Introduction

i.1Siṃha’s Questions is listed as the thirty-seventh chapter of the Ratnakūṭa (Heap of Jewels) section of the Kangyur and was translated into Tibetan from an unknown Sanskrit source in the early ninth century by the Indian scholars Dānaśīla and Munivarman and the Tibetan translator and chief editor Yeshé Dé. It is listed in both ninth-century imperial catalogs, the Denkarma and Phangthangma.

i.2There are three versions of the text found in the Chinese Tripiṭaka. The translator of Taishō 344, the first and likely earliest version of the sūtra, is unknown. Taishō 343 was translated by Dharmarakṣa (zhu fa hu 竺法護) during the Jing Dynasty, around 200–300 ᴄᴇ. The text was again revised in China by the Indian translator Bodhiruci (pu ti liu zhi 菩提流志) sometime between 706 and 713, when he undertook a project to translate the Ratnakūṭa collection as a whole (Taishō 310) into Chinese. At that time, Siṃha’s Questions was included among fifteen sūtras that Bodhiruci chose to retranslate while accepting into his collection the Chinese of twenty-two other sūtras that had been translated previously.

i.3Any Sanskrit original was thought to be lost until recently, when a Sanskrit manuscript of Siṃha’s Questions, along with nineteen other sūtras, was found in the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā published a critical edition of this collection in the series Sanskrit Texts from the Autonomous Region (2010) along with an emended edition of the Sanskrit, parallel editions of the Tibetan and Chinese, an English translation based on the Sanskrit, and reference to other Tibetan and Chinese recensions in the notes. Unfortunately, due to the manuscript’s inaccessibility and the collection missing a final colophon, its origin and date are currently unknown.

i.4The sūtra is not particularly well known, but verses of it are quoted in a few Indian commentaries, including Śāntideva’s training anthology, the Śikṣāsamuccaya. It is also quoted in some Tibetan commentaries, usually in the context of using the Buddha’s words to verify that a certain virtuous practice is the concordant cause for developing a particular positive result or quality.

i.5Siṃha’s Questions presents the practices of bodhisattvas through a question-and-answer dialogue between the Buddha and Prince Siṃha, the son of King Ajātaśatru of Magadha. At the beginning of the sūtra, Siṃha and five hundred of his attendants approach the Buddha and supplicate him, each offering a golden parasol. Feeling confident, Siṃha asks the Buddha a series of questions about the conduct of bodhisattvas concerning how one attains the various sublime qualities and attributes possessed by bodhisattvas and by the Buddha himself. The Buddha then directly answers each question, listing the practice or virtuous conduct that acts as the concordant cause for acquiring each particular quality. The dialogue thereby becomes an elementary teaching on virtuous causes and results, encompassing a broad range of attainments and how they are accomplished through the proper virtuous activity.

i.6The dialogue between Siṃha and the Buddha seems to keep a wide audience in mind, discussing matters that could potentially appeal to a layperson’s worldly interests, such as acquiring wealth, beauty, power, and loyal servants. However, the primary focus of Siṃha’s series of questions remains how to correctly follow the practices of bodhisattvas and attain the final goal of becoming a buddha. Even when his questions are concerned with how to attain wealth and power, they can be understood to be relevant to a bodhisattva’s career (to attract followers, etc.), and we can surmise that Siṃha’s interest in them is for the benefit of others.

i.7At the conclusion of the sūtra, Siṃha and his attendants promise to follow this teaching. The Buddha is pleased and gives them an extraordinary prophecy: Siṃha and all five hundred attendants will become buddhas and will, three hundred eons after the emanation of Maitreya, in an eon called Great Illumination, establish buddhafields “like that of Amitābha.”

i.8Prince Siṃha himself is an elusive figure in Buddhist literature. While his father, King Ajātaśatru, is quite famous in the sūtras, any mention of this particular Siṃha seems to be unique to this sūtra. King Ajātaśatru’s other son and eventual successor, Udayabhadra, is much better known in the histories and literature, but from our research there does not seem to be any connection between these two princes, nor mention of Siṃha, outside of this sūtra.

i.9Our translation is based primarily on the Tibetan found in the Degé Kangyur, with reference to all the recensions found in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and Stok Palace Kangyurs. Any significant differences in meaning between these versions have been documented in the notes. We also consulted fragments of the text found in the collection from Dunhuang, but these did not show any notable differences.

i.10The Sanskrit manuscript from the Potala was closely consulted, as were the Sanskrit verses quoted in the Śikṣāsamuccaya. The Sanskrit witnesses have been favored in some instances where they present a clearer reading than the Tibetan, particularly when these differences were verified by the Chinese translations. In this regard, Vinītā’s critical edition was an invaluable source, as we consulted it for the Sanskrit as well as for its comparative editions of the Tibetan and Chinese. In cases where we have referred to the Chinese, we have given preference to Bodhiruci’s translation, as it was a revision made with knowledge of the previous Chinese versions, and it also corresponds most closely with the Sanskrit manuscript. Any significant differences in meaning found in the Sanskrit and Chinese have been documented in the notes.