Notes

n.1The Chinese translation Taishō 310 (26), Shanbipusahui (善臂菩薩會), was completed by Kumārajīva sometime during the years 402–412 ᴄᴇ, when he lived in what was then the Chinese capital of Chang’an (modern day Xi’an).

n.2Denkarma, folio 296.a.5. See also Herrmann-Pfandt (2008, p. 30, no. 51), and ibid. pp. xviii–xx for the dating.

n.3The “language reform” refers to the imperial edict reflected in the Drajor Bampo Nyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa, Toh 4347, see Halkias 2004), whose first appearance Scherrer-Schaub (2002, p. 285) dates to 783 or 795 under the reign of Trisong Detsen (khri srong lde btsan), r. 756–c. 797, c. 798–c. 800, see Dotson (2007 p. 2n4).

n.4’phags pa lag bzangs kyis zhus pa’i mdo las byung ba’i smon lam (Toh 4381), Degé Tengyur vol. 207 (sna tshogs, nyo), folios 310.a–310.b.

n.5The Tantra of the Question of Subāhu (Toh 805, dpung bzang gis zhus pa’i rgyud, Subāhu­paripṛcchā­tantra). For this reason we have not shortened the title of this text, as we have often done for similar titles, by removing the element “The Sūtra of . . . .”

n.6Jonathan Silk (1994), in his comparison of two other texts in the Ratnakūṭa (Heap of Jewels) collection, the Ratna­rāśi­sūtra (Toh 88) and the Kāśyapa­pari­varta (Toh 87), suggested that their shared features might point toward the characteristics of a hypothetical “textual community” that could help account for the selection of the works found in the Ratnakūṭa collection. Three possible defining features that can be gleaned from Silk’s study and those of others (Nattier 2003, Boucher 2008) are an absence of discernible antagonism between śrāvaka (hearer) and bodhisattva practitioners; an emphasis on monastic ideals; and a concomitant valorization of renunciation and the ascetic life. The Question of Subāhu corresponds only in small part to that pattern.

n.7D: mngon par shes pa (“superknowledge”); N, H: mngon par grags pa (“famous”).

n.8D: bdog (“possess”); Y, K: ’dod (“want,” “desire”).

n.9Y, N: -bzang du bdog na yang bzang du sbyin (missing “they give excellent things if they possess excellent things”).

n.10N, H: -thams cad (missing “all”).

n.11Y: -shes pa (missing “knowledge”). This clause would then read, “To enable all beings to truly attain unsurpassable comfort.”

n.12yongs su nyon mongs par ma gyur pa; probably renders parikliṣṭha.

n.13J, K, C: -thams cad kyi thams cad rnam pa; D: +thams cad kyi thams cad rnam pa. There is also the alternate reading in Y: -thams cad kyi.

n.14Y, N, H: che ba; D: cher.

n.15In this enumeration, the jealous gods are taken to be part of the god realm.

n.16D: ’chags (“confess”); Y, K: ’tshugs; J, C: ’chugs; N: mi ’jug.

n.17J, C: rtsod (“quarrel”); D: gcos (“cutting”).

n.18D: gyi; N: dang. The reading of N would be alternately rendered as “a great saṅgha of monks and attendants.”

n.19Skt. Dharmamegha.

n.20J, K, N, C: -yongs su spyad par byed pa’i; D: +yongs su spyad par byed pa’i.

n.21N, H: bsrung (“protection”); D: bskang (“fulfillment”).

n.22Y, K, N, H: pas; D: pa’i.

n.23Y, J, K, C: brkyang ba (“extended”); D: bkyang ba (“unattested”).

n.24D: rdzogs pa (“perfection,” “completion”); Y, K: rtogs pa (“realization”).

n.25This is a reference to the twelve links of dependent origination, i.e., the first to the last (if starting with birth). This sentence has a lot of very different variants and might indicate a place of some uncertainty. Y: sdug bsngal nas srid pa’i sdug bsngal gstsal; J, C: skye ba’i sdug bsngal srid pa’i sdug bsngal gyi bar du bsal; K: skye ba’i sdug bsngal srid pa’i sdug bsngal gyi bar dud pa’i sdug bsngal gstsal; N: skye ba’i sdug bsngal nas srid pa’i sdug bsngal gyi bar du brtsal.

n.26chub pa likely renders the Skt. paryavāpti (“mastery,” “comprehension”; cf. Edgerton, p.334).

n.27N, H: -chos can; D: +chos can.

n.28This phrase (du ’dzi las dben pa’i spyod yul) conveys the sense of being unaffected by social affairs even when steeped in them (cf. Edgerton, p. 215).

n.29Here reading Y, K, N, H: de; D: de’i.

n.30sha snag gu/sna gu is most likely the same as sha snag bu: “tumor,” or “lump of flesh” (see Negi, vol. 16: 6791 and Monier Williams: 805). Note that there are two variants: Y: sha sneg and N, H: sha sna.

n.31Variant readings include Y: rtswa tham (“scattered grass”) and N: rtsa me (“channel/nerve fire”).

n.32This passage on the four concentrations can also be found in The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95), in the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand Lines (Daśa­sāhasrikā­prajñā­pāramitā, Toh 11), and in the other long Prajñāpāramitā sūtras , among other works.

n.33The four objects of consciousness (rnam par shes pa’i gnas bzhi, (Nordrang Orgyan, vol. 1, p. 708) can refer to either (1) forms, (2) sensations, (3) formations, and (4) perceptions, or, alternatively, (1) consciousness, (2) sensations, (3) perceptions, and (4) formations. Given the mention of “forms” just below, it appears to be the former classification in this context.

n.34Y, K, J, C, N, H: rtog (“reflect upon,” “consider”); D: rtogs (“realize,” “understand”).

n.35Y, K, N, H: gis ; D: gi. This reading matches with previous and later internal patterns of this text.

n.36Y, K, C, N, H, U: skye mched; D: skyed mched.

n.37Tib. nye bar ’gro ba probably renders Skt. upasarpati, “to approach.”

n.38MV: rnam par ’jig pa; this likely renders the Skt. vibhāvanā.

n.39Y, K, J, C, N, H: yid; D: yod.

n.40N, H: rtogs (“to realize”); D: rtog (“to consider”).

n.41Y, N, H: -rnams (plural particle); D: +rnams.

n.42Y, K: gang ’gro; D: gan ’gro; N: ngan ’gro.

n.43Y, K, N, H: ’gyur bar; D: gyur par.

n.44C, H, U: bzhon (“mount,” “steed”); D: gzhon (“youth”).

n.45Here, lus most likely translates āśraya.