The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī approaches the Buddha, who is teaching the Dharma in Śrāvastī, and offers him the shade of a jeweled parasol. The god Susīma, who is in the audience, asks Mañjuśrī whether he is satisfied with his offering, to which Mañjuśrī replies that those who seek enlightenment should never be content with making offerings to the Buddha. Susīma then asks what purpose one should keep in mind when making offerings to the Buddha. In response, Mañjuśrī lists a set of four purposes.
This sūtra was translated by the Kīrtimukha Translation Group. Celso Wilkinson, Laura Goetz, and L.S. Summer translated the text from the Tibetan and Sanskrit. William Giddings provided comparisons to the Chinese versions of the text.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Mañjuśrī’s Teaching takes place in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, where the Buddha is giving a teaching to congregations of monks and bodhisattvas. Mañjuśrī emerges from the audience with a parasol and holds it over the Buddha’s head as an offering. The god Susīma, who is in the audience, asks Mañjuśrī whether he is satisfied with his offering. Mañjuśrī replies that those who seek enlightenment should never be content with making offerings to the Buddha. Susīma then asks which purpose one should keep in mind when making offerings to the Buddha. In response, Mañjuśrī lists a set of four purposes: (1) the mind of awakening, (2) liberating all sentient beings, (3) preserving unbroken the lineage of the Three Jewels, and (4) purifying the buddha realms.
This list of the four purposes seems to be uncommon in the Buddhist tradition. Although there are a few other sets of fourfold purposes found in the Kangyur and Tengyur in various contexts, there is only one other occurrence of this list, which is found in the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra.1 This sūtra is interesting as it begins with a passage closely resembling Mañjuśrī’s Teaching; its setting and opening are the same and are followed by the same dialogue between Mañjuśrī and the god, although here the god’s name is Śrībhadra (dpal bzang) rather than Susīma. In the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra the four purposes are phrased in somewhat different terms but have essentially the same meaning.2 The sūtra is considerably longer, too, since after receiving Mañjuśrī’s reply regarding the four purposes Śrībhadra proceeds to ask a series of questions, all regarding things that are taught in sets of four.
There was no known Sanskrit witness of Mañjuśrī’s Teaching until recently, when a manuscript containing twenty texts, all of them sūtras, was found in the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā published a critical edition and English translation of this collection in the series Sanskrit Texts from the Autonomous Region (2010). Unfortunately, due to the inaccessibility of the manuscript collection and because it is missing a final colophon, its origin and date are currently unknown.3 Citations of the Sanskrit are given using Vinītā’s emendations of the handwritten manuscript. There seems to be a thematic connection among the twenty sūtras. Vinītā gives the example of moral discipline (śīla) as a recurrent theme in the manuscript,4 and we also can note the prevalence of themes of karmic cause and effect and the hierarchy of merit. Interestingly, this sūtra is quoted among others, including several sūtras from the Potala manuscript, by Kawa Paltsek (ska ba dpal brtsegs, eighth century
There is no Chinese translation of this sūtra,6 but there is a Chinese translation of the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra, which, as mentioned above, has an opening passage that closely parallels that of Mañjuśrī’s Teaching. This Chinese version of the Catuṣkanirhāra was translated by Śikṣānanda between 695–700
According to the Tibetan translators’ colophon, Mañjuśrī’s Teaching was translated into Tibetan by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé, who were active during the late eighth–early ninth centuries
We have based our translation on the Degé edition of the Tibetan Kangyur in consultation with the Sanskrit and other Kangyur editions, and compared this scripture to the parallel section found in both the Tibetan and Chinese versions of the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra. These various Tibetan witnesses, along with the Sanskrit, are generally consistent. Any instance in which we have diverged from the Degé has been noted, and significant differences found in the various versions of the sūtra are recorded in the notes.
[F.240.a]Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!9
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, together with a great congregation of 1,250 monks and five thousand bodhisattvas.
At that time, the Blessed One was teaching the Dharma surrounded and venerated by an audience of many hundreds of thousands. Youthful Mañjuśrī then hoisted a jeweled parasol measuring ten yojanas in circumference and held it directly over the Blessed One’s head.
Present in the retinue, along with his entourage, was a god from the house of Santuṣita called Susīma,10 whose progress toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening had become irreversible. He now rose from his seat, approached the place where Youthful Mañjuśrī was, and addressed him: “Mañjuśrī, aren’t you satisfied with your offering to the Blessed One?”
Mañjuśrī asked in return, “Divine being, tell me, is the great ocean ever satisfied by having water poured into it?”
“Mañjuśrī, no, it is not,” replied the god.
Mañjuśrī said, “Divine being, likewise, the wisdom of omniscience is as profound, immeasurable, and boundless11 as the great ocean. Those bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish to search for that wisdom should never12 be content in their desire to make offerings to the Tathāgata.”
The god then asked, “Mañjuśrī, with what purpose in mind should offerings be made to the Tathāgata?”[F.240.b]
Mañjuśrī replied, “Divine being, offerings should be made to the Tathāgata with four purposes in mind. What are those four? They are (1) the purpose of the mind of awakening,13 (2) the purpose of liberating all sentient beings, (3) the purpose that the lineage of the Three Jewels will continue uninterrupted, and (4) the purpose of purifying all buddha realms.14 Divine being, it is with these four purposes in mind that offerings should be made to the Tathāgata.”
When Mañjuśrī had spoken, the god Susīma, the monks, nuns,15 bodhisattvas, and the entire retinue, along with the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, rejoiced and praised the words of Youthful Mañjuśrī.16
This concludes the noble Great Vehicle sūtra, “Mañjuśrī’s Teaching.”
This was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.
The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī approaches the Buddha, who is teaching the Dharma in Śrāvastī, and offers him the shade of a jeweled parasol. The god Susīma, who is in the audience, asks Mañjuśrī whether he is satisfied with his offering, to which Mañjuśrī replies that those who seek enlightenment should never be content with making offerings to the Buddha. Susīma then asks what purpose one should keep in mind when making offerings to the Buddha. In response, Mañjuśrī lists a set of four purposes.
This sūtra was translated by the Kīrtimukha Translation Group. Celso Wilkinson, Laura Goetz, and L.S. Summer translated the text from the Tibetan and Sanskrit. William Giddings provided comparisons to the Chinese versions of the text.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Mañjuśrī’s Teaching takes place in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, where the Buddha is giving a teaching to congregations of monks and bodhisattvas. Mañjuśrī emerges from the audience with a parasol and holds it over the Buddha’s head as an offering. The god Susīma, who is in the audience, asks Mañjuśrī whether he is satisfied with his offering. Mañjuśrī replies that those who seek enlightenment should never be content with making offerings to the Buddha. Susīma then asks which purpose one should keep in mind when making offerings to the Buddha. In response, Mañjuśrī lists a set of four purposes: (1) the mind of awakening, (2) liberating all sentient beings, (3) preserving unbroken the lineage of the Three Jewels, and (4) purifying the buddha realms.
This list of the four purposes seems to be uncommon in the Buddhist tradition. Although there are a few other sets of fourfold purposes found in the Kangyur and Tengyur in various contexts, there is only one other occurrence of this list, which is found in the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra.1 This sūtra is interesting as it begins with a passage closely resembling Mañjuśrī’s Teaching; its setting and opening are the same and are followed by the same dialogue between Mañjuśrī and the god, although here the god’s name is Śrībhadra (dpal bzang) rather than Susīma. In the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra the four purposes are phrased in somewhat different terms but have essentially the same meaning.2 The sūtra is considerably longer, too, since after receiving Mañjuśrī’s reply regarding the four purposes Śrībhadra proceeds to ask a series of questions, all regarding things that are taught in sets of four.
There was no known Sanskrit witness of Mañjuśrī’s Teaching until recently, when a manuscript containing twenty texts, all of them sūtras, was found in the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā published a critical edition and English translation of this collection in the series Sanskrit Texts from the Autonomous Region (2010). Unfortunately, due to the inaccessibility of the manuscript collection and because it is missing a final colophon, its origin and date are currently unknown.3 Citations of the Sanskrit are given using Vinītā’s emendations of the handwritten manuscript. There seems to be a thematic connection among the twenty sūtras. Vinītā gives the example of moral discipline (śīla) as a recurrent theme in the manuscript,4 and we also can note the prevalence of themes of karmic cause and effect and the hierarchy of merit. Interestingly, this sūtra is quoted among others, including several sūtras from the Potala manuscript, by Kawa Paltsek (ska ba dpal brtsegs, eighth century
There is no Chinese translation of this sūtra,6 but there is a Chinese translation of the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra, which, as mentioned above, has an opening passage that closely parallels that of Mañjuśrī’s Teaching. This Chinese version of the Catuṣkanirhāra was translated by Śikṣānanda between 695–700
According to the Tibetan translators’ colophon, Mañjuśrī’s Teaching was translated into Tibetan by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé, who were active during the late eighth–early ninth centuries
We have based our translation on the Degé edition of the Tibetan Kangyur in consultation with the Sanskrit and other Kangyur editions, and compared this scripture to the parallel section found in both the Tibetan and Chinese versions of the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra. These various Tibetan witnesses, along with the Sanskrit, are generally consistent. Any instance in which we have diverged from the Degé has been noted, and significant differences found in the various versions of the sūtra are recorded in the notes.
[F.240.a]Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!9
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, together with a great congregation of 1,250 monks and five thousand bodhisattvas.
At that time, the Blessed One was teaching the Dharma surrounded and venerated by an audience of many hundreds of thousands. Youthful Mañjuśrī then hoisted a jeweled parasol measuring ten yojanas in circumference and held it directly over the Blessed One’s head.
Present in the retinue, along with his entourage, was a god from the house of Santuṣita called Susīma,10 whose progress toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening had become irreversible. He now rose from his seat, approached the place where Youthful Mañjuśrī was, and addressed him: “Mañjuśrī, aren’t you satisfied with your offering to the Blessed One?”
Mañjuśrī asked in return, “Divine being, tell me, is the great ocean ever satisfied by having water poured into it?”
“Mañjuśrī, no, it is not,” replied the god.
Mañjuśrī said, “Divine being, likewise, the wisdom of omniscience is as profound, immeasurable, and boundless11 as the great ocean. Those bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish to search for that wisdom should never12 be content in their desire to make offerings to the Tathāgata.”
The god then asked, “Mañjuśrī, with what purpose in mind should offerings be made to the Tathāgata?”[F.240.b]
Mañjuśrī replied, “Divine being, offerings should be made to the Tathāgata with four purposes in mind. What are those four? They are (1) the purpose of the mind of awakening,13 (2) the purpose of liberating all sentient beings, (3) the purpose that the lineage of the Three Jewels will continue uninterrupted, and (4) the purpose of purifying all buddha realms.14 Divine being, it is with these four purposes in mind that offerings should be made to the Tathāgata.”
When Mañjuśrī had spoken, the god Susīma, the monks, nuns,15 bodhisattvas, and the entire retinue, along with the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, rejoiced and praised the words of Youthful Mañjuśrī.16
This concludes the noble Great Vehicle sūtra, “Mañjuśrī’s Teaching.”
This was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.
See Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans., The Fourfold Accomplishment, Toh 252, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Currently the manuscript is kept in the Potala. Vinītā’s critical edition is based on a copy of the manuscript that is kept in the China Tibetology Research Center. For further details on the state of this manuscript see Vinītā (2010), pp. xv–xvii.
Due to the parallel opening, there are a few sources that have mistakenly identified Taishō 774, the Chinese translation of the Catuṣkanirhāra, as a translation of the Mañjuśrīnirdeśa.
Lewis R. Lancaster, “K 485,” The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, accessed October 18, 2018.
Denkarma, folio 300.a; Phangthangma (2003), p. 18. The Denkarma describes its length as fourteen and a half ślokas, while the Phangthangma describes it as seventeen and a half.
The Sanskrit gives his name as Sukhīna, which is not a recognizable name; however, the Tibetan mtshams bzangs (“Susīma”) appears in other sūtras as a god and disciple of the Buddha.
D, H, and Y: gzhar yang (“never”); C, K, N, and U: gzhan yang (“furthermore they should not be content in their desire to make offerings to the Tathāgata”).
Toh 252: “the purpose of attaining the array of qualities of the buddhafield” (sangs rgyas kyi zhing gi yon tan bkod pa yongs su gzung ba la dmigs pa).
One of the first Buddhist monasteries, located in a park outside Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. This park was originally owned by Prince Jeta, hence the name Jetavana, meaning Jeta’s grove. The wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, sought to buy it from him, but the prince, not wishing to sell, said he would only do so if Anāthapiṇḍada covered the entire property with gold coins. Anāthapiṇḍada agreed, and managed to cover all of the park except the entrance, hence the name Anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ, meaning Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. The place is usually referred to in the sūtras as “Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park,” and according to the Saṃghabhedavastu the Buddha used Prince Jeta’s name in first place because that was Prince Jeta’s own unspoken wish while Anāthapiṇḍada was offering the park. Inspired by the occasion and the Buddha’s use of his name, Prince Jeta then offered the rest of the property and had an entrance gate built. The Buddha specifically instructed those who recite the sūtras to use Prince Jeta’s name in first place to commemorate the mutual effort of both benefactors.
Anāthapiṇḍada built residences for the monks, to house them during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It was one of the Buddha’s main residences, where he spent around nineteen rainy season retreats, and it was therefore the setting for many of the Buddha’s discourses and events. According to the travel accounts of Chinese monks, it was still in use as a Buddhist monastery in the early fifth century ᴄᴇ, but by the sixth century it had been reduced to ruins.
Mañjuśrī is one of the “eight close sons of the Buddha” and a bodhisattva who embodies wisdom. He is a major figure in the Mahāyāna sūtras, appearing often as an interlocutor of the Buddha. In his most well-known iconographic form, he is portrayed bearing the sword of wisdom in his right hand and a volume of the Prajñāpāramitāsūtra in his left. To his name, Mañjuśrī, meaning “Gentle and Glorious One,” is often added the epithet Kumārabhūta, “having a youthful form.” He is also called Mañjughoṣa, Mañjusvara, and Pañcaśikha.
In the general Mahāyāna teachings the mind of awakening (bodhicitta) is the intention to attain the complete awakening of a perfect buddha for the sake of all beings. On the level of absolute truth, the mind of awakening is the realization of the awakened state itself.
In the Potala manuscript, the term is rendered as ārambaṇa, which is an equivalent term in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.
King of the god realm of Tuṣita (“Joyful”).
During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
The name of a god from the realm of Tuṣita and the main interlocutor of Mañjuśrī’s Teaching. In the Kangyur, Susīma appears as a minor interlocutor in several other sūtras; his other most notable appearance is as an interlocutor in conversation with Māra in The Chapter on Mañjuśrī’s Magical Display, Toh 97, 1.68–1.78. He also appears in some Pali sources; see Buddhist Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, Susīma (4–5).
A frequently used synonym for a buddha, literally meaning “one who has thus gone.”
A standard measure of distance used in ancient India. The Sanskrit literally means “yoking” or “joining.” It is the distance a yoked ox can travel in a day or before needing to be unyoked. Sources calculate the exact distance variably, somewhere between four and ten miles.
An epithet for the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, as he appears always youthful, like a prince of sixteen. See “Mañjuśrī.”
’jam dpal gyis bstan pa (Mañjuśrīnirdeśa). Toh 177, Degé Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 240.a–240.b.
’jam dpal gyis bstan pa. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–9, vol. 60, pp. 636–38.
’jam dpal gyis bstan pa. Stok 92, Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 60 (mdo sde, ta), folios 401.a–402.a.
’jam dpal gis bstan pa. Go 13.17, Gondhla Collection vol. 13 (ka–na), folios 97.a–97.b; Go 35.37, vol. 35 (ka–nga), folios 35.b–36.a.
bzhi pa sgrub pa (Catuṣkanirhāra). Toh 252, Degé Kangyur vol. 66 (mdo sde, za), folios 61.a–69.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2021.
Vinītā, Bhikṣuṇī, ed. and trans. A Unique Collection of Twenty Sūtras in a Sanskrit Manuscript from the Potala. Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region 7/1. Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House; Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, 2010.
Śikṣananda, trans. 大乘四法經 (da cheng si fa jing; Chinese translation of Catuṣkanirhāra), Taishō 774.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee. The Fourfold Accomplishment (Catuṣkanirhāra, Toh 252). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Kawa Paltsek (ska ba dpal brtsegs). gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shAkya’i rabs rgyud (*Pravacanaratnākhyānaśākyavaṃśāvalī). Toh 4357, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co), folios 238.b–377.a. Also in bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 120 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 1994–2008, vol. 115, pp. 802–22.
Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed October 18, 2018.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Silk, Jonathan A. “Review Article: Buddhist Sūtras in Sanskrit from the Potala.” Indo-Iranian Journal 56 (2013): 61–87.
C Choné (co ne) Kangyur
D Degé (sde dge) Kangyur
Go. Gondhla Collection
H Lhasa (zhol) Kangyur
K Peking (pe cin) or “Kangxi” Kangyur
N Narthang (snar thang) Kangyur
S Stok Palace (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur
Sanskrit Sanskrit manuscript found in the Potala Palace (see introduction and bibliography)
Toh 252 Catuṣkanirhārasūtra, which contains a parallel list of the four purposes addressed in Mañjuśrī’s Teaching (see introduction and bibliography)
U Urga (ku re) Kangyur
Y Yongle (g.yung lo) Kangyur
