Notes
n.1The Sanskrit name for this world is most likely puṣpākara. This is attested in Negi for me tog gi ’byung gnas and it is found in Edgerton (1998, p. 350) as the name of a buddha. We have not, however, found a world by this name, i.e., a puṣpākaraloka, and have therefore rendered this name in English translation.
n.2Although canonical sources list past buddhas known either as puṣpa, puṣpita, or puṣpakṛta, we have not found an attested Sanskrit for the Tibetan me tog las byung ba. We have therefore preferred to use the English translation of this name, rather than attempt a reconstruction, especially because clear lists and equivalents for such names of buddhas as these do not as yet seem to be available. For a discussion of the names of buddhas listed in the Bhadrakalpikasūtra, see Skilling (2010) and, in particular, Skilling (2014).
n.3For a discussion of these four errors, see Lang (2003).
n.4See Lang (1986).
n.5This notion that women might be obliged to turn into or be reborn as men in order to awaken to buddhahood, somewhat jarring to modern sensibilities, is a common idea found throughout Mahāyāna literature. For more on this theme, see Nattier (2002). Statements of this kind are partially counterbalanced by passages in other sūtras in which the role of gender is downplayed or deconstructed.
n.6In translating don as “what is meaningful,” we have taken as one of the only available cues the single occurrence of the word in the text—in the third line of 1.15. Although the translation of this line renders chos as “the Dharma” rather than as “phenomena,” the play between the different meanings of this word in this and the following stanza in the source text, and the possible ambiguities that result, are probably intentional.
n.7In the Denkarma catalogue, which is usually thought to date to c. 812 ᴄᴇ, the sūtra is included (F.299.b.3) among the “Miscellaneous Sūtras” (mdo sde sna tshogs) less than one hundred ślokas in length, but the order of the words in the title is inverted to don dang chos rnam par ’byed pa (“Distinguishing What is Meaningful and Phenomena”). See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 111, no. 208. In the Phangthangma catalogue, the title is the same as in all Kangyurs.
n.8Tibetan: tshig rab.
n.9Translated based on the Stok Palace Kangyur: sdug pa. The Degé Kangyur reads: sdud pa.
n.10Translated based on the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, Lhasa, and Stok Palace Kangyurs: sangs rgyas dang chos. The Degé Kangyur reads: sangs rgyas pa’i chos.
n.11The Tibetan for this bodhisattva’s name is mi pham dbang phyug. mi pham translates the Sanskrit ajita, which is an epithet typically associated with Maitreya. It is therefore possible that the bodhisattva mentioned here could be the well-known Maitreya.
n.12See n.5.