The Play in Full
Epilogue
Toh 95
Degé Kangyur, vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha), folios 1.b–216.b
- Jinamitra
- Dānaśīla
- Munivarman
- Yeshé Dé
Imprint
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2013
Current version v 4.48.25 (2024)
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Play in Full tells the story of how the Buddha manifested in this world and attained awakening, as perceived from the perspective of the Great Vehicle. The sūtra, which is structured in twenty-seven chapters, first presents the events surrounding the Buddha’s birth, childhood, and adolescence in the royal palace of his father, king of the Śākya nation. It then recounts his escape from the palace and the years of hardship he faced in his quest for spiritual awakening. Finally the sūtra reveals his complete victory over the demon Māra, his attainment of awakening under the Bodhi tree, his first turning of the wheel of Dharma, and the formation of the very early saṅgha.
Acknowledgments
This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche.
Cortland Dahl, Catherine Dalton, Hilary Herdman, Heidi Koppl, James Gentry, and Andreas Doctor translated the text from Tibetan into English. Andreas Doctor and Wiesiek Mical then compared the translations against the original Tibetan and Sanskrit, respectively. Finally, Andreas Doctor edited the translation and wrote the introduction.
The Dharmachakra Translation Committee would like to thank Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche for blessing this project, and Khenpo Sherap Sangpo for his generous assistance with the resolution of several difficult passages.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of 簡源震及家人江秀敏,簡暐如,簡暐丞 Chien YuanChen (Dharma Das) and his wife, daughter, and son for work on this sūtra is gratefully acknowledged.
Text Body
The Play in Full
Epilogue
The gods, who had requested this Dharma teaching from the Thus-Gone One, were now gathered for the turning of the wheel of Dharma. In total there were more than 18,000 divine beings from the Pure Realms, led by such beings as Maheśvara, Nanda, Sunanda, Candana, Mahita, Śānta, Praśānta, and Vinīteśvara. At that point the Thus-Gone One addressed the divine beings, headed by Maheśvara, who had come from the pure realms, in the following way: [F.213.b]
“Friends, this sūtra known as The Play in Full is a very extensive account of the Bodhisattva’s playful activity. It constitutes an introduction to the play that is the domain of the Buddha. The Thus-Gone One has taught it to introduce himself. [439] So now you should absorb it, preserve it, and cause it to be retold. In this way, this Dharma-method of mine will spread.
“When the followers of the Bodhisattva Vehicle hear this teaching, they will develop an extremely steadfast diligence. Those beings that develop a strong inclination to attain unsurpassable and perfect awakening will develop a strength that brings down a rain of the great teaching. The demons will be destroyed. All those who proclaim different doctrines will not make their appearance. Your request to teach this Dharma will become a root of virtue—very valuable, yielding great benefits, and earning great praise.
“Friends, whoever joins his palms in respect to this Dharma teaching of The Play in Full will attain eight supreme attributes. What are these eight? These are to attain a supreme body, supreme strength, supreme retinue, supreme presence of mind, supreme renunciation, supreme purity of thoughts, supreme level of meditative concentration, and supreme manifestation of insight. These are the eight supreme attributes that one will attain.
“Friends, whoever sets up a throne for the Dharma teacher who wishes to expound this Dharma teaching of The Play in Full will attain eight desirable positions as soon as he sets up the throne. What are these eight? They are the position of a merchant, a householder, a universal monarch, a world protector, Śakra, Vaśavartin, Brahmā, a nonreturning bodhisattva who has reached the supreme essence of awakening, [F.214.a] sits on a lion throne, and vanquishes the attacks of demons, and a buddha who has reached perfect and unsurpassable awakening and sits on the throne of turning the wheel of Dharma. These are the eight desirable positions that one will attain. [440]
“Friends, whoever applauds a Dharma teacher expounding this Dharma teaching of The Play in Full will attain eight purities of speech. What are these eight? With the pure action of speech that accords with the truth, others will do as one says. With the pure action of speech that overwhelms one’s audience, one’s words will be accepted. With the pure action of not being ignored, one’s words will be heeded. By peacefully gathering beings, one will speak pleasantly and softly. By satisfying bodies and minds, one’s voice will be like the voice of the cuckoo bird. By uniting beings, one will have one’s say. By outshining all voices, one will have a voice like Brahmā. By not being dominated by any propagators of other doctrines, one will have a voice like the roar of a lion. By satisfying the sense faculties of all sentient beings, one will have the voice of a Buddha. These are the eight purities of speech that one will attain.
“Friends, whoever puts this Dharma teaching of The Play in Full into writing, and carries, venerates, respects, honors, and pays homage to it while praising this Dharma teaching into the four directions without any feeling of miserliness, saying, ‘Come here! Write this teaching down! Hold it! Pass it on! Reflect on it! Memorize it well!’ they shall attain eight great treasures. What are these eight great treasures? They are: the treasure of unfailing recall because of not forgetting, the treasure of intelligence by careful analysis, the treasure of realization by assimilating enthusiastically the meaning of all the sūtras, the treasure of memorization by remembering everything that one hears, the treasure of confidence by satisfying all sentient beings with good counsel, [F.214.b] the treasure of Dharma by preserving the true Dharma, the treasure of the mind of awakening by maintaining the lineage of the Three Jewels, and the treasure of accomplishment by developing receptiveness to the truth of nonorigination. These are the eight great treasures that one will attain. [441]
“Friends, whoever teaches this Dharma teaching of The Play in Full and explains it will perfect eight accumulations. What are these eight? They are: generosity by being free of miserliness, discipline by perfecting all virtuous intentions, learning by accomplishing unattached knowledge, calm abiding through actualizing all meditative states and equilibriums, insight through perfecting knowledge by means of the threefold knowledge, merit by refining the excellent marks and the adornments of the buddha realms, wisdom by satisfying the inclinations of all sentient beings, and great compassion because of never tiring of ripening all sentient beings. These are the eight accumulations that one will perfect.
“Friends, whoever has this outlook and, thinking that other sentient beings should receive this instruction, teaches this Dharma teaching of The Play in Full elaborately, will attain eight great forms of merit through this virtuous cause. What are these eight? [F.215.a] The first of these eight great types of merit results in becoming a universal monarch. The second great merit results in becoming a supreme ruler in the Heaven of the Four Great Kings. The third great merit results in becoming Śakra, lord of the gods. The fourth great merit results in becoming the god Suyāma. The fifth great merit results in becoming Santuṣita. The sixth great merit results in becoming Sunirmāṇarati. The seventh great merit results in becoming Vaśavartin, the king of gods. The eighth great merit results in becoming Brahmā from the Mahā-Brahmā Heaven. Finally one becomes a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, free from all unvirtuous dharmas and endowed with all the virtuous ones. These are the eight great merits that one will attain. [442]
“Friends, whoever listens attentively to this Dharma teaching of The Play in Full as it is being explained will gain eight pure mind states. What are these eight? They are: love in order to conquer all anger, compassion in order to abandon all ill will, sympathetic joy in order to clear away all depression, equanimity in order to abandon desire and anger, the four concentrations in order to master the entire desire realm, the four equilibriums of the formless realm in order to master the mind, the five types of higher knowledge in order to travel to other buddha realms, and the ability to conquer all traces of habitual tendencies in order to attain the meditative concentration of the heroic gait. [F.215.b] These are the eight pure mind states that one will attain.
“Friends, wherever this Dharma teaching of The Play in Full is found, whether in a village, a city, a market, an inhabited place, a district, a courtyard, or a temple, the eight fears will not manifest except from the ripening of past actions. What are these eight? They are: the fears of the troubles caused by (1) rulers, (2) thieves, (3) malicious beings, (4) starvation in a wilderness, (5) fights, quarrels and disputes, (6) gods, (7) nāgas, (8) yakṣas, and all types of misfortune. Other than the ripening of previous actions, my friends, these eight fears will no longer occur.
“Friends, in short, even if the lifespan of the Thus-Gone One were to last for an eon, and even if he were to praise this Dharma teaching uninterruptedly day and night, he would not be able to end his praise of this Dharma teaching, and his inspired speech would still continue. [443]
“Friends, the discipline, absorption, knowledge, liberation, and wisdom vision of liberation of the Thus-Gone One is immeasurable and boundless. For this reason, my friends, if anyone develops the wish that others receive this vast teaching, and subsequently memorizes this Dharma teaching, carries it, propagates it, writes it down, [F.216.a] or commissions it to be written, comprehends it, and teaches it elaborately to his congregation, then their merit shall also be boundless.”
Then the Thus-Gone One announced to venerable Mahākāśyapa, venerable Ānanda, and the bodhisattva great being Maitreya:
“Friends, the unsurpassable and perfect awakening that I have accomplished through limitless billions of eons, I now place in your hands. I entrust you with a supreme entrustment. Now you should keep this teaching with you and teach it elaborately to others.”
When he had said this, the Blessed One uttered the following verses in order to pass on his Dharma teaching more fully:
When the Blessed One, the Exalted Lord, had spoken, the gods from the pure realms headed by Maheśvara; all the bodhisattvas, the great beings, headed by Maitreya; the great listeners headed by Mahākāśyapa; and the entire world with its gods, humans, demigods, and gandharvas rejoiced at the Blessed One’s teaching.
This concludes the twenty-seventh chapter, the epilogue.
This completes the Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra, “The Play in Full.”
Colophon
Colophon to the Sanskrit Edition
Colophon to the Tibetan Translation
This was taught and translated by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Munivarman, and the translator-editor Bandé Yeshé Dé, who proofed and finalized the translation.
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