The Single Stanza
Toh 323
Degé Kangyur, vol. 72 (mdo sde, sa), folio 204.a
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First published 2025
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
This text was translated by the Pema Yeshé Dé Translation Team. Giuliano Proença translated the text from Tibetan into English and prepared the introduction, the glossary, and the notes.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Andreas Doctor edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
Introduction
The Single Stanza is a praise to the Buddha in one verse. It states that there is no ascetic equal to the Buddha, neither among the gods nor in the ordinary world.
The Single Stanza is quoted in the Mahāvibhāṣā, so it must have been composed by the third century.1 It is cited in Vasubandhu’s Gāthāsaṃgrahaśāstra (Toh 4102), the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (Toh 4090), and several other Abhidharma works,2 and it also appears in the Avadānaśataka (Toh 343). Moreover, there are two Indian commentaries on The Single Stanza in the Tengyur, one attributed to Vasubandhu3 and the other to Dignāga,4 which further attests to its importance.
Kano concludes that The Single Stanza was part of a set of five texts used for recitation in India.5 Others in the set were The Dhāraṇī of the Six Gates (Toh 141, 526, 916),6 The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī (Toh 143, 611, 918),7 The Four Stanzas (Toh 324),8 and The Prayer of Good Conduct (Toh 1095, 4377).9 Initially, these five texts circulated individually. However, they had become popular in India as a set by the time of Advayavajra or Ratnākaraśānti (eleventh century) and were later incorporated into the dhāraṇī collections of Nepal.
The Sanskrit text of The Single Stanza is extant in several manuscripts from Nepal. Gergely Hidas edited one of these manuscripts as part of his edition of two dhāraṇī collections.10 Kazuo Kano has also published a critical edition of the Sanskrit text of The Single Stanza,11 together with a Japanese translation. The Sanskrit text aligns closely with the Tibetan translation of The Single Stanza.
The canonical version of The Single Stanza closely matches the version found in the Tibetan translation of Vasubandhu’s commentary, which is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma catalogs.12 Therefore, it is likely that the Tibetan translation of The Single Stanza was also completed by the early ninth century. The Single Stanza is found in the Sūtra section of the Kangyurs of the Tshalpa, Thempangma, and mixed lines, and in that of the Phukdrak Kangyur. Some Western Tibetan collections also include The Single Stanza.13 It is not known who translated The Single Stanza into Tibetan, for neither the colophons nor Tibetan historical works mention the translators.14
The Tibetan scholar Tāranātha (1575–1634) composed a commentary on The Single Stanza as well as sequential commentaries on three of the other five texts in the above-mentioned set,15 corroborating Kano’s view that these texts were seen as related.16 The importance of The Single Stanza and the other texts in the set for recitation is evident. In Tibet, they are included in extracts from sūtra and tantra (gces btus), collected liturgical texts (chos spyod), collections of mantras and dhāraṇīs for recitation, and collections of sādhanas. They are also sometimes mentioned as texts for recitation in preliminary practices.
This English translation is based on the Degé print and Kano’s Sanskrit edition, in consultation with the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), the Phukdrak and the Stok Palace manuscripts, as well as Vasubandhu’s commentary on The Single Stanza.
Text Body
The Translation
Homage to the Three Jewels!17
Thus ends “The Single Stanza.”
Notes
Bibliography
Source Texts
tshigs su bcad pa gcig pa (Ekagāthā). Toh 323, Degé Kangyur vol. 72 (mdo sde, sa), folio 204.a.
tshigs su bcad pa gcig 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. 72, p. 585.
Kano, Kazuo 加納和雄. “Ekagāthā, Caturgāthā, Gāthādvayadhāraṇī: Jūichi seiki no indo bukkyō ni okeru dokuju kyōten no setto, Ekagāthā, Caturgāthā, Gāthādvayadhāraṇī: 11世紀のインド仏教における読誦経典のセット [Caturgāthā, Gāthādvayadhāraṇī: A Set of Recitation Sūtras in the 11th century India].” Mikkyō bunka 密教文化 227: 49–88.
Related Texts
Dignāga. e ka gA tha’i don ’grel (Ekagāthāṭīkā). Peking 2063, Peking 1724 (Qianlong) Tengyur, vol. 1 (bstod tshogs, ka), folios 295.b–296.a.
Vasubandhu. tshigs su bcad pa gcig pa’i bshad pa (Ekagāthābhāṣya). Toh 3988, Degé Tengyur vol. 113 (mdo ’grel, ngi), folios 63.b–64.b.
Vasubandhu. bstan bcos tshigs su bcad pa bsdus pa zhes bya ba (Gāthāsaṃgrahaśāstra). Toh 4102, Degé Tengyur vol. 149 (mdo ’grel, thu), folios 223.a–224.a.
Other References and Translations
84000. The Dhāraṇī of the Six Gates (Ṣaṇmukhīdhāraṇī, sgo drug pa zhes bya ba’i gzungs, Toh 141, 526, 916). Translated by the Pema Yeshé Dé Translation Team. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
84000. The Four Stanzas (Caturgāthā, tshigs su bcad pa bzhi pa, Toh 324). Translated by Pema Yeshé Dé Translation Team. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025.
84000. The Prayer of Good Conduct (Bhadracaryāpraṇidhāna, bzang spyod smon lam, Toh 1095). Translated by Peter Alan Roberts. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025.
84000. The Two Stanza Dhāraṇī (Gāthādvayadhāraṇī, tshigs su bcad pa gnyis pa’i gzungs, Toh 143). Translated by Pema Yeshé Dé Translation Team. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025.
Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub). chos ’byung (bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i gter mdzod). In The Collected Works of Bu-Ston, vol. 24 (ya), folios 1.b–212.a (pp. 633–1055). New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71. BDRC W22106.
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.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection: The Buddhist Tradition of Spells in the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha Collections. Beyond Boundaries 9. Boston: de Gruyter, 2021.
Jonang Jetsün Tāranātha (jo nang rje btsun tA ra nA tha). gSung ’bum tA ra nA tha (rtag brtan phun tshogs gling gi par ma), vol. 12. C. Namgyal & Tsewang Taru, 1982–87, pp. 709–54. BDRC W22277.
Mahāvyutpatti with sGra sbyor bam po gñis pa. Bibliotheca Polyglotta, University of Oslo. Input by Jens Braarvig and Fredrik Liland, 2010. Last accessed July 7, 2015.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies. University of Vienna. Accessed March 4, 2024.
Yoshimura, Shyuki. The Denkar-Ma: An Oldest Catalogue of the Tibetan Buddhist Canons. Kyoto: Ryukoku University, 1950.
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