Summary
s.1In The Questions of Gaṅgottarā, a laywoman named Gaṅgottarā leaves her home in the city of Śrāvastī and visits the Buddha Śākyamuni in Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park. The Buddha asks her from where she has come, sparking a dialogue on the true nature of things. Among other things, they discuss the fact that, from the perspective of ultimate truth, all things, including Gaṅgottarā herself, are like magical creations, and thus no one comes or goes or pursues nirvāṇa. After their dialogue, the Buddha smiles. When Ānanda asks him why, he explains that a thousand tathāgatas of the past have already taught this discourse at this same location to a thousand different laywomen, all named Gaṅgottarā; and that through it they have all achieved nirvāṇa. The sūtra concludes with a brief explanation of the reasons why the present laywoman named Gaṅgottarā received this teaching and how it should be remembered in the future.
s.1在《恒河女所問經》中，一位名叫恒河女的優婆夷離開了舍衛城的家，前往祇陀太子的園林、給孤獨長者的公園，去拜見釋迦牟尼佛。佛陀問她從何處來，引發了一場關於諸法真實性的對話。在對話中，他們討論了一個事實，即從究竟真實的角度來看，所有的事物，包括恒河女自己，都如同幻化一樣，因此沒有人來去，也沒有人追求涅槃。對話結束後，佛陀露出微笑。阿難問他為什麼微笑，他解釋說過去有一千位如來曾經在同樣的地點向一千位不同的優婆夷講授過這個教法，她們都叫恒河女，她們都透過這個教法而證得涅槃。經文最後簡要說明了為什麼現在這位名叫恒河女的優婆夷得到這個教法，以及未來應該如何憶持這個教法。