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བསྐལ་པ་བཟང་པོ།

The Good Eon

Bhadrakalpika

འཕགས་པ་བསྐལ་པ་བཟང་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།

’phags pa bskal pa bzang po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Good Eon”

Āryabhadrakalpikanāmamahāyānasūtra

Toh 94

Degé Kangyur vol. 45 (mdo sde, ka), folios 1.b–340.a

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ

Vidyākarasiṁha
Palgyi Yang
Paltsek

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

First published 2022

Current version v 1.1.21 (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.

co.

Summary

s.1

While resting in a park outside the city of Vaiśālī, the Buddha is approached by the bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja, who requests meditation instruction. The Buddha proceeds to give a teaching on a meditative absorption called elucidating the way of all phenomena and subsequently delivers an elaborate discourse on the six perfections. Prāmodyarāja then learns that all the future buddhas of the Good Eon are now present in the Blessed One’s audience of bodhisattvas. Responding to Prāmodyarāja’s request to reveal the names under which these present bodhisattvas will be known as buddhas in the future, the Buddha first lists these names, and then goes on to describe the circumstances surrounding their birth, awakening, and teaching in the world. In the sūtra’s final section, we learn how each of these great bodhisattvas who are on the path to buddhahood first developed the mind of awakening.

ac.

Acknowledgements

ac.1

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Thomas Doctor produced the translation and Andreas Doctor, Anya Zilman, and Nika Jovic compared the draft translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text. The introduction was written by Thomas Doctor and the 84000 editorial team.

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

ac.2

The generous sponsorship of Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, Zhou Tian Yu, Chen Yi Qin, Zhou Xun, Zhao Xuan, Chen Kun, and Zhuo Yue, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

i.1

The Good Eon recounts the names and circumstances pertaining to all the one thousand and four buddhas 1 who will appear in our world during this current eon, which is commonly known among Mahāyāna Buddhists as the Good Eon.2 Listed as the first scripture in the General Sūtra section of most Kangyur collections, it is among the longest of the Mahāyāna sūtras translated into Tibetan.3 Besides occupying this place of honor in the Kangyur, The Good Eon was often copied or printed separately in Tibet, where it has long functioned as a special ceremonial scripture that is read aloud by lamas on special occasions to foster well-being and good fortune, and that is often kept on the family altar in Tibetan homes for this purpose.

The Multiplicity of Buddhas and the Buddhas of the Good Eon

The Good Eon as a “samādhi sūtra”

Sources and Translation

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra
The Good Eon

Chapter 1

[B1] [F.1.b]

1.1

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

1.2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing at Śrāvasti, where he had observed the summer retreat. After the three months of summer had passed, he prepared his Dharma robes. Once he had prepared his Dharma robes, he put on the robes, took up his alms bowl, and, together with one hundred thousand monks and eight hundred million bodhisattvas, proceeded toward the city of Vaiśālī. On the way, the Blessed One entered a large forest, where he later arose from meditative seclusion.

Chapter 2

2.1

The Blessed One then said this to the bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja: “Prāmodyarāja, in this way you must devote yourself to generosity and make offerings to the Dharma. Prāmodyarāja, long ago, many incalculable eons in the past, there was a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a complete and perfect buddha known as Golden Beauty, King of the Splendid Light of Ascertainment. His lifespan was unfathomable, the features of his buddhafield were infinite, and his retinue was beyond count.

2.A.

The names

2.A.1

When the Blessed One had said this, the bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja asked, “Revered Blessed One, within this gathering of attending bodhisattva great beings, are there any who have attained these absorptions, these applications of the perfections, these eighty-four thousand gateways of absorption?”

2.A.2

The Blessed One answered the bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja in the following way: [F.96.a] “Prāmodyarāja, except for the four thus-gone ones who in this Good Eon have already awakened to perfect buddhahood, all the rest of those who will awaken to perfect buddhahood in this Good Eon are present within this retinue of bodhisattva great beings, and they have attained those absorptions, those applications of the perfections, and those eighty-four thousand gateways of absorption.”

2.B.

The lives

2.B.1

When the Blessed One had spoken these words, the bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja made the following request: “Blessed One, this is excellent. Blessed One, for the benefit of gods and humans, please explain about the birthplace, the family, the light, the father, the mother, the son, the attendant, the two foremost and excellent followers, the perfect community of monks, the lifespan, the duration of the sacred Dharma, and the manifestation of relics that pertain to each of these buddhas of the Good Eon, so that numerous beings may receive healing and be happy, and so that bodhisattvas of the future may persevere in hearing and remain inspired, become exceptionally accomplished in the sacred Dharma, and become sources of insight.”

2.C.

The engendering of the mind of awakening

2.C.1

When the Blessed One had spoken these words, the bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja once more addressed him: “Excellent, O Blessed One, excellent. Now please make clear the identity of the blessed buddhas before whom these blessed buddhas of the Good Eon first gave rise to the mind of awakening. Please also state the roots of virtue that allowed them to venerate those buddhas [F.288.a] and give rise to the mind of awakening.”

Colophon

c.1

This translation was produced by the Indian preceptor Vidyākarasiṁha and the translator Venerable Palgyi Yang. The translation was revised and finalized by the great translator-editor Venerable Paltsek.

c.2

Śubhaṁ astu sarvaja gatāṁ

c.3

Oṃ ye dharmā hetuprabhavā

hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat,

teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha

evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ

c.4

Maṅgala bhavatu

ab.

Abbreviations

C	Choné (co ne) Kangyur
D	Degé (sde dge) Kangyur
H	Lhasa Zhöl (zhol) Kangyur
J	Lithang (li thang) Kangyur
K	Kangxi Peking (pe) Kangyur
N	Narthang (snar thang) Kangyur
S	Stok Palace (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur
Y	Yongle (g.yung lo) Kangyur

Notes

n.1

Note that the number of buddhas given in the sūtra varies in the three enumerations in the text (described below in i.5–i.7). Only the first list of names contains one thousand and four buddhas.

n.2

The notion of “a good eon” generally implies an eon in which more than one buddha appears. Skilling 2010: p. 200.

n.3

Skilling 2010: pp. 195–96.

n.4

The sequential order of the thousand and four buddhas has been carefully compared across the three enumerations as mentioned here, and their placement has been documented in the glossary entries for each. For those who may be interested in this research, a spreadsheet detailing this comparison across the three lists is available for download here.

n.5

It is worth noting here that the long and remarkable teaching on the six perfections deserves more detailed attention and study than it has hitherto received.

n.6

The stages of spiritual practice are the topic of numerous scriptures, treatises, and commentaries, some in vast detail such as the Buddhavataṃsakasūtra (Toh 44) and the Yogācārabhūmi (Toh 4035–4037). Perhaps the most succinct summary comes in the opening lines of the Mahāvastu, where four stages are described: (1) prakṛticaryā (“natural career”), (2) pranidhānacaryā (“resolving stage”), (3) anulomacaryā (“conforming stage”), and (4) anivartanacaryā (“preserving career”). See Mahāvastu, vol. I, 1.2; the four stages are explained in more detail in vol. 1, ch. 5. See also Jaini 2001, p. 453.

n.7

This text’s main emphasis is on these buddhas’ future lives (the second, most extensive list, 2.B.2 et seq.), and the only event in these buddhas’ past lives that it includes is their first generating of the mind set on awakening (the third listing, 2.C.4 et seq.).

n.8

Found (1) in Pali in the Dīghanikāya as the Mahāpadānasutta (DN 14; for translation see Sujato 2018); (2) in several Chinese translations including 大本經 (Daben jing in the Dīrghāgama, Taishō 1), 七佛經 (Qi fojing, Taishō 2), and 毘婆尸佛經 (Pipo shi fojing, Taishō 3); and (3) in Sanskrit as the Mahāvadānasūtra in a number of fragmentary manuscripts from which the text has been reconstructed (Waldschmidt 1952–8, Fukita 2003).

Bibliography

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bskal pa bzang po (Bhadrakalpika). Toh 94, Degé Kangyur vol. 45 (mdo sde, ka), folios 1.b–340.a.

bskal pa bzang po (Bhadrakalpika). Toh 94, Stok Palaca Kangyur vol. 52 (mdo sde, ka), folios 1.a–478.a.

bskal pa bzang po. (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. 45, pp. 3–852.

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.

chos yang dag par sdud pa’i mdo (Dharmasaṅgītisūtra). Toh 238, Degé Kangyur vol. 65 (mdo sde, zha), folios 1.a–99.b. English translation in Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New York 2024.

theg pa chen po’i man ngag (Mahāyānopadeśasūtra). Toh 169, Degé Kangyur vol. 59 (mdo sde, ba), folios 260.a–307.a.

dam pa’i chos pad ma dkar po (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka). Toh 113, Degé Kangyur vol. 51 (mdo sde, ja), folios 1.b–180.b. English translation in Roberts 2018b.

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

yul ’khor skyong gis zhus pa (Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā). Toh 62, Degé Kangyur vol. 42 (dkon brtsegs, nga), folios 227.a–257.a. English translation in Vienna Buddhist Translation Studies Group 2021.

shes phyin khri pa (Daśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā). Toh 11, Degé Kangyur vol. 31 (shes phyin, ga), folios 1.b–91.a; vol. 32 (shes phyin, nga), folios 92.b–397.a. English translation in Padmakara Translation Group 2018.

theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos (Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra) [Ratnagotravibhāga]. Toh 4024, Degé Tengyur vol. 123 (sems tsam, phi), folios 54.b–73.a.

mdo kun las btus pa (Sūtrasamuccaya). Toh 3934, Degé Tengyur vol. 110 (dbu ma, ki), folios 148.b–215.a.

Āryaśūra. skyes pa’i rabs kyi rgyud (Jātakamālā). Toh 4150, Degé Tengyur vol. 168 (skyes rabs, hu), folios 1.b–135.a.

Asaṅga. rnal ’byor spyod pa’i sa (Yogācārabhūmi). Toh 4035, Degé Tengyur vol. 127 (sems tsam, tshi), folios 1.b–283.a.

‍—‍—‍—. theg pa chen po bsdus pa (Mahāyānasaṃgraha). Toh 4048, Degé Tengyur vol. 134 (sems tsam, ri), folios 1.b–43.a.

Śāntideva. bslab pa kun las btus pa (Śikṣāsamuccaya). Toh 3940, Degé Tengyur vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3.a–194.b.

Vasubandhu. chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi tshig le’ur byas pa (Abhidharmakośakārikā). Toh 4089, Degé Tengyur vol. 140 (mngon pa, ku), folios 1.b–25.a.

‍—‍—‍—. chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi bshad pa (Abhidharmakośabhāṣya). Toh 4090, Degé Tengyur vol. 140 (mngon pa, ku), folios 26.b–258.a; vol. 141 (mngon pa, khu), folios 1.b–95.a.

Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan [/ lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.

bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa chen po (Mahāvyutpatti). Toh 4346, Degé Tengyur vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co), folios 1.b–131.a.

Butön (bu ston rin chen grub). chos ’byung [History of the Dharma] (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.

Secondary Sources

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Boucher, Daniel. “Dharmarakṣa and the Transmission of Buddhism to China.” Asia Major, 3rd ser., 19, no. 1/2 (2006): 13–37.

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Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2013). The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.

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‍—‍—‍—(2018). “A Preliminary Report on Some New Sources of the Bhadrakalpika-sūtra (1).” Annual Report of the International Institute for Advanced Buddhology at Soka University 21 (2018): 417–22.

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‍—‍—‍—(2021). The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (1) (Aparimitāyurjñānasūtra, Toh 674). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.

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Glossary

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

Attested in source text

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

Attested in other text

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

Attested in dictionary

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

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.

Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

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

Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

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

Source unspecified

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

g.1

Abandoner of Anger

tha spangs ma

ཐ་སྤངས་མ།

g.2

Abandoning Displeasure

mi dga’ spong

མི་དགའ་སྤོང་།

g.3

Abandoning Doubt

yid gnyis spong

ཡིད་གཉིས་སྤོང་།

g.787

calm abiding

zhi gnas

ཞི་གནས།

śamatha

g.991

concentration

bsam gtan

བསམ་གཏན།

dhyāna

g.1162

defilement

nyon mongs

ཉོན་མོངས།

kleśa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (avidyā). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote.

Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,“ “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.

g.1789

elucidating the way of all phenomena

chos thams cad kyi tshul la nges par ston pa

ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་ཚུལ་ལ་ངེས་པར་སྟོན་པ།

g.2051

eon

bskal pa

བསྐལ་པ།

kalpa

According to the traditional Abhidharma understanding of cyclical time, a great eon (mahākalpa) is divided into eighty lesser or intervening eons. In the course of one great eon, the external universe and its sentient life takes form and later disappears. During the first twenty of the lesser eons, the universe is in the process of creation and expansion (vivartakalpa); during the next twenty it remains created; during the third twenty, it is in the process of destruction or contraction (samvartakalpa); and during the last quarter of the cycle, it remains in a state of destruction. For the different kinds of kalpas according to Abhidharma teachings, see the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (Toh 4090) on AK III.89d–93 (for English translation, see Pruden 1988–90, vol. 2, 475–81). The Good Eon referenced in this text is the name Buddhists give to our current eon and generally refers to any eon in which more than one buddha appear.

g.3442

god

ལྷ།

deva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In the most general sense the devas‍—the term is cognate with the English divine‍—are a class of celestial beings who frequently appear in Buddhist texts, often at the head of the assemblies of nonhuman beings who attend and celebrate the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni and other buddhas and bodhisattvas. In Buddhist cosmology the devas occupy the highest of the five or six “destinies” (gati) of saṃsāra among which beings take rebirth. The devas reside in the devalokas, “heavens” that traditionally number between twenty-six and twenty-eight and are divided between the desire realm (kāmadhātu), form realm (rūpadhātu), and formless realm (ārūpyadhātu). A being attains rebirth among the devas either through meritorious deeds (in the desire realm) or the attainment of subtle meditative states (in the form and formless realms). While rebirth among the devas is considered favorable, it is ultimately a transitory state from which beings will fall when the conditions that lead to rebirth there are exhausted. Thus, rebirth in the god realms is regarded as a diversion from the spiritual path.

g.3488

Golden Beauty, King of the Splendid Light of Ascertainment

gser sdug mdzes pa rnam par nges pa’i ’od kyi gzi brjid kyi rgyal po

གསེར་སྡུག་མཛེས་པ་རྣམ་པར་ངེས་པའི་འོད་ཀྱི་གཟི་བརྗིད་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

g.3511

Good Eon

bskal pa bzang po

བསྐལ་པ་བཟང་པོ།

bhadrakalpika

g.5710

meditative absorption

ting nge ’dzin

ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།

samādhi

g.5713

meditative seclusion

nang du yang dag ’jog
nang du yang dag par ’jog pa

ནང་དུ་ཡང་དག་འཇོག
ནང་དུ་ཡང་དག་པར་འཇོག་པ།

pratisaṃlayana

g.6351

one thousand buddhas of the Good Eon

bskal pa bzang po pa’i sangs rgyas stong

བསྐལ་པ་བཟང་པོ་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་སྟོང་།

g.6382

Palgyi Yang

dpal gyi dbyangs

དཔལ་གྱི་དབྱངས།

g.6383

Paltsek

dpal brtsegs

དཔལ་བརྩེགས།

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Paltsek (eighth to early ninth century), from the village of Kawa north of Lhasa, was one of Tibet’s preeminent translators. He was one of the first seven Tibetans to be ordained by Śāntarakṣita and is counted as one of Guru Rinpoché’s twenty-five close disciples. In a famous verse by Ngok Lotsawa Loden Sherab, Kawa Paltsek is named along with Chokro Lui Gyaltsen and Zhang (or Nanam) Yeshé Dé as part of a group of translators whose skills were surpassed only by Vairotsana.

He translated works from a wide variety of genres, including sūtra, śāstra, vinaya, and tantra, and was an author himself. Paltsek was also one of the most important editors of the early period, one of nine translators installed by Tri Songdetsen (r. 755–797/800) to supervise the translation of the Tripiṭaka and help catalog translated works for the first two of three imperial catalogs, the Denkarma (ldan kar ma) and the Samyé Chimpuma (bsam yas mchims phu ma). In the colophons of his works, he is often known as Paltsek Rakṣita (rak+Shi ta).

In this text:

Tibetan editor of The Good Eon.

g.6645

Prāmodyarāja

mchog tu dga’ ba’i rgyal po

མཆོག་ཏུ་དགའ་བའི་རྒྱལ་པོ།

prāmodyarāja

g.6725

prophecy

lung bstan pa

ལུང་བསྟན་པ།

vyākaraṇa

In this text and many others, the formal statement by a buddha that a particular individual (or occasionally a group) will attain awakening as a named tathāgata, often in a named world system during a named future eon. The same term is also used (though not in this text) to refer to a category of scriptures in which such prophetic statements are made; more generally, it can mean simply a teaching or explanation.

g.7500

special insight

lhag mthong
lhag par mthong ba

ལྷག་མཐོང་།
ལྷག་པར་མཐོང་བ།

vipaśyanā

g.7641

Śrāvasti

mnyan yod

མཉན་ཡོད།

śrāvasti

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.

g.8468

the first list of one thousand buddhas of the Good Eon

g.8841

Vaiśālī

yangs pa can

ཡངས་པ་ཅན།

vaiśālī

g.8950

Vidyākarasiṁha

bidyA ka ra sing ha

བིདྱཱ་ཀ་ར་སིང་ཧ།

vidyākarasiṁha

g.9317

worthy one

dgra bcom pa
dgra bcom

དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།
དགྲ་བཅོམ།

arhat

The Good Eon

Toh 94

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