The Secrets of the Realized Ones
Chapter 16: The Prediction for Vajrapāṇi, Lord of
the Guhyakas
Toh 47
Degé Kangyur, vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 100.a.–203.a
Imprint
First published 2023
Current version v 1.0.7 (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 sūtra, the narrative largely revolves around the figures of Vajrapāṇi, the yakṣa lord and constant companion of the Buddha, and the Buddha himself. In the first half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi gives a series of teachings on the mysteries or secrets of the body, speech, and mind of bodhisattvas and the realized ones. In the second half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi describes several events in the Buddha’s life: his practice of severe asceticism, his approach to the seat of awakening, his defeat of Māra, his awakening, and his turning of the wheel of Dharma. Following this, the Buddha gives a prediction of Vajrapāṇi’s future awakening as a buddha and travels to Vajrapāṇi’s abode for a meal. Interspersed throughout the sūtra are sermons, dialogues, and marvelous tales exploring a large number of topics and featuring an extensive cast of characters, including several narratives about past lives of Vajrapāṇi, Brahmā Sahāṃpati, and the Buddha himself. The sūtra concludes with the performance of two long dhāraṇīs, one by Vajrapāṇi and one by the Buddha, for the protection and preservation of the Dharma.
Acknowledgements
Translated by David Fiordalis and the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. A first draft was made from the Tibetan by Timothy Hinkle with the assistance of Tulku Tenzin Rigsang and others. David Fiordalis thoroughly revised the translation with close reference to the extant Sanskrit manuscript, as well as the Tibetan translation. Fiordalis also wrote the summary, introduction, annotations, and most of the glossary entries. Fiordalis would like to acknowledge Paul Harrison, who furnished him with his own digital images of the Sanskrit manuscript, and Péter-Dániel Szántó, who generously made his transcription of the manuscript available for readers.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Rory Lindsay and Nathaniel Rich edited the translation and the introduction, and Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
The translation of this text has been made possible through the generous sponsorship of Jane and Leo Tong Chen, and their family.
Text Body
The Teaching of the Mysteries and Secrets of the Realized Ones
Chapter 16: The Prediction for Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas
At that point, some the bodhisattvas in the assembly had the thought, “When will Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, awaken to unsurpassable and perfect awakening and become a perfect buddha? What will his buddha realm be called? What will be his name when he attains awakening? [F.166.a] What will his assembly of bodhisattvas be like?”
Then, knowing with his mind the train of thought in the minds of those bodhisattvas at that moment, the Blessed One smiled. When blessed buddhas smile, it is the nature of things that multicolored rays of light issue from the blessed one’s mouth. So, at that moment variegated, multicolored rays of blue, yellow, red, white, rose madder, brilliant, and shiny light issued forth and spread throughout limitless worlds, reaching upward as far as the Brahmā worlds, before they came back down and, after circling the Blessed One three times, they disappeared into the top of his head.
The bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati, then asked the Blessed One about the meaning of his smile by speaking the following verses:
When this was said, the Blessed One spoke [F.166.b] to the bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati: “While holding up this vajra, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, will worship all the realized ones of this Fortunate Eon, Śāntamati. He will take hold of the true Dharma, he will propagate this teaching of the Dharma on the secret of the realized ones, and he will make immeasurable beings ready for awakening.
“When the Fortunate Eon has ended and the true Dharma of the realized one, Roca, has disappeared, he will be born in the buddha domain of the realized one Akṣobhya. Taking birth in that Abhiratī world along with the realized one Akṣobhya, he will then maintain the teaching of the bodhisattvas on the one hundred and eight seals, go farther down the path to the goal, and become accomplished in understanding the way things are. In that way, he will encounter immeasurable, incalculable realized ones in the future. He will serve them, respect them, honor them, worship them, and he will lead the holy life in their presence. He will safeguard the true Dharma and make immeasurable hundreds of thousands of millions and billions of beings ready for perfect awakening.
“Finally, after traveling through more eons than there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, he will bring to completion the constitutive factors of awakening and awaken to unsurpassable, perfect, and complete awakening. He will appear as a realized one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, one perfected in knowledge and conduct, a sublime one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassable trainer of those ready to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha known as Vajravikrāmin in the world called Samantapariśuddhā, [F.167.a] and this will occur during the era called Viśodhana.
“Moreover, noble son, Samantapariśuddhā, which will be the buddha domain of the blessed realized one Vajravikrāmin, will be wealthy, expansive, bountiful,229 pleasant, well populated with many gods and human beings, and packed with bodhisattvas. This buddha domain will be adorned with the seven precious substances: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, quartz, agate, emerald, and red pearl. The world will be separated into square plots like a chessboard. It will be as flat as the palm of one’s hand and pleasant to touch like the down of the kācalindika bird. It will be adorned with raised flags, victory banners, and parasols fringed with bunches of silken tassels. It will be covered with divine blossoms and jeweled flowers. The air will be filled with the smell of the finest incense, and the sky above it will resound with divine music. This world will be devoid of all the bad realms of rebirth and the unfavorable circumstances for practicing the Dharma. This world will be adorned with dwellings, floating palaces, and parks as though they were ornaments, and there will be food and drink to the heart’s content, just like the enjoyments of the gods in the Heaven of the Contented.
“Even though the enjoyments there in the pavilions with their high peaks will be earthly and divine enjoyments, all the gods and human beings there will have their interest piqued by what is lofty; that is, they will take a keen interest in the knowledge of the buddhas. In that world, the names of the two other vehicles—that is, the Vehicle of the Disciples and the Vehicle of the Solitary Buddhas—will not even exist. There, the realized one Vajravikrāmin will be surrounded by an assembly of many hundreds of thousands of bodhisattvas, and that blessed one will give the bodhisattvas teachings that are completely unadulterated.
“Furthermore, the beings in that world will not see their customs degenerate, their livelihoods will not become corrupted, their moral conduct will not decline, and neither will their views degenerate. [F.167.b] The beings there will not be blind, crippled, hunchbacked, tongue-tied, mute, or lame,230 and neither will they have any impaired faculties. All the gods and humans will be adorned with twenty-eight of the marks of a great person. There, the length of that realized one’s life will span eight intermediate eons. The gods and humans will not die before their time is ripe. Indeed, Śāntamati, these are just some of the immeasurable number of special conditions and qualities of the realized one Vajravikrāmin; there are many others, too.
“Additionally, when that realized one teaches the Dharma, he will give off light from his body. Now, when those beings see this light, they will think, ‘The Realized One is starting to give a teaching of the Dharma, so we should go to the Blessed One to listen to the Dharma.’ Some will arrive through the power of their own superhuman abilities and supernormal faculties. Some will arrive by means of the empowering authority of that realized one, who will then rise into the sky above the gods and human beings who have gathered there to a height of one hundred thousand palm trees. While hovering there in a cross-legged position, he will pervade that world of four great continents with his body. He will then teach the Dharma to those bodhisattvas using the speech a realized one, which satisfies all beings according to their own thoughts and motivations, and with the voice and tone of a buddha, which can be understood throughout an immeasurable number of worlds in the ten directions. Moreover, not even a single being among them will go against or offer resistance to the Dharma taught by that realized one. Each and every one of those beings will have sharp faculties and the ability to understand highly condensed statements. In that world, there will be no king other than the true king of the Dharma, the realized one Vajravikrāmin. In that world, there will not be any possession [F.168.a] or sense of ownership, either. All those beings will be without possessions or a sense of ownership.
“Moreover, Śāntamati, the form of the realized one Vajravikrāmin will appear in front of any gods or human-like beings who wish to make an offering of alms, and he will be holding his alms bowl so that they may do so. When any gods or human-like beings see that realized one’s form, they will think, ‘The blessed realized one Vajravikrāmin wishes to enjoy a meal in my presence.’ Then, with their minds they will create a circular space with seats and places to lie down, and food and drink, and they will tell that blessed one that it is time for the midday meal. Then, that realized one will enjoy the meal, and after enjoying it, he will depart. When that realized one goes into seclusion, the bodhisattvas there will dwell in an array of states of meditative concentration. That world will possess these special conditions and qualities and an immeasurable number of others. Therefore, noble son, that world is called Samantapariśuddhā.”
Furthermore, while the description of the prediction for Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, was being was being elucidated, twenty thousand beings conceived the aspiration for unsurpassable and perfect awakening. They made the vow, “I will be reborn in that buddha domain!” The Blessed One then made the prediction that all of them would be reborn there in Samantapariśuddhā, the buddha domain of the blessed realized one Vajravikrāmin.
Now, after Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, heard the prediction given for him, he was satisfied, overjoyed, pleased, and glad. He felt both delight and cheerfulness of mind, and he threw his vajra up into the vault of the sky. Right when he threw the vajra, at that precise moment, [F.168.b] this cosmos of a billion worlds quaked in the six ways, and it rained a shower of flowers. It resounded with the sounds of hundreds of musical instruments. Garlands of flowers of various colors spontaneously manifested in the right hands of everyone in the assembly. Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, then praised the Blessed One with these verses:
At that point, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, and all the members of the assembly who had been holding various jeweled garlands of flowers in their hands, completely covered the Blessed One with them. Right when those garlands of flowers were strewn at him, at that precise moment, this cosmos of a billion worlds became completely adorned with garlands of various flowers, and it also appeared as though it were separated into square plots like a chessboard. This was accomplished through the wondrous power of the Buddha. [F.169.a]
This was the sixteenth chapter, “The Prediction for Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas.”232
Bibliography
Primary Source Texts
’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryatathāgatācintyaguhyanirdeśanāmamahāyānasūtra). Toh 47, Degé Kangyur vol. 39 (dkon brtsegs, ka), folios 100.a–203.a.
’phags pa de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan 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), 2006–9, vol. 39, pp. 289–542.
*Tathāgataguhyanirdeśasūtra. Manuscript G10765. The Asiatic Society, Kolkata. [For an unpublished transcription of this manuscript, see Szántó 2021.]
Editions, Translations, and Other Sources
Alter, Robert. The Art of Biblical Narrative. New York: Basic Books, 2011. First published 1981.
Anesaki, Masaharu. “Docetism (Buddhist).” In The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 4, edited by James Hastings et al., 835–40. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1911.
Bendall, Cecil (1883). Catalogue of the Buddhist Sanskrit Manuscripts in the University Library, Cambridge. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———, ed. (1902). Çikshāsamuccaya: A Compendium of Buddhistic Teaching. Bibliotheca Buddhica I. St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des Sciences.
Bendall, Cecil, and W. H. D. Rouse, trans. Śikṣā Samuccaya. London: John Murray, 1922.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu (1978). “The Meaning of the Word ‘Tathāgata’ According to the Pāli Commentaries: Text and Introductory Essay.” Pali Buddhist Review 3.2: 65–83.
———, trans. (2000). The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Saṃyutta Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom.
———, trans. (2012). The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Aṅguttara Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu, and Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, trans. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom, 1995.
Buswell, Robert E., Jr., and Donald S. Lopez, Jr., eds. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014.
Cowell, Edward B. and Robert Alexander Neil, eds. The Divyāvadāna: A Collection of Early Buddhist Legends. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1886.
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.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit English Dictionary. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.
Gómez, Luis, and Paul Harrison, trans. Vimalakīrtinirdeśa: The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. Berkeley, CA: Mangalam, 2022.
Goodman, Charles. The Training Anthology of Śāntideva. London: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Hamano, Tetsunori 滨野哲敬. 如來秘密経の佛陀觀 [The Conception of the Buddha in the Nyoraihimitsu-kyō]. Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū 印度學 佛教學 研究第 38.1 (1987): 42–46.
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 Dhāraṇīvsaṃgraha Collections. Beyond Boundaries 9. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2021.
Hopkins, Edward Washburn. Epic Mythology. Strassburg: K. J. Trübner, 1915.
Ikuma, Hiromitsu 伊久間洋光 (2013). 『如来秘密経』の梵文写本について [On the Sanskrit Manuscript of the Nyoraihimitsu-kyō]. 印度學 佛教學 研究第 Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū 61.2: 171–79.
———(2018). “Lalitavistara と『如来秘密経』の仏伝の対応関係” [On the Correspondence of the Lalitavistara with the Buddha’s Biography in the Nyoraihimitsu-kyō]. 印度學 佛教學 研究第 Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū 67.1: 126–30.
———(2020).『如来秘密経』梵文写本における地名と民族名のリスト: 『大毘婆沙論』における並行説話との比較 [A List of the Place and Ethnic Names in the Sanskrit Manuscript of the Nyoraihimitsu-kyō: A Comparison with the Parallel Narrative in the *Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā]. 印度學 佛教學 研究第 Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū 68.2: 101–5.
Jamspal, Lozang, et al., trans. The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra). New York: American Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2004.
Jones, J. J., trans. The Mahāvastu, Vol. 2. Sacred Books of the Buddhists. London: Pali Text Society, 1976.
Lalou, Marcel. Inventaire des manuscrits tibétains de Touen-houang: conservés à la Bibliothèque nationale (Fond Pelliot tibétain). Vol. 3. Paris: Librairie d’Amérique et d’Orient, 1961.
Lamotte, Étienne (1966). “Vajrapāṇi en Inde.” In Mélanges de Sinologie offerts à Monsieur Paul Demiéville, 113–59. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
———(1970). Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa). Tome III: Chapitres XXXI-XLII. Louvain-la-neuve: Institute Orientaliste de la Université Catholique de Louvain.
———(1976). Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa). Tome IV: Chapitres XLII(suite)-XLVIII. Louvain-la-neuve: Institute Orientaliste de la Université Catholique de Louvain.
———(1981). Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa). Tome I: Chapitres I-XV. Louvain-la-neuve: Institute Orientaliste de la Université Catholique de Louvain.
———, trans. (1987). L’Enseignment de Vimalakīrti. Louvain-la-neuve: Institute Orientaliste de la Université Catholique de Louvain.
La Vallée Poussin, Louis de, ed. Mūlamadhyamakakārikās (Mādhyamikasūtras) de Nāgārjuna avec la Prasannapadā Commentaire de Candrakīrti. Bibliotheca Buddhica 4. St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des Sciences, 1903.
Liland, Fredrik et al. Bodhisatvapiṭaka: A Critical Edition. Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region (STTAR). Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, forthcoming.
Lévi, Sylvain, ed. Mahāyāna-Sūtrālaṃkāra: Exposé de la Doctrine de Grand Vehicule. Paris: Librairie Honoré Champion, 1907.
Lewis, Todd. Popular Buddhist Texts from Nepal: Narratives and Rituals of Newar Buddhism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000.
Malalasekera, G. P. Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names. Vol. 1. London: John Murray, 1937.
Nanjio, Bunyiu, ed. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. Kyoto: Otani University Press, 1923.
Norwegian Institute of Palaeography and Historical Philology, trans. The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisatva (Toh 56). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2023.
Pāsādika, Bhikkhu, trans. (1978a). “The Sūtrasamuccaya—An English Translation from the Tibetan Version of the Sanskrit Original (I).” Linh-Son publication d’études bouddhiques 2: 19–30.
———, trans. (1978b). “The Sūtrasamuccaya—Nāgārjuna’s Anthology of (Quotations from) Discourses: English Translation (III).” Linh-Son publication d’études bouddhiques 4: 26–33.
———, trans. (1981). “The Sūtrasamuccaya—Nāgārjuna’s Anthology of (Quotations from) Discourses: English Translation (XIII).” Linh-Son publication d’études bouddhiques 14: 20–33.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Radich, Michael. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra and the Emergence of Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine. Hamburg: Hamburg University Press, 2015.
Shāstri, Hara Prasad. A Descriptive Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Government Collection under the care of The Asiatic Society of Bengal. Vol. 1, Buddhist Manuscripts. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press, 1917.
Shaw, Sarah. The Art of Listening: A Guide to the Early Teachings of Buddhism. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 2021.
Shingan, Shaku. The Secrets of the Tathāgata: A Mahāyāna Sūtra. Kamakura: Shaku Shingan, 2021.
Silk, Jonathan A. “Serious Play: Recent Scholarship on the Lalitavistara.” Indo-Iranian Journal 65 (2022): 267-301.
Study Group on Buddhist Sanskrit Literature, ed. Vimalakīrtinirdeśa: Transliterated Sanskrit Text Collated with Tibetan and Chinese Translation. Tokyo: Taisho University Press, 2005.
Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, trans. The Lankavatara Sutra: A Mahayana Text. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1932.
Szántó, Péter-Dániel. *Tathāgatācintyaguhyanirdeśasūtra: A formatted diplomatic transcript of the Sanskrit ms (The Asiatic Society, Kolkata, G10765). Version 1.0. 2021.
Thurman, Robert A. F., trans. The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, Toh 176). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2017.
Tucci, Giuseppe, ed. Minor Buddhist Texts, Part III: Third Bhāvanākrama. Serie Orientale Roma XLIII. Roma: Instituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1971.
Tuladhar-Douglas, Will. Remaking Buddhism for Medieval Nepal. London: Routledge, 2014.
Vaidya, P. L., ed. Lalitavistara. 2nd Edition. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1987.
Walshe, Maurice, trans. The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom, 1995.
Wang, Junqi, Meifang Zhang, Xiaofang Lü, Xin Song, Kawa Sherab Sangpo, and Dazhen. “A Preliminary Study on a Newly Discovered Sanskrit manuscript of Nāgārjuna’s Sūtrasamuccaya*.” Journal of Buddhist Studies 17 (2020): 59–88.
Watanabe, Shōgo. “Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā—VII Ekakṣaṇâbhisamayâdhikāraḥ (1).” Tōyō Daigaku Daigakuin Kiyō 27 (1990): 136–117.
Winternitz, Maurice. A History of Indian Literature, Vol II: Buddhist Literature and Jaina Literature. Calcutta: Calcutta University Press, 1933.
Zacchetti, Stefano. The Da zhidu lun 大智度論 (*Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa) and the History of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā. Hamburg: Numata Center for Buddhist Studies, 2021.
Zin, Monika. “Vajrapāṇi in the Narrative Reliefs.” In Migration, Trade and Peoples, Part 2: Gandharan Art, edited by Christine Fröhlich, 73–88. London: The British Academy, 2009.