• 84000
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  • Tantra
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  • Dedication-aspiration
  • Toh 813
སྟོང་ཆེན་མོ་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་པའི་སྨོན་ལམ།

The Aspiration Prayer from “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm”

སྟོང་ཆེན་མོ་རབ་ཏུ་འཇོམས་པ་ལས་གསུངས་པའི་སྨོན་ལམ།
stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa las gsungs pa’i smon lam
The Aspiration Prayer from the Words Spoken in “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm”

Toh 813

Degé Kangyur vol. 96 (rgyud ’bum, wa), folios 253.a–254.a

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Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

First published 2020

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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 Aspiration Prayer from “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm”
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
+ 3 sections- 3 sections
· Tibetan Source Texts
· Sanskrit and Pali Texts
· Other Works
g. Glossary

s.

Summary

s.­1

This short text contains a set of verses spoken by the Buddha as he put an end to the epidemic of Vaiśālī, extracted from one of the two main accounts of that episode. The verses call for well-being, especially by invoking the qualities of the Three Jewels and a range of realized beings and eminent gods. The text comprises two passages from the parent work, and of these the first and longest corresponds closely to a well-known Pali text, the Ratana-sutta, widely recited for protection and blessings.


ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.­1

The translation of this text was extracted from Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm, Toh 558, translated by James Gentry for the Dharmachakra Translation Committee. This extract was adapted to the present source text and introduced by the editorial team of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

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


i.

Introduction

i.­1

This evocative and inspiring short text in verse is one of several works in the Kangyur related to the Buddha’s restoring the city of Vaiśālī to health after a major epidemic. As might be expected for a text whose origins lie in that much-related episode, it has a wealth of parallels in other texts. A substantial portion of it is very similar to a passage in the Sanskrit Mahāvastu, and to a well-known Pali text, the Ratana-sutta.

i.­2

The work in the form it takes here‍—a text containing just these verses‍—is found in Kangyurs of predominantly Tshalpa (tshal pa) or mixed lineages, but not in those with purely Thempangma (them spangs ma) origins. In the Degé Kangyur it is found in two places. The first occurrence (Toh 813) is as one of a series of nineteen texts (Toh 809–827) at the end of the final volume of the Tantra Collection described in the eighteenth century catalog of the Degé Kangyur as a subsection containing prayers of dedication and auspiciousness. The second (Toh 1098)1 is in a series of fifteen texts (Toh 1094–1108) with a similar function in concluding the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs.

i.­3

In neither of these occurrences does the text have an opening title; it simply starts with the line “Homage to the Three Jewels.” Only in the trailer at the end do we learn that the text is “the aspiration prayer from the words spoken in Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm,” and thus that, like most of the texts in these two sections, it is an extract from a longer text found in full elsewhere in the Kangyur. The parent text in question, Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm (Toh 558),2 is itself one of the texts that belong to the Pañcarakṣā group, a set of works centered on five protector goddesses each of whom both personifies and is invoked by a specific dhāraṇī, and is found in the Action Tantra (kriyā) section of the Degé Kangyur’s Tantra Collection. Since the longer text also exists in Sanskrit and Chinese,3 the verses extracted here can be found in both those languages, although not in the form of separate, standalone texts analogous to this one.

i.­4

The text contains two extracted sets of verses. The first set comprises sixteen stanzas that are found as a continuous passage (1.250–1.265) about two thirds of the way through Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm; these are followed by the second set, four and a half stanzas that come from another, separate passage (1.310–1.314) a little later in the parent work compared to the first set. There is no indication within the extracted text itself of the break between these two groups of verses.

i.­5

The first set of verses (1.­2–1.­17) invokes the Three Jewels and enumerates their principal qualities as truths by which the bestowal of well-being is prayed for in a repeated refrain. The first verse invokes the Buddha, the next two the Dharma in its aspects of realization and path respectively, and the following seven various aspects and qualities of the Saṅgha. Three shorter stanzas then recapitulate the theme of the Three Jewels by wishing that all beings might pay homage to them and thus obtain well-being, and the final three verses repeat the prayer and invocation of truth for well-being and express the wish that all bhūtas act in accordance with the Dharma.

i.­6

The second, shorter set of verses (1.­18–1.­22) invokes the predominant qualities respectively of buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, arhats, and mantra holders, then six named śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, and finally a small selection of gods, in a prayer that poison be removed from the person reciting them.


i.­7

There is no mention in this extracted text that its original context was the story of the Buddha’s arrival in Vaiśālī to quell a terrible famine and epidemic that had been ravaging the city and its environs. In the narrative of Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm from which it is extracted, however, this is very clearly the case. The parent text starts with the suffering of the citizens of Vaiśālī, in response to which the Buddha summons to Rājagṛha the important gods and particularly the Four Guardian Kings, who promise to bring back under their control the various kinds of nonhuman beings and spirits that have brought about the epidemic and other calamities. Each king in turn proposes ritual steps and controlling mantras for the purpose of restoring well-being.

i.­8

It is at this point that the Buddha decides to travel to Vaiśālī himself. Arriving at the gates of the city, he steps across the threshold, raises his arm, teaches Brahmā on the dhāraṇī that is itself Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm, and then recites the verses that make up the first set in this extract.4 In the original text, the verses are followed by another dhāraṇī and teaching on it, and the yakṣas, rākṣasas, and other harmful spirits are overcome and either run away or volunteer to take up the Dharma and change their ways; the epidemic ends and well-being is restored. This first set of verses reproduced here therefore represents a central element in the episode‍—part of its very climax‍—and it is no great surprise that it features prominently in this extract.

i.­9

The reason for the inclusion of the second set of verses is less obvious. After the episode of the quelling of the epidemic and the vanquishing or conversion of the spirits responsible for it, the text of Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm continues with a variety of explanations, ritual instructions, and exchanges with the Four Guardian Kings focused on different physical and spiritual ailments and the importance of the dhāraṇī in treating them. The passage that constitutes the second set of verses extracted here is part of a ritual instruction for the removal of poisons, and its invocation for that purpose of the qualities of the Buddha’s principal disciples is just one of several similar passages invoking other forces. From the source text context, its mention of poison seems to refer to physical poisons, but perhaps intended here for the purposes of this extracted text is a metaphorical interpretation in the overall theme of well-being. Alternatively, it may have been included to round off the invocation of the qualities of the Saṅgha by mentioning some of the qualities of its individual members.


i.­10

The longest, initial set of verses has parallels in a number of other passages in the Buddhist canonical literature that relate the story of how the Buddha’s arrival in Vaiśālī put an end to the epidemic that was afflicting the city and its region. The overall narrative of the events in the Buddha’s life has been preserved most fully in the Vinaya literature, and the different accounts of this episode, like those of other events, can be divided approximately into two groups, both by their content and also according to the bodies of Vinaya literature in which they have been preserved.

i.­11

In this case, one near parallel is in the account of the episode that is spread over several chapters of the Mahāvastu,5 a text that has survived in Sanskrit and is related to the Vinaya of the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravādin school. According to that account, the Buddha’s arrival near the city is enough by itself to expel the harmful spirits that have caused the epidemic, and culminates in his reciting, still outside the city, a set of seventeen verses of auspiciousness (svastigāthā), thirteen of which extol the Three Jewels as the source of blessings and well-being. Of these, although the wording of the two texts in Sanskrit is significantly different, ten stanzas recognizably match the ten initial stanzas of the present work. The Mahāvastu version includes a longer initial homage, a verse immediately afterwards invoking the spirits, and an extra stanza on the jewel of the Saṅgha (eleventh of the long stanzas). The two texts differ most noticeably in their concluding verses.

i.­12

In the Pali Canon, a similar set of seventeen verses makes up the Ratana-sutta,6 a very well-known text that is widely recited as a protection or paritta. The Ratana-sutta itself consists only of the seventeen verses, without any narrative setting, and in Pali sources what is recorded of the background episode comes only from later commentaries:7 the Buddha teaches the verses to Ānanda at the city gate, Ānanda goes around inside the city reciting them, and finally the Buddha himself enters the city and recites them again. The text begins with an invocation and exhortation of the nonhuman spirits present, similar to that of the Mahāvastu version but more detailed. Again, there is one stanza on the Buddha, two on the Dharma, and six on the Saṅgha. The Pali version then adds two more stanzas on the Buddha and an additional one on the Saṅgha, before invoking all Three Jewels at the end in three stanzas said to have been spoken by Sakka (Skt. Śakra).

i.­13

One intriguing difference between the Mahāvastu version and the Ratana-sutta on the one hand, and these verses from Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm on the other, comes in the second of the two stanzas on the Dharma (1.­4, where the term ānantariya (“immediate,” “uninterrupted”) applied to meditative absorption in the first two texts is rendered in the present text not by a linguistic equivalent but by vajropama (“vajra-like”), a term that is functionally equivalent in that it, like ānantariya but in different systems (especially in Mahāyāna texts), applies to the stage of the path where the practitioner transitions to the state beyond learning.

i.­14

A second loose group of texts, less closely similar but derived from the same episode‍—the Buddha’s quelling of the epidemic in Vaiśālī‍—are those from the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya corpus. The long Chapter on Medicines (Bhaiṣajyavastu, sixth chapter of the Vinayavastu, Toh 1)8 contains the episode as just one of a great many other narrative elements, and a verbatim extract from it, The Mahāsūtra “On Entering the City of Vaiśālī” (Vaiśālī­praveśa­mahā­sūtra), containing the Buddha’s full proclamation, mantra, and verses of well-being as taught on the occasion to Ānanda, is found in three different sections of the Degé Kangyur.9 A Sanskrit text closely related to the latter (though with significant differences), the Mahā­mantrānusāriṇī, has survived as another part of the Pañcarakṣā group.10 An even shorter extract in Tibetan called The Verses for Well-Being Extracted from the Noble Sūtra “On Entering the City of Vaiśālī” contains only the nineteen verses of well-being, and is found as a standalone text once in the Kangyur and once in the Tengyur.11

i.­15

The verses of well-being in the Mahāsūtra version (and in the other texts of the second loose group just described) are quite different from the verses in the present text. Instead of invoking all Three Jewels and then focusing particularly on the Saṅgha, as here, the Mahāsūtra stanzas focus more on the Buddha. The general theme is nevertheless similar, and the concluding verses share the same appeal made to the bhūta spirits to change their ways and protect beings instead of harming them.


i.­16

The text as it is in this extracted form is not mentioned in the imperial early text inventories, but it does appear in the early fourteenth century list of translated texts appended to Butön’s History of the Dharma.12 It was not included in the Thempangma Kangyurs, but it appears in the Tshalpa Kangyurs as early as 1410 in the first printed Kangyur, the Yongle. It was probably not translated from a separate text in Sanskrit but was extracted from the Tibetan translation of its source work, Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm, which itself had been translated into Tibetan during the early ninth century by the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé and the Indian scholars Śīlendrabodhi, Jñānasiddhi, and Śākyaprabha.13

i.­17

This extract could reasonably be described‍—if approximately, given the differences‍—as the Tibetan version of the Pali Ratana-sutta, yet it is far from being as well known and as widely used as the Ratana-sutta itself is in Pali Buddhist traditions. In terms of ritual function, the Tibetan Buddhist equivalent is rather the more extensive Mūlasarvāstivādin Mahāsūtra “On Entering the City of Vaiśālī.”

i.­18

Some intriguing questions remain. Why was the set of verses that happen to match the Ratana-sutta selected from a wide-ranging original text to be reproduced in this extracted form at all? Did the tradition of using texts like this related to the Vaiśālī epidemic as blessings, protections, or dedications go far enough back in history to have predated the differentiation of the various early schools and Vinaya lineages, and to have subsequently survived in more than one? Or did these traditions arise independently in different places? Or were the editors, compilers, and keepers of the canonical texts in fourteenth century Tibet more aware of the significance that this particular set of verses had acquired in other Buddhist cultures than geographical separation might lead us to think? These questions are compounded, moreover, by the addition to the extract of the final four and a half stanzas, which seem to refer to a quite different application.

i.­19

That answers to these questions may remain elusive in no way diminishes the pleasure we take in introducing to English readers this eloquent, ancient text for well-being.


Text Body

The Aspiration Prayer from “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm”

1.

The Translation

[F.253.a]


1.­1

Homage to the Three Jewels!


1.­2
In this world or beyond there is nothing‍—
Not even a precious gem in the higher realms‍—
That equals the Thus-Gone One, the god of gods,
The supreme among humans.
Thus, he is called the most precious gem.
By this truth may there be well-being here!
1.­3
There is nothing at all comparable to the Dharma
Of uncompounded, quiescent ambrosia‍—
The uncompounded ambrosia of extinction and dispassion
Discerned by the Sage of the Śākyas through his knowledge.
Thus, it is called the most precious gem.
By this truth may there be well-being here!
1.­4
There is nothing comparable to the absorption
That perceives the vajra-like,14 nondual15 path‍—
The manifestation, in due order, of what is most desired,
The permanent accomplishment of the teacher’s absolute practice.
Thus, it is called the most precious gem.
By this truth may there be well-being here!
1.­5
The eight great kinds of person praised
And called the four pairs,
Extolled as “venerable” by the Thus-Gone One,
The incomparable person, the Great Sage,
Yield great fruits when offered to,
Like seeds planted in a fertile field‍—
This is called the most precious gem of the Saṅgha.
By this truth may there be well-being here!
1.­6
Since those who strive with firm resolve
And enter Gautama’s teaching
Gain access to ambrosia,
Remove darkness, and attain nirvāṇa, [F.253.b]
They are called the most precious gem of the Saṅgha.
By this truth may there be well-being here!16
1.­7
As soon as they connect with this vision,
Belief in the transitory collection,
Ethical discipline in the form of extreme austerity,
And doubt are simultaneously cast off,
And they see the truths of the noble ones.
Thus, they are called the most precious gem of the Saṅgha.
By this truth may there be well-being here!17
1.­8
With body, speech, or mind
They never produce the threefold evil deeds,
And even when they suddenly do, they do not conceal them,
And in that way, their view is not tainted with grasping.
Thus, they are called the most precious gem of the Saṅgha.
By this truth may there be well-being here!
1.­9
Just as a threshold beam planted in the ground
Is unmoved by winds from the four directions,
So are the members of the saṅgha of noble ones,
Who have insight into the highest path of the noble ones.
Thus, they are called the most precious gem of the Saṅgha.
By this truth may there be well-being here!
1.­10
Those who cultivate with profound wisdom
The eloquently taught truths of the noble ones
And consider giving away even their own bodies
Never encounter the eight perils.
Thus, they are called the most precious gem of the Saṅgha.
By this truth may there be well-being here!
1.­11
Just as a flame extinguished by the wind
Cannot be taken up and counted,
So do the offspring of the buddhas
Become indemonstrable
Once they have discarded all fetters.
Thus, they are called the most precious gem of the Saṅgha.
By this truth may there be well-being here!
1.­12
May all sentient beings, moving or still, be well here!
And may they pay homage to the Buddha,
The supreme teacher, venerated by gods and humans!
May there be well-being here today!
1.­13
May all sentient beings, moving or still, be well here!
May they pay homage to the Dharma,
The peaceful dispassion venerated by gods and humans!
May there be well-being here today! [F.254.a]
1.­14
May all sentient beings, moving or still, be well here!
May they pay homage to the Saṅgha,
The supreme assembly venerated by gods and humans!
May there be well-being here today!
1.­15
May all sentient beings, moving or still,
Be well here!
1.­16
May whatever bhūtas are assembled here,
All those who dwell upon the earth or in the sky,
Act always lovingly toward all creatures
And practice Dharma day and night!18
1.­17
By the truth that the Victorious One, having vanquished his foes,
Spoke truthfully, without falsehood,
May there be well-being here,
And may all be delivered from grave perils!19

✦  ✦  ✦

1.­18
By the majesty of all the buddhas,20
The majesty of the pratyekabuddhas,
The powers of the arhats,
And all the secret mantra holders,
1.­19
By the wisdom of Śāriputra,
The supernatural power of Maudgalyāyana,
The vision of Aniruddha,
And the ascetic practices of Kāśyapa;
1.­20
By the previous attainments of Kauṇḍinya,
The learning of Ānanda,
The benevolence of Brahmā,
And the supremacy of Śatakratu;
1.­21
By the territories of the guardians of the world,
The power of Maheśvara,
The might of the generals,
And the supernatural splendor of Hārītī‍—
1.­22
Through their might and majesty,
May poison be removed from me!
1.­23

This completes the aspiration prayer from the words spoken in “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm.”


n.

Notes

n.­1

Note that there is a discrepancy among various databases for cataloging the Toh 1098 version of this text within vol. 101 or 102 of the Degé Kangyur. See Toh 1098 note 1 for details.

n.­2
See Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2016).
n.­3
For the Sanskrit, from several Nepalese manuscripts, see bibliography. The Chinese is 佛說守護大千國土經 (Fo shuo shouhu da qian guotu jing, Taishō 999), translated by Dānapāla in the late tenth or early eleventh century.
n.­4
See Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2016): the epidemic is introduced at 1.4, the Buddha quells it at 1.243, and the verses in question are introduced at 1.249.
n.­5
Especially chapters 25 and 29. See bibliography for Sanskrit text. For translation see Jones (1949), vol. 1, p. 208 et seq. and p. 242 et seq.
n.­6
The Ratana-sutta is found in the Pali Canon as Khuddakapāṭha 6 and Suttanipāta 2.1. It is also found in a large number of liturgical collections of paritta texts, such as the Catubhāṇavārapāli (“Text of the Four Recitals”), along with some of the Pali counterparts of other mahāsūtras. See Pemaloka (2018), pp. xv and 54–63.
n.­7
Especially the Khuddakapāṭha-aṭṭhakathā; see Skilling (1994–97), vol. 2, p. 605, n. 83.
n.­8
The text exists in Chinese (Taishō 1448), but not (for this episode) in Sanskrit. For full details and English translation, see Bhaiṣajyavastu Translation Team (2021), 3.272–324.
n.­9
Toh 312, 628, and 1093 in the Degé Kangyur. For translation and details, see Bhaiṣajyavastu Translation Team (2020); see also Skilling (1994–97).
n.­10
An edition based on eight manuscripts is included in Skilling (1994–97), vol. 1, pp. 608–22. As noted above, there are five Pañcarakṣā texts in the Kangyur representing the five protector goddesses, but this particular text was not translated into Tibetan. The Pañcarakṣā texts as a group are not themselves closely related to any one Vinaya tradition but draw on multiple sources for their composite content. This Mahā­mantrānusāriṇī seems to be the only one with such a direct relationship to the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, while Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm seems to have included the Mahāsāṃghika-Lokottaravādin Vinaya among its several sources.
n.­11
The Verses for Well-Being Extracted from the Noble Sūtra “On Entering the City of Vaiśālī” (’phags pa yangs pa’i grong khyer du ’jug pa’i mdo las ’byung pa’i bde legs kyi tshigs su bcad pa), Toh 816 in the Degé Kangyur among the prayers of dedication at the end of the Tantra Collection, and Toh 4406 toward the end of the Degé Tengyur.
n.­12
Butön, folio 153.a.
n.­13
The colophon in the Degé version of Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm mentions that the translation was re-edited several centuries later by Gö Lotsāwa Zhönnu Pal (’gos lo tsA ba gzhon nu dpal, 1392–1481), based on a Sanskrit edition that had been in the possession of Chöjé Chaklo (chag lo tsA ba chos rje dpal, 1197–1263/64).
n.­14
rdo rje lta bu (Skt. vajropama), usually referring (in Sarvāstivādin and Mahāyāna systems) to the crucial samādhi that is the moment of transition to the fifth of the five paths, the “path of no more learning.” In the matching line in the Mahāvastu version the term is ānantariya (“immediate” or “uninterrupted”) and in the Ratana-sutta its Pali equivalent ānantarika; these terms are applied to a samādhi that marks the beginning of the “path of seeing,” but are also applied to a path (ānantaryamārga) that is the first of two repeated successive processes leading to the “path of no more learning.”
n.­15
As in the longer text (Toh 558) that is the source of this extract, the Narthang and Lhasa Kangyurs read mi gnyis (“nondual”); Degé reads mig gnyis (“two eyes”). The former reading is supported by the Sanskrit edition, which reads advaya­mārga­darśinā.
n.­16
In the Mahāvastu, the stanza equivalent to this one comes later, between 1.­10 and 1.­11 here, and is followed by another stanza on the jewel of the Saṅgha that has no equivalent in this work.
n.­17
In the Pali Ratana-sutta, the stanza equivalent to this one comes later, between 1.­10 and 1.­11 here, and the remaining equivalent stanzas come in a different order.
n.­18
This stanza is also found in the Mahā­samāja-mahā­sūtra (Toh 653) and, in the Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya, in the Vinaya­kṣudraka­vastu (Toh 6), The Chapter on Going Forth (Pravrajyāvastu, Toh 1-1, at 4.258), The Chapter on Medicines (Bhaiṣajyavastu, Toh 1-6, at 3.297), and The Mahāsūtra On Entering the City of Vaiśālī (Toh 312).
n.­19
This first verse passage from Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm ends here, and after further dialog with the gods, during which the Buddha pronounces three more of the many dhāraṇī in the text, the epidemic of Vaiśālī comes to an end and the harmful spirits surrender to the Buddha’s compassion.
n.­20
The verses that follow are taken from a passage that follows shortly after the preceding verses. The Four Great Kings recommend the reciting of these verses, which they describe as part of a procedure as follows: “One who endeavors to be free of goiters, herpes, insanity, boils, blisters, rashes, and the drinking of poison should be ritually cleansed and well adorned, and say the following incantation while sitting on a fine seat.”

b.

Bibliography

Tibetan Source Texts

stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa las gsungs pa’i smon lam. Toh 813, Degé Kangyur vol. 96 (rgyud ’bum, wa), folios 253.a–254.a; Toh 1098, Degé Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs ’du, waM), folios 268.b–269.b.

stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa las gsungs pa’i smon lam. 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), 2006–2009, Toh 813, vol. 96, pp. 830–34; Toh 1098, vol. 98, pp. 939–43.

stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa’i mdo (Mahā­sāhasra­pramardanī). Toh 558, Degé Kangyur vol. 90 (rgyud ’bum, pha), folios 63.a–87.b. For translation, see Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2016).

Sanskrit and Pali Texts

Mahā­sāhasra­pramardanī. GRETIL edition input by Klaus Wille (Göttingen), based on the edition by Yutaka Iwamoto: Mahā­sāhasra­pramardanī, Pañcarakṣā I. Beiträge zur Indologie 1. Kyoto, 1937. The verses corresponding to [first set of stanzas 1.­2–1.­17] are at Msp 24–26, and those corresponding to [final 4.5 stanzas 1.­18–1.­22] are at Msp 32–33.

Mahā­mantrānusāriṇī. For Sanskrit edition, see Skilling (1994–97), pp. 608–22.

Mahāvastu. Sanskrit text online in GRETIL. Based on Émile Senart, ed. Mahā­vastu-Avadāna. 3 vols. Paris, 1882–97. Chapter 29 starts at Mvu_1.290.

Ratana-sutta. Pali Canon, Khuddakapāṭha 6; also Suttanipāta 2.1. Texts in Pali on SuttaCentral. For translations, see Ānandajoti, Bodhi, and Piyadassi Thera.

Other Works

Ānandajoti, Bhikkhu, trans. The Discourse on the Treasures (English translation of Ratana-sutta). SuttaCentral.

Bhaiṣajyavastu Translation Team, trans. (2021). The Chapter on Medicines (Bhaiṣajyavastu, Toh 1, ch. 6). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

Bhaiṣajyavastu Translation Team, trans. (2020). The Mahāsūtra “On Entering the City of Vaiśālī” (Vaiśālī­praveśa­mahā­sūtra, Toh 312, 628, 1093). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.

Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. “Gems” (English translation of Ratana-sutta). In The Suttanipāta: An Ancient Collection of the Buddha’s Discourses Together with its Commentaries, pp. 193–5. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2017.

Butön (bu ston rin chen grub). bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i mdzod. In gsung ’bum/_rin chen grub/ (zhol par ma/ ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa/) [The Collected Works of Bu-ston: Edited by Lokesh Chandra from the Collections of Raghu Vira], vol. 24, pp. 633–1056. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm (Mahā­sāhasra­pramardanī, Toh 558). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016.

Jones, J. J., trans. The Mahāvastu, Vol. 1. Sacred Books of the Buddhists. London: Luzac & co., 1949.

Pemaloka, Kotawila Sri Nayaka Thera. The Great Book of Protection: The Text of the Four Recitals (Catubhāṇavārapāli): Sinhala – Maha Pirit Pota, with Translation into English. Colombo: Samayawardhana, 2018.

Piyadassi Thera, trans. The Jewel Discourse (English translation of Ratana-sutta). SuttaCentral. First published 1999.

Skilling, Peter. Mahāsūtras: Great Discourses of the Buddha. 2 vols. Bristol: Pali Text Society, 1994–97.


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

Ānanda

Wylie:
  • kun dga’ bo
Tibetan:
  • ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།
Sanskrit:
  • ānanda

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).

Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • i.­14
  • 1.­20
g.­2

ānantariya

Wylie:
  • bar chad med pa
Tibetan:
  • བར་ཆད་མེད་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • ānantariya

“Uninterrupted” or “immediate,” applied to a particular meditative absorption at the junction between the paths of preparation and seeing in Vaibhāṣika and Yogācāra systems.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • n.­14
g.­3

Aniruddha

Wylie:
  • ma ’gags pa
Tibetan:
  • མ་འགགས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • aniruddha

Close disciple of the Buddha.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­19
g.­4

belief in the transitory collection

Wylie:
  • ’jig tshogs la lta ba
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་ཚོགས་ལ་ལྟ་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • satkāyadṛṣṭi

The mistaken view of the impermanent aggregates as a self. The four types of mistaken view for each of the five aggregates make a total of twenty such beliefs.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­7
g.­5

bhūta

Wylie:
  • ’byung po
Tibetan:
  • འབྱུང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • bhūta

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This term in its broadest sense can refer to any being, whether human, animal, or nonhuman. However, it is often used to refer to a specific class of nonhuman beings, especially when bhūtas are mentioned alongside rākṣasas, piśācas, or pretas. In common with these other kinds of nonhumans, bhūtas are usually depicted with unattractive and misshapen bodies. Like several other classes of nonhuman beings, bhūtas take spontaneous birth. As their leader is traditionally regarded to be Rudra-Śiva (also known by the name Bhūta), with whom they haunt dangerous and wild places, bhūtas are especially prominent in Śaivism, where large sections of certain tantras concentrate on them.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­5
  • i.­15
g.­6

Brahmā

Wylie:
  • tshangs pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚངས་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • brahmā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­8
  • 1.­20
g.­7

Butön

Wylie:
  • bu ston
Tibetan:
  • བུ་སྟོན།
Sanskrit:
  • —

Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290–1364), a great scholar at the monastery of Zhalu (zha lu) whose compiling of lists of translated works contributed to the emergence of the Kangyur and Tengyur collections.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­16
  • n.­12
g.­8

dhāraṇī

Wylie:
  • gzungs
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས།
Sanskrit:
  • dhāraṇī

The power to “hold” or retain teachings, as applied either to an accomplishment by practitioners, or to mantra-like phrases (or entire texts).

Located in 5 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2-3
  • i.­8-9
  • n.­19
g.­9

eight perils

Wylie:
  • ’jigs pa brgyad
Tibetan:
  • འཇིགས་པ་བརྒྱད།
Sanskrit:
  • aṣṭa bhayāni

Lions, elephants, fire, snakes, thieves, rivers, imprisonment, and demons.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­10
g.­10

Four Guardian Kings

Wylie:
  • rgyal po chen po bzhi
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • caturmahārāja

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Four gods who live on the lower slopes (fourth level) of Mount Meru in the eponymous Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Cāturmahā­rājika, rgyal chen bzhi’i ris) and guard the four cardinal directions. Each is the leader of a nonhuman class of beings living in his realm. They are Dhṛtarāṣṭra, ruling the gandharvas in the east; Virūḍhaka, ruling over the kumbhāṇḍas in the south; Virūpākṣa, ruling the nāgas in the west; and Vaiśravaṇa (also known as Kubera) ruling the yakṣas in the north. Also referred to as Guardians of the World or World Protectors (lokapāla, ’jig rten skyong ba).

Located in 4 passages in the translation:

  • i.­7
  • i.­9
  • n.­20
  • g.­13
g.­11

four pairs

Wylie:
  • gang zag zung bzhi
Tibetan:
  • གང་ཟག་ཟུང་བཞི།
Sanskrit:
  • catvāri yugāni

The fourfold division of “noble” (i.e., realized) beings: stream enterer (srotaāpanna), once-returner (sakṛdāgāmin), non-returner (anāgāmin), and worthy one (arhat). They are “pairs” because in each of the four categories one first enters the path of that stage, and subsequently attains its fruit.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­5
g.­12

Gautama

Wylie:
  • gau ta ma
Tibetan:
  • གཽ་ཏ་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • gautama

The clan name (gotra) of the Buddha.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­6
g.­13

Guardian of the world

Wylie:
  • ’jig rten skyong ba
Tibetan:
  • འཇིག་རྟེན་སྐྱོང་བ།
Sanskrit:
  • lokapāla

Another term for the Four Guardian Kings.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­21
g.­14

Hārītī

Wylie:
  • ’phrog ma
Tibetan:
  • འཕྲོག་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • hārītī

A child-eating demoness who was tamed by the Buddha and became a protectress of children, women, the saṅgha, and all beings.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­21
g.­15

Kāśyapa

Wylie:
  • ’od srung
Tibetan:
  • འོད་སྲུང་།
Sanskrit:
  • kāśyapa

Close disciple of the Buddha.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­19
g.­16

Kauṇḍinya

Wylie:
  • kauN+Di n+ya
Tibetan:
  • ཀཽཎྜི་ནྱ།
Sanskrit:
  • kauṇḍinya

Close disciple of the Buddha.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­20
g.­17

Mahāvastu

Wylie:
  • —
Tibetan:
  • —
Sanskrit:
  • mahāvastu

A work in Sanskrit related to the Vinaya of the Lokottaravāda branch of the Mahāsaṃghika school. It contains a biography of the Buddha interspersed with many teachings, avadānas, and jātakas.

Located in 6 passages in the translation:

  • i.­1
  • i.­11-13
  • n.­14
  • n.­16
g.­18

Maheśvara

Wylie:
  • dbang phyug chen po
Tibetan:
  • དབང་ཕྱུག་ཆེན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • maheśvara

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­21
g.­19

Maudgalyāyana

Wylie:
  • maud gal gyi bu
Tibetan:
  • མཽད་གལ་གྱི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • maudgalyāyana

Close disciple of the Buddha.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­19
g.­20

Pañcarakṣā

Wylie:
  • gzungs chen grwa lnga
Tibetan:
  • གཟུངས་ཆེན་གྲྭ་ལྔ།
Sanskrit:
  • pañcarakṣā

The term used to describe both the scriptures and the deities of the “five protectress goddesses” popular in the Mahāyāna-Vajrayāna tradition.

Located in 3 passages in the translation:

  • i.­3
  • i.­14
  • n.­10
g.­21

paritta

Wylie:
  • yongs su skyob pa
Tibetan:
  • ཡོངས་སུ་སྐྱོབ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • parītta
  • paritrāṇa

A Pali term meaning “protection,” referring to the practice of reciting scriptures to confer protection from harm as well as to the texts so used.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­12
  • n.­6
g.­22

Rājagṛha

Wylie:
  • rgyal po’i khab
Tibetan:
  • རྒྱལ་པོའི་ཁབ།
Sanskrit:
  • rājagṛha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The ancient capital of Magadha prior to its relocation to Pāṭaliputra during the Mauryan dynasty, Rājagṛha is one of the most important locations in Buddhist history. The literature tells us that the Buddha and his saṅgha spent a considerable amount of time in residence in and around Rājagṛha‍—in nearby places, such as the Vulture Peak Mountain (Gṛdhrakūṭaparvata), a major site of the Mahāyāna sūtras, and the Bamboo Grove (Veṇuvana)‍—enjoying the patronage of King Bimbisāra and then of his son King Ajātaśatru. Rājagṛha is also remembered as the location where the first Buddhist monastic council was held after the Buddha Śākyamuni passed into parinirvāṇa. Now known as Rajgir and located in the modern Indian state of Bihar.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • i.­7
g.­23

rākṣasa

Wylie:
  • srin po
Tibetan:
  • སྲིན་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • rākṣasa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings that are often, but certainly not always, considered demonic in the Buddhist tradition. They are often depicted as flesh-eating monsters who haunt frightening places and are ugly and evil-natured with a yearning for human flesh, and who additionally have miraculous powers, such as being able to change their appearance.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • i.­8
g.­24

Śakra

Wylie:
  • brgya byin
Tibetan:
  • བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • śakra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa). Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • i.­12
g.­25

Śāriputra

Wylie:
  • sha ri’i bu
Tibetan:
  • ཤ་རིའི་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • śāriputra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the principal śrāvaka disciples of the Buddha, he was renowned for his discipline and for having been praised by the Buddha as foremost of the wise (often paired with Maudgalyā­yana, who was praised as foremost in the capacity for miraculous powers). His father, Tiṣya, to honor Śāriputra’s mother, Śārikā, named him Śāradvatīputra, or, in its contracted form, Śāriputra, meaning “Śārikā’s Son.”

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­19
g.­26

Śatakratu

Wylie:
  • brgya byin
Tibetan:
  • བརྒྱ་བྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • śatakratu

Epithet of Indra. Literally, “he who contains one hundred sacrificial rites.”

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­20
g.­27

secret mantra holder

Wylie:
  • gsang sngags ’dzin pa
Tibetan:
  • གསང་སྔགས་འཛིན་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • mantradhārin

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­18
g.­28

śrāvaka

Wylie:
  • nyan thos
Tibetan:
  • ཉན་ཐོས།
Sanskrit:
  • śrāvaka

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • i.­6
g.­29

Thempangma

Wylie:
  • them spangs ma
Tibetan:
  • ཐེམ་སྤངས་མ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

One of the two textual lineages of the Kangyur, starting from a manuscript so named that was produced at Gyantsé (rgyal rtse) in 1431.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­16
g.­30

threshold beam

Wylie:
  • dbang po’i sdong po
Tibetan:
  • དབང་པོའི་སྡོང་པོ།
Sanskrit:
  • indrakīla

The foundation beam or stone of a door or gateway.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • 1.­9
g.­31

Tshalpa

Wylie:
  • tshal pa
Tibetan:
  • ཚལ་པ།
Sanskrit:
  • —

One of the two textual lineages of the Kangyur, starting from an edited version produced at the monastery of Tshal Gungthang (tshal gung thang) in 1347–51.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­2
  • i.­16
g.­32

Vaiśālī

Wylie:
  • yangs pa can
Tibetan:
  • ཡངས་པ་ཅན།
Sanskrit:
  • vaiśālī

A great city during the Buddha’s time, the capital of the Licchavis and part of the Vṛji republic, near present-day Patna in Bihar. An important location where a number of Buddhist sūtras are said to have been taught.

Located in 8 passages in the translation:

  • s.­1
  • i.­1
  • i.­7-8
  • i.­10
  • i.­14
  • i.­18
  • n.­19
g.­33

vajra-like

Wylie:
  • rdo rje lta bu
Tibetan:
  • རྡོ་རྗེ་ལྟ་བུ།
Sanskrit:
  • vajropama

Applied to a particular meditative absorption that destroys all fetters and leads to the fifth path, that of “no more learning,” in Sarvāstivāda and Mahāyāna systems.

Located in 2 passages in the translation:

  • i.­13
  • 1.­4
g.­34

yakṣa

Wylie:
  • gnod sbyin
Tibetan:
  • གནོད་སྦྱིན།
Sanskrit:
  • yakṣa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A class of nonhuman beings who inhabit forests, mountainous areas, and other natural spaces, or serve as guardians of villages and towns, and may be propitiated for health, wealth, protection, and other boons, or controlled through magic. According to tradition, their homeland is in the north, where they live under the rule of the Great King Vaiśravaṇa.

Several members of this class have been deified as gods of wealth (these include the just-mentioned Vaiśravaṇa) or as bodhisattva generals of yakṣa armies, and have entered the Buddhist pantheon in a variety of forms, including, in tantric Buddhism, those of wrathful deities.

Located in 1 passage in the translation:

  • i.­8
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    84000. The Aspiration Prayer from “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm” (stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa’i smon lam, Toh 813). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025. https://84000.co/translation/toh813.Copy
    84000. The Aspiration Prayer from “Destroyer of the Great Trichiliocosm” (stong chen mo rab tu ’joms pa’i smon lam, Toh 813). Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee, online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2025, 84000.co/translation/toh813.Copy
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