Notes

n.1This particular equation is made in the Mahā­prajñāpāramitā­śāstra attributed to Nāgārjuna (Lamotte 2001, p. 47). Elsewhere in his translation of this text, Lamotte cites a number of other canonical sources that provide lists of synonyms for the ultimate nature, all of which include the term bhūtakoṭi (ibid., p. 52, n. 103). Grammatically, bhūtakoṭi can be read as both a tatpuruṣa and a karmadhāraya compound. In support of reading it as a tatpuruṣa, Ratnākaraśānti, when explaining the term in his Muktāvalī (Toh 1189), glosses bhūta by tattva (“reality”), and koṭi by agra (“edge,” “limit”) (Tripathi 2001, p. 96). Both words in this compound are nouns. Lamotte also adopted this reading in his French translation of the Mahā­prajñāpāramitā­śāstra, where, in the English translation of his work, the term is rendered “summit of existence” (2001, p. 47). On the other hand, Edgerton (1953, p. 410) takes bhūtakoṭi to be a karmadhāraya compound, meaning “true goal” (bhūta = “true” and koṭi = “goal”). What may underlie these different interpretations is the fact that the word bhūta can be used both as an adjective meaning “real/true” and as a noun meaning “reality/truth.” In this translation, we have opted to read the term as a tatpuruṣa compound.

n.2Buswell and Lopez 2013, p. 117.

n.3Here the text alludes to the sense of koṭi as “ten million” (rendered as bye ba in Tibetan). The term used here is che bye ba, which may translate mahākoṭi, a term having the sense of vast or untold millions.

n.4Interestingly, Saerji (2011) has argued that this sūtra and the shorter Samādhi­cakrasūtra (Toh 241) are related, as the Samādhi­cakrasūtra seems to be a summary of Infinite Jewels, perhaps meant to facilitate memorization.

n.5Karashima 2015, p. 119.

n.6The Denkarma catalog is dated to c. 812 ᴄᴇ. Denkarma, folio 299.a.4. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, pp. 98–99, no. 183.

n.7Reading bstod based on the Yongle, Kangxi, and Choné versions. The Degé reads sdod.

n.8Translation tentative. Degé: nor bu rin po che de nyid ngos gang dang gang kho nas phab ste gzhag pa’i rin po che’i ngos de dang de kho na ’bab cing gnas par ’gyur lags so.

n.9We have here translated the term spyod yul (gocara, literally “cattle range”), which refers to the domain or objects (yul) over which the senses roam, as “objective world.”

n.10Translation tentative. Degé: spyod yul ma lags pa zhes bgyi ba ni spyod yul des bgyis lags pa ste.

n.11Reading ’da’ ba (instead of gda’ ba) based on the Narthang and Lhasa versions.

n.12Translation tentative. Degé: tshur mchi ba’am/ nang du mchi ba’i mi rigs lags so.

n.13The translation of this paragraph is tentative.