Notes

n.1The teaching on the four reliances reads as follows: “Rely on the teaching, rather than on the person. Rely on the meaning, rather than on the syllables. Rely on the definitive meaning, rather than on the provisional meaning. Rely on wisdom, rather than on consciousness.” (chos la rton pa bya yi / gang zag la rton pa mi bya bo// don la rton pa bya yi / tshig ’bru la rton pa mi bya bo // nges don la rton pa bya yi / drang don la rton pa mi bya bo // ye shes la rton pa bya yi / rnam shes la rton pa mi bya bo //). The most detailed canonical statement of the four reliances seems to be that in The Questions of the Nāga King Anavatapta (Toh 156), 1.­152 (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, 2024).

n.2For an analysis of those avadānas and an edition of the Sanskrit text of this sūtra see Alsdorf (1961).

n.3D, Q: nyen ’khor; N: nye ’khor.

n.4D, N: ku sha na gyad; Q: ku shi na gyad.

n.5nang du yang dag ’jog; prati­saṃlayana.

n.6This translation is based on the Sanskrit, rather than the Tibetan version of the text, which would have to be rendered “relying on a spiritual friend and on me.” Alsdorf (1961, p. 12) remarks that the Tibetan version is faulty at this point.

n.7The colophon makes no mention of who the Tibetan translators were, but the Degé catalog (dkar chag, vol. 103, lak+Sh+mI, F.134.a.7) states that the text was translated by the Paṇḍita Dharmākara and the Lotsāwa Zangkyong (bzang skyong). See introduction, i.­5.