In this Mahāyāna sūtra, a group of the Buddha’s most eminent śrāvaka disciples are collecting alms in the city of Rājagṛha when they arrive at the palace of King Ajātaśatru. There, the king’s daughter Aśokadattā, who is seated on an ornate throne, neither rises from her seat to greet them nor pays them any form of respect. Outraged by her rudeness, the king chastises her. The girl is unrepentant, and in a series of elegant verses she explains to her father the superiority of the bodhisattva path, which renders such obeisance to śrāvakas inappropriate. The eminent śrāvaka disciples then engage the girl in debate, but each in turn is silenced by the eloquence and confidence of her replies, by which she deconstructs their questions based on her knowledge of the emptiness of all phenomena. Having thus impressed them, she descends from her throne and serves them humbly with food and drink. They then all go together to Vulture Peak, where the Buddha prophesies her future full awakening.
This text was translated by Jed Forman and Erdene Baatar Erdene-Ochir of the UCSB Buddhist Studies Translation Group.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. George FitzHerbert edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
This Mahāyāna sūtra in the Heap of Jewels (Tib. dkon brtsegs, Skt. ratnakūṭa) collection recounts the story of its titular character, Aśokadattā,1 who was a daughter of King Ajātaśatru, the famed lord of Rājagṛha and a major patron of the Buddhist community during the latter part of the Buddha’s life.
One day, while the Buddha was staying at nearby Vulture Peak, a large group of śrāvaka disciples including such eminent figures as Śāriputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, Subhūti, Rāhula, and others go into the city of Rājagṛha to collect alms, eventually arriving at the palace of King Ajātaśatru. When the king’s daughter Aśokadattā sees the disciples arriving, she neither rises from her seat nor makes any sign of greeting or respect. Her father is dismayed by her rudeness and chastises her for her impudence, but Aśokadattā is unrepentant. She defends her behavior with a series of eloquent analogies, illustrating for her father that those who follow the śrāvaka path are not worthy of respect or veneration, since they have failed to accept the full wealth offered by the Buddha’s Dharma. This, she says, is in contrast to bodhisattvas, who are motivated to help others on the path to liberation, and who have embraced the more profound teachings on the emptiness of all phenomena. Śrāvakas, she says, are like physicians concerned only with treating themselves, or travelers who depend on the hospitality of others. Bodhisattvas, on the other hand, are like physicians who care for others just as they care for themselves, or like those who generously share their provisions with others while on the road. Śrāvakas, she says, are like passengers on a boat, while bodhisattvas are like the captains of ships. While the light of a bodhisattva shines like the sun, the light of a śrāvaka is as dim as a firefly, and “who,” Aśokadattā asks, “would relinquish the sun and the moon to pay homage to fireflies?”
In turn, each of the eminent śrāvakas engages the girl in debate, but each is left speechless by her responses and expresses awe at the eloquence and confidence with which she is able expound the Dharma and her acumen in deconstructing conventional distinctions from the perspective of the emptiness of all phenomena. On hearing her insightful and eloquent teachings, the mind set on complete awakening (Skt. bodhicitta) is stirred in twenty of the ladies of the royal household, including Aśokadattā’s own mother, the queen consort Moonlit. Aśokadattā then descends from her throne and humbly serves the śrāvakas with food and drink, and they all go together to Vulture Peak for an audience with the Buddha himself.
When the Buddha is informed of the girl’s extraordinary eloquence and confidence, he explains that she has already cultivated roots of virtue with countless buddhas in former lives. Śāriputra then inquires why, if she has already accumulated such roots of virtue, does she still have a female form? The Buddha rebuffs Śāriputra’s question, saying that bodhisattvas may manifest in whatever form they wish. Aśokadattā adds the rejoinder that in truth “all phenomena are neither male nor female,” and to illustrate the point she transforms in front of them into a male form and in a state of ecstasy rises into the sky to the height of seven palm trees. The Buddha then prophecies Aśokadattā’s future awakening as a truly complete buddha and that her mother, too, will attain awakening in the same future world system. The bodhisattva Aśokadattā then descends from the sky and takes the form of a monk, illustrating for the king that all experienced phenomena are the contrivances of perception. The Buddha then instructs Ānanda to memorize and widely propagate the discourse.
Aśokadattā’s Prophecy is among several sūtras that have a female bodhisattva as their main protagonist. Several of these feature the daughters of kings. Another daughter of King Ajātaśatru, Vimalaprabhā, is the main protagonist in The Questions of Vimalaprabhā (Vimalaprabhaparipṛcchā, Toh 168). Daughters of King Prasenajit are the main protagonists in The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā (Dārikāvimalaśraddhāparipṛcchā, Toh 84),2 The Questions of Vimaladattā (Vimaladattaparipṛcchā, Toh 77), and The Lion’s Roar of Śrīmālādevī (Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanāda, Toh 92). In The Prophecy of Kṣemavatī (Kṣemavatīvyākaraṇa, Toh 192),3 King Bimbisāra’s queen Kṣemavatī receives a prediction of future awakening, as do the main protagonists in The Questions of Śrīmatī the Brahmin Woman (Śrīmatībrāhmaṇīparipṛcchā, Toh 170)4 and The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā (Candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇa, Toh 191).5 Laywomen of lesser social status who are likewise prophesied to achieve awakening are the main interlocutors in The Questions of the Girl Sumati (Sumatidārikāparipṛcchā, Toh 74),6 The Questions of Gaṅgottarā (Gaṅgottaraparipṛcchā, Toh 75),7 The Questions of an Old Lady (Mahallikāparipṛcchā, Toh 171),8 and The City Beggar Woman (Nāgarāvalambikā, Toh 205).9 In The Miraculous Play of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīvikrīḍita, Toh 96),10 a courtesan also receives such a prophecy. While some of the women in these sūtras aspire to be reborn as males as they progress toward awakening, the point emphasized in many of these discourses, including this one, is that there is no gender in the awakened state. Nevertheless, the accounts all culminate in the prediction that the female protagonist will ultimately become an apparently male buddha.
Aśokadattā’s Prophecy does not appear to have been widely referenced by the Buddhist scholar-monks in ancient India. However, it is cited at some length in The Compendium of Sūtra Teachings on the Stages of Meditation (Bhāvanākramasūtrasamuccaya), one of four compendia included in the Middle Way (dbu ma) section of the Tengyur. The section cited there includes the following:
- Dear father, though hundreds of jackals may howl,
- The herds of wild animals are unperturbed.
- But when a lion roars, elephants, beasts, and birds alike
- Flee in all directions.
- Dear father, see that the śrāvakas are like jackals.
- Their words scare not the demons,
- But demons and their kind are terrified
- When a king conducts himself as a bodhisattva.11
Bodhidhara (fl. 1000
There is no extant Sanskrit witness to this text. It was translated twice into Chinese, first by Dharmarakṣa in 317
Aśokadattā’s Prophecy was translated into Tibetan by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi, along with the senior editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé, indicating a translation made from Sanskrit during the height the Tibetan imperial sponsorship of Buddhism in the late eighth or early ninth century
This is the first English translation of the Tibetan to be published. It is based on the Tibetan text as found in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and the variants listed in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). Where variant readings have been preferred, this has been recorded in the notes.
[F.225.b]Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was dwelling in Rājagṛha at Vulture Peak together with a great monastic assembly of five hundred monks. Also in attendance were eight thousand bodhisattvas, all of whom had obtained dhāraṇī;18 whose confidence was unimpeded; who were expert in supernormal powers; who in the tradition of the profound Dharma dwelt in emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness and in the unperceived Dharma; who taught the Dharma without engaging with the world; and who had reached acceptance of the unborn nature of phenomena. These eight thousand bodhisattvas who had gathered there included the bodhisattva Meru, the bodhisattva Mahāmeru, the bodhisattva Jñānameru, the bodhisattva Ratnasiṃha,[F.226.a] the bodhisattva Siṃhamati, the bodhisattva Nityotkṣiptahasta, the bodhisattva Perpetually Raised Hand, the bodhisattva Nityodyukta, the bodhisattva Always Smiling and Joyful, the bodhisattva Beyond the Senses, the bodhisattva Nityotkaṇṭhita, the bodhisattva Precious Mind, the bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi, the bodhisattva Holding a Jewel in Hand, the bodhisattva Radiant Jewel, the bodhisattva Sārathi, the bodhisattva Mahāsārathi, the bodhisattva Delights in Truth, the bodhisattva Maitreya, and the bodhisattva Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, as well as the eight holy beings—the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva Ratnākara, the bodhisattva Guhyagupta, the bodhisattva Indradeva, the bodhisattva Varuṇadeva, the bodhisattva Viśālamati, the bodhisattva Viśeṣamati, and the bodhisattva Vardhamānamati.
At that time, while the Bhagavān was staying at the great city of Rājagṛha, he was honored, revered, venerated, and worshiped by King Ajātaśatru along with his counselors, ministers, chancellors, ministerial kinsmen,19 officials, and courtiers, as well as by brahmins, kṣatriyas, and householders. Surrounded and venerated by a retinue of hundreds and thousands, the Bhagavān taught the attendees the Dharma.[F.226.b] He taught the Dharma of holy living, wholesome in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end, excellent in meaning, beautiful in expression, unadulterated, complete, pristine, and pure.
One morning, many great śrāvakas—Venerable Śāradvatīputra, Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Venerable Mahākāśyapa, Venerable Subhūti, Venerable Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra, Venerable Aśvajit, Venerable Upāli, Venerable Rāhula, Venerable Revata, Venerable Ānanda, Venerable Aniruddha, and others—came into the great city of Rājagṛha to collect alms, all wearing their inner and outer Dharma robes and carrying alms bowls. Those great śrāvakas went progressively through the great city of Rājagṛha seeking alms and eventually reached the palace of King Ajātaśatru. Upon arrival, they waited silently to one side.
At that time, the daughter named Aśokadattā was at King Ajātaśatru’s palace. Her body was excellent like that of a twelve-year-old girl, beautiful, pleasant to behold, and with a clear complexion and full figure. She had done great deeds for victors of the past, developed roots of virtue, revered many hundreds and thousands of buddhas, and reached irreversibility on the path to unsurpassable awakening. She was seated upon a gold-legged throne in her father’s palace.
When the girl Aśokadattā saw the great śrāvakas, she neither stood up from her seat nor went to welcome them. She stayed silently where she was, making no gesture of greeting, not uttering a word, preparing no seats, and offering no alms.
When King Ajātaśatru was informed that the great śrāvakas had arrived, he came to the forecourt of the palace where they were. Since he held the great śrāvakas in the highest esteem, he was delighted to see them, and he had seats prepared for them.[F.227.a] When he saw his daughter Aśokadattā sitting silently, just looking at them, King Ajātaśatru said to her, “Daughter, these are the great śrāvakas of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the truly awakened Buddha Śākyamuni. They possess the qualities of greatness, they have exhausted their defilements, they have done what needs to be done, they have completed their work, they have laid down their burdens and attained their goal, they have completely exhausted the bonds to existence, they have liberated their minds through correct understanding, they have become fields of merit, and they are compassionate. Do you not understand that they seek alms out of compassion for the world? Why is it that, when you see them, you do not rise immediately from your seat, and you neither welcome them nor pay homage to them, talk to them, invite them to sit, or offer them alms? Why do you show them disrespect by sitting there silently, bereft of faith and devotion? What is the meaning of your gaze?”
The girl Aśokadattā responded to her father King Ajātaśatru by asking, “Father, consider this—have you ever heard of or seen a universal monarch standing up for or coming to welcome20 a vassal king?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
The girl asked, “Does Śakra, the lord of gods, stand up for or come to welcome other gods?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
The girl asked, “Father, does Brahmā, the lord of the Sahā world, stand up for or come to welcome other gods?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
The girl asked, “Father, have you ever heard of or seen the great ocean paying homage to lakes, ponds, springs, small lakes, pools, and wells?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
The girl asked, “Father, have you ever heard of or seen Sumeru, the king of mountains, bowing or paying homage to the other Black Mountains?”[F.227.b]
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
She asked, “Father, have you ever heard of or seen the sun, the moon, and the stars wishing they had the light of fireflies?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
She asked, “Father, have you ever heard of or seen a lion, the king of beasts, standing up for or coming to welcome a jackal?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
She asked, “Father, in the same way, who, once they have already generated the mind set upon unsurpassable, truly complete awakening and proclaimed the lion’s roar of great loving-kindness and great compassion, would have admiration for jackal-like śrāvakas, who are inclined toward the inferior and who lack great loving-kindness and great compassion? Who would stand up for them, come to welcome them, pay homage to them, or honor them? Father, what great Dharma king who has already turned the unsurpassable wheel of Dharma, or who is now turning it, would happily pay homage or bow down to inferior śrāvakas, who are lowly, weak, cowardly, and have limited understanding? Father, what lord of gods, such as Indra, when striving to be a perfect lord of gods, would aspire to the state of, pay homage to, stand up for, or come to welcome śrāvakas, who are like lesser gods? Father, what lord of the Sahā world, such as Brahmā, when striving for Brahmā’s supreme reception hall in this world system,21 would aspire to the state of, stand up for, come to welcome, or pay homage to śrāvakas, who are like brahmās with lesser roots of virtue? Father, who, when seeking realization in the Dharma that is equal to the unequaled, the immeasurable ocean of gnosis, would aspire to the state of, stand up for, come to welcome, or pay homage to śrāvakas, who follow a moral discipline that is like the water left in a cow’s hoofprint? Father,[F.228.a] who, when striving for the form of a tathāgata whose meditative concentration is like Sumeru and who is liberated, would stand up for, come to welcome, pay homage to, bow to, or desire the state of a śrāvaka, whose power of meditative stability is like that of a mustard seed? Father, who, when they have heard of the greatness of the bhagavān buddhas—their wisdom, merit, gnosis, and qualities, which are like the immeasurable light of the sun and the moon—would want the liberation of a śrāvaka, whose luminosity of mind is as feeble as the light of a firefly and who follows the words of others? I do not pay homage to śrāvakas, even after tathāgatas have already passed into parinirvāṇa, not to mention while they are still present. Why? Because who would relinquish the sun and the moon to pay homage to fireflies? Father, if one relies on śrāvakas, one will remain with the mentality of a śrāvaka. But if one relies on completely perfect awakening, one will develop and gain the precious mind of omniscience.”
Thereupon King Ajātaśatru said to his daughter Aśokadattā, “So this is why, when you see these śrāvakas, you do not stand up, do not come to welcome them, do not pay homage, do not pay your respects, and do not invite them to be seated or receive alms. Daughter, you are exceptionally conceited!”22
The girl Aśokadattā replied to her father, King Ajātaśatru, “Father, I am not exceptionally conceited. Father, you neither stand up for nor go out to welcome the poor of this city. You do not prepare seats for them. So, you must consider yourself exceptionally conceited too.”
“Daughter, they are not my equals,” replied the king.
“In the same way, father,” she replied, “a bodhisattva, from the moment their mind is first set on awakening, is without equal among all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.”
The king asked,[F.228.b] “Daughter, do bodhisattvas not abandon conceit and arrogance, and bow and pay homage to all sentient beings?”
“Father,” she replied, “bodhisattvas do indeed bow and pay homage to all sentient beings, in order to abandon enmity, rigidity, anger, harmful intent, and faults and to ripen the roots of virtue. But, father, these great śrāvakas have not purified themselves of enmity, rigidity, anger, harmful intent, and faults—they have not abandoned them, nor have they cultivated virtue. Father, though all śrāvakas have been taught the Dharma of the śrāvakas by a hundred thousand buddhas, no matter how many times they are taught moral discipline, meditative stability, and wisdom, still, father, where is their moral discipline? Where is their meditative stability? Where is their wisdom? Where is their liberation? Where is their knowledge and seeing of liberation?23 As an analogy, father, they are like pots already filled with water that cannot accept or retain a single drop more when it rains. In the same way, father, even when a hundred thousand buddhas teach śrāvakas the Dharma they cannot grasp it. They neither retain nor increase their moral discipline, meditative stability, wisdom, liberation, or knowledge and seeing of liberation.
“On the other hand, father, by the same analogy, the vast ocean catches and retains the water of all rivers and all rain-flow. Why? Because the vast ocean is immeasurable. Father, bodhisattva mahāsattvas are like the ocean. They can likewise hold all the water of Dharma teachings and perfectly retain all Dharma teachings. Why?[F.229.a] Because the vessel that is the mind of omniscience of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas is equal to the unequaled.”
About that, this is said:
On hearing these verses taught by his daughter Aśokadattā, King Ajātaśatru was speechless. Venerable Śāriputra thought to himself, “Well! This girl has achieved unimpeded eloquence, but I should ascertain whether or not she has achieved patience.”
So Venerable Śāriputra asked Aśokadattā, “Girl, have you truly practiced the Śrāvaka Vehicle, or do you not claim to have done so? Have you truly engaged in the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, or do you not claim to have done so? Girl, what is your purpose? What do you seek in making such a lion’s roar?”
“Reverend Śāriputra,” she replied, “if I were striving for the sake of some dharma, then I would not make a lion’s roar, but since, Reverend Śāriputra, I am not striving for the sake of any dharma, that is why I have made this lion’s roar.29 Furthermore, Reverend Śāriputra, you asked me, ‘girl, have you truly practiced the śrāvaka’s vehicle?’ Well, is the dharma realized by the reverend Śāriputra classified as the vehicle known as that of the śrāvakas, the pratyekabuddhas, or the truly complete buddhas?”30[F.231.b]
“Girl,” replied the elder Śāriputra, “in those dharmas there is no classification into vehicles. Dharma has only one characteristic: that it lacks any such characteristics.”
The girl asked, “Reverend Śāriputra, what is the purpose sought in this dharma without characteristics?”
“Girl,” replied Śāriputra, “no purpose whatsoever is sought in Dharma.”
The elder Śāriputra then further questioned Aśokadattā: “Girl, what distinguishes the dharmas31 of a buddha and the dharmas of an ordinary person? What are the differences between the two?”
“Reverend Śāriputra,” replied the girl, “what distinguishes emptiness and voidness? What are the differences between the two?”
“There is no distinction or difference between them,” answered Śāriputra.
“Reverend Śāriputra,” the girl continued, “just as there is no distinction or difference between emptiness and voidness, so, too, Reverend Śāriputra, is there no distinction or difference whatsoever between the dharmas of a buddha and the dharmas of an ordinary person. Just as, Reverend Śāriputra, there is no distinction or difference between, for example, the sky and open space, so, too, Reverend Śāriputra, is there no distinction or difference between the dharmas of a buddha and the dharmas of an ordinary person.”
To this the elder Śāriputra made no reply.
Then Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana asked the girl Aśokadattā, “Girl, from what you have said, you consider the dharmas of the Buddha to be vastly superior, and you consider the dharmas of the śrāvakas to be vastly inferior. Is this why, when you see great śrāvakas, you do not stand up for them, or pay homage to them, or come to welcome them, or speak to them, or invite them to sit and receive alms?”
The girl Aśokadattā replied to the elder Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many stars there are in this world system of the great trichiliocosm?”[F.232.a]
“Girl,” replied Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “were I immersed in meditative absorption, I could count them. But when I am not immersed in meditative absorption, I do not know.”
“Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana,” said the girl, “in just an instant of meditative equipoise, a tathāgata knows every thought of every sentient being of the past, present, and future, throughout the great trichiliocosm of world systems as numerous as the grains of sand of the Ganges River—not to mention the mere number of sentient beings included in just a single world system of the trichiliocosm. Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, this is what distinguishes the Tathāgata from the śrāvakas—this is what differentiates them. Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many buddhafields have been destroyed and formed in the worlds of the ten directions?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked further, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many bhagavān buddhas there have been in the past, how many there will be in the future, and how many there are now?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked further, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many beings conduct themselves with attachment, how many with aversion, how many with ignorance, and how many with all three equally?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many beings there are who follow the Śrāvaka Vehicle, how many who follow the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and how many who are truly engaged in the Great Vehicle?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many beings there are who have been trained by śrāvakas, how many who have been trained by pratyekabuddhas,[F.232.b] and how many who have been trained by buddhas?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many beings there are who make correct determinations, how many who make false determinations, and how many who make no determinations at all?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
“Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana,” said the girl, “when the Tathāgata thoroughly knows this and all the other foregoing points that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas do not, what need is there to mention other sentient beings? Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, this is the distinct superiority of the Tathāgata.
“Furthermore, Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, since the Tathāgata has taught that you are the greatest among those who possess magical powers, Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, go to the world system called Gandhaprabhāsa, where the tathāgata, the arhat, the truly complete buddha called Incense-Emitting Light dwells and accepts a livelihood teaching the Dharma to bodhisattvas, a buddhafield in which the scent of uragasāra sandalwood incense comes from every tree, and where fragrant incense pervades the entire buddhafield.”
“Girl,” replied the elder Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “I have only just now heard the name of that buddhafield. How can I go there to see that buddha and listen to his dharma?”
Without rising from her throne, the girl Aśokadattā said, “I declare with truth and true words that a bodhisattva mahāsattva, as soon as the mind of awakening is cultivated for the first time, outshines all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas in brilliance. So, by this truth and these true words, may the Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light reveal himself and his buddhafield to these great śrāvakas![F.233.a] May these great śrāvakas experience its scents of sandalwood!”
The moment the girl Aśokadattā uttered these words, by the power of their truth, at that very instance, there radiated from the body of the bhagavān Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light such light that the great śrāvakas were able to see the Gandhaprabhāsa world, with the tathāgata, arhat, truly complete Buddha Incense-Emitting Light seated there teaching the Dharma, and by the power of the Buddha, his Dharma teaching could even be heard in this world, while the scent of uragasāra sandalwood pervaded this entire Sahā world system.
With speech endowed with the sixty melodious aspects, the Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light then said, “Just as the girl Aśokadattā has said, as soon as a bodhisattva mahāsattva cultivates the mind of awakening for the first time, they outshine all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas in brilliance.”
When the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya, who was staying at Vulture Peak, sensed the perfume of uragasāra sandalwood, he asked the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, where is this scent of uragasāra sandalwood coming from?”
The Bhagavān replied to the bodhisattva Maitreya, “Maitreya, the girl Aśokadattā has proclaimed a lion’s roar in front of the great śrāvakas. By the power of its truth, she has revealed to the great śrāvakas the Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light, who lives in the world called Gandhaprabhāsa, teaching the Dharma to bodhisattva mahāsattvas. It is the scent of uragasāra sandalwood from the Gandhaprabhāsa world that now pervades this world as well.”[F.233.b]
The girl Aśokadattā then asked Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who among the wise, when they have seen or heard the marvelous inconceivable magical displays and emanations of bodhisattva mahāsattvas, would still stand up for, come to welcome, or pay homage to inferior śrāvakas, who are weak and timid and whose understanding is limited? Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how far away the Gandhaprabhāsa world is?”
“No, girl, I do not,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
“Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana,” continued the girl, “if this world system of the trichiliocosm were, like an endless field, to be filled with sugarcane, or bamboo, or reeds, or rice, then even for a magically-endowed being like you it would take an eon to count the number of plants. However, you would never be able to calculate how many buddhafields lie between here and the Gandhaprabhāsa world.”
Then the bhagavān Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light made the light disappear, and he made the buddhafield disappear too.
Venerable Mahākāśyapa then asked the girl Aśokadattā, “Girl, have you ever seen the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the truly complete Buddha Śākyamuni?”
“Reverend Mahākāśyapa,” responded the girl, “can one see a tathāgata? Has the Tathāgata not said:
“Moreover, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, you asked, ‘Girl, have you ever seen the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha Śākyamuni?’ Reverend Mahākāśyapa, indeed I have seen the Tathāgata, but not with the flesh eye, not as form; not with the divine eye, not as feeling; not with the wisdom eye, not as perception; not with the Dharma eye, not as mental formation; and not with the buddha eye, not as consciousness. Instead, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, I have seen the Tathāgata in the same way that, for example, an elder sees ignorance and craving for existence. Reverend Mahākāśyapa, I see the Tathāgata in the same way that, for example, an elder sees grasping onto the self as ‘I,’ and onto phenomena as ‘mine.’ ”
“Girl,” responded the elder Mahākāśyapa, “ignorance, craving for existence, and both the phenomena of grasping as ‘I’ and grasping as ‘mine’ do not exist, and it is impossible to see nonexisting phenomena.”
The girl Aśokadattā replied, “Indeed, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, this is the case. Since all dharmas are nonexistent, they cannot be seen.”
“So, girl,” said Mahākāśyapa, “does the dharma33 of the Buddha also not exist?”
The girl replied, “Elder, regardless of whether you are asking about the dharmas of the Buddha or those of ordinary people, would you assert there are any dharmas that are completely real?”
“Girl, I do not assert that any dharmas of ordinary beings are completely real, let alone those of the Buddha,” said Mahākāśyapa.
The girl asked, “Reverend Mahākāśyapa,[F.234.b] do those dharmas that are not completely real exist or not?”
“Girl, those that are not do not exist,” said Mahākāśyapa.
The girl said, “So, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, all dharmas are nonexistence. There is no need to purify the vision of that which does not exist. So, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, any noble son or daughter who wishes to purify their view of the Buddha should purify their view of the self.”
Mahākāśyapa asked, “Girl, how can one purify the view of the self?”
“Reverend Mahākāśyapa,” replied the girl, “when one is convinced that because the self has no inherent existence all phenomena have no inherent existence, then simply with that, the view of the self has been purified.”
Mahākāśyapa asked, “Girl, what is the inherent nature34 of the self?”
“Reverend Mahākāśyapa,” said the girl, “the inherent nature of the self is emptiness. Because the self has no inherent nature, the self is also void. By being without inherent nature, the self is void. By being without inherent nature, all phenomena are void.”
In this Mahāyāna sūtra, a group of the Buddha’s most eminent śrāvaka disciples are collecting alms in the city of Rājagṛha when they arrive at the palace of King Ajātaśatru. There, the king’s daughter Aśokadattā, who is seated on an ornate throne, neither rises from her seat to greet them nor pays them any form of respect. Outraged by her rudeness, the king chastises her. The girl is unrepentant, and in a series of elegant verses she explains to her father the superiority of the bodhisattva path, which renders such obeisance to śrāvakas inappropriate. The eminent śrāvaka disciples then engage the girl in debate, but each in turn is silenced by the eloquence and confidence of her replies, by which she deconstructs their questions based on her knowledge of the emptiness of all phenomena. Having thus impressed them, she descends from her throne and serves them humbly with food and drink. They then all go together to Vulture Peak, where the Buddha prophesies her future full awakening.
This text was translated by Jed Forman and Erdene Baatar Erdene-Ochir of the UCSB Buddhist Studies Translation Group.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. George FitzHerbert edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
This Mahāyāna sūtra in the Heap of Jewels (Tib. dkon brtsegs, Skt. ratnakūṭa) collection recounts the story of its titular character, Aśokadattā,1 who was a daughter of King Ajātaśatru, the famed lord of Rājagṛha and a major patron of the Buddhist community during the latter part of the Buddha’s life.
One day, while the Buddha was staying at nearby Vulture Peak, a large group of śrāvaka disciples including such eminent figures as Śāriputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, Subhūti, Rāhula, and others go into the city of Rājagṛha to collect alms, eventually arriving at the palace of King Ajātaśatru. When the king’s daughter Aśokadattā sees the disciples arriving, she neither rises from her seat nor makes any sign of greeting or respect. Her father is dismayed by her rudeness and chastises her for her impudence, but Aśokadattā is unrepentant. She defends her behavior with a series of eloquent analogies, illustrating for her father that those who follow the śrāvaka path are not worthy of respect or veneration, since they have failed to accept the full wealth offered by the Buddha’s Dharma. This, she says, is in contrast to bodhisattvas, who are motivated to help others on the path to liberation, and who have embraced the more profound teachings on the emptiness of all phenomena. Śrāvakas, she says, are like physicians concerned only with treating themselves, or travelers who depend on the hospitality of others. Bodhisattvas, on the other hand, are like physicians who care for others just as they care for themselves, or like those who generously share their provisions with others while on the road. Śrāvakas, she says, are like passengers on a boat, while bodhisattvas are like the captains of ships. While the light of a bodhisattva shines like the sun, the light of a śrāvaka is as dim as a firefly, and “who,” Aśokadattā asks, “would relinquish the sun and the moon to pay homage to fireflies?”
In turn, each of the eminent śrāvakas engages the girl in debate, but each is left speechless by her responses and expresses awe at the eloquence and confidence with which she is able expound the Dharma and her acumen in deconstructing conventional distinctions from the perspective of the emptiness of all phenomena. On hearing her insightful and eloquent teachings, the mind set on complete awakening (Skt. bodhicitta) is stirred in twenty of the ladies of the royal household, including Aśokadattā’s own mother, the queen consort Moonlit. Aśokadattā then descends from her throne and humbly serves the śrāvakas with food and drink, and they all go together to Vulture Peak for an audience with the Buddha himself.
When the Buddha is informed of the girl’s extraordinary eloquence and confidence, he explains that she has already cultivated roots of virtue with countless buddhas in former lives. Śāriputra then inquires why, if she has already accumulated such roots of virtue, does she still have a female form? The Buddha rebuffs Śāriputra’s question, saying that bodhisattvas may manifest in whatever form they wish. Aśokadattā adds the rejoinder that in truth “all phenomena are neither male nor female,” and to illustrate the point she transforms in front of them into a male form and in a state of ecstasy rises into the sky to the height of seven palm trees. The Buddha then prophecies Aśokadattā’s future awakening as a truly complete buddha and that her mother, too, will attain awakening in the same future world system. The bodhisattva Aśokadattā then descends from the sky and takes the form of a monk, illustrating for the king that all experienced phenomena are the contrivances of perception. The Buddha then instructs Ānanda to memorize and widely propagate the discourse.
Aśokadattā’s Prophecy is among several sūtras that have a female bodhisattva as their main protagonist. Several of these feature the daughters of kings. Another daughter of King Ajātaśatru, Vimalaprabhā, is the main protagonist in The Questions of Vimalaprabhā (Vimalaprabhaparipṛcchā, Toh 168). Daughters of King Prasenajit are the main protagonists in The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā (Dārikāvimalaśraddhāparipṛcchā, Toh 84),2 The Questions of Vimaladattā (Vimaladattaparipṛcchā, Toh 77), and The Lion’s Roar of Śrīmālādevī (Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanāda, Toh 92). In The Prophecy of Kṣemavatī (Kṣemavatīvyākaraṇa, Toh 192),3 King Bimbisāra’s queen Kṣemavatī receives a prediction of future awakening, as do the main protagonists in The Questions of Śrīmatī the Brahmin Woman (Śrīmatībrāhmaṇīparipṛcchā, Toh 170)4 and The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā (Candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇa, Toh 191).5 Laywomen of lesser social status who are likewise prophesied to achieve awakening are the main interlocutors in The Questions of the Girl Sumati (Sumatidārikāparipṛcchā, Toh 74),6 The Questions of Gaṅgottarā (Gaṅgottaraparipṛcchā, Toh 75),7 The Questions of an Old Lady (Mahallikāparipṛcchā, Toh 171),8 and The City Beggar Woman (Nāgarāvalambikā, Toh 205).9 In The Miraculous Play of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīvikrīḍita, Toh 96),10 a courtesan also receives such a prophecy. While some of the women in these sūtras aspire to be reborn as males as they progress toward awakening, the point emphasized in many of these discourses, including this one, is that there is no gender in the awakened state. Nevertheless, the accounts all culminate in the prediction that the female protagonist will ultimately become an apparently male buddha.
Aśokadattā’s Prophecy does not appear to have been widely referenced by the Buddhist scholar-monks in ancient India. However, it is cited at some length in The Compendium of Sūtra Teachings on the Stages of Meditation (Bhāvanākramasūtrasamuccaya), one of four compendia included in the Middle Way (dbu ma) section of the Tengyur. The section cited there includes the following:
- Dear father, though hundreds of jackals may howl,
- The herds of wild animals are unperturbed.
- But when a lion roars, elephants, beasts, and birds alike
- Flee in all directions.
- Dear father, see that the śrāvakas are like jackals.
- Their words scare not the demons,
- But demons and their kind are terrified
- When a king conducts himself as a bodhisattva.11
Bodhidhara (fl. 1000
There is no extant Sanskrit witness to this text. It was translated twice into Chinese, first by Dharmarakṣa in 317
Aśokadattā’s Prophecy was translated into Tibetan by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi, along with the senior editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé, indicating a translation made from Sanskrit during the height the Tibetan imperial sponsorship of Buddhism in the late eighth or early ninth century
This is the first English translation of the Tibetan to be published. It is based on the Tibetan text as found in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the Stok Palace Kangyur and the variants listed in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). Where variant readings have been preferred, this has been recorded in the notes.
[F.225.b]Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was dwelling in Rājagṛha at Vulture Peak together with a great monastic assembly of five hundred monks. Also in attendance were eight thousand bodhisattvas, all of whom had obtained dhāraṇī;18 whose confidence was unimpeded; who were expert in supernormal powers; who in the tradition of the profound Dharma dwelt in emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness and in the unperceived Dharma; who taught the Dharma without engaging with the world; and who had reached acceptance of the unborn nature of phenomena. These eight thousand bodhisattvas who had gathered there included the bodhisattva Meru, the bodhisattva Mahāmeru, the bodhisattva Jñānameru, the bodhisattva Ratnasiṃha,[F.226.a] the bodhisattva Siṃhamati, the bodhisattva Nityotkṣiptahasta, the bodhisattva Perpetually Raised Hand, the bodhisattva Nityodyukta, the bodhisattva Always Smiling and Joyful, the bodhisattva Beyond the Senses, the bodhisattva Nityotkaṇṭhita, the bodhisattva Precious Mind, the bodhisattva Ratnapāṇi, the bodhisattva Holding a Jewel in Hand, the bodhisattva Radiant Jewel, the bodhisattva Sārathi, the bodhisattva Mahāsārathi, the bodhisattva Delights in Truth, the bodhisattva Maitreya, and the bodhisattva Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, as well as the eight holy beings—the bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, the bodhisattva Ratnākara, the bodhisattva Guhyagupta, the bodhisattva Indradeva, the bodhisattva Varuṇadeva, the bodhisattva Viśālamati, the bodhisattva Viśeṣamati, and the bodhisattva Vardhamānamati.
At that time, while the Bhagavān was staying at the great city of Rājagṛha, he was honored, revered, venerated, and worshiped by King Ajātaśatru along with his counselors, ministers, chancellors, ministerial kinsmen,19 officials, and courtiers, as well as by brahmins, kṣatriyas, and householders. Surrounded and venerated by a retinue of hundreds and thousands, the Bhagavān taught the attendees the Dharma.[F.226.b] He taught the Dharma of holy living, wholesome in the beginning, in the middle, and in the end, excellent in meaning, beautiful in expression, unadulterated, complete, pristine, and pure.
One morning, many great śrāvakas—Venerable Śāradvatīputra, Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Venerable Mahākāśyapa, Venerable Subhūti, Venerable Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra, Venerable Aśvajit, Venerable Upāli, Venerable Rāhula, Venerable Revata, Venerable Ānanda, Venerable Aniruddha, and others—came into the great city of Rājagṛha to collect alms, all wearing their inner and outer Dharma robes and carrying alms bowls. Those great śrāvakas went progressively through the great city of Rājagṛha seeking alms and eventually reached the palace of King Ajātaśatru. Upon arrival, they waited silently to one side.
At that time, the daughter named Aśokadattā was at King Ajātaśatru’s palace. Her body was excellent like that of a twelve-year-old girl, beautiful, pleasant to behold, and with a clear complexion and full figure. She had done great deeds for victors of the past, developed roots of virtue, revered many hundreds and thousands of buddhas, and reached irreversibility on the path to unsurpassable awakening. She was seated upon a gold-legged throne in her father’s palace.
When the girl Aśokadattā saw the great śrāvakas, she neither stood up from her seat nor went to welcome them. She stayed silently where she was, making no gesture of greeting, not uttering a word, preparing no seats, and offering no alms.
When King Ajātaśatru was informed that the great śrāvakas had arrived, he came to the forecourt of the palace where they were. Since he held the great śrāvakas in the highest esteem, he was delighted to see them, and he had seats prepared for them.[F.227.a] When he saw his daughter Aśokadattā sitting silently, just looking at them, King Ajātaśatru said to her, “Daughter, these are the great śrāvakas of the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the truly awakened Buddha Śākyamuni. They possess the qualities of greatness, they have exhausted their defilements, they have done what needs to be done, they have completed their work, they have laid down their burdens and attained their goal, they have completely exhausted the bonds to existence, they have liberated their minds through correct understanding, they have become fields of merit, and they are compassionate. Do you not understand that they seek alms out of compassion for the world? Why is it that, when you see them, you do not rise immediately from your seat, and you neither welcome them nor pay homage to them, talk to them, invite them to sit, or offer them alms? Why do you show them disrespect by sitting there silently, bereft of faith and devotion? What is the meaning of your gaze?”
The girl Aśokadattā responded to her father King Ajātaśatru by asking, “Father, consider this—have you ever heard of or seen a universal monarch standing up for or coming to welcome20 a vassal king?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
The girl asked, “Does Śakra, the lord of gods, stand up for or come to welcome other gods?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
The girl asked, “Father, does Brahmā, the lord of the Sahā world, stand up for or come to welcome other gods?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
The girl asked, “Father, have you ever heard of or seen the great ocean paying homage to lakes, ponds, springs, small lakes, pools, and wells?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
The girl asked, “Father, have you ever heard of or seen Sumeru, the king of mountains, bowing or paying homage to the other Black Mountains?”[F.227.b]
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
She asked, “Father, have you ever heard of or seen the sun, the moon, and the stars wishing they had the light of fireflies?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
She asked, “Father, have you ever heard of or seen a lion, the king of beasts, standing up for or coming to welcome a jackal?”
“No, my daughter,” answered the king.
She asked, “Father, in the same way, who, once they have already generated the mind set upon unsurpassable, truly complete awakening and proclaimed the lion’s roar of great loving-kindness and great compassion, would have admiration for jackal-like śrāvakas, who are inclined toward the inferior and who lack great loving-kindness and great compassion? Who would stand up for them, come to welcome them, pay homage to them, or honor them? Father, what great Dharma king who has already turned the unsurpassable wheel of Dharma, or who is now turning it, would happily pay homage or bow down to inferior śrāvakas, who are lowly, weak, cowardly, and have limited understanding? Father, what lord of gods, such as Indra, when striving to be a perfect lord of gods, would aspire to the state of, pay homage to, stand up for, or come to welcome śrāvakas, who are like lesser gods? Father, what lord of the Sahā world, such as Brahmā, when striving for Brahmā’s supreme reception hall in this world system,21 would aspire to the state of, stand up for, come to welcome, or pay homage to śrāvakas, who are like brahmās with lesser roots of virtue? Father, who, when seeking realization in the Dharma that is equal to the unequaled, the immeasurable ocean of gnosis, would aspire to the state of, stand up for, come to welcome, or pay homage to śrāvakas, who follow a moral discipline that is like the water left in a cow’s hoofprint? Father,[F.228.a] who, when striving for the form of a tathāgata whose meditative concentration is like Sumeru and who is liberated, would stand up for, come to welcome, pay homage to, bow to, or desire the state of a śrāvaka, whose power of meditative stability is like that of a mustard seed? Father, who, when they have heard of the greatness of the bhagavān buddhas—their wisdom, merit, gnosis, and qualities, which are like the immeasurable light of the sun and the moon—would want the liberation of a śrāvaka, whose luminosity of mind is as feeble as the light of a firefly and who follows the words of others? I do not pay homage to śrāvakas, even after tathāgatas have already passed into parinirvāṇa, not to mention while they are still present. Why? Because who would relinquish the sun and the moon to pay homage to fireflies? Father, if one relies on śrāvakas, one will remain with the mentality of a śrāvaka. But if one relies on completely perfect awakening, one will develop and gain the precious mind of omniscience.”
Thereupon King Ajātaśatru said to his daughter Aśokadattā, “So this is why, when you see these śrāvakas, you do not stand up, do not come to welcome them, do not pay homage, do not pay your respects, and do not invite them to be seated or receive alms. Daughter, you are exceptionally conceited!”22
The girl Aśokadattā replied to her father, King Ajātaśatru, “Father, I am not exceptionally conceited. Father, you neither stand up for nor go out to welcome the poor of this city. You do not prepare seats for them. So, you must consider yourself exceptionally conceited too.”
“Daughter, they are not my equals,” replied the king.
“In the same way, father,” she replied, “a bodhisattva, from the moment their mind is first set on awakening, is without equal among all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.”
The king asked,[F.228.b] “Daughter, do bodhisattvas not abandon conceit and arrogance, and bow and pay homage to all sentient beings?”
“Father,” she replied, “bodhisattvas do indeed bow and pay homage to all sentient beings, in order to abandon enmity, rigidity, anger, harmful intent, and faults and to ripen the roots of virtue. But, father, these great śrāvakas have not purified themselves of enmity, rigidity, anger, harmful intent, and faults—they have not abandoned them, nor have they cultivated virtue. Father, though all śrāvakas have been taught the Dharma of the śrāvakas by a hundred thousand buddhas, no matter how many times they are taught moral discipline, meditative stability, and wisdom, still, father, where is their moral discipline? Where is their meditative stability? Where is their wisdom? Where is their liberation? Where is their knowledge and seeing of liberation?23 As an analogy, father, they are like pots already filled with water that cannot accept or retain a single drop more when it rains. In the same way, father, even when a hundred thousand buddhas teach śrāvakas the Dharma they cannot grasp it. They neither retain nor increase their moral discipline, meditative stability, wisdom, liberation, or knowledge and seeing of liberation.
“On the other hand, father, by the same analogy, the vast ocean catches and retains the water of all rivers and all rain-flow. Why? Because the vast ocean is immeasurable. Father, bodhisattva mahāsattvas are like the ocean. They can likewise hold all the water of Dharma teachings and perfectly retain all Dharma teachings. Why?[F.229.a] Because the vessel that is the mind of omniscience of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas is equal to the unequaled.”
About that, this is said:
On hearing these verses taught by his daughter Aśokadattā, King Ajātaśatru was speechless. Venerable Śāriputra thought to himself, “Well! This girl has achieved unimpeded eloquence, but I should ascertain whether or not she has achieved patience.”
So Venerable Śāriputra asked Aśokadattā, “Girl, have you truly practiced the Śrāvaka Vehicle, or do you not claim to have done so? Have you truly engaged in the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, or do you not claim to have done so? Girl, what is your purpose? What do you seek in making such a lion’s roar?”
“Reverend Śāriputra,” she replied, “if I were striving for the sake of some dharma, then I would not make a lion’s roar, but since, Reverend Śāriputra, I am not striving for the sake of any dharma, that is why I have made this lion’s roar.29 Furthermore, Reverend Śāriputra, you asked me, ‘girl, have you truly practiced the śrāvaka’s vehicle?’ Well, is the dharma realized by the reverend Śāriputra classified as the vehicle known as that of the śrāvakas, the pratyekabuddhas, or the truly complete buddhas?”30[F.231.b]
“Girl,” replied the elder Śāriputra, “in those dharmas there is no classification into vehicles. Dharma has only one characteristic: that it lacks any such characteristics.”
The girl asked, “Reverend Śāriputra, what is the purpose sought in this dharma without characteristics?”
“Girl,” replied Śāriputra, “no purpose whatsoever is sought in Dharma.”
The elder Śāriputra then further questioned Aśokadattā: “Girl, what distinguishes the dharmas31 of a buddha and the dharmas of an ordinary person? What are the differences between the two?”
“Reverend Śāriputra,” replied the girl, “what distinguishes emptiness and voidness? What are the differences between the two?”
“There is no distinction or difference between them,” answered Śāriputra.
“Reverend Śāriputra,” the girl continued, “just as there is no distinction or difference between emptiness and voidness, so, too, Reverend Śāriputra, is there no distinction or difference whatsoever between the dharmas of a buddha and the dharmas of an ordinary person. Just as, Reverend Śāriputra, there is no distinction or difference between, for example, the sky and open space, so, too, Reverend Śāriputra, is there no distinction or difference between the dharmas of a buddha and the dharmas of an ordinary person.”
To this the elder Śāriputra made no reply.
Then Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana asked the girl Aśokadattā, “Girl, from what you have said, you consider the dharmas of the Buddha to be vastly superior, and you consider the dharmas of the śrāvakas to be vastly inferior. Is this why, when you see great śrāvakas, you do not stand up for them, or pay homage to them, or come to welcome them, or speak to them, or invite them to sit and receive alms?”
The girl Aśokadattā replied to the elder Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many stars there are in this world system of the great trichiliocosm?”[F.232.a]
“Girl,” replied Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “were I immersed in meditative absorption, I could count them. But when I am not immersed in meditative absorption, I do not know.”
“Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana,” said the girl, “in just an instant of meditative equipoise, a tathāgata knows every thought of every sentient being of the past, present, and future, throughout the great trichiliocosm of world systems as numerous as the grains of sand of the Ganges River—not to mention the mere number of sentient beings included in just a single world system of the trichiliocosm. Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, this is what distinguishes the Tathāgata from the śrāvakas—this is what differentiates them. Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many buddhafields have been destroyed and formed in the worlds of the ten directions?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked further, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many bhagavān buddhas there have been in the past, how many there will be in the future, and how many there are now?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked further, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many beings conduct themselves with attachment, how many with aversion, how many with ignorance, and how many with all three equally?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many beings there are who follow the Śrāvaka Vehicle, how many who follow the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and how many who are truly engaged in the Great Vehicle?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many beings there are who have been trained by śrāvakas, how many who have been trained by pratyekabuddhas,[F.232.b] and how many who have been trained by buddhas?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
The girl asked, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how many beings there are who make correct determinations, how many who make false determinations, and how many who make no determinations at all?”
“No, girl, I do not know,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
“Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana,” said the girl, “when the Tathāgata thoroughly knows this and all the other foregoing points that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas do not, what need is there to mention other sentient beings? Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, this is the distinct superiority of the Tathāgata.
“Furthermore, Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, since the Tathāgata has taught that you are the greatest among those who possess magical powers, Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, go to the world system called Gandhaprabhāsa, where the tathāgata, the arhat, the truly complete buddha called Incense-Emitting Light dwells and accepts a livelihood teaching the Dharma to bodhisattvas, a buddhafield in which the scent of uragasāra sandalwood incense comes from every tree, and where fragrant incense pervades the entire buddhafield.”
“Girl,” replied the elder Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “I have only just now heard the name of that buddhafield. How can I go there to see that buddha and listen to his dharma?”
Without rising from her throne, the girl Aśokadattā said, “I declare with truth and true words that a bodhisattva mahāsattva, as soon as the mind of awakening is cultivated for the first time, outshines all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas in brilliance. So, by this truth and these true words, may the Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light reveal himself and his buddhafield to these great śrāvakas![F.233.a] May these great śrāvakas experience its scents of sandalwood!”
The moment the girl Aśokadattā uttered these words, by the power of their truth, at that very instance, there radiated from the body of the bhagavān Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light such light that the great śrāvakas were able to see the Gandhaprabhāsa world, with the tathāgata, arhat, truly complete Buddha Incense-Emitting Light seated there teaching the Dharma, and by the power of the Buddha, his Dharma teaching could even be heard in this world, while the scent of uragasāra sandalwood pervaded this entire Sahā world system.
With speech endowed with the sixty melodious aspects, the Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light then said, “Just as the girl Aśokadattā has said, as soon as a bodhisattva mahāsattva cultivates the mind of awakening for the first time, they outshine all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas in brilliance.”
When the bodhisattva mahāsattva Maitreya, who was staying at Vulture Peak, sensed the perfume of uragasāra sandalwood, he asked the Bhagavān, “Bhagavān, where is this scent of uragasāra sandalwood coming from?”
The Bhagavān replied to the bodhisattva Maitreya, “Maitreya, the girl Aśokadattā has proclaimed a lion’s roar in front of the great śrāvakas. By the power of its truth, she has revealed to the great śrāvakas the Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light, who lives in the world called Gandhaprabhāsa, teaching the Dharma to bodhisattva mahāsattvas. It is the scent of uragasāra sandalwood from the Gandhaprabhāsa world that now pervades this world as well.”[F.233.b]
The girl Aśokadattā then asked Venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana, “Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, who among the wise, when they have seen or heard the marvelous inconceivable magical displays and emanations of bodhisattva mahāsattvas, would still stand up for, come to welcome, or pay homage to inferior śrāvakas, who are weak and timid and whose understanding is limited? Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana, do you know how far away the Gandhaprabhāsa world is?”
“No, girl, I do not,” replied Maudgalyāyana.
“Reverend Mahāmaudgalyāyana,” continued the girl, “if this world system of the trichiliocosm were, like an endless field, to be filled with sugarcane, or bamboo, or reeds, or rice, then even for a magically-endowed being like you it would take an eon to count the number of plants. However, you would never be able to calculate how many buddhafields lie between here and the Gandhaprabhāsa world.”
Then the bhagavān Tathāgata Incense-Emitting Light made the light disappear, and he made the buddhafield disappear too.
Venerable Mahākāśyapa then asked the girl Aśokadattā, “Girl, have you ever seen the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the truly complete Buddha Śākyamuni?”
“Reverend Mahākāśyapa,” responded the girl, “can one see a tathāgata? Has the Tathāgata not said:
“Moreover, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, you asked, ‘Girl, have you ever seen the bhagavān, the tathāgata, the arhat, the perfectly awakened Buddha Śākyamuni?’ Reverend Mahākāśyapa, indeed I have seen the Tathāgata, but not with the flesh eye, not as form; not with the divine eye, not as feeling; not with the wisdom eye, not as perception; not with the Dharma eye, not as mental formation; and not with the buddha eye, not as consciousness. Instead, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, I have seen the Tathāgata in the same way that, for example, an elder sees ignorance and craving for existence. Reverend Mahākāśyapa, I see the Tathāgata in the same way that, for example, an elder sees grasping onto the self as ‘I,’ and onto phenomena as ‘mine.’ ”
“Girl,” responded the elder Mahākāśyapa, “ignorance, craving for existence, and both the phenomena of grasping as ‘I’ and grasping as ‘mine’ do not exist, and it is impossible to see nonexisting phenomena.”
The girl Aśokadattā replied, “Indeed, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, this is the case. Since all dharmas are nonexistent, they cannot be seen.”
“So, girl,” said Mahākāśyapa, “does the dharma33 of the Buddha also not exist?”
The girl replied, “Elder, regardless of whether you are asking about the dharmas of the Buddha or those of ordinary people, would you assert there are any dharmas that are completely real?”
“Girl, I do not assert that any dharmas of ordinary beings are completely real, let alone those of the Buddha,” said Mahākāśyapa.
The girl asked, “Reverend Mahākāśyapa,[F.234.b] do those dharmas that are not completely real exist or not?”
“Girl, those that are not do not exist,” said Mahākāśyapa.
The girl said, “So, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, all dharmas are nonexistence. There is no need to purify the vision of that which does not exist. So, Reverend Mahākāśyapa, any noble son or daughter who wishes to purify their view of the Buddha should purify their view of the self.”
Mahākāśyapa asked, “Girl, how can one purify the view of the self?”
“Reverend Mahākāśyapa,” replied the girl, “when one is convinced that because the self has no inherent existence all phenomena have no inherent existence, then simply with that, the view of the self has been purified.”
Mahākāśyapa asked, “Girl, what is the inherent nature34 of the self?”
“Reverend Mahākāśyapa,” said the girl, “the inherent nature of the self is emptiness. Because the self has no inherent nature, the self is also void. By being without inherent nature, the self is void. By being without inherent nature, all phenomena are void.”
The 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.
bsgom pa’i rim pa mdo kun las bdus pa (Bhāvanākramasūtrasamuccaya), Toh 3933, folios 134.b–135.a.
Tib. gzungs thob pa. This could also be interpreted as “had achieved the power of retention.”
Tib. 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.
Following, here and passim, Stok, Lhasa, and Choné Kangyurs: bsur mchi ba. Degé: bstsur mchi ba. Kangxi: bsur ’chi ba.
Translation tentative. Tib. ’jig rten na tshangs pa’i snga khang bla na med pa don du gnyer ba na.
The term nga rgyal is translated here as “conceited.” It might also be translated as “proud.”
The 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.
Following 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.
The 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.
Tib. 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.
There is a play on the polysemic term dharma (Tib. chos) that continues through these exchanges with the eminent śrāvakas.
These two stanzas are found in The Vajra-Cutting Perfection of Wisdom (Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitā, Toh 16, commonly known as the “Diamond Sūtra”) at F.131.a-b, the equivalent Sanskrit text reading: māṃ rūpeṇa adrākṣur ye māṃ ghoṣeṇa anvayuḥ | mithyāprahāṇaprasṛtā na māṃ drakṣyanti te janāḥ || dharmato buddha draṣṭavya dharmakāyā hi nāyakāḥ | dharmatā ca na vijñeyā na sā śakyā vijānituṃ ||. The first of the two stanzas is also found, but with a different third line, (in Sanskrit and Tibetan) in the Udānavarga (Toh 326), 22.12; in Pali in the Theragātha 469 (though in the latter case referring not to the Buddha but to the Thera Bhaddiya); and in Tibetan in The Questions of Vimaladattā (Vimaladattāparipṛcchā, Toh 77), at F.249.b. In the last of these parallels, the stanza in question is being quoted in circumstances very similar to the present context—by a young princess using the Buddha’s words to dispute the less profound views of an elder.
Here 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).
Here “inherent existence” and “inherent nature” are used as alternative translations for the term svabhāva (Tib. rang bzhin).
Following 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...”
Translation 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.
The term translated throughout this passage as “appropriate,” Tib. rung ba, could also be translated as “right,” “suitable,” or “fitting.”
Following 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.”
In the Chinese, the bodhisattva Aśokadattā, to address the king, again takes the form of the king’s daughter. Chang 1983, p. 132.
The bodhisattvas’ realization that all phenomena are unproduced and empty. It sustains them on the difficult path of benefiting all beings so that they do not succumb to the goal of personal liberation. Different sources link this realization to the first or eighth bodhisattva level (bhūmi).
King of Magadha, son of the king Bimbisāra. As a prince, he befriended Devadatta, who convinced him to kill his father and take the throne for himself. After his father’s death he was tormented with guilt and became a follower of the Buddha. He supported the compilation of the Buddha’s teachings during the First Council in Rājagṛha.
The eighth and highest level of the Realm of Form (rūpadhātu), the last of the five pure abodes (śuddhāvāsa); it is only accessible as the result of specific states of dhyāna. According to some texts this is where non-returners (anāgāmin) dwell in their last lives. In other texts it is the realm of the enjoyment body (saṃbhogakāya) and is a buddhafield associated with the Buddha Vairocana; it is accessible only to bodhisattvas on the tenth level.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).
Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
Lit. “Unobstructed.” One of the ten great śrāvaka disciples, famed for his meditative prowess and superknowledges. He was the Buddha's cousin—a son of Amṛtodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana—and is often mentioned along with his two brothers Bhadrika and Mahānāma. Some sources also include Ānanda among his brothers.
According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.
The name of the girl Aśokadattā as a future tathāgata in the world called Vimalaprabhā, as prophesied by the Buddha.
A daughter of King Ajātaśatru and his queen Moonlit. The main protagonist of Aśokadattā’s Prophecy.
A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).
The son of one of the seven brahmins who predicted that Śākyamuni would become a great king. He was one of the five companions with Śākyamuni in the beginning of his spiritual path, abandoning him when he gave up asceticism, but then becoming one of his first five pupils after his buddhahood. He was the last of the five to attain the realization of a “stream entrant” and became an arhat on hearing the Sūtra on the Characteristics of Selflessness (Anātmalakṣaṇasūtra), which was not translated into Tibetan. Aśvajit was the one who went to meet Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana so they would become followers of the Buddha.
Yeshé Dé (late eighth to early ninth century) was the most prolific translator of sūtras into Tibetan. Altogether he is credited with the translation of more than one hundred sixty sūtra translations and more than one hundred additional translations, mostly on tantric topics. In spite of Yeshé Dé’s great importance for the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet during the imperial era, only a few biographical details about this figure are known. Later sources describe him as a student of the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, and he is also credited with teaching both sūtra and tantra widely to students of his own. He was also known as Nanam Yeshé Dé, from the Nanam (sna nam) clan.
Although it has often been translated as “lapis lazuli,” the descriptions and references in the literature, both Sanskrit and Tibetan, match the characteristics of beryl. The Pali form is veḷuriya. The Prākrit form verulia is the source for the English beryl. This normally refers to the blue or aquamarine beryl, but there are also white, yellow, and green beryls, though green beryl is called “emerald.”
A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.
Head of the “sixteen excellent men” (ṣoḍaśasatpuruṣa), a group of householder bodhisattvas present in the audience of many sūtras. He appears prominently in certain sūtras, such as The Samādhi of the Presence of the Buddhas (Pratyutpannabuddhasaṃmukhāvasthitasamādhisūtra, Toh 133) and is perhaps also the merchant of the same name who is the principal interlocutor in The Questions of Bhadrapāla the Merchant (Toh 83).
A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.
In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).
Often numbered as nine, the Black Mountains are said to lie at the northern edge of the continent of Jambudvīpa. There are three sets of three of these peaks, behind which lies the great snow mountain or Mount Sumeru.
Nymphaea caerulea. The “blue lotus” is actually a lily, so it is also known as the blue water lily.
The term can be understood to mean “great courageous one” or "great hero,” or (from the Sanskrit) simply “great being,” and is almost always found as an epithet of “bodhisattva.” The qualification “great” in this term, according to the majority of canonical definitions, focuses on the generic greatness common to all bodhisattvas, i.e., the greatness implicit in the bodhisattva vow itself in terms of outlook, aspiration, number of beings to be benefited, potential or eventual accomplishments, and so forth. In this sense the mahā- is closer in its connotations to the mahā- in “Mahāyāna” than to the mahā- in “mahāsiddha.” While individual bodhisattvas described as mahāsattva may in many cases also be “great” in terms of their level of realization, this is largely coincidental, and in the canonical texts the epithet is not restricted to bodhisattvas at any particular point in their career. Indeed, in a few cases even bodhisattvas whose path has taken a wrong direction are still described as bodhisattva mahāsattva.
Later commentarial writings do nevertheless define the term—variably—in terms of bodhisattvas having attained a particular level (bhūmi) or realization. The most common qualifying criteria mentioned are attaining the path of seeing, attaining irreversibility (according to its various definitions), or attaining the seventh bhūmi.
In distinction to the rūpakāya, or form body of a buddha, this is the eternal, imperceivable realization of a buddha. In origin it was a term for the presence of the Dharma, and it has since become synonymous with the true nature.
A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).
A collective name for the first three heavens of the form realm, which correspond to the first concentration (dhyāna): Brahmakāyika, Brahmapurohita, and Mahābrahmā (also called Brahmapārṣadya). These are ruled over by the god Brahmā. According to some sources, it can also be a general reference to all the heavens in the form realm and formless realm. (Provisional 84000 definition. New definition forthcoming.)
A class of gods who have transcended the desire realm and dwell in the heavens of the form realm. As distinguished from Brahmā or Great Brahmā, who is lord of the brahmās and sovereign of our universe, the Sahā world. Every universe has its own brahmā realms.
A member of the highest of the four castes in Indian society, which is closely associated with religious vocations.
The fifth of the five eyes, the five superior levels of vision experienced by realized beings, the other four being the physical eye (māṃsacakṣus), the divine eye (divyacakṣus), the wisdom eye (prajñācakṣus), and the Dharma eye (dharmacakṣus).
Ricinus communis.
Also translated as “holy living.”
Dhyāna is defined as one-pointed abiding in an undistracted state of mind, free from afflicted mental states. Four states of dhyāna are identified as being conducive to birth within the form realm. In the context of the Mahāyāna, it is the fifth of the six perfections. It is commonly translated as “concentration,” “meditative concentration,” and so on.
See also “eloquence and confidence.”
One of the five trees of Indra’s paradise, its heavenly flowers often rain down in salutation of the buddhas and bodhisattvas and are said to be very bright and aromatic, gladdening the hearts of those who see them. In our world, it is a tree native to India, Erythrina indica or Erythrina variegata, commonly known as the Indian coral tree, mandarava tree, flame tree, and tiger’s claw. In the early spring, before its leaves grow, the tree is fully covered in large flowers, which are rich in nectar and attract many birds. Although the most widespread coral tree has red crimson flowers, the color of the blossoms is not usually mentioned in the sūtras themselves, and it may refer to some other kinds, like the rarer Erythrina indica alba, which boasts white flowers.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.
Māra, literally “death” or “maker of death,” is the name of the deva who tried to prevent the Buddha from achieving awakening, the name given to the class of beings he leads, and also an impersonal term for the destructive forces that keep beings imprisoned in saṃsāra:
(1) As a deva, Māra is said to be the principal deity in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations (paranirmitavaśavartin), the highest paradise in the desire realm. He famously attempted to prevent the Buddha’s awakening under the Bodhi tree—see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 21.1—and later sought many times to thwart the Buddha’s activity. In the sūtras, he often also creates obstacles to the progress of śrāvakas and bodhisattvas. (2) The devas ruled over by Māra are collectively called mārakāyika or mārakāyikadevatā, the “deities of Māra’s family or class.” In general, these māras too do not wish any being to escape from saṃsāra, but can also change their ways and even end up developing faith in the Buddha, as exemplified by Sārthavāha; see The Play in Full (Toh 95), 21.14 and 21.43. (3) The term māra can also be understood as personifying four defects that prevent awakening, called (i) the divine māra (devaputramāra), which is the distraction of pleasures; (ii) the māra of Death (mṛtyumāra), which is having one’s life interrupted; (iii) the māra of the aggregates (skandhamāra), which is identifying with the five aggregates; and (iv) the māra of the afflictions (kleśamāra), which is being under the sway of the negative emotions of desire, hatred, and ignorance.
The term dhāraṇī has the sense of something that “holds” or “retains,” and so it can refer to the special capacity of practitioners to memorize and recall detailed teachings. It can also refer to a verbal expression of the teachings—an incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula—that distills and “holds” essential points of the Dharma and is used by practitioners to attain mundane and supramundane goals. The same term is also used to denote texts that contain such formulas.
The term dharma conveys ten different meanings, according to Vasubandhu’s Vyākhyāyukti. The primary meanings are as follows: the doctrine taught by the Buddha (Dharma); the ultimate reality underlying and expressed through the Buddha’s teaching (Dharma); the trainings that the Buddha’s teaching stipulates (dharmas); the various awakened qualities or attainments acquired through practicing and realizing the Buddha’s teaching (dharmas); qualities or aspects more generally, i.e., phenomena or phenomenal attributes (dharmas); and mental objects (dharmas).
See also “phenomena.”
The fourth of the five eyes, the five superior levels of vision experienced by realized beings, the other four being the physical eye (māṃsacakṣus), the divine eye (divyacakṣus), the wisdom eye (prajñācakṣus), and the buddha eye (buddhacakṣus).
The fourth of the six perfections. Can also be translated as perseverance, effort, or vigor. A state of mind characterized by joyful persistence when engaging in any virtuous behavior of body, speech, or mind
One of the six superknowledges and the second of the five eyes. This is the supernormal ability to see to an unlimited distance, observe events on other worlds, see through mountains, and so forth. The five eyes are five superior levels of vision experienced by realized beings, the other four being the physical eye (māṃsacakṣus), the wisdom eye (prajñācakṣus), the Dharma eye (dharmacakṣus), and the buddha eye (buddhacakṣus).
The inspiration and courage to be able to teach the Dharma. Sometimes translated as “inspired speech.”
Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.
The ineffable, essenceless nature.
The ultimate dimension of all.
The five aggregates characteristic of noble ones, also known as the five aggregates beyond the world (lokottaraskandha, ’jig rten las ’das pa’i phung po lnga). They consist of the aggregate of moral discipline, the aggregate of meditative stability, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of liberation, and the aggregate of the knowledge and seeing of liberation.
The first of the five eyes, the five superior levels of vision experienced by realized beings, the other four being the divine eye (divyacakṣus), the wisdom eye (prajñācakṣus), the Dharma eye (dharmacakṣus), and the buddha eye (buddhacakṣus).
Lit. “Incense-Light.” The world system of the Buddha Incense-Emitting Light during the time of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A class of generally benevolent nonhuman beings who inhabit the skies, sometimes said to inhabit fantastic cities in the clouds, and more specifically to dwell on the eastern slopes of Mount Meru, where they are ruled by the Great King Dhṛtarāṣṭra. They are most renowned as celestial musicians who serve the gods. In the Abhidharma, the term is also used to refer to the mental body assumed by sentient beings during the intermediate state between death and rebirth. Gandharvas are said to live on fragrances (gandha) in the desire realm, hence the Tibetan translation dri za, meaning “scent eater.”
The Gaṅgā, or Ganges in English, is considered to be the most sacred river of India, particularly within the Hindu tradition. It starts in the Himalayas, flows through the northern plains of India, bathing the holy city of Vārāṇasī, and meets the sea at the Bay of Bengal, in Bangladesh. In the sūtras, however, this river is mostly mentioned not for its sacredness but for its abundant sands—noticeable still today on its many sandy banks and at its delta—which serve as a common metaphor for infinitely large numbers.
According to Buddhist cosmology, as explained in the Abhidharmakośa, it is one of the four rivers that flow from Lake Anavatapta and cross the southern continent of Jambudvīpa—the known human world or more specifically the Indian subcontinent.
Although the Sanskrit term jñāna can refer to knowledge in a general sense, it is also used in a Buddhist context to refer to the nonconceptual state of awareness of a realized being.
The Sanskrit pravrajyā literally means “going forth,” with the sense of leaving the life of a householder and embracing the life of a renunciant. When the term is applied more technically, it refers to the act of becoming a male novice (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or female novice (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma), this being a first stage leading to full ordination.
In the most general sense the devas—the term is cognate with the English divine—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s retinue.
mya ngan med kyis byin pa lung bstan pa (Aśokadattāvyākaraṇa). Toh 76, Degé Kangyur vol. 43 (dkon brtsegs, ca), folios 225.b–240.b.
mya ngan med kyis byin pa lung 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. 43, pp. 650–86.
mya ngan med kyis byin pa lung bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Aśokadattāvyākaraṇa). Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ca), folios 378.b–400.b.
bsgom pa’i rim pa mdo kun las bdus pa (Bhāvanākramasūtrasamuccaya) [Compendium of Sūtra Teachings on the Stages of Meditation]. Toh 3933, Degé Tengyur vol. 110 (dbu ma, ki), folios 125.b–148.b.
ting nge ’dzin gyi tshogs kyi le’u (Samādhisambhāraparivarta) [Text on the Tools for Concentration]. Toh 3924, Degé Tengyur vol. 110 (dbu ma, ki), folios 79.b–91.a.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
84000. The City Beggar Woman (Nagarāvalambikā, grong khyer gyis ’tsho ba, Toh 205). Translated by George FitzHerbert. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
84000. The Inquiry of the Girl Sumati (Sumatidārikāparipṛcchāsūtra, bu mo blo gros bzang mos zhus pa, Toh 74). Translated by Dharmasāgara Translation Group. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
84000. The Miraculous Play of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīvikrīḍita, ’jam dpal rnam par rol pa, Toh 96). Translated by Jens Erland Braarvig. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
84000. The Prophecy of the Girl Candrottarā (Candrottarādārikāvyākaraṇa, bu mo zla mchog lung bstan pa, Toh 191). Translated by Annie Bien. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025.
84000. The Prophecy of Kṣemavatī (Kṣemavatīvyākaraṇa, bde ldan ma lung bstan pa, Toh 192). Translated by Subhashita Translation Group. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
84000. The Questions of the Girl Vimalaśraddhā (Dārikāvimalaśraddhāparipṛcchāsūtra, bu mo rnam dag dad pas zhus pa, Toh 84). Translated by Karma Gyaltsen Ling Translation Group. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
84000. The Questions of an Old Lady (Mahallikāparipṛcchā, bgres mos zhus pa, Toh 171). Translated by Sakya Pandita Translation Group (International Buddhist Academy Division). Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2011.
84000. The Questions of Śrīmatī the Brahmin Woman (Śrīmatībrāhmaṇīparipṛcchā, grong khyer gyis ’tsho ba, Toh 205). Translated by Subhashita Translation Group. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
84000. The Sūtra of Gaṅgottara’s Questions (Gaṅgottaraparipṛcchāsūtra, gang gA’i mchog gis zhus pa, Toh 75). Translated by 84000 Translation Team. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Chang, Garma C. C., ed. “The Prophecy of Bodhisattva Fearless Virtue’s Attainment of Buddhahood.” In A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras: Selections from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra, 115–33. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1983.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Negi, J. S. Tibetan–Sanskrit Dictionary. 16 vols. Sarnath: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 2002
Ruegg, David Seyfort. The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India. A History of Indian Literature 7.1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1981.
