Notes

n.1Schopen 1978, p. 1.

n.2Schopen 1978, p. 22.

n.3The passages quoted and their location in the present translation are indicated in n.­19, n.­21, and n.­24. One passage quoted in the Śikṣāsamuccaya (Bendall 1902, p. 13) does not seem to be present in the text, at least not in this version of it. See also Schopen 1978, pp. 26 and 126–7.

n.4Foshuo guanding jing (佛說灌頂經, “The Sūtra on Empowerments,” Taishō 1331), whose twelfth fascicle has the subtitle Foshuo guanding ba chu guo zuisheng si de du jing juan dishi er (佛說灌頂拔除過罪生死得度經卷第十二, “Section 12, The Sūtra on the Empowerment that Uproots Misdeeds and Achieves Liberation from Life and Death”).

n.5Yaoshi rulai benyuan jing (佛說藥師如來本願經, Taishō 449), and Yaoshi liuli guang rulai benyuan gongde jing (藥師琉璃光如來本願功德經, Taishō 450). For more on the Chinese translations, see Lancaster, The Korean Buddhist Canon, K 176 and K 177. See also n.­10.

n.6The Degé dkar chag also mentions Śīlendrabodhi in addition to these translators.

n.7Yoshimura 1950, 131.

n.8dkar chag ’phang thang ma 2003, 11.

n.9See his chos ’byung F.152.b; and Eimer 1989, text no. 134.

n.10See Dharmachakra Translation Committee, 2021. This text was also translated into Chinese in 707 ᴄᴇ by Yijing as Yaoshi liuli guang qi fo benyuan gongde jing (藥師琉璃光七佛本願功德經, Taishō 451).

n.11See i.­6 and i.­7.

n.1284000 Translation Team. trans., The Vaiḍūryaprabha Dhāraṇī , Toh 505 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024).

n.13Dalton, Catherine. trans., A Mantra for Incanting Medicines When Administering Them , Toh 505a (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023).

n.14Tib. rol mo’i sgra can gyi shing ljon pa. Skt. vādya­svara­vṛkṣa. The corresponding term in the Chinese translation of this text is 樂音樹 (Chi. yue yin shu, “musical tree”), a term that is commonly used to describe the trees in Amitābha’s pure land.

n.15V, G: vayam śrutvā; SC: taṃ śrutvā; Tib.: gang thos pas.

n.16D, S, N, H: sems can de dag ni bdag nyid kyang du ma yongs su mi spyod na; V: aneke ca sattvāḥ ye svayameva na paribhuñjanti; G: aneke ca sattvā ye svayameva na paribhuñjanti; SC: aneke ca te satttvā ye svayam evātmana na paribhuṃjanti. The Sanskrit suggests that the Tibetan term du ma (Skt. aneke) modifies sems can de dag (Skt. sattvāḥ).

n.17Toh 503 here reads bslab pa’i gnas ’dzin pa dag (“beings who hold the precepts”) rather than bslab pa’i gnas ’jig pa dag (“beings who undermine the precepts”).

n.18Tib. gsal ba; Skt. vyakta. The Sanskrit vyakta comes from vyañj, which means “to make evident.” Thus vyakta carries the sense of “clear,” “apparent,” “evident,” which is close to what we mean in English when we say that someone is “bright,” meaning that for them things are clear and evident and that they have the ability to make other things apparent or evident, just as a light makes things clear and evident.

n.19The three paragraphs ending with this one are quoted in the Śikṣāsamuccaya ; see Bendall 1902, p. 175.

n.20D, S: mchod pa byas na; V, G, SC: pūjā kartavyā.

n.21This paragraph is quoted in the Śikṣāsamuccaya ; see Bendall 1902, p. 174.

n.22V, G, SC: idaṃ buddha­gocaraṃ śrutvā; D: sangs rgyas rnams kyi sangs rgyas kyi spyod yul ’di thos na; S, Y, K: sangs rgyas rnams kyi sangs rgyas kyis spyod yul ’di thos na. The translation follows the Sanskrit editions of the Bhaiṣajya­guru­sūtra in this instance.

n.23V, G, SC: tathāgatasyaiṣo ’nubhāvo draṣṭavyaḥ; D: de bzhin gshegs pa’i mthu yin par blta’o.

n.24The three paragraphs ending with this one are quoted in the Śikṣāsamuccaya ; see Bendall 1902, pp. 174–5.

n.25Tib: mi de dang lhan cig skyes pa’i lha; SC: puruṣasya sahajā pṛṣṭ[h]ānubaddha devatā; G, V: sattvasya sahajānubaddham eva.

n.26V, G: tatra ye te mitrajnātisālohitāḥ; SC: ye tasya. The Tibetan does not provide the subject here, so our translation supplies it from the Vaidya and Dutt Sanskrit editions.

n.27This passage has been taken as referring to revival after actual death or, alternatively, to recovery from coma or near-death. The paradox of designating as having actually died someone who is subsequently revived is no doubt part of what underlies Ānanda’s question below, in 1.­51, and in the passage on untimely death that follows. For a discussion of different interpretations see Schopen 1978, pp. 354–7.

n.28Both the Sanskrit and the Tibetan texts switch here to “kṣatriya king” in the singular. The English translation reads this in the plural to maintain proper subject agreement in number throughout this section.

n.29Some of the names for these yakṣa generals that are provided in the Sanskrit editions of the text do not seem to be standard Sanskrit and may reflect the preservation of local, vernacular yakṣa traditions in the text. The Tibetan renderings for these names, which may in fact offer the proper translation of these nonstandard Sanskrit names, are provided in the glossary.

n.30V, G: kṛtajñatām anusmaramāṇānāṃ sarvasattvānāṃ; SC: kṛtajñatām anusmaramāṇaḥ sarvasatvānāṃ; D: byas pa g.zo zhing rjes su dran la sems can thams cad la; S: byas pa g.zo zhing rjes su dran la /sems can thams cad la.

n.31The Degé dkar chag adds Śīlendrabodhi to the Indian preceptors named here.