[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Buddhist Sanskrit literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit) › [Monastic discipline of the Indian schools](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya) › [Vinaya treatises, manuals and commentaries](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra) › [Gaṇḍīsūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra) › [གཎ་ཌཱིའི་མདོ](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo) › The Gaṇḍī Sūtra # The Gaṇḍī Sūtra Translation of [གཎ་ཌའ་མད (གཎ་ཌཱིའི་མདོ)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo) - **Language:** English - **Translator:** [Annie Bien](https://indike.org/pramana/person/annie-bien) - **Extent:** 22 passages, 2,410 words - **Text:** complete digital text - **Source:** 84000 · Translated by Annie Bienunder the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha (v… · 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](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.intro) — 5 parts - [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.1) - [2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.2) - [3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.3) - [4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.4) - [5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.5) - [notes Notes](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes) — 12 parts ## Text ### 84000's introduction ### [intro.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.1) While the Buddha is dwelling in the Bamboo Grove monastery near Rājagṛha, together with a thousand monks and a host of bodhisattvas, King Prasenajit arises from his seat, bows at the Buddha’s feet, and asks him how to uphold the Dharma in his kingdom during times of conflict. In reply the Buddha instructs the king about the gaṇḍī, a wooden ritual instrument, and tells him how the sound of this instrument, used for Dharma practice in a temple or monastery, quells conflict and strife for all who hear it. He describes how to make, consecrate, and sound the gaṇḍī. He explains that the gaṇḍī symbolizes the Perfection of Insight and describes in detail the many benefits it confers. ### [intro.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.2) While the Buddha is dwelling in the Bamboo Grove monastery near Rājagṛha, together with a thousand monks and a host of bodhisattvas, King Prasenajit rises from his seat, bows at the feet of the Buddha, and asks him how to uphold the Dharma in his kingdom during times of conflict. In reply the Buddha instructs the king about the gaṇḍī,¹ a wooden beam that is ritually struck to produce sound,² and tells him how the sound of this instrument, used for Dharma practice in a temple or monastery, quells conflict and strife for all who hear it. He then describes how to make, consecrate, and sound the gaṇḍī. He explains that the gaṇḍī symbolizes the Perfection of Insight and describes in detail the many benefits it confers. ### [intro.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.3) The gaṇḍī, sometimes misleadingly translated into English as “gong,” refers to a wooden beam cut from specific trees to particular proportions. From as early as the first century ce down to the present day, it has been widely used in Buddhist monasteries as an instrument for summoning monks to assembly.³ To hear its sound is said to quell all disruptive thoughts, dispel obstacles, and pacify all conflicts and negative forces. The role of the gaṇḍī in Buddhist monastic life appears to have been quite varied, extending to both nontantric and tantric forms of ritualism and daily life. As an example of its diverse functions in the day-to-day monastic itinerary, the Vinayavastu classifies five different types or uses of the gaṇḍī: the gaṇḍī for assembling monks, the gaṇḍī for meetings, the gaṇḍī for death ceremonies, the gaṇḍī for renunciation, and the gaṇḍī for emergencies.⁴ ### [intro.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.4) There is to our knowledge no extant Sanskrit or Chinese version of The Gaṇḍī Sūtra. According to the colophon to the Tibetan translations, it was translated into Tibetan by Dharma­śrībhadra and Tsültrim Yönten and subsequently edited by Rinchen Zangpo, which dates the Tibetan translation included in the Kangyur to the early eleventh century ce. The text is, however, also recorded in the Denkarma⁵ catalog of the Tibetan imperial translations, so it appears that it was first translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan by an unknown translator no later than the early ninth century, as the Denkarma is dated to 812 ce. It is not recorded in the Phangthangma catalog of Tibetan imperial translations.⁶ ### [intro.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.intro.5) This English translation was prepared based on the Tibetan translation in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace Kangyur. ### [1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.1) Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was dwelling in the Bamboo Grove, in the Kalandaka­nivāpa near Rājagṛha, together with a great saṅgha of a thousand monks and a great gathering of bodhisattvas. They were all worthy ones. Their contaminations were exhausted, their duties fulfilled, their work concluded, their burdens put down, their personal welfare attained, their bonds to existence destroyed, and their minds fully liberated through perfect knowledge. At that time, King Prasenajit arose from his seat and went to meet the Bhagavān. He bowed his head down at the feet of the Bhagavān and addressed him with these words: “Bhagavān, in the future, during times of conflict, all beings will have evil minds, quarrelsome minds filled with desire, hatred, and delusion. While intensely coveting others’ possessions and striving to devour one another, they will cause the previous period when teachings were given by the Bhagavān to decline. They will cause the abandonment of the true Dharma. They will go against the Buddha, the Dharma, and those who are free of desire. Please teach a way to eliminate such behavior so that beings may be strongly inclined to awakening.” Thus entreated, the Bhagavān declared, “King, since you make this request for the sake of the welfare of all beings, for their benefit and happiness, and in order to protect the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, your inquiry is excellent! Excellent! Therefore, listen closely and keep this in mind! ### [2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.2) I will explain.” Thereupon, the Bhagavān entered the meditative absorption called resounding everywhere. When the Bhagavān entered that meditative absorption, all hells were terminated. All those who had been filled with hatred became free from their hatred and wholly devoted to the mind of awakening. Then the Bhagavān asked, “Prasenajit, did you see, or hear, or understand, or realize?” “Bhagavān, I saw! Well-Gone One, I saw. I comprehended, understood, recognized, and realized!” The Bhagavān said, “Prasenajit, this is the mother of all beings. She gives birth to buddhas and bodhisattvas. She is venerated, worshiped, contemplated, and cultivated by all hearers, solitary buddhas, and perfect buddhas. Taking the form of the sound of the Perfection of Insight, she nurtures all beings. She is the vanquisher of all non-Buddhists, the pacifier of angry thoughts, the subduer of sinful thoughts, the dispeller of hateful thoughts, the destroyer of deluded thoughts, and the banisher of lustful thoughts. She is the protector of the mind of awakening, the intensifier of the mind of buddhas, and the supporter for the genesis of buddhas. She is the destroyer of all fights, quarrels, strife, conflicts, miseries, and all those of bad character who contravene the monastic code. She is the pacifier of sudden illness and death and of untimely death, epidemics, and so forth. She is the subduer of foreign armies, destroyer of Māra, and dispeller of torments. She is the extender of the fortunate era, bestower of long life and freedom from disease, pacifier of the dread of death, and intensifier of freedom and prosperity. To those who hear this and rejoice, she bestows results, like a wish-fulfilling gem. The Mother, the Perfection of Insight, is present in the form of the gaṇḍī.” ### [3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.3) Having heard this, deep conviction rose in King Prasenajit, and he entreated the Bhagavān: “Bhagavān, what is the size of this gaṇḍī? What is its color? What are its specifications? How is it to be struck? By what is it to be struck? At what time, on what occasion, and for how long should it be struck? How should it be placed?” Thus entreated, the Bhagavān declared: “As for the wood you wish to use, You should investigate with great effort: Sandalwood, Bengal quince, bastard teak, Sacred fig, and red sandalwood tree, “Indian walnut, palmyra, kingshuk tree, Aloe wood, false mangosteen, Mango, walnut, myrobalan tree, Tintisara,⁷ and aśoka. “If all of these are absent, You should try the mulberry tree. King, if despite your efforts None of these are present, do not make it. “If made without measure and from bad wood, The sound will not emerge when struck. When such a Mother of the Buddhas is struck, Harm will surely arise in the land. “As for the monks in the temple, Their minds will thus be discordant, They will be afflicted with disease, And there will be all sorts of quarrels. “Non-Buddhists will be empowered And māras will likewise come to the fore. Due to many noxious nāgas, Crops will fail. “In that kingdom many beings Will be destroyed. Temples also will be destroyed, And the Dharma will decline as well. “Demonic gods will cause unruliness Within the saṅgha of monks. Thus, knowing all this well, Proceed with careful inspection. “As for measurements: the small ends should be eight fingers. Make the main body eighty-four fingers. Make it six fingers in breadth And two fingers in height. “Using the measurements of finger joints, The measure to the four corners is two fingers. The perfect balance is made very clear. The two ends are like the head of a frog. “After that, cut the striker From the same wood block. Measuring twelve fingers, It is rounded and has mongoose heads at both ends. “The size of the handle is also like that. It should be very smooth and evenly ribbed. Thus, it is meant to be struck. Below, make a stand for it. ### [4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.4) “Place it above the temple gate, Or place it above the central gate. As for its consecration, It is the very stable⁸ Dharma body. “It is unproduced, indestructible, And primordially unborn virtue. Having been consecrated as such, The gaṇḍī’s eyes are opened. “Next, having opened the gaṇḍī’s eyes, One must strike it to increasingly produce sound⁹ Throughout the temple, As if adorned by seven nāgas.¹⁰ “Thereafter, one should pay homage to the Three Jewels And then strike the gaṇḍī. One should then sound the cymbal¹¹ three times And beat the Dharma drums. “Cleansing the gaṇḍī with flower-petal water At mealtime, sunrise, and sunset, Strike it three times at the three intervals. When it is time for bathing, let it resound twice. “It should be struck consecutively without hesitation To prevent sudden harm And likewise quarrels, disputes, Lightning, and great devastation. “It should be struck to invite the elders And to pacify plagues and famines. It should be struck constantly at all times By monks and novices. “During monthly purification, It should be struck by laypeople as well. All its qualities being complete, It should be adorned by seven nāgas.¹² “O King, when throughout the land That gaṇḍī resounds, The year will be good there, With splendor, fame, and all desirable things. “There will be no fear of foreign armies, And the crops will never fail. With the wealth of the Buddha’s blessings, Māras will be tamed there. “The Dharma drum will thunder everywhere, Right up to the summit of existence. The worlds of hell and pretas Will undoubtedly be destroyed. “Everyone will have enduring conviction in the Buddha, And everyone will be devoted to the Dharma. There, the saṅgha will be disciplined, And the wise will flourish as well. “Lust, hate, and delusion Will subside there. The king will live long and uphold the Dharma, And he will have every happiness. “O King, in every temple, When beating the Dharma drum, Its sound will be renowned In the pathways of peoples’ ears; “Those who hear it four times a day Will attain spiritual awakening. ### [5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.5) Those who rejoice from the heart Will undoubtedly be free. “Hearing just once The Gaṇḍī Sūtra, One will remember one’s former lives. Where this best among sūtras is present, That land will be prosperous. “Those who observe it at all times, Read it aloud, worship it, And keep it in mind Will be freed from evil.” When the Bhagavān had said this, King Prasenajit paid his respects to the Bhagavān repeatedly and then departed. When the Bhagavān had spoken these words, the entire assembly, along with the world with its gods, humans, asuras, garuḍas, and gandharvas, rejoiced and praised what the Bhagavān had said. Colophon It was translated by the Indian preceptor Dharma­śrībhadra and the monk-translator Tsültrim Yönten, and edited and finalized by the monk and chief editor-translator Rinchen Zangpo. ### Notes ### [notes.1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.1) 1. For historical and ethnographical details concerning the gaṇḍī and its wide-ranging usage in Buddhist monasteries, see Helffer (1983), Hu-von Hinüber (1991), and Sobkovyak (2015). ### [notes.2](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.2) 2. In The Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary, the term gaṇḍī is defined as “a shaft or stalk, used as a bar.” The related Sanskrit term gaṇḍi is defined in the Monier-Williams dictionary as “the trunk of a tree from the root to the beginning of the branches.” For a discussion of the various definitions and etymologies of the term, see Sobkovyak (2015), p. 689. ### [notes.3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.3) 3. As noted by ethnomusicologist Mireille Helffer, “The oldest writings on Indian Buddhism mention an instrument, the gandi, used to call monks to assembly. Recent observations show an instrument called gandi, or ganti, used similarly in Tibetan monasteries. Other recent texts confirm that the old gandi, like the modern version, is a phonoxyle; its shape is similar to that of certain wooden semanterions used in Greek Orthodox monasteries. The prescriptions of the canonical writings are still followed, and the Tibetan Buddhists, faithful to a tradition received from India, continue to build and use the gandi.” Helffer (1983), p. 112. ### [notes.4](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.4) 4. This classification is given in the Poṣadhavastu, which comprises the second chapter of the Tibetan version of the Vinayavastu included in the Kangyur and corresponds to the Khandhaka section of the Theravāda Vinaya in Pāli. For a translation of this passage as it occurs in the Sanskrit Gilgit manuscript purported to belong to the Mūlasarvāstivāda tradition, see Hu-von Hinüber (1991), p. 746. The passage appears to distinguish five different kinds of gaṇḍī but more likely specifies five different ways in which the gaṇḍī is used in monastic life. Indeed, the Poṣadhavastu elsewhere specifies the different ways of striking the gaṇḍī beam in each of these five contexts. For details on these contexts as well as traditional classifications of its use in tantric practice, see Sobkovyak (2015), 690–93. ### [notes.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.5) 5. Denkarma, folio 301.a.5. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 167. ### [notes.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.6) 6. dkar chag ’phang thang ma (2003). ### [notes.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.7) 7. Tib. ting ti sa ra. We could not find a botanical listing for this tree. ### [notes.8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.8) 8. We have followed Degé: shin tu brtan pa (“very stable”). Stok: shin tu bstan pa (“well revealed”). ### [notes.9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.9) 9. This is a tentative rendering of the line bskyed pa’i rim gyis brdung bar bya. According to Geshe Dorji Damdul (personal communication), the meaning of this phrase is that the gaṇḍī should be struck softly at first, then gradually harder, and finally the sound should decrease again. Sobkovyak’s conjecture that this refers to the developing stage (utpattikrama) of the Vajrayāna seems anachronistic. Sobkovyak (2015), 700. ### [notes.10](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.10) 10. We are not sure what the seven nāgas refer to here. In some traditional representations of the Buddha, he is presented as sheltered by a seven-headed nāga, which refers to the nāga that sheltered him from the storm shortly before his awakening. Perhaps the mention of seven nāgas in this text is related to this? ### [notes.11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.11) 11. We have followed Degé: shang rtsa. Stok: shing rtsa (“tree root”). ### [notes.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000.notes.12) 12. Perhaps this also refers to the gaṇḍī being sheltered by the seven-headed nāga in the same way that certain buddha statues are presented? See . --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.vinaya.sastra.gandisutra*bo~en-84000) · Pramāṇa