Notes

n.1See Vienna Buddhist Translation Studies Group, trans., The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (1) , Toh 62 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021).

n.2Note that the Mongolian version was translated from the Tibetan.

n.3Shūki 1950, p. 137, no. 220.

n.4Phangthangma 2003, p. 17, line 13.

n.5See the University of Vienna’s Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies for more.

n.6Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi 2015, pp. 677–691.

n.7Vienna Buddhist Studies Translation Group, trans., The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021).

n.8For more on this theme, see Nattier 1991.

n.9Boucher 2008; Ray 1994, especially pp. 275–80.

n.10The Degé and Stok readings are both difficult to make sense of here. Degé: des kha zas yog drod kyis bza’ bar yang mi bya ste; Stok: des kha zas yog drid kyis bza’ bar yang mi bya ste. The Phukdrak reading offers some clarity: des kha zas yog tsam gyi bza’ bar yang mi bya ste. Here, yog suggests something like “to twist together.” Thanks to Rory Lindsay for pointing out this reading.

n.11Degé: chags pa med pa; Stok: chags pa ched pa (sic; chad pa?). As it stands, the Stok reading suggests something like “spreading over,” which does not make sense given the context. Reading ched pa as chad pa, however, provides a sense of “cutting off” or “elimination,” which harmonizes well with the med pa attested in the Degé.

n.12Degé: zhi ba’i gnas mal; Stok: zhi ba’i gnas la. According to the Comparative Edition, the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné read zhi ba’i gnas lam. Though there are differences here, the sense is clear.

n.13Degé: rig pa dang mi ldan pa’i dge slong; Stok: rigs pa dang mi ldan pa’i dge slong. The Stok reading suggests something like “unsuitable,” “improper,” or “unreasonable,” any of which would work just as well as “ignorant.”

n.14Degé: shin tu yang dag par bsdam pa can du bya’o; Stok: shin tu yang dag par bsnyen pa can du bya’o. The Stok reading suggests that “service” is at issue here rather than “restraint.”

n.15Degé: de la ’bab de la bab de la bden par ’dzin de’i spyod lam byed; Stok: de la gzhol/ de la ’bab/ de la bab de dben par ’dzin/ der spyod lam byed. Admittedly, the translation of the final clause is loose. We think, however, that such a rendering captures the meaning well.

n.16Degé: dge slong; Stok: dge sbyong. The Stok reading provides “ascetics” rather than “monks.”

n.17Degé: de dag bud med ston mi byed; Stok: de dag bud med sten mi byed. The Stok reading suggests that “being near” or “relying on” women is the problem (rather than “teaching” women).

n.18Degé: stong pa nyid la mos byed pa; Stok: stong pa nyid la chos byed pa. The Degé reading suggests “believing in emptiness,” while the Stok reading suggests “enacting” or “practicing” in emptiness, perhaps construing dharmas as empty. With the language of “affirm” in the translation, we hope to strike something of a balance between the two.

n.19Degé: ’da’ zhing ’jig par mi byed de; Stok: ’da’ zhing ’jigs par mi byed de. Rather than “not destroying,” the Stok reading suggests that they do not “fear” the precepts of the Buddha. Either reading seems appropriate in the context.

n.20Degé: shin tu brtan par gnas pa yin; Stok: shin tu bstan par gnas pa yin. The Stok suggests, perhaps, “they abide well in the teachings.”

n.21Degé: nga rgyal tha ba khro ’gyur gnas; Stok: nga rgyal tha ba khro ’byung gnas. Rather than “quick to anger,” the Stok suggests “a source of anger,” or perhaps “a wellspring of anger,” both of which have the same basic sense as the Degé reading but with different imagery.