འདལ་བ་གཞ notes.3.28
The Chapter on Going Forth; The Chapter on the Restoration Rite; The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions; The Chapter on the Rains; The Chapter on Medicines notes.3.28
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notes.3.28
28. The phrase “pledged to settle for the rains” here translates the Tib. dbyar bzhugs par dam bzhes, which also appears in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya as dbyar gnas par khas blang pa, dbyar gnas dam bcas pa, dbyar gnas par zhal gyis bzhes pa, and dbyar gnas par dam bzhes pa. Although Sanskrit parallels are not available in each instance, we take them all to be translations of varṣā (Tib. dbyar, the “rains” or “rainy season”) plus forms of upa√gam, e.g., varṣopagata, varṣāṃ upagacchati. The Tibetan translations of these forms add gnas, which Kalyāṇamitra (F.271.b) seems to gloss as the “site for the rainy season” (Tib. dbyar gyi gnas; Skt. varṣāvāsa): “pledging to observe the rains retreat, that is, first reciting the formula, then pledging to remain at one rains-retreat site” (dbyar gnas par zhal gyis bzhes so zhes bya ba sngags sngon du btang bas dbyar gnas gcig tu gnas par zhal gyis bzhes pa’o). Thus, a literal translation of the Tibetan dbyar gnas dam bcas pa (Skt. varṣopagata) might read “committed to a rainy season site.” The Tibetan-language sources then suggest that Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya authors understood upa√gam in a specialized sense, meaning “to pledge or commit,” which is closely related to the more common senses of “to enter into” or “undertake.” Thus, the Tibetan translations emphasize the commitment made to undertake the rains retreat, alluded to by Kalyāṇamitra above. The Pali sources generally take upagacchati and its cognates in this context to mean “to undergo,” “to begin,” or “to undertake.” In his translation of the Vassūpanāyikakkhandaka, Bhikkhu Brahmali renders this with admirable economy and accuracy as “enter the rainy-season residence.” We translate dbyar gnas dam bcas pa as “enter the rains retreat,” “observe the rains retreat,” and “commit to observe the rains retreat” according to context. Note that Yijing’s translations also give typically economical forms (Ch. 夏坐 in The Chapter on Lifting Restrictions and 夏安居 in The Chapter on the Rains) that do not reflect the more expansive Tibetan translations.