Upholding the Roots of Virtue
Introduction

Upholding the Roots of Virtue is one of the most extensive sūtras in the Tibetan Kangyur, spanning no fewer than 452 Tibetan pages. Apart from a brief summary of the text by Csoma de Körös in 1836,1 the sūtra has never, to our knowledge, received sustained scholarly attention. While the Sanskrit source text appears to have disappeared, we do have translations of this sūtra into Chinese and Tibetan. The Chinese translation, Fo shuo hua shou jing 佛說華手經 (Taishō 657), was produced by the renowned translator Kumārajīva (344–413 ᴄᴇ), who completed the translation toward the end of his life in 406, while residing in the former Chinese capital of Chang’an. The Tibetan translation was produced approximately four centuries later. This might suggest that the sūtra enjoyed some popularity in Indian Buddhist circles during the heyday of Great Vehicle thought and practice. Unfortunately, however, we have not been able to locate any citations from this sūtra in the commentarial works of Indian scholars. Complicating matters further, although the Chinese translation generally corresponds fairly closely with the Tibetan, the Chinese is divided into thirty-five chapters, but the Tibetan into only fifteen. Much remains to be explored, therefore, concerning the history of this sūtra’s formation and transmission.

The Tibetan translation was produced by translators who flourished during the late eighth and early ninth centuries when the majority of Indian Great Vehicle sūtras were translated into Tibetan.2 The main translator of this sūtra was a relatively unknown person by the name of Leki Dé who, as was customary with such translations, was assisted in his task by an Indian scholar, the renowned Indian preceptor Prajñāvarman. The translation was later revised and finalized by Prajñāvarman and another influential Indian paṇḍita, Jñānagarbha, as well as the prolific translator and chief editor Yeshé Dé. While the more than one hundred Kangyur translations to which Yeshé Dé is said to have contributed are generally of very high quality, in working on this sūtra we found that certain sections of the Tibetan translation lacked the clarity and precision that otherwise characterize translations that acknowledge Yeshé Dé’s editorial involvement. We have recorded these passages in the notes, with the hope that scholars might take up the task of comparing them closely with other Tibetan versions and Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation. In producing this English translation, we have based our work on the Degé xylograph Kangyur, in consultation with the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) Kangyur and, in the case of several particularly difficult terms and passages, comparison with the Stok Palace manuscript Kangyur and Kumārajīva’s Chinese translation.

The content of the sūtra is structured into fifteen chapters in which the Buddha Śākyamuni teaches a gathering of bodhisattvas from other worlds as well as a small selection of his closest hearer students, such as Śāradvatī­putra and Ānanda, a variety of topics roughly centered on how to arouse, sustain, and practice the mind of awakening. The topic of “upholding the roots of virtue” is treated in this Great Vehicle context. A classic account, found in Vasubandhu’s Abhidharma­kośa­bhāṣyam,3 for example, describes virtuous roots (kuśalamūla, dge ba’i rtsa ba) as being of three types: absence of desire (alobha, ma chags pa), absence of hatred (adveṣa, zhe sdang med pa), and absence of error (amoha, gti mug med pa). The Mahā­prajñā­pāramitā­śāstra attributed to Nāgārjuna explains them as follows:

Thus, when these factors are present in a person they will influence the accumulation and ripening of actions (karman, las) performed by that person. As that process continues, both mundane abundance in the higher realms as well as ultimate liberation and the transcendence of suffering can be attained. In this way, roots of virtue serve as the driving force for accomplishment and can be dedicated (pariṇāma, bsngo ba) toward general and particular achievements. All the while it is crucial to avoid what is termed the severance of the roots of virtue (dge rtsa chad pa) that may otherwise occur when someone adopts and adheres to a wrong view (mithyādṛṣṭi, log lta). Since they are the fundamental factors for progress on the path, roots of virtue have also been associated with the principle of “potential” or “class” (gotra, rigs).5

In this sūtra we find descriptions of the ways buddhas inspire sentient beings to bring forth roots of virtue in their streams of being, and we hear of how bodhisattvas embrace their roots of virtue with dedication and aspiration, thereby enabling them to achieve ever greater accomplishments. As a Great Vehicle sūtra, Upholding the Roots of Virtue stresses the importance of ensuring the unbroken continuity of virtuous roots, such that they do not come to a final end with the attainment of nirvāṇa and the exhaustion of the five aggregates.

The chapters in the sūtra may be briefly synopsized as follows:

As the sūtra opens, the Buddha Śākyamuni is in the Kalandaka­nivāpa, at the Veṇuvana in Rājagṛha. He is joined by great hearers and bodhisattvas, who have just completed their summer retreats. The Buddha performs a miracle, causing the venerable Mahākāśyapa and five hundred monks to come before him in an instant, having traveled all the way from the Indra­śailaguha cave on Vaidehaka Mountain. A Dharma dialogue ensues between Mahākāśyapa and the Buddha, culminating in the Buddha performing another miracle whereby innumerable human and nonhuman beings are drawn to the site of the Buddha’s residence. With his own miraculous abilities Maudgalyāyana creates a magnificent venue for the Buddha’s teaching, and the Buddha decides to deliver a teaching to dispel all the doubts and hesitation in his bodhisattva followers.

Within the gathering a youth known as Padmaśrīgarbha wishes to receive a teaching. Knowing the youth’s thoughts, the Buddha Śākyamuni projects a light that reaches across innumerable universes. In a distant realm a bodhisattva by the name of Jālinīprabha notices the light. When informed by the buddha of that realm, Single Jewel Ornament, about the source of the light, Jālinīprabha decides to travel to Jambudvīpa. Once there, the bodhisattva presents offerings to the Buddha who now begins to teach on the nature of reality. Similar events occur as the light and sounds of the Blessed One reach other buddha realms. As more visiting bodhisattvas appear before Śākyamuni, he teaches on the nature of sentient beings and buddhas, the world, and the bodhisattva path.

The many Dharma teachings have inspired a certain Dṛḍhamati to develop the mind of awakening, and hence he proceeds to express his understanding of the mind of awakening to the Buddha. The Blessed One responds by guiding Dṛḍhamati through an inquiry that illumines the virtues that ensue from a sustained commitment to the welfare and awakening of all beings.

In another distant realm the bodhisattva Luminous Sphere of Great Splendor has likewise noticed the lights and sounds. He obtains permission from the buddha Majestic Mountain to see the Buddha Śākyamuni, carrying gifts with him. When the Buddha subsequently teaches on the mind of awakening, he illustrates the subject matter through a colorful account of two royal brothers, Aśoka and Vigataśoka, who competed with each other to reach awakening first.

This chapter recounts the visits of numerous bodhisattvas from their respective buddha realms. Having noticed the extraordinary lights and sounds, the bodhisattvas seek clarification from the buddhas of their realms, and are inspired to make the journey to meet the Buddha Śākyamuni. Traveling miraculously, they soon arrive before Śākyamuni. They present their offerings and take their seats within the vast gathering that surrounds him. All the accounts of this chapter follow a similar pattern, thus amplifying the sense of the far-reaching, cosmic consequences of the Blessed One’s presence in Jambudvīpa.

At this point the Buddha Śākyamuni enters, and subsequently leaves, an extensive number of absorptions. Having finally emerged from the last of these concentrations, the immovable absorption, he delivers an extensive teaching to Śāradvatī­putra on the entire bodhisattva path and the attainment of awakening. As part of this teaching, the Buddha recounts a number of stories from the distant past to illustrate his points, including stories about his own past lives as well as that of a previous buddha, Dīpaṃkara.

The Buddha Śākyamuni continues to teach Śāradvatī­putra about the bodhisattva path, elaborating, through enumerations and illustrations, upon the behaviors of body, speech, and mind that are consistent or inconsistent with the bodhisattva’s altruistic resolve to reach awakening for the benefit of all beings. The Buddha relates the lengthy account of Prince Smṛtilābha and his encounter with the māra Muṣitasmṛti to illustrate how bodhisattvas ideally ought to set their altruistic motivation and follow through with this resolve in the face of extraordinary hardships. The themes that figure strongly throughout this chapter are the importance of renunciation and the consequent resolve to take monastic ordination for the sake of all beings, no matter what perilous situations might be encountered in this and future lives.

The Buddha Śākyamuni continues to teach Śāradvatī­putra about the bodhisattva path. The Buddha begins with an explanation of the correct view and how it relates to physical and verbal conduct. He then shifts into an elaborate discourse replete with a series of exquisite analogies and stories that illustrate the vast merit in store for those who inspire a bodhisattva through Dharma teachings about the mind of awakening and encourage the bodhisattva to uphold those teachings and to train in them. The Buddha clearly states that such meritorious rewards pertain even to ordinary beings, hearers, or others who are not explicitly training in the bodhisattva path. He recounts stories of his own past lives and gives a series of similes to illustrate this point, including descriptions of the disastrous consequences in store for those who attempt to interfere with the bodhisattva’s sublime objectives. The discourse closes with a return to the bodhisattva’s view: emptiness.

A beggar called Vijayarakṣa then enters the assembly and asks the Buddha Śākyamuni how he might realize awakening while living a life of negative conduct and hardship through his dependence on the wealth of others. The Buddha reassures Vijayarakṣa that the mind of awakening pertains to all beings of pure intention regardless of social or economic position and prophesies that he will become a buddha. Thereupon Vijayarakṣa is elated, gives rise to the resolve set on awakening, and begins to levitate in the sky. The Buddha shows a smile, which radiates blue and yellow lights that dissolve into his own crown. When Ānanda inquires into the significance of the Buddha’s smile, among other related questions, the Buddha responds by relating a prophecy that foretells Vijayarakṣa’s eventual awakening. The Buddha then proceeds to outline the many negative karmic consequences of disparaging and interfering with a bodhisattva’s engendering of the mind of awakening. The chapter concludes with an episode in which a householder, also named Vijayarakṣa, enters the assembly as the Buddha is preaching about the repulsiveness of the human body as an object of desire. Vijayarakṣa objects that his wife does not fit these criteria, whereupon the Buddha teaches Vijayarakṣa by means of his supernatural powers that his wife too is repulsive. This inspires him to renounce the life of a householder and take ordination.

The Buddha Śākyamuni continues to teach Śāradvatī­putra, giving a series of enumerations on the kinds of conduct that bodhisattvas should adopt and avoid. Prevalent themes include a bodhisattva’s ideal renunciation, diligence in pursuit of Dharma teachings, altruism, discipline, and great resolve. Included also are enumerations concerning how to avoid abandoning the mind of awakening, as well as admonitions against sectarianism, pride, and conceit. The chapter concludes with a lengthy teaching on how bodhisattvas should construct, restore, and worship stūpas.

Yet another figure called Vijayarakṣa, this time a seven-year-old boy, enters the assembly and requests the Buddha Śākyamuni for permission to take ordination. The Buddha responds with a profound teaching on the criteria for and nature of ordination, focusing on the mind of awakening as the ultimate benchmark. Śāradvatī­putra, now curious as to the qualifications of the young boy, asks the Buddha a series of questions about him. The Buddha reports that Vijayarakṣa had already been an adept for several preceding eons. This prompts Śāradvatī­putra to question Vijayarakṣa about ordination. Vijayarakṣa responds with a teaching on the ultimate nature of ordination and then vanishes. Śāradvatī­putra’s subsequent astonishment forms the pretext for the Buddha to give a discourse on the qualifications, identity, observance, and benefits of a bodhisattva’s genuine ordination. The chapter concludes with the Buddha recounting the story of a prince’s renunciation of his kingdom, and his eventual ordination.

The Buddha Śākyamuni now addresses a teaching to Ānanda concerning how bodhisattvas should ideally comport themselves physically, verbally, and mentally when pursuing, receiving, and teaching the Dharma. The Buddha relates a story to illustrate how this kind of conduct with respect to Dharma results in being part of a pure Dharma retinue. The chapter concludes with the Buddha elaborating upon the sublime characteristics of a pure bodhisattva retinue.

The bodhisattva Dṛḍhamati and the bodhisattva Guhagupta, who accompanies him, now offer their shawls to the Buddha Śākyamuni to request that Dharma discourses might continue to be given in the future. After a number of miraculous displays are witnessed emerging from the shawls, Ānanda expresses his amazement. The Buddha responds by asking him to relate what he saw, and Ānanda follows suit with an elaborate description followed by questions. However, before the Buddha responds to Ānanda’s inquiries, he asks Ānanda to wait for the bodhisattva Dṛḍhamati to ask his questions. Dṛḍhamati then inquires about how beings “enter the gate” of the Dharma before launching into a series of questions concerning the entire bodhisattva path that all center upon whether and how teachers will bestow Dharma teachings in the future. The Buddha recounts how in a previous lifetime Dṛḍhamati had asked other buddhas those same questions. He then proceeds to teach on the gateways of Dharma, the nature of language, the nature of phenomena, and the meditative absorptions by which Dharma preachers acquire insight and eloquence. The chapter ends with the Buddha reassuring Dṛḍhamati that in the future there will be no shortage of beings who will acquire, through meditative absorption, the linguistic gateways into the Dharma and the requisite inspired eloquence to teach the Dharma.

The Buddha Śākyamuni continues his teaching to Dṛḍhamati, elaborating upon the many prerequisites and conditions for attaining the meditative absorptions through which Dharma teachings are given, as well as the ideal qualities of Dharma-teaching spiritual friends.

The Buddha Śākyamuni continues his teaching to Dṛḍhamati, this time with a brief instruction concerning how the superknowledges will be acquired based upon the worship, restoration, and cleansing of stūpas. The Buddha continues in this vein, relating the sublime features of his awakened body before dispensing a series of predictions to Ānanda and Kāśyapa concerning the difficulties of upholding this sūtra and others like it in future times.