Notes

n.1Dhammadinnā 2013, 340.

n.2Dhammadinnā 2013, 340.

n.3Sen et al., 2011.

n.4Orzech et al., 2011.

n.5Da baoji jing 大寶積經, Taishō 310. This text has also been translated into English by Chang (1983, 134–148).

n.6This dating is also confirmed by the text’s inclusion in the Denkarma inventory of the early ninth century ᴄᴇ. See Denkarma, 295.b. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, 22, no. 34.

n.7N has dge (“virtuous”) instead of dag (a plural particle) here.

n.8Y has gzhol (which might translate “who were engaged in true training”) instead of ’jog.

n.9Reading according to Y, which has bskyod pa yang chung ngam, whereas there is no chung (“little”) in the other versions, though it would seem to be implied.

n.10Y does not have ’khor de nyid du ’dus par gyur (“was also present within that assembly”) and would therefore just translate as “at that time, Prince Mañjuśrī was also present.”

n.11N and H have de ltar ’tshal lo (“pray do so”) instead of de bzhin no (“so be it”) here.

n.12Y, J, K, N, and C do not have kyi gzugs (“figures”) here.

n.13Y, J, K, and N again do not have gzugs (“form”) here.

n.14This translation is according to Y, K, N, H, and S, which have shes pas na instead of shes pa na (“when it is known”).

n.15N has sna yang yod min gsog tu med (“The nose is nonexistent and does not exist in its emptiness”) instead of sna yang yod min gsog tu shes here.

n.16K has ra ro yi rgyu las byung ba dang (“It is caused by drunkenness”) instead of ro ’di rgyu las byung ba dang.

n.17K has ’jam dpal (“Mañjuśrī”) instead of ’jam pa.

n.18This phrase, de dag gnas gcig gnas gyur te, could also be translated as “Each live in their own abode.”

n.19This verse and the following only have three lines in the Tibetan.

n.20Y and K have gzung med here instead of gzugs med, which would translate as “imperceptible” again instead of “formless.”

n.21The word used for “man” here (skyes pa) also means “birth” or “being born.” Thus there is a word play on these two senses of skyes pa.

n.22This reading is according to Y, K, and H. The other recessions had btags pa instead of brtags pa, which would translate as “impute” instead of “imagine.”

n.23Y has bu rtan (sic!) instead of brtan.

n.24Y and K have klu (“nāgas”) instead of klung (“rivers”).

n.25This line is altogether absent from N.

n.26Y has ston (“teach”) instead of stong (“empty”).

n.27The next few one-stanza arguments make use of letter plays prevalent in dhāraṇī literature. The play here is on the letter ga, which begins both the Sanskrit term gandharva and the verb √gam (“to go”).

n.28In other words, the letter a begins and ends the word asura .

n.29There is another play here on the letter a, which begins the word asura but is also significant in Mahāyāna Buddhism, where it is considered to be the shortest form of the Prajñāpāramitā, whose topic is emptiness, characterized as unborn and unceasing. In fact, the prefix a- in Sanskrit indicates a negation and thus also begins the Sanskrit terms aniruddha (“unceasing”) and apravṛtti (“non-arising”).

n.30The play on letters is at work here again with the letter ga beginning the term garuḍa and the verb root √grah (“grasping”).

n.31Here again, the letter at play is ka, which begins both kinnara and the Sanskrit verb kṛta (“created” or “produced”).

n.32Y has bzhig (“destroyed”) instead of bzhag (“posited”).

n.33Y and K have lus instead of las here, which would translate as “bodies” instead of “karmic actions.”

n.34This reading is according to S, which has chol par (“confusion”) instead of tshol ba (“seeking”).

n.35Y and K have mnyam brtags and S has mnyam brtag (both translating as “equally imagined”) instead of mnyam rtag (“permanent, and sameness”).

n.36Reading according to Y and N, rtog instead of rtogs (“realize”).

n.37N has btags (“label”) instead of brtags.

n.38Y has rdul phra ba’i (“subtle particle”) instead of rdul dang bral ba’i (“immaculate”).

n.39There is a possible letter play here with the letter na beginning the words nirvāṇa and nirmala.

n.40Y and K have med pa’i tshogs (“the meeting of nonexistent factors”) instead of mang po’i tshogs.

n.41J and C have srog (“life-force”) instead of gsog (“hollow”).

n.42Y , N, and H are missing the negation here and read phyi rol nas ’ongs te (“Anger comes from the outside”).

n.43Instead of rten (“rooted”), H has bstan which would translate “I have taught it to be suchness.”

n.44Y has chags med pa par and K has chags pa med par instead of chags med chags par. The translation for Y and K would therefore read “They perceive without attachment.”

n.45Y, K, J, C, N, and H have brtags (“imagining”) instead of btags (“labeling”).

n.46Y has dga’ (“pleased by”) instead of dgang (“filled with”).

n.47The negation is missing in Y.

n.48See “buddha.”

n.49Y has sems can (“beings”) instead of sems kun (“all of the mind”).

n.50In other words, the possibility of confusion is not inherent either to ignorance or buddhas because of their shared unborn nature.

n.51Here “it” likely refers to absorption.

n.52Y has sgrib (“obscuration”) instead of sgrub (“production”).

n.53There is a possible letter play here with Skt. sādh (Tib. sgrub pa, “production”) and sarva (kun, “any”).

n.54Here again the same letter play appears to be functioning between Skt. sādh (Tib. sgrub pa, “performance”) and sarva (kun, “all”).

n.55“All” is likely meant to refer to “all virtues and nonvirtues” here, as there is a clear letter play connecting these two sections with the repeated use of sarva (“all”).

n.56N has rtags (“indicate”) instead of rtogs (“understand”) here.

n.57This refers to the letter play that runs throughout the entire text and is a salient feature of dhāraṇī texts.

n.58N has mnyam pa (“equal”) instead of mnyan pa (“listened”).

n.59N and H have gzungs (“dhāraṇī”) instead of gzugs (“form”).

n.60N has rtsol (“strives”) instead of stsol (“bestows”).

n.61Y and K have mnyan (“listen”) instead of mnyam (“same”). According to these recensions, this phrase would then translate as “in order to listen to the eighty-four thousand sections of Dharma and this Dharma teaching.”

n.62Tibetan: chos kyi dbyings. Sanskrit: dharmadhātu. Elsewhere in this translation we have translated this as “realm of phenomena.”