Notes

n.1Nattier (2000), p. 74.

n.2The benefits of hearing, remembering, and reciting the names of sets of buddhas is mentioned in a large number of sūtras, and is the principal theme of several other shorter sūtras such as The Seven Buddhas (Toh 270), The Eight Buddhas (Toh 271), The Sūtra of the Ten Buddhas (Toh 272), and The Twelve Buddhas (Toh 273). Some of these, perhaps because they also contain dhāraṇīs (e.g. Toh 270 and Toh 273), are duplicated in the Action Tantra and Dhāraṇī sections of the Degé Kangyur. See also i.­14 below.

n.3Nattier (2000), p. 75.

n.4Nattier (2000), p. 89.

n.5c.f. Harrison 1978; 1990.

n.6Harrison (1978), p. 36.

n.7Harrison (1978), p. 39.

n.8’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa, Toh 12, Degé Kangyur, vol. 33 (brgyad stong, ka), folios 1.b–286.a.

n.9Denkarma, F.298.a. It is entry 129 in Yoshimura (1950), p. 130; and entry 130, according to Lalou (1953), p. 322.

n.10I would like to thank Dr. John Canti for calling my attention to this information. See also n.­2.

n.11Skilling (1997), p. 101.

n.12bu ston chos ’byung, folio 152.a.

n.13http://www.rkts.org/collections.php. See also abbreviation section of this text.

n.14mi ’khrugs pa, rendered here as “will not be disturbed,” is a play on words with the name Akṣobhya (mi ’khrugs pa).

n.15S: mi rngo’i; D: mi dngo’i; C: mi lang gi; Y, J, K, N: mi mang gi (“to not be more”).

n.16Y, J, K, N, C: pas bdag; D: bag.

n.17N, H: de ’dra ba dag gis; D: de ’dra bdag gis.

n.18S: mthar gyis kyang phyogs ’gro bar ’gyur; Y, J, D, N, C, H: mthar gyis byang phyogs su ’gro bar ’gyur, “will eventually spread north.”

n.19Y, J, K, N, C, H: - ’gro bar; D: ’gro bar.

n.20S: kyi; D: kyis.

n.21Y, J, K, N, C, H, S: bden; D: bde.

n.22J, N, H: sbyong bar (“purify”); D: spyod par (“engage”).

n.23Y, K, N, H: srid; D: sred.

n.24Y, J, K, N, C: na; D: nas.

n.25D: dpal; Y, J, K, C: dpa’.

n.26rnam par snang mdzad (“illumination”) commonly translates the name of Buddha Vairocana.

n.27J, K, N, C, H: dka’ (“rare”); D: dga’ (“joy,” “enjoy”).

n.28D: ’gyur; Y, J, K, N, C: + mi.

n.29D: brgyad; U: brgya.

n.30Y, J, K, N, C: la; D: ni.

n.31nges par zhugs likely renders the Sanskrit term niyāmāva­kramaṇaṃ. Edgerton (p. 298) offers very little in the way of explanation, but the Abhi­dharma­kośa­bhāṣya explains this as “entry into the ‘assurance of the eventual attainment,’ ” e.g., nirvāṇa.

n.32D: dam pa; Y, J, K, C: - dam pa.

n.33Y, K, N, H: + stong; D: phrag bcu.

n.34D actually reads zhing na ngan song gi gzhi, rather than zhing nang song gi gzhi as recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe msdur ma).

n.35Or spyad pa ma yin (“have not been in the company”) per Y, J, K, N, C, instead of D: spyad pa yin.

n.36D: nams kyang (“unattested”) corrected to nam du’ang (“never”).

n.37S: + lha’i; D.: - lha’i.

n.38Y, J, K, N, C: + ma (negation); D: - ma. This choice was made based on the appearance of this term (nges par/pa la zhugs pa, Skt. niyāmāva­kramaṇaṃ) elsewhere in this text to describe exceptional cases not in need of the salvific powers of hearing the names of buddhas.

n.39N, H, and S reflect the variant thos for gnas, in which case these two lines would read, “Bodhisattvas will not remain; / Thus are they highly learned (byang chub sems dpa’ mi gnas pa/ /de ltar mang du thos pa yin).

n.40Y, J, K, N, C, H, S: gyur; D: ’gyur.

n.41Skt. paryutthāna.

n.42K, U: ’di lta yi; D: ’di lta yis.

n.43Tentative translation of nyi tshe ba yi bzod pa la ’dren pa dag ni mos par byed.

n.44Tentative translation of de dag gi ni chos nyid ’di/ zab mo la ni gang mos shing / mos pa dag ni mang rgyur pa/ de dag la ni rtsod pa med.

n.45This is a tentative translation of zab mo spyod pa de dag la/ yid gnyid dag ni yong med do/ nor la sred pa gter dang yang / ’dra bar ’gyur ba ma yin no [F.314.b.2]. The analogy in the final two lines of this verse seems to resonate with the following passage from the final verses of the sūtra: “Just as when a pauper feels discouraged / Upon seeing a priceless gem, / Thinking it impossible for him to find a jewel / And come into such wealth; / Likewise, how could those with little merit / And jaded perspective / Become filled with faith / When hearing about unexcelled awakening?”

n.46S has the variant “purify” (rnam par sbyong) for “range over” (rnam par spyod).

n.47This is a tentative translation of D: sangs rgyas de dag ming rnams kyis/ /sangs rgyas zhing ni rnam par spyod. S (F.427.b.3) reads instead: sangs rgyas de dag mi rnams kyis/ /sangs rgyas zhing ni rnam par sbyong (“The buddhas, with people / Purify the buddhafields”).

n.48This translates ri mor bcas pa, which seems to be a corruption or an alternate form of ri mor byed pa.

n.49Also the name of an absorption (Tib. shin tu rnam par phye ba; Skt. suvibhaktam).

n.50Also the name of an absorption (Tib. seng ge rnam par rol pa; Skt. siṃha­vikrīḍitaḥ).

n.51Also the name of an absorption (Tib. seng ge rnam par bsgyings; Skt. siṃha­vijṛmbhita).

n.52Y, J, K, N, C: gi; D: gis.

n.53This verse is a tentative translation of the following: gang dag gi ni mtshan brjod pa/ /chos kyi rgyal po de dag dang / /rang byung dag na bzhugs pa dang / /’jig rten dag gi khams kyang rung. With D’s variant reading of gis the verse would start, “Those who proclaim the name…”

n.54These two lines are a tentative translation for the following: the tsom med par de dag gis/ /shA ris nga la bsnyen bkur byas. Stok Palace has for the final line shA ri’I bu la bsnyen bkur byas. This tentative translation follows the correction of shA ris to shA ri in pad dkar bzang po (2006), p. 367.

n.55K, C, U, H: tshang ba; D: chad pa.

n.56Y and K include after the translation colophon the mantra of dependent origination: ye dharmā hetu prabhavā hetun teṣāṃ tathāgato hyavadat teṣāñcayo nirodha evaṃ vādī mahā­śramaṇaḥ. S also includes the mantra, but adds before it, oṃ vajra aṁyuṣe svāhā/ oṃ, and after it, svāhā/ oṃ sarva vidyā svāhā/ oṃ supratiṣṭḥe vajre svāhā.