Notes

n.1The same is true of most of the other texts classified in the Degé and other Tshalpa Kangyurs in this later part of the General Sūtra section. According to the Degé Kangyur’s catalog (dkar chag, vol. lakṣmī, folio 123.a), the General Sūtra (mdo sde or mdo mang) section is divided into 193 Mahāyāna sūtras (corresponding to Toh 94–286) and 73 “Hīnayāna” (theg dman) sūtras (Toh 287–359).

n.2See “tshul khrims rab bsngags kyi mdo” (1985). This title is also found referenced in Jamgön Kongtrül’s Treasury of Knowledge (shes bya kun khyab mdzod), which says that it is to be recited during a confession ceremony (gso sbyong).

n.3Currently the manuscript is kept in the Potala. Vinītā’s critical edition is based on a copy of the manuscript that is kept in the China Tibetology Research Center. For further details on the state of this manuscript, see Vinītā (2010), pp. xv–xvii.

n.4Vinītā (2010), pp. xxvii–xxix.

n.5Nālandā Translation Committee (2001). There seem to be a few differences, such as extra or missing lines of verse, in the source for Thekchok Dorje’s Tibetan compared to the sources we have consulted, so the source for this Tibetan translation of the sūtra is not clear. See Thekchok Dorje (2013), pp. 20–23.

n.6Sanskrit begins the verses here and gives the three statements in reverse order.

n.7This line in Sanskrit (from “Monks”) is “It is better to give up life, / better to succumb to death, / than that moral discipline should be abandoned. / Thus proclaimed the buddhas” (varaṃ te jīvitaṃ tyaktaṃ varaṃ mṛtyuvaśaṃgatam | na tvayā khaṇḍitaṃ śīlam evaṃ buddhaiś ca varṇitam). The Chinese has the same meaning but in prose. In Sanskrit, the section of verse begins here and proceeds through the rest of the text until the closing “the Blessed One had spoken” (1.­17).

n.8Sanskrit omits “abandon well-being, and experience downfalls.”

n.9This line in the Sanskrit manuscript reads, “The one who abandons life / would separate from their kin” (jīvitaṃ tyajamānāya viyogo jñātibhir bhavet).

n.10Sanskrit: “cool fluid water” (śītodakaṃ jalam).

n.11Sanskrit: “It is moral discipline that pacifies” (śīlaṃ eva praśamnāti).

n.12Sanskrit: “Moral discipline is the highest of the world” (śīlaṃ lokasya cottamam).

n.13This line consists of two lines in Sanskrit: śīlena labhate yaśaḥ | śīlena labhate saukhyaṃ. Sanskrit then omits the final line of this verse (see n.­15).

n.14This line absent in S.

n.15This line absent in Sanskrit and C, J, K, Y, N, and S.

n.16Sanskrit substitutes “truth” (satya) for “Dharma” (D: chos).

n.17Sanskrit adds “solid” (sāraṃ).

n.18Sanskrit adds “well-protected” (surakṣitaṃ).

n.19Extrapolated by the Sanskrit khaṇḍitam; the Tibetan reads ral ba (“torn”).

n.20Lit. these good qualities will “arrive at (gtugs) [their end].” This is supported by the Sanskrit: parihīyate (“forsaken”).

n.21Thupten Chökyi Drakpa (folio 15.a) explains these two lines to mean (in paraphrase) that if one is, for example, missing a nose or has one’s nose destroyed by a sword, there is no need for mirrors to know this, and there is no use in wondering, “Am I beautiful?” (dper na dang po nas byad bzhin mdzes byed kyi sna gtan nas med pa’am/ yod kyang mtshon sogs kyis bcad nas sna rdum du gyur pa la sogs pa de ’dra’i rigs gang yin pa de ni byad gzugs mdzes rtogs byed kyi me long dag gi dgos pa gtan nas med de/ e mdzes snyam pa’i re ba btsam yang byed rgyu med pa bzhin no).

n.22Sanskrit gives two lines here (see n.­23).

n.23“Reach” is added here for clarification and to match the sense of the Sanskrit. Thupten Chökyi Drakpa, folio 15.b, gives a short explanation of this passage and explains that this verse is meant to convey the sense that moral discipline is the cause for going to higher realms, and even though it is not conventionally witnessed that those who guard their moral discipline go to higher realms, it is known from scripture (lung) that going to higher realms is the definite result of maintaining moral discipline. Even with Thupten Chökyi Drakpa’s explanation, the intended meaning of this stanza is quite ambiguous, and there is a possibility that the verses have been corrupted. The Sanskrit reads quite differently and has, instead of this three-line verse, the following two stanzas: “Much is heard by the ear, much is seen by the eye. / Those who practice after hearing go to the higher realms. // The ear that is impaired does not obtain learning. / Those who practice after hearing go to the higher realms” (bahu śrūyati śrotreṇa bahu paśyati cakṣuṣā | ye śrutvā pratipadyante narās te svarga­gāminaḥ || na hi śrotreṇa vaikalyaṃ prabhūtaṃ labhate śrutam | ye śrutvā pratipadyante te narāḥ svarga­gāminaḥ).

n.24Like verse 1.­16, this verse is also found in The Sūtra on Four Points (Toh 250, Caturdharmaka), folio 60.a, with only minor variation in the Tibetan translation.

n.25The Chinese reads this final verse slightly differently and adds a final unique remark not found in either the Tibetan or Sanskrit: “Forms and appearances are like flowers, there for a moment then changing into something else. Life is like a ripened fruit; it cannot last long. It is like a fast current carrying a boat away, or a like a rundown house one cannot stay in for long. Do you prefer to eat poison? Do not drink liquor. Do you prefer to enter a great fire? Do not indulge in the passions.” (色相如花須臾變異。壽如熟果不可久停。如急流渡 船。如朽屋暫住。寧食毒藥不得飲酒。寧入大火不得嗜慾。) Like verse 1.­14, this verse is also found in The Sūtra on Four Points (Toh 250, Caturdharmaka), folio 60.a, with only minor variation in the Tibetan translation.