Notes

n.1On the Ratnakūṭa, or Mahāratnakūṭasūtra, see Pedersen 1980.

n.2See Boucher 2008, xvii–xviii.

n.3See Boucher 2008, xviii–xix.

n.4See Ensink 1952, 60–125.

n.5See Boucher 2008, xvii–xviii.

n.6We are much indebted to Michael Radich, who shared with us his insights concerning the comparison of the Chinese and Sanskrit versions of the text on Dec. 6, 2018.

n.7See Boucher 2008, xvii.

n.8See Boucher 2008, 108.

n.9According to Michael Radich’s talk given at the University of Vienna, Institute of South Asian, Tibetan, and Buddhist Studies, on Dec. 6, 2018.

n.10See Williams 2009, 1–45.

n.11E.g., 1.­79: “Rāṣṭrapāla, not giving up life in the forest is something that causes bodhisattvas to be free from distress.”

n.12E.g., 1.­71: “Rāṣṭrapāla, complete abandonment of possessions is a quality that causes delight in the bodhisattvas dwelling in saṃsāra.”

n.13E.g., 1.­243: “They will be like broken vessels, looking for mistakes in one another, their practice corrupted. They will be ignorant and lazy.”

n.14E.g., verse 85: “Not restraining themselves in this manner in the future, they will be very far away from the qualities of a monk’s discipline. By exposing faults out of rancor and jealousy, they will cause the Dharma to decline.”

n.15E.g., verse 255: “Your majesty, no one has done anything unpleasant to me. I have no longing for sensory pleasures now. Making one fall into the abyss of defiling emotions and lower destinies, all these alluring beauties are like enemies‍—I am not fond of them.”

n.16E.g., verse 171: “Never noble, they are hostile toward the Dharma. They disparage the teachings and are devoid of qualities. When they hear the peaceful Dharma, they say ‘This was not spoken by the Victorious One.’ ”

n.17E.g., verse 177: “There are monks who are devoid of embarrassment, shame, and modesty, very impudent like crows, agitated and enraged, and consumed by jealousy, pride, and vanity regarding my teaching.”

n.18The Tibetan text translated Skt. vaśitāparamapārami as the verbal construction dbang dam pa’i pha rol tu son pa nas, which is misleading. We follow the Sanskrit.

n.19Here, snying po (Skt. maṇḍa) is an abbreviation of byang chub kyi snying po (Skt. bodhimaṇḍa), the “seat [essence, lofty place] of enlightenment.” “Of enlightenment” is therefore added for clarity.

n.20We follow the Sanskrit prabhāsa.

n.21“Swift” here translates Skt. āśu, which is missing in the Tibetan version of the text (D and K).

n.22“The Dharma that is” is added here for clarity.

n.23We understand Skt. kṛpasāgara here as a third-case tatpuruṣa, which means that the original Tibetan should read thugs rjes rgya mtsho instead of thugs rje’i rgya mtsho (D) or thugs rje rgya mtsho (K).

n.24Skt. anubhāsan.

n.25Tib. nor bu me (Skt. agnimaṇi) is believed to emit heat when exposed to sunlight, just like sūryakānta (or arkamaṇi), the sunstone.

n.26The last two pādas are missing in Vaidya’s edition of the Sanskrit text.

n.27I.e., the bodhisattvas.

n.28We follow the Sanskrit śrutva buddhasuta enti harṣitāḥ.

n.29Literally “a hundred billion” (Skt. niyuta) times ten million (Skt. koṭi). Hereafter we use “myriad” for such astronomical numbers.

n.30We follow the Sanskrit rāgadveṣa jahi moha­saṃbhavaṃ.

n.31These are past, present, and future.

n.32“The hair” is added for clarity.

n.33We take Skt. sattva as “existence.”

n.34We follow the Sanskrit doṣagahana.

n.35We follow the Sanskrit lokasya saṃskṛtagatau.

n.36We follow the Sanskrit ājāneyagatayo.

n.37We follow the Sanskrit mahāyaśānāṃ.

n.38We follow Sanskrit iha, which is also supported by K.

n.39We follow K: mthun instead of ’thung.

n.40We follow the Sanskrit yasya matir bhuvilokapradīpo. The subject here is the bodhisattvas.

n.41We follow the Sanskrit eṣata.

n.42Not in the Sanskrit.

n.43Following the Sanskrit pañca­gati­bhrama­bhrāmita sattvān, we emend ’khyams pas to ’khyams pa’i.

n.44According to Edgerton (BHS, s.v. kaliṅgarājan), kaliṅgarājan is an error for kalirājan.

n.45We follow K, where “gods” is in the ergative (Tib. kyis).

n.46Lit. “I gave away my dear body.” The bodhisattva surrendered himself to a brahmin who was thus able to collect a bounty put on the former king’s head.

n.47We follow the Sanskrit dattamapi svatanur na bhayārtas tyakta.

n.48Here we read rnam instead of rnams.

n.49Here we follow the Sanskrit pūrvabhaveṣu.

n.50Skt. pīna.

n.51Following the Sanskrit bodhivarāśrita, we read mchod rten here as mchog rten.

n.52This stanza is spoken by the farmer, who points out that the parrot’s compassion makes it more human and humane than the farmer, who had initially been reluctant to part with a little bit of rice.

n.53Following the Sanskrit śama we emend zhing to zhi.

n.54Following the Sanskrit ādhyātmikaṃ, we emend nang gi dag to nang gi bdag.

n.55Here we follow the Sanskrit dhutayāna deśita jinebhiḥ yatra prayujyato jina bhavanti. The Tibetan is difficult to construe.

n.56The Tibetan lhur len (Skt. para/parama) suggests “obsessed with [food and sex].” The Sanskrit reads parāste.

n.57We follow the Sanskrit cāmita­guṇaughaḥ.

n.58“Some say” is added for clarity.

n.59Sanskrit kavitāni (“fanciful”) has no equivalent in the Tibetan.

n.60See Boucher 2008, 233, n. 233: “Tib. replaces -śīla- here with ’dzem, which may reflect an original lajjā (modesty).”

n.61The Sanskrit reads kāṣāyakaṇṭha; regarding this term see Boucher 2008, 233, n. 234: “The term ‘ochre necks’ is known already in Pāli sources (kāsāvakaṇṭha) as a sign of degeneracy in the saṅgha . . . . The Pāli commentaries explain kāṣāvakaṇṭha as a yellow cloth wrapped around the neck, being the last of the outward signs remaining for one who is a monk in name only (von Hinüber 1994, 92–93).”

n.62See Boucher 2008, 233, n. 235: “The banner of the Buddha is a recurring metaphor in Mahāyāna literature for the monastic robe.”

n.63Boucher 2008, 234, n. 236 explains that Jñānagupta renders this sentence as “they take pleasure in acting as postal messengers for the laity,” which implies the “criticism … that monks have abandoned their detachment from secular concerns by acting as go-betweens for the laity.”

n.64The translation of the last line follows the Tibetan bu med ’jigs byed mi bzad rab ces rjod. The Sanskrit reads kuhāste strī ca vināśayanti hi sughorāḥ.

n.65We follow the Sanskrit piṇḍa.

n.66“Realms of” is added for clarity.

n.67Skt. citragātra. This probably refers to vitiligo or leukoderma‍—a chronic condition which causes loss of skin pigment.

n.68Translated after the Sanskrit varjita, which points toward śmaśāna being at the head of the phrase.

n.69“They say” is added for clarity here and in verses 198 and 199 below.

n.70In this stanza “good monks” and “rogue monks” is added for clarity.

n.71Literally “forests and woods.”

n.72H reads rtogs, the imperative form.

n.73Skt. ajñā.

n.74“They say” is added for clarity.

n.75We follow the Sanskrit dṛḍhavairā.

n.76We follow the Sanskrit ayukta­paribhāṣāñjana­saṃjñaptyā.

n.77Sanskrit: anulomikī­kṣānti; Tibetan: rjes su ’thun [mthun] pa’i bzod pa.

n.78We follow the Sanskrit āryapatha.

n.79We follow the Sanskrit sakiṃcanāḥ (BHSD), since nyong mongs bcas in the same line, which has nyon mongs zil non at the beginning, is awkward.

n.80“Chance of” is added here for clarity.

n.81We translate according to the Sanskrit syntax. The Tibetan loses the subject (Skt. mūḍhāḥ) by using the absolutive rmongs nas.

n.82We follow the Sanskrit pramādalābhena.

n.83“The likes of” is added for clarity.

n.84“Bodhisattvas” is added for clarity.

n.85“Virtuous friends” is added for clarity.

n.86In the Sanskrit text, this verse contains six pādas instead of the usual four. The last pāda (eṣatā padavaraṃ hyanuttaram) is missing in the Tibetan and is translated from the Sanskrit.

n.87Tibetans seem to have read Skt. tāla as palm trees, but that meaning does not fit the context of the next sentence.

n.88“The pond” is added for clarity.

n.89The Tibetan is missing the negation. Sanskrit has mā kumārasya rajo pāṃśurvā śarīre nipatiṣyatīti.

n.90“The throne” is added for clarity.

n.91We follow the Sanskrit na ca sakhībhiṃrvismayati sma.

n.92We follow the Sanskrit abhiracit(t)aṃ. The Tibetan smras pa does not make sense.

n.93See Boucher 2008, 242, n. 94.

n.94“Indra’s” is added for clarity.

n.95We follow the Sanskrit triviṣṭapa and translate “godly realms.”

n.96Reading srid pa as sred pa according to the Sanskrit tṛṣṇā.

n.97We follow the Sanskrit kāmātura.

n.98We follow the Sanskrit naṭaraṅga.

n.99Lit. “ten million” (Tib. bye ba).

n.100Following the Sanskrit saṃhṛṣṭa.

n.101Following the Sanskrit dṛkṣye (optative).

n.102Following H and N, we emend Tib. spyod pa to sbyong ba, which would be Skt. śodhanī. However, we translate the reading of our Sanskrit text bodhanī. Cf. Boucher 2008, 244, n. 130.

n.103In ancient Indian physiology, the seven major body parts are hands, torso, sides, stomach, waist, thighs and feet. These seven major body parts are included in the list of thirty-two major marks of a great man (mahā­puruṣa­lakṣaṇa), i.e., a buddha. The mention of “his seven prominent body parts” (tasya saptotsadāṅgam) in the Sanskrit text seems oddly placed in the stanza, occurring after descriptions of the Buddha’s neck, head, and shoulders and before a longer list of bodily features.

n.104We follow the Sanskrit sucitrāḥ svastikāś­cakracitrāḥ.

n.105We emend Tib. gros stobs to gros stabs.

n.106We emend Tib. stobs can to stabs can.

n.107We emend Tib. ji ltar srid pa’i ’ching ba to ji ltar srid pa ’ching ba.

n.108We emend Tib. dga’ ba to rga ba.

n.109We follow the Sanskrit kathaṃ narāṇāṃ bhavate pramādaḥ.

n.110Here begin verses enumerating and praising the thirty-two marks of a buddha.

n.111We follow the Sanskrit jaṅgha.

n.112We follow the Sanskrit dharaṇi­śailataṭam and read the second and third parts of the compound as a tatpuruṣa instead of as a dvandva.

n.113We follow the Sanskrit vādiśūra.

n.114“The path” is added for clarity.

n.115We take the Sanskrit addition manujeṣu tathā as “and likewise [the pleasures] among men.”

n.116“All beings” is added for clarity.

n.117Skt. kṣetra; Tib. zhing, wrongly given in D as cing.

n.118Following K, we emend D: nam nangs pa to mtshan mo de’i nam langs pa.

n.119Literally, “very quickly with a hasty appearance” (Tib. myur ba myur bar rings pa’i gzugs kyis).

n.120We follow the Sanskrit candrārka-maṇi.

n.121Skt. nirvṛti.

n.122The Sanskrit here says “white and blue lotuses.”

n.123The translation here follows the Sanskrit divase divase.

n.124We follow the Sanskrit nātmaprema kṛtavān.

n.125We follow the Sanskrit na sarpitailena vā gātraṃ mrakṣitam.

n.126“Puṇyaraśmi” is added for clarity.

n.127“Puṇyaraśmi” is added for clarity.

n.128Following the Sanskrit āropitavān, we read Tib. phub instead of phul.

n.129The Tibetan reads de ltar instead of da ltar for Skt. etarhi (“now”).

n.130Skt. jñātra.

n.131The phrase “of spiritual practice” is added here for clarity.

n.132Tib. shes kyi khe phyir; the Sanskrit here says kṣetrārthaṃ “for the purpose of acquiring land.” Boucher (2008, 249, n. 217) reads the Nepalese manuscript that served as the basis of Finot’s edition as jñātrārthaṃ, which is more consistent with the Tibetan.

n.133As in Sanskrit; one of the names of Māra.

n.134D reads ’dra ba’i; the translation here follows H (dran pa), which is confirmed by the Skt. smṛtiḥ (translated accordingly).

n.135Skt. jñāna. The Tibetan kun tu shes pa is obscure.

n.136In the analysis of these two lines, we follow the Sanskrit syntax: śrutvā yukta should be read as a compositum of śrutvā ayukta.

n.137The five perfections normally refers to the first five of the six perfections, which are described as the skillful means leading to the sixth perfection, insight (prajñā).

n.138We follow the Sanskrit: yaśca punā rāṣṭrapāla bodhisattvaḥ pañca­pāramitāsu caret, yaśceha dharma­paryāya­pratipatyā saṃpādayet‍—ahamatra śikṣiṣye ’hamatra saṃvare sthāsyāmi.

n.139The Sanskrit differs considerably here: “Thus the exalted sūtra of olden times about the noble man Puṇyaraśmi is concluded. The Mahāyāna sūtra called The Questions of the Noble Rāṣṭrapāla (1) is concluded” (iti puṇyaraśmeḥ satpuruṣasya pūrva­yoga­sūtra­ratna­rājaṃ samāptam // ārya­rāṣṭra­pāla­paripṛcchā nāma mahāyāna­sūtraṃ samāptam //).