Notes

n.1The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrti­nirdeśa, Toh 176).

n.2On the age of children when entering marriage in ancient and medieval India, see Jamison 2018.

n.3Aśokadattā’s Prophecy (Aśokadattāvyā­karaṇa, Toh 76).

n.4The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā (Dārikāvima­laśraddhā­pari­pṛcchā, Toh 84).

n.5For a full list of Great Vehicle sūtras in the Kangyur in which women and girls are the main protagonists, see the introduction to Aśokadattā’s Prophecy (Toh 76, i.­5).

n.6Sumatidārikā­pari­pṛcchā­sūtra (Toh 74).

n.7Braarvig and Harrison 2002, pp. 52–53. Diana Paul, in her treatment of the text, also surmised that it was likely compiled around the third or fourth century (Paul 1985, p. 190).

n.8Paul 1985, pp. 190–99.

n.9Giebel 2018.

n.10Denkarma, F.298.a; Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, pp. 78–79; Phangthangma 2003, p. 12.

n.11Butön Rinchen Drup, chos byung, folio 150.b.

n.12Following N, U, H: sems thams cad kyi dbang gi dam pa’i pha rol tu son pa. D, S: sems can thams cad kyi, “of all sentient beings.” The former reading (without can) matches the Mahāvyutpatti entry for hearer qualities: [1088] sarvacetovaśi­parama­pāramiprāptaḥ, sems kyi dbang thams cad kyi dam pa’i pha rol tu son thob pa, and is also corroborated by the Chinese.

n.13Following S: brgyad stong. D: brgya stong. The former is corroborated by the Chinese: ba qian.

n.14On the close connection between these two attainments, dhāraṇī and pratibhāna, see Braarvig 1985.

n.15Y has the additional phrase tshul thogs pa med pa, “had an unobstructed manner.”

n.16Here Nārāyaṇa refers to a bodhisattva and is not an epithet of Viṣṇu.

n.17Following Y, J, K, N, C, H, S: bdag gi, “of mine.” D: bdag gis.

n.18Following S: ston par byed do. D: stobs par byed do.

n.19Reading Y, K, H, S: zla mchog gi. D: zla mchog gis.

n.20The translation of this and the preceding line is tentative. D: ngan bu lhan [J, K, N, C, H, S slan] chad lus kyis ni//’du shes ma mchis sems mi g.yo//.

n.21Translation tentative. D: ji ltar bzung zhing rab tu gnas.

n.22Translation tentative: chos byung nga deng khyod kyi phyir// lha mi ’dul bas bka’ stsal to.

n.23Literally “his tongue.”

n.24Following F: gnas nas go ’phang mchog mnyes la. D, S: gsan nas go ’phang mchog brnyes la (“listening, he attains the supreme state”). The latter reading seems unlikely since there is no need to “attain” anything, as he is already a buddha.

n.25The Chinese also includes the word “seven”: the “seven branches of awakening.”

n.26Y, J, K, N, C omit this line.

n.27Following D, S: spros pa sna tshogs kun. Y, J, K, N, C: spobs pa sna tshogs kun.

n.28dgra thul de. We have translated this term literally. It is possibly an alternative for dgra bcom pa (lit. “enemy-vanquisher”) which is the usual Tibetan translation of “arhat,” used here as an epithet of the Buddha.

n.29The Sanskrit fragment from the Schøyen Collection begins here. Braarvig and Harrison 2002, pp. 55–57.

n.30Though the girl’s speech has now ended, the Tibetan text continues in nine-syllable meter for two more verses.

n.31D, S: hab shang. Y, K: hab she; N: ha gshang. In a footnote to the Schøyen fragment, Braarvig and Harrison note “The term hab śaṅ (the Thems spaṇs reading, here followed by D) is not found in the lexicons, but N’s ha gśaṇ points us in the direction of the gśaṇ, a musical instrument used especially by the Bon pos, which resembles a flattish sort of bell. See Helffer, 1994: 215ff.”

n.32End of Schøyen fragment.

n.33The section cited by Śāntideva in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, which is extant in Sanskrit, starts here. Braarvig and Harrison 2002, pp. 59–68. For another English translation of this section of the sūtra, as cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, see Goodman 2016, pp. 79–80.

n.34The Sanskrit of this verse, as cited by Śāntideva in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, has an ambiguity whereby the girl is both teaching that her beauty has not been produced by lust, but also that her beauty will not be won by lustful suitors. See Braarvig and Harrison 2002, p. 60, n. 34.

n.35D: gang dag tshangs spyod rnams spyod dag pa. The plural rnams has not been rendered in the English translation. It could refer to those (pl.) who observe celibacy, or to the aspects (pl.) of the celibate or spiritual life. This plural is absent from the Sanskrit as cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya. Braarvig and Harrison 2002, p. 60.

n.36Following D: kho mo ’dod chags ldan pa’i sems mi skyed// ’dod chags bral la chags pa ma skyed cig// ji ltar smras bden nam yang brdzum min te// mdun gyi thub dbang ’di ni bdag gi dpang. This verse, and those that follow, are very slightly different as cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya from how they are found in the Kangyur version of the sūtra. For translations of the verses as cited in the Śikṣāsamuccaya, which is extant in Sanskrit, and comparison with the Tibetan, see Braarvig and Harrison 2002, pp. 62 ff. The Sanskrit term translated into Tibetan as both ’dod chags and chags pa in this verse, and rendered in English as both “desire” and “lust,” is rāga.

n.37D: ’dod pa’i gzhi las. Here the Śikṣāsamuccaya citation reads (in Tibetan translation) ’dod pa’i rgyus. Here the Sanskrit term translated as ’dod pa and translated here into English as “lust” is kāma. In the following lines, ’dod chags, translated here as “desire,” translates rāga.

n.38This verse is absent from the Śikṣāsamuccaya. It is, however, included in the Chinese translation of the sūtra.

n.39D, S: ’dod pas ’khol ba dag. Here the Comparative Edition reads ’dod pas ’khor ba dag. There are numerous small variations in how this verse is found across the Kangyur editions of the sūtra, and in how it appears in the various editions of the Tibetan translation of the Śikṣāsamuccaya. For these variants, see Braarvig and Harrison 2002, p. 67.

n.40The excerpt from the Śikṣāsamuccaya ends here.

n.41In the Sanskrit of the Lalitavistara, rnam par gnod translates vyāhataṃ, hence the translation here as “conflict.”

n.42Tib. kho bo ni mya ngan las ’das par ’gro’o. This could also be translated (based on the Tibetan) as “I am going to [a state that has] passed beyond sorrow,” or, based on the assumed underlying Sanskrit, “I am going to extinguishment.”

n.43Following D: chos thams cad mya ngan las ’das par mchi ba lags pas. The Chinese translation as well as S and F present this as a question: “Are not all dharmas going…?”

n.44Tib. gal te chos thams cad yongs su mya ngan las ’das par ’gro ba yin na. This could also be translated (based on the Tibetan) as “if all dharmas are going to a state that has passed completely beyond sorrow.”

n.45Tib. khyod kyis ji ltar bzod pa de bzhin du lan gtab tu gsol. This polite phrase has been rendered loosely. A more literal translation could be, “Pray, answer in accordance with your forbearance.”

n.46Following Y, K: bdag dang gzhan dag gi nyon mongs. D, S: gis.

n.47Tib. sems kyi skad cig gcig dang ldan pa’i shes rab. In The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines (Toh 10, 64.­29), the phrase skad cig gcig dang ldan pa’i shes rab translates the Sanskrit ekakṣaṇa­samāyuktayā prajñayā, referring to the ekakṣaṇābhi­saṃbodhi, the instant just prior to complete awakening.

n.48Following D, S, in which bdag (“I”) may be read as the subject of chos ston par gyur cig, “May I become a teacher of the Dharma.” Y, J, K, N, C instead read bdag gi, “this root of virtue of mine.”

n.49In the mnemonic patterning of this section of the text, whereby the numbering of the flower corresponds to a parallel numbering of the teaching evoked in the aspiration, this third flower corresponds to the abandonment of the three root poisons of attraction, aversion, and ignorance.

n.50Following D, S, F: rang byung. Y, J, K, N, C read rab ’byung, “renunciant.”

n.51Following D, S: chos lo legs bgyid. N, C read chos la legs bgyid, “excellent in Dharma.” The translation from Chinese has, “Who has enriched the Dharma, O lion among men?” Giebel 2018, p. 75.

n.52Following D, S: rtog pa rnam. Y, K, J, N, C, H read log pa rnams, “errors.” Corroborating the Degé and Stok reading, the Chinese has “discrimination.”

n.53D: dga’ zhing lha mi dbang po zla ba lta. S: zla ba ltar.

n.54Following S, Y, J, K, N, C: bdud med dmig can yod min zhing. D: bud med dmig can yod min zhing, “none who perceive women.” The Chinese favors the reading bdud, “māra.”

n.55In Tibetan the term khye’u (“child”) is not explicitly gender-specific, but it likely translates the Sanskrit dāraka, “boy.”