Notes

n.1See Jamieson (2002) for a list of the numerous scholarly works.

n.2Karashima (2015).

n.3Dessein (2009): 36–37.

n.4Zhongxin (1997).

n.5Karashima (2001).

n.6Karashima (2001): 212.

n.7Lopez (2016): 21.

n.8Deeg (1999).

n.9Groner and Stone (2014): 5.

n.10For an English translation of this important text, see Tiantai Lotus Texts (2013).

n.11Lopez (2016): 28.

n.12Nāgārjuna: folios 148b, 187a, 188b.

n.13Maitreya-Asaṅga: folio 64b; verse 2.58.

n.14Asaṅga: folio 119b.

n.15Vasubandhu: folio 187b.

n.16Candrakīrti, dbu ma la ’jug pa’i bshad pa (Madhyamakāvatāra­bhāṣya): folio 345b.

n.17Candrakīrti, dbu ma la ’jug pa’i bshad pa (Madhyamakāvatāra­bhāṣya): folio 222a.

n.18Śāntideva: folios 56b and 190a.

n.19Kamalaśīla: folio 91b.

n.20Dharmamitra: folio 21a.

n.21Dharmamitra: folio 36b.

n.22Dharmamitra: folio 65b.

n.23Jānavajra: folios 33a, 119b, 122b, 123b.

n.24Daṃṣṭrāsena (ascr.): folio 34a.

n.25Abhayākaragupta: folios 148a and 179b.

n.26Saitsalak: folios 175b–302a.

n.27Lopez (2016): 28–9.

n.28Schoening (1996): 119.

n.29Wantsik: folios Ti 1a–Di 175a.

n.30von Hinüber (2012): 52–67. Also von Hinüber (online lecture 2010).

n.31von Hinüber (2012): 1.

n.32The other eight are the Lalitavistara (The Play in Full, Toh 95), Prajñāpāramitā (The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses, Toh 12), Daśabhūmika (The Ten Bhūmis, which became a chapter within the Avatamsaka Sūtra), Gaṇḍhavyūha (Array of a Stem, according to the Tibetan translation, which is the last chapter of the Avatamsaka Sūtra), Laṅkāvatāra (The Entry into Laṅka, Toh 107), Samādhirāja (King of Samādhis, Toh 127), Su­varṇa­prabhāsa (The Golden Light, Toh 555–7), and the Tathāgata­guhyaka (The Secret of the Tathāgatas, better known as the Guhya­samāja Tantra , Toh 442).

n.33Lopez (2016): 43.

n.34Boucher (2006): 24.

n.35Boucher (2006): 14.

n.36Lopez (2016): 44.

n.37Yuyama (1970): 65–9.

n.38Lopez (2016): 44–5.

n.39Zengwen (2000): 21.

n.40Yuyama (1970): 69.

n.41Lopez (2016): 47.

n.42Lopez (2016): 47–60.

n.43Lopez (2016): 61.

n.44Lopez (2016): 78.

n.45Lopez (2016): 78–81.

n.46Lopez (2016): 83.

n.47Lopez (2016): 84–90.

n.48Lopez (2016): 105–8.

n.49Lopez (2016): 189.

n.50Lopez (2016): 193–96, 200–204.

n.51Lopez (2016): 204.

n.52Lopez (2016): 116–22.

n.53For discussion about the background and influence of Burnouf’s translation, see Lopez (2016): 122–67.

n.54Lopez (2016): 169.

n.55Yuyama (1970): 67.

n.56There have been two ways to interpret this traditional beginning of a sūtra, with such Indian masters as Kamalaśīla claiming that both are equally correct. The alternative interpretation is “Thus have I heard: at one time, the Bhagavān…,” and so on. The various arguments, both traditional and modern, for either side are given by Brian Galloway in “Thus have I heard: At one time…,” Indo-Iranian Journal 34, no. 2 (April 1991): 87–104.

n.57This figure is from the Sanskrit. The Tibetan in all Kangyurs has twelve thousand, as do the Chinese translations by Kumārajīva (T.262, early fifth century) and by Jñānagupta and Dharmagupta (T.264, early seventh century). The Chinese translation by Dharmarakṣa (T.263, late third century), however, has 1,200 like the Sanskrit, while the other early Chinese translation, which is anonymous, has 42,000 (大比丘眾四萬二千人俱).

n.58Sanskrit ājāneya; Tibetan cang shes. Ājāneya was incorrectly defined as meaning “all-knowing” and was translated therefore into Tibetan as cang shes (“all-knowing”). The term ājāneya was primarily used for thoroughbred horses, but was also applied to people in a laudatory sense.

n.59This term probably has its origins in being a translation into Sanskrit from the Middle Indic mahānāga, the Sanskrit equivalent of which should have been mahānagna, which has the meaning of “a great champion, a man of distinction and nobility.”

n.60According to the BHS abhi­jñatābhijña­ta, where the same word is repeated with different meanings. The Tibetan translates both identically in most Kangyurs as mngon par shes pa mngon par shes pa, and in others such as Degé and Lhasa as mngon par shes pas mngon par shes pa.

n.61According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: Mahānanda.

n.62According to the Sanskrit, Yongle, Lithang, Narthang, Choné, Lhasa, and Stok Palace Kangyurs. The Degé and Comparative Edition have mes byin (“given by fire”) in error for mis byin (“given by men”).

n.63According to the Tibetan (literally “hundred thousand ten millions”). The Sanskrit omits the koṭī (“ten million”).

n.64The Sanskrit has additionally “divine flowers” and “great flowers.”

n.65The Sanskrit is simply pratyekayāna.

n.66Literally “a thousand ten-millions” or “tens of billions.”

n.67From the Sanskrit śaṅkhaśilā, though the meaning is uncertain. The Tibetan is man shel, which appears to indicate a form of crystal.

n.68According to the Sanskrit, which accords with the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs. The Degé and Stok Palace read: “supreme yāna” (theg mchog).

n.69According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: putrī (“daughters”).

n.70From the Sanskrit upalakṣayanti and the Stok Palace nye bar rtog par byed. The Degé and all other versions recorded in the Comparative Edition read: nye bar rtogs par byed.

n.71From the Sanskrit sabalaṃ savāhanaṃ. The Tibetan translates the words as “with their strength and steeds.”

n.72According to the Tibetan; “aggressive” is absent from the Sanskrit.

n.73According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “And similarly toward abuse, criticism, and threats.”

n.74According to the Sanskrit mūlya. The Tibetan has ri (“mountain”) in error for rin (“value”).

n.75According to the Tibetan, presumably translating from anya. The Sanskrit has bhūya (“many”).

n.76According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “and the constant sound of a multitude of bells.”

n.77According to the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné Kangyurs: sol. The Degé and Stok Palace read: rtsol.

n.78According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Dispel our curiosity, son of the Buddha!”

n.79According to the Tibetan. In the Sanskrit, the second half of this verse is the first half of verse 52, and vice versa.

n.80According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit here repeats the first half of verse 49. The equivalent Sanskrit for these lines forms the second half of verse 53.

n.81According to the Stok Palace Kangyur, cung, which accords with the Sanskrit alpa. The Degé and all other witnesses recorded in the Comparative Edition read: chud.

n.82Sanskrit: bherī. There is a variety of kettledrums and the bherī is described as a conical or bowl-shaped kettledrum, with an upper surface that is beaten with sticks.

n.83According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan appears to have translated pratibhāti as the noun spobs pa.

n.84It becomes evident that this is another name for Varaprabha.

n.85In the verse the Sanskrit is candrasya sūryasya pradīpa (“The lamp of the sun [and] of the moon”).

n.86Sanskrit: “many bodhisattvas in the highest wisdom of buddhahood.”

n.87According to the Sanskrit, where vināyakānāṃ is clearly plural. Otherwise, one would assume from the Tibetan that this is referring to Śākyamuni’s light ray, as it preserves the order of the Sanskrit so so’i zhing du rnam par ’dren pa yi instead of rnam par ’dren pa yi so so’i zhing du.

n.88This is a synonym for Candra­sūrya­pradīpa, presumably used to match the meter of the verse.

n.89According to the Sanskrit saṃsthapayitvā, literally translated into Tibetan as kun bkod, which would be “completely established or arranged,” the primary meaning of the Sanskrit word.

n.90According to the Sanskrit. There appears to be an error in the Tibetan, which reads “my enlightenment.”

n.91According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit has Vimalāgranetra (“Stainless Highest Eyes”) instead of Vimalāṅganetra (“Stainless Limbs and Eyes”). This is synonymous with Vimalanetra.

n.92Nirvāṇa means the state of being extinguished, and often in this sūtra, as here, is the past passive participle of the verb “to extinguish”: parinirvṛta. It has here been translated into English as “extinguished” to make intelligible the reference to a flame.

n.93According to the Sanskrit śāsane. The Tibetan has bskal pa (kalpa, “eon”) instead.

n.94According to the Stok Palace Kangyur, mang pos mchod, which accords with the Sanskrit saṃghapūjita. The Degé and other Kangyurs recorded in the Comparative Edition instead read mang po’i mchog.

n.95According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit has tenākuśalena (“through that not-good karma”).

n.96The Tibetan ’dren mar is an alternative form of ’dres mar, “mixed,” as it reflects the Sanskrit kalmāṣabhūtena (“mixed,” “alloyed,” or “spotted”).

n.97According to Tibetan. Sanskrit: “He will attain the highest, supreme enlightenment.”

n.98According to the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, Lhasa, and Stok Palace Kangyurs: gzhis. The Degé has bzhis (“through four”).

n.99According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: Śāridvataputra.

n.100This begins a section that plays with the multiple interlinked valences of the term “dharma” (chos) as “teaching” or “doctrine” (Dharma), which describes the “reality” (dharma) of all “phenomena” (dharmas), the “trainings” (dharmas) necessary to awakened to that reality, and the awakened “qualities” (dharmas) of one who has so awakened. The sense in this particular instance is of course the awakened “qualities” of a thus-gone one. We leave “dharma(s)” (chos) untranslated throughout this section in an attempt to not overly constrain the term’s multiple entendre.

n.101According to the Sanskrit compound, while the Tibetan lists “strength” as a distinct unit in the list, resulting in it being mentioned twice.

n.102According to the Sanskrit tathāgatasya. The Tibetan translates as de bzhin gshegs pa nyid la, which would more likely render the Sanskrit tathāgatatve; this was perhaps the reading reflected in the Sanskrit manuscript used by the Tibetan translators. The most obvious English translation of tathāgatatve would be, “in tathagātahood,” or “in tathagātaness,” but the term might also involve an idiomatic use of the abstract tva (see Speijer, Sanskrit Syntax, p. 184 #238), in which case the phrase would be rendered: “The tathāgatas should teach the dharmas as tathāgathas.” “As” here would have the sense of “having the status of / in the role of.”

n.103According to the Tibetan mkhyen. The Sanskrit has pratyakṣo ’parokṣaḥ (“directly perceived”).

n.104“Dharmas” here and throughout the rest of this passage most likely signals awakened “qualities” and “phenomena” in general.

n.105According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Enough, Śāriputra!”

n.106According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Highest of jinas.”

n.107See n.­105.

n.108According to the Tibetan. “Parables” is not present in the Sanskrit.

n.109According to the Tibetan, translating from taddharma. The Sanskrit has saddharma.

n.110According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has pas instead of pa’i.

n.111See n.­108.

n.112The Sanskrit also has “according to the various aspirations, natures, and thoughts of beings.”

n.113See n.­108.

n.114The Sanskrit also has “according to the various aspirations, natures, and thoughts of beings.”

n.115See n.­108.

n.116See n.­114.

n.117See n.­108.

n.118See n.­114.

n.119According to the Sanskrit saṃksobha. The Tibetan appears to have ’khrul pa in error for ’khrug pa.

n.120According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has: “when many beings are bewildered and have few roots of merit.”

n.121According to the Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs: ’chad, and the Sanskrit deśakāḥ. The Degé has the scribal corruption ’chang (“hold”).

n.122According to the BHS avakalpayata. The Tibetan translates as rtogs (“realize”).

n.123The Tibetan translates chidra as “torn,” which is one of the other meanings of the word.

n.124According to the Tibetan, which is a conceivable rendering of the Classical Sanskrit understanding of the verse and better accords with the sense of the corresponding prose passage above. The Sanskrit reads: apaśyanta imaṃ doṣaṃ chidra­śikṣā­samanvitāḥ / vraṇāṃśca pari­rakṣantaḥ pra­krāntā bāla­buddhayaḥ //. The BHS understanding of this verse would be: “They have impaired training / And do not see this wrong of theirs; / They maintain their flaws, / Have foolish understanding, and have departed.”

n.125According to the Sanskrit nāyakāḥ, which is usually translated into Tibetan as ’dren pa, but here as skyobs pa (“refuge,” “protector”).

n.126According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “all beings.”

n.127Literally, sūtra . However, in terms of the classification of the twelve aspects of the Dharma, sūtra refers to the prose passages within the sūtras.

n.128According to the Sanskrit balābala (literally, “strength and nonstrength”). Tibetan: mthus dang stobs (“power and strength”).

n.129Literally, “sons of the buddhas”: sangs rgyas sras; buddhaputrāḥ.

n.130According to the BHS vyakta. The Tibetan translates in accordance with the classical Sanskrit meaning as gsal ba (“clear”), which appears to be less appropriate in this context.

n.131According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “my highest teaching.”

n.132According to the Sanskrit: yathā ca paśyāmi yathā ca cintaye yathā ca saṃ­kalpa mamāsi pūrvam / pari­pūrṇametat pra­ṇidhānu mahyaṃ buddhā ca bodhiṃ ca pra­kāśayāmi //. The Tibetan, however, might very well also make sense in the context. It reads as follows: “Just as I see and just as I thought / And just as I resolved in the past, / My aspirations have been fulfilled, / But having awakened to awakening, I have not taught it” (/ji ltar mthong zhing ji ltar bsams pa dang/ /nga yis sngon chad ji ltar brnags pa de/ /nga yi smon lam de dag yongs rdzogs te/ /byang chub sangs rgyas nas ni ma bstan/).

n.133According to Sanskrit bhrameyuḥ, which could also mean “become dizzy.” The Tibetan translates as “become insane.”

n.134Literally, buddhaputras.

n.135According to the Stok Palace Kangyur mang, which accords with the Sanskrit [a]neke. The other Tibetan versions consulted appear to have a corruption of mang to ngam.

n.136According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan translates as “piled up from earth and bricks.”

n.137This and the previous verse were quoted by Śāntideva in his A Compendium of Trainings (bslab pa kun las btus pa; Śikṣāsamuccaya), 56b. The Tibetan translation had Yeshé Dé as chief editor and therefore used the verses from his committee’s translation of the Lotus Sūtra.

n.138According to the Sanskrit pustakarman. The Tibetan interprets it as “modeled from clay” (’jib) even though clay (mṛttika; sa) already appears in the list.

n.139According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: paṭaha drums. The paṭaha is a cylindrical drum hung from the body and usually played standing up, beating it with drumsticks.

n.140A conical or bowl kettledrum, also called a nagada. The upper surface is beaten with sticks; often in pairs, one larger than the other.

n.141According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Those who play and cause others to play music / with the pleasing sounds of bherī drums, conches, and paṭaha drums, / making music and beating drums / as an offering to the perfectly enlightened ones” (See Vaidya ed.: vādyā ca vādāpita yehi tatra bheryo ’tha śaṅkhāḥ paṭahāḥ sughoṣakāḥ / nirnāditā dundubhayaśca yehi pūjā­vidhānāya varāgra­bodhinām //).

n.142A kettledrum played horizontally, with the hands. It is wider in the middle, with the skin at both ends. One drumhead is smaller than the other. It is a South Indian drum, and maintains the rhythm in Karnataka music.

n.143According to the Tibetan rgyud gcig. The Sanskrit for this should be ekatantri. The ekatantri was a popular single-stringed instrument that was made of a long bamboo tube and a gourd resonator. Notes were formed by sliding a short bamboo or wooden rod along the string. However, the text of the sūtra has tunava, which the Mahāvyutpatti states is rgyud gcig, but Sanskrit dictionaries define it as a flute or a drum.

n.144According to the Sanskrit ekotsava, which could be interpreted as “solely joyful,” or “solely for festivity.” The Tibetan did not translate it but rendered it as e ko na. Therefore, the Tibetan was using a manuscript that appears to have had ekonnaḍa, which is a variant of ekotsava.

n.145According to the Tibetan lcags kyi sil khrol. The Sanskrit jhallarī at present refers to the stringed instrument from South India named jhallari. Burnouf translated as “cymbals of iron.”

n.146This refers to the jaltarang, an ancient Indian musical instrument that consists of a semicircle of metal bowls, each with a different quantity of water within them, that are struck with sticks. The Sanskrit here is jalamaṇḍaka, and the Tibetan is chu la brdabs.

n.147According to the Sanskrit vikṣipta and the context. It could also mean “distraught,” and the Tibetan ’khrug pa could mean “disturbed.” The Tibetan translates vikṣipta as g.yengs pa (“distracted”) two verses further on.

n.148According to the Stok Palace Kangyur and the Sanskrit. Other Tibetan versions consulted have the plural dag.

n.149Literally “in tathagātahood” or “in tathagātaness.” Sanskrit: tathāgatatve; Tibetan: de bzhin gshegs pa nyid. It is also possible that tathāgatatve here is an idiomatic use of the abstract tva (see Speijer, Sanskrit Syntax, p. 184 #238): “They will teach the Dharma as a tathāgatha.” “As” here has the sense of “having the status of / in the role of.”

n.150Some, but not all translations from the Chinese have here a verse about the insubstantiality of phenomena and buddhahood through dependent origination.

n.151According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit and Chinese have: “the supreme enlightenment.”

n.152According to the Sanskrit and mkhas pa in the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs. The Degé has mkhas pas.

n.153According to the Sanskrit adhimukta and the Tibetan translation of the same word as smos pa in the next verse. In this verse most Kangyurs have shin tu dag pa (“extreme purity”) and in the Degé it is shin tu dad pa (“strong faith”), which appears to be the intended translation.

n.154According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has ’dren pa’i instead of ’dren pa, which appears to be an early scribal error.

n.155According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits “fools,” and translates camarī as “yak’s tail,” whereas it is the female for yak (camara). The yak’s tail is more commonly the vṛddhi form cāmara. The Chinese also translates as “yak’s tail.” The explanation in that case is that it is referring to the yak and its relationship to its tail.

n.156According to the Sanskrit, which is in the singular. The Tibetan is in the plural.

n.157The Chinese appears to add “walking around,” which is derived from the next verse.

n.158According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has phan tshun ’chag cing gnas.

n.159According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan and Chinese drop “Īśvara” even though he appears earlier in the sūtra along with the four world guardians and Maheśvara. Both names are elsewhere usually synonymous with Śiva, which may be why it was omitted at this point.

n.160According to the Tibetan don. The Sanskrit has Dharma . The Chinese has no object.

n.161According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan transposes “excellent” to the end of the verse.

n.162According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. The Chinese has “supreme Dharma.”

n.163According to the Sanskrit adhimukta. The Tibetan translates as dad pa (“faith”). The Chinese translates as “aspiration for inferior Dharma.”

n.164According to the Sanskrit, and in agreement with the Chinese. The Tibetan appears to have translated this as, “They will not have faith in the buddhas.”

n.165According to the Sanskrit tāyina, and most Kangyurs. The Degé and Comparative Edition have spyod in error for skyob. In the Chinese the following lines are presented as the Buddha’s thoughts to himself, including the second part of verse 24.

n.166According to the Tibetan. There is no clear indication in the Sanskrit where the speech of the Buddha to the other buddhas ends.

n.167According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has yis in error for yi.

n.168According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “numerous ten thousand millions.”

n.169According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “deprived of the scope of wisdom of the tathāgatas, and of the vision of their wisdom.”

n.170According to bsdad in the Yongle, Lithang, Choné, Kangxi, and Narthang Kangyurs. The Degé and the Comparative Edition have bsnyad.

n.171The Sanskrit also has dharita (“upheld,” “maintained”).

n.172From the BHS śītabhūta. The Tibetan translates literally as “become cool.” Absent from the Online Digital Sanskrit Canon.

n.173According to the Sanskrit. Absent from the Tibetan, even though it is a repeating line.

n.174The Sanskrit here uses the synonym nirvṛti.

n.175The Sanskrit here is nirvṛta.

n.176According to the Stok Palace Kangyur byas, which accords with the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Degé and other witnesses recorded in the Comparative Edition appear to translate the verb in the future tense: bya.

n.177The Chinese translates the Sanskrit phrase dīrgharātra over-literally as “long night.”

n.178According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan is literally “with good harvests.”

n.179According to the Sanskrit aṣṭapada, which apparently has the meaning of “eight sections” (vertically and horizontally), like a checkerboard or chessboard, the game of chess having originated in its earliest form in the first centuries of the first millennium in India, where board games were very popular. Therefore this appears to be a specific reference to the eight-by-eight squares gameboard, and has been translated by Tsugunari and Akira as “like a chessboard,” or by Kern as “like a checker board.” Other English translations of the Chinese have interpreted this as “eight intersecting roads.”

n.180According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan has interpreted bhūyasa to mean “most of.”

n.181According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan appears to be based on a corrupt text: “practiced celibacy for many hundreds of thousands of years.”

n.182According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. Tibetan: “dressed.”

n.183Commonly referred to as the Deer Park, though the Sanskrit mṛgadāva and the Tibetan ri dwags nags mean “deer forest.”

n.184According to the Tibetan, and Vaidya, Wogihara, Burnouf, and Kern, who follow the Nepalese Sanskrit manuscript tradition. The Central Asian fragments have adya instead of ārya . The Middle Indic form of both words was ajja, and the difference between the two manuscript traditions reflects a different choice in the Sanskritization of the Middle Indic. If ajja meant adya, the verse would read: “Great hero, we are overjoyed by / The great rishi’s words with implied meaning. / Just as in the prophecy / Today to the fearless Śāriputra…” “Fearless” translates the BHS meaning of viśārada.

n.185According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit has “and sorrow.”

n.186Earlier, the number of śrāvakas was said to be one thousand two hundred. This discrepancy is in both the Tibetan and Sanskrit.

n.187According to one of the BHS meanings of vigata-nivāraṇa (also nīvaraṇa). The Tibetan translates according to the more common Sanskrit meaning, “free of obscuration.”

n.188According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “other carts.”

n.189The Sanskrit that “great cart” is translated from is mahāyāna, which in the context of Buddhist teachings is translated as “the great way” or “the great vehicle.” In translation this wordplay is lost.

n.190The word “listening” in Sanskrit, śrava (Tibetan: thos), is used here as this passage is describing the śrāvakas (nyan thos), literally “listeners.”

n.191The Sanskrit for “conditions” is pratyaya. This is explaining the reason for the term pratyeka­buddha , which is defined in other texts as “buddhahood through [contemplation of] dependent or conditional [origination]”; this is also the Chinese translation of this term. Therefore, in the original Middle Indic language of the sūtra, pratyaya and pratyeka (meaning “solitary”) may well have been homonyms, and the discrepancy here is a result of the Sanskritization of the original Middle Indic.

n.192According to the Sanskrit and the Chinese. The Tibetan has a scribal error in all Kangyurs consulted of bden (“truth”) for bde ba (“bliss”).

n.193There is a play on words in the Sanskrit that is lost in translation. Varṇa has many meanings, such as “class,” “kind,” and “caste,” but is also used for “color” in this parable.

n.194There is a play on words in the Sanskrit that is lost in translation. Upadarśayitva can be both “he promised,” as in the parable, and “he taught,” as in the explanation of the meaning.

n.195According to the Tibetan. The word for “bamboo” can also be interpreted to mean “rafter” or “beam.”

n.196According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit and Chinese: “those with weak merit.”

n.197According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “burning excrement.” The Chinese does not specify what is burning.

n.198According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Are burned by hunger and heat.”

n.199According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan gives the impression that he is just thinking of doing that.

n.200According to the Tibetan, which may have misunderstood the Sanskrit grammar: “Of what use were my sons if I become without sons?”

n.201According to one meaning of the Sanskrit niśāmya. The Tibetan translates as “knowing.”

n.202According to the Sanskrit and the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa Kangyurs. The Degé and the Comparative Edition have rangs (“rejoiced”) instead of rings.

n.203There is a play on words in the Sanskrit that is lost in translation. Nirvṛta can mean both “being happy, at peace, etc.,” and also “to have attained nirvāṇa.”

n.204According to the Sanskrit, Degé, and Comparative Edition. Most Kangyurs have gter instead of mthu.

n.205The Sanskrit has “gold coins” and the Tibetan has “cowries,” both of which were used as currency.

n.206According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “herons and geese.”

n.207It is assumed that the reader will know this refers to silver coins, the raupya, which is the origin of the present-day word rupee, which was itself tied to the value of silver until the end of the nineteenth century.

n.208The wordplay of the Sanskrit (the Sanskrit for cart is yāna ) is lost in translation.

n.209According to the Tibetan, which may have been translating from a corrupt manuscript that had yāneṣu instead of kāmeṣu. The Sanskrit and Chinese all have “inferior desires.”

n.210According to the Sanskrit and the Yongle, Kangxi, Narthang, and Lhasa Kangyurs. The others consulted have srid pa (“existence,” “becoming”).

n.211According to the Hybrid Sanskrit aniśrita, which could also be translated as “emancipation.” The Tibetan translates as “not dwelling.”

n.212According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit does not have the negative. The Chinese interprets this as saying that both Śāriputra and the other śrāvakas can only be devotees of this sūtra through aspiration and not from direct knowledge.

n.213According to the Sanskrit kaśadaṇḍa. The Tibetan appears to have translated from a text that read śatadaṇda (“a hundred sticks”).

n.214According to the BHS kuṇṭhaka. The Tibetan translates as “black.”

n.215According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan appears to have misinterpreted this line, translating yakṣagraha as “yakṣas and demons” instead of “possessed by yakṣas,” so that the Tibetan reads: “And their bodies will be harmed by yakṣas and demons.”

n.216According to the Tibetan, which appears to be a rather free translation of the Sanskrit: “They will have many kinds of pain / miseries.”

n.217According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. “Dog” is absent from the Tibetan translation.

n.218According to BHS vyakta. Translated into Tibetan according to the classical meaning as gsal (“clear”), as in the Degé, but in most Kangyurs it is corrupted to btsal (“seeking”).

n.219According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: tato vayaṃ bhagavan bhagavato dharmaṃ deśayamānasya śūnyatānimittāpraṇihitaṃ sarvamāviṣkurmaḥ |. The Sanskrit might be rendered as: “Therefore, Bhagavān, we did not perceive any of the emptiness, absence of attributes, and absence of aspiration in the Dharma teaching of the Bhagavān, and we did not wish for the display of the buddha realms, the play of bodhisattvas, or the play of tathāgatas that were in these dharmas of the Buddha.”

n.220In this intriguing statement the syntax of both the Tibetan and the Sanskrit make it clear that‍—surprising though it may be‍—the śrāvaka disciples are the subject of the first clause and that it is indeed they who taught the bodhisattvas. In Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation, the equivalent sentence is interpreted in a less unexpected way. The Tibetan in all Kangyurs has the verb lung bstan pa both for the Sanskrit ava­vadita in this sentence, as well as for the Sanskrit vyākaraṇa in the sentence that follows. The Tibetan verb can have the meaning “prophesy,” as it does in the second sentence, but it primarily means “explain” or “elucidate.” Conversely, however, the meaning of ava­vadita does not include “prophesy” (unlike vyākaraṇa, which does). For another, similar statement, see 4.­29 below; see also 8.9-10.

n.221According to the Sanskrit amārgita. The Degé and Comparative Edition have bslangs (“taken up”) and most other Kangyurs have bslabs (“trained”).

n.222According to the Sanskrit vaiṣṭiko vā gṛhyeya.

n.223According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has “continuous fear.”

n.224According to the BHS pratyabhi­jānīyāt. The Tibetan translates as “astonished.”

n.225According to Tibetan. Sanskrit: “should not be beaten, killed, and destroyed.”

n.226According to Sanskrit mūrchita. The Tibetan translates as “crazy.”

n.227Literally, “Hey, you, man.”

n.228According to the Sanskrit dur­varṇāvalpaujaskau. The Tibetan translates as “bad color and bad luster,” the word for “caste” and “color” being the same in Sanskrit. Ojas can mean “impressive appearance” as well as “luster” or “splendor.”

n.229The Sanskrit has “a double daily wage.”

n.230In this passage, this repeated phrase means literally “Oh, man!”

n.231The Sanskrit saktu specifies that it is a coarse ground meal.

n.232According to the Sanskrit syntax and a BHS meaning of udāra, this might mean “crude,” instead of “heightened.” The Tibetan translates according to the classical meaning of “lofty” or “vast” (rgya cher), which is also reflected in the corresponding verse below.

n.233The Sanskrit has in addition na saṃbhinatti that Burnouf translates as “did not mix with us” and Kern translates similarly, although “did not abandon us” is also a possible meaning.

n.234According to the Sanskrit syntax. The Tibetan breaks this up into two sentences.

n.235According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Vaidya Sanskrit has kāṅkṣāṃ kuryuḥ su­dur­medhāstato bhraṣṭā bhrameyu te: “One with very poor intelligence would have doubts; Having gone astray, he would wander.”

n.236According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits “much” and “silver.”

n.237According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits “conch.”

n.238According to the Sanskrit vallabha (vallabhu in the sūtra’s BHS).

n.239According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: “because of having power over many needs.”

n.240According to the Sanskrit śarana, which could also be translated as “shelter,” “home,” or as translated in the Tibetan, as “house,” but there appears to be a deliberate wordplay here.

n.241The Sanskrit adds “dark-skinned.”

n.242According to the BHS pratisāmayet = pratiśāmayet, which could also mean “arrange” (cf. the Pali paṭisāmeti). Translated into Tibetan as sbed pa, which could be interpreted as “conceal, hide.”

n.243According to Sanskrit kutumba, more literally “household,” “care of the family,” and so on. The Tibetan has “slaves and servants.”

n.244According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has “path to supreme enlightenment.”

n.245Here there is a wordplay in Sanskrit, as the Sanskrit for “we shall proclaim” is saṃśrāvayiṣyam. The Tibetan has attempted to reflect that by translating śrāvaka in this verse as sgrogs pa (“proclaimers”) instead of the usual nyan thos (“listeners,” i.e., “disciples”).

n.246Here there is a wordplay in the Sanskrit, as the Sanskrit for “be worthy” is arhāmahe. The Tibetan has attempted to reflect that by translating arhat in this verse as ’os pa (“worthy ones”), a more literal translation of arhat than the usual dgra bcom pa (“enemy defeaters”).

n.247According to the Sanskrit vimala. The Tibetan has “great.”

n.248According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan has “through a hundred thousand,” omitting “causes,” perhaps from a corrupt Sanskrit text that had śatasahasrehi instead of hetusahasrehi.

n.249According to the Stok Palace Kangyur, and the Sanskrit and Chinese. The other Tibetan versions consulted have kyi in error for kyis (genitive instead of instrumental) after “Tathāgata,” so that it reads as “the conduct of the Tathāgata.”

n.250According to the Stok Palace Kangyur rigs, and the Sanskrit yukti. The other Tibetan versions consulted have rig in error for rigs.

n.251According to the Tibetan. The BHS has “shoots, tender stalks, branches, leaves, foliage.”

n.252According to the Sanskrit and most Kangyurs consulted. The Degé and the Comparative Edition have spobs (“eloquence,” “confidence”) instead of stobs.

n.253In Sanskrit, martya means literally “mortals.”

n.254According to the Stok Palace Kangyur sman, and the Sanskrit oṣadhī. The other Tibetan versions consulted have dman (“inferior”) in error for sman (“herb”).

n.255According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has nirukti (“definitions”).

n.256According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has dharmatā (“the nature of the Dharma”).

n.257According to the Sanskrit niṣpādayī and the Yongle and Kangxi Kangyurs bsten. The Degé has bstan (“teach”).

n.258In the Chinese version the chapter concludes at this point.

n.259According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has “born” instead of “superfluous,” which appears to be a corruption.

n.260According to the BHS samudāgamāya. The Tibetan translates as sdud, which could be interpreted as “gathering together.”

n.261According to the Sanskrit, and the Lhasa and Stok Palace Kangyurs. Other Kangyurs consulted have zhi (“pacified”) in error for bzhi (“four”).

n.262Sarva­varṇa­rasa­sthānānugatā.

n.263Sarva­vyādhi­pramocanī.

n.264Sarva­viṣa­vināśanī.

n.265Yathā­sthāna­sthita­sukha­pradā.

n.266According to the Tibetan and in agreement with Burnouf. The Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit and Kern have “six.”

n.267The Comparative Edition has des in error for nges; the Stok Palace Kangyur has nges and the Sanskrit has niścita (online Vaidya: niṃścita).

n.268According to the Sanskrit vihīna. The Tibetan has btul (“subdued”).

n.269The second half of this verse does not appear in Tibetan: “Through hundreds of skillful methods / He constantly teaches the Dharma to beings” (See Vaidya ed., tenopāyaśatair­nityaṃ dharmaṃ deśeti prāṇinām //).

n.270Sarva­varṇa­rasa­sthānā. In the prose it has a longer form of the name: Sarva­varṇa­rasa­sthānānugatā.

n.271According to the Sanskrit mahā and the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné Kangyurs. The Degé and Comparative Edition have tshe in error for che.

n.272According to the Tibetan, which appears to be a free translation of avartmanaḥ (“to repeat,” “to continue with”).

n.273According to the Sanskrit sarvavid. Absent from the Tibetan.

n.274According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit is in the singular.

n.275Only half of this verse appears to have been translated into Tibetan, thereby altering the meaning. In comparison, the Sanskrit has: “I then teach to them, / ‘This is not what is called nirvāṇa ; / It is through understanding the entire Dharma / that immortal nirvāṇa is attained’ ” (see Vaidya, ed.: tāmeva tatra prakāśemi naitannirvāṇa­mucyate / sarva­dharmāvabodhāttu nirvāṇaṃ prāpyate ’mṛtam //).

n.276The Sanskrit has this as a six-line verse instead of the usual four lines.

n.277The Tibetan has the first half only of the Sanskrit verse, the second half of which is: “And all the imperfect and the immaculate, / which are peace, and are equal to space” (Vaidya, ed.: sāsravānāsravāḥ śāntāḥ sarve gagana­saṃnibhāḥ).

n.278According to the BHS ārocayāmi. The Tibetan mos par bya could be interpreted as “make you aspire.”

n.279According to the Sanskrit. The last two activities are absent from the Tibetan, but when this passage is repeated further on in this chapter they are included in the Tibetan, and so there appears to be an unintended omission here.

n.280According to the commentary this refers to the eightfold path, with wisdom being the right view and conduct being the other seven aspects of the path.

n.281According to the BHS gūtholigalla. The Tibetan translates obscurely as sme ba (“spots”).

n.282See n.­179.

n.283According to the Sanskrit bhikṣavaḥ. The Tibetan could be interpreted as meaning “this bhikṣu.”

n.284According to the commentary, this refers to the eightfold path, with wisdom being the right view and conduct being the other seven aspects of the path.

n.285According to the BHS gūtholigalla. The Tibetan translates obscurely as sme ba (“spots”).

n.286According to the BHS ārocayāmi. The Tibetan mos par bya could be interpreted as “make you aspire.”

n.287See n.­286.

n.288According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has the plural here.

n.289Only four students are given prophecies in this chapter, the fifth presumably being Śāriputra, whose prophecy was given in chapter 3. The Chinese interprets this as “five hundred.”

n.290According to the Sanskrit. “Second” is absent from the Tibetan.

n.291See n.­290.

n.292According to the Sanskrit and Chinese.”Weeping” is absent from the Tibetan.

n.293According to the Sanskrit āryaka, which the Tibetan (and Burnouf and Kern from the Sanskrit) translates by its alternative meaning, “noble.” The Chinese translates as “grandfather,” which appears to be the intended meaning here, and explains why the sons are called “princes.”

n.294According to the Sanskrit and the Yongle, Kangxi, Choné, and Stok Palace Kangyurs. The Degé and the Comparative Edition are missing part of the sentence.

n.295The narrative is somewhat obscure at this point. It is evident later in the passage that the Brahmās have gathered in one place, and they also live in palaces that fly, and therefore this may mean that they have gathered together through each having come there in their own home.

n.296The Degé Kangyur’s 62b is an accidental printing of 142b and therefore this page is missing in that edition.

n.297This phrase is an interpolation to make the meaning clearer. For “airborne palace” (Vimāna), see glossary.

n.298According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “five quintillion” (five hundred thousand times ten million).

n.299See n.­295.

n.300The last line of this four-line verse is absent from the Tibetan. According to the Sanskrit (adhimātraṃ yaśasvinaḥ), the last two lines would be, “Today our airborne palaces are beautified / with exceptional splendor.”

n.301See n.­297.

n.302According to the Sanskrit jīvaloka and the Stok Palace Kangyur ’tsho ba’i ’jig rten. Instead of ’tsho ba, the Degé and most Kangyurs have tshol ba; Choné has tshor ba, and Yongle has tshong ba.

n.303According to the Sanskrit. The Chinese appears to have translated the number as a hundred and eighty, as does Burnouf, because of the tricky syntax of this verse: “it has been a hundred and eighty eons since the world has had a buddha.” The Tibetan, even with the above variant reading in the Stok Palace Kangyur, appears corrupt: “A full hundred eons in this world of beings / Has been equal to eighty buddhas.”

n.304According to the Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit. The Tibetan, and the Burnouf translation from a Hodgson manuscript, have “eighty hundred thousand.”

n.305According to the BHS leṇa. The Tibetan translates as gnas.

n.306See n.­295.

n.307See n.­297.

n.308See n.­295.

n.309According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has here translated parisphuṭa as “pervaded.”

n.310See n.­297.

n.311According to the Tibetan.

n.312According to the Tibetan.

n.313The Tibetan has interpreted this as “having doubts” and the sixteen mendicants were grouped with the śrāvakas. The question is whether vicikitsa is actually avicikitsa, which in this BHS may simply have the a elided and implied. Dharmarakṣa’s translation into Chinese has “without doubt”; Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation has “having doubt.” Burnouf translates from the Sanskrit as “having doubt,” while Kern translates as “without doubt.” In terms of the logic of the narrative it is here translated as “without doubt.”

n.314Sanskrit: bodhi­sattva mahā­sattva.

n.315According to the Sanskrit gatiṃgata. The Tibetan repeats this in what appear to be two alternate translations.

n.316There is a wordplay here, as the word for “relief from misery” is nirvāṇa .

n.317According to one meaning of the Sanskrit śīti. The Tibetan translates as “cool.”

n.318According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan translation appears to interpret this as the Jina “sorrowing.”

n.319According to the Sanskrit deva manuṣyā and the Lhasa, Narthang, and Stok Palace Kangyurs. Other Kangyurs consulted have lha min ( asuras ) in error for lha mi (“devas and humans”).

n.320The Sanskrit has the synonym bhujaga (“serpent”).

n.321According to the Sanskrit, and the Stok Palace and Yongle Kangyurs. Other Kangyurs consulted have bzhi (“four”) in error for ba’i.

n.322According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “All became mendicants.”

n.323According to the Tibetan and Burnouf and, presumably, from jāta. The Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit and Kern have “supreme among all jinas.”

n.324According to the Sanskrit caritva. The Tibetan has spyan (“eyes”) in error for spyad.

n.325According to the Sanskrit vyakta. The Tibetan translates as another of its meanings: “bright.”

n.326According to the Tibetan dpa’. Sanskrit: dhīra (“wise”).

n.327According to the Sanskrit samānayitvā. The Tibetan translates as “honored them,” a possible alternate meaning.

n.328According to the Sanskrit and almost all Kangyurs consulted. The Degé has deng (“today”) instead of nga (“I”).

n.329According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan has “realization of suffering,” as does apparently the Hodgson manuscript as Burnouf and Kern translate in that way.

n.330According to the Sanskrit pramocayanti and, in part, the Stok Palace Kangyur ’grol ba. The other Tibetan versions consulted have ’grel ba; a Tibetan translation of the causative Sanskrit verb form would more likely be sgrol ba.

n.331The syntax is according to the Sanskrit; the Tibetan reverses the order of the sentences.

n.332According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has ngas in error for nga’i.

n.333According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: “I am the last.”

n.334According to the Yongle, Kangxi, and Choné Kangyurs ’doms. The Comparative Edition and Degé have ’dems.

n.335According to the Sanskrit kṛtya and the Yongle and Kangxi Kangyurs bya. Other Kangyurs consulted have bye (“ten million”).

n.336Sanskrit: “Will be pure and practitioners of celibacy.”

n.337According to the Sanskrit sadhu, and legs in all Kangyurs consulted except the Degé and Stok Palace, which have len.

n.338The Sanskrit uses the synonym marut , in its BHS form marū.

n.339The Sanskrit has “After me, today.”

n.340yi du ’ong ba’i sgra mngon par bsgrags pa (“The Resounding of Beautiful Sounds”).

n.341According to the BHS ārocayāmi. The Tibetan translates as mos pa.

n.342According to the Stok Palace Kangyur (brgyad stong), Kern’s Sanskrit, and the Chinese. Vaidya’s Sanskrit and Burnouf have “a thousand”; other Tibetan Kangyurs consulted have “a hundred thousand,” brgya stong, probably a scribal error for brgyad stong.

n.343According to the Tibetan and Burnouf, and Kern’s translation of the Sanskrit kaḥ punarvādaḥ śrāvakāṇām. The Chinese translates as “Why is it told to the śrāvakas?”

n.344According to the Stok Palace Kangyur and the Sanskrit. The other Tibetan versions consulted have me tog (“flower”) in error for tog (“crest adornment”).

n.345In the Sanskrit, for the meter of the verse the compound name is broken into its constituents: ratnasya ketū.

n.346According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “obtains it.”

n.347According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits one number (“equaling ten million”), presumably for reasons of brevity in the verse.

n.348In these last two lines, “dharmabhāṇaka” and “merit” are implied but not actually stated. The Tibetan adds “merit.” The Chinese adds “dharmabhāṇaka.”

n.349The Chinese interprets this passage differently as the description of someone who has made offerings to the dharmabhāṇakas for the lesser number of eighty million eons. The Chinese also has another verse here, which is in prose in the present Sanskrit and Tibetan.

n.350According to the Sanskrit ārocayāmi te bhaiṣajya­rāja, prati­vedayāmi te. The Tibetan appears to have “you must aspire to and understand!” The first of those verbs has been regularly mistranslated as mos pa based on its meaning in Classical Sanskrit instead of BHS.

n.351According to the Tibetan and apparently Burnouf’s Sanskrit. The Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit have ādhyātmika (“spiritual”) and not abhijña, and Kern translates accordingly.

n.352According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has “that place should be honored as if it was a stūpa,” which does not fit with what precedes and follows.

n.353According to the Sanskrit mukhaṃ. The Tibetan has ngo bo (“essence,” “nature”) in error for ngo.

n.354According to the Sanskrit singular. The Tibetan has the plural.

n.355According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has, “The wise one, unafraid, speaks [it]” (abhīto bhāṣi paṇḍitaḥ).

n.356According to the BHS and Pali. Could also be “swords.” The Tibetan has the more specific “short spear,” which is a possible meaning, but seems too specific in this context.

n.357According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “And the assembly also the same.”

n.358According to the Sanskrit vedikā. The Tibetan translates as stegs bu, “platforms,” Burnouf as “balconies,” and Kern as “terraces.” However, vedikā here refers to the railings in which the toraṇas , or “gateways,” are set. While the vedikās do serve as railings for elevated platforms, which serve as circumambulatory walkways, they also encircle the stūpa on the surrounding flat ground.

n.359The following passage spoken by the stūpa is only found in certain Tibetan versions. It is absent from the Sanskrit and Chinese. Among the Kangyurs consulted, it is absent from the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné Kangyurs, but it is found in the Degé (and therefore the Comparative Edition), Narthang, Lhasa, and Stok Palace editions. This translation is based primarily on the Degé / Comparative Edition version and therefore includes this passage.

n.360According to ’dul ba in the Narthang, Lhasa, and Stok Palace Kangyurs. The Degé / Comparative Edition has ’dus ba (“gathered”).

n.361Among the Kangyurs consulted, the conclusion of the passage is found only in the Degé, Narthang, Lhasa, and Stok Palace editions.

n.362According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “hundred of thousands of quintillions.”

n.363According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan appears to have misinterpreted the first sentence as a prayer also and added the verb “to pray” within the sentence, which is understandable because it follows the statement that the Buddha made a prayer, but the verbs in this sentence are in the past tense. The Tibetan by necessity of its interpretation translates them as being in the future, even though this contradicts the other narratives in the sūtra where bodhisattvas do not previously know about the existence of this sūtra: “In the past when I was practicing bodhisattva conduct, I prayed, ‘May the highest, complete enlightenment not arise while I have not heard the instruction to bodhisattvas, the Dharma teaching, The White Lotus of the Good Dharma. May I attain the highest, complete enlightenment after I have heard this Dharma teaching, The White Lotus of the Good Dharma.’ ”

n.364From the BHS meaning of adhiṣṭhāna, translated into Tibetan as byin gyis brlabs, which is usually translated into English as “blessing.” The following passage is clearly in the optative and is the prayer made by the Buddha.

n.365Literally, “through the power of the Bhagavān.”

n.366From the BHS guruka. The Tibetan translates as lci ba (“heavy”) here in the sense of “weighty,” “important.”

n.367According to the Sanskrit, literally “self [and] second, self [and] third.” The Tibetan reads as “self and two or self and three.”

n.368See n.­179.

n.369According to the Stok Palace Kangyur rim bzhin; the Degé and other Kangyurs consulted have ri bzhin. The Sanskrit and Chinese have “corresponding size.”

n.370According to the Sanskrit pṛthivīpradeśa, which the Tibetan translates simply as phyogs, which could be interpreted to mean “direction.”

n.371According to the Sanskrit and the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Stok Palace Kangyurs yongs su dag pa. The Lhasa and Degé / Comparative Edition have yongs su gang ba (“completely filled”).

n.372According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “The Bhagavān Tathāgata offers this, wishing for the precious stūpa to be opened.”

n.373According to the Tibetan bskams and the Sanskrit pariśuṣka. Kern translates from the Sanskrit as “emaciated.” However, Burnouf, having first translated as desséchés (“dessicated”), corrected himself on seeing another Sanskrit manuscript with pariśuddha (“perfectly pure”), and the Chinese translation was evidently from such a version. However, the eighth-century Gilgit rock drawings depicting Śākyamuni, Prabhūtaratna, and the stūpa clearly show Prabhūtaratna to have a withered body, and therefore must have been based on a text that had pariśuṣka, while in Chinese depictions, Śākyamuni and Prabhūtaratna have identical bodies.

n.374The Sanskrit adds “in the middle of the assembly.”

n.375According to the Sanskrit dṛṣṭvā and the Yongle and Kangxi Kangyurs mthong. Other Kangyurs consulted have thos (“heard”).

n.376According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan conjoins “together with the Tathāgata” with the following sentence.

n.377According to the Tibetan, apparently translating from mūrchita. Others have interpreted mūrchita to mean “intoxicates” (Burnouf and Kern) or “brings joy” (Chinese), which is another of its meanings.

n.378In this verse in the Sanskrit, Prabhūtaratna’s name is given an extra syllable: Prabhūtaratana.

n.379According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “teach for a moment.”

n.380According to the Sanskrit adahyanta and the Chinese translation. Tibetan: “a load of straw while it is burning.”

n.381According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “five higher knowledges.”

n.382According to the Sanskrit priyaṃ, the Chinese, and dga’ in the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs. The Degé, Lhasa, and Stok Palace have dka’ (“difficulty”). The Central Asian version has mama instead of mahat so that the line would read, “Brings pleasure to me and the lords of the world.”

n.383According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “Guide / leader of humans.”

n.384According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit could be interpreted as being by the bed and holding his feet, as in Burnouf and Kern. The Chinese interprets it as meaning he offered his own body as the bed.

n.385According to the BHS ārocayāmi. The Tibetan mos par bya could be interpreted as “make you aspire.”

n.386The Sanskrit has the longer series of epithets more common in prophecies.

n.387According to the Tibetan, Chinese, two Hodgson Sanskrit manuscripts, and Kern. The Vaidya and Wogihara have “sixty hundred” and Burnouf translated from a manuscript that read “sixty hundred,” i.e., “six thousand,” although he admits that sixty is already “suffisamment merveilleux” (“marvelous enough”).

n.388According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has in addition, “have no uncertainty.”

n.389Earlier in this chapter it was said to be in the east.

n.390According to the Sanskrit sattva and sems can in the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs. The Degé, Lhasa, and Stok Palace have sems (“mind”).

n.391According to the Tibetan and Burnouf. Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit, and Kern: “who is named a wise one because of his wisdom.”

n.392According to the Sanskrit niścitaṃ, and the Degé nges. The Comparative Edition has des.

n.393According to the Tibetan and the Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit. Burnouf translated from śuddham śuddhaṃ (“pure, pure”) instead of puṇyaṃ puṇyaṃ.

n.394According to the Tibetan. In the Sanskrit and Chinese it is a question: “Why are you standing…?”

n.395According to the Sanskrit: ārocayāmi te bhaiṣajya­rāja, prati­vedayāmi te. The Tibetan appears to have, “you must aspire to and understand!” The first of those verbs has been regularly mistranslated as mos pa based on its meaning in Classical Sanskrit instead of BHS.

n.396Kern and Burnouf: “eight hundred thousand.” Vaidya and Wogihara: “eighty hundred thousand quintillion.” Chinese: “eighty quintillion.”

n.397According to the Sanskrit suduṣkara. The Degé and Comparative Edition have dga’ (“joy”) in error for dka’ (“difficult”).

n.398The Sanskrit is in the BHS form: tīrthya.

n.399According to the Tibetan sil khrol byed pa. The Sanskrit jhalla has the meaning of “prize-fighter,” i.e., “boxer.” The Chinese translates as “boxer.”

n.400According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has in addition “does not delight in.”

n.401According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit also has śauṇḍa (“drunks”). Burnouf: “liquor-sellers”; Kern: “jugglers.” There appears to be no obvious parallel in the Chinese.

n.402According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has the non-gender-specific dge bsnyen rnams instead of dge bsnyen ma.

n.403According to the BHS tā, while the Tibetan is not gender specific.

n.404According to one meaning of kauśalya. The Tibetan translates as mkhas (“wise”).

n.405According to the Sanskrit aurabhrika. The Tibetan translates as shan pa (“slaughterer”).

n.406See n.­399.

n.407According to the Sanskrit jātātha (jāta + atha). Translated into Tibetan as yang dag nyid, presumably from a corruption in a Sanskrit manuscript.

n.408According to the BHS manyana (which also occurs elsewhere in the form manyanā). The Tibetan has translated it according to its alternative meaning of “pride,” which does not appear to fit the context here.

n.409According to the Stok Palace Kangyur gtong and the Sanskrit vijahati. The Degé and other Kangyurs consulted have mthong (“see”) in error for btong (“relinquish,” “give up,” and so on).

n.410According to the Sanskrit tṛtīyena dharmeṇa. The Tibetan translates as “these three qualities.”

n.411According to the Stok Palace Kangyur yang dag par bgro ba and the Sanskrit saṃgīti. The Degé and other Kangyurs consulted have yang dag par ’gro ba (“going correctly”).

n.412According to all Kangyurs consulted except for Stok Palace. Stok accords with the Sanskrit in not having the negative, but instead having “beings who are dedicated…” The translations from Sanskrit of Burnouf and Kern follow suit. The Chinese has “beings who are not bodhisattvas.”

n.413According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. This chapter is primarily describing at length the four qualities referred to at the beginning of the chapter. Tibetan: “four qualities.”

n.414According to the Sanskrit. “Anklets” is absent from the Tibetan.

n.415Elephant riders, cavalry, charioteers, and infantry.

n.416According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “attracting / seducing them with nirvāṇa.”

n.417According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “the last of his possessions.”

n.418According to the Stok Palace Kangyur mtha’o and the Sanskrit paścima. The Degé / Comparative Edition and other Kangyurs consulted instead have mthu’o.

n.419According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit and the translations of Burnouf and Kern do not have the negative.

n.420According to the Tibetan. In the Sanskrit the bodhisattva teaches them and therefore this is in the form of a wish: “Having heard the Dharma may they not denounce it!”

n.421Literally “tathāgatahood.”

n.422According to the Sanskrit upāneṣyi. Tibetan: khyod la sbyin (“will give to you”), which does not match the preceding thought that is not being directly addressed to those he is not teaching.

n.423This is equivalent to units of currency in ancient India.

n.424According to the BHS vihanyamānān. The Tibetan ’tshe ba’i sems could be interpreted as “violent minds.” Burnouf translates as “les êtres qui combatant” (“the beings who are battling”) to conform with the parable. Kern has “how creatures are in trouble.”

n.425According to the Sanskrit and the Mahāvyutpatti. Here the Tibetan is stobs (“strength”), which is also used in the next verse to translate bala (“strength”). The Sanskrit parākrama is translated by Burnouf according to another of its meanings: l’heroïsme (“heroism”), in accordance with the parable, as it is by Kern. The Chinese translation is too free to be relevant. According to the Mahāvyutpatti, parākrama should be translated as pha rol gnon pa (“the subjugation of others”), pha rol brtul po (“weakening others”), or dpa’ ba (“heroism”).

n.426In the context of ancient India this would have been a reference to lower castes rather than to other races.

n.427According to the Stok Palace Kangyur, the Sanskrit, and the Chinese. The other Tibetan versions consulted have lha mi or lha mis (in the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné Kangyurs) in error for lha min.

n.428According to the BHS ābādha, translated into Tibetan as gnod (“harm”).

n.429According to the Tibetan, Chinese, Burnouf, and Kern. The Vaidya and Wogihara also have “and the level of the pratyeka­buddhas.”

n.430According to the Stok Palace Kangyur sems can and the Sanskrit sattva. The Degé and other Tibetan versions consulted have just sems (“mind”) instead of sems can (“beings”).

n.431According to the Tibetan; the Sanskrit includes more verbs.

n.432According to the Stok Palace Kangyur gang gi and the Sanskrit kasya. The Degé and the other Tibetan versions consulted have gis instead of gi.

n.433According to the Tibetan. The BHS niropadhe means to be free of upadhi, which means “substratum” or “basis (of continued existence or rebirth)” and therefore can be synonymous with skandhas , but also with kleśas .

n.434According to the Stok Palace Kangyur and the Sanskrit. The Degé and other Kangyurs consulted have “of the ten directions” (phyogs bcu’i), modifying “other worlds.”

n.435According to the Sanskrit parākrama. The Tibetan translates as “subjugation of adversaries.”

n.436From the BHS ananyatha. The Tibetan translates literally as gzhan ma yin pa (“not other”).

n.437From the BHS ananyatha. The Tibetan translates literally as gzhan du gsung ma yin (“not spoken as other”).

n.438According to the Sanskrit prakāśayiṣye, which is in the future tense. The Tibetan is curiously in the past, presumably a scribal error of byas for bya.

n.439According to the BHS ārocayāmi te ajita, prati­vedayāmi, which the Tibetan appears to translate as “aspire and comprehend.”

n.440According to the BHS pariṇamitāḥ. The Tibetan translates as yongs su bsngos (“dedicated”).

n.441Although the text literally states, “in the town of Gayā,” this must mean in the district of Gayā. The place called Uruvilvā (Pali Uruvelā) probably included the village now called Bodhgaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment, and possibly extended to include parts of the area that is now the actual town of Gayā some kilometers to the north.

n.442According to the Sanskrit parākrama. The Tibetan translates as “subjugation of adversaries.”

n.443According to the Sanskrit parisaṃstutā and bstod in the Lithang, Choné, Lhasa, and Stok Palace Kangyurs. Other Kangyurs consulted have bstong.

n.444According to the Tibetan ting nge ’dzin, and the Burnouf meditation. The Vaidya and Wogihara have adhiṣṭhāna instead of samādhi , and Kern translates adhiṣṭhāna as “strong resolve.” Kumārajīva’s Chinese appears to be too dissimilar to know what he was translating from.

n.445According to the Tibetan. Absent from the Sanskrit.

n.446The Sanskrit has here “for a hundred thousand quintillion eons.”

n.447According to the BHS ārocayāmi te ajita, prati­vedayāmi, which the Tibetan appears to translate as “aspire and comprehend.”

n.448This passage has been translated in various ways from the Chinese. The Sanskrit is clearly in the third person, but presumably the Buddha is talking about himself.

n.449According to the Sanskrit syntax; in the Tibetan the verb comes after the description of the nature of the three realms.

n.450BHS: kilīkṛta-saṃjñā. According to Edgerton kilīkṛta means “joyous,” but in this instance is an error for kiṇīkṛta (“callous”), which would mean that they have grown callous. However, Burnouf translates as “ils s’imagineraient qu’il n’y a là rien que d’aisé à recontrer” (“they will imagine that he will be nothing other than easy to meet”), and Kern has: “fancy that all is child’s play.” The Tibetan has slebs par ’dzin pa (Degé), sleb par ’dzin pa (Stok Palace), or slabs par ’dzin pa (Lithang and Choné) for kilīkṛta, which may be scribal errors for sla bar ’dzin pa (“hold as easy,” “believe to be easy”).

n.451According to the Tibetan, Burnouf, Kern, Vaidya Sanskrit, and Wogihara Sanskrit: “Tathāgata Arhat Samyaksambuddha.”

n.452According to the Sanskrit sukuśala and the Tibetan shin tu byang ba in the Yongle, Narthang, Urga, Lhasa, and Stok Palace Kangyurs. Others consulted have shin tu byung ba.

n.453According to the BHS samādapemī. Translated into the Tibetan as bzung (“held”).

n.454According to the Tibetan, Burnouf, and Kern. The Vaidya and Wogihara have kāma (“desires”) instead of kāya (“bodies”).

n.455According to the Tibetan, and the Chinese is similar. The Vaidya Sanskrit, Burnouf, and Kern have, “I do not leave Vulture Peak for other millions of other dwellings (literally: “seats and beds”).”

n.456According to the Stok Palace Kangyur shin tu ’jigs pa and the Sanskrit subhairava. Other Kangyurs consulted have ’jig (“destroyed”) in error for ’jigs.

n.457According to the Tibetan.

n.458According to the Sanskrit and Tibetan. The number is absent from Kumārajīva’s Chinese.

n.459According to the Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit, and Kern. Literally “two thousand,” apparently meaning “thousand squared” or “thousand times a thousand.” The number is absent from the Tibetan, Burnouf (translating from a Hodgson manuscript), and Kumārajīva’s Chinese. In this context of an ever-increasing number it appears to be an accidental omission that occurred in a later Sanskrit manuscript.

n.460Alternatively this may be referring to the dhāraṇīs that are mnemonic phrases.

n.461According to the Chinese, Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit, and Kern. Literally “three thousand,” apparently meaning “thousand tripled,” as it is interpreted in the Sarvāstivāda tradition. In the Chinese Tiantai School it was taken as literally meaning “three thousand.” The Tibetan and Burnouf (translating from a Hodgson manuscript) have only “thousand.” In this context of an ever-increasing number it appears to be an accidental omission that occurred in a later Sanskrit manuscript.

n.462This is a synonym for “the two thousand” or “thousand squared” world realm.

n.463This is a synonym for “the thousand” world realm, which contains a thousand worlds.

n.464According to the Stok Palace Kangyur byang chub dam pa, which partially reflects the Sanskrit vara­bodhi­cittam. The other Tibetan versions consulted appear to be in error with byang chub sems dpa’ (“bodhisattva”).

n.465According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “are not afraid of it.”

n.466According to the Sanskrit dehin (literally, “having a body”) and the lus can of the Narthang, Urga, Lhasa, and Stok Palace Kangyurs. The Degé and other Kangyurs consulted have lus chen (“great bodies”).

n.467According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan division of the sentences runs counter to the intended meaning.

n.468According to the Sanskrit, and the Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs. Others have sgra (“sound”) instead of rnga (“drum”).

n.469Jāti is also used to refer to nutmeg, although here that meaning does not appear to fit the context.

n.470According to the Sanskrit, and the Yongle, Kangxi, and Stok Palace Kangyurs de bzhin. Other Kangyurs consulted have bde bzhin (“blissfully”).

n.471Literally buddhaputra (“son of the Buddha”).

n.472According to the BHS ārocayāmi. The Tibetan mos par bya could be interpreted as “make you aspire.”

n.473According to the Tibetan and Burnouf. The Vaidya has goyana and Wogihara has gopana.

n.474According to the Sanskrit khaṇḍa. Most Kangyurs consulted have the obscure ngo le. The Degé / Comparative Edition and Stok Palace have sngo ba (literally, “blue,” but with the meaning of “blackened,” which has already appeared earlier in this list).

n.475According to the Tibetan, Burnouf, and Kern. The Vaidya and Wogihara have dharma instead of karma.

n.476According to the Sanskrit grāma, which is translated into Tibetan by its more usual meaning of “village” or “town.”

n.477According to the Sanskrit śaila, translated into Tibetan by its more usual meaning of “rocks.”

n.478According to the Tibetan and Burnouf, presumably from yaśa. The Chinese, Vaidya, and Wogihara have “forests (khaṇḍa),” as in “mountains, forests, and oceans.”

n.479According to the Sanskrit yaṃ yaṃ. The Degé and other Kangyurs recorded in the Comparative Edition have su dang su (“by whomever”); the Stok Palace has instead su.

n.480According to the Sanskrit and the Choné glu’i. The other Kangyurs consulted have klu’i or klu yi, thereby meaning “songs of the nāgas.”

n.481According to the Tibetan and Burnouf. Kern interprets this as referring only to women; the Chinese refers to “devas.”

n.482According to the Sanskrit ṛddhibala. The Tibetan translates as just “power” (mthu stobs), which, according to the Mahāvyutpatti, is the translation for prabhāva.

n.483According to the Sanskrit abhiprāya. The Tibetan bsam pa could have been understood to mean “thoughts.”

n.484According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. The Tibetan appears to have accidentally omitted “male and female mahoragas” from the list.

n.485According to the Sanskrit arcanām. Translated into Tibetan as gsol ba.

n.486According to the Sanskrit and Chinese. “Towns” is missing in the Tibetan.

n.487According to the Sanskrit abhimukhaṃ, which could also mean “facing.” The Tibetan translates as gzigs (“seeing”), which could be interpreted as the act of the Tathāgata.

n.488According to the Tibetan (phyis pa literally means “wiped” but also “cleaned”) and the Chinese. Sanskrit: “the surface of a mirror.”

n.489According to the Tibetan tshogs par mi dbyung ba (“unfit for a gathering”), which will have been a translation of asabhya. The Sanskrit has asatya (“falsely”), which appears to have been the source of the Chinese translation.

n.490This description of the teachings to the śrāvakas and bodhisattvas is a repeat of passages such as 1.­74 and 1.­78, although the Tibetan has, while maintaining the same meaning, translated it differently.

n.491According to the Tibetan dkrigs and its definition in Butön’s (bu ston rin chen grub) Collected Works (bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i mdzod, in The Collected Works of Bu-ston, edited by Lokesh Chandra from the collections of Raghu Vira, 28 volumes, Zhol bka’ ’gyur par khang edition, New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71), vol. 24, pp. 726–7. All subsequent references to Butön’s system of calculation are drawn from this passage. The BHS equivalent is viṃvara or bimbara. The Vaidya and Wogihara editions have viṃśati (“twenty”) as do Kern and Burnouf, but it is absent from the Chinese.

n.492See n.­485.

n.493See n.­485.

n.494According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. The paragraph on Vi­śiṣṭa­cāritra is absent from the Chinese.

n.495According to the Sanskrit civara. The list repeats, but the Tibetan translates first as na bza’ (“clothing” in general) and as chos gos (literally “Dharma robes”) in the repetition.

n.496According to the Sanskrit dharmatā. The Tibetan has chos ni in error for chos nyid.

n.497According to the Tibetan and Burnouf. Vaidya and Wogihara: “and the secret knowledge of the supreme beings.”

n.498In the Chinese translation this chapter is later, following the chapter on Avalokiteśvara.

n.499According to the Sanskrit ārocayāmi te bhaiṣajyarāja, prativedayāmi te. The Tibetan appears to have “you must aspire to and understand!” The first of those verbs has been regularly mistranslated as mos pa based on its meaning in Classical Sanskrit instead of BHS.

n.500According to the Tibetan. “It is thus” in Sanskrit is the introduction to the dhāraṇī-mantra and not a part of it.

n.501Yongle and Kangxi: mene. Absent from Stok Palace. Burnouf: anye manye arau parau amane.

n.502Stok Palace: manane.

n.503Yongle: cidte.

n.504Yongle: cari.

n.505Chinese, Vaidya, Wogihara, and Kern: same.

n.506Yongle, Narthang: śameyitābi śante. Lhasa: śameyitābhi śante. Kangxi, Choné: śamayihābi śānte. Lithang: śamayitābi santé. Vaidya and Wogihara: samitā viśānte. Burnouf: śamitā viśante. Stok Palace: śameśami tābi śānte. Kern: samitāvi santé.

n.507Stok Palace: mukate.

n.508Kangxi and Yongle: mugtemagta. Stok Palace: mu gatatame.

n.509According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: aviśame.

n.510Burnouf: same avisamasame. Vaidya and Wogihara: same aviṣame samasame.

n.511According to the Sanskrit. Degé: akṣiṇi. Yongle: agkṣiṇi. Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, Urga, and Lhasa: akṣaṇo.

n.512Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné: śānta.

n.513Vaidya and Wogihara: samite. Kern: sanī. Yongle: śamiṅ. Stok Palace: śamidhi. Kangxi: śamito. Choné: śamiti.

n.514Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa: dhāriṇī. Urga: dhārini. Stok Palace: dhariṇi.

n.515Stok Palace: patyavekṣaṇi. Yongle and Kangxi: pradyavekṣaṇi.

n.516According to the Tibetan. Burnouf: dhiru viviru. Vaidya and Wogihara: nidhiru. Kern: nidhini.

n.517Vaidya and Tibetan separate (except for Choné, Yongle, and Kangxi) abhyantarani viṣṭe. Kern: abhyantaranivisiṣte. Yongle: abhyantaraniviṣṭa. Lithang: abhyanta raniviṣṭe. Kangxi: abhyantarāṇiśiṣṭe abhyantārśiṣṭe. Narthang and Lhasa: abhyanta raniviṣṭe abhyantaraniviṣṭi. Choné: abhyantaraniviṣṭe abhyantaranviṣṭa. Stok Palace: abhyantarani vaṣṭe.

n.518Burnouf: abhyantarapāriśuddhi utkule mutkule. Kern: (abhyantara­pāriśuddhi is absent) utkule mutkule. Stok Palace: atyantavariśhima utkule mutakule. Kangxi and Choné: adyantaberiśuddhi (with be having an anomalous subscribed a-chung). Narthang and Lhasa: atyantaipāriśuddhi.

n.519Yongle, Narthang, and Lhasa: udkule. Absent in Vaidya. Burnouf and Kern: utkule. Stok Palace: ma utkule. Wogihara and Kyoto: mutkule. Others: udkulo.

n.520Burnouf: mukule. Kern, Lhasa, and Narthang: mutkule. Stok Palace: mutagule. Others: mudkule.

n.521Vaidya and Wogihara: araḍe. Kern: asaḍe. Lhasa, Lithang, and Kangxi: arte.

n.522Tibetan, Vaidya, Wogihara, and Kern: paraḍe. Stok Palace and Lhasa: paraṭe. Lithang and Kangxi: marate.

n.523Stok Palace, Kangxi, and Lithang: śukākṣi. Yongle: śukrakṣī. Lhasa: śrukākṣī.

n.524Burnouf: buddhivilokite.

n.525Burnouf: dharma­parīkṣite pratyavekṣaṇi.

n.526Urga: saṃgha­nerghoṣaṇi. Narthang and Lhasa: saṃgha­nirghoṣaṇī. Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné: saṃgha­niraghoṣaṇī. Degé: saṃgha­niraghoṣaṇi.

n.527Vaidya and Wogihara: nirghoṇi. Burnouf: nirghoṣaṇi. Kern: nirghoṣaṇī. Absent from Stok Palace. Narthang and Lhasa: nirghoṣaṇī. Degé and Yongle: niraghoṣaṇi. Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné: niraghoṣaṇī.

n.528Burnouf: bhayaviśodhani. Kern, Lithang, Choné, Narthang, and Lhasa: bhayābhaya­viśodhanī. Stok Palace: baya abhaya­śodhani. Yongle: bāyabāya­śodhani.

n.529Yongle: mandra. Lithang and Lhasa: mantra. Kangxi: manadre.

n.530Stok Palace: mantrekṣayate. Degé: mantrā kṣaytre. Yongle: mandra kṣayete. Lithang and Choné: mantrā kṣayate. Kangxi: manadra kṣayete. Narthang and Lhasa: manantrā kṣayate.

n.531Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Lhasa, Narthang, and Choné: rutakauśale. Stok Palace: rudrakauśalye. Burnouf: rutakauśalya. Degé: rudrakauśalye. Kern: rutakauśalye. Vaidya: rute ruta­kauśalye.

n.532Absent from Burnouf. Yongle: akṣaya. Narthang and Lhasa: akṣa e.

n.533Burnouf: akṣayavanatā. Kern: akṣayavanatāya. Vaidya and Wogihara: akṣayavanatāye. Stok Palace: akṣaya vanātāyā. Yongle: akṣayava tānatāya. Lithang: akṣavarahāyā. Kangxi: akṣa vara tānatāya. Narthang and Lhasa: akṣāvanatāyā. Choné: akṣavartāyā. Degé: akṣā vanatāyā.

n.534Burnouf: vakkulavaloka. Kern: vakule valoḍa. Vaidya: vakkule valoḍra. Lithang, Choné, and Degé: palo. Yongle and Kangxi: vakule valorā. Kangxi: vakule valorā.

n.535Burnouf: amanyatāye. Kern: amanyatāya. Vaidya: amanyanatāye svāhā. Degé and Stok Palace: amanyanatāya. Lithang, Narthang, and Choné: amanyanatāyā.

n.536Burnouf and Kern: “sixty-two.”

n.537Tibetan: “we.”

n.538See n.­500.

n.539Kyoto: jrale mahājrale. Stok Palace: jvale mahājāle.

n.540Vaidya and Wogihara: ukke tukke mukke. Yongle: ugge mugke. Stok Palace: ukake mugge.

n.541Burnouf, Lithang, and Narthang: ate. Yongle: aḍi.

n.542Burnouf, Lithang, and Narthang: atāvati. Kyoto: aḍavati. Stok Palace: aḍevati. Yongle: aḍavati.

n.543Kern: tritye trityāvati. Lithang and Narthang: nṛṭyo nṛtāvati. Kyoto: nṛtyavati. Stok Palace: nīḍye nīḍye (with an anomalous subscribed a-chung) vati. Yongle: triṭrye treṭyavati.

n.544Kern and Stok Palace: itini. Yongle and Kangxi: idṭini.

n.545According to the Vaidya, Wogihara, and Burnouf. Kern: vitini. Yongle: vidṭini. Degé, Lithang, Narthang, and Lhasa: viṭṭi. Choné: viḍḍi. Absent from Stok Palace.

n.546Kern: kitini. Stok Palace: ciṭininri. Yongle: cidṭini. Kangxi: cidaṭini.

n.547Absent from the Burnouf. Kern: tritti. Vaidya: nṛtyani. Absent from Stok Palace. Yongle and Kangxi: kudṭini. Kyoto, Degé, Lithang, Lhasa, Choné, and Narthang: nṛṭaṭini.

n.548Kern: trityāvati. Kyoto and Degé: nṛtatūvati. Stok Palace: nriṭyavati. Yongle and Kangxi: kudṭavati. Lithang and Choné: nṛṭaṭāpati. Lhasa and Narthang: nṛṭṭāvati.

n.549See n.­500.

n.550Yongle and Peking: adṭe. Narthang and Burnouf: aṭṭa. Stok Palace: adaṭe.

n.551Yongle: vadṭe nadṭe. Kangxi: vadṭe nadke. Burnouf: haṭṭe naṭṭe. Stok Palace: nadaṭe.

n.552Vaidya, Wogihara, and Kern: vanaṭṭe. Burnouf: vanaṭe. Stok Palace: nunate. Yongle and Kangxi: nanadaṭya. Narthang and Degé: tanaṭṭe.

n.553Vaidya, Wogihara, Burnouf, and Kern: anaḍe. Stok Palace: anado. Yongle and Kangxi: anaḍo. Narthang and Degé: anaṭe.

n.554Vaidya, Wogihara, Burnouf, and Kern: nāḍi. Stok Palace: naḍi. Yongle and Kangxi: naḍi. Narthang and Degé: nāti.

n.555Vaidya, Wogihara, Burnouf, and Kern: kunaḍi. Stok Palace: kunati. Yongle and Kangxi: kunaḍi. Narthang and Degé: kunāti.

n.556According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan has gandharvas (dri za) instead of kumbhāṇḍas (grul bum), even though Virūḍhaka is traditionally the leader of the kumbhāṇḍas.

n.557See n.­500.

n.558Yongle and Kangxi: ne gane. Lithang: no gano. Choné, Narthang, and Lhasa: ṇo gaṇo. Gaṇe is absent from Stok Palace.

n.559Yongle and Kangxi: gori. Stok Palace: gaurī.

n.560According to the Burnouf. Degé, Lhasa, Yongle, and Kangxi: gandhari. Lithang, Narthang, Vaidya, and Kern: gandhāri. Stok Palace: gandharī.

n.561According to the Burnouf. Degé, Kangxi, Yongle, and Lhasa: caṇḍali. Vaidya, Wogihara, Lithang, Choné, and Narthang: caṇḍāli. Kern: kaṇḍāli. Stok Palace: caṇḍalī.

n.562According to the Burnouf, Kern, Lithang, Wogihara, and Vaidya. Degé, Kangxi, Yongle, and Stok Palace: mataṅgi. Narthang: ātiṅga. Lhasa: matiṅga.

n.563Kangxi, Yongle, Lithang, and Choné: pukakasi. Stok Palace: bukusī.

n.564According to the Burnouf and Vaidya. Degé, Kern, and Stok Palace: saṅkule. Kangxi and Yongle: sisadku. Lithang, Choné, Narthang, and Lhasa: kule.

n.565Burnouf: vrūlasisi. Vaidya and Wogihara: vrūśali sisi. Degé: vruśalī. Kern: vruśali. Kangxi and Yongle: vrusala. Lithang, Narthang, and Lhasa: vruhi. Choné: pruhi. Stok Palace: vruśale (with an anomalous subscribed a-chung under le).

n.566See n.­500.

n.567Yongle and Kangxi: iteme iteme iteme iteme iteme.

n.568Stok Palace: rusahe.

n.569Stok Palace: rusahe.

n.570According to the Burnouf, Kern, Wogihara, and Vaidya. Kangxi, Yongle, and Stok Palace: stahe stahe stahe stahe stahe. Degé and other Tibetan versions consulted: haste haste haste haste haste.

n.571Absent from Kangxi, Yongle, and Stok Palace.

n.572Vaidya and Wogihara: “omāraka, ostāraka.” Burnouf: “utsāraka, autsāraka.”

n.573This presumably refers to the cluster of around eight leaves that open at the top of the stem of a basil plant. Here mañjari (translated obscurely into Tibetan as dog) refers to these, rather than the vertical line of tiny flowers that is produced. Kern interprets as the lodhra tree (Symplocos racemosa).

n.574According to the Sanskrit saṃkrama. The Tibetan appears to translate according to its more common meaning of “walk.”

n.575According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “one karṣa of which is the value of the entire Sahā world realm.” Chinese: “six karṣa of which is the value of the entire Sahā world realm.”

n.576According to svakam adhi­ṣṭhānam akarot. The Tibetan byin rlabs could be interpreted as “blessing” as is its usual use. Bunrouf translates as “bless,” and Kern and the Chinese as “resolve,” as does Edgerton in discussing this passage. Alternative translations would be “empowers himself,” or “blesses himself.”

n.577According to the Sanskrit aśītibhir gāthā­koṭī­nayuta­śata­sahasraiḥ. The Tibetan appears to transfer “eighty times” to the last number in the list.

n.578BHS: kaṅkara. Tibetan: gtams pa. According to Butön this is “a thousand million million,” i.e., “a thousand trillion.”

n.579BHS: vivara.Variations include viṃvara, vimbara, bimbara, vivana, viśvara, visvara, and vipatha. The Tibetan can be yal yol, bsnyad yas, or in this Tibetan translation dkrigs pa, although the Mahāvyutpatti translates kaṅkara. A vivara or bimbara is a hundred kaṅkaras or vice versa. Here it appears to be a hundred kaṅkaras as we have three numbers of increasing value. Here the value appears to be “a hundred thousand million million,” i.e., “a hundred thousand trillion,” which is the value given in Butön’s collected works.

n.580BHS: akṣobhya . Tibetan: mi ’khrugs pa. A hundred vivaras, which is the preceding number and therefore equal to ten million million million, in other words ten quintillion. As in Butön’s collected works, mi ’khrugs pa is equivalent to ten quintillion.

n.581According to the Sanskrit. Absent in the Tibetan.

n.582The gender changes as the woman is reborn as a male in Sukhāvatī.

n.583According to the Sanskrit apkṛṭsna, and the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyurs. The others consulted have chub pa’i in error for chu’i (“of water”) and here the Tibetan zad pa is used in its meaning of “completion” rather than “exhaustion.”

n.584According to the BHS gūthoḍilla. Not a Sanskrit word. Most Tibetan versions consulted have, perhaps euphemistically, ’jim ngan (“bad mud”). Stok Palace: ’jig ngan.

n.585The Sanskrit at this point has, “I will do as the Tathāgata has commanded.” Absent in the Tibetan and Chinese.

n.586The Tibetan is unclear here. Kiṃśuka (“flame of the forest”), which in Sanskrit literally means “what parrot,” seems to have been translated literally into Tibetan as ne tso’am ci (which would literally mean, “parrot or what”). “Lotus” (padma) is repeated here in the Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit, while garbha is missing, and there is a corruption of varṇa. It seems it should have been garbha­kiṃśuka­varṇāni instead of padma­kiṃśukarvaṇāni, which Kern and Burnouf translate as “the color of lotuses and kiṃśuka flowers.” The Chinese translates as “calyxes of a gem named kiṃśuka.”

n.587The Sanskrit is in the optative case. Tibetan does not distinguish between future and optative. Also the Sanskrit and Chinese are plural, “we,” as is the verb. The Tibetan appears to be in the singular.

n.588The Tibetan is mtshan, the same as for the signs (lakṣaṇa) of a great being, but the Sanskrit here is liṅga.

n.589According to the Chinese and Sanskrit. The analogy of the moons is absent in the Vaidya, Wogihara, Burnouf, and Kern.

n.590Literally it is, “Do you have little harm, little distress?” Also “in good health” translates the Sanskrit laghūtthānatā. The Tibetan translates obscurely as bskyod pa, rendering the meaning of “being in movement.”

n.591According to the Tibetan and Burnouf. The Vaidya and Wogihara have “Bhagavān, Tathāgata, Arhat, perfectly enlightened Buddha.”

n.592According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Sanskrit mentions “countless innumerable asaṃkhyeya eons ago.”

n.593According to the Tibetan. The Vaidya and Wogihara have śrī (“splendor”), translated by Burnouf and Kern as “beauty.” Translations from Chinese: “supernatural power,” “divine power,” “transcendent power,” and so on.

n.594According to the Tibetan and Chinese. The Vaidya and Wogihara have “Rudra” (another of Śiva’s names) instead, and earlier in the list. Burnouf translates this as “Śiva.”

n.595According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan here has only mchog.

n.596“Facing everywhere” in the chapter title is translated according to the Sanskrit samantamukha, which has also became an epithet for the many-faced forms of Avalokiteśvara. The Tibetan translates as kun nas sgo (taking the alternative meaning of “door” from mukha) which could be literally translated as “doors on all sides.” However, in the Mahāvyutpatti we find samanta-spharaṇa-mukha translated as bzhin kun tu khyab pa (“face that pervades everywhere”). Other translations have included “all-sided one” and “all-sidedness.” Burnouf translates as “Celui dont la face regarde de tous les côtés,” correcting his earlier translation based on a misreading of samantamukha as samantasukha (“complete bliss”). The meaning, however translated, refers to Avalokiteśvara regarding all beings.

n.597According to the Sanskrit. “And possess his name” is absent in the Tibetan.

n.598According to the Tibetan and Sanskrit. The list of forms he assumes is longer in the Chinese.

n.599Sanskrit: “The Bhagavān recited these verses.” The Chinese has Akṣayamati reciting the verses.

n.600This has been translated into Tibetan, and by Burnouf and Kern, as someone named Citradhvaja (who does not occur elsewhere in this or any other sūtra) asking Akṣayamati the question. The following verses are then Akṣayamati’s answers to Citradhvaja. This is in contradiction to the preceding prose passage. In the presently available Sanskrit neither citradhvaja nor akṣayamati is in the accusative case, but presumably akṣayamati was in the accusative case in the version used by the Tibetan translators, Burnouf, and Kern. In the Chinese the first verse describes Akṣayamati asking the Buddha the question and the following verses are the Buddha’s reply, as in the preceding prose. Therefore it appears that the later translations are the result of a scribal corruption in the Sanskrit. The Tibetan translation reads thus: “Citradhvaja asked Akṣayamati / about the cause of that meaning: / ‘Jinaputra, what is the reason / that [he] is called Avalokiteśvara?’ ” And in the next Tibetan verse Akṣayamati is giving Citradhvaja the answer.

n.601In the Middle Indic verse it is Akṣayomatī.

n.602According to the preceding prose. In the second verse in the available Sanskrit citradhvaja (“multicolored banner”), praṇidhīsāgara (“ocean of prayer”), and akṣayamati are all in the nominative case and therefore could not be the object of the speech, but must be the one who is speaking. The Tibetan translates as Akṣayamati speaking to a Citradhvaja. The Chinese translation has citradhvaja, or a similar term, translated as an epithet of the Buddha and “gazing into directions” and “ocean of prayers” as descriptions of Avalokiteśvara. The Tibetan version is: “Then he looked into the directions / and the ocean of prayers, Akṣayamati, / said these words to Citradhvaja.”

n.603The object is not mentioned; “this” is interpolated as this presumably refers back to the previous verse (as translated by Burnouf; Kern adds no object). The Chinese has interpolated Avalokiteśvara.

n.604According to the BHS sāgaradurgi. The Degé Kangyur has “ocean and desert” (rgya mtsho dang ni mya ngam). The Kangxi and Choné Kangyurs have “anguish” (mya ngan) instead of “desert” (mya ngam). The Stok Palace has “bad men” (mi ngan) instead of “desert” (mya ngam). The Vaidya and Wogihara have “thrown into” (pātayet) instead of “crossing.”

n.605According to the Sanskrit and Chinese; omitted in the Tibetan.

n.606According to all Kangyurs consulted except Stok Palace, which reads “kings of waters” (chu yi rgyal po rnams). The Sanskrit has “in the king of waters” (jalarāje) meaning “ocean,” although Burnouf interpreted this as referring to Avalokiteśvara.

n.607Literally “those with poisonous eyes,” which is a euphemism for “snakes.”

n.608According to the Tibetan.

n.609The Sanskrit gambhīra can mean “deep” or “profound,” but also “a deep sound.” Inexplicably, the Tibetan here is bzang po’i (“good”), although this may well be a scribal corruption of zab po’i (“deep”).

n.610The Sanskrit is vilokiyā, and the verb is translated into Tibetan as spyan ras gzigs.

n.611According to the Stok Palace Kangyur gshin rjes bsgo ba and the Sanskrit yamasya śāsane. The Degé and all Kangyurs recorded in the Comparative Edition read gshin rjes bskor ba, “surrounded by yamas.”

n.612At this point in the Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit and Burnouf there is the line, “Then Akṣamati (Akṣayamati) recited these verses of praise,” which is also absent from the Chinese.

n.613According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “knowledge and wisdom.”

n.614According to the Tibetan and Chinese. Sanskrit: “pure.”

n.615According to the Tibetan and Burnouf. Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit: “The renowned compassion, good qualities, and kindness.”

n.616Sanskrit: “The wicked host of enemies will be pacified.”

n.617The Sanskrit is jala­dhara­garjita (“roar of the water holders,” i.e., clouds)

n.618This is the final verse in the Chinese translation.

n.619Sanskrit: “all suffering, fear, and misery.”

n.620Sanskrit: “I bow down to Avalokiteśvara.”

n.621Sanskrit: “Lokeśvara.”

n.622According to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has “Amitābha.”

n.623See n.­622.

n.624Literally “equal to the unequaled.”

n.625According to the Sanskrit śubha and the Kangxi dpal. Other Kangyurs consulted have dpa’ (“heroic”).

n.626According to one of the meanings of the Sanskrit prasāda. Tibetan translates as dad pa, which normally means “faith.”

n.627According to the Tibetan. Māra and Brahmā are absent from the Sanskrit and Chinese.

n.628According to Yongle, Lithang, Choné, Urga, Stok Palace, and Kangxi Kangyurs. The Degé, Lhasa, and Narthang have yul (“land”).

n.629According to the Tibetan. In the Chinese, Vimalanetra is said to be practicing, and Vimalagarbha thinking.

n.630According to the Sanskrit. In the Tibetan “the king’s people” has become part of the following sentence, perhaps through scribal corruption as it is evidently anomalous.

n.631According to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan separates “retinue” by itself in the list.

n.632The Sanskrit has only bimbā . The Tibetan incorrectly interpolated “flower.” This is a standard description of lips in Indian literature.

n.633According to the Tibetan and the Vaidya and Wogihara Sanskrit. The Burnouf and Kern have the king not wishing to leave the Buddha’s presence because of his possession of good qualities. It is absent from the Chinese.

n.634Although there is no indication, other than the content, it appears that from this point Śākyamuni has concluded repeating the words of the past buddha, and is directly addressing his present audience.

n.635The Sanskrit has bodhi­sattva mahā­sattvas.

n.636According to the Sanskrit. “Great” is absent from the Tibetan. The Sanskrit mahata bodhi­sattva­māhātmyena manages to keep the two similar words apart.

n.637According to the Sanskrit mahatā bodhi­sattvayānena. The Tibetan could be interpreted to mean specifically the mahāyāna.

n.638“leading a following” is absent from the Tibetan.

n.639Sanskrit: “However, this…”

n.640“The limit of reality, and the essence of phenomena” is absent from the Sanskrit.

n.641According to the BHS nityarāśi, translated into Tibetan as nges pa’i phung po. This refers to three groups or classifications of individuals: those with false views, the undetermined, and the determined.

n.642See n.­500.

n.643According to the Sanskrit and the Yongle Kangyur. The Lithang and Choné have sudaṇḍā. Lhasa: sudaṇḍa. Narthang: sudaṇtra. Kangxi: sudaṇḍē (with an anomalous subscribed a-chung). Other Kangyurs consulted have sudaṇḍe.

n.644According to the Vaidya, Wogihara, and Kern. Burnouf: daṇdayati. Degé: daṇḍavati. Kangxi: daṇdāvati. Choné: daṇa dāvati. Narthang: daṇtravati. Urga: daṇatāvati.

n.645According to the Sanskrit and most Kangyurs consulted. Narthang: daṇtravartani.

n.646According to the Sanskrit and most Kangyurs consulted. Yongle: daṇḍakuśali. Lithang and Kangxi: daṇḍakuśala.

n.647Burnouf: daṇḍa­sudhāri sudhāri. Kern: daṇḍa­sudhāri dhāri. Lhasa and Narthang: daṇḍā­sudhāri. Kangxi: daṇḍāsudhari. Yongle: daṇḍasudhari. Urga: sudhāraparti.

n.648Burnouf: sudhāryati. Yongle: sudharapati.

n.649Kangxi: buddhāpaśyane. Degé and Urga: buddhapaśyani.

n.650Yongle: dharaṇi. Vaidya and Wogihara: sarvadhāraṇi.

n.651Yongle: avartani.

n.652According to the Sanskrit. Degé and most Kangyurs consulted: āvartani. Yongle: avartani. Kangxi: māvartani.

n.653According to the Sanskrit. Tibetan: saṅgha­parīkṣite. Yongle: saṅgaparīkite. Choné and Urga: saṅgha­parīkṣiti.

n.654According to the Vaidya, Wogihara, and Kern. Yongle: saṅgha­nirgasadani. Burnouf: saṃgha­nighātane. Degé: saṅgha­nirghasate. Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa: saṅgha­nirgasate.

n.655Yongle: dhamaparikṣite. Choné and Urga: dharma­parīkṣiti.

n.656Vaidya, Wogihara, and Kern: sarva­sattva­ruta­kauśalyānugate. Burnouf: sarva­ruta­kauśalyānugate. Degé: sarva­satva­ruhekauśalye kauśalyānugate. Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa: sarva­satva­ruta­kauśalya kauśalyānugate. Yongle: sarva­satva­ruta­kauśalya kauśalyānagate.

n.657Degé: siṅhavikrīḍite. Urga: siṅhavigrīḍiti.

n.658Urga: anuvarti.

n.659According to the Vaidya, Wogihara, and Burnouf. Tibetan: vartali.

n.660anuvarte vartani vartāli svāhā is absent from the Kern.

n.661According to the Sanskrit; “who write out this sūtra and who uphold it” is absent from the Tibetan.

n.662According to the Sanskrit, bherī­mātreṇa mukuṭena te deva­putrāstāsām­apsarasāṃ madhye sthāsyanti, which accords with the Chinese. The Tibetan should be emended to read: lha’i bu de dag rnga po che tsam gyi cod pan can lha’i bu mo de dag gi nang na gnas par ’gyur ro/. The Stok Palace Kangyur starts with the nearly correct lha’i bu dag rna po che tsam gyis cod pan dang, but in the second section of the passage has the incorrect lha’i bu de dag gi nang na.... The Degé and other Tibetan versions consulted start with the incorrect lha’i bu mo de dag, but follow with the correct lha’i bu mo de dag gi nang na....

n.663According to the Tibetan. Sanskrit: “should be honored.”

n.664The Sanskrit adds “for the happiness of many beings, and for the sake of a great multitude of beings.”

n.665According to the Sanskrit īrṣya; absent in the Tibetan.

n.666The Sanskrit kalicakra is literally “wheel of fighting.” The Tibetan has ’thab mo (“fighting”) and appears to have omitted “the wheel.”

n.667This refers to what is usually called “the three doorways to liberation”: emptiness, the absence of aspiration, and the absence of attributes.