co.

Table of Contents

s.

Summary

s.­1

Heralded by a miraculous flood, the celestial bodhisattva Sāgaramati arrives in Rājagṛha to engage in a Dharma discussion with Buddha Śākyamuni. He discusses an absorption called “The Pristine and Immaculate Seal” and many other subjects relevant to bodhisattvas who are in the process of developing the mind of awakening and practicing the bodhisattva path. The sūtra strongly advises that bodhisattvas not shy away from the afflictive emotions of beings‍—no matter how unpleasant they may be‍—and that insight into these emotions is critical for a bodhisattva’s compassionate activity. The sūtra deals with the preeminence of wisdom and non-grasping on the path. In the end, as a teaching on how to deal with māras, the sūtra illuminates the many pitfalls possible on the path of the Great Vehicle.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Timothy Hinkle, who also wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor checked the translation against the Tibetan and edited the text.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.


ac.­2

The generous sponsorship of Zhou Tian Yu, Chen Yi Qin, Zhou Xun, and Zhao Xuan, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.

Text Body

The Translation
The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra
The Questions of Sāgaramati
c.

Colophon

c.­1

This was translated, proofed, and finalized according to the new terminological register by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Buddhaprabhā, as well as the editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.

n.

Notes

n.­1
On these citations, see Skilling 2018, 441–42. Moreover, the jātaka tale told in this sūtra, in which the Buddha, in a former life as a lion, saves two baby monkeys from the clutches of a vulture by offering his own flesh and blood as ransom, was also included in the Mahā­prajñā­pāramitā­śāstra attributed to Nāgārjuna (Lamotte 2007, pp. 1902–6).
n.­2
See The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara (2) (Toh 154), i.2.
n.­3
On the date of Taishō 397 see Lancaster, K 56; for Taishō 400, see Lancaster, K 1481. Taishō 397, the Mahāsaṃnipāta, is 大方等大集經 (Dafang deng daji jing); Taishō 400 is 佛說海意菩薩所問淨印法門經 (Haiyi pusa suowen jing famen jing).
n.­4
See Griffiths 2015 (p. 994) and Skilling 2018.
n.­5
The Denkarma catalogue is dated to c. 812 ᴄᴇ. In this catalogue, The Questions of Sāgaramati is included among the “Miscellaneous Sūtras” (mdo sde sna tshogs) less than ten sections (bam po) long. Denkarma, 297.a.3. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008, p. 49, no. 86.
n.­6
In Tibet most commentators appear to have classified this sūtra under the rubric of Yogācāra-Mādhyamika (rnal ’byor spyod pa’i dbu ma), such as, for example, the sixteenth century scholar Pekar Sangpo (pad dkar bzang po) in his survey of the sūtras (Pekar Sangpo 2006, p. 228).
n.­7
Conze 1955, p. 136.
n.­8
See for example Ju Mipham 2004 and Tsongkhapa 2000. Numerous other such brief citations have appeared in translation.
n.­9
This section is very similar to a description of the Dharma teaching found in the Akṣaya­mati­nirdeśa (Toh 175, see Braarvig 2020, The Teaching of Akṣayamati, 1.6). Notably, however, in that version the miracle that follows is not one of water, but of golden light.
n.­10
theg pa read as shes pa following the Narthang and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 17, n. 6.
n.­11
bstan pa read as brtan pa following the Yongle, Lithang, Narthang, Kangxi, Choné, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 21, no. 2.
n.­12
nges pa read as des pa following the Narthang, Urga, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 21, n. 3.
n.­13
byang chub sems sogs read as byang chub sems dpa’ following the Yongle, Lithang, Narthang, Kangxi, Choné, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 28, n. 10.
n.­14
bsam read as bas following the Lithang, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 30, n. 1.
n.­15
nang read as nad following the Kangxi, Narthang, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 30, n. 2.
n.­16
bdag gis read as bdag gi following the Yongle, Kangxi, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 33, n. 9.
n.­17
dib dib po read as rib rib po following the Narthang and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 55, n. 1.
n.­18
Translation tentative. Tib. ngo za ring gi tshig med pa.
n.­19
Translation tentative. Tib. sems dang yid dang rnam par shes pa des rig pa med par tshor ba yang so sor myong la / sangs rgyas kyi chos rnams yongs su ma dzogs kyi bar du tshor ba ’gog pa mngon sum du yang mi byed de /.
n.­20
yang dag min read as yang dag nyid following the Stok Palace manuscript, p. 39.b.
n.­21
spyangs pa read as sbyangs pa following the Yongle, Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, Choné, and Lhasa editions of the Kangyur. Pedurma, p. 65, n. 13.
n.­22
Whereas the single word dharma (Tib. chos) can be used in both Sanskrit and Tibetan to denote a range of meanings, we have to translate it variably here as “qualities” and “phenomena.”
n.­23
kyi chos kyi chos read as kyi chos following the Stok Palace manuscript, p. 68.a.
n.­24
The passage that follows makes use of a series of alphabetical correspondences and puns that are lost in translation, not only in translation from Tibetan to English, but also the original act of translation from Sanskrit to Tibetan.
n.­25
A dhāraṇī that is included in a number of Great Vehicle sūtras and is said to encapsulate and thus give access to the full scope of the Buddha’s teachings.
n.­26
The Sanskrit of the passage starting with this sentence and continuing down to the end of the next paragraph (10.­6) survives as a quote (48.19–50.7) in Asaṅga’s Ratna­gotra­vibhāga-vyākhya (RGVV, Toh 4025), in which an important doctrinal point is made about how bodhisattvas take voluntary rebirth in the world (according to some commentaries in the “body of a mental nature,” manomayakāya, yid kyi rang bzhin gyi lus). The Sanskrit of the passage corresponding to this present paragraph is as follows: yad āha | paśya sāgara­mate dharmāṇām asaratām akārakatāṃ nirātmatāṃ niḥsattvatāṃ nirjīvatāṃ niḥpudgalatām asvāmikatām | tatra hi nāma yatheṣyante tathā viṭhapyante viṭhapitāś ca samānā na cetayanti na prakalpayanti | imāṃ sāgara­mate dharma­viṭhapanām adhi­mucya bodhi­sattvo na kasmiṃścid dharme pari­khedam utpādayati | tasyaiva jñāna­darśanaṃ śuci śuddhaṃ bhavati | nātra kaścid upakāro vāpakāro vā kriyata iti | evaṃ ca dharmāṇāṃ dharmatāṃ yathābhūtaṃ prajānāti | evaṃ ca mahā­karuṇā­saṃnāhaṃ na tyajati. In the RGVV this quote follows after the one mentioned below in n.­29. The Tibetan text in the Tengyur (translated by Sajjana and Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab) differs in several respects from the Tibetan rendering here in the sūtra itself (translated by Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, Buddhaprabhā, and Yeshé Dé).
n.­27
The Degé Kangyur Tibetan reads chos rnam par bsgrub pa ’di la, but the Tibetan of the quote in the RGVV reads gzhan du mi ’gyur ba’i chos ’di la.
n.­28
The quoted passage mentioned above in n.­26 ends here, although as noted in n.­29 below the following passage is also quoted in the same text (but in reverse order).
n.­29
The Sanskrit of the passage starting with this sentence and continuing down to the end of 10.­9 survives as a quote (47.6–48.13) in Asaṅga’s Ratna­gotra­vibhāga-mahā­yānottara­tantra­śāstra (Toh 4025). In that text this quote precedes the one mentioned above in n.­26.
n.­30
The quoted passage mentioned in n.­29 ends here.
n.­31
This and the other dhāraṇīs in the English translation represent a transcription of the phonetic Sanskrit provided in the Degé version of the Tibetan translation. No attempt has been made to compare it to other versions of the dhāraṇī, nor has it been edited to conform with normative Sanskrit orthography and syntax.
b.

Bibliography

’phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Toh 152, Degé Kangyur vol. 58 (mdo sde, pha), folios 1.b–115.b.

’phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. 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. 58, pp. 3–270.

’phags pa blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. In bka’ ’gyur (stog pho brang bris ma). Vol. 66 (mdo sde ba), folios 1.b– 166.a.

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.

Pekar Sangpo (pad dkar bzang po). mdo sde spyi’i rnam bzhag. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang [Minorities Publishing House], 2006.

Braarvig, Jens (tr.). The Teaching of Akṣaya­mati (Akṣaya­mati­nirdeśa, Toh 175). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.

Conze, Edward. Buddhist Texts Through the Ages. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1955.

Griffiths, Arlo. “Epigraphy: Southeast Asia.” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, edited by Jonathan Silk et al., vol. 1, Literature and Languages, 988–1009. Leiden: Brill, 2015.

Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.

Ju Mipham (’jam mgon mi pham rgya mtsho). Speech of Delight: Mipham’s Commentary on Śāntarakṣita’s Ornament of the Middle Way. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2004.

Lancaster, Lewis R. The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue. Accessed July 18, 2023.

Lamotte, Étienne. The Treatise on the Great Virtue of Wisdom of Nāgārjuna (Mahā­prajñā­pāramitā­śāstra), Vol. 5. English translation from the French (Le Traité de La Grande Vertu De Sagesse, Louvain 1944–1980) by Gelongma Karma Migme Chodron, 2007.

Skilling, Peter. “Sāgaramati-paripṛcchā Inscriptions from Kedah, Malaysia.” In Reading Slowly: A Festschrift for Jens. E. Braarvig, edited by Lutz Edzard, Jens W. Borgland, and Ute Hüsken. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2018

Tsongkhapa. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Vol. 1. Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2000.

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84000. The Questions of Sāgaramati (Sāgaramati­paripṛcchā, blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa, Toh 152). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023. https://84000.co/translation/toh152/UT22084-058-001-end-notes.Copy
84000. The Questions of Sāgaramati (Sāgaramati­paripṛcchā, blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa, Toh 152). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023, 84000.co/translation/toh152/UT22084-058-001-end-notes.Copy
84000. (2023) The Questions of Sāgaramati (Sāgaramati­paripṛcchā, blo gros rgya mtshos zhus pa, Toh 152). (Dharmachakra Translation Committee, Trans.). Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. https://84000.co/translation/toh152/UT22084-058-001-end-notes.Copy
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