Colophon

c.1Translated and revised by the Indian upādhyāyas Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi and by the chief editor Lotsawa Bandé Yeshé Dé and others.

Tibetan Editor’s Colophon

c.2A Multitude of Buddhas is the marvelous essence of the final, ultimate, definitive wheel from among the three wheels of the Sugata’s teaching. It has many other titles, such as The Mahāvaipulya Basket, The Earring, The Lotus Adornment, and so on.

c.3It has seven sections: A Multitude of Tathāgatas, The Vajra Banner Dedication, The Teaching of the Ten Bhūmis, The Teaching of Completely Good Conduct, [F.362.b] The Teaching of the Birth and Appearance of the Tathāgatas, The Transcendence of the World, and Stem Array. These are subdivided into forty-five chapters.

c.4According to Butön Rinpoché and others, it contains thirty-nine thousand and thirty verses, a hundred and thirty fascicles, and an additional thirty verses. Although the Tshalpa Kangyur catalog records one hundred fifteen fascicles, and the Denkarma one hundred twenty-seven fascicles, present-day recensions have various numbers of fascicles.

c.5This sūtra was first received from Ārya Nāgārjuna by Paṇḍita Buddhabhadra and Paṇḍita Śikṣānanda (652–710), and they both translated it into Chinese. It is taught that Surendrabodhi and Vairocana­rakṣita acted as chief editors for a Chinese translation.

c.6As for the transmission lineage, there is the lineage from China, starting with the perfect Buddha, Ārya Mañjuśrī, Lord Nāgārjuna, the two paṇḍitas mentioned above, and Heshang Tushun. Then the lineage continued through others until Üpa Sangyé Bum received it from Heshang Gying-ju. That lineage was then passed on through Lotsawa Chokden and has continued up to the present time.

c.7The lineage from India is as follows. It was passed from Nāgārjuna to Āryadeva, and then Mañjuśrīkīrti, and so on, until Bari Lotsawa received it from Vajrāsana. It is taught that the lineage then continued through Chim Tsöndrü Sengé, the great Sakya Lord, and so on.

c.8However, I have not seen any histories or texts that recount translation work done by lotsawas or paṇḍitas other than those listed in the colophon here.

c.9The king of Jangsa Tham had a complete Kangyur made that was based on the Tshalpa Kangyur. At the present time this is known as the Lithang Tshalpa Kangyur (1609–14). I consider this to be a reliable source and so have made it the basis for this edition. However, since it contains many omissions, accretions, and misspellings, I have edited it by searching in further old versions that are correct. There are variant Sanskrit manuscripts and disparate translations, and despite their consistent overall meaning it is has not been possible to edit the text definitively on the level of the words. It is nevertheless useful, at least, to have corrected it according to the majority of versions.

c.10Varying translations of terms have been left as they are, since there is no contradiction in meaning. Examples include rgyan instead of bkod pa; ’byam klas instead of rab ’byams; so so yang dag par rig pa instead of tha dad pa yang dag par shes pa; thugs for dgongs pa; [F.363.a] nyin mtshan dang zla ba yar kham mar kham dang instead of nyin mtshan dang yud du yan man dang; and tha snyad instead of rnam par dpyod pa.

c.11Sanskrit words have many stems and roots, affixes, and derivations. In the case of some of the lotsawas and paṇḍitas in Tibet who had the eyes of the Dharma and produced meaning-translations, the tenses, cases, and so on are difficult to understand. As my principal reference I have therefore taken passages about which the largest number of manuscripts were in agreement. On other points where there was the slightest doubt I have ensured that they conform with the treatises on Tibetan linguistics. More coherence would have been possible had there been an extant version in the old Tibetan terminology alone, since in most of the manuscripts there seems to be neither a complete predominance of archaic terms, nor any obvious sign of what changes editors have made to the translation. In any case, changes made in later times‍—significant adulterations of the text by the mixing of old and new forms, and disruptive placements of the shad marks that differentiate clauses‍—seem to be numerous, but are actually slight and only minor faults, so I have left them as they are, for otherwise, the editing work would have been comparable to cutting through the megaliths of Mön.

c.12This, therefore, is the result of my work with all its pretensions to perseverance and complete correctness, and through it may the precious teaching of the Buddha and the glory of the merit of nonsectarian beings remain for the entire kalpa within the circle of the Cakravāla Mountains, as bright as the sun and moon.

c.13It was printed in the water tiger year called dge byed (1722), in the presence of Tenpa Tsering (1678–1738), the divine Dharma king who rules in accordance with the Dharma, who has the vast, superior wealth of the ten good actions, and who is a bodhisattva as a ruler of humans and the source of happiness in the four regions of greater Tibet.

c.14Written by the attendant Gelong Tashi Wangchuk, who in the process of revision was commanded to become its supervisor.

c.15Ye dharma­hetu­prabhavā hetun teṣān tathāgato hy avadat. Teṣāñ ca yo nirodha evaṃ vādī mahā­śramanaḥ.

(All phenomena that arise from causes, the Tathāgata has taught their cause, and that which is their cessation; thus has the Great Śramaṇa proclaimed.)