གླང་པའ་རྩལ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.18

intro.18

Unfortunately, the sūtra itself does not give any really convincing pointers to the correct interpretation of its title, since references to both elephants (hasti) and their supposed strength (kakṣya) are few. Toward the beginning of the sūtra, Śāradvatīputra declines the Buddha’s initial request to assemble the monks and bodhisattvas in the area by stating that “elephants are difficult to please (mgu ba, ‘satisfy, content, please, convince’).” Toward the end of the sūtra, the Buddha recounts to Ānanda that “beings who yearn for this Dharma discourse will be subdued by the strength of the bull or the strength of the elephant.” Based on these elements, we decided to translate the title as “The Strength of the Elephant,” although we are aware that further research would be necessary to validate this reading.