The Twelve Buddhas
Translation of འཕགས་པ་སངས་རྒྱས་བཅ་གཉས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད (འཕགས་པ་སངས་རྒྱས་བཅུ་གཉིས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ)
- Language
- English
- Translator
- Adam Krug
- Extent
- 39 passages, 3,741 words
- Text
- complete digital text
- Source
- 84000 · Translated by The Dharmachakra Translation Committeeunder the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating… · 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 — 4 parts
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- notes Notes — 27 parts
Text
84000's introduction
intro.1
The Twelve Buddhas opens at Rājagṛha with a dialogue between the Buddha Śākyamuni and the bodhisattva Maitreya about the eastern buddhafield of a buddha whose abbreviated name is King of Jewels. This buddha prophesies that when he passes into complete nirvāṇa, the bodhisattva Incomparable will take his place as a buddha whose abbreviated name is Victory Banner King. Śākyamuni then provides the names of the remaining ten tathāgatas, locating them in the ten directions surrounding Victory Banner King’s buddhafield Full of Pearls. After listing the full set of names of these twelve buddhas and their directional relationship to Victory Banner King, the Buddha Śākyamuni provides an accompanying mantra-dhāraṇī and closes with a set of thirty-seven verses outlining the benefits of remembering the names of these buddhas.
intro.2
The Twelve Buddhas opens in Rājagṛha, where the Buddha Śākyamuni is accompanied by a large gathering of monks and bodhisattvas. The Buddha begins with a description of the eastern buddhafield Full of Pearls, where there resides a buddha whose long name could be abbreviated as King of Jewels. After King of Jewels is identified to Maitreya and the assembly, the Buddha Śākyamuni explains that whoever remembers this buddha’s name will renounce cyclic existence. We are told that King of Jewels has prophesied that once he attains parinirvāṇa and his teachings have faded from the world, the bodhisattva Incomparable will succeed him as a buddha whose name (in abbreviated form) is Victory Banner King. The Buddha Śākyamuni then names the buddhas who will populate the buddhafields surrounding that of Victory Banner King in the ten directions, instructs the audience to remember their names and prostrate to them, and outlines the form of a sixfold service for their worship. He describes the benefits that accrue from reciting the names of these twelve buddhas, and then teaches a verse aspiration and a dhāraṇī to be recited in order to attain the results of the practice. The text ends with a set of thirty-seven verses describing the benefits of bearing the names of the twelve buddhas in mind.
intro.3
There are no available Sanskrit versions of this text. The first Chinese translation of this text was completed by Jñānagupta in 587 ce (Taishō 1348)¹ and the second was produced by Yijing in 711 ce (Taishō 1349).² The translator’s colophon to the Tibetan translation tells us that The Twelve Buddhas was translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla along with the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé (c. eighth century). The text is listed as a sūtra in both the Denkarma³ and Phangthangma⁴ royal Tibetan catalogues of translated works, which tells us that the Tibetan translation was completed prior to the compilation and publication of the Denkarma catalogue in 812 ce.
intro.4
This translation was completed in consultation with the versions of the text from the General Sūtra Section (mdo sde), the Tantra Collection (rgyud ’bum), and the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus)⁵ of the Degé Kangyur in conjunction with the text as it appears in the Stok Palace Kangyur and the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). The only notable variant between these versions of the text is that the witnesses in the General Sūtra Section of the Degé and in the Stok Palace Kangyur refer to the bodhisattva prophesied to become the next buddha presiding over the buddhafield Full of Pearls by the name Stainless (dri med) instead of the more common name Incomparable (’dra ba med).⁶ The dhāraṇī in this text is rendered in Sanskrit transliteration based on the Degé, with significant variants noted.⁷ A tentative English translation of the dhāraṇī is also provided in a note.
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⁸ Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing on Vulture Peak at Rājagṛha with a great saṅgha of one thousand two hundred and fifty monks and a great saṅgha of twelve thousand bodhisattvas that included the bodhisattva Ajita and others. The Blessed One addressed the bodhisattva great being Maitreya, saying, “Maitreya, to the east of this buddhafield, past as many buddhafields as there are grains of dust in ten inexpressible billions of buddhafields, there is a world system called Full of Pearls. In that buddhafield there is a tathāgata, arhat, completely perfect buddha named King of Jewels Devoid of Desire Whose Supreme Emanation Has Arisen from the Expanse of Phenomena, Who Is Ornamented by Boundless Sunlight from the Top of His Crown Protuberance and by an Aspiration Like Moonlight, Whose Body Is Bedecked and Elegantly Ornamented with Offerings of Excellent Perfumes, Who Has a Body Like a Lotus Flower Lovely as a Resplendent Blue Beryl Gemstone, the Light of the Good Qualities of Whom Are as Beautiful as a Glorious Pure Sky Free of Dust. He nurtures and teaches the Dharma to the beings who live there. Whoever remembers the name of that victorious one will renounce cyclic existence for a great eon that consists of eons equal to the number of grains of dust in Jambudvīpa.
“That tathāgata issued the following prophecy about the bodhisattva great being Incomparable:⁹
“ ‘As soon as the tathāgata, arhat, perfect and complete buddha King of Jewels Devoid of Desire Whose Supreme Emanation Has Arisen from the Expanse of Phenomena, Who Is Ornamented by Boundless Sunlight from the Top of His Crown Protuberance and by an Aspiration Like Moonlight, Whose Body Is Bedecked and Elegantly Ornamented with Offerings of Excellent Perfumes, Who Has a Body Like a Lotus Flower Lovely as a Resplendent Blue Beryl Gemstone, the Light of the Good Qualities of Whom Are as Beautiful as a Glorious Pure Sky Free of Dust
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passes into parinirvāṇa and his teachings fade away, the bodhisattva Incomparable will attain unsurpassed, perfect, completely manifest awakening. He will appear in the world as a tathāgata, arhat, perfect and complete buddha endowed with perfect knowledge and conduct, a sugata, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed guide who tames beings, a teacher of gods and humans known as the blessed buddha Victory Banner King Whose Light Rays Illuminate All the World Realms in the Ten-Directional Unimpeded Circular Maṇḍala, Adorned with Completely Illuminating Sunlight, Endowed with a Space-Like Body Resembling Youthful Varuṇa,¹⁰ the Light of the Sun, a Moon Flower,¹¹ and a Beautiful Golden Lotus.’
“You should also remember the name of the tathāgata, arhat, perfect and complete buddha of the quarter to the east from there called Stainless Light of the Entire Array,¹² and you should recite it and prostrate to him. You should also remember the name of the tathāgata, arhat, perfect and complete buddha of the southern quarter called Thought Adorned with Eloquence,¹³ and you should direct your attention toward him.¹⁴ You should also remember the name of the tathāgata of the western quarter called Renowned Victor Crowned with a Clear Moon, and you should prostrate to him. You should also remember the name of the tathāgata of the northern quarter Manifesting an Array of Flowers, and you should prostrate to him. You should also remember the name of the tathāgata of the southeastern quarter called Light Maker, and you should prostrate to him. You should also remember the name of the tathāgata of the southwestern quarter called
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Renowned Supreme Jewel Crown, and you should prostrate to him. You should also remember the name of the tathāgata of the northwestern quarter called Fearless and All-Seeing, and you should prostrate to him. You should also remember the name of the tathāgata of the northeast quarter called Bristling with Fearless Confidence,¹⁵ and you should prostrate to him. You should also remember the name of the tathāgata of the nadir called Throat of the Yawning Lion, and you should prostrate to him. You should also remember the name of the tathāgata of the zenith called Fearless King Majestic Golden Radiance, and you should prostrate to him.
“Maitreya, sons or daughters of the lineage with sincere faith should recite the names of these twelve tathāgata, arhat, perfect and complete buddhas, and over the course of ten days as they confess all their misdeeds, they should rejoice in all roots of virtue. They should make requests to all the buddhas, supplicate all the buddhas, and dedicate all these roots of virtue by dedication to the expanse of phenomena.
“All their misdeeds will be exhausted and all their karmic obscurations will be purified.
“Later, they will obtain the excellent conditions of a buddhafield with a vast array of good qualities, the excellent conditions of the fearlessnesses, the excellent conditions of the marks of an awakened being, the excellent conditions of a saṅgha of bodhisattvas, the excellent conditions of the dhāraṇīs, and the excellent conditions of meditative concentrations.
“In the immediate, they will have the support of the excellent conditions of a pure buddhafield in accordance with their aspirations, and the excellent conditions of a spiritual teacher. Their progress toward unsurpassed complete and perfect awakening will not fall back
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and will never be lost. As they take rebirth in cyclic existence, they will have the support of the excellent conditions of good looks and wealth, the excellent conditions of family line, the excellent conditions of social standing, the excellent conditions of family traits,¹⁶ the excellent conditions of appearance, and the excellent conditions of having a retinue of people around them who are of similar disposition.
“On this topic, it is said:
“In all lifetimes,
No matter where they are reborn,
They will be a joyful sight, a bringer of joy,
Radiant, have great influence,
And have abundant wealth.
“They should recite the mantra words of this dhāraṇī:
tadyathā akhe makhe samantamukhe sautiyukte nirukte prabhe samayoge citavivarte¹⁷ ame khame madane vivarte samantaguṇe¹⁸ satyārame yukte prayukte hili mili masale ānale came aciṭi aciṭi¹⁹ coce arahe bahudche²⁰ māyugrahe hemavati jyotivati dharmaciti²¹ cyutapaṅke²² avikṣepe radhikṣa²³ me skandhavibhakte ²⁴
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas. With the blessing of the Buddha, may these mantra words be accomplished.
“On this topic, it is said:
“The six hundred million sages
Who dwell in the ten directions
Will pay heed to those
Who bear these dhāraṇī verses in mind.
“In all their rebirths
They will encounter a spiritual teacher,
And whatever little virtue they possess
Will accomplish all their goals.
“Those who bear these dhāraṇī verses in mind
Will see the buddhas seated
In the center of lotuses before them
And be wise, fortunate, and take miraculous birth.
“Their recollection, intellect, understanding,
Devotion, and insight will increase.
They will understand all they have studied,
And their understanding of all they have studied will not diminish.²⁵
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“Those who recite the names
Of these world protectors
Will be free from all lower rebirths
And quickly proceed to the higher realms;
“There they will realize
The supreme meditative concentrations and dhāraṇīs,
And they will attain supreme awakening.
Compared to filling a thousand million buddhafields
“With gold and making offerings with it,
Those who bear the names
Of these tathāgatas in mind
Will have a much greater heap of merit.
“They will always remember their past lives.
When they practice the conduct of a bodhisattva,
They will abandon all unfree states,
And the exquisite emergence of buddhas is achieved.
“They will serve the perfect buddhas.
They will obtain unsurpassed faith.
They will express their faith in the buddhas
And make supreme offerings to them.
“Delighted by the emergence of buddhas,
They shall see them and have faith in these teachers.
They will see these lamps that illuminate the world
And make excellent offerings to them.
“Those who bear these names in mind
Will be free from cyclic existence
For innumerable millions of eons
And quickly attain awakening.
“If they bear these names in mind
For a total of seven days and nights,
The extensive vision of whoever sees these guides
Will be purified.
“Those who bear the names
Of the world protectors in mind
Will be worthy of veneration
Wherever they might take rebirth.
“Those who bear these names in mind
Will not fall into disrepute
For unimaginable millions of eons,
But will be famous throughout all worlds.
“Those who bear these names in mind
Will be honored by the gods
For many eons
And quickly attain awakening.
“Those who bear these names in mind
Will not lack faith or lose insight,
Will give up deviation and deceit,
And will always see the buddhas.
“Those who bear
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these names in mind
Will always be protected
By gods, gandharvas, the nāga lords,
Garuḍas, asuras, and guhyakas.
“They will have excellent bodily forms and names
And will be born into wealthy households.
They will be generous to all beings
And will be brave, magnanimous, and selfless.
“For many millions of eons,
They will always have the pleasant scent
Of divine red sandalwood,
And their breath will have the scent of perfume.
“Those who bear these names in mind
Shall be endowed with the melodious voice of Brahmā
For millions of eons
And maintain the status of a Dharma king.
“Those who bear these names in mind
Will have divine bodies,
And great riches will spring from the many-million petals
Of the lotus of the seven royal treasures.
“Those who bear these names in mind
Will never find themselves
Without fathers, mothers, siblings, loved ones,
And a multitude of good people.
“If a woman has borne the names
Of these great sages in mind,
She will be freed from her feminine form
And become an intelligent man.
“After attaining the next human rebirth,
She will attain unsurpassed awakening,
Turn the wheel of the Dharma,
And easily attain nirvāṇa.²⁶
“Those who bear these names in mind
Cannot be harmed
By weapons, poison,
Fire, kings, or criminals.
“The thoughts of those
Who bear these names in mind
Will never be troubled
By Māra, mounted on his chariot with his retinue.
“Human beings who bear
The names of these buddhas in mind
Can course through space
Across infinite millions of buddhafields.
“After making offerings to the buddhas who teach there,
They must fearlessly petition them.
The victors will understand their wishes
And issue prophecies of their awakenings.
“After they receive prophecies
From those buddha lords,
They will be exceedingly joyful
And have no doubt
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in the Victor’s teaching.
“Those who bear these names in mind
Will hear the profound Dharma
From all the world protectors
And retain all they have heard.
“Then they will perfect
All the perfections and the grounds,
The four types of fearlessness, the powers,
And the major and minor marks.
“They will go to the field
Of one of those buddhas.
They will realize unsurpassed, perfect,
Complete awakening and become a buddha.
“A buddha could describe
These and the other qualities
Of any man or woman
Who bears these names in mind for an entire eon.
“People who heed this teaching
And learn about these excellent qualities
Should bear the names of these renowned
Perfect buddhas in mind.
“Anyone who hears the names
Of these buddhas who are glorious by nature,
Who are world protectors, supreme among human beings,
And celestial kings in the course of an eon,
“And those who hear and learn their names
Will be moved by devotion,
Will develop great insight into all things,
And will become supreme among human beings.
“What wise, insightful person,
Having learned the names of these great sages
And heeded this teaching,
Would not bear them in mind?”
After the Blessed One had spoken, the bodhisattva great being Maitreya, the entire retinue of monks and bodhisattvas, and the whole world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas were delighted and praised his words.
Colophon
This text was translated and edited by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla along with the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé and then finalized.²⁷
8
It was later revised according to the new language reform and then finalized.
Notes
notes.1
1. 闍那崛多 Shénàjuéduō. For more information on this figure, see Lewis R. Lancaster, “K 301,” The Korean Buddhist Canon.
notes.2
2. 義淨 Yijing. For more information on this figure, see Lewis R. Lancaster, “K 302,” The Korean Buddhist Canon.
notes.3
3. Denkarma F.299.b.5; see also Yoshimura (1950), 137.
notes.4
4. dkar chag ’phang thang ma (2003), 17.
notes.5
5. This text, Toh 853, and all those contained in this same volume (gzungs ’dus, e), are listed as being located in volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur by the Buddhist Digital Resource Center (BDRC). However, several other Kangyur databases—including the eKangyur that supplies the digital input version displayed by the 84000 Reading Room—list this work as being located in volume 101. This discrepancy is partly due to the fact that the two volumes of the gzungs ’dus section are an added supplement not mentioned in the original catalog, and also hinges on the fact that the compilers of the Tōhoku catalog placed another text—which forms a whole, very large volume—the Vimalaprabhānāmakālacakratantraṭīkā (dus ’khor ’grel bshad dri med ’od, Toh 845), before the volume 100 of the Degé Kangyur, numbering it as vol. 100, although it is almost certainly intended to come right at the end of the Degé Kangyur texts as volume 102; indeed its final fifth chapter is often carried over and wrapped in the same volume as the Kangyur dkar chags (catalog). Please note this discrepancy when using the eKangyur viewer in this translation.
notes.6
6. D (Toh 273) and S refer to this bodhisattva by the name Stainless (dri med) instead of Incomparable (’dra ba med). This translation uses the name Incomparable (’dra ba med) because this is also the name for this bodhisattva as it appears in versions of this text from the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs.
notes.7
7. The correlating section from the eKangyur (based on the Degé) may be viewed by clicking on the folio references, which will be displayed according to the Toh number selected from the 84000 reading room: D 273, D 511, or D 853.
notes.8
8. Two sets of folio references have been included in this translation due to a discrepancy in volume 88 (rgyud ’bum, na) of the Degé Kangyur between the 1737 par phud printings and the late (post par phud) printings. In the latter case, an extra work, Bodhimaṇḍasyālaṃkāralakṣadhāraṇī (Toh 508, byang chub snying po’i rgyan ’bum gyi gzungs), was added as the second text in the volume, thereby displacing the pagination of all the following texts in the same volume by 17 folios. Since the eKangyur follows the later printing, both references have been provided, with the highlighted one linking to the eKangyur viewer. In the Toh 511 version of the text there is a slight discrepancy in the folio numbering between the 1737 par phud printings and the late (post par phud) printings of the Degé Kangyur. Although the discrepancy is irrelevant here, further details concerning this may be found in note 8 of the Toh 511 version of this text. In the Toh 511 version of the text there is a slight discrepancy in the folio numbering between the 1737 par phud printings and the late (post par phud) printings of the Degé Kangyur. Although the discrepancy is irrelevant here, further details concerning this may be found in note 8 of the Toh 511 version of this text.
notes.9
9. D (Toh 511, Toh 853): ’dra ba med; D (Toh 273), S: dri med.
notes.10
10. D (Toh 273, Toh 511, Toh 853): chu lha gzhon nu; S: chu zla gzhon nu.
notes.11
11. D (Toh 511, Toh 853): zla ba’i me tog; D (Toh 273): zla ba’i me tog rin chen. This translation follows D (Toh 511, Toh 853). The variant in D (Toh 273) might translate as “a moon flower or gem” or perhaps “a precious moon flower.”
notes.12
12. D (Toh 273, Toh 511, Toh 853): bkod pa thams cad dri med ’od; S: bkod pa dri med ’od; J, K, N, K: bgrod pa thams cad dri med ’od Y.
notes.13
13. D: spobs pa’i rgyan la dgongs pa; S: spobs pa’i rgyal la dgongs pa.
notes.14
14. D (Toh 273, Toh 511, Toh 853), S: yid la bya. The phrase “direct your attention toward him” (yid la bya, manaskāryaḥ) is suspect since it breaks with the pattern that is repeated for all the other tathāgatas in this sequence. The Tibetan may possibly preserve a scribal error in the Sanskrit here that read some form of manas + kṛ (yid la bya) instead of the namas + kṛ (phyag bya’o) that appears in all other phrasings of the sequence of the twelve buddhas in this text. Nevertheless, we have translated this instance as yid la bya to accurately reflect the Tibetan.
notes.15
15. D (Toh 273): ’jigs bral bag tsha ba mi mnga’ spu zing mi byed; D (Toh 511, Toh 853): ’jig bral bag tsha mi mnga’ spu zing mi byed.
notes.16
16. D (Toh 273, Toh 511, Toh 853), S: rigs phun sum tshogs pa dang / skye ba phun sun tshogs pa dang / rus phun sum tshogs pa dang. The translation combines these three “excellent conditions” (phun sum tshogs pa) into a single clause that takes rigs (kula) to indicate the actual family line, skyes ba (jāti) to indicate that family line’s social standing, and rus (gotra) to indicate the inherited family traits.
notes.17
17. D (Toh 273): citavivarte; D (Toh 511, Toh 853): cittacitte; S: cittacittarte.
notes.18
18. D (Toh 273): samantaguṇe; D (Toh 511, Toh 853): samantaguṇi.
notes.19
19. D (Toh 273): aciṭi aciṭi; D (Toh 511, Toh 853): aciti.
notes.20
20. D (Toh 273): bahudche; D (Toh 511, Toh 853): bahucche.
notes.21
21. D (Toh 273): dharmaciti; D (Toh 511): dharmacite; D (Toh 853): dharmacitte.
notes.22
22. D (Toh 511, Toh 853): cyutapaṅke; D (Toh 273): cyutavaṅgke.
notes.23
23. D (Toh 273): radhikṣa, D (Toh 511, Toh 853):radhṛkṣa.
notes.24
24. Tentative English translation: tadyathā akhe makhe, radiant one whose panoptic gaze is said to be fused with sunlight, whose thought is devoid of illusion, ame khame, for whom intoxicating illusion fused and performed while delighting in truth is entirely virtuous, hili mili masala ānale came aciṭi aciṭi coce, worthy one, bahudche, golden one bathed in light who bears māyu, who knows the Dharma, who is without impurity, unwavering, and furnished with a great host—deliver this to me!
notes.25
25. D (Toh 511, Toh 853): thos pa thams cad ’dzin mi nyams; thos pa rnams ni yongs mi nyams D 273.
notes.26
26. D (Toh 273, Toh 511): ’dod pa ji bzhin mya ngan ’da’; D (Toh 853): ’dod pa zhi bzhin mya ngan ’da’. This translation follows the reading in D (Toh 273, Toh 511). The Negi dictionary (p. 2620.1) notes that ’dod pa ji bzhin is a translation of the Sanskrit abhipriya, and Edgerton (p. 54.2) provides an example where the term is used as an adjective meaning “quite agreeable.” This translation opts instead to read ’dod pa ji bzhin as a Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit yathākāma. The variant in D (Toh 853) translates “pacify all desire, and attain nirvāṇa,” which does not make sense given the fact that the subject of the verse has already attained awakening.
notes.27
27. The colophon to D (Toh 273) ends here, with no mention of the text being revised.