Notes

n.1A peculiar feature of the setting is the inclusion of Ānanda in the opening narrative. Ānanda is generally believed to have only joined the Buddha’s community of followers in the second year after the Buddha’s awakening, yet the sermon at Deer Park took place only two months after this awakening. Therefore, the inclusion of Ānanda here seems to be an anomaly. This is confirmed by the fact that Ānanda is only included in the recensions of the sūtra found in Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line and is absent from those of the Themphangma line. In the latter, only the bodhisattva Ajita is described as accompanying the Buddha on the alms round.

n.2The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā , Toh 84, translated by the Karma Gyaltsen Ling Translation Group (2021).

n.3Aśokadattā’s Prophecy , Toh 76, translated by UCSB Buddhist Studies Translation Group (2024).

n.4The Prophecy Concerning Strīvivarta , Toh 190, translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2021).

n.5The Prophecy of Kṣemavatī , Toh 192, translated by the Subhashita Translation Group (2022).

n.6Sumatidārikā­pari­pṛcchā­sūtra , Toh 74.

n.7Gaṅgottara­pari­pṛcchā , Toh 75.

n.8The Questions of an Old Lady , Toh 171, translated by the Sakya Pandita Translation Group (2011).

n.9The Miraculous Play of Mañjuśrī , Toh 96, translated by Jens Erland Braarvig (2020).

n.10The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā , Toh 191, translated by Annie Bien (2025).

n.11The City Beggar Woman , Toh 205, translated by George FitzHerbert.

n.12佛說梵志女首意經 (Śrī­matī­brāhmaṇī­pari­pṛcchā), Taishō 567 (CBETA; SAT).

n.13有德女所問大乘經 (Śrīmatī­brāhmaṇī­pari­pṛcchā), Taishō 568 (CBETA; SAT).

n.14Denkarma, folio 299.b; Herrmann-Pfandt, pp. 112–13; Phangthangma, p. 17.

n.15For references to Goshima’s work, see Skilling 2021, p. 334.

n.16Skilling 2021, pp. 331–40.

n.17kun dga’ bo dang. These words are only found in Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line, while the Stok Palace Kangyur (the only Themphangma-line Kangyur consulted for this translation) omits mention of Ānanda (kun dga’ bo). Ānanda does not reappear in the narrative, even in the recensions of the Tshalpa-line Kangyurs. This suggests his inclusion in the opening narrative may have occurred as the result of a copying error.