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ཚེ་དཔག་མེད་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ།

The Essence of Aparimitāyus

tshe dpag med kyi snying po

Toh 673a

Degé Kangyur, vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folio 211.b

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Translated by Peter Alan Roberts and Emily Bower
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2021

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co.

Table of Contents

ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
+ 1 section- 1 section
1. The Essence of Aparimitāyus
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· Source Text
· Related Texts
· Secondary Literature
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

This extremely brief text provides a mantra of the Buddha Aparimitāyus, thus seeming to confirm its existence as a mantra on its own as well as being part of the dhāraṇī contained in the most widely used version of The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

This text was translated from the Tibetan by Peter Alan Roberts. Tulku Yeshi of the Sakya Monastery, Seattle, was the consulting lama who reviewed the translation, the project manager and editor was Emily Bower, and the proofreader was Ben Gleason. The introduction was compiled by the 84000 editorial team.

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


i.

Introduction

i.­1

This is one of the shortest texts in the Kangyur. It has no introductory passage, conclusion, or colophon, and in the Kangyur source texts it does not even have a title; the title we have given it here is the one that appears in the catalog (dkar chag) of the Degé and other Kangyurs, and is drawn from the prose sentence that opens the text after the initial salutation mantra.1 The text is not identified or numbered in the Tōhoku catalog of the Degé Kangyur, but appears in the Degé, Lhasa, Stok Palace, Shelkar, and Urga Kangyurs.2

i.­2

From the fact that this text is placed in the Kangyur directly before The Aparamitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1), Toh 674, and from the mantras it contains, the Tibetan tshe dpag med must be presumed to be translating Aparimitāyus rather than Amitāyus, which is also tshe dpag med in Tibetan, and to refer to the Buddha Aparamitāyurjñāna residing toward the zenith and associated with longevity, rather than to the Buddha Amitābha residing in his buddhafield of Sukhāvatī in the western direction. The conflation of these names and the buddhas they denote‍—they are thought to have originally been distinct but were later conflated not only in Tibetan but also in East Asian traditions‍—is discussed in more detail in the introduction to The Aparamitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1), Toh 674.3

i.­3

The text begins with a salutation, in the form of a brief mantra, to Aparimitāyus under the name Vajra-āyuṣa (Vajra Life).4

i.­4

This is followed by one prose sentence and a mantra of Aparimitāyus. The prose sentence is not ascribed to any speaker, and could be taken either as a pronouncement by the Buddha, or as a practice instruction of the kind that one might expect to be included in a Tengyur text.

i.­5

The mantra, oṁ puṇye puṇye mahāpuṇye aparimitāyuḥ-puṇya-jñāna-saṃbharopacite svāhā, appears to have its most immediate origin in the longer Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1), Toh 674. The dhāraṇī of that text (repeated twenty-nine times within it) contains this mantra as its central portion, roughly one third of the dhāraṇī.5 The dhāraṇī in the other version of the sūtra, however, The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (2), Toh 675,6 differs from the dhāraṇī of Toh 674 only in not containing this mantra‍—and indeed this difference of dhāraṇīs is the only really substantial difference between the two versions of the sūtra as a whole. It is also the reason why some catalogs and commentaries distinguish the two versions of the text as the “three oṁ” and “two oṁ” versions, respectively, and the Degé karchak goes further in referring to the shorter one (Toh 675) as the “two oṁ, no puṇye” version. As explained more fully in the introductions to The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) and (2), Toh 674 and 675 respectively,7 it is likely that the latter represents a version translated in the early, imperial translation period of the late eighth or early ninth century, while the former is the version introduced to Tibet some three centuries later.

i.­6

The existence of this text, containing the very dhāraṇī phrase that differentiates the two versions of the sūtra as a standalone mantra, is therefore intriguing, even if from the Kangyurs and their catalogs themselves we can glean no clearer explanation for its existence than the notion that it is simply one of several mantras or dhāraṇīs of Aparimitāyus which, as we can observe, is also found incorporated in longer alternatives.

i.­7

Nevertheless, the mantra featured in this text is also to be found in one other place in the Kangyur, in the Sarva­durgati­pariśodhana, a tantra of the Yoga class that is widely used in rituals for the dead. The tantra features a number of secondary maṇḍalas for specific purposes, and among these is one presided over by Aparimitāyus. There are two versions of the tantra in the Kangyur, Toh 483 and 485, translated (from slightly different Sanskrit manuscripts) in the eighth and thirteenth centuries, respectively. The mantra of the present text is found in the early translation version exactly as it is here, and in the later version with the addition of one word, karaṇi,8 before the final svāhā. In both texts, the mantra is described as the “essence” or “heart-mantra” (hṛdaya, snying po), just as it is in the brief introductory sentence of the present text. In the Sarva­durgati­pariśodhana it is introduced as the essence of all tathāgatas, but in the context of being the principal mantra of others accompanying it and clearly corresponding to the maṇḍala of Aparimitāyus, while here it is simply said to be the essence of Aparimitāyus.9


Text Body

The Essence of Aparimitāyus

1.

The Translation

[F.211.b]


1.­1

Oṁ vajra-āyuṣe hūṃ a.


If someone continually repeats this essence of Ārya Aparimitāyus, or is empowered10 with water blessed by its mantra, their lifespan will be lengthened:

1.­2

oṁ puṇye puṇye mahāpuṇye aparimitāyuḥ-puṇya11-jñāna-saṃbharopacite12 svāhā.13


n.

Notes

n.­1
The title is easily confused with that of Toh 676, tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa’i snying po’i gzungs, and indeed in the catalog of the Narthang Kangyur the equivalent of the latter text is referred to as the tshe dpag med kyi snying po. In some Kangyur catalogs, an alternative title is given: tshe dpag med kyi yang snying.
n.­2
It is not found in the Narthang Kangyur, despite the title appearing in the catalog (see n.­1).
n.­3
See Peter Alan Roberts and Emily Bower, trans. The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1), Toh 674, Introduction at i.9.
n.­4
Here, as in the main mantra, the Sanskrit rule of euphonic combination of final and initial vowels is ignored: one would have expected Vajrāyuṣa. The name appears in the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit vocative with the -e ending, which is common in mantras, although in classical Sanskrit this vocative ending was used for the female nouns only.
n.­5
Note, however, that the equivalent phrase in the dhāraṇī of the “duplicate” of version (1) of the sūtra in the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs, Toh 849, is not quite the same as the mantra here and the phrase in Toh 674. In Toh 849, the phrase mahāpuṇye aparimitāyuḥ-puṇya-jñāna-saṃbharopacite becomes, instead, mahāpuṇye aparimitapuṇye aparimitapuṇya-jñāna-saṃbharopacite. As noted in note 53 of Toh 674 and note 53 of Toh 849, this difference is found across all Kangyurs that have a Compendium of Dhāraṇīs, and it is the phrase as it reads in Toh 849 that is found in the most widely recited extra-canonical versions.
n.­6
See Peter Alan Roberts and Emily Bower, trans. The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (2), Toh 675.
n.­7
See Roberts and Bower, The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1), Toh 674, Introduction at i.21; and The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (2), Toh 675, Introduction at i.10.
n.­8
kariṇi in the Tibetan of the Degé version of Toh 485.
n.­9
The possible relationship of this mantra from the Sarva­durgati­pariśodhana to the dhāraṇī of The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra is also discussed in the introduction to version (2) of the sūtra, Toh 675, at i.29–32.
n.­10
The Tibetan dbang bskur is the usual translation of abhiṣikta, literally “besprinkled,” which is the term used for the consecration of a king at his enthronement with blessed water.
n.­11
The Stok Palace, Shey, Chizhi, and Gangteng Kangyurs (all manuscript Kangyurs that belong to the Themphangma group), in place of the word puṇya here, have only ṇye.
n.­12
In Toh 674 as well as the two versions of the Sarva­durgati­pariśodhana, the second a in saṃbharopacite is long. In the Stok Palace Kangyur (F. 190.a), the spelling is saṃbharocite.
n.­13
“Oṃ, Merit! Merit! Great merit! The one who has limitless life and has gathered the accumulations of merit and wisdom! Svāhā.”

b.

Bibliography

Source Text

tshe dpag med kyi snying po. Toh 673a, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folio 211.b.

tshe dpag med kyi snying po [Toh 673a]. 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. 91, pp. 774–5.

tshe dpag med kyi snying po. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 105 (rgyud, pha), folio 190.b.

Related Texts

tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa theg pa chen po’i mdo (Aparimitāyurjñāna-nāma-mahā­yāna­sūtra) (1). Toh 674, Degé Kangyur vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 211.b–216.a. Toh 849, Degé Kangyur vol. 100 (gzungs ’dus, e), folios 57.b–62.a. English translation in Peter Alan Roberts and Emily Bower (2021).

tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa theg pa chen po’i mdo (Aparimitāyurjñāna-nāma-mahā­yāna­sūtra) (2). Toh 675, Degé Kangyur, vol. 91 (rgyud ’bum, ba), folios 216.a–220.b. English translation in Peter Alan Roberts and Emily Bower (2021).

de bzhin gshegs pa dgra bcom pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba gzi brjid kyi rgyal po’i brtag pa (Sarva­durgati­pariśodhana­tejorājasya kalpa). Toh 483, Degé Kangyur vol. 85 (rgyud ’bum, ta), folios 58.a–96.a.

de bzhin gshegs pa dgra bcom pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas ngan song thams cad yongs su sbyong ba gzi brjid kyi rgyal po’i brtag pa phyogs gcig pa (Sarva­durgati­pariśodhana­tejorājasya kalpaikadeśaḥ). Toh 485, Degé Kangyur vol. 85 (rgyud ’bum, ta), folios 96.a–146.a.

Secondary Literature

Roberts, Peter Alan, and Emily Bower, trans. The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) (Aparimitāyurjñāna­sūtra, Toh 674). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

Roberts, Peter Alan, and Emily Bower, trans. The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (2) (aparimitāyurjñāna­sūtra, Toh 675). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.


g.

Glossary

Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding source language

AS

Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

AO

Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

AD

Attested in dictionary

This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding language.

AA

Approximate attestation

The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

RP

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the term.

RS

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan translation.

SU

Source unspecified

This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.­1

Aparimitāyus

Wylie:
  • tshe dpag tu med pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚེ་དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • aparimitāyus

“The One Who Has Immeasurable Longevity.” For more details on this buddha, see Peter Alan Roberts and Emily Bower, trans. The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1), Toh 674, Introduction at i.9.

Located in 7 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­2-4
  • i.­6-7
  • 1.­1
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