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Table of Contents

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Summary

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The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines is one version of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras that developed in South and South-Central Asia in tandem with the Eight Thousand version, probably during the first five hundred years of the Common Era. It contains many of the passages in the oldest extant Long Perfection of Wisdom text (the Gilgit manuscript in Sanskrit), and is similar in structure to the other versions of the Long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras (the One Hundred Thousand and Twenty-Five Thousand) in Tibetan in the Kangyur. While setting forth the sacred fundamental doctrines of Buddhist practice with veneration, it simultaneously exhorts the reader to reject them as an object of attachment, its recurring message being that all dharmas without exception lack any intrinsic nature.

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The sūtra can be divided loosely into three parts: an introductory section that sets the scene, a long central section, and three concluding chapters that consist of two important summaries of the long central section. The first of these (chapter 84) is in verse and also circulates as a separate work called The Verse Summary of the Jewel Qualities (Toh 13). The second summary is in the form of the story of Sadāprarudita and his guru Dharmodgata (chapters 85 and 86), after which the text concludes with the Buddha entrusting the work to his close companion Ānanda.

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Acknowledgements

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This sūtra was translated by Gareth Sparham under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

The Translator’s Acknowledgments

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This is a good occasion to remember and thank my friend Nicholas Ribush, who first gave me a copy of Edward Conze’s translation of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines in 1973. I also thank the Tibetan teachers and students at the Riklam Lobdra in Dharamshala, India, where I began to study the Perfection of Wisdom, for their kindness and patience; Jeffrey Hopkins and Elizabeth Napper, who steered me in the direction of the Perfection of Wisdom and have been very kind to me over the years; and Ashok Aklujkar and others at the University of British Columbia in Canada, who taught me Sanskrit and Indian culture while I was writing my dissertation on Haribhadra’s Perfection of Wisdom commentary. I thank the hermits in the hills above Riklam Lobdra and the many Tibetan scholars and practitioners who encouraged me while I continued working on the Perfection of Wisdom after I graduated from the University of British Columbia. I thank all those who continued to support me as a monk and scholar after the violent death of my friend and mentor toward the end of the millennium. I thank those at the University of Michigan and then at the University of California (Berkeley), particularly Donald Lopez and Jacob Dalton, who enabled me to complete the set of four volumes of translations from Sanskrit of the Perfection of Wisdom commentaries by Haribhadra and Āryavimuktisena and four volumes of the fourteenth-century Tibetan commentary on the Perfection of Wisdom by Tsongkhapa. I thank Gene Smith, who introduced me to 84000. I thank everyone at 84000: Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche and the sponsors; the scholars, translators, editors, and technicians; and all the other indispensable people whose work has made this translation of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines and its accompanying commentary possible.

Around me everything I see would be part of a perfect road if I had better driving skills.
Where I was born, where everything is made of concrete, it too is a perfect place.
Everyone I have been with, everyone who is near me now, and even those I have forgotten‍—there is no one who has not helped me.
So, I bow to everyone and to the world and ask for patience, and, as a boon, a smile.

Acknowledgment of Sponsors

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We gratefully acknowledge the generous sponsorship of Matthew Yizhen Kong, Steven Ye Kong and family; An Zhang, Hannah Zhang, Lucas Zhang, Aiden Zhang, Jinglan Chi, Jingcan Chi, Jinghui Chi and family, Hong Zhang and family; Mao Guirong, Zhang Yikun, Chi Linlin; and Joseph Tse, Patricia Tse and family. Their support has helped make the work on this translation possible.

Text Body

The Translation
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines
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Chapter 19: Surpassing

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Then venerable Subhūti said to the Lord, “Lord, you say this‍—‘Great Vehicle’‍—again and again. It surpasses the world with its gods, humans, and asuras and goes forth. Is that why it is called a Great Vehicle?332

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“Lord, that vehicle is equal to space. To illustrate, Lord, just as space has room for infinite, countless beings beyond measure, the Great Vehicle also, Lord, has room333 for infinite, countless beings beyond measure. Such, Lord, is the Great Vehicle of bodhisattva great beings. Lord, you cannot apprehend the Great Vehicle coming, going, or remaining, you cannot apprehend a prior limit, cannot apprehend a later limit, and cannot apprehend a middle either.

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“To illustrate, Lord, just as you cannot apprehend space coming, cannot apprehend it going, and cannot apprehend it remaining, you cannot apprehend the Great Vehicle coming, cannot apprehend it going, and cannot apprehend it remaining either.

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“To illustrate, Lord, just as, because of the equality of the three time periods, you cannot apprehend space’s prior limit, cannot apprehend its later limit, and cannot apprehend its middle, similarly, Lord, you cannot apprehend the Great Vehicle’s prior limit, cannot apprehend its later limit, and cannot apprehend its middle either. This, Lord‍—that is, the Great Vehicle‍—is a vehicle equally of the three time periods. [F.191.a] That is why ‘Great Vehicle’ is said again and again.”

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“Furthermore, Subhūti, where you have said, ‘This Great Vehicle [F.191.b] surpasses the world with its