Introduction
i.1The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (2), so called to distinguish it from a longer work with the same title, is a short Great Vehicle sūtra in which the Buddha describes the monks who will bring about the decline of the Dharma. The sūtra opens with the Buddha at Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha, surrounded by a group of monks. Among them is Rāṣṭrapāla, who asks the Buddha to describe the people who will bring about the decline of the Buddha’s teaching. In his response, the Buddha first draws a sharp contrast between the condition of the monk (Tib. dge slong gi gnas), which entails monastic rigor, and the condition of laxity (Tib. lhod pa’i gnas), which denotes a lack of monastic discipline. He then describes both as embodied by monks. Rigorous monks—that is, real monks worthy of the name—are those who are concerned with possessing and perfecting moral discipline through solitary practice and self-cultivation. Lax monks—that is, imposter monks unworthy of the name—are those who do not live a life of strict discipline but are instead concerned with worldly affairs. These monks, the Buddha tells Rāṣṭrapāla, will bring about the decline of the teaching. This message is expressed first in prose and then again in verse.
i.1《護國所問經》（第二部），之所以這樣稱呼，是為了與同名的較長作品區別。這是一部大乘經，佛陀在其中描述了將導致法衰退的比丘。經文開始於佛陀在王舍城靈鷲山，被一群比丘圍繞。其中包括護國，他請求佛陀描述那些將導致佛陀教法衰退的人。在回答中，佛陀首先在比丘的狀態（藏文：dge slong gi gnas）與懈怠的狀態（藏文：lhod pa'i gnas）之間進行了鮮明的對比。前者涉及嚴格的修行規範，後者則表示缺乏出家戒律。隨後他描述了這兩種狀態如何在比丘身上體現。嚴格的比丘——也就是真正配得上比丘名號的人——是那些關心於擁有和完善戒律，通過獨處修行和自我修養的人。懈怠的比丘——也就是不配比丘名號的假比丘——是那些不過嚴格戒律的生活，而是沉溺於世俗事務的人。佛陀告訴護國，這些比丘將導致教法的衰退。這個信息首先以散文形式表達，然後再以偈頌形式重複。
i.2Initially composed in Sanskrit, The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (2) survives in Tibetan and Mongolian. The Sanskrit title, following the transliterations available in the Tibetan editions, can be reconstructed as *Āryarāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra. Further details about the Sanskrit—when, where, and by whom it was compiled—are unknown. The Tibetan translation was produced and/or updated in the late eighth or early ninth century by Jinamitra, Yeshé Dé, and other unnamed assistants. The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (2) is listed in both the Denkarma Catalog and the Phangthangma Catalog (under the title ’phags pa yul ’khor skyong gis zhus pa chung ngu), and is witnessed in the Tshalpa (tshal pa) and Thempangma (them spangs ma) recension lineages. To our knowledge, it has not been identified among the manuscripts found at Dunhuang.
i.2《聖國王護所問大乘經》最初用梵文撰寫，現存的藏文和蒙古文版本中保留了這部經典。根據藏文版本中可以找到的音譯，梵文標題可以重構為*Āryarāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra。關於梵文的進一步細節——包括編纂的時間、地點和編纂者——目前還不為人所知。藏文翻譯是由勝友、智慧光和其他未具名的助手在八世紀末或九世紀初期製作和更新的。《聖國王護所問大乘經》被列在《丹噶目錄》和《方塘目錄》中（標題為'phags pa yul 'khor skyong gis zhus pa chung ngu），並在札西巴版本和特姆龐瑪版本的傳承系統中得到證實。根據我們目前的瞭解，在敦煌發現的手稿中還未識別出這部經典。
i.3The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (2) shares thematic content with two works titled similarly (or identically, as the case may be)—one from the Pali canon, the Raṭṭhapāla Sutta, and another from the Great Vehicle tradition, The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (Toh 62). The Pali text is largely concerned with illustrating to audiences both lay and monastic the qualities of proper monasticism and its virtues. The concern of The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (2), by contrast, appears to be more insular in nature. There are two possible conditions, the Buddha tells Rāṣṭrapāla: rigor and laxity. Those who have moral discipline are real monks. Those who lack moral discipline, on the other hand, are imposter monks. Though people of the latter sort consider themselves to be monks, they are no monks at all, and such individuals will bring about the decline of the Dharma. In the longer Great Vehicle work, The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (1), the concern is again largely insular. Here, however, it is the rigorous bodhisattva who is valorized, not the rigorous monk. In fact, monks are criticized and denigrated in The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (1), while rigorous, forest-dwelling bodhisattvas are valorized as the ideal, authentic practitioners. What exactly to make of these differences—with regard, for example, to the social and institutional locations of the Great Vehicle practitioners and authors behind these two works—is beyond the scope of this introduction. Instead, we refer readers to Reginald Ray and Daniel Boucher, whose work on these two Great Vehicle sūtras has informed the brief comments here.
i.3《護國所問經》(2)在主題內容上與另外兩部名稱相同或相似的經典有所關聯——其中一部來自巴利藏的《羅怙羅經》,另一部來自大乘傳統的《護國所問經》(Toh 62)。巴利文本主要致力於向在家和出家眾闡示正確出家修行的品質及其功德。相比之下,《護國所問經》(2)的關注似乎更具內向性。佛陀告訴護國,存在兩種可能的境況:嚴謹和懈怠。那些具備戒律的人是真正的比丘。相反,那些缺乏戒律的人是假比丘。儘管這類人認為自己是比丘,但他們根本不是比丘,這樣的人將導致法的衰退。在較長的大乘著作《護國所問經》(1)中,關注同樣主要是內向性的。然而,這裡被推崇的是嚴謹的菩薩,而非嚴謹的比丘。實際上,《護國所問經》(1)中對比丘提出了批評和貶低,而嚴謹、居住森林的菩薩則被推崇為理想的真實修行人。如何確切理解這些差異——例如,就這兩部經典背後的大乘修行者和作者的社會與制度位置而言——超出了本序言的範圍。相反,我們建議讀者參閱雷金納德·雷和丹尼爾·布歇的著作,他們對這兩部大乘經典的研究為此處的簡短評論提供了參考。
i.4The present translation is based on the Degé version in consultation with the Stok Palace version. These two Tibetan texts are not identical, but they do not often differ in a way that affects the meaning. Therefore, we mostly followed the Degé. We followed the Stok readings when they helped to clarify the sense of the Degé, and we provide both readings in cases where the variance impacts the meaning.
i.4本譯文以德格版本為基礎，並參照斯托克宮版本。這兩個藏文文本並不完全相同，但它們的差異通常不會影響意義。因此，我們主要遵循德格版本。當斯托克宮版本有助於澄清德格版本的含義時，我們採用斯托克版本的讀法，在差異影響意義的情況下，我們會同時提供兩個版本的讀法。
i.5In 1952, Jacob Ensink translated The Questions of Rāṣṭrapāla (2) from the Tibetan. Our translation has benefitted from comparison with his work.
i.5一九五二年，雅各布·恩西克將《聖國王護所問大乘經》(2)從藏文翻譯成英文。我們的翻譯通過與他的著作進行比較而獲益。