འཕགས་པ་ཆས་ཡང་དག་པར་སྡད་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.3

intro.3

The Sanskrit title of this sūtra by which it is most widely known is the Dharma­saṅgīti­sūtra. This is the Sanskrit title given by the Tibetan translators, and it is the title by which the sūtra is cited in numerous Indian commentarial sources.¹ The term dharmasaṅgīti has nuanced shades of meaning that find expression in both the setting and content of the sūtra. In perhaps its most basic sense, the term saṅgīti describes a chorus or ensemble musical performance. In a specifically religious setting, it can refer to the communal recitation and rehearsal of doctrine, of dharma. In the Buddhist tradition, dharmasaṅgīti can thus refer to a gathering of the Buddhist saṅgha to collectively recite sections of the Tripiṭika, the “Three Baskets” of the Buddhist canon: Sūtra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma. Such a gathering would have been led by one or more groups of Dharma reciters (dharmabhāṇaka; chos smra ba) who were responsible for memorizing and faithfully transmitting specific sections of the canon.