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བསྐལ་པ་བཟང་པོ།

The Good Eon
Notes

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.

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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).

n.9

Mahāvastu vol. 1, ch. 5, and vol. 3, ch. 21.

n.10

佛本行集經 (Taishō 190), translated by Jñānagupta in the late sixth century. For an English translation, see Beal 1875, pp. 4–16. Note that the Tibetan translation of the Abhiniṣkramaṇasūtra (Toh 301), which appears to be a compilation of passages extracted from the Mūlasarvāstivādavinaya Saṅghabhedavastu, contains no such passage.

n.11

See Salomon 2018, pp. 265–93. Salomon’s introduction to the Gandhāra Bahubuddhakasūtra provides an excellent brief overview of the “many buddhas” literature; for a very full scholarly account, see Tournier 2019.

n.12

The passage is in the Degé Kangyur, vol. 2, F.274.b–280.a; see Bhaiṣajyavastu Translation Team 2021, The Chapter on Medicines, 9.1384–9.1507. The notes to that translation provide details of parallel passages in the various Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan versions.

n.13

For a list and comments, See Skilling 2010, pp 203–6.

n.14

See Roberts, Peter Alan. trans. The White Lotus of Compassion, Toh 112 (2023).

n.15

The passage is in the Degé Kangyur, vol. 50, F.169.b–216.a; see Roberts (2023), chapter 4.

n.16

The passage is in the Degé Kangyur, vol. 39, F.117.b–125.b.

n.17

The passage is in the Degé Kangyur, vol. 60, F.235.b–238.a; see Thurman 2017, 12.6 et seq.

n.18

For example, a treasure text discovered by the fifteenth-century gter ston Ratna Lingpa, belonging to an inner tantra cycle based on Avalokiteśvara (thugs rje chen po gsang ba ’dus pa), includes in the elaborate version of its empowerment ritual a stage in which an empowerment of the thousand buddhas is given, each mentioned by name. The ritual is still in use today, being part of the Rinchen Terdzö (rin chen gter mzod, “Treasury of Rediscovered Scriptures”) collection compiled by Jamgön Kongtrul and Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo.

n.19

In the Degé Kangyur, they are found in the General Sūtra section between Toh 127 and Toh 137.

n.20

The attention of Western scholars was drawn to this group of sūtras in a comprehensive study by Andrew Skilton (see Skilton 2002).

n.21

See Roberts 2018a, i.2, 1.26–1.61, and chapter 40.

n.22

The list in this text is shorter and takes a more structured form than in the other sūtras. See Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2016, 2.1–2.10.

n.23

See Skilton 1999, pp 642–8. The somewhat cryptic mention of these texts in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha (Toh 4048) comes at VII.3 on F.32.b in the Degé Tengyur, vol. 134. For a translation see Brunnhölzl 2018, vol. 1, p 221 and vol. 3, p 739, although Brunnhölzl does not seem to be aware of Skilton’s very reasonable interpretation and has not followed it.

n.24

See Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2020, i.2, i.6, and 1.54–1.83.

n.25

As indeed is at least one of the fragmentary Khotanese texts that are close relatives of The Good Eon. See Skilling 2010, p 199.

n.26

The bodhisattva interlocutor’s name in the text in question is 喜王菩薩 (Xiwang pusa), which could certainly be a rendering of Prāmodyarāja.

n.27

The relationship between the Guancha zhufaxing jing and The Good Eon was first noted by Li Can 2015, p. 236. Skilton mentions the Chinese text as a “samādhi list” sūtra in his study (Skilton 2002, pp 72–3) but does not identify it as related to The Good Eon. About the family of texts in various languages that may be precursors, derivatives, or parallels of the surviving versions of The Good Eon, much remains to be discovered and explored.

n.28

Skilling 2010: pp. 198–99.

n.29

Salomon 2014: pp. 6–7.

n.30

For more on Dharmarakṣa, see Boucher 2006. Note that in the Kangyur the work commonly known as the Lotus Sūtra is the text with the catalog number Toh 113, and that the English translation is published in the 84000 Reading Room under its full title: The White Lotus of the Good Dharma. See Roberts 2018b.

n.31

Li Can 2018.

n.32

The Denkarma catalog is dated to c. 812 ᴄᴇ. See Denkarma, folio 296.b.5. See also Herrmann-Pfandt 2008: p. 42, no. 73.

n.33

Skilling and Saerji have published Sanskrit names of all the one thousand and four buddhas of the current eon by relying in part on the names published by Friedrich Weller in 1928 (based on Manchu, Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Mongolian sources) as well as on the names listed in the so-called Khotanese Bhadrakalpika-sūtra (which generally differs in content from Toh 94). However, as Skilling and Saerji note, many names cannot be conclusively established in Sanskrit, and a number of uncertainties remain. See Skilling and Saerji 2014: p. 246.

n.34

Note that the names of well-known figures such Maitreya have been left untranslated, whereas names of lesser-known figures or those whose Sanskrit names are conjectural have been translated.

n.35

Translated based on S: brgyad po dang. D: brgyad po gang. The identity of these eight holy beings is not known.

n.36

For a discussion of the use of the term “absorption” (samādhi) here and the relationship of the list that follows with similar lists in other sūtras, see Introduction i.19 et seq.

n.37

Translation assumes stod/bstod as appears in H, J, K, N, and S; D: ston.

n.38

Note that this sentence deals with the twelve links in the chain of dependent origination.

n.39

This may refer to the emblem of a thousand-spoked wheel that appears on the palms of a buddha’s hand and the soles of his feet, which is one of the thirty-two marks of a great person (mahāpuruṣalakṣaṇa), i.e., a buddha.

n.40

The term spyod pa’i sa is likely a shorthand for mos spyod pa’i sa (“level of devoted conduct”).

n.41

This means one has renounced communal life to lead a life of spiritual practice. Many early Buddhist texts advocate the merit of the solitary pursuit of spiritual awakening as opposed to practicing as a householder or in a community of monastics.

n.42

Translation tentative. Tibetan: bkrabs lhung khu sgo.

n.43

It is unclear what “four words” (tshig bzhi po) refers to here.

n.44

“Supreme among the two-legged” (humans) and “victorious ones” are both epithets of buddhas.

n.45

The buddha realm named here suggests that the buddha here referred to as Amitāyus (tshe dpag med) is not Amitābha of Sukhāvatī but Aparimitāyus/Aparimitāyurjñāna (tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa). On the ambiguity of the name Amitāyus, see i.9 in the introduction to The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra (Peter Alan Roberts, trans. The Aparimitāyurjñāna Sūtra [Toh 674], 2021). In that sūtra the buddhafield is called Aparimitaguṇasaṃcaya (yon tan dpag tu med pa sogs pa) rather than Aparimitaguṇavyūha as here.

n.46

Translated based on H, J, K, N, and S: bdag. D: dag.

n.47

Translated based on S: mchod pas. D: mchad pas.

n.48