Notes

n.1We have translated the title of this text based on the Sanskrit title provided in the Tibetan text (aparimitaguṇānuśāṁsa). Here we have interpreted the Sanskrit compound to reflect the internal syntax *aparimitasya guṇānām anuśaṁsaḥ. A literal translation of the Tibetan title (yon tan bsngags pa dpag tu med pa) might be Immeasurable Praising of Qualities. If the Tibetan title were to reflect our reading of the Sanskrit compound aparimitaguṇānuśāṁsa it would have to be emended to dpag tu med pa’i yon tan bsngags pa. Ultimately, the decision to follow the reading reflected in the Sanskrit title was supported by the fact that the dhāraṇī itself is clearly addressed to the buddha Amitābha. Translating the title based on the Tibetan would obscure the fact that the title is a reference to Amitābha, not just a generic sense of “immeasurable qualities.”

n.2Denkarma folio 303.a.6; see also Herrmann-Pfandt (2009), p. 238.

n.3dkar chag ’phang thang ma (2003), p. 30.

n.4For details about this translation and the inconclusive identification of Faxian (法賢), see Lancaster, “K 1224i,” Korean Buddhist Canon, 2018.

n.5For details, see Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies.

n.6Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 851 version of this text within vol. 100 or 101 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 851, n.­6, for details.

n.7See Butön Rinchen Drup (1965–1971), vol. ma, p. 258.a.7–258.b.3.

n.8This reading is attested in Toh 851 as well as the Yongle, Narthang, and Lhasa (Zhol) editions of the Kangyur. Toh 679 reads gagana­kīrti­kari.

n.9This reading is attested in the Kangxi (Peking) edition of the Kangyur. Toh 679 and Toh 851 read sarva­kleśa­kṣayaṃ­kari.

n.10Translation: “I pay homage to the Three Jewels. I pay homage to the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddha‍—the blessed Amitābha with the following: Oṃ infinite one who arises from the infinite, whose nature is infinite, whose stride is infinite, whose range is infinite, who grants renown vast as the sky, who brings an end to all the afflictions, svāhā .”

n.11The translation here follows the Yongle, Kangxi (Peking), Narthang, and Lhasa (Zhol) editions of the Kangyur, which read ltung ba rtsa ba’i bzhi po.