircase (as earlier in the story) and the subsequent usage to refer to Devadatta’s own head; Tib. de nas sa ’tsho mas skas de nyid la mgo thur kar bstan te / mgo bor rdog pas bsnun nas / skas mgo nas bor ro.

notes.53

53. D bdag gis, should be bdag gi.

notes.54

54. D bdag gis, should be bdag gi.

notes.55

55. This refers to Donkey Grove.

notes.56

56. Tib. mnyas, probably a scribal error. Elsewhere typically mnyes.

notes.57

57. D: bse ru lta bu’i ’jig rten gyi yon gnas gcig pu rnams ’jig rten du ’byung ste; S: bse ru lta bu ’jig rten…. This translation follows S.

notes.58

58. “Held him dear to their hearts”; Tib. pha ma’i snying du shas cher sdug cing phangs la yid du ’ong bar gyur to.

notes.59

59. D: des sa sgren po la gnas; perhaps “living on bare ground” (lit: “naked earth”). S: des sgren po la gnas. This translation follows S, taking a cue from later in the D, where she is described as bu mo de sgren mor ’dug, “sitting naked on the ground” (see ).

notes.60

60. Tib. che ge. Lozang Jamspal compares this term to the Ladakhi dialect ’a ce, “elder sister.”

notes.61

61. “Capacity”; Tib. shes pa. Alt. “knowledge,” “education,” “critical faculties.” From this point forward, the text generally adds shes pa to the standard list in this stock passage. In our translation we have inverted the order of the last two qualities in the list from that in the Tib.

notes.62

62. “What action pleased the Blessed One, and did not displease him?” Tib. gang las gis ni bcom ldan ’das mnyes par bgyis te / mi mnyes par ma bgyis lags. This construction differs slightly also in the Tib. from elsewhere in the text.

notes.63

63. In the list there appear to be six. It may be that the vase and basin, for instance, belong together.

notes.64

64. A sign of high esteem.

notes.65

65. “Meanwhile” is a rhetorical insertion.

notes.66

66. For this list to total ten dreams, one must take “touching” and “taking … into his arms” the sun and moon as two different dreams, and count each of the dreams of sitting on a different being individually. The list is identical in S.

notes.67

67. “It quivered, shuddered, and jolted; it trembled, shook, and swayed”; the Tib. uses only two basic verbs, intensifying each twice over to make six in all: ’gul rab tu ’gul / kun du [sic] rab tu ’gul / ldeg rab tu ldeg / kun du [sic] rab tu ldeg par gyur to.

notes.68

68. “Finally came”; D and S both have the Tib. thod, which this translation takes as scribal error for thob.

notes.69

69. “Stepped”; the Tib. rdzis, here rendered as “stepped” to underscore Mati’s change of heart. The Tib. reflects this shift in Mati’s alternating uses of rkang and zhabs as he describes the incident.

notes.70

70. “My drum”; Tib. rol mo. Lit. “music.” His name is later given as rnga sgra (Sound of the Drum).

notes.71

71. “Screened windows”; obscure Tib. skar khung khol ma (Lozang Jamspal). Used also to refer to a hole in the roof for releasing smoke from cooking or heating.

notes.72

72. “Burning sticks of incense, incense powders, and incense cones”; Tib. bdug pa dang phye ma dang spos. This formulation appears throughout the text. In the absence of a clear delineation between these items in the available dictionaries, this translation renders these three types of incense based on (1) the meaning of bdug pa as a verb, “to cense,” thus “burning” sticks; (2) phye ma, meaning “powder,” in this context incense powder; and while (3) spos is a general term for incense, when it appears with the others we appended “cones” to differentiate them.

notes.73

73. The passage that follows, recounting the Buddha’s first teaching, is almost identical to the account of the same episode in The Chapter on a Schism in the Saṅgha (Saṅghabhedavastu, the seventeenth chapter of the Vinayavastu, Toh 1), see D vol. 4 (’dul ba, nga), F.41.a.7 et seq., and therefore also the equivalent passage in The Sūtra on Going Forth (Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra, Toh 301), see D vol. 72 (mdo sde, sa), F.58.b.5 et seq., since the latter is derived from extracts of the former. These three parallel passages are more than close enough for their common origin to be almost certain, and their minor differences in wording are no doubt due to the work of editors at different times; it is worth noting that the exact wording of the version in the present text diverges further from the first two versions mentioned than the second from the first (and in this regard see below). A quite different account of the same episode is found in The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95), see D vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha), F.195.a et seq.; or, in translation, Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2013), 26.19. A full translation of The Chapter on a Schism in the Saṅgha is in preparation (Miller, forthcoming).

notes.74

74. It is at this point in the narrative that the (shorter) version recounted in the Pali Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya 56) begins; the Kangyur sūtra Toh 31 (D vol. 34, shes rab sna tshogs, F.180.b–183.a) is a 14th century translation made from the Pali and therefore very close to it—though not an entirely accurate match, see Skilling (1993), pp. 103–106.

notes.75

75. Most other Tibetan versions of this repeated passage (e.g. in the Dharmacakrasūtra, Toh 337) place the first person pronoun nga with this phrase, but here the Tibetan translators have chosen to omit it. Indeed, in the various Sanskrit versions (typically pūrvam ananuśruteṣu dharmeṣu) there is no indication of whether the phrase means the Buddha had not himself previously heard these dharmas or whether they had more generally never been heard before by anyone. The important point in this phrase is that the Buddha’s realizations of the points he is setting out came from his own experience and not from any pre-existing doctrinal transmission.

notes.76

76. This version of the Buddha’s first teaching follows the Sanskrit of the Saṅghabhedavastu (see ), but not the Tibetan in that it does not include the term “realization” (Tib. rtogs pa) in this and the following several repetitions of this phrase. Instead the list only includes “insight (jñāna), knowledge (vidyā), and understanding (buddhi)” Gnoli (1977) p. 135. Skilling (1993), pp. 105 and 194, discusses the significance of the four to seven “epithets of insight” found in the parallel versions of this passage in Sanskrit, Pali, and Tibetan but does not mention this particular version, or this difference between the Sanskrit of the Saṅghabhedavastu and its Tibetan translation. For an English translation of another version of this foundational teaching and a discussion of its textual history and various recensions, see Dharmachakra Translation Committee, The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma , 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018. The present English rendering of this teaching closely follows that translation, but differs from it where the Tibetan source text does.

notes.77

77. This name means “Kauṇḍinya who has understood.”

notes.78

78. Conches with clockwise whorls were apparently considered more precious at this time.

notes.79

79. Here, “terrors,” “fearsome,” “terrifying,” “threat,” and “treacherous” all reflect the Tib. ’jigs pa’i and could alternatively all be uniformly translated as simply “the danger of,” or “dangerous.”

notes.80

80. “Sirens,” borrowing the familiar term from Greek mythology. Tib. srin mo khrung khrung gzhon nu ma.

notes.81

81. “Their boats were destroyed,” unsure. Tib. song ste bor yang. Perhaps “set out, and left (land) behind as well, but….”

notes.82

82. Tib. song ste bor yang nor gyi gru rnams ma rungs par gyur. Perhaps “set out, and left (land) behind as well, but….”

notes.83

83. “I betrayed him,” for the obscure Tib. bdag gis de la chu gang bor med do. Lit. “There is no throwing out all the water to him” (or “at it”). According to Dan Martin, the honorific form chab gang can mean “loyality,” “integrity,” etc.

notes.84

84. This is likely a reference to the episode of “The Burning of the Khāṇḍava Forest” that concludes the first book (ādiparvan) of the Mahābhārata. In this episode, Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna set the Khāṇḍava Forest on fire and annihilate nearly all of the animals that live in the forest as they flee the flames. The reference thus evokes a scene of total annihilation. For a translation of this episode, see The Mahābhārata I: The Book of the Beginning (1973) pp. 412–31.

notes.85

85. This final verse is followed by an abbreviated summary of the foregoing verses, listing the first word of each four-line verse. This is perhaps intended as a mnemonic device for ordained persons relating the story from memory in a teaching environment. We have left this terse summary untranslated. D reads: tshigs su bcad pa ’di rnams kyi sdom ni / kyi ’dug de bde khyod sdig chos blo ’jigs bsen. S breaks up the passage in a way that makes this abbreviation more obvious: kyi ’dug / de / bde / khyod / sdig / chos / blo / ’jigs / bsen.

notes.86

86. “Capable”; Tib. spong nus par gyur.

notes.87

87. I.e., it was nearly noon, after which time he would not be permitted to eat.

notes.88

88. The term “bald,” though clearly implied, is not present in the Tib.

notes.89

89. “There’s no reason for me to do anything,” D: gyin da; S: gyin ’da’; C and H: gyi nar.

notes.90

90. D: sla; S and H: bla. This translation follows D.

notes.91

91. Tib. dud ’gro. The text switches here from referring to the subject of this story as a monster (srin) to referring to him as an animal (dud ’gro).

notes.92

92. This renders the Tibetan ’jig rten pa’i thugs, which renders the Sanskrit laukikam cittam, “thought concerning the world.” According to Edgerton (1953, p. 466), this refers to when the Buddha “concerns himself with the welfare of some person or persons … contrasted with a Buddha’s lokottara citta.”

notes.93

93. “Truth” and “truths” in this passage, and in this stock phrase as it appears throughout this text, translate dharma/chos.

notes.94

94. Here the Tib. text has an additional zhes smras nas / drang srong kai ne yas, which we have somewhat simplified in the Eng.

notes.95

95. These are listed in ’dul ba’i mdo as “(1) One should not go alone on the street, (2) one should not swim to the other side of the (“a”?) river, (3) one should not have physical contact with men, (4) one should not remain in the company of men, (5) one should not look upon [them], and (6) one should not hide one’s misdeeds.” The scripture goes on to give six more rules: “(1) One should not lay hands on gold, (2) one should not shave the pubic area, (3) one should not dig in the earth, (4) one should not cut green grass, (5) one should not eat feed what (“food that”?) is not freely given, and (6) one should not hoard food.”

notes.96

96. “A novice” is added for clarification; in the Tib. it is only implied by the statement that follows.

notes.97

97. The term “preceptor” has been added here for clarity. The Tibetan text reads “nun” (dge slong ma) here, not “preceptor” (mkhan mo), but, given the context, it must be assumed that this nun is the preceptor who is mentioned in the immediately preceding paragraph.

notes.98

98. The phrase “began to accuse her of adultery” is added here for the sake of clarity.

notes.99

99. “The five precepts for practicing the holy life,” i.e., not to (1) lie, (2) steal, (3) kill, (4) engage in sexual misconduct, or (5) partake of intoxicants. Sometimes the vow not to engage in sexual misconduct is a vow of celibacy, as here.

notes.100

100. In this instance the phrase “all material support and clothing” does not appear in the Tib.

notes.101

101. “Suspected”; Tib. zos, p. of za ba, taken as a short form of the tshom za ba, “to suspect.”

notes.102

102. Here “pimples,” “pustules,” and “boils” all reflect the Tib. ’bras; alt. “lesions” (Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary).

notes.103

103. Or, “one billion three hundred fifty million,” i.e., (dung phyur “100 million,” phrag “x,” ’bum “1,000” = 1,000,000,000); dang “+” (bye ba “10 million” phrag “x” sum cu rtsa lnga “35” = 350,000,000) = 1,350,000,000.

notes.104

104. “For their behavior” is a rhetorical interpolation.

notes.105

105. “Heard,” translating with S thos. D has mthong.

notes.106

106. “Unwavering Gait,” translating with D ma nyams pa. S has mnyam pa, “Equal Gait.”

notes.107

107. This verse differs somewhat from the similar verses at and ; here the Tib. is sbyin pa rgya cher gyur pa ’di yis ni / srid gsum sangs rgyas rang byung gyur par shog / brgal nas sngon gyi rgyal ba’i dbang rnams kyis / skye bo phal chen ma brgyal rnams kyang bsgral.

notes.108

108. “The Lay of the Land,” for the Tib. spyod yul (Skt. gocara). The semantic range of this Skt. term makes it difficult to translate with one unique English equivalent. See variants in the story itself.

notes.109

109. The two parts of the narrative in The Story of Wealth’s Delight ( et seq. and et seq. above) recount respectively the “sūtra” (see below) itself, verbatim, and the Buddha’s explanation of his past relationship with the five monks who were his first disciples. The present story of Maitrībala is another episode in that past relationship. Note that the sūtra named in the text (chos kyi ’khor lo skor ba’i mdo, Skt. Dharmacakrapravartanasūtra) either refers to a sūtra that no longer exists as such, or is a general way of referring to that episode in the life of the Buddha as related in longer works. The sūtra with just that name in the Kangyur (Toh 31), and the Pali work from which it was translated, the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta (Saṃyutta Nikāya 56), cover only part of the Buddha’s teaching to the monks, while the Kangyur sūtra called The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma (Dharmacakrasūtra, Toh 337) is an even shorter excerpt. See also and .

notes.110

110. This verse differs somewhat from the similar verses at and ; here the Tib. is sbyin pa chen por gyur pa ’di yis ni / ’gro bar rang byung sangs rgyas par shog / sngon gyi rgyal dbang rnams kyis ma bsgral gang / skye bo srid pa’i chu las sgrol bar shog.

notes.111

111. D: sla’i; S: bla’i. This translation follows S.

notes.112

112. Just as found in the title, “The Lay of the Land,” for the Tib. spyod yul (Skt. gocara), the semantic range of this Skt. term makes it difficult to translate with one unique Eng. equivalent. In this passage, “Don’t know my way around”; Tib. spyod yul gyi rgyus ma ’tshal na. See various uses below.

notes.113

113. “Where to go to”; Tib. de lta bu’i spyod yul.

notes.114

114. “Point another in the wrong direction”; Tib. spyod yul ma yin pa bstan.

notes.115

115. “Scavenger”; Tib. the rel. According to Dr. Lozang Jamspal this term is still current in Ladakhi dialect.

notes.116

116. This instance of this stock section of text lacks the Tib. shes pa, “capacity.”

notes.117

117. Since these four lines are nine syllables each, we translate them as verse, but the meter might alternatively be considered coincidental, and the passage itself as prose belonging to the section that follows.

notes.118

118. Tib. dge slong gi dge ’dun dang thabs cig tu na. It seems the Buddha’s name may have been mistakenly omitted here.

notes.119

119. “For all humanity”; Tib. rkang gnyis kyi nang na. Lit. “among the bipeds.”

notes.120

120. “Burden of your past deeds” to clarify the Tib. las yang bar ’gyur.

notes.121

121. Ray (1994) p. 165 quotes Horner (1938) pp. 296–97 and notes that the various vinaya disagree on the precise contents of the five ascetic practices promoted by Devadatta. Ray first quotes Horner’s translation of the Pali version as follows: “[1] It were good, lord, if the monks for as long as life lasted, should be forest dwellers; whoever should betake himself to the neighborhood of a village, sin [vajja] would besmirch him. [2] For as long as life lasts let them be beggars for alms; whoever should accept an invitation, sin would besmirch him. [3] For as long as life lasts let them be wearers of robes taken from the dustheap; whoever should accept a robe given by a householder, sin would besmirch him. [4] For as long as life lasts let them live at the foot of a tree; whoever should go undercover, sin would besmirch him. [5] For as long as life lasts let them not eat fish and flesh; whoever should eat fish and flesh, sin would besmirch him.”

notes.122

122. “Raise the life pillar,” that is, to set in place the main beam at the center of the stūpa. Tib. srog shing gzugs pa.

notes.123

123. “In gold”; while this number is not specified as gold here, it is on the next folio (see ).

notes.124

124. Note there is another story by the same name at . The characters are apparently of no relation. We have chosen to differentiate the Eng. titles by appending “the charioteer” and “the mendicant” to their names, respectively.

notes.125

125. “Meditative absorption in cessation” (Skt. nirodhasamāpatti) is defined as “a state of meditation achieved in reliance upon the meditative absorption at the peak of cyclic existence (srid rtse), in which a yogi can remain for many aeons through stopping all gross feelings and perceptions. Syn. the emancipation of cessation (’gog pa’i rnam par thar ba).” Rigzin (2008) p. 64. See glossary entry for “nine successive meditative absorptions” (mthar gyis gnas pa’i snyoms par ’jug pa dgu).

notes.126

126. “To show for himself” is a rhetorical interpolation.

notes.127

127. This second instance of “there will be no more resentment between us” lacks bdag in the Tib. and is probably a scribal error.

notes.128

128. D is missing another instance of ma. This translation follows S: bde byed ma ma mchis.

notes.129

129. This translation follows S: bsngo’o.

notes.130

130. A rather bleak jest regarding the threat of being decapitated for disobedience to the king. Tib. bdag cag la mgo gnyis mchis sam.

notes.131

131. This is not a reference to the current King Brahmadatta who figures in the frame narrative for this story, but a former King Brahmadatta who ruled long before the time of Śākyamuni Buddha.

notes.132

132. D mnyan yod; we translate with S gnyen yod.

notes.133

133. Note there is another “Story of Subhadra” at . The characters are apparently of no relation. We have chosen to differentiate the Eng. titles by appending “the charioteer” and “the mendicant” to their names, respectively.

notes.134

134. “Nandā and Nandabalā”; Tib. dga’ mo dang dga’ stobs. In the Lalitavistara Sūtra and elsewhere, this action is credited to the young woman Sujātā.

notes.135

135. Tib. gzhon nu lta bu’i mdo, Skt. Daharopama Sūtra. The Tibetan title of this sūtra, which is typically gzhon nu dpe’i mdo, has been incorrectly reconstructed as Kumāradṛṣṭānta Sūtra (Toh 296), but Sanskrit sources unanimously attest to only Daharopama Sūtra, or the simplified form, Dahara Sūtra (cf. Peter Skilling, “Notes on the Kanjur Translation Project”).

notes.136

136. I.e., by using it to support the Buddhist order he will generate merit for his next life.

notes.137

137. “Wife, servants,” for D gza’ bran, reading gza’ as an alt. spelling or scribal error for bza’, for which Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary has the secondary definition: “[royal] lady, daughter, queen, princess.”

notes.138

138. This Sanskrit reconstruction is based on Edgerton’s entry (1953, p. 270). The Tib. has lha mthong, which might more likely render Devadarśa; perhaps the Tibetan translation team was working with a corrupt, unclear, or different manuscript.

notes.139

139. “But still” is a rhetorical interpolation.

notes.140

140. “Bricks,” taking D phag pa as an abbreviation or corruption of the Tib. so phag, “brick,” or a transliteration of the Skt. pakva, as in “baked (brick or earth).”

notes.141

141. Reading S gangs instead of D gang. Moreover, chen might be in error for can.

notes.142

142. “Resplendent … at peace”; Tib. mdzes shing yid du ’thad la dbang po zhi zhing yid zhi ba bde mthong ngo, an abbreviated and slightly different version from similar passages at and elsewhere.

notes.143

143. “But this was not enough to satisfy him,” for the Tib. de nas de ma grangs nas, apparently an idiom; alt. more lit. “cool him down,” “calm him (down),” “settle him.”

notes.144

144. “Set out toward,” translating with Y, K zhugs instead of D, S bzhugs, “sitting.”

notes.145

145. The translators have inserted Aniruddha’s name here for the benefit of those who might not know they are siblings.

notes.146

146. “The eight great hells,” a reference to the eight hot hells, that is, the Reviving Hell (Sañjīva), the Black Thread Hell (Kālasūtra), the Crushing Hell (Saṃghāta), the Shrieking Hell (Raurava), the Screaming Hell (Mahāraurava), the Hot Hell (Tapana), the Hell of Extreme Heat (Pratāpana), and the Hell of Ceaseless Agony (Avīci).

notes.147

147. Here the D Tib. reads “the brahmin magistrate went to the monastery with his son”; the Eng. text has been modified to accord with the preceding narrative as well as with the action that follows.

notes.148

148. “Had the impulse to eat excrement and drink urine.” This could also be translated as a direct quotation of her thoughts: “had a strong desire (or wish) in her mind: ‘I want to eat and drink excrement and urine!’ ” Tib. yid la ’dod pa’i ’di lta bu yang byung ste / phyi sa dang gcin bza’ zhing ’thung ngo snyam mo.

notes.149

149. “Something like,” we translate with S lta bu instead of D lha bu.

notes.150

150. Note there is another story by the same name at . We have chosen to differentiate the Eng. titles by appending “the charioteer” and “the mendicant” to their names, respectively.

notes.151

151. “Over the garden of Prince Jeta” should perhaps read “above Rājagṛha,” or “Vulture Peak Mountain,” since Rājagṛha is maybe 350 km from Vārāṇasī, where the garden of Prince Jeta is located. We surmise that this is a scribal error. S has the same reading. It is possible that the text is implying the peacock flew from Gandhamādana Mountain to Rājagṛha via Vārāṇasī, but this would be a rather circuitous route.

notes.152

152. “All the different insects as well”; this phrase appears twice in the Tib.

notes.153

153. Rotman lists these as alt.: “Pūraṇa Kāśyapa; Maskarin, the son of Gośālī; Sañjayin, the son of Vairaṭṭī; Ajita Keśakambala; Kakuda Kātyāyana; and Nigrantha, the son of Jñāti.” Rotman (2008) p. 253.

notes.154

154. “Of his intention”; not explicit in the Tib.

notes.155

155. Here Lord Buddha begins an enumeration of the four immeasurables.

notes.156

156. Here the Blessed One begins an enumeration of the four formless realm states.

notes.157

157. “Lustful”; Tib. ’dod chags. Alt. “minds full of attachment,” “minds full of clinging.”

notes.158

158. “Died,” obscure Tib. honorific nongs (Lozang Jamspal), subsequently also as “passing.”

notes.159

159. The traditional list of seven teachers in the apostolic succession that carried on the Buddha’s teachings after his parinirvāṇa appears to end here in the Karmaśataka with Dhītika, who is normally the fifth member in the list.

notes.160

160. “Festival of the Fifth Year of the Doctrine of the Blessed One”; Tib. bcom ldan ’das kyi bstan pa lo lnga pa’i dus ston.

notes.161

161. “Defeat,” read as the Tib. rgyal. D has brgyal.

notes.162

162. Here the Tib. lacks “The Blessed One,” clearly implied by the use of bka’ stsal, a formulation typically reserved for the Buddha.

notes.163

163. “Will fall”; D: brnying, an alt. spelling of bsnying.

notes.164

164. “Divided his affairs,” for the obscure Tib. ’dab btang (Lozang Jamspal).

notes.165

165. “The Story of Subhadra the Mendicant”; the Tib. has only rab bzang. Note there is another “Story of Subhadra” at . We have chosen to differentiate the Eng. titles by appending “the charioteer” and “the mendicant” to their names, respectively.

notes.166

166. “The four observations,” for the Tib. rnam pa’i bzhi’i gzigs. Though we were unable to find an exact reference in Negi or Rigzin, the closest contender, on which we have based our translation (on the assumption that the “four types of observations” here is a shorter version of the same), was, under gzigs pa lnga, Rigzin’s “pañca darśana / Buddha’s five observations; five predeterminations of Buddha Shakyamuni before he came to this world: 1. dus la gzigs pa, observation of the time for his appearance; 2. rus la gzigs pa, observation of the family of his birth; 3. rigs la gzigs pa, observation of the caste of his lineage; 4. yum la gzigs pa, observation of the mother to whom he would be born; 5. yul la gzigs pa, observation of the land in which to disseminate his doctrine.” (Rigzin, p. 366).

notes.167

167. D: tshur dang; S: tshur deng; this translation follows S.

notes.168

168. “Serika”; here D actually has the Tib. sde pa’i grong, unattested, where we have substituted the name of Nandā and Nandabalā’s village as it is given on vol. 73, F.217.a.

notes.169

169. “Lacks even the first monastic practitioner, and lacks the second, third, and fourth as well”; Tib. dge sbyong dang po, etc. Probably this refers to the four general classes of those who have gone forth, that is, novice and full nuns and monks.

notes.170

170. “What use would it have been if you had already gone to nirvāṇa?” An educated guess at the significance of the Tib. yong yang khyod der phyin du zin na ci la phan te.

notes.171

171. “Until they were able to” is a rhetorical interpolation to clarify the passage.

notes.172

172. Tib. yon rabs, being a shortened form for yon gyi rabs gdon par gsol. A litany traditionally recited in gratitude for alms or a gift; cf. ’dul ba’i mdo, Toh 261, D vol. 66 (mdo sde, za) F.80.b.

notes.173

173. “Consider me an equal”; obscure Tib. nyam bu shed. Lozang Jamspal: “It sounds like a saying we have in Ladakh, ‘Those kids know my measure.’ ” An equivalent Eng. idiom might be alt. “they have my number,” meaning, “they know me well enough to know what they can get away with.” The point seems to be that since they treat Ven. Ānanda as an equal, they cannot learn from him. The phrase may have its roots in the Tib. mnyam, “equal.”

notes.174

174. “In the intermediate state” here renders the Tib. bar ma dor, which probably renders the Skt. antarā. This interpretation is contested, however, in the traditions; it might alternatively mean “prematurely.” Cf. Edgerton’s (1953, p. 39) entry for antarā-parinirvāyin.

notes.175

175. Tib. pus ka ra sa ra; likely a Tibetan transliteration for Puṣkarasārin. There is no story devoted to Puṣkarasārin in the Karmaśataka, so here the text is referring the reader to an outside source. There are stories preserved about this figure in the Divyāvadāna, where a brahmin named Puṣkarasārin figures in the narrative of the Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna; the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya; and in Pāli literature where his name is recorded as Pukkasāti.

notes.176

176. Here the king is listing the four types of formless meditative absorptions (Tib. gzugs med snyoms ’jug bzhi, Skt. catvāri arūpasamāpatti), cf. Rigzin (2008) p. 369.

notes.177

177. Here and throughout this passage, “cruel” renders the Tib. gtum po (Skt. caṇḍa) and so constitutes a kind of play on words.

notes.178

178. Tib. pad ma yi bla ma. This is the title given in the contents section for this part; however, in the first story it is shortened to “Padma” (Tib. pad ma), and in the second story, it is shortened to Uttama. We have rendered all instances according to the title given in the contents section, Padmottama.

notes.179

179. Tib. rin chen gtsug tor can; Skt. Ratnaśikhin. In the contents section the title of this story is given as the Tib. rin chen gtsug tor, and here simply as rin po che, both of which we take as abbreviations for the Tib. rin chen gtsug tor can, given at the end of the story, and which we use to translate throughout.

notes.180

180. “Vijaya,” for the Tib. rnam par rgyal ba; title taken from the contents section, and reappears at the end of the story. At this point in the text, the title of the story is actually given as the Tib. stobs phrog, Skt. perhaps *Balaharī, Eng. perhaps “Steals Away Strength.” We have followed the contents section and rectified accordingly.

notes.181

181. D Tib. mi ’drul ba we take as a variant/mistaken spelling of S mi ’grul bar, “not travel with,” i.e., “not cavort with”; similarly, J and C have mi mthun par, “not associate with.”

notes.182

182. “The six teachers”; Tib. ston pa drug, a reference to the six teachers of false doctrines, Pūraṇa Kāśyapa and so forth, cf. .

notes.183

183. Tib. bsgo ba; one of the rare instances where a verb other than bka’ stsal pa is used when the Blessed One speaks.

notes.184

184. Tib. pad ma yi bla ma. This is the title given in the contents section for this part; however, here it is shortened to “Padma” (Tib. pad ma), and in the second story, it is shortened to Uttama. We have rendered all instances according to the title given in the contents section, Padmottama.

notes.185

185. Read according to S: srung ba zhig ’dug pa’i mtsho. D reads: srung ma’i gnas dga’ ldan kyi pad ma’i mtsho.

notes.186

186. This is short for Padmottama (padma-uttama).

notes.187

187. Tib. rin chen gtsug tor can; Skt. Ratnaśikhin. In the contents section the title of this story is given as the Tib. rin chen gtsug tor, and here simply as rin po che, both of which we take as abbreviations for the Tib. rin chen gtsug tor can, given at the end of the story, and which we use to translate throughout.

notes.188

188. “Vijaya,” for the Tib. rnam par rgyal ba; title taken from the contents section, and reappears at the end of the story. At this point in the text, the title of the story is actually given as the Tib. stobs phrog, Skt. perhaps *Balaharī, Eng. perhaps “Steals Away Strength.” We have followed the contents section and rectified accordingly.

notes.189

189. “Father, or The Story of Sudarśana”; this title combines two different titles—the one given in the contents section (“The Story of Sudarśana”) and that given as a heading to the story itself (“Father”).

notes.190

190. Translating with S bram ze de.

notes.191

191. “Arranged for their marriages,” for D mchis brang dang bcas te btsems te. The Tib. btsems here is obscure; lit. “to sew.” It might carry a connotation similar to “to bring together.” Scribes also seemed to have trouble interpreting this: J and C are missing btsems te; K has instead the nearly repetitive bcas ste; N has bcas te brtsams te; and Y gives the alternative spelling btsem ste.