The Sūtra of Dharmaketu
Translation of འཕགས་པ་ཆས་ཀྱ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་གྱ་མད་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ (འཕགས་པ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་མཚན་གྱི་མདོ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའོ)
- Language
- English
- Translator
- Bhikṣuṇī Thubten Damcho
- Extent
- 16 passages, 941 words
- Text
- complete digital text
- Source
- 84000 · Published by 84000 (v 1.0.6 2024). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha,… · 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 — 6 parts
- 1
- 2
- notes Notes — 8 parts
Text
84000's introduction
intro.1
While the Buddha Śākyamuni is staying in Śrāvastī, a bodhisattva named Dharmaketu asks him what qualities a bodhisattva must possess in order to reach awakening quickly. In response, the Buddha enumerates the ten most important qualities for bodhisattvas to cultivate.
intro.2
The Sūtra of Dharmaketu, also known as Dharmaketu’s Question,¹ is among the shortest sūtras in the Kangyur.² While the Buddha Śākyamuni is staying at Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park in Śrāvastī, a bodhisattva named Dharmaketu asks him what qualities a bodhisattva requires to achieve full awakening. In his response, the Buddha enumerates ten key qualities that must be cultivated.
intro.3
As noted by Peter Skilling,³ three of these qualities—bodhicitta, never forsaking spiritual mentors, and dwelling in seclusion—overlap with those also enjoined in The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Four Factors (Caturdharmakasūtra, Toh 251, –). An additional three qualities—meditative concentration, ethical conduct, and joyous effort—are among the six perfections that constitute the core of the bodhisattva path. The remaining four factors are faith, compassion, being learned in the Buddha’s teachings, and seeking out the oral instructions of masters.
intro.4
No Sanskrit version of this sūtra is to our knowledge extant, and it does not appear to have been translated into Chinese. The translators of the text into Tibetan are unknown since none of the Tibetan versions carry a colophon. It is not listed in the Phangthangma or Denkarma catalogs of Tibetan imperial period translations, nor in Chomden Rikpai Raltri’s survey of translated texts compiled in the late thirteenth century. It is, however, listed in Butön Rinchen Drup’s catalog compiled in 1322.⁴ The sūtra is preserved in both the Tshalpa and Thempangma lineage Kangyurs, although under slightly different titles.⁵
intro.5
A recent English translation, based on the Peking Kangyur edition, has been published by Peter Skilling (2021). As noted by Skilling in his introduction, the bodhisattva Dharmaketu does not play a prominent role in Buddhist literature, although he is mentioned as a member of the audience in a number of discourses.⁶
intro.6
This translation is based on the Tibetan as found in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Kangyur. Where alternative readings have been preferred over the Degé version, that has been recorded in the notes.
1
Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in Śrāvastī, in Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. At that time, a bodhisattva named Dharmaketu who was present in his retinue rose from his seat and addressed this question to the Blessed One: “Blessed One, which are the qualities that bodhisattvas must possess to become unsurpassed, perfect, and completely awakened buddhas quickly?”
The Blessed One replied, “Noble child, there are ten qualities that bodhisattvas should possess to become unsurpassed, perfect, and completely awakened buddhas quickly. What are those ten? They are as follows:
“The bodhisattvas have faith.
They have bodhicitta.
They do not forsake their spiritual mentors.
They dwell in seclusion and abandon worldly distractions.
2
They seek out the oral instructions of gurus and preceptors.⁷
They have compassion.
They are learned in many teachings.
They have meditative concentration.
They have ethical conduct.
Through unparalleled joyous effort, they accomplish every one of their aims.”
The Blessed One spoke these words, and the bodhisattva Dharmaketu⁸ and all those in that retinue praised what the Blessed One had said.
Notes
notes.1
1. The alternative title of the sūtra, as found in Kangyurs of the Thempangma line such as the Stok Palace Kangyur, is (following the Tibetan) The Mahāyāna Sūtra “Dharmaketu’s Question” (’phag pa chos kyi rgyal mtshan gyis zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo) or (following the Sanskrit) The Mahāyāna Sūtra “Dharmaketudhvaja’s Question” (Āryadharmaketudhvajaparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra). These titles are also found, with only minor orthographic variation, in the Narthang and Lhasa Kangyurs. Peter Skilling notes that dhvaja in the Sanskrit title is a “pleonastic” insertion (Skilling 2021, p. 208).
notes.2
2. The nineteenth century scholar Henri Léon Feer cited this sūtra in his refutation of an assertion by Andre Vassilivič Vassilieff that the early Buddhist sūtras found in the Pali Canon were distinguished by their brevity and simplicity in contrast to the Mahāyāna sūtras. See Feer 1866, p. 277.
notes.3
3. Skilling 2021, p. 209.
notes.4
4. Butön, chos ’byung, fol. 152.a.
notes.5
5. See note 1 above.
notes.6
6. Notably, in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Toh 176), The Stem Array (Toh 44–45), and Determining the Vinaya: Upāli’s Questions (Toh 68). In the present sūtra, the bodhisattva’s name Dharmaketu (or Dharmaketudhvaja) is translated into Tibetan as chos kyi rgyal mtshan, “Victory Banner of the Dharma,” while in these other canonical translations it was translated as chos kyi tog, “Apex of the Dharma,” or chos kyi dpal, “Glory of the Dharma.”
notes.7
7. This follows the Stok Palace Kangyur reading bla ma dang mkhan po’i gdams ngag yongs su btsal ba. The Degé and other Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line read differently as “bestow the oral instructions of teachers and preceptors” (bla ma dang mkhan po’i gdams ngag yongs su stsal ba). The difference hinges on the spelling of two homophonous verbs in Tibetan. While btsal ba (as found in the Stok version) means “seek out” or “look for,” stsal ba (as found in the Degé) means “give” or “bestow.” Peter Skilling likewise favors “seek out.” In a note, he offers a reconstruction of the Sanskrit that this could potentially translate, *guru-upādhyāya-upadeśa-paryeṣti / paryeṣana. See Skilling 2021, p. 538, n. 436. It is also notable that this is the only text in the Kangyur to use the phrase bla ma dang mkhan po.
notes.8
8. The Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyur witnesses here have the epithet “compassionate” (Tib. snying rje dang) before the bodhisattva’s name.