འཕགས་པ་མཚན་མ་བཟང་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བའ་མད intro.12

intro.12

The Majjhima Nikāya of the Pali canon includes four suttas with bhaddekaratta (the Pali equivalent of bhadrakarātrī) in their title, which are constructed around the core stanzas common to this body of scripture.⁶ Each sutta begins with an introductory narrative frame, followed by the stanzas and a commentary by the Buddha or a prominent disciple on the meaning of the stanzas. While the verses are identical in all four texts, the ensuing instructions and the details of location, time, and characters vary in each. While no direct relationship seems to exist between these Pali texts and the Tibetan translation of Auspicious Night, certain details from the Pali suttas appear in the Tibetan text, such as the hot springs of Rājagṛha (as in the Mahākaccānabhaddekarattasutta) and the involvement of the deity Candana (as in the Lomasakaṅgiyabhaddekarattasutta). As might be expected, the Pali suttas do not include the mantras and incantations recorded in the Tibetan text.