Notes

n.1For a summary in English of the First and Second Councils and the subsequent schism in the saṅgha as recounted in The Chapters on Monastic Discipline, see Rockhill (1907, 148–80). For modern scholarship on the councils and the compiling of the Buddhist canon, see Prebish (1974) and Skilling (2009).

n.2See Nattier and Prebish (1977) on the rise of the different schools, with references to both traditional sources and modern scholarship.

n.3On the history, dating, and geographical distribution of the Mūlasarvāstivādins and their relation to other schools (especially the Sarvāstivādins), see Frauwallner (1956), Nattier and Prebish (1977), Enomoto (1994), Rosenfeld (2006), Salomon (2006), and Clarke (2004a and forthcoming). The six complete extant codes are the Sarvāstivādin’s Ten Recitations in Chinese with fragmentary Sanskrit; the Mūlasarvāstivādin’s Collection of Four Scriptures in Tibetan and partial Sanskrit and Chinese; the Theravādin’s canonical Suttavibhaṅga, Khandhaka, and Appendices (Parivāra) and paracanonical Pātimokkha and Kammavācanā in Pali; the Dharmaguptaka’s Four Part Vinaya in Chinese and partial Sanskrit; the Mahīśāsaka’s Five Part Vinaya in Chinese; and the Mahāsāṃghika’s Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya in Chinese. See Clarke (2004a, 77–78) and Prebish (2003).

n.4The Vinayavastu (Toh 1), the Prātimokṣasūtra (Toh 2), the Vinayavibhaṅga (Toh 3), the Bhikṣuṇī Prātimokṣasūtra (Toh 4), the Bhikṣuṇī Vinayavibhaṅga (Toh 5), the Kṣudrakavastu (Toh 6), and two versions of the Uttaragrantha‍—the incomplete ’dul ba gzhung bla ma (Toh 7) and the complete ’dul ba gzhung dam pa (Toh 7a). For more on the Uttaragrantha (’dul ba gzhung dam pa and ’dul ba gzhung bla ma), see Kishino (2007, 1221, and 2013) and Clarke (2012).

n.5The Mahāsāṃghika Vinaya differs significantly in its structure from the other extant vinayas. See Frauwallner (1956) and Clarke (2004a).

n.6See Finnegan (2009, 10–28), for an overview of the history, language, and role of narrative in the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya. For readers of German, see Panglung (1981). In English, see also Schopen (2000, 94–99) and, for reference to the inclusion of narrative and sūtra in the Pali vinaya, see von Hinüber (1996).

n.7See Heirman (2008) and Kishino (2013) for Yijing and his translations into Chinese.

n.8See Rotman (2008, 15–30) for a discussion of the Divyāvadāna and the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, and Rotman (2008) and (2017) for English translations of portions of the text.

n.9For a history of the excavations, see Jettmar (1981, 1–18) and von Hinüber (2014).

n.10From the vinayapiṭaka, fragments of the Prātimokṣasūtra and Karmavācana were also recovered. See Clarke (2014) for an introduction to the Vinaya manuscripts in Sanskrit found at Gilgit, along with a bibliographical survey and concordances with the Tibetan and Chinese translations; and von Hinüber (2014).

n.11For a book length presentation of the Khandhakas, see Ṭhānissaro Bhikkhu (2001).

n.12See Prebish (1994, 22–31) for a summary of each khandaka.

n.13“The Skandhaka represents to the saṅgha what the Sūtravibhaṅga represents to the individual monk or nun” (Prebish, 1994, 22).

n.14For a study and edition of this chapter in German, see Eimer (1983).

n.15For a study, critical edition, and translation of this chapter into German, see Hu-von Hinüber (1994).

n.16For a study, critical edition, and translation of this chapter into German, see Chung (1998).

n.17For a study and translation of this chapter into Japanese, see Shono (2007 and 2010).

n.18For a study and translation of this chapter into Japanese, see Yao (2013).

n.19For a translation of portions of this chapter into English, see Wu (2014). For a study and translation of the entire chapter into French, see Sobhita (1967).

n.20For an older study and translation of this chapter into English, see Chang (1957) and for a more recent introduction to this chapter in English, see Matsumura (1996). For a lexical study of its terms, see Matsumura (2007).

n.21For a study, edition, and translation of this chapter into German, see Yamagiwa (2001).

n.22For a study and translation of the first half of this chapter into English, see Schopen (2000).

n.23Csoma de Körös (1836); Banerjee (1957, 101–89); Dutt (1939–59).

n.24The rites for accepting women into the Buddhist order and inducting them into the novitiate are patterned on the formulas given in the present text, which is explicitly addressed to male candidates. In the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, the procedures for the ordination of nuns are found in the Kṣudrakavastu. See Jyväsjärvi (2011, 513–19) for a translation of Guṇaprabha’s explanation of how to adapt the rites described in the present text for use in admitting and ordaining women into the Buddhist renunciant order. For a summary of these procedures see Tsedroen and Anālayo (2011, esp. 757–66).

n.25The opposition between śramaṇa ascetics and brāhmaṇa householders is common in Buddhist literature but also well recognized in Vedic culture; the second-century ʙᴄᴇ grammarian Patañjali chose the phrase śramaṇabrāhmaṇa to illustrate the use of oppositional compounds in Sanskrit (Bailey and Mabbett, 2003, 112–13). See also Jaini (1970).

n.26Though they are referred to collectively as “six tīrthika teachers,” it is not clear what the designation tīrthya (as it appears in the Gilgit Manuscripts) or its mainstream Sanskrit equivalent tīrthika actually mean. Though the term is used pejoratively in much Buddhist literature, Schopen believes Edgerton was almost certainly right in saying it was originally a neutral term referring to an adherent or founder of any religion (Schopen, 2000, n. 1.18).

n.27The philosophies of the six tīrthika teachers are also related in the Śrāmaṇyaphala Sūtra, though the account there differs considerably in both its philosophical details and its attribution of ideas from the account given in the present chapter. Claus Vogel (1970) has published a translation and study of the account from the present chapter, while Graeme MacQueen (1978) has published a translation and study of seven surviving editions of the Śrāmaṇyaphala Sūtra, four in Chinese and one each in Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan.

n.28The main body of the biography is contained in the seventeenth and final chapter, the Saṅghabhedavastu. For more on Tibetan biographies that draw on the Vinayavastu, such as Situ Paṇchen Chökyi Jungné’s biography of the Buddha (bdag cag gi ston pa rnam ’dren shA kya’i dbang po’i mdzad pa mdo tsam du legs par bshad pa), see Lin (2011).

n.29Finnegan (2009, 16).

n.30Jain scriptures claim Gośālīputra was a pupil of the Mahāvīra who later broke with him to become a prominent Ājīvika teacher; see Basham (1981) and Bronkhorst (2003, 155–57). For more on the Ājīvikas, see Bronkhorst (2003).

n.31Jaini (1970, 60).

n.32Bronkhorst (2007, 47) and Bronkhorst (2012, 826).

n.33See Strong (1989); see also Tatelman (2000, 4–10) and Rotman (2008, 19–22) for more on the term avadāna in the Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya.

n.34See glossary entry “Āgama.”

n.35Eimer (1983).

n.36Vogel and Wille (1984, 1992, 1996a, 1996b). Previous editions of the Sanskrit manuscripts were produced by Dutt (1950) and Bagchi (1970).

n.37Rotman (2017, 135–166). Rotman’s chapter 23 begins at 4.­172 in the present translation, but breaks to include, as chapter 24, the shape-shifting nāga passage before returning to the rest of the Saṅgharakṣita story as chapter 25.

n.38Burnouf (1844, 313–335) and (2010, 310-326); Hiraoka (2007 vol. 2, 1–50); and, for the preamble 4.110 to 4.157, Ware (1938).

n.39Consider our use of the word “ordination,” for instance. In Catholicism, one “professes” to become a monk and is “ordained” to become a priest. While a monk may become a priest, the two are distinct vocations, the latter being a clerical office with specific rights and responsibilities not shared by unordained monks. Since the Buddhist tradition does not distinguish between monastic and clerical offices, it is misleading and perhaps even incorrect to translate the Tibetan bsnyen par rdzogs pa (Skt. upasaṃpadā) as “ordination.” However, as we have not yet come upon a satisfactory translation for this term, we have decided to follow established precedent. We are indebted to Wulstan Fletcher for his advice on this term.

n.40In his work, Bronkhorst speaks of Greater Magadha, an area he defines as the Ganges Valley east of the Gaṅgā and Yamunā confluence (Bronkhorst, 2007, 2–3). Over several books, he marshals evidence for its distinctive culture, different from the Vedic society of Kuru-Pañcāla to the west. One of the main features of this Greater Magadhan culture is the preeminence of ascetic (or śramaṇa) orders like the Jains and Ājīvikas concerned with liberation from saṃsāra, which stand in contrast to the householder brahmins whose fire sacrifices are aimed at securing greater prosperity within saṃsāra. See especially Bronkhorst (2007, 2011). See also part one of Samuel (2008).

n.41Kloppenborg (1983, 159).

n.42In the Āpastamba Dharmasūtra (ca. fourth or fifth century ʙᴄᴇ), parivrājaka is one of four lifestyles (Skt. āśrama) available to someone who has spent time as an apprentice or a disciple to a religious teacher (Bronkhorst, 1998, 5). See also Dutt (1924, 30–56).

n.43Though the Buddha famously rejected mortification as a path to liberation, “ascetic” seems the best translation for śramaṇa. “Ascetic” not only reflects the Sanskrit sense of hardship and toil, it is derived from the Greek word for “exercise” (askein), whence the Greek word for “monk” or “hermit” (askētēs), which well reflects the Tibetan dge sbyong.

n.44Bronkhorst (1998, 66).

n.45Olivelle (1993, 211).

n.46Tib. dka’ thub, Skt. tapaḥ. Kalyāṇamitra folio 196.b.4.

n.47See Bronkhorst (2003) for a discussion of whether Ājīvikas, like Gośālīputra, practiced asceticism.

n.48Olivelle (1993, 78–80).

n.49There is some uncertainty in the Tibetan tradition regarding how the author’s name should be rendered in Sanskrit, whether Kalyāṇamitra or Śubhamitra. Tāranātha speaks of the Vinaya master dge legs bshes gnyen, a contemporary of Haribhadra (late eighth century ᴄᴇ), but fails to offer a Sanskrit equivalent for his name (Tāranātha, 2007, 203). Khetsun Zangpo appears to be speaking of the same master when he says the mdo sde ’dzin pa Shu bha mi tra (the sūtra master Śubhamitra) was one of several adherents of the Vijñapti philosophy who contributed to the spread of sūtra and vinaya in the ninth century ᴄᴇ, shortly after Kṛṣṇācārya’s time (Khetsun, 1971, 567). If Khetsun Zangpo is correct in his characterization, it would suggest the mdo sde in the epithet mdo sde ’dzin pa refers to the sūtrapiṭaka and not Sautrāntika tenets, as some have suggested. Six of Kalyāṇamitra’s (or Śubhamitra’s) works on vinaya are included in the Tengyur: the Vinayavastuṭīkā (’dul ba gzhi rgya cher ’grel pa), the Vinayāgamottaraviśeṣāgamapraśnavṛtti (’dul ba lung bla ma’i bye brag lung zhu ba’i ’grel pa), the Pratimokṣavṛttipadapremotpādikā (so sor thar pa’i ’grel tshig dga’ ba bskyed pa), the Śrāmaṇeraśikṣāpadasūtra (dge tshul gyi bslab pa’i gzhi’i mdo), the Vinayapraśnakārikā (’dul ba dri ba’i tshig le’ur byas pa), and the Vinayapraśnaṭīkā (’dul ba dri ba rgya cher ’grel pa) (Prebish, 1994, 105–12).

n.50Tib. ’dul ba gzhi rgya cher ’grel ba, Skt. Vinayavastuṭīkā. According to Anukul Chandra Banerjee’s Sarvāvastivāda Literature, Kalyāṇamitra gives this text the title lung gzhi’i ’grel pa or Āgamavastuvṛtti in the colophon (Martin, 2011: *Śubhamitra). None of the Degé, Choné, Kangxi, or Narthang editions of this commentary include a colophon; all of them end abruptly after thirteen fascicles. In the commentary itself, however, Kalyāṇamitra refers to his work numerous times as the ’dul ba gzhi rgya cher ’grel ba and identifies himself as the mdo sde ’dzin pa dge legs bshes gnyen (“the sūtra master Kalyāṇamitra”) at the end of his remarks on the second chapter. The lack of a colophon prevents us from identifying the Tibetan translators who executed the translation and the Indian paṇḍitas who oversaw it.

n.51Such variance, common when texts are transmitted in manuscript form, becomes less common with the adoption of block printing. Recent work by scholars such as Shayne Clarke, Chistopher Emms, and Haiyan Hu-von Hinüber also points to the existence of multiple Mūlasarvāstivādin transmissions, though the nature and extent of their differences is not yet clear. That said, the Tibetan translations of Kalyāṇamitra’s commentary and the Chapter on Going Forth show remarkable agreement, as do the Sanskrit Vinayavastu manuscripts uncovered in Gilgit and the Tibetan translation preserved in the Kangyur.

n.52The Vinayavastu itself takes up nearly 2,500 pages over four volumes but, since the extant Tibetan translations of Kalyāṇamitra’s Vinayavastuṭīkā are incomplete, it is not clear how long his commentary was in the Sanskrit original. The Vinayavastuṭīkā begins with a detailed, word-by-word commentary on the first chapter that is as long as the chapter itself, 261 pages. By contrast, the commentary on the Vinayavastu’s 180-page second chapter takes only 32 pages. Despite its brevity, Kalyāṇamitra’s commentary to the second chapter is consistent with the material, the structure and terms of which are more straightforward and less diverse than the first chapter. Kalyāṇamitra may have treated the other fifteen chapters as extensively as he did the first chapter or as cursorily as he did the second; given the available material, it is impossible to say more.

n.53A summary of each of these chapters is given in the introduction.

n.54Following YKN: blags (“heard,” “listened”) instead of D: bklags (“read”) (Pedurma, 722).

n.55Following YJKNC: khongs su chud (“absorbed in thought”) instead of D: khong du chud (“comprehended”) (Pedurma, 722).

n.56The Buddha saw an opportunity to be reborn in the right family, in the right land, at the right time, with the right patrilineage, and to the right woman (Kalyāṇamitra, folios 183.a.7–183.b.1).

n.57The “gulf between worlds” refers to the cold hells said to exist between the four continents of ancient Indian cosmology (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 183.b.5–6).

n.58The Sanskrit fragments of the Pravrajyāvastu recovered from Gilgit begin here. The first complete sentence in Sanskrit begins on the front or recto side of the second folio [S.2.a] (Vogel and Wille, 1992, 71).

n.59Following S: rtse ’grogs, and HKC (Pedurma, 723): rtsed grogs (playmates), instead of D: rtsen grogs.

n.60The exact meanings of the last three items in this list are obscure and do not appear in the Sanskrit [S.2.a.2] (Vogel and Wille, 1992, 71). A similar list does however appear in the Divyāvadāna’s “Story of Koṭikarṇa,” where Rotman translates these three as “debts, deposits, and trusts” (Rotman, 2008, 42). Kalyāṇamitra explains that dbyung ba “refers to the ‘yield’ of materials such as bamboo and so forth” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 184.b.3). In deference to these two sources, we have decided to translate dbyung ba, gzhug pa, gzhag pa here as “expenditures, revenues, and deposits,” terms which are fundamental to finance, a subject likely to figure in a king’s education. The same trope is encountered later in the text 1.­143, where Śāriputra’s training in reciting the Vedas is described. In that case, we have chosen to follow Geshé Rinchen Ngödrup’s suggestion that these three skills refer to “the way words in Sanskrit are formed or constructed from verbal roots and parsed grammatically.” In that case, we have translated the three as “to exclude, to add, and to leave.”

n.61Following YJKNCH: spyod pa (“conduct”) instead of D: skyod pa (“movement”) (Pedurma, 723).

n.62According to Geshé Rinchen Ngödrup, this refers to the turbans warriors would wear into battle.

n.63The eighteen guilds were merchants, potters, garland makers, alcohol sellers, cowherds, barbers, millers, smiths, carpenters, fortune-tellers, weavers, leatherworkers, fishermen, dyers, bamboo-weavers, butchers, hunters, and ox-cart makers (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 185.b.4–6). Guilds were an important factor in urban life, “both in organizing production and in shaping public opinion… Customary usage of the guild (śreṇi-dharma) had the force of law. That the guild also intervened in the private lives of its members is also clear” (Thapar, 1990, 109–10).

n.64The four Vedas are the Ṛgveda, which contains sacred incantations or mantras; the Sāmaveda, which rearranges the Ṛgveda’s verses into chants or songs; the Yajurveda, which supplements the Sāmaveda’s chants with prose for ritual use; and the Atharvaveda, which has incantations used for more mundane ends (Doniger, 2009, 123-124). The branches of Vedic learning are treatises on precepts, rituals, grammar, prosody, etymology, and astrology (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 186.b.4–5).

n.65The first four are Vedic sages, ancestors of different brahmin gotras (lineages). The last two may be references to the Pañca Gauḍa and Pañca Drāviḍa, the two main geographical groupings of brahmins, respectively to the north and south of the Vindhya hills, each of which comprises five subgroups.

n.66On the goal of bodily ascent to heaven, in White (1996) see chapter three, “Embodied Ascent, Meditation & Yogic Suicide.”

n.67The implements they carry distinguish them as brahmin. The water jugs and ladles they bring would have been used for pūja while the bast robes they wore were made of vālkam/valkala or bark. “Valkala was also manufactured from the fiber of the bark of the trees and was usually worn by the saints. Another name for this was Druma Charma. Valkala cloth was forbidden to the Buddhist monks,” (Jain, 2003, 199). By the fourth century of the common era, the term vālkam was used to designate a certain class of textile that included, in addition to cloth made from tree bark, materials such as kṣauma, or linen (Kumar, 2008, 60).

n.68In this case, the victor’s prize was akin to an endowment, or a land grant (Skt. brahmadeya) that entitled the recipient to keep the taxes collected from that village. In Chakravarti (1987), see chapter three, “The Gahapati”.

n.69Following S: rtse ’grogs, and YHKN (Pedurma, 725): rtse grogs (playmates) instead of D: rtsen grogs.

n.70For these last three items, see n.­60.

n.71A materialist philosophy inspired by the Cārvaka (Tib. rgyang ’phen pa). It is called “This Worldly” (Tib. ’jig rten pa, Skt. lokāyata) because of its rejection of rebirth and an afterlife. For more on Lokāyata philosophy see Chattopadhaya (1959).

n.72The three folio sides 10.b to 11.b of the text contain a verbatim repetition of the passage from 7.a to 8.b, i.e. 1.­53 through 1.­69 above, beginning, “The brahmins’ students were in the habit…” and ending, “Since all worthy opponents and anyone counted as learned will be close to the king, it is the king I shall see.” The only difference is that in this later passage the “teacher of brahmins” who leads his students to Magadha and the Middle Country is not Māthara but Tiṣya, who‍—unlike Māthara in the earlier passage‍—is named twice. The passage in the Sanskrit runs from S.4.b.3 to S.5.a.5 (Vogel and Wille, 1992, 77).

n.73See n.­65.

n.74See n.­66.

n.75See n.­67.

n.76Following YJKNCH: lan (“respond,” “answer”) instead of D: len (“take”) (Pedurma, 726).

n.77Following YKCH: glo bur du (“for a short time”) instead of D: blo bur du (“sprung from mind”) (Pedurma, 727).

n.78Following YK: nyams par bgyis (“robbed,” “brought ruin,” “caused to diminish”) instead of D: nyams par bgyid (“robbing,” “bringing ruin,” “causing to diminish”) (Pedurma, 727).

n.79An early school of Indian grammar, possibly a source for the later grammarian Pāṇini. See Burnell (1875).

n.80Following NH: dpral (“forehead”) instead of D: ’phral (“incidental,” “immediate”) (Pedurma, 727).

n.81Following S: rtse ’grogs, and NH (Pedurma, 727): rtse grogs (playmates) instead of D: rtsen grogs.

n.82That is, the words of the Vedas (Kalyāṇamitra folio 190.b.4–5). Presumably, Upatiṣya is asking about the meaning of the words found in the Ṛgveda’s hymns, which were, as noted earlier, incorporated into the Sāmaveda’s chants and elaborated on in the Yajurveda’s ritual manuals.

n.83S.6.b.10 ends here with ca pratyupasthito bhavati eṣāṃ trayāṇāṃ (Vogel and Wille, 1992, 81). The Tibetan contains just over one half of a folio of material (Degé folios 15.a.6-16.b.1) before the Sanskrit resumes on S.7.a with sā aṣṭānāṃ vā navānāṃ vā masānāṃ (Vogel and Wille, 1992, 302).

n.84Following S: rtse ’grogs, YK: rtsed grogs, and NH (Pedurma, 728): rtse grogs (playmates) instead of D: rtsen grogs.

n.85A traditional meter of the Jagatī class consisting of twelve syllables per pāda (Morgan, 2011, 124).

n.86S.8.a.1-4 are missing from the Gilgit Manuscripts, (Vogel and Wille, 1984, 8).

n.87As beings are said to be miraculously reborn in the intermediate state, this is taken to be a rejection of the intermediate state (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 198.b.3–4).

n.88Following K: bag la zhi bar ’gyur (“recede”) instead of D: bag la zha bar ’gyur (Pedurma, 730).

n.89To Gośālīputra, “causes” refer to internal acts like meditation while “conditions” refer to external acts like listening to teachings (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 201.b.3–4).

n.90Literally, “unties a knot,” as in “unties a rope to open a door” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 204.a.7).

n.91Most likely a reference to the sudarśana cakra, a circular saw-like weapon used by Viṣṇu as mentioned in the Mahābhārata (see Begley, 1973). The use of cakram, or circular throwing blades, in ancient Indian warfare is also well attested.

n.92One of the main brahmin gotra or patrilineages, the Śāṇḍilya clan traces its origins to the sage Śāṇḍilya. The Kangyur redactions give Śaṇḍila or Śanṭila (Pedurma, 65 and 731) while the Sanskrit at leaf 11.b.1 identifies the clan as the Kauṇḍinya clan (Vogel and Wille, 1984, 12).

n.93The three phases refer to the three stages of (1) identifying the four truths, (2) understanding how to relate to each of the four truths, and (3) knowing that the respective goals of the four truths have been accomplished; when these three stages are applied to each of the four truths, there are twelve aspects in all. The events around the Buddha’s awakening and teaching that these brief references summarize here, simply as chronological landmarks, are related in much more extensive detail in The Chapter on Schism in the Saṅgha (Toh 1, ch. 17). For this episode of the Buddha’s first teaching of the Four Truths, see The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, 2018), which is itself an extract from ch. 17.

n.94The text of this summarized version here is simply lnga pa dang / nye lnga dag, but from the many more expansive accounts it can be surmised that the “group of five” (lnga pa, more often lnga sde, Skt. pañcaka, q.v. in Edgerton, also often called the pañcavargika) refers to the Buddha’s five former companions in ascetic practice‍—Kauṇḍinya, Aśvajit, Vāṣpa, Mahānāman, and Bhadrika‍—who received his first teaching and became his first followers; while the “five friends” (nye lnga, elsewhere nye lnga’i sde, see Tāranātha II, folio 28.b et seq.) refers to the five wealthy young Vārāṇasī merchants’ sons, first Yaśas and, following his lead, Pūrṇa, Vimala, Gavāṃpati, and Subāhu, all of whom constituted the first ten bhikṣus to receive ordination.

n.95The first batch of Sanskrit fragments end on Sanskrit leaf 12.b.10 (Vogel and Wille, 1984, p. 14). The Sanskrit fragments resume with leaf 43.b.1 (see Vogel and Wille, 1996, p. 254), which corresponds to folio 99.b.7 of the present text.

n.96The passage “who hurts, who wants, who is unhappy” is repeated in the Tibetan text as well. Kalyāṇamitra explains that on first mention, their meaning is to be understood in a straightforward way. He then glosses their second mention as follows, “Some argue that beings hurt because it is hard to escape [the suffering of saṃsāra], they want because there will be no other opportunities to make amends, and they are unhappy because they are subject to harm,” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 219.a.2–4).

n.97Another, parallel version of the narrative from this point, with slightly less detail but interesting differences, is to be found in the Mahā­sannipāta­ratna­ketu­dhāraṇī , Toh 138, folio F.188.a et seq. For translation, see Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2020) The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī .

n.98The Sanskrit is: ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat | teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ. This well known and widely quoted stanza, the origin of which is the story in this passage, is sometimes called “the essence of dependent arising” (rten ’brel snying po). 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 The Sūtra on Dependent Arising (Toh 212), in which the Buddha explains and recommends its use in the construction of stūpas; also Sykes (1856) and Skilling (2003). 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 212. A considerably expanded version of the same four lines, which exists in Tibetan translation but of which the original Sanskrit may be lost, can be seen in other texts‍—for example, in the parallel version of this narrative in the Mahā­sannipāta­ratna­ketu­dhāraṇī , Toh 138, folio 188.b (1.3) et seq. (see n.­97).

n.99Following S and YJKC: yid ma rangs (“disappointed”) instead of D: yi ma rangs (Pedurma, 734).

n.100The somewhat free translation of the second half of this verse follows Kalyāṇamitra’s tentative interpretation of it: that people meant to insult Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana’s followers by suggesting the Buddha only accepted them because they were the only people left who had not yet converted (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 223.b.5). The verse in the original seems less directed at those monks in particular and more expressive of a sense of general bereavement and grievance directed towards the Buddha himself, which the monks, by way of identifying with their new teacher, might have taken personally. Perhaps what is more important than the correctness of either interpretation is the suggestion that underlies them both, that the Buddha’s order had become the preeminent ascetic (or śramaṇa) order in Rājagṛha.

n.101See 1.­133.

n.102According to the commentary, Dīrghanakha argued that the self does not endure beyond this life because neither valid perception nor valid inference sees a self as persisting into a future life. Perception cannot see it because objects of perception must be “right in front of us,” which a future self, separated in time and space, cannot be. Nor can inference see it because objects of inference must be abstractions, not “things” like the self. The Buddha’s response suggests that Dīrghanakha’s view is nihilistic, for it holds that the self begins at birth and ends at death, thereby denying continuity from life to life (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 224.a.4–6).

n.103The index that follows the Buddha’s discourse contains the line, “worldly, ascetics and brahmins.” Apart from this line, each of the other lines in the intra-chapter summary has an explicit, if not verbatim, correlate in the Buddha’s discourse. It seems reasonable then to assume that the three positions on the view of self are those held by worldly persons, ascetics, and brahmins, respectively. Worldly persons adhere to the view that all selves endure. Ascetics (or śramaṇa), here meaning the followers of the Buddha, adhere to the view that no self endures. Brahmins adhere to the view some selves endure but others do not. This interpretation seems more consistent with the text than the one offered by Kalyāṇamitra, who equates these three positions with a belief in an eternal self, the nihilistic denial of any continuity of self from life to life, and a view that mixes eternalism and nihilism (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 226.a.1–2).

n.104The final section of this passage is rendered following NSY: bdag ni tham cad mi bzod; D reads instead: bdag ni kha cig bzod la kha cig mi bzod.

n.105Feelings that are finally traced to the five physical senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 229.b.3–4).

n.106A neutral feeling experienced, in the absence of other feelings, by mind alone for as long as one lives (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 229.b.6–7).

n.107A noble disciple greets death with joy and pleasure. His experience of pleasure at that moment is not accompanied by disturbing emotions such as desire (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 230.b.2–6).

n.108The arhat has not attained omniscience, as the phrase would seem to indicate, but rather the knowledge that he is no longer subject to suffering for he knows he has exhausted all of what causes it to arise (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 231.b.7).

n.109Although the text in every Kangyur consulted includes this sentence (Pedurma, 2006, 93), it appears to be out of place; the narrative moves on to discuss Śāriputra’s past lives and does not discuss until the very end of this chapter the circumstances that led to Koṣṭhila being named supreme among the Buddha’s monk disciples who had gained the knowledge of perfect discernment.

n.110The four placements of mindfulness, the four perfect abandonments, the four foundations of miraculous conduct, the five powers, the ten strengths, the seven branches of enlightenment, and the noble eightfold path (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 233.a7–b1).

n.111That is, he attained the middling enlightenment of a pratyekabuddha and abandoned the causes for his own suffering (Kalyāṇamitra folio 233.b.1–2).

n.112Knowledge of miraculous objects, the divine ear, states of mind, recollection of former lives, and foreknowledge of death and rebirth (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 235.a.2–3).

n.113See n.­111.

n.114Inserted following YKNH: dgra bcom pa (arhat), omitted in D (Pedurma, 737).

n.115Of the distinctions as “foremost of …” with which the Buddha singled out his arhat disciples, the first of the two for Śāriputra mentioned in this passage, his being “foremost of those with great wisdom” (mahāprajñāvatām agryaḥ, shes rab chen po dang ldan pa rnams kyi mchog), is widespread and constant throughout the canonical literature. The second, however, his being “foremost of those with great confident eloquence" (*mahāpratibhānavatām agryaḥ, spobs pa chen po dang ldan pa rnams kyi mchog), is to our knowledge not found elsewhere, at least in the Kangyur.

n.116This informal exchange is known as the “Come, monk” ordination (Tib. tshur shog gi bsnyen par rdzogs pa, Skt. ehibhikṣukā upasaṃpadā).

n.117The text gives gnas sbyin pa which we have read as a synonym for gnas kyi slob dpon.

n.118Tib. bslab pa’i gzhi, Skt. śikṣāpada. The “foundations of the training” refer either to the knowledge and stability that conduce to abandoning disturbing emotions or the basic precepts one pledges to uphold when going for refuge, such as refraining from killing (Kalyāṇamitra, folios 237.b.6–8.a.1).

n.119That is, the Buddha or an image of him.

n.120In place of “reverend.”

n.121The term gle ’dams pa, sometimes spelled sle ’dams pa, Skt. saṃbhinnavyañjana, among other categories taken as indicative of gender ambiguity, is said to denote conditions in which the person affected urinates and defecates through the same orifice. This might include certain kinds of fistula, such as a colovesical fistula, involving communication between the urinary tract and rectum, or possibly congenital disorders including certain extreme forms of hypospadias.

n.122A reference to the five types of offenses a monk may incur (defeats, saṅgha remnant, transgressions, confessable offenses, and misdeeds), each of which must be expunged in its own way. Defeats cannot be expunged. Saṅgha remnants are expunged through confession to the community followed by a period of probation and penance. Transgressions are of two types, those requiring forfeiture and simple transgressions. Transgressions requiring forfeiture are expunged through communal confession and the forfeiting of the object that caused the offense. Simple transgressions are expunged through participation in the community’s restoration. Confessable offenses are expunged through personal confession while misdeeds are expunged through resolving to refrain from them in the future (see Dudjom, 1999). According to Kalyāṇamitra, slight mental misdeeds must be reined in; transgressions, and confessable offenses should be confessed; while saṅgha remnants and transgressions requiring forfeiture must be formally excused (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 244.a.4–7).

n.123The saṅgha is “in concord” (Tib. mthun par gyur pa, Skt. samanuyujya) when all of the monks within a boundary (Tib. mtshams, Skt. sīmā) are either present or have given their consent for an official function such as an ordination ceremony. If it is not possible to gather the entire community together, a quorum may convene in an “inner circle” (Tib. dkyil ’khor, Skt. maṇḍalaka) within a monastery’s boundaries but set off from the rest of the community (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 244.b.3–7).

n.124This question is asked to ensure that the ordinand’s going forth has been formally allowed and that he has been inducted into the novitiate (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 250.b.6–7).

n.125As suggested by the prefacing statement “diseases that manifest on the body in these ways,” this is primarily a list of symptoms, not disease names, and has generally been translated as such. Certain symptoms can readily be equated with conditions familiar to modern medicine; for instance, tertian and quartan fevers are usually caused by malaria, and “consumption” is a now obsolete name for tuberculosis. Since several of these symptoms may be caused by a number of different illnesseses, further research is required to reliably determine which illnesses (temporarily or permanently) disqualify a candidate for ordination.

n.126See n.­124.

n.127See n.­125.

n.128In the Buddha’s time, much like today, the Gangetic plain had three distinct seasons: a cold season, spring, and monsoon, each lasting four months. The cold season ran for four months, roughly from October through January and into February, while spring ran roughly from February through May and into June. The four months of monsoon, itself split into three “seasons” for a total of five “seasons,” ran from June through September.

n.129The translation follows Schopen but compare NH: lha khang (Eng. “temple,” Skt. vihāra) and YJKC: snga gang or SD: snga khang (Pedurma, 742). The reading snga khang is preferred by Schopen, but the meaning is obscure; it is given in Mahāvyutpatti 5548, along with rnga khang, as being the equivalent of Skt. māṭa or māḍa, but the meaning of these terms is also obscure; see Edgerton under māḍa.

n.130Also possibly “voided urine.” Urine therapy, attested also in the sixth chapter of the Mahavagga, the Theravādin khandaka on medicine, is still practiced in India.

n.131A monk who violates one of four principal vows and thereby incurs a defeat is expelled from the saṅgha community. He is no longer entitled to participate in communal activities (e.g., the poṣadha restoration, the rains retreat, or the relaxation of restrictions that marks the end of the rains retreat, etc.) nor is he entitled to enjoy its perquisites, such as food and lodging (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 258.a.4–5). The Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya does, however, allow a defeated monk to remain with the saṅgha as a penitent (Tib. bslab pa sbyin pa; Skt. śikṣādattaka), a lifelong status lower than monks but higher than novices.

n.132The measure in question here is called a māṣaka (Tib. ma sha ka). SA unit of money worth four gold coins called kākani or potika. Kākani were in turn equivalent to twenty cowrie shells (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 258.b.3–4).

n.133The final superhuman quality is nirvāṇa. An exalted superhuman quality is a quality shared by the Buddha and his disciples. Specific superhuman qualities refer to the four results of a stream enterer, once-returner, non-returner, and arhat. The states of nonperception and nondiscernment are states of absorption in which one does not perceive or discern the five aggregates (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 260.a.7–b.2). These are commonly referred to as form and formless absorptions and can serve as a platform for a contaminated consciousness (in which case it would be a state of nonperception) or an uncontaminated consciousness (in which case it would be a state of nondiscernment).

n.134Knowledge of the four truths, insight into the four truths, and first-hand experience of the four dhyānas through meditation, rather than rebirth in a form realm (Kalyāṇamitra, folios 260.b.6–261.a.2).

n.135Many sources interpret rnam par ’thor ba to mean “scavenged.” However, this appears to be a misreading of the Tibetan verb zos, which is used to gloss rnam par ’thor ba. While zos is an alternative spelling of the past tense of the verb za ba, “to eat,” in this context, it is bacteria that “eat away” at the corpse and not scavenging animals like hyenas. Kalyāṇamitra describes this stage of decomposition as “the wasting away that occurs at intervals in the flesh” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 262.b.3). Since zos pa here means “eaten or wasting away,” as in the related verb chud zos, “to go to waste,” rnam par ’thor ba refers not to the scavenged remains of a corpse but to its “breaking apart” or “disintegration.”

n.136Emotional obscurations and obscurations to meditative absorption (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 264.a.2–3).

n.137As the Prātimokṣasūtra is recited during the poṣadha restoration rite, this serves as shorthand to indicate that all monks, regardless of seniority, are expected to engage in the same community activities (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 265.a.1–2).

n.138The monk’s commitments are “unspoken” insofar as the monk has not yet been fully apprised of the details at the time he commits to them (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 266.a.6–7).

n.139What he is to revere are his monastic precepts (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 266.b.7).

n.140That is to say they may not make repairs or improvements without permission (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 268.b.1–3).

n.141Anxiety about an offense helps to purify it (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 269.b.3).

n.142Following Kalyāṇamitra, read ’phyar for zhig (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 270.b.1). According to Kalyāṇamitra, this is meant to imply one has been insulted.

n.143Following Kalyāṇamitra, read dge ’dun la spu snyol bar byed for dge ’dun la spu sa la ltung ba lta bur byed (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 270.b.2).

n.144The saṅgha may impose a temporary probation upon a monk who incurs a saṅgha remnant offense and does not confess it the same day. If the offense is concealed, they may place him on probation. If the monk incurs the same offense again before the end of his probation and penance, a repeat probation and penance may be imposed. And if the monk offends again before completing a repeat probation and penance, a further probation and further penance may be imposed. During these times, the monk is obliged to perform certain menial tasks and observe a “special demeanor,” which entails, among other things, adopting a position of deference and rejecting honors accorded to monks of good standing. At the successful completion of a probation and penance, the monk can then be reinstated. These disciplinary procedures are known by the trope, “probation, penance, and reinstatement.”

n.145Monks mark their “monastic age” by the number of rains retreats they have passed.

n.146In this case, mātṛkā (Tib. ma mo, Eng. “mother”) refers to the Abhidharmapiṭaka. In the Abhidharmapiṭaka, a mātṛkā is “seen not so much as a condensed summary, as the seed from which something grows,” (Gethin, 1992, 161). Though mātṛkā function as indices of important topics that are elaborated on in a given text, they may have played an important role in “birthing” further texts, hence the name, mātṛkā (see Clarke, 2004 and Hirakawa, 1990, chap. 10). “Retains” as in “remembers” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 273.b.1).

n.147These three refer to observing the proper bearing or behavior described in the Vinayavibhaṅga, the Vinayavastu and Vinayakṣudraka, and the Prātimokṣa, respectively (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 274.a.7).

n.148“Trainee” refers to those engaged in training to abandon disturbing emotions through the application of uncontaminated paths, specifically the seven types of noble persons (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 275.a.6). In this case, the “seven types of noble persons” most likely refer to the first seven of the eight “entrants and abiders” (Tib. zhugs gnas brgyad), who have either achieved or are in the process of achieving the results of stream enterer (Tib, rgyun zhugs, Skt. srota āpanna), once-returner (Tib. phyir ’ong, Skt. sakṛdāgāmin), non-returner (Tib. phyir mi ’ong, Skt. anāgāmin), and arhat (Tib. dgra bcom, Skt. arhat).

n.149nontrainee refers to arhats, who have abandoned disturbing emotions and thus no longer need to train (Kalyāṇamitra folio 275.b.3).

n.150An exemplar is one who has one or another of the twenty-one sets of five qualities listed above (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 277.a.7).

n.151The translation follows Kalyāṇamitra’s commentary, which states that gnas btsal is short for gnas kyi slob dpon btsal (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 277.b.5). As related above, the Buddha decreed that newly ordained monks were not allowed to live independently until they had passed ten years as a monk and possessed one of the twenty-one sets of five qualities described above. Until that time, they were obliged to live as wards of, or apprentices to, a “refuge.” To accept charge of monk apprentices and journeymen, a monk must himself be “a refuge” (Tib. gnas, Skt. niśraya), meaning that he has been ordained at least five or ten years without incurring an offense, and “knowledgeable” (Tib. mkhas, Skt. kuśāla / kovidā), meaning he has at least one of the twenty-one sets of five qualities described in this section. Such a monk is said to have “the qualities of stability and skill” (Tib. brtan mkhas kyi yon tan; see Nyima, 2009, p. 468–70 and Kalyāṇamitra, folio 271.a.5–6). It is probably relevant to note that the qualities of being a refuge may be implied in the Tibetan translation of sthavira or “elder,” gnas brtan.

n.152Here the Buddha amends his earlier decree that a monk must have passed ten years and possess five qualities to live independently to say that monks who have passed five years and possess five qualities may, indeed should, wander between rains retreats.

n.153These two circumstances are put to the Buddha to determine which is the more important factor in determining whether a monk should stay in one place or travel between rainy seasons. The Buddha’s answers indicate that both criteria, being ordained for five years and having five qualities, are equally important (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 278.b.1–4).

n.154Kalyāṇamitra describes these three as: knowledge of previous lives, knowledge of approaching death and birth, and knowledge of the exhaustion of defilements (Kalyāyāṇamitra, folio 278.b.4). However, Guṇaprabha gives another list: knowledge of what a refuge should do, should not do, and how to impose discipline (Guṇaprabha, folio 18.b.1–2).

n.155The three stains of desirous attachment, aversion, and delusion (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 278.b.4–5).

n.156Dreadlocked fire-worshippers, or Jaṭilas, were early converts of the Buddha. Many were said to have converted en masse after the Buddha delivered the “Fire Sermon” (Pali Ādittapariyāya Sutta) to Kāśyapa and his followers at Uruvilvā. See the Saṅghabhedavastu (Tib. dge ’dun dbyen gyi gzhi) for the Mūlasarvāstivādin account of their conversion.

n.157Meaning such a person feels “no attachment to me or mine” (Kalyāṇamitra folio 283.a.1).

n.158Following N: tsan dan bzhag pa lta bu (as if sandalwood had been applied) instead of D: tsan dan dang ste’ur mnyam pa lta bu (for whom sandalwood is equal to an axe / medical needle) (Pedurma, 747). This reading is supported by Kalyāṇamitra’s commentary (Kalyāṇamitra folio 283.a.2) and a similar passage later in the text that reads: tsan dan zhag lon par bzhag pa lta bur (Degé, folio 77.b.7). The commentary explains the analogy: “Just as sandalwood cools when rubbed on and left overnight, his disturbing emotions have cooled, and hence it is as if sandalwood had been applied” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 283.a.2).

n.159Kalyāṇamitra’s commentary contains no mention of the monk’s response to this question. Instead it moves directly on to the second question about razors. The monk’s response may be a later interpolation, which would explain why the father’s appearance is announced twice in the Degé edition of the source text.

n.160The translation of g-yar bltam (“fill his own mouth”) is speculative.

n.161All of these are ancient stringed instruments (Kalyāṇamitra, folios 287.a.7–b.1).

n.162A set of twenty-five sūtras from the Nidānasaṃyukta Sanskrit original were recovered between 1902 and 1914 in Gāndhāra by the German Turfan expeditions and later studied by Tripāṭhī (1962). Glass and Allon (2007, 29–31) report that no Tibetan translation of this work survives.

n.163Following NH: zhal gyi sgo nas (“from your mouth”) instead of D: zhal gyi sgros nas (“from your lips”) (Pedurma, 752) and Kalyāṇamitra (F.291.b.1).

n.164Following NH: bstan (short for lung bstan) instead of D: brtan (Pedurma, 752) and Kalyāṇamitra (F.291.b.1.4).

n.165That is, give rise to the vows (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 292.a.4).

n.166Following Kalyāṇamitra, read las ’thob for las thos. Kalyāṇamitra (F.292.6–7) explains that “sentence” (Tib. las, Skt. karma) here refers to a “punitive act” (Tib. chad pa’i las, Skt. daṇḍakarman).

n.167A group of six (Skt. ṣaḍvārgikāḥ, Tib. drug sde) of the Buddha’s disciples‍—Nanda, Upananda, Udāyin, Aśvaka, Punarvasu, and Chanda (Kalyāṇamitra, folios 292.a.7–b.1)‍—whose antics and heavy-handed interference prompted a great many of the Buddha’s injunctions on conduct, as recounted in the Vinayavibhaṅga.

n.168The old-timer is challenging them by pointing out that the Buddha had no preceptor but rather was “self-ordained.” Naturally, this would strike the monks as hubris and spark a sharp reaction.

n.169The unspoken qualification here is that the person in question participates in these rites under false pretenses, that is, without having been properly ordained. Someone who twice participates in the restoration, or any of the other one hundred and one types of saṅgha activities, under false pretenses becomes an impostor. If he does it a third time, he demonstrates his intractability and is henceforth considered “an inveterate impostor” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 293.a.1–3).

n.170Strictly speaking, this should read, “I’m a person labeled a paṇḍaka,” but the context makes clear that of the five types of person labeled a paṇḍaka described below, he is an intersex person (Tib. skyes nas ma ning, Skt. jātyāpaṇḍaka) and so the phrase has been translated here accordingly.

n.171That is, provided they do not demonstrate an interest in having intercourse with others (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 293.a.5–6).

n.172One of the Four Āgama into which the Mūlasarvāstivādin tradition grouped the Buddha’s early sūtra discourses, the Ekottarikāgama (Tib. lung gcig las ’phros pa) is a collection of the Buddha’s sayings arranged numerically, from one to one hundred (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 293.b.3–5). It is known in the Pali tradition as the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Though the Ekottarikāgama was no longer extant in Kalyāṇamitra’s lifetime, its contents were vaguely known from descriptions in other extant works (Kalyāṇamitra, Extensive Commentary , folio 293.b.4–5). Although Tibetan translators of the later spread of Buddhism (tenth to thirteenth centuries and later) “almost completely ignored the āgama literature” in preference for Mahāyāna sutras, the Ekottarikāgama was apparently translated into Tibetan, as Marcelle Lalou located a reference in the Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) catalog to a translation of the text carried out during Trisong Deutsen’s reign (Glass and Allon, 2007, 31).

n.173It was not uncommon for individuals, monk and layman both, to “own” temples and monasteries. As owner, these individuals took it upon themselves to provide basic necessities to the residents and arriving monks. See Schopen (2010).

n.174Apart from the plates, these items are all found among the thirteen “subsistence items” or “essential possessions” (Tib. ’tsho ba’i yo byad, Skt. jīvopāya) allowed to monks by the Buddha (nor brang, 2008, 2805–6).

n.175Referring presumably to the arriving monks and departing monks hosted at the monastery who, as monks with leave to wander, would have possessed the five qualities discussed earlier, and hence a fair amount of knowledge.

n.176The benefits and drawbacks of an ocean voyage were broadcast with each call, and with each announcement the ropes were cut, thus initiating the journey (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 295.b.4–6).

n.177Kalyāṇamitra explains that, at the time of Saṅgharakṣita’s visit, these buddhas had not yet visited these sanctuaries (Tib. dri gtsang khang, Skt. gandhakuṭī). They would, however, serve as residences for these buddhas after our world has been destroyed in the “eon of destruction.”

n.178These four āgama (Tib. lung), or discourses, still form the core of the Pali canon’s Sūtrapiṭaka. By assigning their recitation and memorization to young nāgas, the shape shifter was taking a concrete step towards establishing the Buddha’s sūtras in the land of the nāgas, the express purpose for abducting Saṅgharakṣita.

n.179Patronage (Tib. yon, Skt. dakṣiṇā) is an offering made in faith or in payment for ritual services. If a monk observes his vows purely, he may receive, and use, extensive patronage, as much as “one hundred thousand items of clothing, one hundred thousand dishes of food, and five hundred houses,” provided he receives it with “the thought of nirvaṇa” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 296.b.6–7). However, if he is lax in his observance of his ethics, he is not entitled to patronage and the consequences of seeking it are dire. As the Buddha said in the Vinayavibhaṅga, “For one without pure vows and whose ethics are lax, / It is far better / To eat fiery iron balls / Than alms collected from surrounding communities” ( Vinayavibhaṅga , Degé, folio 217.a).

n.180The explanations of how these beings came to take such forms come below, see 4.­291.

n.181Cow dung is still widely used in India to replaster the walls and floors of rural dwellings. Cow dung is considered sanitary and counted among the “five cow products” (Tib. ba byung lnga, Skt. pañca gavya)‍—urine, dung, milk, butter, and curd‍—considered pure and used in certain rituals (dung dkar, 2002, p. 1378).

n.182The following verse is the first in the Brāhmaṇavarga, the last of thirty-three chapters in the Udānavarga, a collection of verses on various topics attributed to the Buddha. For a study of the edited text in Sanskrit see Bernhard (1965) and for a study of its relation to The Gāndhārī Dharmapada, see Brough (2001).

n.183Though all versions of the Kangyur read ’byung mi ’gyur (“do not arise”) (Pedurma, 758), the translation follows Kalyāṇamitra’s commentary, which gives ’byang mi ’gyur (“do not purify”) (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 297.b.2).

n.184The Nagaropama Sutta in the Pali canon’s Aṅguttara Nikāya is a wholly different sūtra from the one cited here, which in Pali is known as the Nagara Sutta and is found in the Saṃyutta Nikāya. For a comparative translation of the Pali Nagara Sutta and the Sanskrit Nagaropama Sūtra, see Tan (2005). A reconstruction and translation of the Sanskrit version of the Nagaropama Sūtra found in Turfan was published and edited by Bongard-Levin et al. (1996).

n.185The text gives Tib. spyod pa can, Skt. caraka, which we have chosen to render as sādhu following Kalyāṇamitra’s description of the caraka as a “tīrthika-style renunciant” (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 301.a.4–5). Though the use of sādhu here may be anachronistic, it has the proper implications and is reasonably familiar to nonspecialists.

n.186Though all versions of the Kangyur read yang dag par gyur pa (“pure”) (Pedurma, p. 759), the translation follows Kalyāṇamitra’s commentary, which gives yangs par gyur pa (“prodigious”) (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 301.a.7).

n.187That is, the five realms of gods, humans, animals, spirits, and hell-denizens (Nordrang 2008, 2987).

n.188Not only is the monk in question an arhat, he also occupies a position of considerable importance at the monastery and thus their treatment of him is both rude and insubordinate.

n.189Learning the six fields of Vedic knowledge.

n.190This phrase underlines the meaning of “alms” in Tibetan (bsod snyoms): rather than being simply a charitable offering, by “equalising merit” between the lay donor and the monastic recipient, it affords the opportunity to create links between the individuals concerned as well as between their respective communities.

n.191Lunar-based calendar systems give precedence to the moon’s phases, leading to a calendar year of 360 days, divided into twelve months of thirty days apiece. Since it takes the earth 365¼ days to make a complete revolution around the sun, lunar calendars must add or subtract days and even months to keep the calendar properly aligned with the earth’s place in its solar orbit.

n.192If a monk is unable to attend an official saṅgha function such as the restoration in person, he must offer his proxy to a competent monk (Tib. yul las byed pa’i dge ’dun) who, when prompted, must repeat a formula three times expressing that the absent monk has no objections and will abide by the acts enacted by the assembly (Nyima, 2009, 408). Further details on such procedures can be found in the Poṣadavastu, the second chapter of the Vinayavastu.

n.193When the episode of patricide is recounted below on 4.­397, the text includes yet another suggestion‍—“Some said, ‘Drown yourself,’ ”‍—between jumping off a cliff and strangling oneself.

n.194Kalyāṇamitra suggests that the virtuous thought that prompted the matricide’s passing from hell to heaven was his allowing the guardians to kill him (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 304.a.3). This served as the precipitating condition to activate the actual karmic cause for his rebirth as a god, his washing the dry sauna, as stated later in the paragraph.

n.195See n.­194.

n.196The story is told in the Bhaiṣajyavastu. Though all Tibetan versions of “The Chapter on Going Forth” read gzhon nu’i dpe’i mdo sde (Pedurma, p. 764), the translation assumes gzhon nu’i dpe’i mdo’i dpes. This emendation follows an almost identical passage (gzhon nu lta bu’i mdo’i dpes rgyal po gsal rgyal btul nas) from the Tibetan translation of the Avaḍānaśataka cited by Negi (Negi, vol. 12, 2003, 5306). Although in that passage from the Avaḍānaśataka the title was translated into Tibetan as gzhon nu lta bu’i mdo, Peter Skilling has shown that it and the gzhon nu’i dpe’i mdo refer to the same sūtra, known correctly in Sanskrit as the Daharopama Sūtra (Skilling, 1994, 772). The Daharopama Sūtra / gzhon nu’i dpe’i mdo (Toh 296), which was used to convert King Prasenajit, can be found on folios 295.b–297.a in volume 71 (mdo sde, sha) of the Degé Kangyur, with its erroneous Sanskrit title the Kumāradṛṣṭānta Sūtra. It is one of several short sūtras from the Saṃyuktāgama collection scattered throughout the Tibetan Kangyurs (Glass and Allon, 2007, 31–32).

n.197Failing to acknowledge an offense is one of seven grounds for suspension. The types of disciplinary acts meted out by the saṅgha are the subject of the Kauśāmbakavastu, Pāṇḍulohitakavāstu, Pudgalavastu, and the Pārivāsikavastu chapters of the Vinayavastu.

n.198See the Vinayakṣudraka for further conditions that disqualify a person from ordination.

n.199Either by tattoos or a brand (Kalyāṇamitra, folio 307.b.1–2), received as a mark of punishment.

n.200Kalyāṇamitra explains this to mean that ordination should be given to those untainted by caste or physical flaws. Caste flaws include belonging to the cobbler caste or outcastes. Physical flaws are of two types, shape and color. Flaws of shape are physical handicaps such as missing limbs and flaws of color refer to things like tattoos or brands (Kalyāṇamitra, folios 308.a.7–b.1).

n.201This colophon does not actually appear until the end of the entire Vinayavastu (Degé, vol. 4 (’dul ba, nga), folio 302.a). It has been inserted here for ease of reference.