Notes

n.1Traveling from town to town was a common spiritual practice for ascetics and renunciants in India at the time of the Buddha. The Buddha most likely utilized this practice both to encourage the monks to practice nonattachment and to spread his doctrine. See Wijayaratna 1990, pp. 18–20.

n.2See Muluposathasutta, AN 3.70 in the Aṅguttaranikāya, English translation by Thanissaro Bhikkhu 1997. All sixteen states are listed as follows: Aṅgā, Vajjī, Mallā, Cetī, Vaṁsā, Kurū, Pañcāla, Macchā, Sūrasenā, Assakā, Avantī, Gandhārā, Kambojā, Magadhā, Kāsī, and Kośala.

n.3In early Buddhist accounts, a King Brahmadatta of North Pañcāla (Uttara Pañcāla) is mentioned in various Jātaka stories, including the Gaṇḍatindu Jātaka and the Brahmadatta Jātaka. For a full list of references to the various Brahmadattas found in early Buddhist canonical literature, see Malalasekera 1938, pp. 332–34.

n.4Denkarma, folio 298.b.7. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 90, no. 166.

n.5The one exception is an English summary entry on the sūtra in Malalasekera 1965, pp. 308–9.

n.6There is a text in the Kangyur that goes by this name: Dhāraṇī That Accomplishes the Seal of Infinite Gateways (Ananta­mukha­sādhaka­nāma­dhāraṇī,’phags pa sgo mtha’ yas pa sgrub pa zhes bya ba’i gzungs), Toh 140, Degé Kangyur vol. 56 (mdo sde na), folios 289.b–299.a.

n.7Tib. mi khom pa; Skt. akṣaṇa. This refers to being born into circumstances in which one is unable to practice the Dharma properly, specifically to eight possible states of existence: as a hell being, hungry ghost, animal, long-lived god, or barbarian, possessing wrong views, living in a time without buddhas, and having impaired faculties.

n.8The two analogies here are idiomatic and challenging to capture in translation. The crux of the first analogy is that the water left in a vessel is not fresh, and so would be considered unfit for drinking. The second analogy is based in Buddhist proscriptions against misusing the offerings of the faithful. The consequences of doing so are considered spiritually deadly, and likened to swallowing chunks of iron.

n.9Tib. brgyad sde’i byang chub kyi yan lag: the eight branches of awakening refers to the eightfold path, which includes (1) right view (Tib. yang dag pa’i lta ba; Skt. samyagdṛṣṭi), (2) right thought (Tib. yang dag pa’i rtog pa; Skt. samyaksaṅkalpa), (3) right speech (Tib. yang dag pa’i ngag; Skt. samyagvak), (4) right action (Tib. yang dag pa’i las kyi mtha’; Skt. samyakkarmānta), (5) right livelihood (Tib. yang dag pa’i ’tsho ba; Skt. samyagājīva), (6) right effort (Tib. yang dag pa’i rtsol ba; Skt. samyagvyāyāma), (7) right mindfulness (Tib. yang dag pa’i dran pa; Skt. samyaksmṛti), and (8) right samādhi (Tib. yang dag pa’i ting nge ’dzin; Skt. samyaksamādhi).

n.10We follow the Kangxi, Yongle, and Stok versions of the translation in reading brtas/rtas instead of ltas as attested in the Degé version.

n.11The analogy being made here in unclear. In Buddhist scripture, the castor-oil tree (Skt. eraṇḍa) is sometimes listed along with the plantain tree as something that lacks an essential core. Alternatively, because of its foul smell it is compared negatively to the pleasant-smelling sandalwood tree.