Notes

n.1See Dharmachakra Translation Committee, The Good Eon (2022).

n.2See Sakya Pandita Translation Group, The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī (2011).

n.3Disregarding, it seems, the Buddha’s own mention, noted above, of Aparimitāyus’ mother and queen.

n.4Emituo gu yinsheng wang tuoluoni jing (阿彌陀鼓音聲王陀羅尼經), see Lancaster (2019).

n.5For a translation of Toh 679, see Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Dhāraṇī Praising the Qualities of the Immeasurable One , 2020.

n.6Of the two versions of the sūtra, Aparimitāyur­jñāna­sūtra (1) (Toh 674) was probably translated by the same translators as the present text, Puṇya­sambhava and Patsap Nyima Drak. This is the version most widely used today. The other, Aparimitāyur­jñāna­sūtra (2) (Toh 675) represents‍—but is not identical to‍—a translation made during the early translation period, as attested in numerous Dunhuang manuscripts and the mention in the early-ninth-century Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) and Phangthangma (phang thang ma) inventories of, respectively, a tshe dpag tu med pa’i gzungs, with 110 ślokas, and a tshe dpag tu med pa, with 120 ślokas. For more details on the complex issue see the introductions to Toh 674 and 675, i.9 and i.21 in Toh 674, Roberts and Bower 2021 (1), and i.15 in Toh 675, Roberts and Bower 2021 (2).

n.7There is another problem around the correct rendering of the title of the present text. The Sanskrit title indicates that this is the essence (hṛdaya) that is the wisdom (jñāna) of Aparimitāyus (aparimitāyur). The Tibetan translation of the title, however, reads the compound in the Sanskrit title as the essence (snying po) of immeasurable (dpag tu med pa) longevity and wisdom (tshe dang ye shes). It is thus possible that the Tibetan rendering of the title of this work is somewhat misleading, and that the Sanskrit title Aparimitāyur­jñāna­hṛdaya­dhāraṇī might be more accurately translated into English as The Dhāraṇī of the Essence of the Wisdom of Aparimitāyus, or even The Dhāraṇī of the Essence of Knowing Aparimitāyus. Because this translation is based on the Tibetan version of the text, however, it follows the title as rendered in the Tibetan translation.

n.8Edgerton (1953), p. 266.1.

n.9Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 850 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 850, n.­9, for details.

n.10Both versions of the Degé read gang gA tas bskor ba’i rdzing bu’i ’gram na; the Stok Palace Kangyur reads gang ga tas bskor ba’i rdzing bu’i ’gram na. We are indebted to Alexander O’Neil for providing us with the correct identity of this location. The Tibetan is likely a problematic Tibetan transliteration of the term gaggarāpokkharaṇī, or “the Gaggarā lotus pond.” As O’Neil informed the editorial team, the Chinese translation of this text transliterates this term as 伽伽靈池 or “gagara,” and thus offers a helpful correction to the Tibetan transliteration. For more on this location see the entries on Gaggarā and Campā in Malalasekara’s Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names.

n.11The six lines above, starting with “Since the Buddha is inconceivable,” are frequently cited in later Tibetan literature, often using the alternative title rnga sgra’i rgyal po’i mdo (The Sūtra of the King of the Sound of the Drum).

n.12See i.­8.

n.13Degé Toh 676, Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Choné, and Stok Palace read bha; Degé Toh 850 reads ba.

n.14Degé Toh 850 and Stok Palace read ākāśa­nirdeśe/ ākāśa­nirjāte; Degé Toh 676 reads ākāśa­nirjāte/ ākāśa­nirdeśe.

n.15Degé Toh 676 reads prasādhane; Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné read prasādana; Degé Toh 850 and Stok Palace read prasādhani.

n.16Degé Toh 676 and Stok Palace read bala; Degé Toh 850 reads pala.

n.17Degé Toh 676 and Stok Palace read bhā; Degé Toh 850, Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, and Choné read bha.

n.18Degé Toh 850 reads dānte sudānta; Degé Toh 676 and Stok Palace read dante sudante.