Notes

n.1The Tibetan of the Degé Kangyur recension of this text gives the Sanskrit title of the sūtra as Aśokadattavyākaraṇa. Since the titular character of the discourse is a girl, we have given her Sanskrit name throughout as Aśokadattā (ie with a long ā for a feminine ending), and amended the Sanskrit title of the sūtra accordingly to Aśoka­dattāvyākaraṇa.

n.2The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā (Vimalaśraddhā, Toh 84).

n.3The Prophecy of Kṣemavatī (Kṣemavatī­vyākaraṇa, Toh 192).

n.4The Questions of Śrīmatī the Brahmin Woman (Śrīmatī­brāhmaṇī­pari­pṛcchā, Toh 170).

n.5The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā (Candrottarā­dārikāvyākaraṇa, Toh 191).

n.6Sumatidārikā­pari­pṛcchā­sūtra , Toh 74.

n.7The Questions of Gaṅgottarā (Gaṅgottara­pari­pṛcchā, Toh 75).

n.8The Questions of an Old Lady (Mahallikā­paripṛcchā, Toh 171).

n.9The City Beggar Woman (Nāga­rāvalambikā, Toh 205).

n.10The Miraculous Play of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrī­vikrīḍita, Toh 96).

n.11bsgom pa’i rim pa mdo kun las bdus pa (Bhāvanākrama­sūtra­samuccaya), Toh 3933, folios 134.b–135.a.

n.12Ruegg 1981, 109ff.

n.13ting nge ’dzin gyi tshogs kyi le’u (Samādhi­sambhāra­pari­varta), Toh 3924, folio 81.b.

n.14Chang 1983, pp. 115–33.

n.15Chang 1983, p. 132.

n.16Phangthangma 2003, p. 14.

n.17Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, pp. 32–33.

n.18Tib. gzungs thob pa. This could also be interpreted as “had achieved the power of retention.”

n.19Tib. zhang blon gyi bu tsha, literally “sons and nephews of uncle-ministers.” The Tibetan term zhang blon, literally “uncle-minister” has no direct Sanskrit correlate. It was the term used of senior ministers during the period of the Tibetan Empire, when this translation into Tibetan was made, who were typically related by marriage to the ruler. Here it is likely used as a translation of the Sanskrit amātya.

n.20Following, here and passim, Stok, Lhasa, and Choné Kangyurs: bsur mchi ba. Degé: bstsur mchi ba. Kangxi: bsur ’chi ba.

n.21Translation tentative. Tib. ’jig rten na tshangs pa’i snga khang bla na med pa don du gnyer ba na.

n.22The term nga rgyal is translated here as “conceited.” It might also be translated as “proud.”

n.23The five qualities mentioned here‍—moral discipline, meditative stability, wisdom, liberation, and knowledge and seeing of liberation‍—are the five undefiled aggregates that characterize noble ones, contrasted with the five defiled aggregates of ordinary sentient beings.

n.24The following verses are presented in Tibetan in nine syllable lines.

n.25Tib. ye shes rig pa.

n.26Following the Stok Palace, Kangxi, and Yongle Kangyurs: tsha ba yis/ /gdungs pa’i skye bo rnams kyis nye bar bsten pa lags. The Degé reads skye bo rnams kyi.

n.27The Narthang and Stok Palace editions have bAr shi ka instead of bal shi ka, which is a more faithful transliteration of vārṣika, or better vārṣikī, referring to the species Jasminum sambac, known in English as Arabian Jasmine.

n.28Tib. mkha’ la thig le bzhin du mdzes. To this day, Indian women wear bindis (Tib. thig le), a mark or dot applied on the forehead between the eyebrows.

n.29There is a play on the polysemic term dharma (Tib. chos) that continues through these exchanges with the eminent śrāvakas.

n.30Here the term dharma (Tib. chos) is used to connote “teaching” or “doctrine.”

n.31Here the term dharmas (Tib. chos rnams) is used to connote “qualities.”

n.32Here the term dharma (Tib. chos) is taken by Aśokadattā as connoting “qualities,” though the phrase used by Mahākāśyapa, sangs rgyas kyi chos, normally denotes the Buddha’s Dharma (teaching).

n.33Here “inherent existence” and “inherent nature” are used as alternative translations for the term svabhāva (Tib. rang bzhin).

n.34Following the Narthang, Yongle, and Stok Palace reading, dring ’jog pa’i shes rab can dag ni. Degé: dring mi ’jog pa’i shes rab can, “those wise ones who do not rely...”

n.35Translation tentative. Tib. ci’i phyir bstan pa thams cad bstan du med ce na/ de ni bstan kyang rung/ ma bstan kyang rung dngos po ma yin te/ dngos po med pa dang brjod du med pa’i mtha’ mi spong ba’i phyir ro.

n.36The term translated throughout this passage as “appropriate,” Tib. rung ba, could also be translated as “right,” “suitable,” or “fitting.”

n.37Following the Degé, Choné, and Urga recensions and the Chinese (Chang 1983, p. 131), which all have “eight years.” The Narthang, Lhasa, and Stok Palace editions read “a hundred years.”

n.38In the Chinese, the bodhisattva Aśokadattā, to address the king, again takes the form of the king’s daughter. Chang 1983, p. 132.