འཕགས་པ་ཀན་ནས་སྒའ་ལའ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད notes: Notes

The Exposition on the Universal Gateway notes

Language: English

Notes

notes.5

5. Da baoji jing 大寶積經, Taishō 310. This text has also been translated into English by Chang (1983, 134–148).

notes.6

6. This dating is also confirmed by the text’s inclusion in the Denkarma inventory of the early ninth century ce. See Denkarma, 295.b. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, 22, no. 34.

notes.7

7. N has dge (“virtuous”) instead of dag (a plural particle) here.

notes.8

8. KY has gzhol (which might translate “who were engaged in true training”) instead of ’jog.

notes.9

9. Reading according to KY, which has bskyod pa yang chung ngam, whereas there is no chung (“little”) in the other versions, though it would seem to be implied.

notes.10

10. KY does not have ’khor de nyid du ’dus par gyur (“was also present within that assembly”) and would therefore just translate as “at that time, Prince Mañjuśrī was also present.”

notes.11

11. N and H have de ltar ’tshal lo (“pray do so”) instead of de bzhin no (“so be it”) here.

notes.12

12. KY, J, K, N, and C do not have kyi gzugs (“figures”) here.

notes.13

13. KY, J, K, and N again do not have gzugs (“form”) here.

notes.14

14. This translation is according to KY, K, N, H, and S, which have shes pas na instead of shes pa na (“when it is known”).

notes.15

15. N has sna yang yod min gsog tu med (“The nose is nonexistent and does not exist in its emptiness”) instead of sna yang yod min gsog tu shes here.

notes.16

16. K has ra ro yi rgyu las byung ba dang (“It is caused by drunkenness”) instead of ro ’di rgyu las byung ba dang.

notes.17

17. K has ’jam dpal (“Mañjuśrī”) instead of ’jam pa.

notes.18

18. This phrase, de dag gnas gcig gnas gyur te, could also be translated as “Each live in their own abode.”

notes.19

19. This verse and the following only have three lines in the Tibetan.

notes.20

20. KY and K have gzung med here instead of gzugs med, which would translate as “imperceptible” again instead of “formless.”

notes.21

21. The word used for “man” here (skyes pa) also means “birth” or “being born.” Thus there is a word play on these two senses of skyes pa.

notes.22

22. This reading is according to KY, K, and H. The other recessions had btags pa instead of brtags pa, which would translate as “impute” instead of “imagine.”

notes.23

23. KY has bu rtan (sic!) instead of brtan.

notes.24

24. KY and K have klu (“nāgas”) instead of klung (“rivers”).

notes.25

25. This line is altogether absent from N.

notes.26

26. KY has ston (“teach”) instead of stong (“empty”).

27. The next few one-stanza arguments make use of letter plays prevalent in dhāraṇī literature. The play here is on the letter ga, which begins both the Sanskrit term gandharva and the verb √gam (“to go”).

notes.28

28. In other words, the letter a begins and ends the word asura.

notes.29

29. There is another play here on the letter a, which begins the word asura but is also significant in Mahāyāna Buddhism, where it is considered to be the shortest form of the Prajñāpāramitā, whose topic is emptiness, characterized as unborn and unceasing. In fact, the prefix a- in Sanskrit indicates a negation and thus also begins the Sanskrit terms aniruddha (“unceasing”) and apravṛtti (“non-arising”).

notes.30

30. The play on letters is at work here again with the letter ga beginning the term garuḍa and the verb root √grah (“grasping”).

notes.31

31. Here again, the letter at play is ka, which begins both kinnara and the Sanskrit verb kṛta (“created” or “produced”).

notes.32

32. KY has bzhig (“destroyed”) instead of bzhag (“posited”).

notes.33

33. KY and K have lus instead of las here, which would translate as “bodies” instead of “karmic actions.”

notes.34

34. This reading is according to S, which has chol par (“confusion”) instead of tshol ba (“seeking”).

notes.35

35. KY and K have mnyam brtags and S has mnyam brtag (both translating as “equally imagined”) instead of mnyam rtag (“permanent, and sameness”).

notes.36

36. Reading according to KY and N, rtog instead of rtogs (“realize”).

notes.37

37. N has btags (“label”) instead of brtags.

notes.38

38. KY has rdul phra ba’i (“subtle particle”) instead of rdul dang bral ba’i (“immaculate”).

notes.39

39. There is a possible letter play here with the letter na beginning the words nirvāṇa and nirmala.

notes.40

40. KY and K have med pa’i tshogs (“the meeting of nonexistent factors”) instead of mang po’i tshogs.

notes.41

41. J and C have srog (“life-force”) instead of gsog (“hollow”).

notes.42

42. KY , N, and H are missing the negation here and read phyi rol nas ’ongs te (“Anger comes from the outside”).

notes.43

43. Instead of rten (“rooted”), H has bstan which would translate “I have taught it to be suchness.”

notes.44

44. KY has chags med pa par and K has chags pa med par instead of chags med chags par. The translation for KY and K would therefore read “They perceive without attachment.”

notes.45

45. KY, K, J, C, N, and H have brtags (“imagining”) instead of btags (“labeling”).

notes.46

46. KY has dga’ (“pleased by”) instead of dgang (“filled with”).

notes.47

47. The negation is missing in KY.

notes.48

48. See “buddha.”

notes.49

49. KY has sems can (“beings”) instead of sems kun (“all of the mind”).

notes.50

50. In other words, the possibility of confusion is not inherent either to ignorance or buddhas because of their shared unborn nature.

notes.51

51. Here “it” likely refers to absorption.

notes.52

52. KY has sgrib (“obscuration”) instead of sgrub (“production”).

notes.53

53. There is a possible letter play here with Skt. sādh (Tib. sgrub pa, “production”) and sarva (kun, “any”).

notes.54

54. Here again the same letter play appears to be functioning between Skt. sādh (Tib. sgrub pa, “performance”) and sarva (kun, “all”).

notes.55

55. “All” is likely meant to refer to “all virtues and nonvirtues” here, as there is a clear letter play connecting these two sections with the repeated use of sarva (“all”).

notes.56

56. N has rtags (“indicate”) instead of rtogs (“understand”) here.

notes.57

57. This refers to the letter play that runs throughout the entire text and is a salient feature of dhāraṇī texts.

notes.58

58. N has mnyam pa (“equal”) instead of mnyan pa (“listened”).

notes.59

59. N and H have gzungs (“dhāraṇī”) instead of gzugs (“form”).

notes.60

60. N has rtsol (“strives”) instead of stsol (“bestows”).

notes.61

61. KY and K have mnyan (“listen”) instead of mnyam (“same”). According to these recensions, this phrase would then translate as “in order to listen to the eighty-four thousand sections of Dharma and this Dharma teaching.”

notes.62

62. Tibetan: chos kyi dbyings. Sanskrit: dharmadhātu. Elsewhere in this translation we have translated this as “realm of phenomena.”