The Stem Array
Sudarśana
Toh 44-45
Degé Kangyur, vol. 37 (phal chen, ga), folios 274.b–396.a; vol. 38 (phal chen, a), folios 1.b–363.a
- Surendrabodhi
- Vairocanarakṣita
- Bandé Yeshé Dé
- Jinamitra
Imprint
Translated by Peter Alan Roberts
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2021
Current version v 1.0.30 (2024)
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
In this lengthy final chapter of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, while the Buddha Śākyamuni is in meditation in Śrāvastī, Mañjuśrī leaves for South India, where he meets the young layman Sudhana and instructs him to go to a certain kalyāṇamitra or “good friend,” who then directs Sudhana to another such friend. In this way, Sudhana successively meets and receives teachings from fifty male and female, child and adult, human and divine, and monastic and lay kalyāṇamitras, including night goddesses surrounding the Buddha and the Buddha’s wife and mother. The final three in the succession of kalyāṇamitras are the three bodhisattvas Maitreya, Mañjuśrī, and Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra’s recitation of the Samantabhadracaryāpraṇidhāna (“The Prayer for Completely Good Conduct”) concludes the sūtra.
Acknowledgements
Translated by Peter Alan Roberts and edited by Emily Bower, who was also the project manager. Ling Lung Chen was consultant for the Chinese, and Tracy Davis copyedited the final draft. The translator would like to thank Patrick Carré and Douglas Osto, who have both spent decades studying and translating this sūtra, for their advice and help.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Richard and Carol Weingarten; of Jamyang Sun, Manju Chandra Sun and Siqi Sun; and of an anonymous donor, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Text Body
Chapter 45: The Stem Array
Sudarśana
Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, contemplated the profound conduct of wisdom of the bodhisattvas, contemplated reaching the profound basis of the realm of phenomena, contemplated all773 profound subtle wisdom, contemplated the profound aspect of worldly conceptualization, contemplated the profound ground774 that is without creation, contemplated the profound ground of the stream of the mind, contemplated the profound ground of dependent origination, contemplated the profound true775 ground of nature, contemplated the profound true ground of the terminology776 of beings, contemplated the profound ground of the adorning array of the realm of phenomena, contemplated the profound ground of dependence on the processes of the body, and contemplated the profound ground of the various transformations of the body.
Eventually he arrived at the land of Trinayana. He searched for the bhikṣu Sudarśana throughout the land, throughout the towns, throughout the cities, throughout the marketplaces, throughout the villages, [F.392.b] throughout the cattle pens, throughout the ashrams of ṛṣis, throughout the regions and districts, throughout the banks of rivers, throughout mountain caves, and throughout great forests until he saw the bhikṣu Sudarśana inside a thick forest.
The bhikṣu Sudarśana was a young adult, handsome, good looking, and attractive. His deep black hair curled to the right. His head was like a parasol. There was an uṣṇīṣa on the crown of his head. His forehead was broad. His eyes were wide and deep black. His eyelashes were like the eyelashes of a cow. His nose was lovely, high, and prominent.777 His lips were the beautiful color of vermilion and perfectly proportioned. His teeth were even, without gaps, very white, and a full forty in number. He had jaws like a lion. His cheeks were full and wide. His eyebrows were long, beautiful, and curved like a bow. He had the mark of the ūrṇā hair the color of the moon. His earlobes were long and hung loosely. His face was bright and beautiful like the full moon. His throat was round and as beautiful as a conch. His heart area was adorned by the śrīvatsa. His upper body was like the upper body of a lion. His flesh between the shoulder blades was muscular. His shoulders were bulky and rounded. His arms were long. His fingers were webbed. His hands and feet were adorned by wheels. His hands and feet were soft, young, and thick. He had the seven prominences. His waist was slim like a vajra’s. His body was big and straight. His thighs were round. His penis was retracted into his body. His calves were like the calves of a female blackbuck. His fingers were long. The heels of his feet were wide. He had a halo a fathom in width. He was golden in color. Each of his body hairs was curled upward to the right. [F.393.a] He had the circular symmetry778 of a king banyan tree. He was adorned with the signs and features of a superior being. His eyes did not blink or waver. He remained in a state of mindfulness. He was like the Himalayas, the king of mountains, adorned with various grasses, forests, herbs, and vines. His intellect was vast. He had an invincible range and scope of wisdom. The display of the field of his voice was like thunder from the clouds. His mind was free of all vacillation, conceit, instability, or frivolity. He had an unalloyed range of wisdom. He had attained the illumination of the vast range of the wisdom779 of buddhahood. He was continuously motivated to ripen and guide all beings. He had developed the vast780 field of great compassion.
He was dedicated to possessing the way of the Dharma of all the tathāgatas. He was dedicated to bringing the light of wisdom to all beings. He was mindful of the way of the tathāgatas. He was on the meditation walkway. He was walking neither too fast nor too slow, serenely and steadily.781 He was dressed like the Śuddhāvāsa devas.
He was encircled by devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, Śakra, Brahmā, the world guardians, humans, and nonhumans.
When Sudarśana was going to change the direction in which he was walking, the devas of the directions turned782 the field of directions around. The devas of walking received his footsteps on precious lotuses. The devas who cause fire, who have unceasing disks of light, dispelled obscuring darkness. The devas of the forest of Jambudhvaja [F.393.b] sent down a rain of many flowers. The devas of the earth, who have the essence of stability, revealed many sources of jewels. The devas of the sky, who have the splendor of complete brightness, adorned the surface of the sky. The devas of the ocean, who are the source of splendor, scattered great precious jewels. The devas of Sumeru, who have the essence of stainlessness, placed their hands together and paid homage. The devas of the air, who have unimpeded power, spread breezes that scattered perfume, incense, and flowers. The devas of the night,783 with their bodies bedecked in jewelry, bowed down in homage. The devas of the daytime, who have the disk that always causes beings to wake were holding banners of precious jewels that illuminated the directions and standing in the sky in order to create light.
Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, approached the bhikṣu Sudarśana and bowed his head onto the surface of the bhikṣu Sudarśana’s feet, covered the surface of the bhikṣu Sudarśana’s feet with kisses,784 and wiped785 them well.
Then Sudhana sat down before the bhikṣu Sudarśana and with his hands placed together said, “Ārya, I am set on the highest, complete enlightenment and am seeking bodhisattva conduct.
“Ārya, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas! Explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”
The bhikṣu Sudarśana said, “Noble one, having reached adulthood, I am newly entered into the homeless life. [F.394.a]
“Noble one, I have in this one lifetime practiced celibacy before as many tathāgatas as there are grains of sand786 in thirty-eight Ganges Rivers. I practiced celibacy with some for a day and night. I practiced celibacy with some for seven days. I practiced celibacy with some for half a month. I practiced celibacy with some for a month. I practiced celibacy with some for a year. I practiced celibacy with some for a hundred years. I practiced celibacy with some for a thousand years. I practiced celibacy with some for a hundred thousand years. I practiced celibacy with some for ten million years. I practiced celibacy with some for a quintillion years. I practiced celibacy with some for an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of years. I practiced celibacy with some for an intermediate kalpa. I practiced celibacy with some for half a kalpa. I practiced celibacy with some for a kalpa. I heard the Dharma from all those tathāgatas and received their instructions and teachings.
“I have purified an array of prayers. I have purified the field of conduct that enters the range of realization.787
“I have completed an ocean of the perfections. I have perceived the miraculous manifestations of complete buddhahood. I have held their wheels of Dharma each distinct from another.
“I have realized the equality of their strengths. I have held their teachings for as long as their Dharma remained.
“I have accomplished, through the power of the accomplishment of the samādhi of the field of prayer, the previous prayers of all those tathāgatas for the purification of my own buddha realm. [F.394.b]
“I have accomplished, through the power of entering the samādhi of entering all conducts, the past practice of bodhisattva conduct by all those tathāgatas for the purification of my own conduct.
“I have accomplished, through the power of setting forth on completely good conduct, the pure perfections of all those tathāgatas.
“Moreover, noble one, because of the gateway of the perfectly observant wisdom, while I am walking on this meditation walkway there come toward me the gateways of the continuums of all directions.
“Through the arising of a single aspiration, the gateways of the continuums of all world realms are moving further away in order to purify the transcendence of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of world realms through the power of accomplishing great prayers.
“In one instant of mind, through the power of accomplishing the bodhisattva’s completely good conduct and prayers, I directly perceive an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of gateways of the ways of conduct among beings in order to complete the wisdoms of the ten strengths.
“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of accomplishing the prayers to make offerings to past and future buddhas, I directly perceive the vision of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of buddha realms788 in order to make offerings to, serve, and honor tathāgatas as numerous as the atoms in an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of buddha realms. [F.395.a]
“Through the arising of a single aspiration, there falls rain from the clouds of Dharma of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of tathāgatas through the power of accomplishing the prayers for789 the mental retention of holding the Dharma wheels that790 follow countless ways of the Dharma.
“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayers to fulfill the bodhisattva conduct that are like magical illusions,791 I directly perceive the ocean of the conduct of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of bodhisattvas in order to purify all fields of conduct.
“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayer to concentrate all the fields of samādhi through a single samādhi, I directly perceive the ocean of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of samādhis in order to purify all fields of samādhi.
“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayer to attain the power of the highest mindfulness, I directly perceive the ocean of an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of powers in order to manifest all the wheels of the powers and the wheels of time.
“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayer for the end of endless beings, I directly perceive an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of wheels of time in order to turn the wheels of Dharma in all times.
“Through the arising of a single aspiration, through the power of the accomplishment of the prayer for the light of the wisdom of realization, I directly perceive an anabhilāpyānabhilāpyaparivarta of oceans of all three792 times in order to establish the three times in all world realms in a single time.793 [F.395.b]
“However, noble one, I know only this bodhisattva liberation called the never-extinguished lamp of wisdom.794 How could I know or describe the qualities of the bodhisattvas whose aspiration is like a vajra; who have been born into the family that is the family of all the tathāgatas; who have the power of unceasing life; who have a lamp of wisdom that is never extinguished; who have indestructible, unbreakable bodies; who have accomplished a physical form that is like an illusion; who have bodies that have the limbs and smaller physical parts that accord with being phenomena dependent on causes; who have bodies that are perceived in accordance with the wishes of beings; who demonstrate forms, bodies, colors, shapes, and circumferences that are like those of all beings; who have bodies that are unharmed by burning embers, flames, poison, or weapons; whose bodies are as hard as vajras and as invincible795 as the Cakravāla mountain range; who make the power of all māras and adversaries ineffective; who resemble a mountain of Jambu River gold; who have bodies that are superior to those of all beings; who are perceived as a refuge796 by all beings; who are perceived and heard from all sides; who are looked up to with admiration by797 all beings; who are the source of the clouds of all the Dharma; who illuminate every direction; who appear beautiful as a result of destroying the mountains of obscurations; who appear as supreme heroes because they defeat all the roots of demerit; who are a joy to see because they originate from vast roots of merit; and who are as rare as fig flowers?”
“Depart, noble one. In this southern region there is a city called Sumukha in the land called Śramaṇamaṇḍala. [F.396.a]
“There dwells a boy by the name of Indriyeśvara. Go to him and ask him, ‘How does a bodhisattva train in bodhisattva conduct? How does a bodhisattva practice it?’ ”
Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, was dedicated to the pure prowess and practice of the bodhisattvas. His mind was illuminated by the light of the power of the bodhisattvas. In his heart he had mastered the unconquerable fortitude of the bodhisattvas. His mind was indefatigable because of the excellent armor of the resolution of the bodhisattvas. He was dedicated to the stability and vastness of the resolute aspiration of the bodhisattvas. He had the aspiration to possess all the rain from the clouds of bodhisattva conduct. He had the continuity of never having enough of the rain from the clouds of Dharma of the bodhisattvas. He had the aspiration directed toward realizing all the qualities of the bodhisattvas. He longed to send himself to be the embodiment of the charioteers for all beings. He longed to lead beings out beyond the great forest of saṃsāra. He never had enough of gazing upon, listening to, and honoring kalyāṇamitras. He had developed an immeasurable veneration for the Dharma.
Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, bowed his head to the feet of the bhikṣu Sudarśana, circumambulated the bhikṣu Sudarśana many hundreds of thousands of times, keeping him to his right, and, looking back again and again, departed from the presence of the bhikṣu Sudarśana. [B1] [V38] [F.1.b]
Colophon
This was translated and revised by the Indian upādhyāyas Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi and by the chief editor Lotsawa Bandé Yeshé Dé and others.2232
Tibetan Editor’s Colophon
A Multitude of Buddhas is the marvelous essence of the final, ultimate, definitive wheel from among the three wheels of the Sugata’s teaching. It has many other titles, such as The Mahāvaipulya Basket, The Earring, The Lotus Adornment, and so on.
It has seven sections:2233 A Multitude of Tathāgatas,2234 The Vajra Banner Dedication,2235 The Teaching of the Ten Bhūmis,2236 The Teaching of Completely Good Conduct,2237 [F.362.b] The Teaching of the Birth and Appearance of the Tathāgatas,2238 The Transcendence of the World,2239 and Stem Array.2240 These are subdivided into forty-five chapters.
According to Butön Rinpoché and others, it contains thirty-nine thousand and thirty verses, a hundred and thirty fascicles, and an additional thirty verses. In the Tshalpa Kangyur edition there are a hundred and fifteen fascicles, the Denkarma edition has a hundred and twenty-seven fascicles,2241 and present-day editions have various numbers of fascicles.2242
This sūtra was first received from Ārya Nāgārjuna by Paṇḍita Buddhabhadra and Paṇḍita Śikṣānanda (652–710), and they both translated it into Chinese. It is taught that Surendrabodhi and Vairocanarakṣita became principal editors for a Chinese translation.
As for the lineage of the text, there is the lineage from China: The perfect Buddha, Ārya Mañjuśrī, Lord Nāgārjuna, the two paṇḍitas mentioned above, and Heshang Tushun. Then the lineage continued through others until Üpa Sangyé Bum received it from Heshang Gying-ju. Then that lineage was passed on through Lotsawa Chokden and has continued up to the present time.
The lineage from India is as follows:
It was passed from Nāgārjuna to Āryadeva, and then Mañjuśrīkīrti, and so on, until Bari Lotsawa received it from Vajrāsana. It is taught that the lineage then continued through Chim Tsöndrü Sengé, the great Sakya Lord,2243 and so on.
However, I have not seen any other text or history of a translation made by any other lotsawa or paṇḍita other than those listed in the colophon to this translation into Tibetan.
The king of Jangsa Tham2244 had a complete Kangyur made that was based on the Tshalpa Kangyur. At the present time this is known as the Lithang Tshalpa Kangyur (1609–14). I considered this to be a reliable source and so have made it the basis for this edition. However, it has many omissions, accretions, and misspellings, and therefore I have at this time corrected it by seeking out many older editions.
There are variant Indian texts and conflicting translations, and I have not been able to ascertain from them a definitive single meaning or correct words. Nevertheless, this text is nothing but a valid edition.
There are varying translations of terms that have been left unrevised, as there is no contradiction in meaning. For example, it has rgyan instead of bkod pa;2245 ’byam klas instead of rab ’byams;2246 so so yang dag par rig pa instead of tha dad pa yang dag par shes pa;2247 thugs for dgongs pa;2248 [F.363.a] nyin mtshan dang zla ba yar kham mar kham dang instead of nyin mtshan dang yud du yan man dang;2249 and tha snyad instead of rnam par dpyod pa.2250
Sanskrit words have many cases and tenses, so that although the Tibetan lotsawas and paṇḍitas, who had the eyes of the Dharma, translated their meaning, their tenses, cases, and so on are difficult to discern. Those are the majority of the examples of uncertainty, and there are also a few other kinds, but they are nevertheless in accord with Tibetan grammar.
In most texts there are many archaic words, so that the meaning of the translation is not clear, but there is a consistency when those words are all in archaic Tibetan. However, there appears to have occurred in later times a strong adulteration of the text so that there is a mixture of archaic and modern forms. There are also unreliable placements of the shad mark that differentiates clauses, but all these have been left as they are because these faults are few and minor. Therefore, this revision has been diligently edited without becoming analogous to knocking down the ancient megaliths of the southern regions.
May this remain for the entire kalpa within the circle of the Cakravāla Mountains, as bright as the sun and moon, as the glory of the merit of nonsectarian beings and the precious teaching of the Buddha.
This was printed in the water tiger year called dge byed (1722),2251 in the presence of Tenpa Tsering (1678–1738), the divine Dharma king who rules in accordance with the Dharma, who has the vast, superior wealth of the ten good actions, and who is a bodhisattva as a ruler of humans and the source of happiness in the four regions of greater Tibet.
This was written by the attendant Gelong Tashi Wangchuk, who in the process of revision was commanded to become its supervisor.
Ye dharmahetuprabhavā hetun teṣān tathāgato hy avadat. Teṣāñ ca yo nirodha evaṃ vādī mahāśramanaḥ.
Bibliography
Kangyur Texts
sdong po bkod pa (Gaṇḍavyūha). Toh 44, ch. 45, Degé Kangyur vol. 37 (phal chen, ga), folios 274.b–396.a; vol. 38 (phal chen, a), folios 1.b–363.a.
sdong po bkod 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. 37, pp. 590–853; vol. 38, pp. 3–800.
sdong po bkod pa. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 39 (phal chen, ca), folios 22.b–352.a; vol. 40 (phal chen, cha), folios 1.a–310.a.
sangs rgyas phal po che zhe bya ba shin tu rgyas pa chen po’i mdo (Buddhāvataṃsakanāmamahāvaipulyasūtra) [The Mahāvaipulya Sūtra “A Multitude of Buddhas”]. Toh 44, Degé Kangyur vols. 35–38 (phal chen, ka–a). Stok Palace Kangyur vols. 35–40 (phal chen, ka–cha).
dga’ bo la mngal na gnas pa bstan pa (Nandagarbhāvakrantinirdeśa) [The Sūtra on Being in the Womb That Was Taught to Nanda]. Toh 57, Degé Kangyur vol. 41 (dkon brtsegs, ga), folios 205.b–236.b.
rgya cher rol pa (Lalitavistara). Toh 95, Degé Kangyur vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha), folios 1.b–216.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2013).
snying rje chen po’i pad ma dkar po (Mahākaruṇāpuṇḍarīka) [White Lotus of Compassion Sūtra]. Toh 111, Degé Kangyur vol. 50 (mde sde, cha), folios 56.a–128.b.
ting nge ’dzin gyi rgyal po’i mdo (Samādhirājasūtra). Toh 127, Degé Kangyur vol. 55 (mdo sde, da), folios 1.b–170.b. English translation in Roberts (2018a).
dam pa’i chos pad ma dkar po (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka) [Lotus Sūtra/Lotus of the Good Dharma]. Toh 113, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1.b–180.b. English translation in Roberts (2018b).
bde ba can gyi bkod pa (Sukhāvatīvyūha). Toh 115, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 195.b–200.b. English translation in Sakya Pandita Translation Group (2011).
rnam par snang mdzad chen po mngon par rdzogs par byang chub pa rnam par sprul pa byin gyis rlob pa shin tu rgyas pa mdo sde’i dbang po’i rgyal po (Mahāvairocanābhisambodhivikurvatīadhiṣṭhānavaipulyasūtraindrarājānāmadharmaparyāya). Toh 494, Degé Kangyur vol. 86 (rgyud, tha), folios 151.b–260.a.
phung po gsum pa’i mdo (Triskandhakasūtra) [The Confession of the Three Heaps]. A reference to a passage (1.43 et seq.) in the Vinaya-viniścayopāli-paripṛcchā, Toh 68, Degé Kangyur vol. 43 (dkon brtsegs, ca) folios 120.a–121.a. English translation in UCSB Buddhist Studies Translation Group (2021).
byang chub sems dpa’i spyod yul gyi thabs kyi yul la rnam par ’phrul pa bstan pa (Bodhisattvagocaraupāyaviṣayavikurvāṇanirdeśa/Satyaka Sūtra) [The Teaching of the Miraculous Manifestation of the Range of Methods in the Field of Activity of the Bodhisattvas]. Toh 146, Degé Kangyur vol. 57 (mdo sde, pa), folios 82.a–141.b. English translation in Jamspal (2010).
tshangs pa’i dra ba’i mdo (Brahmajālasūtra). Toh 352, Degé Kangyur vol. 76 (mdo sde, aH), folios 70.b–86.a.
tshe dang ldan pa dga’ bo la mngal du ’jug pa bstan pa (Āyuṣmannandagarbhāvakrantinirdeśa) [The Sūtra on Entering the Womb That Was Taught to Āyuṣmat Nanda]. Toh 58, Degé Kangyur vol. 41 (dkon brtsegs, ga), folios 237.a–248.a. English translation in Kritzer 2021.
bzang po smon lam (Bhadracaryāpraṇidhāna). Toh 1095, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs, waM), folios 262.b–266.a.
shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Toh 9, Degé Kangyur vols. 26–28 (nyi khri, ka–ga). English Translation in Padmakara Translation Group (2023).
sa bcu’i le’u (Daśabhūmika) [Ten Bhūmi Sūtra]. Toh 44, ch. 31, Degé Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, ga), folios 46.a–283.a. English translation in Roberts (2021).
sems kyi rgyal pos dris nas grangs la ’jug pa bstan pa. Toh 44, ch. 36, Degé Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, kha), folios 348.b–393.b. Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) Kangyur vol. 36 (phal chen, kha), pp. 807–25.
Sanskrit Editions of the Gaṇḍavyūha
Vaidya, P. L., ed. Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1960.
Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra. GRETIL edition input by members of the Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Input Project, based on the edition by P. L. Vaidya. Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute, 1960. Last updated July 31, 2020.
Suzuki, D. T., and Hokei Idzumi, eds. The Gaṇḍavyūha Sūtra. rev. ed. Tokyo: Society for the Publication of Sacred Books of the World, 1949.
Chinese Editions of the Gaṇḍavyūha and Commentaries
Da fangguang fohuayan jing 大方廣佛華嚴經 (Avataṃsaka Sūtra), translated by Buddhabhadra. Taishō 278.
Da fangguang fohuayan jing 大方廣佛華嚴經 (Avataṃsaka Sūtra), translated by Śikṣānanda. Taishō 279.
Da fangguang fohuayan jing 大方廣佛華嚴經 (Avataṃsaka Sūtra), translated by Prajñā. Taishō 293.
Da fangguang fohuayan jing ru fajie pin 大方廣佛華嚴經入法界品 (Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Gaṇḍavyūha Chapter), translated by Divākara. Taishō 295.
Da fangguang fohuayan jing busiyi fo jingjie fen 大方廣佛華嚴經不思議佛境界分 (Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Chapter on The Teaching on the Inconceivability of the Buddhadharma), translated by Devaprajñā. Taishō 300.
Da fangguang fohuayan jing busiyi fo jingjie fen 大方廣佛華嚴經入法界品四十二字觀門 (Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Contemplation on the 42 Syllables of the Gaṇḍavyūha), translated by Amoghavajra. Taishō 1019.
Cheng Guan 澄觀. Da fangguang fohuayan jingshu 大方廣佛華嚴經疏 (Commentary on the Avataṃsaka Sūtra). Taishō 1735.
Translations of the Gaṇḍavyūha
Carré, Patrick. Soûtra de l’Entrée dans la dimension absolue. 2 vols.: I. Introduction et Traité de Li Tongxuan XXII–XL; II. Soûtra et glossaire. Plazac, France: Éditions Padmakara, 2019.
Cleary, Thomas. “Entry into the Realm of Reality” (chapter 39), in The Flower Ornament Scripture: A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra, pp. 1135–1532. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1993.
Osto, Douglas (2010). “A New Translation of the Sanskrit Bhadracarī with Introduction and Notes.” New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies 12, no. 2 (2010): 1–21.
———(2020). “The Supreme Array Scripture.” D. E. Osto. Accessed July 6, 2021.
Related Works in Tibetan
Madhyavyutpatti (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa). Toh 4347, Degé Tengyur, vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co) folios 131.b–160.a.
Mahāvyutpatti (bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa chen po). Toh 4346, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co), folios 1.b–131.a.
Ngorchen Könchok Lhündrup (ngor chen dkon mchog lhun grub) and Ngorchen Sangyé Phuntsok (ngor chen sangs rgyas phun tshogs). Ngor chos ’byung: A History of Buddhism, being the text of dam pa’i chos kyi byung tshul legs par bshad pa bstan pa rgya mtshor ’jug pa’i gru chen zhes bya ba rtsom ’phro kha skon bcas. New Delhi: Ngawang Topgay, 1973.
Pekar Zangpo (pad dkar bzang po). mdo sde spyi’i rnam bzhag: bstan pa spyi’i rgyas byed las mdo sde spyi’i rnam bzhag bka’ bsdu ba bzhi pa zhes bye ba’i bstan bcos. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang (Minorities Publishing House), 2006.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Situ Chökyi Jungné (si tu chos kyi ’byung gnas). “sde dge bka’ ’gyur gyi dkar chags.” In ta’i si tu pa kun mkhyen chos kyi ’byung gnas bstan pa’i nyin byed kyi bka’ ’bum, vol. 9, folios 1.b–224.b. Kangra, Himachal Pradesh: Palpung Sungrab Nyamso Khang, 1990.
Related Works in Other Languages
Burnouf, Eugene. Le lotus de la bonne loi. Paris: L’Imprimerie Nationale, 1852.
Carré, Patrick. Notes sur la traduction française de l’Avataṃsakasūtra. Forthcoming.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. 2 vols. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970.
Fontein, Jan (2012). Entering the Dharmadhātu: A Study of the “Gandavyūha” Reliefs of Borobudur. Leiden: Brill, 2012.
———(1967). The Pilgrimage of Sudhana: A Study of Gaṇḍavyūha Illustrations in China, Japan and Java. The Hague: Mouton, 1967.
Gifford, Julie A. Buddhist Practice and Visual Culture: The Visual Rhetoric of Borobodur. Abingdon: Routledge, 2011.
Gómez, Luis Óscar. “Selected Verses from the Gaṇḍavyūha: Text, Critical Apparatus, and Translation.” PhD diss., Yale University, 1967.
Gómez, Luis Óscar, and Hiram Woodward Jr., eds. Barabuḍur: History and Significance of a Buddhist Monument. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1981.
Hamar, Imre. “The History of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra: Shorter and Larger Texts.” In Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism, edited by Imre Hamar, 139–68. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007.
Harrison, Paul. “Searching for the Origins of the Mahāyāna: What Are We Looking For?” The Eastern Buddhist 28, no. 1 (1995): 48–69.
Kern, H. Saddharma-Puṇḍarīka or the Lotus of the Good Law. Sacred Books of the East 21. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1884.
Kim, Hyung-Hi. La carrière du Bodhisattva dans l’Avataṃsaka-sūtra: Materiaux pour l’étude de l’Avataṃsaka-sūtra et ses commentaires chinois. Bern: Peter Lang, 2013.
Kritzer, Robert, trans. The Sūtra on Entry into the Womb (Garbhāvakrāntisūtra, Toh 58). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Jamspal, Lozang. The Range of the Bodhisattva, A Mahāyāna Sūtra: Ārya-bodhisattva-gocara, Introduction and Translation. New York: The American Institute of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies, Tibet House US, 2010.
Lewis, Todd T. “Contributions to the Study of Popular Buddhism: The Newar Buddhist Festival of Guṃlā Dharma.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 16, no. 2 (Winter 1993): 309–54.
McMahan, David. “Transpositions of Metaphor and Imagery in the Gaṇḍavyūha and Tantric Buddhist Practice.” Pacific World Journal Third Series, no. 6 (Fall 2004): 181–94.
Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit–English Dictionary. Reprint of 1899 edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976.
Osto, Douglas (2008). Power, Wealth and Women in Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra. Oxfordshire: Routledge Critical Studies in Buddhism, 2008.
———(2009a). “ ‘Proto-Tantric’ Elements in the Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra.” Journal of Religious History 33, no. 2 (June 2009): 165–77.
———(2009b). “The Supreme Array Scripture: A New Interpretation of the Title ‘Gaṇḍavyūha-sūtra.’ ” Journal of Indian Philosophy 37 (2009): 273–90.
Ōtake, Susumu. “On the Origin and Early Development of the Buddhāvataṃsaka-Sūtra.” In Reflecting Mirrors: Perspectives on Huayan Buddhism, edited by Imre Hamar, 87–107. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007.
Padmakara Translation Group, trans. The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-five Thousand Lines (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā, Toh 9). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Revianur, A. “Forms and types of Borobudur’s stupas.” In Cultural Dynamics in a Globalized World, edited by Melani Budianta et al., 577–84. New York: Routledge, 2018.
Roberts, Peter Alan, trans. (2018a). The King of Samādhis Sūtra (Samādhirājasūtra, Toh 127). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
———, trans. (2018b). The White Lotus of the Good Dharma (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, Toh 113). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
———, trans. (2021).The Ten Bhūmis (Daśabhūmika, Toh 44-31). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Sakya Pandita Translation Group, trans. The Display of the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī (Sukhāvatīvyūha, Toh 115). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2011.
Shastri, Bahadur Chand. “The Identification of the First Sixteen Reliefs on the Second Main-Wall of Barabudur.” Bijarden tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch-Indië (Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia) 89, no. 1 (January 1932): 173–81.
Steinkellner, E. Sudhana’s Miraculous Journey in the Temple of Ta Pho: The Inscriptional Text of the Tibetan Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra Edited with Introductory Remarks. Rome: Instituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1995.
Tsugunari Kubo and Akira Yuyama, trans. The Lotus Sutra (Taishō Volume 9, Number 262). Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2007.
UCSB Buddhist Studies Translation Group, trans. Determining the Vinaya: Upāli’s Questions (Vinayaviniścayopāliparipṛcchā, Toh 68). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.
Un, Ko. Little Pilgrim. Berkeley: Parallax Press, 2005.
Van Norden, Bryan, and Nicholaos Jones. “Huayan Buddhism.” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019 Edition).
Walser, Joseph. Genealogies of Mahāyāna Buddhism: Emptiness, Power and the Question of Origin. New York: Routledge, 2018.
Williams, Paul. Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. New York: Routledge, 2009.