The Hundred Deeds
Toh 340
Degé Kangyur, vol. 73 (mdo sde, ha), folios 1.b–309.a, and vol. 74 (mdo sde, a), folios 1.b–128.b
Imprint
Translated by Dr. Lozang Jamspal (International Buddhist College, Thailand) and Kaia Tara Fischer under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2020
Current version v 1.3.38 (2025)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.26.1
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.
Table of Contents
Summary
The sūtra The Hundred Deeds, whose title could also be translated as The Hundred Karmas, is a collection of stories known as avadāna—a narrative genre widely represented in the Sanskrit Buddhist literature and its derivatives—comprising more than 120 individual texts. It includes narratives of Buddha Śākyamuni’s notable deeds and foundational teachings, the stories of other well-known Buddhist figures, and a variety of other tales featuring people from all walks of ancient Indian life and beings from all six realms of existence. The texts sometimes include stretches of verse. In the majority of the stories the Buddha’s purpose in recounting the past lives of one or more individuals is to make definitive statements about the karmic ripening of actions across multiple lifetimes, and the sūtra is perhaps the best known of the many works in the Kangyur on this theme.
Acknowledgements
Translated by Dr. Lozang Jamspal (International Buddhist College, Thailand) and Kaia Fischer of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York (TCTGNY). Introduction by Nathan Mitchell, with additional material by the 84000 editorial team.
Warm thanks to Dr. Tom Tillemans, Dr. John Canti, Dr. James Gentry, Adam Krug, Ven. Konchog Norbu, Janna White, and all the readers and editors at 84000, for their wisdom; to Huang Jing Rui, Amy Ang, and the entire administration and staff at 84000, for their compassion; to readers Dr. Irene Cannon-Geary, Dr. Natalie M. Griffin, Tom Griffin, Norman Guberman, Margot Jarrett, Dr. David Kittay, Dr. Susan Landesman, Megan Mook, and Dr. Toy-Fung Tung, as well as to every member of TCTGNY, for their diligence and sincerity; to Caithlin De Marrais, Tinka Harvard, Laren McClung, and Erin Sperry, for their adept revisions to passages of verse; to Dr. Paul Hackett, for his linguistic and technical expertise; to Dr. Tenzin Robert Thurman and the late Prof. Dr. Michael Hahn, for their insight; to Dr. Lauran Hartley, for her capable assistance in researching the introduction; to Dr. Donald J. LaRocca, for his thoughtful clarification of terms pertaining to arms and armor; and to Jennifer E. Fischer, for her generosity in formatting the translation.
Special thanks to Ven. Wei Wu and all of the students, faculty, and staff of the International Buddhist College, Thailand, for their warm welcome of the senior translator Dr. Jamspal, and to Cynthia H. Wong, for her kindheartedness toward the junior translator Kaia Fischer.
Through the devoted attention of all may the Buddhadharma smile upon us for countless ages, safeguarded by knowledge of the classical Tibetan language.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Work on this translation was rendered possible by the generous donations of a number of sponsors: Zhou Tian Yu, Chen Yi Qin, Irene Tillman, Archie Kao and Zhou Xun; 恒基伟业投资发展集团有限公司，李英、李杰、李明、李一全家; Thirty, Twenty and family; and Ye Kong, Helen Han, Karen Kong and family. Their help is most gratefully acknowledged.
Text Body
Bibliography
Source Texts
las brgya tham pa (Karmaśataka). Toh 340, Degé Kangyur vol. 73 (mdo sde, ha), folios 1.b–309.a, and vol. 74 (mdo sde, a), folios 1.b–128.b.
las brgya tham 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), 2006–2009, vol. 73, pp. 3–837, and vol. 74, pp. 3–398.
las brgya tham pa (Karmaśataka). Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 80 (mdo sde, dza), folios 2–825, and vol. 81 (mdo sde, a), folios 2–474.
Works Cited
Sanskrit Works
Gnoli, Raniero and Venkatacharya, T., ed. The Gilgit manuscript of the Saṅghabhedavastu: Being the 17th and last section of the Vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivādin, Part I. Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1977.
Vaidya, P. L., ed. Avadāna-Śataka. Darbhanga: Mithilā Institute of Post-Graduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1958.
Tibetan Works
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i gter mdzod. In: gsung ’bum (zhol par ma/ ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa), vol 24 (ya), pp. 633–1055. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–1971. English translations: see Obermiller, and Stein and Zangpo, below.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan [/ lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Degé Tengyur, vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b - 310.a.
chos kyi ’khor lo rab tu bskor ba’i mdo (Dharmacakrapravartanasūtra). Toh 31, Degé Kangyur vol. 45 (mdo sde, ka), folios 180b–83a.
dge slong ma’i so sor thar pa’i mdo (Bhikṣuṇīprātimokṣasūtra). Toh 4, Degé Kangyur vol. 9 (’dul ba, ta), folios 1b–25a.
’dul ba’i mdo (Vinayasūtra). Toh 4117, Degé Tengyur vol. 261 (’dul ba, wu), folios 1a–100b.
so sor thar pa’i mdo (Prātimokṣasūtra). Toh 2, Degé Kangyur vol. 5 (’dul ba, ca), folios 1b–20a.
Secondary Sources
Ancient Tibet: Research Materials from the Yeshe De Project. Berkeley, CA: Dharma Publishing, 1986.
Angdu, Sonam. Tibeto-Sanskrit Lexographical Materials. Leh, Ladakh: Basgo Tongspon Publication, 1973.
Berzin, Alexander. “The Thirty-two Excellent Signs (Major Marks) of a Buddha’s Enlightening Body.” The Buddhist Archives of Dr. Alexander Berzin. Accessed February 2, 2013.
Obermiller, E., trans. The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet by Bu Ston (Chos-ḥbyung). Materialien zur Kunde des Buddhismus 13. Heidelberg: Institut für Buddhismus-Kunde, 1932. Reprinted Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1986.
Burnouf, Eugène. Introduction to the History of Indian Buddhism. Translated by K. Buffetrille and Donald. S. Lopez, Jr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.
Chandra, Lokesh. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary. Kyōto-shi: Rinsen Shoten, 1982.
Chandra Das, Sarat. A Tibetan-English Dictionary, with Sanskrit Synonyms. Revised and edited by Graham Sandberg and A. William Heyde. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1991.
Chandrakīrti and Mikyo Dorje. The Moon of Wisdom: Chapter Six of Chandrakirti’s Entering the Middle Way. Translated by Ari Goldfield et al. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2005.
Chutiwongs, Nandana. “On the Jātaka reliefs at Cula Pathon Cetiya.” Journal of the Siam Society 66, no. 1 (1978): 133–51.
Duff, Tony. The Illuminator Tibetan-English Encyclopaedic Dictionary [computer software]. Kathmandu, Nepal: Padma Karpo Translation Committee.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee. The Play in Full. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee. The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary (Volume II: Dictionary). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.
Feer, M. Léon. “Le Karma-Çataka.” Journal Asiatique 17 (1901): 53–100, 257–315, 410–86.
Gampopa. The Jewel Ornament of Liberation: The Wish-Fulfilling Gem of the Noble Teachings. Translated by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1998.
Gö Lotsāwa. The Blue Annals. Translated by George N. Roerich. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 1996.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma. Ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische. übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Kritische Neuausgabe mit Einleitung und Materialien. Vol. 367 of Philosphisch-Historische Klasse Denkschriften. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2009.
Horner, I.B., trans. The Book of Discipline (Vinaya-Piṭaka), Vol. I (Suttavibhaṅga). Sacred Books of the Buddhists, Vol. X. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1938.
Horner, I.B., trans. The Book of Discipline (Vinaya-Piṭaka), Vol. IV (Mahāvagga). Sacred Books of the Buddhists, Vol. XIV. London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press, 1951.
Jamspal, Lozang. “The Thirty-Seven Wings of Enlightenment.” Lecture conducted at International Buddhist College, Pak Thong Chai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, September 10, 2012.
Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1979.
Lessing, F.D. and A. Wayman. Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983.
The Mahābhārata I: The Book of the Beginning. Edited and translated by Van Buitenen, J.A.B. University of Chicago Press, 1973.
Malalasekera, Gunapala Piyasena. Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names. Melksham, UK: Pali Text Society, 1937–1938/1997. Accessed February 2, 2013.
Martin, Dan. Tibetan–English Dictionary [computer software]. Kathmandu, Nepal: Rangjung Yeshe Institute.
Miller, Robert. The Chapter on Going Forth (Pravrajyāvastu, Toh 1-1). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
Miller, Robert. The Chapter on a Schism in the Saṅgha (Saṅghabhedavastu, Toh 1-17). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, forthcoming.
Monier-Williams, Sir Monier. A Sanskṛit-English dictionary: etymologically and philologically arranged with special reference to Greek, Latin, Gothic, German, Anglo-Saxon, and other cognate Indo-European languages. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1888.
Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna’s Letter: Nāgārjuna’s Letter to a Friend. Translated by Lobsang Therchin and Artimus B. Engel. Reprint edition, Dharamsala: Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 1995.
National Disability Authority. Appropriate Terms to Use. Retrieved November 20, 2017.
Nattier, Jan. Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline. Berkeley, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1991.
Negi, J. S. Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary, vols. 1–16. Sarnath, India: Dictionary Unit, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 2003.
Przyluski, Jean, and Marcelle Lalou. “Récits populaires et contes bouddhiques.” Journal Asiatique 228 (1936): 177–91.
Rangjung Yeshe and Erik Pema Kunsang. Tibetan–English Dictionary [computer software]. Kathmandu, Nepal: Rangjung Yeshe Institute.
Ray, Reginald. Buddhist Saints in India. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Rigzin, Tsepak. Tibetan-English Dictionary of Buddhist Terminology. Dharamsala: LTWA, 2008.
Rotman, Andy, trans. Divine Stories: Divyāvadāna Part 1. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008.
Sarkar, Sadhanchandra. A Study on the Jātakas and the Avadānas: Critical and Comparative, vol. 1. Calcutta: Saraswat Library, 1981.
Sastri, Gaurinath. A Concise History of Classical Sanskrit Literature. London: Oxford University Press, 1960.
Skilling, Peter. “Theravādin Literature in Tibetan Translation.” Journal of the Pali Text Society, vol. XIX (1993), pp 69–201.
Skilling, Peter. “From bKa’ bstan bcos to bKa’ ’gyur and bsTan ’gyur.” In Transmission of the Tibetan Canon. Edited by Helmut Eimer, 87–112. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1997.
Skilling, Peter. “Eṣā Agrā: Images of Nuns in (Mūla-)Sarvāstivādin Literature.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 24, no. 2 (2001): 135–56.
Speyer, J. S., ed. Avadānaçataka: A Century of Edifying Tales Belonging to the Hīnayāna, vol. 2. First Indian edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 1992.
Sørensen, Per K., trans. The Mirror Illuminating the Royal Genealogies. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1994.
Stein, Lisa, and Ngawang Zangpo (trs.). Butön’s History of Buddhism in India and its Spread to Tibet: A Treasury of Priceless Scripture. Boston: Snow Lion, 2013.
Tatelman, J., trans. and ed. The Heavenly Exploits: Buddhist Biographies from the Divyavadana, vol. 1. New York: New York University Press JJC Foundation, 2005.
The Tibetan and Himalayan Library: THL Tibetan to English Translation Tool. Accessed February 2, 2013.
“Universal Monarch.” Rigpa Wiki. Accessed February 2, 2013.
Waldo, Ives. Tibetan–English Dictionary [computer software]. Kathmandu, Nepal: Rangjung Yeshe Institute.
Winternitz, Maurice. History of Indian Literature, vol. 2. Translated and revised by B. Jha. Delhi: Bharatiya Vidya Prakashan, 1987.