Notes

n.1For the latter, see Lozang Jamspal and Kaia Fischer, trans., The Hundred Deeds , Toh 340 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020).

n.2See Adam Pearcey, trans., The Sūtra Teaching the Four Factors , Toh 249 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020), 1.4.

n.3Bendall (1897): 177.10–13; Śikṣāsamuccaya (Toh 3940), folio 99.b.

n.4Toh 4359, folio 202.b.

n.5Toh 4357, folio 265.b.

n.6Toh 4014, folio 246.a.

n.7Cf. Bagchi (1938): 585; Sen (2003): 120–21.

n.8Vaidya (1960): 79; Bodhi­caryāvatāra­pañjikā (Toh 3872), folio 106.b.

n.9Abhisamayālaṅkāra­nāma­prajñā­pāramitopadeśa­śāstra­vṛtti­durbodhāloka­nāma­ṭīkā (Toh 3794), folio 243.b.

n.10La Vallée Poussin (1898): 187.

n.11Waldschmidt (1989): 152; Skilling (2010): 392; Toh 653, folio 138.a; Toh 1062, folio 206.b. The Tibetan translation of this sūtra is also attributed to Yeshé Dé, this time in collaboration with both Jinamitra and Prajñāvarman. The Chinese translation (Taishō I 19, vol. 1, 258a8–259c1) was again done by Dharmadeva in 990 ᴄᴇ. For more details, see the extensive study of the different versions, including the early fifth-century Chinese translation of a Dharmaguptaka version (Taishō I 1, vol. 1, 79b1–81b29), in Skilling (2012): 513–51.

n.12This sutta is found in the important Pali collection of paritta texts, the Catubhāṇavāra (Piyadassi Thera [1975]: 70–81), and it is among the few Pali texts that were translated into Tibetan by the Sri Lankan scholar-monk Ānandaśrī and the Tibetan translator Nyima Gyaltsen in the first half of the fourteenth century (Toh 34). The Pali verse in the Mahāsamayasutta (DN II 332) and the shorter Samayasutta (SN I 37) reads as follows: Ye keci buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gatāse, Na te gamissanti apāyabhūmim; Pahāya mānusaṃ deham, Devakāyam paripūressanti.

n.13Schlingloff (1955): 118.

n.14Jāt I 97, where this set of three verses is followed by five other verses from the Dhammapada (Dhp vv. 188–92) on the power of taking refuge.

n.15The first half of the first verse is found in yet another setting in the Mūla­sarvāstivāda Vinaya (in the Bhikṣuṇī­prātimokṣa­sūtra (Toh 4, folio 190.b). Note that in the case of The Exemplary Tale About a Sow the second half of these verses does not directly fit the context, since it describes the upward movement from a human existence to a godly one, not from one godly existence to another.

n.16Cf. Cowell and Neil (1886): 196.

n.17Bernhard (1965): 216; Toh 326, folio 222.a. As such, this set of verses is not attested in the Dhammapada collection, but the second half of these verses appears to stem from the second half of the following verses in the Udānavarga (chapter 15, vv. 12–15), which do have direct parallels in the Dhammapada (Dhp vv. 296–99).

n.18Toh 4102, folio 223.a. See Gāthā­saṅgraha­śāstrārtha (Toh 4103), folio 225.a, for Vasubandhu’s commentary on these verses. These texts were translated by Dharmākāra and Yeshé Nyingpo, but they were later revised by Paltsek.

n.19Cowell and Neil (1886): 193–96. For the Sanskrit version as preserved in the Divyāvadāna collection, one may consult the English translation by Andy Rotman (2008), as well as two older translations, one in French by Léon Feer (1883: 293–95) and one in English by James Ware (1928).

n.20Taishō 595.

n.21The Sanskrit text as preserved in the Divyāvadāna collection does not have this introduction (nidāna) which states the location of the teaching. It also lacks the following sentence that describes the Buddha addressing the monks, and it immediately begins, without the vocative “Monks,” with the listing of the five portents as being “in the nature of things” (dharmatā). Dharmadeva’s Chinese translation does contain the nidāna component in which the location is set at Śrāvastī, but like the Sanskrit, it lacks the following narrative phrase, which makes it seem as though it is the narrator, the venerable Ānanda, who lists the five portents and who relates the events and the subsequent dialogue between Śakra and the Buddha.

n.22We have followed the list as it is given in the Tibetan. In the Sanskrit and Chinese versions, the portent of a bad smell precedes that of sweat. In the related Pali text on the five portents, the Pañca­pubbanimitta­sutta (Iti 76), the fourth portent is that his body becomes lackluster (kāye dubbaṇṇiyam okkamati), and this portent is also mentioned in the Chinese as the first in the list here. The Chinese translation, however, omits the sign of not finding satisfaction in one’s seat, which is vividly described at the start of the following narration.

n.23The Sanskrit and Chinese versions here lack the phrase “beating his chest.”

n.24This must be referring to the lake called Manda at the foot of Mount Meru, from which the Mandākinī River flows. The Chinese translation lacks an equivalent for the Sanskrit puṣkiriṇī and the Tibetan rdzing.

n.25The Chinese translation adds 不復更遊戲 (“No longer will I amuse myself in them”).

n.26The Chinese translation adds 永不採摘 (“Never again will I pick its flowers”).

n.27The Tibetan sdug pa could be a rendering of the Sanskrit priya or kānta. The extant Sanskrit, however, lacks any equivalent here. The Chinese translation mentions 妓女 (“courtesans”) after 天眾 (“the assembly of the gods”), so perhaps the Tibetan sdug pa (“lovely one”) refers to the heavenly nymphs (apsaras) in Trāyastriṃśa heaven.

n.28The Chinese translation adds 永不履踐 (“Never again will I walk on it”).

n.29The Chinese translation adds 常所侍衛, 今相捨離 (“What was always cherished must now be left behind”).

n.30In the Chinese version it is a fellow god who first witnesses this scene and who, pained by the sight, then informs Indra about it.

n.31The Chinese version first describes how the god got up, arranged his clothes, and folded his hands in reverence to Indra.

n.32The Sanskrit reads slightly differently: “After enjoying heavenly bliss (divyaṃ sukham anubhūya), seven days from now I will be reborn in the city of Rājagṛha in the womb of a sow.” The Chinese translation lacks any phrase about the god’s heavenly bliss.

n.33The Sanskrit lacks this last sentence, but the Chinese translation reads 我觀此苦, 是故愁憂 (“I see this suffering, therefore I am in distress”).

n.34The Tibetan lacks this entire narrative sentence. We have supplied it here from the extant Sanskrit version for the sake of the narrative. The Chinese version also contains this sentence, including the phrase “out of compassion” (kāruṇyatayā).

n.35In the extant Sanskrit, as well as the Chinese translation, the god is here described as “terrified of being born in the womb of an animal and terrified of dying” (tiryagyony­upapatti­bhayabhīto maraṇabhayabhītaś ca), which in the Tibetan is stated only later in the narrative, when Śakra recounts this dialogue to the Buddha.

n.36Where the Tibetan has grogs po (“friend”), both the Sanskrit and the Chinese have the more formal “Kauśika.”

n.37The Chinese version does not have this disclosure of the god’s rebirth here, which obviously raises the narrative suspense in what follows.

n.38The extant Sanskrit is more elaborate in listing the places where Śakra could not find the god: after he had looked among animals and hungry ghosts, Śakra also failed to see him among humans, among the groups of the four great heavenly kings of the cardinal directions, and among the Trāyastriṃśa gods. The Chinese version reads like the Sanskrit, except that it does not mention hell beings.

n.39In the Sanskrit and Chinese versions this sentence is placed at the beginning of this passage, before describing Indra’s search for the god. The statement comes with the implication that, in contrast to the Buddha whose vision extends to all realms, gods have only a limited vision, yet often deem themselves as standing at the apex of the world.

n.40We have followed the Tibetan rendering the tsom skyes nas, but the Sanskrit kutūhalajāto can also be translated as “Having become curious.” In the Chinese translation this has been rendered as 心生疑慮 (“His mind gave rise to doubt”), which is similar to the Tibetan interpretation.

n.41The Sanskrit here reads bhadanta (“Venerable Sir”), the standard form of address for a monk, but both the Tibetan and the Chinese have renderings of the vocative bhagavan (“Lord”).

n.42We have followed the reading in the Comparative Edition here (dogs la), but Stok Palace reads “on the ground” (dog sa la).

n.43The extant Sanskrit adds sammoham āpadyase (“[Why] have [you] fallen into bewilderment?”), but this phrase is absent in both the Tibetan and the Chinese.

n.44The Sanskrit here adds the vocative “Kauśika.” The Chinese translation lacks any form of address.

n.45As in the earlier dialogue, the Tibetan translation here again lacks a narrative phrase to indicate that it is Indra who says the following. We have therefore adopted the phrase as found in the extant Sanskrit. The Chinese version adds that he said this “with a heart full of compassion” (心極悲愍).

n.46The Sanskrit version lacks this mention of the god’s fear here, even though it mentions it in the actual dialogue earlier in the narration. In the Chinese translation it is mentioned in both places.

n.47Also, here the Sanskrit has the vocative “Kauśika” instead of “Friend.” The Chinese lacks any form of address.

n.48The Sanskrit reads: “It is among the gods of Tuṣita, Kauśika, whose heavenly desires are all fulfilled. There, that god enjoys himself, having taken the Three Refuges here” (tuṣitā nāma kauśika devāḥ sarvakāmasamṛddhayaḥ / tatrāsau modate devo gatveha śaraṇatrayam). The second sentence does not have an equivalent in the Tibetan and Chinese translations, but it seems that at some stage it was interpreted as applying to Indra, which then led to the expanded description of Indra’s gladness, as seen in the following sentence in both the Tibetan and the Chinese.

n.49This is the verse that is cited by Śāntideva in his Śikṣāsamuccaya (Toh 3940) (Bendall 1897: 177.11). The citation has the variant reading labhanti te whereas the Sanskrit text in the Divyāvadāna collection has the singular upāsate which, incidentally, is also the verb in the parallel verse in the Mahāsamāja Sūtra (Waldschmidt 1989: 152; the Tibetan rendering in Toh 653, folio 138.a and Toh 1062, folio 206.b also lacks the plural pronoun). It is the plural labhanti te which underlies the Tibetan de dag . . . thob par ’gyur here, so the Tibetan translation must be based on a Sanskrit text that was closer to what was known by Śāntideva.

n.50The extant Sanskrit does not contain the last three verses, but they are present in both the Tibetan and the Chinese translation. The Tibetan translators have here translated the Sanskrit lābha as rnyed pa che, “great gain,” which we have followed, since it brings out the right connotation, but in the parallel verse in the Udānavarga (Toh 326, folio 222.a) and in Vasubandhu’s Gāthāsaṃgraha (Toh 4102, folio 223.a) this is simply rendered as rnyed pa yin (“there is gain”). The Chinese translation here also has no equivalent for the Tibetan che (“great”).

n.51The Sanskrit reads, “Thereupon, approving of what Śakra, lord of the gods, had spoken (śakrasya devānām indrasya bhāṣitam anusaṃvarṇayan), the Blessed One said, ‘So it is, Kauśika, so it is. . . .’ ” The Chinese does not mention the Buddha’s approval, because it has rendered the first part of the Sanskrit as 爾時帝釋天主, 說伽陀已 (“When Śakra, lord of the gods, had spoken the verses”).

n.52In the Chinese translation, these three verses are condensed into one verse, followed by three other verses spoken by the Buddha: When the two syllables Buddha Come to reach one’s tongue, And with them I take refuge and so on, One has not passed a life in vain. When the two syllables Dharma Come to reach one’s tongue, And with them I take refuge and so on, One has not passed a life in vain. When the two syllables Saṅgha Come to reach one’s tongue, And with them I take refuge and so on, One has not passed a life in vain. And then a concluding verse: When the words Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha are not known, It is due to the lowermost states that the person did not acquire them, Wandering through cyclic existence for a long time, Like a kāśa flower through the air.

n.53The Sanskrit text in the Divyāvadāna collection (as edited by Cowell and Neil [1886]) lacks this standard sūtra ending, just as it also lacked a beginning. The Chinese does contain such an ending, but it runs differently, having apparently combined it with the preceding passage about Indra leaving: “This is what the Blessed One said. The assembly of monks, Śakra, and so forth‍—the entire gathering‍—were elated. In veneration they paid homage and withdrew.”