Introduction

i.1The setting of this short sūtra, The Question of Kṣemaṅkara, is Nyagrodha Park near Kapilavastu, the city in the ancient Śākya kingdom that contained the family home where Prince Siddhārtha grew up. Kapilavastu is assumed to be some ten kilometers to the west of his birthplace, Lumbini, which is in present-day Nepal, but it is not certain which of two possible sites today might be its exact location.

i.2The sūtra describes a conversation between Buddha Śākyamuni and the Śākya youth Kṣemaṅkara, who asks the Buddha a lengthy question about the qualities good bodhisattvas should have and how to develop such qualities. The Buddha’s response unfolds as a teaching on how to practice the bodhisattva path‍—an uncomplicated instruction given to a layperson. The teaching is without the specialized vocabulary of Buddhist philosophy and does not place strong emphasis on monastic discipline, although it does admonish against involvement with women. For the modern reader it should be kept in mind that such comments regarding women are primarily meant for men as advice in support of celibacy.

i.3In this teaching the Buddha offers Kṣemaṅkara a set of ethical instructions, such as not retaliating when attacked, combined with teachings aimed at liberation, such as how to realize emptiness in order to successfully complete the bodhisattva path. Delighted by the Buddha’s response, Kṣemaṅkara makes an offering of his jewelry. The Buddha transforms the jewelry into a multitude of magically created beings, who in turn become the basis for a further teaching on the illusory character of phenomena. Unlike many longer sūtras, The Question of Kṣemaṅkara does not develop an elaborate storyline, nor are we given much information regarding the setting or the characters. Instead, this is a brief teaching that responds to a simple question. The only other participant in the conversation is Ānanda, in his usual role as witness to the Buddha’s teaching.

i.4Near the end of the sūtra, the evil Māra also makes an appearance and inquires about the benefit of the Buddha’s discourse. The Buddha then equates the teaching of this sūtra with the perfection of insight, stating that no matter how long one practices the first five perfections, unless one knows this teaching, one will be unable to make much progress on the bodhisattva path.

i.5Unfortunately, no Sanskrit version of this sūtra remains extant, but the text was translated into both Chinese and Tibetan. The Chinese translation (T 533) was produced by the prolific translator Chih-ch’ien (third century ᴄᴇ) sometime between 223–53 ᴄᴇ. As such, this sūtra can be dated to the formative period of India’s Mahāyāna scriptural tradition.

i.6In producing this translation, we have based our work on the Degé xylograph while consulting the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), as well as the Stok Palace manuscript. The colophon of the sūtra states that it was translated from Sanskrit by the Indian preceptor Prajñāvarman and the prolific Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé. So, we can date the Tibetan translation to the late eighth to the early ninth century, a dating that is also attested by the text’s inclusion in the early ninth century Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) catalog.