Notes

n.1Nakamura 1980, pp. 177–182.

n.2Nakamura 1980, p. 234

n.3The Denkarma catalog is dated to ca. 812 ᴄᴇ. See Denkarma, f. 299.a.4. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 99, no. 184.

n.4In the Phukdrak version, the realms and their presiding buddhas are given as follows: to the east is the realm Sorrowless (mya ngan med pa) and the buddha Bhadraśrī (dpal bzang po); to the south is Peaceful (zhi ba) and buddha Ratnaprabhā (rin chen ’od); to the west is Heroic (dpa’ bo) and the buddha Ānandaśrī (dga’ ba’i dpal); to the north is the realm Without Conflict (mi ’khrugs pa) and the buddha Ketuśrī (dpal gyi dpal); to the southeast is Opulent (spyod pa can) and the buddha Aśokaśrī (mya ngan med pa’i dpal); to the southwest is the realm Shining Bright (dpal gyi dpal) and the buddha Ratnayaṣṭi (rin chen srog shing); to the northwest is Melodious (dbyangs can) and the buddha Kusumaśrī (me tog dpal); to the northeast is Happy (bde ldan) and the buddha Supernatural Power that Revels in the Shining Lotus (pad mo ’tsher bas rnam par rol pa mngon par shes pa); at the nadir is Vast Expanse (yangs pa can) and the buddha Brilliant Star (skar ma dpal); and at the zenith is the realm Moonlight (zla ba snang ba) and the buddha Dhanaśrī (bnor dpal).

n.5See, for example, the mdo sngags gsung rab rgya mtsho’i snying po mtshan gzungs mang bsdus, vol. 2 (waM pa), folios 91.b–103.a.

n.6’di ltar sa’i khams ni med par mi ’gyur ro … etc. These statements about the elements, Brahmā, and the aggregates are somewhat surprising and difficult to interpret with certainty. While they might possibly be accounted for by the notion that the elements and aggregates are already non-existent, and therefore do not need to become so, it seems more likely that this is a reference to their continuity in terms of their true nature. That Brahmā is included remains unusual.

n.7This and the subsequent statements that reference previously mentioned material represent intentional scribal elisions (peyāla) of repetitive passages, and likely originate in the Sanskrit manuscript on which the Tibetan translation is based. The reader is meant to revisit the first passage for the elided material. The complete passage will typically be restated in the final section, which in the context of this text is the passage describing the tenth buddha realm. Such scribal elisions are a common feature in Pali and Sanskrit texts with lengthy passages of repetitive material.

n.8Candanaśrī means “Sandalwood Splendor”.

n.9See n.­6.