འཕགས་པ་རབ་ཏ་ཞ་བ་རྣམ་པར་ངས་པའ་ཆ་འཕྲལ་གྱ་ཏང་ང་འཛན་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད notes: Notes
The Absorption of the Miraculous Ascertainment of Peace notes
- Language
- English
Notes
notes.1
1. The best known of this subgroup is The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Samādhirāja, Toh 127, see Roberts and Bower 2018), and the others include the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra (Toh 132, see Lamotte 1998) and the Pratyutpannabuddhasaṃmukhāvasthitasamādhisūtra (Toh 133, see Harrison 1990 and 1998). Skilton (2002) adds the work 觀察諸法行經 (Guancha zhu fa xing jing, Taishō 649), which does not seem to have been translated into Tibetan.
notes.2
2. Skilton (2002) has made a careful study of these texts and suggests (pp. 77-90) that in them—though not, of course, in other contexts—the term samādhi itself can be understood to denote not a meditative state but rather a “statement” or “collection,” comprising a list of terms.
notes.3
3. See Roberts and Bower (2018), 1.26–1.61 and also chapter 40 in which explanations of each quality are set out.
notes.4
4. See Lamotte 1998, pp. 119–126. See also and .
notes.5
5. See Harrison 1990, pp. 26–30, and Harrison 1998, pp. 15–17.
notes.6
6. We have identified these citations in the annotations to the translation.
notes.7
7. In one instance (Bendall 1902, p. 146; for translation, see Bendall and Rouse 1922, p. 145, and Goodman 2016, p. 142), the Śikṣāsamuccaya cites a passage from The Absorption of the Miraculous Ascertainment of Peace that is not found in the Tibetan text, and in referring to a “great king” as the recipient of the Buddha’s teaching appears to be unrelated to the themes and participants otherwise present in the sūtra.
notes.8
8. 寂照神變三摩地經 (Ji zhao shenbian sanmodi jing), Taishō 648.
notes.9
9. According to Skilton (2002), it corresponds to the dialogue of the Buddha with Bhadrapāla, but not to the latter parts of the text where Mañjuśrī is the interlocutor. Skilton (p. 73) equates this division with the break between the first and second of the three fascicles in the Tibetan, although this does not seem to match the fascicle divisions as recorded in the Degé and Stok Palace Kangyurs.
notes.10
10. The Denkarma catalogue is dated to c. 812 ce. See Denkarma, folio 298.a. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 70, no. 127.
notes.11
11. See Skilton (2002), pp. 74–5.
notes.12
12. This translation is tentative. Tibetan: rgya’i ’bur lta bu.
notes.13
13. On the similarities of the list that follows with the lists of qualities in The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Toh 127) and the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra (Toh 132), see , , , and .
notes.14
14. Tib. khyad par du ’gro ba, Skt. viśeṣagāmitā. According to The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Toh 127), this refers to the strengths, fearlessnesses, distinct qualities, and knowledge of the buddhas. See Roberts and Bower 1.30 and n.76.
notes.15
15. From this point onwards down almost to the end of , the list appears to reproduce the list of one hundred components of the absorption described in the Śūraṅgamasamādhisūtra (Toh 132), starting from the second component; see Degé Kangyur, vol. 55 (mdo sde, da), F.260.b.1 et seq. While the Tibetan translation differs slightly, it could well be rendering much of the Śūraṅgamasamādhisūtra list—though probably not all— from a verbatim reproduction of the Sanskrit. See Lamotte (1998) pp. 120–6, and Skilton (2002) p. 75.
notes.16
16. Translated based on S: phrugs. D: phrug.
notes.17
17. It is at this point that the almost exact reproduction of the list from the Śūraṅgamasamādhisūtra (see ) comes to an end; the eqivalent point in the other sūtra is at Degé Kangyur, vol. 55 (mdo sde, da), F.262.b.4.
notes.18
18. These twelve essential qualities (yon tan gyi snying pos bcu gnyis) are also mentioned and explained in a little more detail in the Bodhisattvagocaropāyaviṣayavikurvāṇanirdeśa, Toh 146, folios 94.a–94.b. This work is also known as the Satyakaparivarta (bden pa po le’u).
notes.19
19. This passage, starting from this point and up to “the same as Brahmā, Indra, and Mount Meru,” is cited in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 16, from line 9). After making a few minor amendments to Bendall’s edition, this passage reads: tatra mañjuśrīr ye trisāhasramahāsāhasralokadhātuparamāṇurajaḥsamāḥ sattvās teṣām ekaikaḥ sattvo rājā bhavej jambūdvīpādhipatis te sarva evaṃ ghoṣayeyuḥ | yo mahāyānam udgrahiṣyati dhārayiṣyati vācayiṣyati paryavāpsyati pravartayiṣyati tasya nakhachedena māṃsaṃ pañcapalikena divasenāvatārayiṣyāmas taṃ caitenāpakrameṇa jīvitād vyaparopayiṣyāma iti | sacen mañjuśrīr bodhisattva evam ucyamāne no trasyati na saṃtrāsam āpsyate ’ntaśa ekacittotpādenāpi na bibheti na viṣīdati na vicikitsate | uttari ca saddharmaparigrahārtham abhiyujyate pāṭhasvādhyāyābhimukto viharati | ayaṃ mañjuśrīr bodhisattvaś cittaśūro dānaśūraḥ śīlaśūraḥ kṣāntiśūro vīryaśūro dhyānaśūraḥ prajñāśūraḥ samādhiśūra iti vaktavyaḥ | sacen mañjuśrīr bodhisattvas teṣāṃ vadhakapuruṣāṇāṃ na kupyati na ruṣyati na khila doṣacittam utpādayati | sa mañjuśrīr bodhisattvo brahmasama indrasamo ’kampya iti || See also Bendall and Rouse 1922, p. 18; Goodman 2016, p. 19.
notes.20
20. In the passage cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, this clause reads, “anyone who adopts, upholds, recites, studies, or disseminates the Great Vehicle.”
notes.21
21. “Mount Meru” is missing from the passage cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya. It may have originally belonged there, however, as the Sanskrit reads, “He would be the same as Brahmā, the same as Indra, and as unshakable as….”
notes.22
22. This passage, from this point up to “the bodhisattvas who offered the enthralling king jewels” is cited in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 16, from line 3). After making a few amendments (most significantly, conjecturing the reading bahulataraṃ in place of the extant vatataraṃ) to Bendall’s edition, this passage reads: yaś ca mañjuśrīr bodhisattvo gaṅgānadīvālikāsamebhyo buddhebhyaḥ pratyekaṃ sarvebhyo gaṅgānadīvālikāsamāni buddhakṣetrāṇi vaśirājamahāmaṇiratnapratipūrṇāni kṛtvā dadyād evaṃ dadaṅ gaṅgānadīvālikāsamān kalpān dānaṃ dadyād | yo vānyo mañjuśrīr bodhisattva imān evaṃrūpān dharmān śrutvā ekāntena gatvā cittenābhinirūpayed imeṣv evaṃrūpeṣu dharmeṣu śikṣiṣyāmīti | so ’śikṣito ’pi mañjuśrīr bodhisattvo ’syāṃ śikṣyāyāṃ chandiko bahulataraṃ puṇyaṃ prasavati | na tv eva tad dānamayaṃ puṇyakriyāvastv iti || See also Bendall and Rouse 1922, pp. 17–18; Goodman 2016, pp. 18–19.
notes.23
23. In the passage cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, the jewels that were offered are not mentioned again. Instead it mentions “meritorious acts that consist in generosity.”
notes.24
24. This passage, from this point up to “the roots of virtue that cause a buddha to appear” is cited in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, pp. 83–84, from line 20 on p. 83). After making a few minor amendments to Bendall’s edition, this passage reads: yaḥ kaścin mañjuśrīḥ kulaputro vā kuladuhitā vā jāmbūdvīpakān sarvasattvāñ jīvitād vyaparopya sarvasvaṃ haret | yo vā ’nyo mañjuśrīḥ kulaputro vā kuladuhitā bodhisattvasyaikakuśalacittasyāntarāyaṃ kuryād antaśas tiryagyonigatasyāpy ekālopadānasahagatasya kuśalamūlasyāntarāyaṃ kuryād ayaṃ tato ’saṃkhyeyataraṃ pāpaṃ prasavati | tat kasya hetoḥ | buddhotpādasaṃjanakānāṃ sakuśalamūlānām antarāyaḥ sthito bhavati || See also Bendall and Rouse 1922, p. 87; Goodman 2016, p. 87.
notes.25
25. This passage, from this point up to “the fear of being born in the borderlands” is cited in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 84, from line 5). After making a few minor amendments to Bendall’s edition, this passage reads: yaḥ kaścin mañjuśrīḥ parakuleṣu bodhisattvasyerṣyāmātsaryaṃ kuryāt tasya tasmin samaye tato nidānaṃ trīṇi bhayāni pratikāṅkṣitavyāni | katamāni trīṇi | narakopapattibhayaṃ jātyandhabhayaṃ pratyantajanmopapattibhayaṃ ceti || See also Bendall and Rouse 1922, p. 87; Goodman 2016, p. 87.
notes.26
26. Translated based on S: dmigs pa med pas. D: dmigs pa med la.
notes.27
27. This passage, from this point up to “Happiness, and safety” four verses below, is cited in Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, pp. 86–87, from line 14 on p. 86). After making a few minor amendments to Bendall’s edition, this passage reads: yas tv eṣāṃ kurute rakṣāṃ dhārmikīṃ dharmavādināṃ |hitvā sudurgatīḥ sarvāḥ śakro bhavati devarāṭ || brahmāpi yāmas tuṣito vaśavartī punaḥ punaḥ |manuṣyeṣūpapannaś ca cakravartī sa jāyate || śreṣṭhī gṛhapatiś cāpi bhavaty āḍhyo mahādhanaḥ |prajñāsmṛtibhyāṃ saṃyuktaḥ sukhito nirupadravaḥ | iti || See also Bendall and Rouse 1922, p. 89; Goodman 2016, pp. 89–90.
notes.28
28. In the passage cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, the last six lines are condensed into a single four-line verse: “Whoever, on the other hand, offers to the bodhisattvas / The protection that is due to Dharma teachers / Will leave behind all the all the unfortunate rebirths, / And will become Śakra, the lord of gods.”
notes.29
29. In the passage cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, the last six lines are condensed into a single, four-line, verse: “One will also take birth as a Brahmā, / A Yāma, a Tuṣita, or a Vaśavartin god, again and again. / If born among men, / One will become a universal emperor.”
notes.30
30. In the passage cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, the last six lines are condensed into a single, four-line, verse: “Even if born as a guild master and householder, / One will become prosperous and acquire great wealth. / One will possess wisdom and good memory, / Will be happy, and will not meet with any misfortune.”
notes.31
31. Tibetan: seng ge’i rgyal mtshan zla ba. We are unsure what this refers to. A digital search of the Kangyur shows that this is the only occurrence of the term in the entire canon.