འཕགས་པ་འདས་པ་ཆན་པ་རན་པ་ཆ་ཏག་ག་གཟངས་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད notes: Notes

The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī notes

Language: English

Notes

notes.3

3. Denkarma, folio 297.a.4. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 52, no. 91.

notes.4

4. Phangthangma, p. 7 (with abbreviated title ’phags pa rin po che’i tog).

5. Interestingly, the catalog of the Narthang Kangyur records the tradition that The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī was first translated into Tibetan by Tönmi Sambhoṭa (thon mi sam+b+ho Ta), the legendary seventh century minister and scholar credited with the development of the Tibetan alphabet during the reign of King Songtsen Gampo (ca. 617–650). See Narthang Catalog, folio 14.a.1, and Skilling 1997, p. 89.

notes.6

6. Lamotte 2001, pp. 1541–42.

notes.7

7. This information is based on a private communiqué from Peter Skilling, who does not recall seeing the feminine form vyākaraṇī in any other sūtra.

notes.8

8. Toh 1-1, 1.233 et seq.; see translation in Miller et al. (2018). The Chapter on Going Forth contains a much longer and more detailed account of the story of Upatiṣya and Kaulita (Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana), but the culmination of their story in their encounter with Aśvajit and meeting with the Buddha is related in the present text with a little more detail, including some verses of which the Vinayavastu account has much briefer equivalents. The main additional element in the story in the present version—the advent of Māra following that meeting with Aśvajit—is of course the narrative theme that ties together all the component parts of The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī.

notes.9

9. Skt. dharmanetrī; Tib. chos kyi tshul.

notes.10

10. The following section, up to “I must make them embrace the view of the evil one” at , has been translated entirely from the Tib., filling a lengthy lacuna in the Skt. text.

notes.11

11. Because of their magical character, uncertain readings, and the extent of corruption, the Sanskrit dhāraṇī formulae in this text would be impossible to translate in full. Although some individual words and phrases are intelligible, it would be risky to attempt a coherent translation—the alliterations (which possibly are part of the magic), for example, would be impossible to replicate in English. These dhāraṇīs have therefore been quoted throughout the translation in the original Sanskrit, with some editorial emendments that affect mainly word divisions and orthography. These emendments by no means make the Sanskrit text correct or even consistent, and have not been reported in the critical apparatus.

notes.12

12. The Buddha and his hearer disciples are often compared to elephants or “great elephants” (mahānāga).

notes.13

13. Tib. kun tu rgyu ba (Skt. parivrājaka). “Wandering mendicants” is a generic designation for the flourishing communities of mendicants of various religious outlooks who lived as wandering spiritual seekers (śramaṇa) in India during the time of the Buddha. Often, these wandering practitioners of various religious paths would interact with one another and exchange views and practices, such as what we hear about in this scripture.

notes.14

14. The “nectar” seems to be referring to the nectar of the Dharma, i.e., the genuine teachings.

notes.15

15. Tib. gang gi chos read as gang gis chos in accordance with the other instance just above.

notes.16

16. This is an expanded version of the well-known and widely quoted stanza, sometimes called “the essence of dependent arising” (rten ’brel snying po), which, in Sanskrit, reads, ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat | teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ. One source of this stanza is found in a parallel version of the present narrative in the Chapter on Going Forth (Pravrajyāvastu) chapter of the Vinayavastu, Toh 1-1, folios 33.a–b (see Miller 1.236). The formula in Sanskrit and Pali has acquired the status of a dhāraṇī and is ubiquitous in Buddhist Asia as a seal at the end of texts, rolled into scrolls in stūpas, or used in rituals (sometimes with oṁ at the beginning and svāhā at the end). See also The Sūtra on Dependent Arising (Toh 212), in which the Buddha explains and recommends its use in the construction of stūpas. It should be noted that there are several quite significantly different renderings of the verse in Tibetan—compare, for example, the version in the present text and the one in Toh 1-1. Unfortunately, this stanza is missing in the available Sanskrit portions of The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī (including the Gilgit manuscript which begins from folio 4.a).

notes.17

17. The thousand monks who used to have matted hair is a reference to the one thousand non-Buddhist mendicants who are said to have converted en masse to the Buddha’s teaching and who, at this early point, made up the Buddha’s entire saṅgha. The thousandfold congregation comprised the five hundred followers of Urubilvā-Kāśyapa and the five hundred followers of his two brothers (who each had 250 followers), all practicing beforehand at different points along the River Nairañjana. This is recounted in the Saṅghabhedavastu chapter of the Vinayavastu (Toh 1-17, folio 56.a et seq.; 84000 translation currently in progress). The implication here is that the Buddha had only recently arrived in Rājagṛha for the first time, at Bimbisāra’s invitation.

notes.18

18. Here begins the translation from the Skt.

notes.19

19. “The view of the evil one” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna). Incidentally, it seems a little odd that Māra refers to himself as the “evil one.”

notes.20

20. The Tib. reads, “What I said before about causes and productive causes is false.”

notes.21

21. Skt. mṛtyu; Tib. ’chi bdag.

notes.22

22. The Tib. reads, “Knowing the supreme teachings that captivate the minds of the wise and terminate the three sufferings, / No one anywhere could shake us from this knowledge.”

notes.23

23. Instead of “owing to the Thus-Gone One… the wandering mendicant’s life,” the Tib. has “the wandering mendicant’s life of the Thus-Gone One.”

notes.24

24. “Sickness” has been supplied from the Tib.

notes.25

25. “Five hundred” is missing from the Tib.

notes.26

26. “Stable… hard” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).

notes.27

27. “Making a great din” has been supplied from the Tib.

notes.28

28. The Tib. is missing “hundreds.”

notes.29

29. After “expounding the Dharma,” the Tib. adds “while gazing ahead.”

notes.30

30. Here, the Tib. renders the Skt. viśārada, defined in Edgerton’s dictionary as “fearlessness,” as “fearless insight,” which could be more correct.

notes.31

31. The Skt. prefix upa functions as the English “Jr.” Hence Upatiṣya means “Tiṣya, Jr.”

notes.32

32. I.e., the “son of Śāri.”

notes.33

33. The sentence beginning “Some people know me” is absent in the Tib.

notes.34

34. The most complete story of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana going forth can be found in the Pravrajyāvastu .

notes.35

35. The phrase “who convey,” which fills the lacuna in the Skt. text, has been partially reconstructed from the Tib., which, however, is not very clear (gang dag bstan bcos don spyod mkhas pa rig pa’i pha rol song).

notes.36

36. The phrase “and clear” has been supplied from the Tib., filling in the lacuna in the Skt. text.

notes.37

37. The Tib. has, “Your path brings beings to the lower realms and causes them to discover an ocean of suffering.”

notes.38

38. The Tib. has, “What more can you say, O garrulous, reckless liar with the voice of a jackal?”

notes.39

39. The Tib. has, “Why do you try to shake me, you fool, with advice to enter nirvāṇa?”

notes.40

40. The Tib. for this verse is, “Has someone arrived today that upset you?”

notes.41

41. “Why won’t you have fun?” has been supplied from the Tib., filling in the lacuna in the Skt. text.

notes.42

42. Tib. “He has the lassos of generosity, yogic discipline, contemplation, aspiration, and compassion. / He brandishes the supreme bow and arrow of emptiness and signlessness. / In accordance with the path to absolute peace and escape from saṃsāra, / He is the teacher of how to repel saṃsāra entirely.”

notes.43

43. The Tib. adds at this point (after a comma) “applying themselves according to the precepts” (cho ga bzhin du zhugs nas).

notes.44

44. The Tib. adds “incense” after “perfume.”

notes.45

45. The phrase “and were overjoyed” has been supplied from the Tib., filling in the lacuna in the Skt. text.

notes.46

46. The Tibetan of this half-stanza is unclear. It seems to be “The single eye for beings that dries up all rivers of craving, / Seeing the whole world that lacks eye[sight]…”

notes.47

47. The Tibetan of this verse is unclear: byang chub yan lag rin chen dri med nor gsung sgron.

notes.48

48. In the Tib., this verse is “Hasten to the refuge provided by the compassionate one.”

notes.49

49. “Along with their retinues” is missing from the Tib.

notes.50

50. “With their retinues” is missing from the Tib.

notes.51

51. “Became even more enraged” has been supplied from the Chinese (Skt. lacuna; cf. K, p. 14, n. 1).

notes.52

52. “Commoners’ ” is a tentative translation of the Tib. dmangs phal shing (Skt. lacuna).

notes.53

53. “Our sons and legions” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).

notes.54

54. The reading “scorched by fire with flaming tongues” follows the Tibetan. Skt. has only aṅgāreṇa vayaṃ (lacuna), “by embers, we…”

notes.55

55. The reading “taken refuge” (supported by the Tib.) has been obtained by emending śaramaṃ in Kurumiya’s edition to śaraṇaṃ.

notes.56

56. “Pulled in by the Dharma hook he casts” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).

notes.57

57. “After being entrusted to me” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna); this is a tentative translation of nga la dpang btsugs nas, assuming that dpang is a misspelling of pang.

notes.58

58. “With his magic” is missing from the Tib.

notes.59

59. Tib. “Then, 1.2 quintillion of Māra’s attendants rose up, stretching upward for 84,000 leagues. They manifested violent magical displays of power and dominion, filling the entire space above the four continents with black clouds, violent black winds, and meteors. They slammed the king of mountains, Sumeru, with their hands, making all four continents shake violently.”

notes.60

60. The Tib. has “conjured up a rain of stones a league in size.”

notes.61

61. The Tib. has, “They also conjured up and released a great rain of swords, clubs, stones, lances, javelins, razors, blades similar to razors, axes, blades similar to axe blades, axe blades, (unclear), and terribly (unclear)—a rain of solid, hard, rough, and sharp objects.”

notes.62

62. The Tib. has “turned into a rain of celestial flowers [such as] blue, pink, and red varieties of lotus, māndārava, and great māndārava.”

notes.63

63. The Tib. adds here, “The land of Aṅga-Magadha was not struck by any of the falling meteors; rather, through his blessings a rain fell.”

notes.64

64. The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The source passage has not been located.

notes.65

65. Literally, “endowed with a cranial protuberance (uṣṇīṣa) that cannot be [fully] seen when looked at.” This alludes to the belief in the wide-ranging powers of the Buddha’s uṣṇīṣa. Since it extends all the way to the realm of gods, thereby enabling the Buddha to control all the realms with his body, its full extent cannot be seen from earth. The Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa elaborates on the powers of the Buddha’s uṣṇīṣa at considerable length. See Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Noble Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī , Toh 543 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020), 14.2–3 et passim.

notes.66

66. Here the Tib. repeats the entire list as above.

notes.67

67. The Tib. does not mention bowing.

notes.68

68. In the Tib. the number is 20,000, and in the Chinese 22,000.

notes.69

69. “In his presence” is missing from the Tib.

notes.70

70. “Who accomplishes all purposes” is the translation of the Buddha’s name, Siddhārtha.

notes.71

71. The part about causes and results is unclear in both the Skt. and the Tib. The Tib. seems to be saying “cause and result from accumulation.”

notes.72

72. In the Tib., these three verses are,“You destroy, O protector of worlds, the disease of ignorance / Wherein one is caught by the sense objects in existence, / Which are like an illusion, a mirage, or the moon reflected in water.”

notes.73

73. This line has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).

notes.74

74. In the Tib., this verse is “May the flowers we tossed in all directions / Become parasols / Eternally providing happiness, / Floating above the crown of the best of bipeds.”

notes.75

75. The Tib. has “living blessed buddhas.”

notes.76

76. The Tib. is somewhat different; it interprets the Skt. svaramaṇḍala (“lute”) literally as the “maṇḍala of sound,” which gives in translation, “They also heard the speech of the blessed buddhas’ melodious maṇḍalas.”

notes.77

77. Prasāda (“faith”) is translated into the Tib. as “admiration and devotion.”

notes.78

78. Instead of “ten trillion” the Tib. has “one quintillion.”

notes.79

79. “Let alone kill him” is absent from the Skt.

notes.80

80. In this address, the Tib. explicitly includes women; the Skt. just has “noble sons.” The same applies to the next four occurrences of “noble son(s).”

notes.81

81. The Tib. says, “They must not grasp, give up, accept, dwell upon, appropriate, conceive of, or conceptualize any phenomenon, so that when they are training in the perfection of generosity, they do not give up, grasp, accept, appropriate, dwell upon, conceive of, or conceptualize the fruits of generosity.”

notes.82

82. The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The last clause, starting from “when they are training,” should be repeated for all the remaining perfections, up to and including the perfection of insight.

notes.83

83. The Skt. words used here for being, the vital principle, and individual soul or personhood (sattva, jīva, poṣa, and puḍgala respectively) are near synonyms. They denote or imply an individual being or individual existence.

notes.84

84. The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The omitted part is to be supplied from the corresponding passage above.

notes.85

85. The Tib. has “beings or the realm of beings.”

notes.86

86. The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The omitted part is to be supplied from the corresponding passage above.

notes.87

87. The passage has been abbreviated here by the Skt. scribe. The omitted part is to be supplied from the corresponding passage above.

notes.88

88. The Tib. has “conceptualize the occurring, remaining, or arising of the causes, conditions, reference points, or the ripening of the fruits of the threefold universe, three times, aggregates, elements, or sense bases.”

notes.89

89. “Void” reflects the Tib. reading; the Skt. has, depending on how the sandhi is resolved, either “separate” or “not separate.”

notes.90

90. “Without characteristics” seems to be listed twice.

notes.91

91. For “neither friendly nor hostile” (which as a translation may be problematic), the Tib. has “not directional, not antidotes.”

notes.92

92. “Appropriation, becoming, and birth” are the ninth through eleventh links in the chain of dependent origination. The Tib., however, has the “birth, craving, and appropriation of beings.”

notes.93

93. “This shore and the other” refers to saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, i.e., conditioned existence and liberation.

notes.94

94. Instead of “rocks,” the Tib. has “charnel ground,” reflecting the reading śmaśānaṃ rather than śmānaṃ.

notes.95

95. The reading “without darkness” (atamas) is supported by the Chinese translation; the Tib., however, reads “indescribable.”

notes.96

96. The Tibetan nyams par yang mi bgyid pa (“not subject to deterioration”) makes better sense in the present context than the Skt. na sāmīcīkaroti (“one does not pay respect”).

notes.97

97. The “students and the adepts” (śaikṣa and aśaikṣa, literally “training” and “no more training”) could be referring to the five Mahāyāna paths.

notes.98

98. The reading “one does not analyze” has been obtained by emending Kurumiya’s vivekanayena to vivekanaye na. The Tib. has “one does not analyze or cling.”

notes.99

99. This statement is equally vague and unclear in the Skt. and in the Tib.

notes.100

100. This statement has been supplied from the Tib. (which happens to be unclear), filling in the lacuna in the Skt. text.

notes.101

101. The Tib. seems to be rendering this as, “How should one increase and accumulate all of the ornaments of awakening?”

notes.102

102. Possibly the Sāṅkhya concepts of rajas and tamas are meant here.

notes.103

103. The Tib. omits “all the thus-gone ones.”

notes.104

104. This sentence is very unclear in both the Skt. and the Tib. The Skt. is possibly corrupt.

notes.105

105. The past, present, and future.

notes.106

106. In the Tib., this passage, starting from “It is because all phenomena… ,” could be read as, “Since phenomena are of the nature of being devoid of any attachment, they are all without imputation. They constitute the limit of nonarising and nonceasing; the ultimate limit where neither ignorance nor nirvāṇa arise; the ultimate limit where neither space nor nirvāṇa arise; the ultimate limit where all phenomena are inexpressible and in which beings are also inexpressible; the limit where all phenomena are insubstantial; the limit where the three times, the three realms of existence, and all the aggregates are nothing whatsoever; the limit where the three formations are emptiness; and the limit where the phenomenal aggregates, ripened aggregates, and the amassing or diminishing aggregates are insubstantial.”

notes.107

107. In the Tib., the last sentence could be read as, “Bodhisattva great beings attain omniscience when they are fully endowed with the understanding of the facts of emptiness, the ultimate reality, the meaning of the inexpressible, and the truth of all phenomena.”

notes.108

108. This number in the Tib. is 9.2 quintillion.

notes.109

109. It is not clear who “these” twenty thousand bodhisattvas are. Possibly the twenty thousand of Māra’s children mentioned in the previous paragraph, who have now entered the bodhisattva path.

notes.110

110. The Tib. adds “servants” after “harem.”

notes.111

111. Instead of “subtle mind” (sūkṣmamati), the Tib. has “peaceful intellect.”

notes.112

112. This line in the Tib. reads, “Destroyer of the suffering of death, transmigration, sickness, aging, and birth.”

notes.113

113. Instead of “subtle mind” (sūkṣmamati), the Tib. has “peaceful intellect.”

notes.114

114. “Uncaused” is missing from the Tib.

notes.115

115. Instead of “subtle mind” (sūkṣmamati), the Tib. has “peaceful intellect.”

notes.116

116. After “the snares of Māra,” the Tib. adds, “and will be released from his ways.”

notes.117

117. The “single principle” is perhaps the same as the one described above for attaining omniscience.

notes.118

118. The Tib. has “death and transmigration.”

notes.119

119. In the Tib. this verse reads, “Blessed One! How does female birth come about?” The Skt. reading, however, is confirmed by the Chinese.

notes.120

120. “Right here and now” is the Tib. reading. The Skt. seems to be saying, “as it is like space.”

notes.121

121. The Tib. has, “Thus addressed by these noble children.”

notes.122

122. To obtain the reading “It has great magical power,” as found in the Tib., one needs to emend mahārthikā in Kurumiya’s edition to maharddhikā.

notes.123

123. The Tib. list additionally includes asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas.

notes.124

124. The Tib. has “head-anointed kṣatriya king.”

notes.125

125. “ Nonhuman beings” is missing from the Tib.

notes.126

126. It is not completely clear whether it is the ascetic sitting on the throne or whether the text is placed on the throne.

notes.127

127. As before, it is not clear whether it is the ascetic sitting on the throne, or the text is placed on the throne.

notes.128

128. The Skt. text breaks off here (and resumes again at °le hihile down below), as one folio is missing from G. The translation of the missing part has been supplied from the Tib.

notes.129

129. In some Tibetan versions, the narrative about the thus-gone Splendorous continues up to this point, i.e., it is he who is seen at the distance of an arrow shot and then recites the dhāraṇī. The Buddha Śākyamuni then recites the same dhāraṇī as part of his own narrative. In this version, the Buddha possibly replicates, at this stage in the narrative, the actions of the thus-gone Splendorous by making the earth shake, appearing in front of all the beings, and reciting the dhāraṇī himself.

notes.130

130. The first part of the dhāraṇī (up to °le hihile) is based on the reconstruction by Dutt, who reconstructed it on the basis of the Tib. (the original Skt. is absent due to a missing manuscript folio).

notes.131

131. Up to this point the text of this dhāraṇī has been reconstructed by Dutt, and the following part by Kurumiya.

notes.132

132. The last part of the dhāraṇī constitutes a request to have the karma of being reborn as a woman purified and to subsequently acquire male characteristics.

notes.133

133. “And our disenchantment” has been supplied from the Tib.

notes.134

134. “Along with her retinue” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).

notes.135

135. Instead of “thus-gone one,” the Tib. has “monk.”

notes.136

136. The Tib. has “Māra’s tricky and deceptive activity.”

notes.137

137. “And from some the male” is absent from the Tib.

notes.138

138. “To some, birth as a preta; to some, birth as a hell being” has been supplied from the Tib.

notes.139

139. “The ending of birth, death, and transmigration” is based on the Tib. The Skt. could be interpreted as “a high birth from which there is no falling back.”

notes.140

140. “A vow breaker” is omitted in the Tib.

notes.141

141. The expression “in the fruit” (phale) is unclear. It would be natural to take phale as standing for phalayāne (following after the preceding solitary buddha yāne and hearer yāne). The term phalayāna (“fruition vehicle” or “resultant vehicle”) later became applied to the tantric vehicle (tantrayāna).

notes.142

142. The Tib. reads, “thus changing their female sex organs and establishing them in the state of being men.”

notes.143

143. Instead of “near the Thus-Gone One” (tathāgatasyāntike), the Tib. has “about the Thus-Gone One.”

notes.144

144. The list, here abbreviated by the Skt. scribe, is meant to include all the stages of the Buddha’s life.

notes.145

145. The Tib. has “the seat of awakening underneath the Bodhi tree.”

notes.146

146. The Tib. reads, “You should not think that the king Utpalavaktra who did [these things] is someone unknown to you. If you are uncertain, vacillating, or doubtful, do not think that way. Why not? It was I who was at that time the king Utpalavaktra, universal monarch ruling over the four continents.”

notes.147

147. This sentence is not completely clear. The Tib. reads, “It was I who acted as the male power.”

notes.148

148. The Tib. reads, “You should not think that the chief queen Surasundarī who went forth at that time is someone unknown to you. If you are uncertain, vacillating, or doubtful, do not think that way. Why not? It was the bodhisattva great being Maitreya who was at that time the chief queen Surasundarī.”

notes.149

149. The Tib. reads, “O good people, you should not think that the soldier Kumārabhṛta, with his retinue of tens of millions of doubt-filled beings who said unpleasant things about the Buddha, is someone unknown to you. If you are uncertain, vacillating, or doubtful, do not think that way. Why not? It was this very Māra, the evil one, who was at that time the soldier Kumārabhṛta.”

notes.150

150. “Asuras” has been supplied from the Tib.; it is also supported by the Chinese.

notes.151

151. “Overcome with grief” (śokāgāre niṣaṇṇa) has been translated into the Tib. literally as “sitting in the house of grief.”

notes.152

152. “Sahā” is not in the Tib.

notes.153

153. “In order to listen to the Dharma” has been supplied from the Tib.

notes.154

154. In the Tib., this verse reads, “A supreme one, he emanates the threefold existence.”

notes.155

155. “He does not belong anywhere” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).

notes.156

156. “To kill him” has been supplied from the Tib. (Skt. lacuna).

notes.157

157. The three feelings are those of those of pleasure, pain, and indifference.

notes.158

158. It is not quite clear what type of social engagements are meant, but the Skt. word used (saṃsarga) could suggest the sexual. The Tib. is vague.

notes.159

159. In the Tib. this verse is longer and a little different: “I will throw terribly sharp vajras, / Spears, swords, and hammers. / When these flaming missiles strike him, / The scion of the Śākyas will be crushed to dust.”

notes.160

160. In the Tib., the last two sentences are, “We will immediately show whatever magical powers we have at our disposal to the monk Gautama. Know that [we will do this].”

notes.161

161. The Tib. reads, “You must engage with him in conversation at great length about many edifying topics.”

notes.162

162. The Tib. has “to dispel their hunger.”

notes.163

163. In the Tib. the last verse reads, “Confused and senseless, they will be scattered by our magical power, running off into different directions.”

notes.164

164. It is indicated in the Skt. text that this last sentence ought to be expanded into the corresponding passage from the section on Venerable Śāriputra above, with the substitution of names.

notes.165

165. This verse in absent in the Skt. text; it has been supplied from the Tib. To preserve the verse numbering as in the Kurumiya edition, no separate number has been given to it here.

notes.166

166. Instead of “fast flows the water,” the Tib. has, “like the swiftly moving, rough water on a steep slope.”

notes.167

167. The expression “likewise, as before” (Skt. peyālam; Tib. de bzhin du sbyar) signifies that the passage “Life passes quickly, my friends; fast flows the water. A naive person doesn’t know this—” is elided and to be repeated in the text that follows (the next three stanzas).