Introduction

i.1The short dhāraṇī The Essence of Dependent Arising presents a Tibetan translation and transliteration of the well-known ye dharma formula, which is considered the essence of the Buddha Śākyamuni’s teachings on dependent arising. The dhāraṇī then concludes with a statement of the specific benefits that accrue from its recitation: the purification of all negative actions, the neutralization of adversity, and the multiplication of offerings. As the formula is considered to contain the very essence of the Buddha’s teaching and to represent the Buddha himself, the text states that any object visualized while reciting the dhāraṇī will become either the body of the Buddha or a stūpa.

i.1《緣起要義》這部短的陀羅尼呈現了一個為人所知的法句公式的藏譯本與音譯本，這個公式被認為是佛陀釋迦牟尼關於緣起教法的精髓。這部陀羅尼隨後以一份陳述語句作為結束，說明了誦持它的具體利益：淨化所有惡業、中止厄運、增長供養。由於這個公式被視為包含著佛陀教法的精髓，並代表著佛陀本身，經文指出任何在誦持陀羅尼時所觀想的對象都將成為佛陀的身體或塔。

i.2This verse on the essence of dependent arising is closely associated with the conversion of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana to the Dharma. In the Vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivādins, Upatiṣya, the ascetic who would later be known as Śāriputra, encounters the Buddha’s disciple Aśvajit, who summarizes for him the essence of Buddha’s teaching with the ye dharma verse. Upatiṣya gains deep insight into the Dharma through this formula, and subsequently shares it with his fellow ascetic Kaulita, who later became known as Maudgalyāyana. In the Pali canon, a version of this story of the transmission of the ye dharma formula is found in the Mahāvagga of the Khandhaka section of the Vinaya. Here again Śāriputra (Pali Sāriputta) and Maudgalyāyana (Pali Moggallāna) hear the verse from Aśvajit (Pali Assaji), who presents it as a summary of his understanding of the Buddha’s teachings. Yet another version of the story occurs in The Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī (Toh 138). In this text, the essence of the Buddha’s teaching on dependent arising is verbalized in an alternative, extended version of the ye dharma formula. In The Sūtra on Dependent Arising (Pratītyasamutpādasūtra, Toh 520), the verse was taught by the Buddha himself in Heaven of the Thirty-Three to an audience of gods, bodhisattvas, and śrāvakas, among whom was the great śrāvaka Aśvajit.

i.2這首關於緣起精要的偈頌與舍利弗和目犍連皈依佛法密切相關。在根本說一切有部律中，後來被稱為舍利弗的烏波笛舍遇到了佛陀的弟子馬勝，馬勝用法句偈為他總結了佛陀教法的精要。烏波笛舍通過這個公式獲得了對佛法的深刻領悟，隨後將其分享給了他的同修俱利陀，俱利陀後來成為了目犍連。在巴利三藏中，這個法句公式傳承故事的一個版本出現在律藏的蘊章摩訶婆阿。在這裡，舍利弗和目犍連同樣從馬勝那裡聽到了這首偈頌，馬勝將其呈現為他對佛陀教法理解的總結。故事的另一個版本出現在《寶髻陀羅尼》中。在這部經典中，佛陀關於緣起教法的精要以法句公式的另一種擴展版本來表達。在《緣起經》中，這首偈頌是由佛陀本人在忉利天為包括聲聞馬勝在內的諸天、菩薩和聲聞眾所講述的。

i.3The ye dharma formula has evolved to become a popular and widespread Buddhist dhāraṇī formula that is frequently used as an auspicious and benedictory refrain appended to the end of texts, inscribed on votive plaques and statues, and written down and deposited in caityas, stūpas, and other structures throughout the Buddhist world.

i.3法句已經發展成為一部廣泛流傳的佛教陀羅尼咒語，經常被用作吉祥祝願的辭句，附加在各種文本的末尾，刻在功德牌和雕像上，並被抄寫後放置在支提、塔以及整個佛教世界的各種建築物中。

i.4The topic of dependent arising is explained at length in sūtras such as The Rice Seedling Sūtra (Śālistambhasūtra, Toh 210) and The Sūtra Teaching the Fundamental Exposition and Detailed Analysis of Dependent Arising (Pratītyasamutpādādivibhaṅganirdeśasūtra, Toh 211), which detail the twelve links of dependent arising. Additional presentations of the ye dharma verse as a dhāraṇī formula can be found in works such as The Sūtra on Dependent Arising (Toh 520) and The Dhāraṇī Containing the Rite of the Essence of Dependent Arising (Toh 519). These latter texts, and The Essence of Dependent Arising (Toh 521) translated here, are categorized as Action Tantras (kriyātantra, bya rgyud) in the Degé Kangyur, thus underscoring the development of this famous verse into an esoteric, spell-like formula that can bring material and spiritual benefits through its recitation.

i.4緣起的主題在《稻芉經》（舍利弗問經，編號210）和《緣起分別說經》（編號211）等經典中有詳細的闡述，這些經典詳細說明了緣起的十二支。法句偈作為陀羅尼公式的其他呈現方式，可以在《緣起經》（編號520）和《緣起本質陀羅尼儀軌經》（編號519）等著作中找到。這些後者的文本和在此翻譯的《緣起的本質》（編號521），在德格甘珠爾中被歸類為事續（事部續，藏文 bya rgyud），由此強調了這首著名偈頌演變成具有秘密咒語性質的公式，可以通過誦持而帶來物質和精神利益的發展過程。

i.5Two virtually identical versions of The Essence of Dependent Arising are found in the Degé Kangyur, one in the Tantra section (rgyud sde, Toh 521) and the other in the Dhāraṇī section (gzungs ’dus, Toh 981). It is likewise included in both the Tantra and Compendium of Dhāraṇīs sections in the other Tshalpa Kangyurs that have a separate Dhāraṇī section, and is found in the Tantra section of Tshalpa Kangyurs that do not contain a Dhāraṇī section. It is not included in any of the Thempangma Kangyurs. It thus appears this text may have been added to some Kangyurs specifically because it was included in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs, which may have been compiled on the basis of an earlier collection or collections of dhāraṇīs and associated ritual texts. Since both iterations of the text (Toh 521 and Toh 981) lack a translator colophon, we have no information about who translated it and when. A Sanskrit source of The Essence of Dependent Arising does not seem to have survived, and it has no Chinese translation.

i.5《緣起的本質》在德格甘珠爾中有兩個幾乎相同的版本，一個在續部（Toh 521），另一個在陀羅尼彙編部分（Toh 981）。同樣地，在其他具有獨立陀羅尼部分的藏譯甘珠爾中，它同時被收入續部和陀羅尼彙編部分；而在沒有陀羅尼部分的藏譯甘珠爾中，則被收在續部。它沒有被收入任何的特巴公甘珠爾中。因此，這部經文似乎是因為被納入陀羅尼彙編而被添加到某些甘珠爾版本中的，而陀羅尼彙編可能是根據較早的陀羅尼彙編或相關儀軌文獻編纂而成。由於兩個版本（Toh 521和Toh 981）都缺少譯者的跋文，我們對於誰翻譯了它以及何時翻譯的信息一無所知。《緣起的本質》的梵文原本似乎已經失傳，也沒有漢文譯本。

i.6English translations of The Essence of Dependent Arising, along with The Sūtra on Dependent Arising have been published in Peter Skilling’s anthology Questioning the Buddha. The English translation presented here is based on the two Degé witnesses (Toh 521 and Toh 981) in consultation with the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe sdur ma) and the Narthang Kangyur.

i.6《緣起的本質》和《緣起經》的英文翻譯已在彼得·斯基林的選集《質疑佛陀》中發表。本文所呈現的英文翻譯是基於兩部德格甘珠爾的版本（第521和第981部）制定的，並參考了《對勘版》（dpe sdur ma）中記錄的異文和那塘甘珠爾的內容。