Notes

n.1For the first, see Reat (1993) and Dharmasāgara Translation Group (2018); for the second, see Bien (2020). There is a famous commentary to the Pratītya­samutpādādi­vibhaṅga­nirdeśa­sūtra entitled the Pratītya­samutpāda­vyākhyā, attributed to Vasubandhu. For an overview of the content of this sūtra and its commentary, see Mejor (1997a, 1997b).

n.2In the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, the story is told in the Pravrajya­vastu, the first chapter of the Vinaya­vastu (Toh 1-1), Degé Kangyur vol. 1 (’dul ba, ka), folios 32b et seq. For a translation, see Miller (2018), 1.232 et seq. In the Pāli Canon, the same story is told in the Vinayapiṭaka (Mahāvagga I.23.1-10). See also Oldenberg (1997, pp 39-41).

n.3It would nevertheless seem significant, in view of the story mentioned in the previous paragraph, that this sūtra makes specific mention of Aśvajit, his name (unusually) being the only individual one used to represent the group of hearer disciples in the assembly.

n.4For a detailed study of the use of the concept of the merit of Brahmā in Buddhist inscriptions and textual sources, see Salomon and Schopen (1984). This article also includes a partial translation of the Pratītya­samutpāda­sūtra (see p 117).

n.5See Boucher (1991), p 1.

n.6See Boucher (1991), p 7.

n.7See Sykes (1856), pp 40 and 48; and Skilling (2003). Both articles outline some locations in which this “creed” has been discovered and the linguistic variations found among them.

n.8Bentor mentions that prominent Tibetan Buddhist figures such as Jetsün Trakpa Gyaltsen (rje btsun grags pa rgyal mtshan), the fifth Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (ngag dbang blo bzang rgya mtsho), and Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (’jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha ’yas) all list the verses on dependent arising (rten ’brel snying po) among the Five Great Dhāraṇīs (gzungs chen sde lnga) that are to be inserted into stūpas. See Bentor (1995), p 254.

n.9The identification of the Dharma with the Buddha himself is expressed in multiple early canonical sources, including the Saṃyutta Nikāya (III, 120), of the Pāli sūtra canon (Suttapiṭaka), in which the Buddha states, “He who sees the Dharma, Vikkali, sees me. He who sees me, sees the Dharma.” (yo kho vakkali dhammaṃ passati so maṃ passati, yo maṃ passati so dhammaṃ passati). Ibid., p 2.

n.10dge slong dag sus rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba mthong ba des chos mthong ngo/ sus chos mthong ba des sangs rgyas mthong ngo, “Bhikṣus, whoever sees dependent arising sees the Dharma. Whoever sees the Dharma sees the Buddha.” (Dharmasāgara Translation Group, 2018, 1.3). For available editions of the relevant passage, see Reat (1993), p 27.

n.11This equivalence is made explicit in another sūtra preserved in Chinese, which may in fact be a slightly longer version of the same sūtra, titled Sūtra on the Merit of Building a Stūpa by the Buddha. Boucher (1991), pp 8-9, provides a full translation of this sūtra.

n.12This is also attested, of course, by the inclusion of a copy of this work (as Toh 980) in the gzungs ’dus (Dhāraṇī) section of the Kangyur.

n.13Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 980 version of this text within vol. 101 or 102 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 980, n.­13, for details.

n.14See 84000 Translation Team (2024).

n.15There is a version in Sanskrit, available on the internet and originally published by P.L Vaidya (Mahāyāna-sūtra-saṁgraha, part I, Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 17, Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1961, p 119), which he reproduced from N. Aiyaswami Sastri (in Ārya Śālistamba Sūtra, Pratītya­samutpāda­vibhaṅgha Sūtra and Pratītya­samudtpāda­gāthā Sūtra, Śāntiniketan: Adyar Library, 1950, pp 25-27). However, Sastri states that he back-translated his Sanskrit version from the Tibetan.

n.16See Skilling (2021), pp. 269–75.

n.17In the Toh 520 version of the text there is a slight discrepancy in the folio numbering between the 1737 par phud printings and the late (post par phud) printings of the Degé Kangyur. Although the discrepancy is irrelevant here, further details concerning this may be found in n.­17 of the Toh 520 version of this text.

n.18There are multiple variations of this creed found throughout the Buddhist world. See Sykes (1856) and Skilling (2003).

n.19This last sentence is omitted in the otherwise identical copies of the work found in the Tantra and Dhāraṇī sections of the Kangyur, Toh 520 and Toh 980, respectively.

n.20Mention of the translators is omitted from the colophon in the versions Toh 520 and Toh 980 (see previous note).