The Great Cloud (2)
Toh 657
Degé Kangyur, vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folios 163.a–175.b
- Śīlendrabodhi
- Jinamitra
- Bandé Yeshé Dé
Imprint
Translated by the Mahamegha Translation Team
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2023
Current version v 1.0.9 (2023)
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
This brief discourse is identified more precisely in its colophon as a supplementary chapter from The Great Cloud on “the array of winds that bring down rainfall.” It describes a visit from the Buddha Śākyamuni to the realm of the nāgas. The assembly of nāgas pays homage to the Buddha with a grand panoply of magically emanated offerings, and their king asks him to explain how the nāgas can eliminate their own suffering and aid sentient beings by causing timely rain to fall. The Buddha, in response, extols the benefits of loving-kindness and then teaches them a dhāraṇī that when accompanied by the recitation of a host of buddha names will dispel the nāgas’ suffering and cause crops to grow. At the nāga king’s request, the Buddha then teaches another long dhāraṇī that will cause rain to fall during times of drought. The discourse concludes with instructions for constructing an altar and holding a ritual rainmaking service.
Acknowledgements
This translation was produced by Joshua Capitanio for the Mahamegha translation team. It was further revised by the 84000 editorial team after comparing it with the available Sanskrit sources.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
Text Body
The Great Cloud
Bibliography
sprin chen po (Mahāmegha). Toh 235, Degé Kangyur, vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 250.b–263.a.
sprin chen po (Mahāmegha). Toh 657, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud, ba), folios 163.a–175.b.
sprin chen po (Mahāmegha). Toh 1063, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs, waM), folios 216.a–229.b.
sprin chen po (Mahāmegha). Toh 232, Degé Kangyur vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 113.a–214.b. English translation in Mahamegha Translation Group 2022.
sprin chen po rlung gi dkyil ’khor gyi le’u klu thams cad kyi snying po (Mahāmeghavāyumaṇḍalaparivartasarvanāgahṛdaya). Toh 234, Degé Kangyur, vol. 64 (mdo sde, wa), folios 246.a–250.b.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan[/lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Bendall, Cecil. “The Megha-Sūtra.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, new series, 12, no. 2 (1880): 286–311.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Mahamegha Translation Group, trans. The Great Cloud (1) (Mahāmeghasūtra, Toh 232). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
Moriguchi Mitsutoshi. “Mahā-megha-sūtra P.64.1.” Taishō daigaku sōgō bukkyō kenkyūjō nenpō 2 (1980): 178–161.
Paramārthanāma Vinirgata Mahāpratyaṅgīrā Mahāvidyārājñī. British Library, ref. EAP676/16/2.