Notes

n.1The catalogue of the Narthang Kangyur (F.94a) says that the Tshalpa (tshal pa) catalogue lists this text as having two chapters (le’u), but that the Great Fifth Dalai Lama considered this to be a scribal error. Neverheless, the 16th century Tibetan commentator Pekar Zangpo (pad dkar bzang po, p 193) does identify a thematic distinction, writing that the first chapter deals with the nature of the absorption while the second explains its causes and the benefits of training in it. Curiously, however, both the Narthang and Degé catalogues also list the text as having no less than 50 le’u. It may be that in this and similar catalogue entries (see also Dharmachakra 2016, Introduction i.15) the term le’u is being used to denote “episodes” or “scenes,” rather than in its more usual sense of formal sections or chapters.

n.2The fragment attests to the Sanskrit names Uttara and Vimalakīrtirāja, as it includes a small portion of their dialogue. See Salomon 2014, p. 7, and Harrison et al. 2016.

n.3The Degé Kangyur, in common with the other Kangyurs predominantly of the Tshalpa tradition, here reads dgon par bgyi ba lta bu ni ’jig rten gnas pa lags so, which is difficult to interpret in the context. This (and some other details of this passage) appear less erroneous in the Kangyurs of the Thempangma tradition. The Stok Palace (stog pho brang) manuscript Kangyur reads dgum par bgyi ba lta bu ni … which is the reading we have translated here.

n.4Tib: gang kho na na gnas pa de kho nar ’gags pa. “Remaining in themselves and ceasing in themselves” is our best guess at translating this obscure phrase.

n.5The occurrence in this passage of the term bar ma dor yongs su myang ngan las ’da’ ba / anantarā­parinirvāyī is the only occurrence in any of the Kangyur sūtra sections, except for one mention in the longer Prajñā­pāramitā­sūtras in relation to the Buddha’s qualities. The term is included in the Mahā­vyutpatti (section 46, 1015), and the sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa makes it clear that the Tibetans interpreted it as attaining the śrāvaka’s nirvāṇa in the interval between one life and the next (antara­parinirvāṇi zhes bya ba phyir mi ’ong ba srid pa gcig nas ’phos pa pha rol tu yang ma skyes par srid pa bar mdo’i tshe dgra bcom pa’i ’bras bu mngon du byas nas mya ngan las ’da’ bas na bar ma dor yongs su mya ngan las ’da’ ba zhes bya). According to Edgerton the Pāli sources interpret the term as meaning simply “attaining parinirvāṇa prematurely” i.e. in the middle of life, and the Prajñā­pāramitā occurrence could be interpreted as prematurely in the sense of before having perfected the qualities. Here it could be interpreted either simply as attaining nirvāṇa “without any interval,” i.e. immediately, or possibly as in the interval after death; in both cases the implication is, of course, that the bodhisattva will not continue to live to benefit beings.

n.6Tib: bdag gi sdug bsngal dang ’dra bar ’dod pa (or, in the Stok Palace Kangyur, bdag gis sdug bsngal …). The meaning of this expression is unclear to us.

n.7Tib: sgra dang sgra ma yin pa so sor brtag pa la mkhas pa. The Tibetan sgra has a wide range of meanings, including “sound,” “voice,” “speech,” “language,” “word,” “term,” and “grammar.” It is not clear what this expression means in the context of this sentence.

n.8Tib: snying rje ni kun tu spyod pa med pa’i mtshan nyid do. This way of defining compassion is surprising; it could possibly carry the sense of not having a fixed type of conduct, though this is not clear.