Notes

n.1The Play in Full (rgya cher rol pa, Toh 95).

n.2Nattier 2004, p. 72.

n.3Matsumura 2011b, p. 63. For a more extensive and more thoroughly researched overview of texts that share major plot elements with The Prophecy of Dīpaṅkara, see Matsumura 2011a, 2011b, and 2012.

n.4Translation in Rotman 2017, pp. 24ff.

n.5Matsumura 2011b, p. 65.

n.6See Jones 1949, pp. 188–203.

n.7The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisatva (byang chub sems dpa’i sde snod, Toh 56). For more cases, see Anālayo 2010, p. 87, n. 95; and Matsumura 2011b, pp. 1138–39. A retelling of the story of the brahmin boy (not extant in Sanskrit), in which he is called Sumati, can be found in The Hundred Deeds (Karmaśataka, Toh 340), 2.288–2.341.

n.8Butön, chos ’byung, p. 75.

n.9See Matsumura 2010.

n.10Nattier 2004, p. 72. Translation in Ānandajoti, “Nidānakathā.”

n.11Translation in Burlingame 1921, pp. 193–94. See also sources listed in Lamotte 1944, p. 248, n. 2.

n.12See Matsumura 2011b and 2012.

n.13Matsumura 2011a, pp. 132–33.

n.14Denkarma, folio 299.a; Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 98; Phangthangma 2003, p. 15.

n.15Feer 1883, pp. 305–21.

n.16Matsumura 2011a, pp. 121–38.

n.17The translation of this sentence is tentative: gnas gtsang ma’i ris kyi lha’i bu dag gcig gis bdag cag nyid rgas shing ’khogs pa dang / nad kyis btab pa dang / shi ba yang bstan [Stok: bsten] te dge sbyong zhig kyang der bzhag pa. Possibly there are several gods creating the display, as Feer (1883, p. 308) and Matsumura (2011a, p. 102) have translated the passage. The role of bdag cag nyid (“we ourselves,” or possibly “singly” if translating the Sanskrit pratyātma) is unclear. It has been rendered here as “like us.”

n.18Reading Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa bsten pa. The Degé has bstan pa (“taught”).

n.19That is, the residents of the royal city of King Endowed with Islands.

n.20Degé phyi bzhin ’brang ba’i dge sbyong lha’i dbang po brgya byin dang thabs cig tu. Yongle and Kangxi add dang here, such that there is a śramaṇa attendant in addition to Śakra. It is not clear where this attendant would have come from, so we have read Degé as referring only to Śakra. Matsumura (2011a, p. 109) and Feer (1883, p. 310) agree. Feer further assumed that Śakra appears in the form of a śramaṇa (“qui le suivait [sous la forme d’]un ascète”).

n.21This description of the king’s procession is puzzling in the Tibetan: rgyal po’i mthu chen po dang / rgyal po’i tshogs mang po dang / rgyal po’i rnam par ’phrul pa chen po dang / rgyal po’i bdog pa chen po dang / rgyal po’i ’byor pa chen po dang / rgyal po’i rnam par rtse ba chen po dang chas te yongs su bskor cing mdun gyis bltas. Here we have opted for a literal translation. Matsumura’s (2011a, p. 111 and n. 68) interpretation of this passage, which is based on a set phrase appearing in Chinese translations, perhaps makes more sense: “together with his great army (mthu chen po), his many ministers (tshogs mang po), his great, high-ranking officials (rnam par ’phrul pa chen po), his great merchants (bdog pa chen po; śreṣṭin?), his great householders (’byor pa chen po), and his great, high-ranking Brahmans (rnam par rtse ba chen po).” However, we have not yet confirmed the concordance here.

n.22Reading Stok cho ga shes pa. The Degé and other editions consulted read chog shes pa, “contentment.”

n.23While here Megha’s reason for wanting to leave is not immediately clear, in The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisatva (Toh 56, 11.­260) Megha states that he will return to his home country because he has mastered the Vedas (kye mkhan po bdag gis rig byed lobs te bdag ni yul du mchi na bdag gis bgyi ba ci mchis).

n.24Although the Tibetan zong is often interpreted to mean articles of merchandise or salable goods, as a translation of the Sanskrit paṇa it can refer to a type of coin. Sanskrit versions of the story have five hundred kārṣāpaṇas (e.g., the Divyāvadāna, Rotman 2017, p. 25; and The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisatva, 11.­260) or purāṇas (e.g., the Mahāvastu, Jones 1949, p. 188, n. 9), both also coins of varying values depending on what they were made of. We find this to be more plausible than Megha wandering around with or being handed five hundred “articles of merchandise.”

n.25On the name of this city, see Matsumura (2011a, p. 113, n. 76), who notes correspondences with Chinese translations. As the Tibetan lacks the usual zhes bya ba (“so-called”) after the name, it would be easy to read grong khyer chen po bde bar pha rol tu ’gro ba na as “when (na) he was going (pha rol tu ’gro ba) to the great city Bliss (grong khyer chen po bde bar).”

n.26Although not attested as the name of this figure in Sanskrit sources, as Viśākha (Tib. sa ga) is most likely a proper name referring to the constellation of the same name, we have provided a tentative reconstruction. The name Suviśākha is fairly well attested in Indian literature compared to other possible back-translations.

n.27As is often the case in this sūtra, where it is not clear at which point or even if the speaker changes, here it is ambiguous which of the brahmins says “I do not need them” (kho bo la mi dgos). We follow both Feer and Matsumura and interpret this last statement as being the words of Megha.

n.28Again, the speaker here is unclear. According to Matsumura (2011a, p. 118), the girl is speaking. We are inclined to think it is the father, given the girl’s later reprimand of the boy for not remembering her father’s plea (1.­90). In the Divyāvadāna, according to Rotman’s translation (2017, p. 26), the girl speaks: “Accept me, brahman.” It is also said there that “since the king had surrendered the girl with the intention of giving her away as a gift, he wouldn’t take her back again,” which could explain why the girl has to leave in this version.

n.29Here again the change of speaker is assumed but not evident in the Tibetan: lan gsum gyi bar du bslang ba dang de bzhin bya’o zer ro. Matsumura (2011a, p. 121) agrees with the change of speaker, and Feer (1883, p. 315) has it that the girl continues speaking‍—“Aprés la troisième demande, elle se leva en disant: il faut bien agir ainsi”‍—although in note 1 he admits that something is missing, notably in this case that she is taking the flowers without permission.

n.30bu mo gang la bskyed pa tsam gyis skye ba’i bsod nams kyi zhing de lta bu la [Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné las] bskyed do. See Matsumura 2011a, p. 122, n. 109, for a similar passage in the Chinese translation of the Ekottarikāgama. On that basis she interprets Megha’s statements as referring to the Buddha Dīpaṅkara as the field of merit.

n.31Here again the change of speaker is assumed but not evident in the Tibetan: lan bdun gyi bar du smras pa dang / de bzhin du gyur cig ces smras so. Matsumura (2011a, p. 122) again agrees with the change of speaker, as does Feer (1883, p. 316): “Qu’ainsi soit!”

n.32Translation tentative: khye’u ci nags kyi nang na de/ /sbyin sreg byed cing rig ’don la/ /rgyal po’i dmag gis ma gtses sam. Here we follow Matsumura’s (2011a, p. 126) interpretation in which the girl is essentially asking why he has come to the city.

n.33As a translation of the Sanskrit parigraha, yongs su gzung ba (here translated as “possessions”) has a number of meanings relevant to the context, including marriage, a wife, or something that binds or constrains.

n.34Here, rather than five hundred zong (“coins”), the Tibetan has five hundred dbyig. According to the Mahāvyutpatti (no. 5959; 155/14), the latter corresponds to the Sanskrit hiraṇya. This might suggest that the coins are made of gold, but it could also refer to any generic wealth or riches.

n.35It is unclear if the aspiration (smon) referred to here is the aspiration later made before the Buddha, or if it refers to the marriage vow.

n.36In other versions of the story, the people are laying down costly robes for the Buddha, hence their disgust when Megha throws down his deer skin. See Matsumura 2012, p. 85.