Introduction
i.1Introduction to the Domain of the Inconceivable Qualities and Wisdom of the Tathāgatas consists of a discourse between two bodhisattvas in which the bodhisattva Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin addresses the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī in the Buddha’s inspiring presence. The sūtra thus belongs to the class of scriptures classified in the Tibetan tradition as “imparted with permission” by the Buddha.
i.1《大方廣入如來智德不思議經》由兩位菩薩之間的對話組成，其中薩爾瓦尼瓦拉納毗什甘布欣菩薩在佛陀的啟迪下向文殊菩薩開示。因此，這部經屬於藏文傳統中被歸類為得到佛陀「許可而傳授」的經典。
i.2Two main themes stand out in the text. The first, as intimated by the title, is the universality, omniscience, and unlimited powers of the spontaneous and nonconceptual activity and manifestations that the buddhas display for the sake of all beings. The second central theme is the benefits that a bodhisattva derives from following a spiritual friend , who acts as a mentor or teacher on the spiritual path. Many sūtras elaborate on the subject of the awakened qualities of the buddhas, but the strong emphasis this sūtra places on the importance of a spiritual friend is unusual.
i.2本經文中突出了兩個主要主題。第一個主題，如標題所暗示的那樣，是佛陀所展現的普遍性、一切智和無限的力量，包括自發的、無分別的活動和為了一切眾生的利益而顯現。第二個中心主題是菩薩跟隨善知識所獲得的利益，善知識在靈性道路上充當導師或老師的角色。許多經典詳細論述了佛陀的覺悟功德，但本經對善知識重要性的強調是不尋常的。
i.3The sūtra states that a bodhisattva who is accepted by a spiritual friend also attains a number of dhāraṇīs (Tib. gzungs); these are formulae linked to the powers of scriptural memorization and recitation, or in a more magical vein, consisting in incantations chanted for worldly or spiritual gain. The list of these dhāraṇīs is closely related to that found in the Mahāvyutpatti, an authoritative Tibetan-Sanskrit lexicon of the ninth century. The sūtra also incorporates, near its beginning, a passage describing the qualities of the Buddha that is also found in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra (Toh 106). Further on, there is a list of various states of samādhi, or meditative absorption, ascribed here to bodhisattvas. Similar lists also appear in the Akṣayamatinirdeśa (Toh 175), the Bodhisattvapiṭaka (Toh 56), the Ratnamegha (Toh 231), the Gaṇḍavyūha (Toh 44), and other sūtras, as well as in the Mahāvyutpatti.
i.3這部經說菩薩若被善知識所攝受，也會成就許多陀羅尼（藏文：gzungs），這些是與經文記憶背誦的力量相關的公式，或者在更具魔法性的意義上，包含為獲得世間或靈性利益而誦唱的咒語。這些陀羅尼的名單與第九世紀權威的藏文-梵文詞典《大品詞典》中所見的名單密切相關。這部經還在其開篇附近收錄了一段描述佛陀功德的文段，該文段也出現在《解深密經》中。往下還有各種三昧（禪定）狀態的名單，此處歸屬於菩薩。類似的名單也出現在《無盡慧菩薩所問經》、《菩薩藏經》、《寶雨經》、《華嚴經·入法界品》以及其他經典中，還有《大品詞典》。
i.4This sūtra seems to have been well known to Buddhist scholars in India. The text is quoted both in Nāgarjūna’s Sūtrasamuccaya (Toh 3934) and in the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā (Toh 4025). If the Sūtrasamuccaya is indeed the work of the Nāgarjūna (150 to 250 ᴄᴇ) who is identified as the author of the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Toh 3824), this would suggest that our sūtra was already in circulation in the second or third century ᴄᴇ.
i.4這部經典在印度佛教學者中似乎享有盛名。該文獻被引用在龍樹菩薩的《經集論》（Toh 3934）和《寶性論釋》（Toh 4025）中。如果《經集論》確實是被認同為《中觀根本論》（Toh 3824）作者的龍樹菩薩（約西元150年至250年）所著，這將表明我們的這部經典早已在西元第二或第三世紀時開始流通。
i.5Peter Skilling has recently noted the sūtra’s connection with a vast family of Buddhāvataṃsaka texts that once circulated in India, and that were only later identified as a unitary collection in Tibet and China. To this we may add further textual and thematic evidence for including the sūtra in the Buddhāvataṃsaka family. An important piece of textual evidence is its reference to the Samantabhadracaryāpraṇidhāna ( Aspiration Prayer for the Conduct of Samantabhadra ), a text that forms the final part of the Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra (Toh 44-45), which is itself an important component text in the Buddhāvataṃsaka family. Thematically, our sūtra’s multiple descriptions of the wondrous displays of buddhas’ bodies throughout all world-systems in accord with beings’ dispositions, and especially the buddhas’ displays of manifold bodies in one body, or one body in manifold bodies, draw upon tropes that are central to the Buddhāvataṃsaka corpus. Another thematic feature of this text that links it with this corpus is the central place that the dharmadhātu occupies in its descriptions of the bodhisattvas’ qualities.
i.5彼得·斯基林最近指出該經與曾在印度流傳的龐大《華嚴經》文獻系統有關聯，這些文獻後來才在西藏和中國被識別為一個統一的文集。在此基礎上，我們可以進一步從文本和主題角度提供證據，將該經納入《華嚴經》的系統。重要的文本證據是它引用了《普賢菩薩行願讚》，這篇文本構成了《華嚴經·入法界品》（藏文編號44-45）的最後部分，而《入法界品》本身是《華嚴經》系統中的重要構成經典。從主題上看，該經對佛陀身相在所有世界中奇妙顯現的多重描述，以及佛陀根據眾生的稟性而示現無量身相或一身現多身、多身現一身等特點，運用了《華嚴經》文獻系統中的核心論題。該文本的另一個主題特點是法界在描述菩薩功德時佔據的中心地位，這也將它與《華嚴經》系統聯繫在一起。
i.6Introduction to the Domain of the Inconceivable Qualities and Wisdom of the Tathāgatas, is found in the General Sūtra Section (Tib. mdo sde) of the Kangyur. According to the colophon, it was translated by the Indian pandit Jñānagarbha and the renowned Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé, who flourished in the late eighth to the early ninth centuries. It is also included in the Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) catalog, confirming that it was translated into Tibetan by the early ninth century.
i.6《大方廣入如來智德不思議經》收錄在《甘珠爾》的一般經部(藏文：mdo sde)中。根據尾記記載，這部經典由印度班智達智藏和著名的藏文譯師智慧光共同翻譯，兩人活躍於八世紀晚期至九世紀早期。經典也被收錄在《丹噶目錄》中，確認了它在九世紀早期已被翻譯為藏文。
i.7Apart from several recently-discovered fragments, no Sanskrit original of the text has survived. Three Chinese versions are known: probably the earliest (Taishō 303) by an unknown translator; another (Taishō 302) by the Gandharan monk Jñānagupta, carried out between 585 and 601; and a third translation (Taishō 304) by the Khotanese monk Śikṣānanda, in 700.
i.7除了最近發現的若干片段外，該經的梵文原本已不存世。現存三個漢譯版本：最早的一個（大正藏303）出自不詳譯者之手；另一個（大正藏302）由健馱羅僧人智光所譯，成於585至601年間；第三個譯本（大正藏304）由于闐僧人實叉難陀於700年翻譯完成。
i.8This translation was prepared from the Degé (sde dge) block print in consultation with the Comparative Kangyur (dpe bsdur ma).
i.8本譯文是根據德格版刻本，參照《對比甘珠爾》準備而成的。