This rendering does not include the entire published text

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ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་སྟོང་ཕྲག་ཉི་ཤུ་ལྔ་པ།

The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines

Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā

འཕགས་པ་ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་སྟོང་ཕྲག་ཉི་ཤུ་ལྔ་པ།

’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa

The Noble Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines

Āryapañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā

Toh 9

Degé Kangyur, vol. 26 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ka), folios 1.b–382.a; vol. 27 (shes phyin, nyi khri, kha), folios 1.b–393.a; and vol. 28 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ga), folios 1.b–381.a

Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

First published 2023

Current version v 1.1.19 (2025)

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.

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Summary

s.1

The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines is among the most important scriptures underlying both the “vast” and the “profound” approaches to Buddhist thought and practice. Known as the “middle-length” version, being the second longest of the three long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, it fills three volumes of the Kangyur. Like the two other long sūtras, it records the major teaching on the perfection of wisdom given by the Buddha Śākyamuni on Vulture Peak, detailing all aspects of the path to enlightenment while at the same time emphasizing how bodhisattvas must put them into practice without taking them‍—or any aspects of enlightenment itself‍—as having even the slightest true existence.

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Acknowledgements

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Translation by the Padmakara Translation Group. A complete draft by Gyurme Dorje was first edited by Charles Hastings, then revised and further edited by John Canti. The introduction was written by John Canti. We are grateful for the advice and help received from Gareth Sparham, Greg Seton, and Nathaniel Rich.

This translation is dedicated to the memory of our late colleague, long-time friend, and vajra brother Gyurme Dorje (1950–2020), who worked assiduously on this translation in his final years and into the very last months of his life. We would also like to express our gratitude to his wife, Xiaohong, for the extraordinary support she gave him on so many levels.

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

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The generous sponsorship of Kris Yao and Xiang-Jen Yao, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.

Introduction

i.1

The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines is one of the three so-called “long” sūtras on the Perfection of Wisdom, or Prajñāpāramitā.1 It fills three complete volumes of the Degé Kangyur, and of all the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras it is second in length only to the massive Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines (Toh 8),2 which fills twelve volumes. The third and shortest of the three “long” sūtras, the Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines (Toh 10),3 fills two and a half volumes.4

The Early Spread of the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras

The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines in Central Asia and China

Meanwhile in India…

The Prajñāpāramitā Takes Root in Tibet

The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines in Tibet

Kangyur and Tengyur Versions of the Sūtra

Sanskrit Texts of The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines

Structure and Content

The Structure and Its Correspondences with the Other Long Sūtras

The Content and Its Topical Divisions

The Protagonists: Śāriputra, Subhūti, Śakra, and the Others

Selected Features of the Sūtra

English Translation

The Translation

The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines

Chapter 1: The Context

[V26] [F.1.b] [B1] {Dt.4}

1.1

Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas!

1.2

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One 91 was staying on Vulture Peak near Rājagṛha, with a large monastic gathering comprising some five thousand monks. All of them were arhats who had attained the cessation of contaminants, free of afflicted mental states, fully controlled, their minds thoroughly liberated, their wisdom well liberated, thoroughbreds, mighty elephants, their tasks accomplished, their work completed, their burdens relinquished, their own objectives fulfilled, the fetters binding them to the rebirth process completely severed, their minds thoroughly liberated through perfect instruction,92 supreme in their perfection of all mental powers, with the exception of just one person‍— [F.2.a] the venerable Ānanda, still a trainee who had entered the stream. Also present were some five hundred nuns headed by Yaśodharā and Mahāprajāpatī, and a great many laymen and laywomen, all of whom had seen the Dharma.93

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Chapter 2: Śāriputra

2.1

At that time, when the Blessed One thus understood that the entire world had assembled‍—a great multitude with its gods, māras, Brahmā divinities, all kinds of beings including ascetics and brahmins, gods, humans, and asuras, as well as numerous bodhisattva great beings most of whom were crown princes‍— [F.27.b] he said to the venerable Śāradvatīputra: {Dt.18}

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2.2

“Śāradvatīputra, bodhisattva great beings who wish to attain consummate buddhahood with respect to all phenomena in all their aspects should persevere in the perfection of wisdom.”111

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Chapter 3

3.1

Then the Blessed One addressed the venerable Subhūti: “Subhūti, commencing with the perfection of wisdom, you should be inspired to tell bodhisattva great beings 152 how bodhisattva great beings will become emancipated in the perfection of wisdom!” [F.87.a]

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3.2

Thereupon, those bodhisattva great beings, those great śrāvakas, and those gods who were present thought, “Will this venerable Subhūti teach the perfection of wisdom to these bodhisattva great beings through the armor of the strength and force just of his own wisdom and inspired speech, or will he teach it through the power of the Buddha?”

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Chapter 5

5.1

The venerable Subhūti then [F.126.a] said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, thus it is that I do not apprehend and do not find a bodhisattva or the perfection of wisdom. Blessed Lord, since I do not apprehend and do not find a bodhisattva great being or the perfection of wisdom, what bodhisattva great being should I teach and instruct, and in what perfection of wisdom?166 {Dt.124} Blessed Lord, for me, apprehending or finding thus neither an increase nor a decrease in any phenomena, to cause an increase or decrease in just the names bodhisattva or perfection of wisdom would be regrettable. Blessed Lord, those names, too, have no location, no presence, and no influence.167 Why? It is because those names do not exist that those names have no location, no presence, and no influence.

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Chapter 6

6.1

The venerable Subhūti then said to the Blessed One, [F.148.b] “Blessed Lord, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, if they engage unskillfully with physical forms, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks and are not practicing the perfection of wisdom. {Dt.139} If they engage in the same manner with feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are permanent, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are permanent, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are impermanent, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are impermanent, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are imbued with happiness, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are imbued with happiness, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are imbued with suffering, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are imbued with suffering, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks.

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Chapter 7

7.1

Then the venerable Subhūti inquired of the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, suppose someone were to ask if this illusory person, after training in the perfection of wisdom, will be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience, or if he or she will attain all-aspect omniscience. {Dt.151} Blessed Lord, how should I respond to that question? Suppose someone were to ask if this illusory person, after training in the perfection of meditative concentration, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of ethical discipline, and the perfection of generosity, will be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience; [F.159.a] or if this illusory person, after training in [the causal attributes], up to and including the factors conducive to enlightenment, will be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience; or if this illusory person, after training in [the fruitional attributes], up to and including the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas, will be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience, or if he or she will attain all-aspect omniscience. Blessed Lord, how should I respond to such questioning?”

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Chapter 8

8.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, when you say ‘bodhisattva,’ what is the actual entity denoted by this word bodhisattva?”

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8.2

The Blessed One replied to the venerable Subhūti as follows: “Subhūti, the actual entity denoted by the word bodhisattva is not an actual entity.247 If you ask why, it is because bodhi (enlightenment) is nonarising and sattva (a being)248 is nonarising, too. Subhūti, in enlightenment there is no word, and in a being there is no word. Therefore, the actual entity denoted by the word bodhisattva is not an actual entity.

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10.

Chapter 10

10.1

“Subhūti, you asked, ‘How do bodhisattva great beings genuinely enter into the Great Vehicle?’ In this regard, Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings practice the six perfections and progress from level to level. Subhūti, if you ask how bodhisattva great beings practice the six perfections and progress from level to level, it is the case that all phenomena are unchanging, and so there is nothing at all that goes or comes, nothing at all that passes on or draws near. However, while they do not give rise to conceits or think about the level associated with any phenomena, it is not the case that they do not refine the levels, but that they do not observe them.

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11.

Chapter 11

11.1

The venerable Subhūti then said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, this Great Vehicle, which is called the Great Vehicle, outshines the world with its gods, humans, and asuras and brings emancipation from it. That is why it is called the Great Vehicle. Blessed Lord, this Great Vehicle is the same as space. Just as space accommodates countless, immeasurable beings, similarly this Great Vehicle also accommodates countless, immeasurable beings. For this reason, Blessed Lord, this is the Great Vehicle of bodhisattva great beings. In this Great Vehicle, coming, going, and remaining are not discerned.317 An extent of the past, an extent of the future, and a present in between are also not discerned. Blessed Lord, just as in space coming and going are not discerned, and remaining too is not discerned, similarly, in this Great Vehicle, going is not apprehended, coming is not apprehended, and remaining is not apprehended.

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12.

Chapter 12

12.1

Then the venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord! {Dt.243} This elder Subhūti, who has been asked about the perfection of wisdom by the Tathāgata, Arhat, completely awakened Buddha, thinks of it just as teaching the Great Vehicle.”

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12.2

The venerable Subhūti then asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, I hope that I have not contradicted the perfection of wisdom while teaching the Great Vehicle?”

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13.

Chapter 13: Subhūti

13.1

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra asked the venerable Subhūti, “Venerable Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, how do they investigate these phenomena? Venerable Subhūti, what is a bodhisattva great being? What is the perfection of wisdom? What is that investigation?”

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13.2

The venerable Subhūti replied to the venerable Śāradvatīputra, “Venerable Śāradvatīputra, you ask what is a bodhisattva. The term bodhisattva is employed because it designates a being (sattva) who is enlightened (bodhi). It is on the basis of their enlightenment that bodhisattvas know the aspects of all phenomena, but they are without attachment to those phenomena. [F.355.a] If you ask what are the aspects of the phenomena that they know, they know the principle of physical forms, yet they are without attachment to them. They know the aspects of feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness, yet they are without attachment to them. They know the aspects of the sense fields, the sensory elements, and the links of dependent origination, yet they are without attachment to them. They know the aspects of the perfections, all the aspects of emptiness, and the thirty-seven factors conducive to enlightenment, yet they are without attachment to them. They know the aspects of the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the aspects of liberation, the serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the meditative stabilities, the dhāraṇī gateways, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the fearlessnesses, the kinds of exact knowledge, and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas, yet they are without attachment to them.”

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14.

Chapter 14

14.1

{Ki.II-III: 1} Then as many gods of the Caturmahārājakāyika realm as there are in this world system of the great trichiliocosm all congregated there, in that same assembly, along with their gods‍—many thousands of millions and hundreds of billions in number. Śakra, mighty lord of the gods [of Trayastriṃśa] and as many gods as there are in the world systems of the great trichiliocosm all congregated there, in that same assembly, along with their gods‍—many thousands of millions and hundreds of billions in number. All the gods of the Yāma realm, the gods of the Tuṣita realm, the gods of the Nirmāṇarata realm, and the gods of the Paranirmitavaśavartin realm, as many as there are in the world systems of the great trichiliocosm also congregated there, in that same assembly.348 All the gods presiding over the Brahmā realms, as many as there are in the world systems of the great trichiliocosm, also congregated there, in that same assembly, along with their gods‍—many thousands of millions and hundreds of billions in number.349 All the gods presiding over the Pure Abodes, as many as there are in the world systems of the great trichiliocosm, [F.381.b] also congregated there, in that same assembly, along with their gods‍—many thousands of millions and hundreds of billions in number.350 Yet the radiance of their bodies, originating through the ripening of the past actions of the gods of the Caturmahārājakāyika realm, and the radiance of their bodies originating through the ripening of the past actions of the gods of Trayastriṃśa, the gods of Yāma, the gods of Tuṣita, the gods of Nirmāṇarata, the gods of Paranirmitavaśavartin, the gods of Brahmakāyika [and so forth], the gods of Ābhāsvara [and so forth], the gods of Śubhakṛtsna [and so forth], the gods of Bṛhatphala [and so forth], and the gods of the Pure Abodes did not approach even a hundredth part of the natural radiance of the Tathāgata. They did not approach even a thousandth part of it. They did not approach a hundred thousandth part, nor a thousand billionth part of it. Nor could they approach it in terms of any number, fraction, categorization, or comparison. Just as a piece of dark iron or charred wood neither shines, nor gleams, nor sparkles alongside the gold of the Jambu River, so the radiance of all the gods, originating through the ripening of their past actions, neither shone, nor gleamed, nor sparkled alongside the natural effulgence of the Tathāgata’s body. Indeed, the effulgence of the Tathāgata’s body was the best among them. It was foremost. It was abundant. It was superior. It was supreme. It was higher. {Ki.II-III: 2} It was perfect. It was unsurpassed, and it was unexcelled.

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15.

Chapter 15

15.1

Then the gods thought, “What should those who hear the Dharma from the elder Subhūti seek to be?”

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Thereupon the venerable Subhūti, knowing in his own mind the thoughts in the minds of those gods, said to them, “Divine princes! The Dharma taught by me resembles a magical display. Divine princes! Those who listen to my Dharma should also seek to resemble a magical display. Divine princes! The Dharma taught by me resembles a phantom. Divine princes! Those who listen to my Dharma should also seek to resemble a phantom. They will not hear anything at all, nor will they actualize anything at all.”

16.

Chapter 16

16.1

Then Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, thought, “Since the elder Subhūti is teaching in this manner, causing this cascade of the Dharma, I should also conjure up many flowers in order to worship this perfection of wisdom and scatter them, widely scatter them, and thoroughly scatter them upon the Lord Buddha, the bodhisattva great beings, the saṅgha of monks, and the elder Subhūti.”

16.2

Then all the gods in this great trichiliocosm, from the Caturmahārājakāyika realm, up to and including Akaniṣṭha, also had the thought, “Since the elder Subhūti is teaching in this manner, causing this cascade of the Dharma, we should also conjure up many flowers in order to worship this perfection of wisdom and scatter them, manifestly scatter them, and thoroughly scatter them upon the Lord Buddha, the bodhisattva great beings, the saṅgha of monks, and the elder Subhūti.”

17.

Chapter 17

17.1

Then [F.58.a] Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, how wonderful it is that bodhisattva great beings who take up, uphold, recite, master, and focus their attention correctly on this perfection of wisdom will acquire these attributes that may be attained in this lifetime, and that in order to bring beings to maturation, to refine the buddhafields, and to venerate the lord buddhas, they move from buddhafield to buddhafield, and that the roots of virtuous action through which they seek to honor, venerate, respect, and make offerings to those lord buddhas will also become excellent! [How wonderful it is that] the Dharmas that they heard from those lord buddhas they will remember without defect until they attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, that they will acquire the excellence of the spiritual family, and that they will acquire the excellence of felicity, the excellence of longevity, the excellence of retinue, the excellence of defining characteristics, the excellence of luminosity, the excellence of eyes, the excellence of voice, the excellence of meditative stability, and the excellence of dhāraṇī! {Ki.II-III: 41} [How wonderful it is that] through skillful means, they themselves will emanate in the physical form of the buddhas, journey from world system to world system, and be present in places where the lord buddhas have not been born and have not appeared, describing the attributes of the perfection of generosity; describing the attributes of the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of tolerance, [F.58.b] the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom; describing the attributes of the emptiness of internal phenomena and of [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities; describing the attributes of the applications of mindfulness; and describing the attributes of the correct exertions, the supports for miraculous ability, the faculties, the powers, the branches of enlightenment, the noble eightfold path, the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, the gateways to liberation‍—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness‍—the extrasensory powers, the meditative stabilities, the dhāraṇī gateways, the powers of the tathāgatas, the fearlessnesses, the kinds of exact knowledge, and the distinct qualities of the buddhas! [How wonderful it is that] through skillful means they instruct beings in the three vehicles, namely, the vehicle of the śrāvakas, the vehicle of the pratyekabuddhas, and the vehicle of the buddhas!”

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18.

Chapter 18

18.1

Then the Blessed One said to Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, “Kauśika, when any noble sons or noble daughters who take up, uphold, recite, master, chant, and focus their attention correctly on this profound perfection of wisdom are present in a place of conflict, in the frontline of battle, if those noble sons or noble daughters have gone there and are present there having chanted this profound perfection of wisdom, then those noble sons or noble daughters cannot be defeated. They will indisputably be victorious. Being victorious, they will be delivered from that conflict without anything being said or spoiled.

20.

Chapter 20

20.1

Then a hundred or so rival tīrthikas [F.86.b] and wandering mendicants approached with harmful intent the place where the Blessed One was, and Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, had the following thought: “These rival tīrthikas and wandering mendicants have approached with harmful intent the place where the Blessed One is. I should by whatever means speak to them of the perfection of wisdom, so that once those rival tīrthikas and wandering mendicants have approached the Blessed One, no obstacle will arise. To that end I should chant all that I have grasped of this perfection of wisdom from the Blessed One.” {Ki.II-III: 74}

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22.

Chapter 22

22.1

Then the Blessed One asked Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, “Kauśika, if you could possess Jambudvīpa, filled to the top with the bone relics of the tathāgatas, and if someone were to present you with this perfection of wisdom, written in the form of a book, which of these would you take?”

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22.2

“Blessed Lord,” replied Śakra, “if someone were to present me with Jambudvīpa, filled to the top with the bone relics of the tathāgatas, and if someone were to present me with this perfection of wisdom, written in the form of a book, {Ki.II-III: 88} I would take this perfection of wisdom. If one were to ask why, Blessed Lord, it is not that I do not honor those bone relics of the tathāgatas, it is not that I do not display them, and it is not that I do not venerate them. Indeed, Blessed Lord, it is not that I do not serve the bone relics of the tathāgatas, it is not that I do not respect them, it is not that I do not venerate them, and it is not that I do not worship them, but, Blessed Lord, those bone relics of the tathāgatas have originated from the perfection of wisdom. This is why the bone relics of the tathāgatas should be honored, this is why they should be respected, this is why they should be venerated, and this is why offerings should be made to them. Those bone relics [F.101.a] have been formed by the perfection of wisdom. This is why those bone relics of the tathāgatas are indeed endowed with offerings. Blessed Lord, even though I serve, respect, honor, and worship the bone relics of the tathāgatas with divine flowers, garlands, incense, unguents, powders, robes, parasols, victory banners, ribbons, and various divine musical sounds, these bone relics of the tathāgatas have originated from the perfection of wisdom. For this reason they are honored, respected, and venerated, and offerings are made to them by this world with its gods, humans, and asuras, so that they are protected, honored, respected, venerated, and given offerings.”

23.

Chapter 23: Śakra

23.1

Then the Blessed One said to Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, “Kauśika, if any noble sons or noble daughters [F.118.a] were to establish the beings of Jambudvīpa on the paths of the ten virtuous actions, do you think, Kauśika, that for this reason those noble sons or noble daughters would greatly increase their merit?”

“Blessed Lord, they would! Sugata, they would!”

23.2

The Blessed One then said, “Kauśika, if any were to bestow this perfection of wisdom on others so that they might recite it, commit it to writing, or chant it, they would even more greatly increase their merit. If you ask why, based on this perfection of wisdom, it is extensively revealed that there are many uncontaminated attributes through which noble sons or noble daughters, after training in it, have entered, will enter, and are entering into the maturity of the bodhisattvas; through which they have attained, will attain, and are attaining [the fruits and realizations], up to and including arhatship; through which followers of the vehicle of the pratyekabuddhas have attained, will attain, and are attaining the enlightenment of the pratyekabuddhas; through which those who enter into unsurpassed, complete enlightenment have entered, will enter, and are entering into the maturity of the bodhisattvas; and through which they have attained, will attain, and are attaining consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment.

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Chapter 24: Dedication

24.1

Then the bodhisattva great being Maitreya said to the venerable Subhūti, “Blessed Subhūti, there is a foundation of meritorious action, endowed with rejoicing, that bodhisattva great beings have‍—a foundation of meritorious action that they dedicate to unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, making common cause with all beings, without apprehending anything. Then there is a foundation of meritorious action, endowed with rejoicing, that all beings have; there is a foundation of meritorious action originating from the generosity of those who follow the vehicle of the śrāvakas and of those who follow the vehicle of the pratyekabuddhas; and there are also foundations of meritorious action originating from their ethical discipline and meditation. [F.139.a] Among all these, the foundation of meritorious action endowed with rejoicing that bodhisattva great beings dedicate to unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, making common cause with all beings, is said to be the best, it is said to be authentic, it is said to be foremost, {Ki.II-III: 123} it is said to be supreme, it is said to be perfect, it is said to be sublime, it is said to be unsurpassed, it is said to be the highest. It is said to be unequaled, and it is said to be equal to the unequaled. [B36]

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25.

Chapter 25

25.1

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom sheds light owing to its utter purity. Venerable Lord, the perfection of wisdom is worthy of homage. Blessed Lord, I pay homage to the perfection of wisdom. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom is unsullied by all the three realms. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom dispels all the blindness of afflicted mental states and false views, rendering obfuscation nonexistent.393 Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom is supreme among the factors conducive to enlightenment. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom secures happiness so that all fears, enmity, and harmful [thoughts or deeds] may be purified. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom brings light to all beings so that they might acquire the five eyes. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom teaches the path to those who are going astray so that they might reverse the [two] extremes. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom establishes all-aspect omniscience, so that all afflicted mental states that bring about reincarnation through the continuity of propensities might be abandoned. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom [F.162.a] is the mother of bodhisattva great beings, {Ki.II-III: 143} generating the attributes of the buddhas. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom neither arises nor ceases owing to the emptiness of intrinsic defining characteristics. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom is the antidote for cyclic existence because it is neither permanent, nor is it perishable. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom offers protection to beings who lack protection because it bestows the entirety of the precious doctrine. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom confers the ten powers because it cannot be crushed. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom turns the wheel of the Dharma, repeating it three times and in twelve ways,394 because it is subject to neither promulgation nor reversal. Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom displays the essential nature of all phenomena owing to the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities. Blessed Lord, how can bodhisattvas or those in the vehicle of the bodhisattvas, śrāvakas or those in the vehicle of the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas or those in the vehicle of the pratyekabuddhas dwell in the perfection of wisdom?”

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26.

Chapter 26: The Hells

26.1

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, where did those bodhisattva great beings who are resolute in this profound perfection of wisdom pass away before coming into this world? For how long have those noble sons or noble daughters embarked on unsurpassed, complete enlightenment? How many tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas have they honored? {Ki.II-III: 149} Are they genuinely and methodically397 resolute in this profound perfection of wisdom? How long have they practiced the perfection of generosity? How long have they practiced the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, [F.170.a] the perfection of meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom?”

27.

Chapter 27: The Purity of All the Dharmas

27.1

Thereupon the venerable Śāradvatīputra said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, this purity is profound.”

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“That is due to absolute purity,” replied the Blessed One.

27.2

“Due to the absolute purity of what is it that purity is profound?”

“Śāradvatīputra,” replied the Blessed One, [F.188.b] “purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of physical forms. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the eyes. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the ears, nose, tongue, body, and mental faculty. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of sights. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of sounds, odors, tastes, tangibles, and mental phenomena. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of visual consciousness. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of auditory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, gustatory consciousness, tactile consciousness, and mental consciousness. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of visually compounded sensory contact. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of aurally compounded sensory contact, nasally compounded sensory contact, lingually compounded sensory contact, corporeally compounded sensory contact, and mentally compounded sensory contact. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of feelings conditioned by visually compounded sensory contact. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of feelings conditioned by aurally compounded sensory contact, feelings conditioned by nasally compounded sensory contact, feelings conditioned by lingually compounded sensory contact, feelings conditioned by corporeally compounded sensory contact, and feelings conditioned by mentally compounded sensory contact. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the earth element. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the water element, the fire element, the wind element, the space element, and the consciousness element. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of ignorance. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of formative predispositions, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, [F.189.a] sensory contact, sensation, craving, grasping, the rebirth process, actual birth, and aging and death. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the perfection of generosity. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the emptiness of internal phenomena. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the [other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the applications of mindfulness. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the correct exertions, the supports for miraculous ability, the faculties, the powers, the branches of enlightenment, and the noble eightfold path. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the meditative stabilities, the dhāraṇī gateways, the powers of the tathāgatas, the fearlessnesses, the kinds of exact knowledge, and the distinct qualities of the buddhas. Purity is profound due to the [absolute] purity of knowledge of all the dharmas, knowledge of the path, and all-aspect omniscience.”

28.

Chapter 28

28.1

Then the venerable Subhūti said to the Blessed One, [F.200.a] “Blessed Lord! The perfection of wisdom is inactive.”

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“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “that is because agents are nonapprehensible. Similarly, Subhūti, it is because physical forms are nonapprehensible, feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are nonapprehensible, and [all the attributes and goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience, are nonapprehensible.”

29.

Chapter 29

29.1

{Ki.IV: 1} Then the venerable Subhūti said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, this perfection of wisdom is the perfection that is nonexistent.”406

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“This is owing to the nonexistence of space!” replied the Blessed One.

29.2

“Blessed Lord, this perfection of wisdom is the perfection that is sameness.”

“This is owing to the sameness of all phenomena!” replied the Blessed One.

29.3

“Blessed Lord, this perfection of wisdom is the perfection that is void.”

30.

Chapter 30

30.1

Then Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, thought, “Those noble sons or noble daughters in whose ears this perfection of wisdom resounds have venerated the conquerors of the past. Those beings in whose ears this perfection of wisdom resounds have grown the roots of virtuous action in the presence of the tathāgatas. Those beings in whose ears this perfection of wisdom resounds have been accepted by spiritual mentors. Leaving aside those who have taken up, upheld, recited, mastered, and focused their attention correctly on this profound perfection of wisdom, and who, having taken up, upheld, recited, and mastered it, then earnestly applied the perfection of wisdom in its real nature‍—apart from them, those noble sons or noble daughters who, having heard this perfection of wisdom are neither fearful, nor afraid, nor terrified, have questioned and petitioned the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas of the past. Those noble sons or noble daughters who, having heard this perfection of wisdom, are neither fearful, nor afraid, nor terrified, and who have [also] taken up, upheld, recited, mastered, and focused their attention correctly on this profound perfection of wisdom, have been cultivating the perfection of generosity, and have been practicing the perfections of ethical discipline, tolerance, perseverance, meditative concentration, and wisdom for many eons.” {Ki.IV: 9}

31.

Chapter 31

31.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, if these are the stated attributes of those noble sons and noble daughters who have entered upon unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, who practice the six perfections, and who bring beings to maturity and refine435 the buddhafields, then, Blessed Lord, what sorts of obstacles will there be for those noble sons and noble daughters who engage in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment?” {Ki.IV: 35}

32.

Chapter 32

32.1

“Moreover, Subhūti, if those who listen to the Dharma delight in committing this profound perfection of wisdom to writing, and in transmitting and disseminating it, but [the teachers] who expound the Dharma delay, then, Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings should know that this too is the work of Māra.

32.2

“Moreover, Subhūti, {Ki.IV: 44} if those who expound the Dharma do not delay in committing this profound perfection of wisdom to writing, and in transmitting and disseminating it, but [the disciples] who listen to the Dharma go away to another land, then, Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings should know that this too is the work of Māra.

33.

Chapter 33

33.1

Then all the gods inhabiting the realm of desire and inhabiting the realm of form, within this world system of the great trichiliocosm, as many as there were, scattered divine sandalwood powder. Approaching the place where the Blessed One was, they prostrated with their heads toward the feet of the Blessed One, and stood to one side. Then, even as they stood to one side, all the gods inhabiting the realm of desire and inhabiting the realm of form, as many as there were, asked the Blessed One, “With regard to this profound perfection of wisdom that the Blessed Lord is explaining, what, Blessed Lord, are the defining characteristics of the profound perfection of wisdom?”

35.

Chapter 35

35.1

“Subhūti, you should know that this is like when a ship is wrecked at sea. If the people on board do not catch and hold on to a piece of wood, a wooden log, a wooden plank, a leather bag, or a human corpse, they will surely die, Subhūti, without reaching the ocean shore. Subhūti, when a ship is wrecked at sea, the people on board who do catch and hold on to a piece of wood, a wooden log, a wooden plank, [F.296.a] a leather bag, or a human corpse will not die at sea. They will safely reach the other shore of the ocean, uninjured and unharmed. They will reach dry land, uninjured and unharmed.

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37.

Chapter 37

37.1

“Blessed Lord, what will be the nature of those bodhisattva great beings who will have conviction in this profound perfection of wisdom? What will be their indications, signs, and forms?”

37.2

“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “those bodhisattva great beings who will have conviction in this profound perfection of wisdom will have a nature that is isolated, owing to their elimination of desire. Those bodhisattva great beings [F.318.b] will have a nature that is isolated, owing to their elimination of hatred and delusion. Subhūti, those bodhisattva great beings will have a nature that is isolated from the indications of desire. Subhūti, those bodhisattva great beings will have a nature that is isolated from the indications of hatred and delusion.

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38.

Chapter 38: [The Real Nature]

38.1

Then the gods inhabiting the realm of desire and the realm of form brought many divine sandalwood powders, and divine blue lotuses, day lotuses, night lotuses, and white lotuses, and they scattered these toward the Blessed One. Having scattered them, {Ki.IV: 115} they approached the place where the Blessed One was seated, prostrated their heads at his feet, and took their place to one side. Having taken their place to one side, those gods inhabiting the realm of desire and the realm of form then asked the Blessed One the following:

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39.

Chapter 39

39.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, [F.353.a] what are the attributes of bodhisattva great beings who are irreversible? What are their indications? What are their signs? How should we know that such bodhisattva great beings are irreversible?”

39.2

The Blessed One replied to the venerable Subhūti, “In this regard, Subhūti, the level of ordinary people, the level of the śrāvakas, the level of the pratyekabuddhas, the level of the bodhisattvas, and the level of the tathāgatas‍—all these levels [of spiritual attainment] that have been explained‍—are unchanging in the real nature. They are nonconceptual, nondual, and indivisible. Those [bodhisattva great beings] engage definitively in that real nature, just as it is. They do not conceive of that real nature, and so they engage without conceiving of it. Having engaged in that manner, and having definitively heard about the real nature, just as it is, they transcend such [levels of attainment] and they are not in the slightest consumed by doubt, thinking that the real nature is individual, dual, or neither. They do not prattle incoherently. They speak words that are meaningful, without speaking meaninglessly. They do not look upon what others have and have not done. They pursue excellent speech. {Ki.IV: 142} Subhūti, one should know that bodhisattva great beings who possess those attributes, those indications, and those signs are irreversible.”

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40.

Chapter 40: Irreversibility

40.1

“Moreover, Subhūti, the evil Māra might approach bodhisattva great beings and dissuade them, saying, ‘This all-aspect omniscience is similar to space, of the essential nature of nonentity, and empty of intrinsic defining characteristics. These phenomena are also similar to space, of the essential nature of nonentity, and empty of intrinsic defining characteristics. With regard to phenomena that are similar to space, of the essential nature of nonentity, and empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, there is nothing apprehensible that would attain consummate buddhahood, by which consummate buddhahood would be attained, and in which consummate buddhahood would be attained. Since all these phenomena are similar to space, of the essential nature of nonentity, and empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, you will be disappointed and it would be futile to think that you will attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. This has been revealed by Māra, not explained by the completely awakened buddhas! Noble child, you should reject these attentions! Do not endure hardships for long! Do not practice without benefit! You will suffer and be distressed!’

41.

Chapter 41

41.1

The venerable Subhūti said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, irreversible bodhisattva great beings are endowed with great attributes. Blessed Lord, irreversible bodhisattva great beings are endowed with incalculable and inestimable attributes. Blessed Lord, irreversible bodhisattva great beings are endowed with unshakeable attributes.”

41.2

“Subhūti, it is so! It is so!” replied the Blessed One. “Subhūti, irreversible bodhisattva great beings are endowed with great attributes. Subhūti, irreversible bodhisattva great beings are endowed with incalculable and inestimable attributes. Subhūti, irreversible bodhisattva great beings are endowed with unshakeable attributes. [F.372.b] If you ask why, it is because they have acquired the infinite and limitless wisdom that is not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas. Abiding in this wisdom, irreversible bodhisattva great beings have actualized the kinds of exact knowledge‍—the kinds of exact knowledge in consequence of which they cannot succumb to any response, even when questioned by the world with its gods, humans, and asuras.”

42.

Chapter 42

42.1

Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra asked the venerable Subhūti, “Venerable Subhūti, when certain bodhisattva great beings are absorbed in the three meditative stabilities of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness in their dreams, are they enhanced by the perfection of wisdom?” [F.385.b]

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42.2

“Venerable Śāradvatīputra,” replied Subhūti, “if they are enhanced by cultivating it during the day, they would also be enhanced by cultivating it in their dreams. If you ask why, Venerable Śāradvatīputra, they are without discriminating thoughts concerning dreams and daytime experiences. Venerable Śāradvatīputra, if {Ki.IV: 179} bodhisattva great beings who practice the perfection of wisdom during the day do cultivate the perfection of wisdom, then bodhisattva great beings will also cultivate the perfection of wisdom in their dreams.”

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43.

Chapter 43: Gaṅgadevī

43.1

Then a woman named Gaṅgadevī arrived in that assembly and took her seat. Then, after rising from her seat, with her upper robe over one shoulder, she rested her right knee on the ground. Placing her hands together in the gesture of homage, she bowed toward the Blessed One {Ki.IV: 190} and said, “Blessed Lord, I too will complete the six perfections. I will acquire such a buddhafield as has been described by the Tathāgata, Arhat, completely awakened Buddha in this Perfection of Wisdom.” Then that woman bundled together golden flowers, silver flowers, flowers from water plants, flowers from the plains, all sorts of ornaments, and golden colored robes, and she cast them toward that place when the Blessed One was. [F.5.a] Immediately after she had cast those flowers, ornaments, and robes, bundled together, then by the power of the buddhas, there appeared a towering mansion in the sky directly above the head of the Blessed One‍—rectangular in shape, supported by four columns, well proportioned, and most delightful, its luster pleasing to the mind. Then indeed the woman dedicated that towering mansion to unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, making common cause with all beings.

45.

Chapter 45

45.1

{Ki.V: 1} Then the Blessed One said to the venerable Subhūti, “Subhūti, if bodhisattva great beings, even in their dreams, do not have thoughts of longing for the level of the śrāvakas or the level of the pratyekabuddhas, and do not think that these [levels] are advantageous‍—and if they do not actualize anything, regarding all phenomena as like a dream, and regarding them like an echo, a reflection, a mirage, and a phantom‍—these, Subhūti, should be known as the irreversible defining characteristics of an irreversible bodhisattva.

46.

Chapter 46

46.1

Then, Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, said to the Blessed One, [F.31.a] “Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom, owing to its extreme voidness, is profound; it is hard to see, hard to realize, inscrutable, not within the perceptual range of ideation, at peace, subtle, and delicate. It is to be realized through learning and awareness. Blessed Lord, those beings who hear, take up, uphold, recite, and master this profound perfection of wisdom, and are earnestly intent on the real nature, and who offer no opportunity for other phenomena, including mind and mental states, [to intrude] until they have attained consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, are not endowed with inferior roots of virtue.”

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50.

Chapter 50

50.1

Then Śakra, mighty lord of the gods, asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, is it prophesied that by preaching in that manner and speaking in that manner, I will reiterate the words spoken by the Blessed One, teach the Dharma, and genuinely proclaim the nature of reality, striving in accordance with the Dharma?”

50.2

“Kauśika,” replied the Blessed One, “it is prophesied that by preaching in that manner and speaking in that manner, you will reiterate the words spoken by the Blessed One, teach the Dharma, and [genuinely proclaim] the nature of reality, striving in accordance with the Dharma.” {Ki.V: 67}

51.

Chapter 51

51.1

Then the venerable Subhūti thought, “Since the perfection of wisdom is indeed profound, and the enlightenment of the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas is also profound, I should question the tathāgata, arhat, completely awakened Buddha about it.” Thereupon the venerable Subhūti said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, [F.70.b] the perfection of wisdom is inexhaustible.”

52.

Chapter 52

52.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, how will bodhisattva great beings, abiding in the perfection of ethical discipline, acquire the perfection of generosity?”

52.2

“In this regard, Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “bodhisattva great beings who dwell in the perfection of ethical discipline, owing to whatever vows pertaining to body, speech, and mind [that they maintain], do not make contact with the level of the śrāvakas or the level of the pratyekabuddhas. Abiding in the perfection of ethical discipline, they do not kill living creatures, they do not steal that which is not given, they do not commit acts of sexual misconduct, they do not tell lies, they do not slander, they do not speak harsh words of reprimand, they do not speak nonsensically, they do not become covetous, they do not become malicious, and they do not resort to wrong views. Abiding in this perfection of ethical discipline, [F.77.b] they dispense food to those who need food, drink to those who need drink, transport to those who need transport, clothing to those who need clothing, flowers to those who need flowers, garlands to those who need garlands, incense to those who need incense, unguents to those who need unguents, bedding to those who need bedding, sanctuary to those who need sanctuary, sustenance to those who need sustenance, and resources to those who need resources. They dispense all sorts of things that are useful to human beings to those who need them, and when dispensing those gifts in that manner, they dedicate their gifts, making common cause with all beings, toward unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. They make these dedications by all means and make them in such a way that they do not resort to the level of the śrāvakas or the level of the pratyekabuddhas. It is this way, Subhūti, that bodhisattva great beings, abiding in the perfection of ethical discipline, acquire the perfection of generosity.”

53.

Chapter 53

53.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, for how long have bodhisattva great beings who possess such skill in means set out [on this path]?”

“Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings who possess such skill in means have set out [on this path] for countless billion trillions of eons,” replied the Blessed One.

53.2

“Blessed Lord, how many buddhas have those bodhisattva great beings who possess such skill in means revered?”

54.

Chapter 54

54.1

Then the venerable Subhūti said to the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, the perfection of wisdom is profound! Blessed Lord, bodhisattva great beings who set out for unsurpassed, complete enlightenment indeed achieve that which is difficult. That is to say, although no ‘being’ or concept of a being is at all apprehended, they have set out toward unsurpassed, complete enlightenment for the sake of beings. Blessed Lord, just like some person who seeks to grow a plant in groundless space, bodhisattva great beings indeed seek to attain all-aspect omniscience for the sake of beings.”

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55.

Chapter 55

55.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Venerable Lord, when one speaks of the conduct of a bodhisattva, of what is the expression bodhisattva conduct a designation?”

“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, [F.144.b] “the expression bodhisattva conduct507 denotes conduct for the sake of enlightenment. That is why it is termed bodhisattva conduct.”

55.2

“Blessed Lord, in what conduct do bodhisattva great beings engage?”

56.

Chapter 56

56.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, if there are bodhisattva great beings who have not revered the lord buddhas, have not even perfected the roots of virtuous action, and have not even been favored by spiritual mentors, would they not attain all-aspect omniscience?”

56.2

“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “bodhisattva great beings who have not revered the lord buddhas, have not even perfected the roots of virtuous action, and have not even been favored by spiritual mentors will not attain all-aspect omniscience. If you ask why, when even those who have revered the lord buddhas, have perfected the roots of virtuous action, and have attended upon spiritual mentors cannot now attain all-aspect omniscience, how could those who have not revered the lord buddhas, have not perfected the roots of virtuous action, and have not been favored by spiritual mentors possibly attain all-aspect omniscience! That would be impossible. Therefore, Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings who wish to maintain authentically the name of a bodhisattva and [F.149.b] those who wish to swiftly attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment {Ki.V: 144} should revere the lord buddhas. They should develop manifold roots of virtuous action, and they should attend upon spiritual mentors.”

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57.

Chapter 57

57.1

“Moreover, Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of ethical discipline, commencing from the time when they first begin to set their mind on enlightenment, they maintain ethical discipline through focusing their attention with all-aspect omniscience in mind. Thoughts of desire do not obscure them. Hatred does not obscure them. Delusion does not obscure them. Latent impulses do not obscure them. Obsessions do not obscure them. Other nonvirtuous attributes that might impede enlightenment also do not obscure them. These include miserliness, degenerate morality, thoughts of anger, thoughts of indolence, thoughts of irresolution, thoughts of distraction, thoughts of stupidity, {Ki.V: 145} pride, contempt, exalted pride, egotistical pride, the mindset of the śrāvakas, and the mindset of the pratyekabuddhas. If you ask why, Subhūti, it is because in this way they know that all phenomena are empty of their own defining characteristics, and they see that all phenomena are nonexistent, unoriginated, unconsummated, and not brought into being. [F.150.b] Although they penetrate the defining characteristics of all phenomena, they do so through defining characteristics that are unconditioned, in that all phenomena are said to be utterly ineffectual. Since they are endowed with such skill in means, they practice the perfection of ethical discipline while increasing their roots of virtuous action. Practicing the perfection of ethical discipline, they bring beings to maturity and refine the buddhafields. But other than that, in practicing the perfection of ethical discipline in order that they might protect all beings and bring beings to maturity, they do not aspire for other fruits of their ethical discipline, such that they would enjoy in cyclic existence.

58.

Chapter 58

58.1

Moreover, Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings become absorbed in the first meditative concentration. They become absorbed in the second meditative concentration. They become absorbed in the third meditative concentration. They become absorbed in the fourth meditative concentration. They become absorbed in the immeasurable attitudes and the formless absorptions, but they do not hold on to the maturation of these [meditative concentrations and so forth]. If you ask why, it is because they possess skill in means. Through this skill in means, they know that those meditative concentrations, immeasurable attitudes, and formless absorptions are empty of their own defining characteristics, {Ki.V: 148} and they know that all phenomena are nonexistent, unoriginated, unconsummated, and not brought into being.

59.

Chapter 59

59.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, if those with perception of entities lack even the appropriate receptivity, [F.172.a] and cannot possibly have attainment, and cannot possibly have clear realization, in that case, Blessed Lord, do those with the perception of nonentities possess compatible receptivity, {Ki.V: 167} or the level of bright insight, the level of the spiritual family, the eighth-lowest level, the level of insight, the level of attenuated refinement, the level of no attachment, the level of [an arhat’s] spiritual achievement, the level of the pratyekabuddhas, the level of the bodhisattvas, the level of the buddhas, or a path dependent on which they could abandon the afflicted mental states that śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have, and obscured by which they do not enter a bodhisattva’s full maturity, and do not attain all-aspect omniscience because they have not entered into the maturity of the bodhisattvas, and are obscured without abandoning all the afflicted mental states associated with reincarnation through the continuity of propensities since they have not attained all-aspect omniscience? Blessed Lord, if there is no arising at all of any attributes that might arise, how could they attain all-aspect omniscience without developing those attributes?”

60.

Chapter 60

60.1

The venerable Subhūti further asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, if all phenomena have the essential nature of nonentity, what is the goal that bodhisattva great beings see in embarking on unsurpassed, complete enlightenment for the sake of beings?”

60.2

The Blessed One replied, “Subhūti, in the way that all phenomena have the essential nature of nonentity, in that way too do bodhisattva great beings embark on unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. If you ask why, Subhūti, it is because apprehending is feeble.518 Those possessing the notion of apprehending are without attainment, without clear realization, and without unsurpassed complete enlightenment.”

61.

Chapter 61

61.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, since all phenomena are indivisible, signless, and empty of their own defining characteristics, how could the cultivation of the six perfections, namely the perfection of generosity, the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom, be fulfilled? How indeed are contaminated and uncontaminated phenomena differentiated? How is the perfection of generosity gathered in the perfection of wisdom? How are the perfection of ethical discipline, [F.203.b] the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, and the perfection of meditative concentration gathered in the perfection of wisdom? How are [all causal and fruitional attributes], up to and including the distinct qualities of the buddhas, gathered in the perfection of wisdom? Blessed Lord, how is it conceived that such phenomena do indeed have different defining characteristics when their sole defining characteristic is that they are without defining characteristics?”

62.

Chapter 62: Teaching the Manifestation of the Major and Minor Marks and the Perfection of Wisdom

62.1

{Ki.VIII: 44} Thereupon, the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, since all phenomena are dreamlike nonentities, with the essential nature of nonentity and empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, how then can it be established that these are virtuous phenomena, these are nonvirtuous phenomena, these are mundane phenomena, these are supramundane phenomena, these are contaminated phenomena, these are uncontaminated phenomena, these are conditioned phenomena, these are unconditioned phenomena, these will be conducive to actualizing the fruit of entering the stream to nirvāṇa, these will be conducive to actualizing the fruit of being destined for only one more rebirth or the fruit of no longer being subject to rebirth and arhatship, these will be conducive to individual enlightenment, and these will be conducive to unsurpassed, complete enlightenment? Since all phenomena that resemble an echo, phenomena that resemble an optical aberration, and that resemble a magical display, a mirage, and a phantom are nonentities with the essential nature of nonentity, and empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, how can it be established that these are virtuous phenomena, these are nonvirtuous phenomena, [F.215.a] these are mundane phenomena, these are supramundane phenomena, these are contaminated phenomena, these are uncontaminated phenomena, these are conditioned phenomena, these are unconditioned phenomena, these will be conducive to actualizing the fruit of entering the stream to nirvāṇa, these will be conducive to actualizing the fruit of being destined for only one more rebirth or the fruit of no longer being subject to rebirth and arhatship, these will be conducive to individual enlightenment, and these will be conducive to unsurpassed, complete enlightenment?”530

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63.

Chapter 63: The Teaching on Sameness

63.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, how do bodhisattva great beings realize the defining characteristic of phenomena, of which all phenomena partake?”

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63.2

“Phantom emanations do not indulge in desire, hatred, or delusion,” replied the Blessed One. “They do not indulge in latent impulses or obsessions. They do not indulge in external or internal phenomena. They do not indulge in contaminated or uncontaminated phenomena. They do not indulge in conditioned or unconditioned phenomena. They do not indulge in physical forms. They do not indulge in feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, or consciousness. They do not indulge in the sense fields, the sensory elements, or the links of dependent origination. {Ki.VIII: 75} They do not indulge in the perfections, any of the aspects of emptiness, or the thirty-seven factors conducive to enlightenment. They do not indulge in the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, or the extrasensory powers. They do not indulge in the meditative stabilities or the dhāraṇī gateways. [F.247.b] They do not indulge in the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, great loving kindness, great compassion, or the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas. They do not indulge in [the goals], up to and including all-aspect omniscience. It is in this way, Subhūti, that bodhisattva great beings realize the defining characteristic of phenomena, of which all phenomena partake.” [B69]

64.

Chapter 64

64.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, if beings are absolutely not apprehended and indeed not apprehensible as beings, for whose sake do bodhisattva great beings cultivate the perfection of wisdom?” {Ki.VIII: 89} [F.261.b]

64.2

The Blessed One replied to the venerable Subhūti, “Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings cultivate the perfection of wisdom, having taken the very limit of reality as their standard. Subhūti, if the very limit of reality were one thing and the very limit of beings another, bodhisattva great beings would indeed not cultivate the perfection of wisdom. Subhūti, it is because the very limit of reality is not one thing and the very limit of beings another that bodhisattva great beings do indeed cultivate the perfection of wisdom for the sake of beings. That is to say, bodhisattva great beings who cultivate the perfection of wisdom establish beings in the very limit of reality without disturbing the very limit of reality.”

T3808

67.

Chapter 67

67.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, are bodhisattva great beings certain to progress or is their progress uncertain?”

T3808

“Bodhisattva great beings are certain to progress, their progress is not uncertain,” replied the Blessed One.

67.2

“Are they certain to progress in the category of the śrāvakas, in the category of the pratyekabuddhas, in the category of the buddhas, or in what category?”

T3808

68.

Chapter 68

68.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, if these attributes are the attributes of a bodhisattva, what are the attributes of a buddha?”

68.2

“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “you ask, ‘If these attributes are the attributes of a bodhisattva, what are the attributes of a buddha?’ Subhūti, the attributes of a buddha {Ki.VIII: 141} are the very same attributes once consummate buddhahood has been attained in all respects. They then attain all-aspect omniscience and abandon all the connecting propensities. With regard to this [distinction], bodhisattva great beings will attain consummate buddhahood. The tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas have attained consummate buddhahood with respect to all phenomena through the wisdom of a single instant, for which reason they are styled tathāgatas. That is the distinction between bodhisattva great beings and the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas.

69.

Chapter 69

69.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, if all phenomena are nonentities‍—that is to say, if they have not been created by the buddhas, have not been created by pratyekabuddhas, have not been created by arhats, or by individuals no longer subject to rebirth, individuals destined for only one more rebirth, individuals who have entered the stream to nirvāṇa, or by those who would enter into those [fruits], and if this enlightenment has not even been created by bodhisattva great beings who practice it‍—how, with respect to all phenomena, could one differentiate and establish, ‘These are denizens of the hells. These belong to the animal realm. These belong to the world of Yama. These are gods. These are human beings. Through this karma they will become denizens of the hells, animals, or the world of Yama. Through this karma they will become gods of the Caturmahārājakāyika realm, and through this karma they will become gods of Trayastriṃśa, Yāma, [F.320.b] Tuṣita, Nirmāṇarata, Paranirmitavaśavartin, Brahmakāyika, Brahmapurohita, Brahmapariṣadya, Mahābrahmā, Ābha, Parīttābha, Apramāṇābha, Ābhāsvara, Śubha, Parīttaśubha, Apramāṇaśubha, Śubhakṛtsna, Bṛhat, Parīttabṛhat, Apramāṇabṛhat, Bṛhatphala, Avṛha, Atapa, Sudṛśa, Sudarśana, or Akaniṣṭha. Through this karma they will become gods of the sphere of infinite space, the sphere of infinite consciousness, the sphere of nothing-at-all, or the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception. Through this karma they will become an individual entering the stream to nirvāṇa, an individual destined for only one more rebirth, an individual no longer subject to rebirth, an arhat, or a pratyekabuddha. Through this karma they will become a bodhisattva great being. Through this karma they will become a tathāgata, arhat, completely awakened buddha’?

70.

Chapter 70

70.1

The venerable Subhūti then asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, just as those who see authentically are neither afflicted nor purified, in the same way, those who do not567 see authentically also are neither afflicted nor purified. Since all phenomena have the essential nature of nonentity, [F.327.a] Blessed Lord, in nonentities there is neither affliction nor purification, and, Blessed Lord, in their essential nature there is neither affliction nor purification. If in the essential nature of nonentity there is indeed neither affliction nor purification, what is that which the Blessed Lord has described as purification?”

71.

Chapter 71: The Teaching on the Unchanging True Nature

71.1

Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, the sameness of all phenomena is empty of inherent existence‍—there is nothing at all that does anything to anything. Since all phenomena do nothing whatsoever and are nothing whatsoever, how is it that, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they do not stir from ultimate truth [F.341.a] but still act for the sake of all beings through [the attractive qualities of] generosity, pleasant speech, purposeful activity, and harmony?”

72.

Chapter 72: The Divisions of a Bodhisattva’s Training

72.1

Then the bodhisattva great being Maitreya asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord,570 how should bodhisattva great beings who seek to practice the perfection of wisdom, and train in the trainings of the bodhisattvas, {Ki.VIII: 146} train with regard to physical forms? How should they train with regard to feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness? How should they train with regard to the sense field of the eyes, the sense field of the ears, the sense field of the nose, the sense field of the tongue, the sense field of the body, and the sense field of the mental faculty? How should they train with regard to the sense field of sights, the sense field of sounds, the sense field of odors, the sense field of tastes, the sense field of touch, and [F.343.a] the sense field of mental phenomena? How should they train with regard to the sensory element of the eyes, the sensory element of sights, the sensory element of visual consciousness, the sensory element of the ears, the sensory element of sounds, the sensory element of auditory consciousness, the sensory element of the nose, the sensory element of odors, the sensory element of olfactory consciousness, the sensory element of the tongue, the sensory element of tastes, the sensory element of gustatory consciousness, the sensory element of the body, the sensory element of touch, the sensory element of tactile consciousness, the sensory element of the mental faculty, the sensory element of mental phenomena, and the sensory element of mental consciousness? How should they train with regard to the sense field of visually compounded sensory contact and the sense fields of aurally, nasally, lingually, corporeally, and mentally compounded sensory contact? How should they train with regard to ignorance? How should they train with regard to formative predispositions, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, sensory contact, sensation, craving, grasping, the rebirth process, actual birth, and aging and death? How should they train with regard to the truth of suffering? How should they train with regard to the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of cessation, and the truth of the path? How should they train with regard to material phenomena? How should they train with regard to phenomena that are immaterial, visible, invisible, impeded, unimpeded, conditioned, unconditioned, contaminated, uncontaminated, inadmissible, admissible, revealed, unrevealed, positive, negative, internal, external, seen, heard, known, cognized, past, future, present, virtuous, nonvirtuous, specific, indeterminate, included [and not included] in the realm of desire, included [and not included] in the realm of form, [F.343.b] included and not included in the realm of formlessness, associated with [the paths of] learning, no more learning, and neither learning nor no more learning, and associated with desire, anger, pride, ignorance, wrong view, and hesitation? How should they train with regard to phenomena that are generous, miserly, ethical, unethical, tolerant, malicious, persevering, indolent, concentrated, distracted, wise, and stupid? How should they train with regard to emptiness and conceptual thought, signlessness and signs, wishlessness and false aspirations, nonvirtuous phenomena, impermanence, suffering, and nonself? How should they train with regard to afflicted mental states, the abandoning of afflicted mental states, affliction, purification, cyclic existence, nirvāṇa, enlightenment, and the qualities of the buddhas?”

T3808

73.

Chapter 73: The Bodhisattva Sadāprarudita’s Attainment of the Manifold Gateways of Meditative Stability

73.1

Then the Blessed One addressed the venerable Subhūti: “Subhūti, noble sons or noble daughters who search for this perfection of wisdom should search for it in the manner in which the bodhisattva great being Sadāprarudita (‘He Who Was Always Weeping’) searched, who [now] practices chastity in the presence of the tathāgata, arhat, completely awakened buddha named Bhīṣmagarjitanirghoṣasvara.”578

74.

Chapter 74: Sadāprarudita

74.1

“Then, having inspired the bodhisattva great being Sadāprarudita, those tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas again disappeared. On arising from those meditative stabilities, [Sadāprarudita], the noble son, then thought, ‘From where did these tathāgatas come? Where have these tathāgatas gone?’ He no longer saw those tathāgatas, and he became depressed and tormented. He had the thought, ‘That sublime bodhisattva great being Dharmodgata has acquired the dhāraṇīs. He has mastered the five extrasensory powers and has performed his duties with respect to the conquerors of the past. He has benefited me and he is my spiritual mentor. For a long period of time he has acted on my behalf. I should approach the sublime bodhisattva great being Dharmodgata and ask him about this matter! From where did those tathāgatas come, and to where did they go?’

75.

Chapter 75: Dharmodgata

75.1

“The bodhisattva great being Dharmodgata then replied to the bodhisattva great being Sadāprarudita, ‘Noble son, tathāgatas do not come from anywhere, nor do they go anywhere. The tathāgatas do not move. The real nature is the tathāgatas. Noble son, nonarising neither goes nor comes. That nonarising is the tathāgatas. Noble son, the very limit of reality neither goes not comes. That very limit of reality is the tathāgatas. Noble son, in emptiness there is neither going nor coming. That emptiness is the tathāgatas. Noble son, the definitive nature neither comes nor goes. That definitive nature is the tathāgatas. Noble son, freedom from desire neither comes nor goes. That freedom from desire is the tathāgatas. [F.370.b] Noble son, cessation neither comes nor goes. That cessation is the tathāgatas. Noble son, the expanse of space neither comes nor goes. That expanse of space is the tathāgatas. Noble son, phenomena other than these attributes are not the tathāgatas. Noble son, the real nature of these attributes and the real nature of the tathāgatas is a single real nature. Noble son, in the real nature there are no dual aspects. Noble son, the real nature is one‍—it is not two, and it is not three. Noble son, because the real nature is nonexistent, it cannot be counted. Noble son, just as when someone tormented by the heat of spring, during the last month of spring, at noon might see a mirage in motion, and might run toward it, thinking, ‘Here I shall bathe. Here I shall drink,’ do you think, noble son, that that water has come from anywhere? Does it go anywhere‍—into the ocean of the east, or the oceans of the south, west, or north?’

76.

Chapter 76: Entrustment

76.1

“Subhūti, immediately after the bodhisattva great being Sadāprarudita had attained those six million gateways of meditative stability, he saw the lord buddhas accompanied by hosts of bodhisattvas and surrounded by the community of monks, teaching this same perfection of wisdom, in these very ways, in these very terms, in these very words, and in these very letters, in the world systems of the great trichiliocosm of the ten directions‍—east, south, west, north, the intermediate directions, the zenith, and the nadir‍—numerous as the grains of sand of the river Gaṅgā, just as I, accompanied by hosts of bodhisattvas and surrounded by the community of monks, am now teaching the Dharma of the perfection of wisdom in these very ways, in these very terms, in these very words, and in these very letters, in this world system of the great trichiliocosm. By attaining inconceivable dhāraṇīs, he acquired learning as vast as the oceans. In all his lives he was never again separated from the buddhas. In all his lives, he was reborn in those world systems where the lord buddhas were present, and he listened to the Dharma in the actual presence of the lord buddhas. At the very least, even in his dreams [F.379.a] he was never separated from the vision of the buddhas. He would hear the Dharma and was never separated from the sight of bodhisattvas. He abandoned all states lacking freedom, and possessed the freedoms and opportunities.”

Colophon

c.1

It is said in the original Jangpa manuscript:

This [Tibetan translation of] The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines has been edited twice on the basis of the original “gold manuscript,” which had been [commissioned as] a commitment of the spiritual mentor Nyanggom Chobar, and it has also been edited on the basis of the manuscript kept at Yerpa. Since it is extant, scribes of posterity should copy [the text] according to this version alone.

c.2

In the [recast] version of The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines [Toh 3790] that was edited by master Haribhadra, and in some [other] manuscripts, the text ends with the seventy-first chapter entitled “Unchanging Reality.” In certain [other] manuscripts, including the original (phyi mo) [Toh 9], there are seventy-six chapters, with [F.380.b] the addition of the [seventy-second] chapter entitled “Distinctions in the Training of a Bodhisattva,” the [seventy-third] chapter entitled “The Attainment of the Manifold Gateways of Meditative Stability by the Bodhisattva Sadāprarudita,” the [seventy-fourth] chapter entitled “Sadāprarudita,” the [seventy-fifth] chapter entitled “Dharmodgata,” and the [seventy-sixth] chapter entitled “Entrustment.” This accords with earlier accounts and the authentic records of teachings received. Insofar as there are distinctions in the translation of these five later chapters, I have seen a few manuscripts where the terminology is slightly dissimilar, although there are no differences in meaning.

c.3

In general, throughout the present text there are all sorts of unique allusions and variations in the elaboration of the points that are expressed. In particular, in the chapter entitled “The Introductory Narrative,” there are some passages where the text corresponds to The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.

c.4

OṂ SVĀSTI

c.5

Respectfully served by Indra, mighty lord of the gods, and others,

The supreme guides, best of humankind, embodying the three buddha bodies,

Are supreme in liberation, the path of liberation, and the provisions‍—

Objects of homage for all embodied beings and lord protectors.580

c.6

In the perspective of the divine path where emptiness and compassion are indivisible,

May the conquerors and their heirs again bestow excellent merits,

Causing a downpour of nectar of spiritual and temporal well-being

From the dense accumulating clouds of enlightened activity!

c.7

The supreme source of the marvelous attributes of existence and quiescence,

Monarch of supreme eloquence who reigns over needs and wants,

Is a manifestly high support, like the pinnacle of a victory banner‍—

May this supreme support enhance the glory of the Buddhist teaching!581

c.8

Although the sequences of the manifold vehicles are infinite

Owing to distinctions between disciples, who are low and high,

They are subsumed in the three definitive piṭakas,

Among which are the profound middle turning precepts

Concerning the absence of defining characteristics.582

c.9

Among these, the billion-line version extant in the domain of the gandharvas,

The ten-million-line version extant in the domain of Śatakratu,

And the hundred-thousand-line version extant in the domain of hooded nāgas

Were established as the long, middle-length, and abridged versions of the extensive text.

c.10

The twenty-five-thousand-line, eighteen-thousand-line, and ten-thousand-line versions

Are known as the long, middle-length, and abridged versions of the intermediate text.

Many scholars profess that the eight-thousand-line version and the verse summation

Are respectively the abridged and extremely abridged texts.

c.11

Alternatively, the versions in one hundred thousand lines,

Twenty-five thousand lines, and eight thousand lines

Are respectively known as the long, medium, and short texts.

Among these, the long version fell as a downpour of kingly power,

Inexhaustible as an offering lamp for living beings, without partiality.

c.12

In order that the excellent merit of the teaching and living beings might yet again increase,

Lord [Tenpa Tsering], who bestows the good fortune of resources

For the sustenance of spacious Degé‍—

A great community endowed with the ten virtuous actions‍—

Instantly opened countless doors of the inexhaustible treasure-store of space,

Containing the gems of the twenty-five-thousand-line version‍—it was a wondrous springtime. [F.381.a]

c.13

Acting in service of the entire teaching impartially,

Stealing the pride of the mighty long-living [gods],

In the great palace of Lhundrubteng,

A seminary triumphant over all directions,

Bastion of the twofold tradition [of sūtra and tantra]

Enveloped by the white parasol of the glorious Sakya school,

During the water tiger year, also known as Śubhakṛta,

At the time when the youthful face of the Jyeṣṭha moon made her appearance,

Her surface resembling translucent crystal,

He completed this task with two hundred and fifty elite [wood] carvers

Through the excellence of meritorious circumstances.

c.14

By this virtuous action I dedicate merit

That king [Tenpa Tsering] might have a long life and stable rule,

Sustaining the spacious kingdom with the bliss of the perfect age,

And that living beings, exemplified by those with auspicious connections,

Might attain the rank of liberation, the four buddha bodies!

c.15

At the time when the carving of the xylographs of this very text, along with those of the Multitude of the Buddhas (Buddhāvataṃsaka), was completed, in the presence of King Tenpa Tsering, the ruler of Degé, the beggar monk Tashi Wangchuk composed these verses at Sharkha Dzongsar Palace, where the wood-carving workshop was based. May they be victorious!

c.16

ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetun teṣāṃ tathāgato bhavat āha teṣāṃ ca yo nirodho evaṃ vādī mahāśramaṇaḥ [ye svāhā]

“Whatever events arise from causes, the Tathāgata has told of their causes, and the great ascetic has also taught their cessation.”

Notes

n.1

In Tibetan, as well as its official title as on our title page, it is also known by the shortened name Sherchin Nyitri Ngatong (sher phyin nyi khri lnga stong); or by the moniker Nyitri (nyi khri), which is sometimes misunderstood to mean “in twenty thousand lines,” but is instead simply an even more truncated version of the title. Another moniker sometimes used to indicate the source of a citation from it in Tibetan commentarial works is Yum Barma (yum bar ma), “the middle length ‘mother’ [sūtra],” and a similar moniker Yum Dringpo (yum ’bring po), with the same meaning, is found in the Degé dkar chag. It should be noted, too, that the customary honorific “Noble” (’phags pa, corresponding to Skt. ārya) is not appended to the title, nor to the colophon or chapter colophons, in any Kangyurs; nor is the text called a “sūtra” or “Mahāyāna sūtra.”

n.2

See Gareth Sparham, trans., The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines (Toh 8), 2024.

n.3

See Gareth Sparham, trans., The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines (Toh 10), 2022.

n.4

These numbers of volumes vary across different Kangyurs according to the density of the folios.

n.5

See Butön chos ’byung F.73.b, where Butön attributes as his sources Trophu Lotsāwa Jampa Pal (khro phu lo tsA ba byams pa dpal), Chim Jampé Yang (mchims ’jam pa’i dbyangs), Chak Lotsāwa Drachom (chag lo tsA ba dgra bcom), and “some others.”

n.6

That is, among the six “mother” Prajñāpāramitā sūtras (so called because they include all eight implicit topics of the Abhisamayālaṅkara, see below), the five long sūtras (in one hundred thousand, twenty-five thousand, eighteen thousand, ten thousand, and eight thousand lines, Toh 8–12). The sixth “mother” is the Verse Summary (Ratnaguṇa-saṅcayagāthā, Toh 13), which is said to have been taught subsequently in the Magadha dialect.

n.7

Some accounts place the occasion relatively late in the Buddha’s life, perhaps in his mid or late fifties, on the grounds that Subhūti, the leading arhat protagonist, according to some biographies, attained the state of arhat just after the Buddha had returned to the human world after his stay in the Trāyastriṃsa god realm to teach his mother; Subhūti, reflecting on impermanence, had decided to remain meditating in retreat instead of joining the crowd receiving the Buddha and was acknowledged by the Buddha as having been the first to have come to meet him. See n.74.

n.8

See Butön chos ’byung F.73.b–74.a. The prophecy in question is the one for Gaṅgadevī, related in chapter 44 of the present text, chapter 43 of The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines (Toh 8), chapter 53 of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines (Toh 10), and chapter 19 of The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Toh 12). It is not, however, found in The Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand Lines (Toh 11).

n.91

In this text, we have opted to translate the epithet bhagavat (bcom ldan ’das) as “the Blessed One” when it stands alone in narrative contexts, and as “Lord” when found in dialogue, as in the vocative expressions “Blessed Lord” (bhadantabhagavan, [btsun pa] bcom ldan ’das) and “Lord Buddha” (bhagavanbuddha, sangs rgyas bcom ldan ’das).

n.92

bka’ yang dag pas, here and in the Hundred Thousand, is one Tibetan rendering in the canonical texts of Skt. samyagājñā, the other being the more widespread yang dag pa’i shes pas (“by perfect understanding”), as in the equivalent phrase in the Eighteen Thousand, 1.2 and as recommended in Mahāvyutpatti 1087. See also The Jewel Cloud (Toh 231), 1.2 and n.21.

n.93

Full explanations of the introductory passage can be found in The Long Explanation (Toh 3808), 1.3. An interpretation of the corresponding introductory paragraph in The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) can also be found in Haribhadra’s Mirror Commentary on the Ornament of Clear Realization (Abhisamayālaṃkārālokā). See Sparham 2006: I, pp. 171–81.

n.111

This is the “brief teaching,” first of the “three approaches” (sgo gsum). See i.58.

n.152

Our text reads la, but Dutt 1934, p. 98, line 6 suggests the genitive.

n.166

Subhūti’s question here, compared to his original question to the Buddha at the beginning of chapter 3 (3.4), is rephrased with less reference to designation, even though the “naming” of dharmas continues to be an important element in the passage that follows. Note also that the Eighteen Thousand and the Sanskrit (Dt.123) and the Tengyur version of the sūtra (Toh 3790 vol.82, F.129.a) all include at this point an additional question: “Blessed Lord, I do not apprehend, do not find, and do not observe an entity (vastu, dngos po). Blessed Lord, since I do not apprehend, do not find, and do not observe an entity, to what phenomenon (dharma, chos) should I give teaching and instruction, and about what phenomena?” The Hundred Thousand has only two verbs in the first question, but three in the second.

n.167

These three terms, which are repeated in the passage that follows, we have tentatively translated according to the Tibetan (gnas pa ma mchis/ thug pa ma mchis/ byin gyis brlabs pa ma mchis). In the Sanskrit (Drt.124) there are four terms (na sthitaṃ nāsthitaṃ na viṣṭhitaṃ nāviṣṭhitam and in the Tengyur version of the sūtra (Toh 3790 vol.82, F.129.a), these are rendered gnas pa ma lags/ mi gnas pa ma lags/ gnas pa dang bral ba ma lags/ gnas pa dang bral ba ma lags pa ma lags, “not having a location, not lacking a location, not devoid of a location, and not not devoid of a location.” The terms sthita and gnas pa could also be translated as “abiding” or “remaining” in the sense of stable or lasting. The Hundred Thousand has the same three terms as here in the Tibetan (F.333.a), and only three in the Sanskrit (Ghoṣa 504): na sthitaṃ na viṣṭhitaṃ nādhiṣṭhitam. The Tibetan byin gyis brlabs pa, “transformative power” (sometimes rendered “blessings”) is a standard translation of adhiṣṭhāna in one of its senses (See Edgerton p. 16), and we have here used the term “influence” in deference to the original translators, even though later interpretations seem to have favored a more basic sense.

n.247

In the passage that starts here the Sanskrit terms padārtha and its negative or opposite apadārtha are crucial to an understanding of the text. Sanskrit pada, starting from its basic meaning of a footstep or track, also means a mark, standpoint, token, portion, sign, a matter, or a word; while artha (or ārtha) has an even wider range of meanings including aim, purpose, cause, motive, use, object, and meaning. The Tibetan translators of this text and of the Hundred Thousand have rendered the two compounds as tshig gi don and tshig gi don med pa, of which the literal translations in English might be “the meaning of the word” and “the absence of meaning of the word.” However, don here must be understood as referring not to “meaning” in the sense of a definition of some kind, but rather to the actual thing denoted by the word. Here we have followed that interpretation, which is not unreasonable given the clear association with the “word” in question, bodhisattva. Note that the Tibetan of the Eighteen Thousand (11.2 et seq.) renders the two compounds gzhi’i don and gzhi med pa’i don, i.e., using a different interpretation of pada and a different analysis of the second compound.

n.248

sems can as the Tibetan rendering of the sattva in Skt. bodhisattva rather than from the Tibetan sems dpa’. The Sanskrit of this whole passage in the “recast” Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā (Dutt 160–161) is substantially different but can be followed in the equivalent passage of the Śatasāhasrikā (Ghoṣa 1.7).

n.317

The passage that follows exemplifies a recurring point of importance and contention in the Tibetan translations of the Prajñāpāramitā literature, namely that the expression ma mchis may correspond either to the Sanskrit nāsti (“to be nonexistent”), to navidyate (“to be unknown”), or to na dṛśyate (“to not be discerned”). The same is true of the equivalent non-negative forms true when the verb is not in the negative. In the present context, Dutt 1934 p. 231, line 17 and so on, reads na dṛśyate, and we have therefore opted to translate the term as “not discern.” Incidentally, the Ten Thousand, 13.13, concurs, adopting the equivalent Tibetan expression mi mngon lags.

n.348

On the hierarchy of the six god realms within the realm of desire (kāmadhātu), which are all mentioned here, commencing with Trayastriṃśa and Caturmahārājakāyika, and concluding with Yāma, Tuṣita, Nirmāṇarata, and Paranirmitavaśavartin, see the chart in Dudjom Rinpoche 1991: pp. 14–15.

n.349

The sixteen Brahmā realms, extending from Brahmakāyika to Bṛhatphala, correspond to lesser, middling, and higher degrees of the four meditative concentrations. See glossary under Pure Abodes.

n.350

On the hierarchy of the five pure abodes (śuddhanivāsa) at the pinnacle of the realm of form (rūpadhātu), extending from Avṛha to Akaniṣṭha, see the chart in Dudjom Rinpoche 1991: pp. 14–15.

n.393

Kimura II-III: p. 142 simply reads dṛṣṭi.

n.394

The three times are when the Buddha (1) proclaims what the four truths are; (2) teaches that they must be comprehended, eliminated, realized, and cultivated; and (3) states that he himself has comprehended, eliminated, realized, and cultivated them. The twelve ways are when these three phases are applied to each of the four truths in turn. The twelve are set out in detail in the several canonical passages that recount the Buddha’s first teaching on the four truths; see, for example, The Sūtra of the Wheel of Dharma (Toh 337), 1.3–1.14 and n.21.

n.397

Tib. don dang tshul las. Skt. arthataś ca nayataś ca (Kimura II-III: p. 149).

n.406

Chapter 29 here marks the start of the fourth abhisamaya. Our text concurs with Kimura IV: p. 1, line 1 (and Conze 1975: p. 312) in reading ma mchis pa for asat (“nonexistent”). The Ten Thousand, by contrast, reads mtha’ yas pa / ananta (“infinite”).

n.435

Our text reads yongs su ’dzin pa (“occupy”), but see Kimura IV: p. 34, pariśodhayiṣyanti.

n.470

Kimura IV: p. 192, reads parijaya kartavyaḥ‍—hence “make a complete conquest of” (Conze 1975: p. 424).

n.481

The Ten Thousand, 26.34 (F.294.a), adds chos. Cf. Kimura V: p. 39; also Conze 1975: p. 462.

n.507

Repeated for emphasis.

n.518

Kimura VI: p. 12, line 22, reads duḥkhākṣayaś for rgya chung (“feeble”).

n.530

This passage marks the start of the eighth abhisamaya. Kimura VIII: p. 43 line 1 to p. 44 line 4, includes a section on the buddha body of essentiality, the buddha body of perfect resource, and the buddha body of emanation, which is omitted in the Tibetan.

n.567

This is the predominant reading, found in the Yongle, Beijing, Narthang, and Lhasa editions, although the negative particle is omitted in the Degé. See KPD vol. 28, p. 729, note 2.

n.570

Kimura VII: p. 145, line 29 adds yadi abhāvasvabhāvāḥ sarvadharmās (“if all phenomena are of the essential nature of nonentity”). See also Conze 1975: p. 644.

n.578

The last four chapters of the text correspond, not to the Sanskrit editions of Dutt/Kimura, but to Vaidya’s Sanskrit edition of the Sūtra of the Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra, Toh 12). They concern the exemplary sacrifices of the great bodhisattva being, Sadāprarudita, and form a self-contained appendix. The Sanskrit can be found in Vaidya: pp. 238–64, and the translation is contained in Conze 1973, p. 277 ff.

n.580

This quatrain is characterized by repetition of the second syllable of each line.

n.581

This quatrain is characterized by repetition of the last syllable of each line in the first syllable of the following line.

n.582

This stanza is characterized by repetition in the first two syllables of each line.

Bibliography

Primary Sources in Tibetan and Sanskrit

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Toh 9, Degé Kangyur vols. 26–28 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ka–a), folios ka.1.b–ga.381.a.

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines, Toh 9]. 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, vols. 26–28.

Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Sanskrit text based on the edition by Takayasu Kimura. Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin 2007–9 (1–1, 1–2), 1986 (2–3), 1990 (4), 1992 (5), 2006 (6–8). Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL). Page references: {Ki.}

Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Dutt, Nalinaksha. Calcutta Oriental Series 28. London: Luzac, 1934. Reprint edition, Sri Satguru Publications, 1986. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL). Page references: {Dt.nn}

Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā [The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines]. Sanskrit text based on the edition by P. L. Vaidya, in Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, vol. 4. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute, 1960. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL). Page references (for chapters 73–75): {Va.nn}

Secondary References in Tibetan and Sanskrit

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines, the “eight-chapter” (le’u brgyad ma) Tengyur version]. Toh 3790, Degé Tengyur vols. 82–84 (shes phyin, ga–ca), folios ga.1.b–ca.342.a.

shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa (Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines]. Toh 8, Degé Kangyur vols. 14–25 (shes phyin, ’bum, ka–a).

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The Larger Prajñāpāramitā. Sanskrit edition (Gilgit manuscript fols. 202.a.5-205.a.12, GBM 571.5–577.12) from Yoke Meei Choong, Zum Problem der Leerheit (śūnyatā) in der Prajñāpāramitā, Frankfurt: Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihe 27, Bd. 97, 2006, pp. 109–33. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).

Daṃṣṭrasena. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa ’bum pa rgya cher ’grel pa (Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitābṛhaṭṭīkā) [“An Extensive Commentary on The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines”], Toh 3807, Degé Tengyur vols. 91–92. Also in Tengyur Pedurma (TPD) (bstan ’gyur [dpe bsdur ma]), [Comparative Edition of the Tengyur], 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). 120 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 1994–2008, vol. 54 (TPD 54) pp. 627–1439 and vol. 55 pp. 2–550.

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Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.

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.

Jamgön Kongtrül (’jam mgon kong sprul). shes bya kun khyab mdzod [“The Treasury of Knowledge”]. Root verses contained in three-volume publication. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1982; Boudhnath: Padma Karpo Translation Committee edition, 2000 (photographic reproduction of the original four-volume Palpung xylograph, 1844). Translated, along with the auto-commentary, by the Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group in The Treasury of Knowledge series (TOK). Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995 to 2012. Mentioned here are Ngawang Zangpo 2010 (Books 2, 3, and 4) and Dorje 2012 (Book 6, Parts 1–2).

Nordrang Orgyan (nor brang o rgyan). chos rnam kun btus. 3 vols. Beijing: Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2008.

Tsongkhapa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa). byang chub sems dpa’ sems dpa’ chen po rtagtu ngu’i rtogs pa brjod pa’i snyan dngags dpag bsam gyi ljong pa [“An Avadāna of the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Sadāprarudita”], in Lhasa (zhol) Kangyur vol. 34, folios 523.b–555.b (pp. 1046–1110). The same text is also to be found in Tsongkhapa’s Collected Works: gsung ’bum tsong kha pa (bkras lhun par rnying ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa), vol. 3, Ngawang Gelek Demo, 1975, pp. 242–96.

Zhang Yisun et al. bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo. 3 vols. Subsequently reprinted in 2 vols. and 1 vol. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1985. Translated in Nyima and Dorje 2001 (vol. 1).

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Choong, Yoke Meei. Zum Problem der Leerheit (śūnyatā) in der Prajñāpāramitā. Frankfurt: Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihe 27, Bd. 97, 2006, pp. 109–33.

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Conze, Edward (1974). The Gilgit Manuscript of the Aṣṭādaśasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā: Chapters 70 to 82 corresponding to the 6th, 7th, and 8th Abhisamayas. SOR 46. Rome: ISMEO, 1974.

Conze, Edward (1975). The Large Sūtra on Perfect Wisdom: With the Divisions of the Abhisamayālaṅkāra. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.

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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

a bodhisattva’s full maturity

byang chub sems dpa’i skyon med pa

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྐྱོན་མེད་པ།

bodhisattvanyāma

g.2

[a body] that is beautiful in all respects

kun nas mdzes pa

ཀུན་ནས་མཛེས་པ།

samantaprāsādika

g.3

abandonment of all indolence

le lo thams cad spangs pa

ལེ་ལོ་ཐམས་ཅད་སྤངས་པ།

sarvakausīdyāpagato

g.6

Ābha

snang ba

སྣང་བ།

ābha

g.7

Ābhāsvara

’od gsal
kun snang dang ba

འོད་གསལ།
ཀུན་སྣང་དང་བ།

ābhāsvara

g.23

absorption

snyoms par ’jug
mnyam par bzhag

སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག
མཉམ་པར་བཞག

samāpatti
samāhita

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Sanskrit literally means “attainment,” and is used to refer specifically to meditative attainment and to particular meditative states. The Tibetan translators interpreted it as sama-āpatti, which suggests the idea of “equal” or “level”; however, they also parsed it as sam-āpatti, in which case it would have the sense of “concentration” or “absorption,” much like samādhi, but with the added sense of “attainment.”

In this text:

Also rendered here as “meditative absorption.”

g.25

accepted

yongs su zin pa

ཡོངས་སུ་ཟིན་པ།

parigṛhīta

g.30

actual birth

skye ba

སྐྱེ་བ།

jāti

g.31

actual entity denoted by the word

tshig gi don

ཚིག་གི་དོན།

padārtha

g.32

actualize

mngon par sgrub pa
mngon par byed pa

མངོན་པར་སྒྲུབ་པ།
མངོན་པར་བྱེད་པ།

g.36

afflicted

kun nas nyon mongs pa
nyon mongs

ཀུན་ནས་ཉོན་མོངས་པ།
ཉོན་མོངས།

saṃkleśika
vihanyati

g.37

afflicted mental state

kun nas nyon mongs pa
sems las byung ba’i nye ba’i nyon mongs pa
nyon mongs

ཀུན་ནས་ཉོན་མོངས་པ།
སེམས་ལས་བྱུང་བའི་ཉེ་བའི་ཉོན་མོངས་པ།
ཉོན་མོངས།

saṃkleśa
caitasikopakleśa
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.38

aggregate

phung po

ཕུང་པོ།

skandha

g.44

aging and death

rga shi

རྒ་ཤི།

jarāmaraṇa

g.45

agitation and regret

rgod ’gyod

རྒོད་འགྱོད།

auddhatyakaukṛtya

g.47

Akaniṣṭha

’og min

འོག་མིན།

akaniṣṭha

g.53

all-aspect omniscience

rnam pa thams cad mkhyen pa nyid

རྣམ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་མཁྱེན་པ་ཉིད།

sarvākārajñatā

This key term in the Prajñāpāramitā literature refers to the omniscience of a buddha, and is not to be confused with the “knowledge of the path” of bodhisattvas, or with the “knowledge of all the dharmas” of śrāvakas. The “all-aspect” (sarvākāra) part of the term refers to the different aspects that it comprises, and is explained in two ways in The Long Explanation (Toh 3808, 4.78–4.80). One way identifies the “aspects” as being qualities such as nonarising and unproduced, unceasing, primordially at peace, naturally in nirvāṇa, without intrinsic nature, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, etc. The other way identifies them as being the collections of the wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral, and the collection of those destined for error and those of uncertain destiny. All-aspect omniscience is also the first of the eight progressive sections of clear realization.

g.58

Anabhraka

sprin med

སྤྲིན་མེད།

anabhraka

Literally meaning “Cloudless,” the more usual name for what is, in the Prajñāpāramitā literature, the fourteenth of the sixteen levels of the god realm of form that correspond to the four meditative concentrations, and in this text and in the Hundred Thousand is instead rendered Parīttabṛhat (q.v.). Anabhraka is used in the later Sanskrit manuscripts that correspond more closely to the eight-chapter Tengyur version of this text. In other genres, it is the tenth of twelve levels corresponding to the four meditative concentrations.

g.59

Ānanda

kun dga’ bo

ཀུན་དགའ་བོ།

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.

g.66

Aparagodānīya

ba lang spyod

བ་ལང་སྤྱོད།

aparagodānīya

g.68

application of mindfulness with regard to feelings

tshor ba dran pa nye bar gzhag pa

ཚོར་བ་དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།

vedanānupaśyīsmṛtyupasthāna

g.69

application of mindfulness with regard to phenomena

chos dran pa nye bar gzhag pa

ཆོས་དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།

dharmānupaśyīsmṛtyupasthāna

g.70

application of mindfulness with regard to the body

lus dran pa nye bar gzhag pa

ལུས་དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།

kāyānupaśyīsmṛtyupasthāna

g.71

application of mindfulness with regard to the mind

sems dran pa nye bar gzhag pa

སེམས་དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།

cittānupaśyīsmṛtyupasthāna

g.72

applications of mindfulness

dran pa nye bar gzhag pa

དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ།

smṛtyupasthāna

g.73

apprehend

dmigs

དམིགས།

upalabhate

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

dmigs (pa) translates a number of Sanskrit terms, including ālambana, upalabdhi, and ālambate. These terms commonly refer to the apprehending of a subject, an object, and the relationships that exist between them. The term may also be translated as “referentiality,” meaning a system based on the existence of referent objects, referent subjects, and the referential relationships that exist between them. As part of their doctrine of “threefold nonapprehending/nonreferentiality” (’khor gsum mi dmigs pa), Mahāyāna Buddhists famously assert that all three categories of apprehending lack substantiality.

In this text:

Also translated here as “focus on.”

g.74

apprehended

dmigs su yod pa

དམིགས་སུ་ཡོད་པ།

upalabdhya
upalabdha

g.75

apprehending

dmigs pa

དམིགས་པ།

upalambha

g.76

apprehensible

dmigs su yod pa

དམིགས་སུ་ཡོད་པ།

upalabdhya
upalabdha

g.79

Apramāṇābha

tshad med snang ba

ཚད་མེད་སྣང་བ།

apramāṇābha

g.80

Apramāṇabṛhat

tshad med che ba

ཚད་མེད་ཆེ་བ།

apramāṇabṛhat

Literally meaning “Immeasurably Great,” the name used in this text and in the Hundred Thousand for what is, in the Prajñāpāramitā literature, the fifteenth of the sixteen levels of the god realm of form that correspond to the four meditative concentrations. The Sanskrit equivalent is attested in the Sanskrit of the Hundred Thousand, while the name Puṇyaprasava (q.v.) is used in the later Sanskrit manuscripts that correspond more closely to the eight-chapter Tengyur version of this text. In other genres, this is the eleventh of twelve levels corresponding to the four meditative concentrations.

g.81

Apramāṇaśubha

tshad med dge

ཚད་མེད་དགེ

apramāṇaśubha

g.82

arhat

dgra bcom pa

དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ།

arhat

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.

g.85

Asaṅga

thogs med

ཐོགས་མེད།

asaṅga

g.88

ascetic supremacy

brtul zhugs snyems pa

བརྟུལ་ཞུགས་སྙེམས་པ།

vrataparāmarśa

g.91

aspect of liberation

rnam par thar pa

རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ།

vimokṣa

g.92

assembly

g.yog ’khor
’khor

གཡོག་འཁོར།
འཁོར།

parivāra

g.93

asura

lha ma yin

ལྷ་མ་ཡིན།

asura

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).

g.95

Atapa

mi gdung ba

མི་གདུང་བ།

atapa

g.98

attachment to the realm of form

gzugs kyi ’dod chags

གཟུགས་ཀྱི་འདོད་ཆགས།

ruparāga

g.99

attachment to the realm of formlessness

gzugs med pa’i ’dod chags

གཟུགས་མེད་པའི་འདོད་ཆགས།

ārūpyarāga

g.103

attention

yid la byed pa

ཡིད་ལ་བྱེད་པ།

manaskāra

g.105

aurally compounded sensory contact

rna ba’i ’dus te reg pa

རྣ་བའི་འདུས་ཏེ་རེག་པ།

śrotrasaṃsparśa

g.113

Avṛha

mi che ba

མི་ཆེ་བ།

avṛha

g.120

Bhīṣmagarjitanirghoṣasvara

sgra dbyangs mi zad par sgrogs pa

སྒྲ་དབྱངས་མི་ཟད་པར་སྒྲོགས་པ།

bhīṣmagarjitanirghoṣasvara

g.126

Blessed Lord

bcom ldan ’das
btsun pa bcom ldan ’das

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།
བཙུན་པ་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhadantabhagavan

g.127

Blessed One

bcom ldan ’das

བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhagavān

While the Sanskrit term simply means “fortunate,” “illustrious,” or “revered,” Tibetan hermeneutics defines the term as denoting a teacher or buddha who primordially subdues (bcom) the four demonic forces, possesses (ldan) the six attributes of greatness (che ba’i yon tan drug), and transcends (’das) all sorrow, without abiding in the extremes of existence and quiescence. See also n.91.

g.133

bodhisattva

byang chub sems dpa’

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ།

bodhisattva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A being who is dedicated to the cultivation and fulfilment of the altruistic intention to attain perfect buddhahood, traversing the ten bodhisattva levels (daśabhūmi, sa bcu). Bodhisattvas purposely opt to remain within cyclic existence in order to liberate all sentient beings, instead of simply seeking personal freedom from suffering. In terms of the view, they realize both the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.

g.134

bodhisattva great being

byang chub sems dpa’ sems dpa’ chen po

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ་སེམས་དཔའ་ཆེན་པོ།

bodhisattvamahāsattva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The term can be understood to mean “great courageous one” or "great hero,” or (from the Sanskrit) simply “great being,” and is almost always found as an epithet of “bodhisattva.” The qualification “great” in this term, according to the majority of canonical definitions, focuses on the generic greatness common to all bodhisattvas, i.e., the greatness implicit in the bodhisattva vow itself in terms of outlook, aspiration, number of beings to be benefited, potential or eventual accomplishments, and so forth. In this sense the mahā- is closer in its connotations to the mahā- in “Mahāyāna” than to the mahā- in “mahāsiddha.” While individual bodhisattvas described as mahāsattva may in many cases also be “great” in terms of their level of realization, this is largely coincidental, and in the canonical texts the epithet is not restricted to bodhisattvas at any particular point in their career. Indeed, in a few cases even bodhisattvas whose path has taken a wrong direction are still described as bodhisattva mahāsattva.

Later commentarial writings do nevertheless define the term‍—variably‍—in terms of bodhisattvas having attained a particular level (bhūmi) or realization. The most common qualifying criteria mentioned are attaining the path of seeing, attaining irreversibility (according to its various definitions), or attaining the seventh bhūmi.

g.153

Brahmā

tshangs pa

ཚངས་པ།

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).

g.154

Brahmā realms

tshangs pa’i ’jig rten gyi khams

ཚངས་པའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།

brahmālokadhātu

g.156

Brahmakāyika

tshangs ris

ཚངས་རིས།

brahmakāyika

g.157

Brahmapariṣadya

tshangs pa kun ’khor

ཚངས་པ་ཀུན་འཁོར།

brahmapariṣadya

g.158

Brahmapurohita

tshangs lha nye phan

ཚངས་ལྷ་ཉེ་ཕན།

brahmapurohita

g.161

branches of enlightenment

byang chub kyi yan lag

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག

bodhyaṅga

g.163

Bṛhat

che ba

ཆེ་བ།

bṛhat

g.164

Bṛhatphala

’bras bu che

འབྲས་བུ་ཆེ།

bṛhatphala

g.167

buddha body of reality

chos kyi sku

ཆོས་ཀྱི་སྐུ།

dharmakāya

g.168

buddhafield

sangs rgyas kyi zhing

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཞིང་།

buddhakṣetra

g.181

Caturmahārājakāyika

rgyal chen bzhi’i ris

རྒྱལ་ཆེན་བཞིའི་རིས།

caturmahārājakāyika

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the heavens of Buddhist cosmology, lowest among the six heavens of the desire realm (kāmadhātu, ’dod khams). Dwelling place of the Four Great Kings (caturmahārāja, rgyal chen bzhi), traditionally located on a terrace of Sumeru, just below the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Each cardinal direction is ruled by one of the Four Great Kings and inhabited by a different class of nonhuman beings as their subjects: in the east, Dhṛtarāṣṭra rules the gandharvas; in the south, Virūḍhaka rules the kumbhāṇḍas; in the west, Virūpākṣa rules the nāgas; and in the north, Vaiśravaṇa rules the yakṣas.

In this text:

Lit. “Abode of the Four Great Kings.”

g.185

cessation of suffering

’gog pa

འགོག་པ།

nirodha

g.186

chiliocosm

stong gi ’jig rten gyi khams

སྟོང་གི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།

sāhasralokadhātu

g.187

clear realization

mngon par rtogs pa

མངོན་པར་རྟོགས་པ།

abhisamaya

g.193

come into being

mngon par sgrub pa
mngon par byed pa

མངོན་པར་སྒྲུབ་པ།
མངོན་པར་བྱེད་པ།

g.194

commitment

yi dam

ཡི་དམ།

samādānatā

g.198

compassion

snying rje

སྙིང་རྗེ།

karuṇā

g.211

completely awakened buddha

yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas

ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས།

samyaksaṃbuddha

g.213

conceptual elaboration

spros pa

སྤྲོས་པ།

prapañca

g.215

conditioned phenomena

’dus byas kyi chos

འདུས་བྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།

saṃskṛtadharma

g.217

connecting propensities

bag chags kyi mtshams sbyor
bag chags dang mtshams sbyor

བག་ཆགས་ཀྱི་མཚམས་སྦྱོར།
བག་ཆགས་དང་མཚམས་སྦྱོར།

vāsanānusaṃdhi

g.218

consciousness

rnam par shes pa

རྣམ་པར་ཤེས་པ།

vijñāna

Fifth of the five aggregates; also third of the twelve links of dependent origination. Consciousness is defined as “an awareness which is knowing and luminous.” Not being physical, it lacks resistance to obstruction. It has neither shape nor color, and it can be experienced but not externally perceived as an object. A distinction is made between the mundane consciousness of beings, and the wisdom of the buddhas. In the context‌ of the present discourse, the former includes six aspects of consciousness, namely, visual consciousness, auditory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, tactile consciousness, and mental consciousness, the last of which objectively refers to mental phenomena.

g.223

contaminant

zag pa

ཟག་པ།

āsrava

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Literally, “to flow” or “to ooze.” Mental defilements or contaminations that “flow out” toward the objects of cyclic existence, binding us to them. Vasubandhu offers two alternative explanations of this term: “They cause beings to remain (āsayanti) within saṃsāra” and “They flow from the Summit of Existence down to the Avīci hell, out of the six wounds that are the sense fields” (Abhidharmakośabhāṣya 5.40; Pradhan 1967, p. 308). The Summit of Existence (bhavāgra, srid pa’i rtse mo) is the highest point within saṃsāra, while the hell called Avīci (mnar med) is the lowest; the six sense fields (āyatana, skye mched) here refer to the five sense faculties plus the mind, i.e., the six internal sense fields.

g.224

contaminated phenomena

zag pa dang bcas pa’i chos

ཟག་པ་དང་བཅས་པའི་ཆོས།

sāsravadharma

g.235

contexts

gleng gzhi

གླེང་གཞི།

nidāna

g.243

corporeally compounded sensory contact

lus kyi ’dus te reg pa

ལུས་ཀྱི་འདུས་ཏེ་རེག་པ།

kāyasaṃsparśa

g.244

correct action

yang dag pa’i las kyi mtha’

ཡང་དག་པའི་ལས་ཀྱི་མཐའ།

samyakkarmānta

g.245

correct delight

dga’ ba yang dag

དགའ་བ་ཡང་དག

prīti

g.246

correct doctrinal analysis

chos rnam par ’byed pa

ཆོས་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ།

dharmapravicaya

g.247

correct effort

yang dag pa’i rtsol ba

ཡང་དག་པའི་རྩོལ་བ།

samyagvyāyāma

g.248

correct equanimity

btang snyoms yang dag

བཏང་སྙོམས་ཡང་དག

upekṣā

g.249

correct exertion

yang dag par spong ba

ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ།

prahāṇa

g.250

correct livelihood

yang dag pa’i ’tsho ba

ཡང་དག་པའི་འཚོ་བ།

samyagājīva

g.252

correct meditative stability

yang dag pa’i ting nge ’dzin

ཡང་དག་པའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན།

samyaksamādhi

g.253

correct mental and physical refinement

shin tu sbyangs pa yang dag

ཤིན་ཏུ་སྦྱངས་པ་ཡང་དག

praśrabdhi

g.254

correct perseverance

brtson ’grus yang dag

བརྩོན་འགྲུས་ཡང་དག

vīrya

g.255

correct recollection

dran pa yang dag

དྲན་པ་ཡང་དག

smṛti

g.256

correct recollection

yang dag pa’i dran pa

ཡང་དག་པའི་དྲན་པ།

samyaksmṛti

g.257

correct speech

yang dag pa’i ngag

ཡང་དག་པའི་ངག

samyagvāg

g.258

correct thought

yang dag pa’i rtog pa

ཡང་དག་པའི་རྟོག་པ།

samyaksaṃkalpa

g.259

correct view

yang dag pa’i lta ba

ཡང་དག་པའི་ལྟ་བ།

samyagdṛṣṭi

g.260

covetousness

chags sems
brnab sems

ཆགས་སེམས།
བརྣབ་སེམས།

abhidhyā
abhidhyā granthā

g.261

craving

sred pa

སྲེད་པ།

tṛṣṇā

g.268

cyclic existence

’khor ba

འཁོར་བ།

saṃsāra

g.270

defilement

kun nas nyon mongs pa
sems las byung ba’i nye ba’i nyon mongs pa
nyon mongs

ཀུན་ནས་ཉོན་མོངས་པ།
སེམས་ལས་བྱུང་བའི་ཉེ་བའི་ཉོན་མོངས་པ།
ཉོན་མོངས།

saṃkleśa
caitasikopakleśa
kleśa

g.271

definitive knowledge of all the afflicted and purified mental states and their emergence, with respect to the faculties, powers, branches of enlightenment, meditative concentrations, aspects of liberation, meditative stabilities, and formless absorptions

dbang po dang / stobs dang / byang chub kyi yan lag dang / bsam gtan dang / rnam par thar ba dang / ting nge ’dzin dang / snyoms par ’jug pa dang / kun nas nyon mongs pa dang / rnam par byang ba rnam par dgod pa yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/

དབང་པོ་དང་། སྟོབས་དང་། བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཡན་ལག་དང་། བསམ་གཏན་དང་། རྣམ་པར་ཐར་བ་དང་། ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་དང་། སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ་དང་། ཀུན་ནས་ཉོན་མོངས་པ་དང་། རྣམ་པར་བྱང་བ་རྣམ་པར་དགོད་པ་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ།

sarvendriyabalabodhyaṅgavimokṣadhyānasamādhisamāpattisaṃkleśavyavadānavyuthānayathābhūtaprajñāna

g.272

definitive knowledge of the diversity of inclinations and the multiplicity of inclinations that other beings, other individuals, have

sems can gzhan dang / gang zag gzhan gyi mos pa sna tshogs dang / mos pa du ma yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/

སེམས་ཅན་གཞན་དང་། གང་ཟག་གཞན་གྱི་མོས་པ་སྣ་ཚོགས་དང་། མོས་པ་དུ་མ་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ།

anyasattvapudgalanānādhimuktyanekādhimuktiyathābhūtaprajñāna

g.273

definitive knowledge of the paths that lead anywhere

kun du ’gro ba’i lam yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/

ཀུན་དུ་འགྲོ་བའི་ལམ་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ།

sarvatragāmanīpratipadyathābhūtaprajñāna

g.274

definitive knowledge of the recollection of multiple past abodes, ranging from the recollection of individual lifetimes to their circumstances, situations, and causes

rnam pa du mar sngon gyi gnas rjes su dran te/ tshe rabs gcig kyang rjes su dran pa nas/ rnam pa dang bcas/ sa mal dang bcas/ gtan tshigs dang bcas pa’i bar du/ rnam pa du mar sngon gyi gnas rjes su dran no/

རྣམ་པ་དུ་མར་སྔོན་གྱི་གནས་རྗེས་སུ་དྲན་ཏེ། ཚེ་རབས་གཅིག་ཀྱང་རྗེས་སུ་དྲན་པ་ནས། རྣམ་པ་དང་བཅས། ས་མལ་དང་བཅས། གཏན་ཚིགས་དང་བཅས་པའི་བར་དུ། རྣམ་པ་དུ་མར་སྔོན་གྱི་གནས་རྗེས་སུ་དྲན་ནོ།

anekapūrvanivāsānusmṛti

g.275

definitive knowledge of various realms and their multiple constituents

’jig rten gyi khams ni sna tshogs can te/ ’jig rten gyi khams ni du ma pa’o zhes bya bar yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/

འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས་ནི་སྣ་ཚོགས་ཅན་ཏེ། འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས་ནི་དུ་མ་པའོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བར་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ།

nānalokadhātunānadhātuyathābhūtaprajñāna

g.276

definitive knowledge of whether the acumen of other beings, other individuals, is superior or inferior

sems can gzhan yang / gang zag gzhan gyi dbang po rab dang / tha ma shes par bya ba yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/

སེམས་ཅན་གཞན་ཡང་། གང་ཟག་གཞན་གྱི་དབང་པོ་རབ་དང་། ཐ་མ་ཤེས་པར་བྱ་བ་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ།

anyasattvapudgalendriyavarāvarayathābhūtaprajñāna

g.277

definitive knowledge that phenomena that are possible are indeed possible, and definitive knowledge that phenomena that are impossible are indeed impossible

gnas la yang gnas su yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/ /gnas ma yin pa la yang gnas ma yin par yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/

གནས་ལ་ཡང་གནས་སུ་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ། །གནས་མ་ཡིན་པ་ལ་ཡང་གནས་མ་ཡིན་པར་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ།

sthānasthānayathābhūtaprajñāna asthānāsthānayathābhūtaprajñāna

g.278

definitive knowledge that through one’s own extrasensory powers one has actualized, achieved, and maintained the liberation of mind and the liberation of wisdom in the state that is free from contaminants because all contaminants have ceased

zag pa zad pa’i phyir sems rnam par grol ba dang / shes rab rnam par grol ba/ zag pa med pa/ rang gi mngon par shes pas mngon par byas te/ nye bar bsgrubs shing rnam par spyod do/

ཟག་པ་ཟད་པའི་ཕྱིར་སེམས་རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བ་དང་། ཤེས་རབ་རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བ། ཟག་པ་མེད་པ། རང་གི་མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པས་མངོན་པར་བྱས་ཏེ། ཉེ་བར་བསྒྲུབས་ཤིང་རྣམ་པར་སྤྱོད་དོ།

āsravakṣayayathābhūtaprajñāna / āsravakṣaya

g.279

definitive knowledge, through possibilities and causes, of the maturation of the past, future, and present actions [of beings], and of those who undertake such actions

’das pa dang / ma ’ongs pa dang / da ltar byung ba’i las dang / las yongs su len pa’i rnam par smin pa gnas kyi rnam pa dang / rgyu’i rnam pa yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/

འདས་པ་དང་། མ་འོངས་པ་དང་། ད་ལྟར་བྱུང་བའི་ལས་དང་། ལས་ཡོངས་སུ་ལེན་པའི་རྣམ་པར་སྨིན་པ་གནས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་པ་དང་། རྒྱུའི་རྣམ་པ་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ།

atītānāgatapratyutpannasarvakarmasamādānahetuvipākayathābhūtaprajñāna

g.280

definitive knowledge through pure clairvoyance, transcending the vision of human beings, of the death, transmigration, and rebirth of beings

lha’i mig rnam par dag pa mi las ’das pas sems can ’chi ’pho dang / skye ba dag kyang yang dag pa ji lta ba bzhin du rab tu shes so/

ལྷའི་མིག་རྣམ་པར་དག་པ་མི་ལས་འདས་པས་སེམས་ཅན་འཆི་འཕོ་དང་། སྐྱེ་བ་དག་ཀྱང་ཡང་དག་པ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་རབ་ཏུ་ཤེས་སོ།

divyenacakṣuṣāsattvānāṃcyutopapādayathābhūtaprajñāna

g.281

definitive nature

ji lta ba nyid
ji lta ba bzhin

ཇི་ལྟ་བ་ཉིད།
ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན།

yathāvattā

g.282

delusion

gti mug

གཏི་མུག

moha

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

One of the three poisons (dug gsum) along with aversion, or hatred, and attachment, or desire, which perpetuate the sufferings of cyclic existence. It is the obfuscating mental state which obstructs an individual from generating knowledge or insight, and it is said to be the dominant characteristic of the animal world in general. Commonly rendered as confusion, delusion, and ignorance, or bewilderment.

g.283

dependent origination

rten cing ’brel par ’byung ba

རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་པར་འབྱུང་བ།

pratītyasamutpāda

The principle of dependent origination asserts that nothing exists independently of other factors, the reason for this being that things and events come into existence only by dependence on the aggregation of causes and conditions. In general, the processes of cyclic existence, through which the external world and the beings within it revolve in a continuous cycle of suffering, propelled by the propensities of past actions and their interaction with afflicted mental states, originate dependent on the sequential unfolding of twelve links, commencing from ignorance and ending with birth, aging and death. It is only through deliberate reversal of these twelve links that one can succeed in bringing the whole cycle to an end. The twelve links are enumerated many times in the text, starting at 2.105. See also “twelve links of dependent origination.”

g.285

desire

’dod chags

འདོད་ཆགས།

rāga

g.291

dhāraṇī

gzungs

གཟུངས།

dhāraṇī

g.292

dhāraṇī gateways

gzungs kyi sgo

གཟུངས་ཀྱི་སྒོ།

dhāraṇīmukha

g.297

Dharma

chos

ཆོས།

dharma

The term dharma (chos) conveys ten different meanings, according to Vasubandhu’s Vyākhyāyukti. In the context of the present work, it may mean “sacred doctrine” (also rendered “Dharma” in this translation), the “attributes” which buddhas and bodhisattvas acquire, “phenomena” or “things” in general, and, more specifically, “mental phenomena” which are the object of the mental faculty (manas, yid).

g.299

Dharmodgata

chos kyis ’phags pa

ཆོས་ཀྱིས་འཕགས་པ།

dharmodgata

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

A great bodhisattva, residing in a divine city called Gandhavatī, who teaches the Prajñāpāramitā three times a day. He is known for becoming the teacher of the bodhisattva Sadāprarudita, who decides to sell his flesh and blood in order to make offerings to him and receive his teachings. This story is told in The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines (Toh 10, ch. 85–86). It can also be found quoted in several works, such as The Words of My Perfect Teacher (kun bzang bla ma’i zhal lung) by Patrul Rinpoche.

g.311

distinct qualities of the buddhas

sangs rgyas kyi chos ma ’dres pa

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས་མ་འདྲེས་པ།

aveṇikabuddhadharma

g.312

distinguishing mark

mtshan ma

མཚན་མ།

nimitta

A mark or feature of an object which serves as the basis for its being generically named and thus conceptually categorized. A distinguishing mark is usually imagined rather than being a real attribute of the object, and perception that operates by identifying distinguishing marks is therefore what defines coarse conceptuality. In some contexts (particularly with respect to meditative concentration practices), nimitta can be translated as “mental image.” Also translated in this text as “sign.”

g.322

doubt

the tshom

ཐེ་ཚོམ།

vicikitsā

g.323

dullness and sleep

rmugs gnyid
rmugs pa dang gnyid

རྨུགས་གཉིད།
རྨུགས་པ་དང་གཉིད།

styānaniddha

g.328

eight aspects of liberation

rnam par thar pa brgyad

རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭavimokṣa

g.332

eighteen aspects of emptiness

stong pa nyid bco brgyad
stong nyid bco brgyad

སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།
སྟོང་ཉིད་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭadaśaśūnyatā

g.334

eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas

sangs rgyas kyi chos ma ’dres pa bco brgyad

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས་མ་འདྲེས་པ་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭādaśāveṇikabuddhadharma

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Eighteen special features of a buddha’s behavior, realization, activity, and wisdom that are not shared by other beings. They are generally listed as: (1) he never makes a mistake, (2) he is never boisterous, (3) he never forgets, (4) his concentration never falters, (5) he has no notion of distinctness, (6) his equanimity is not due to lack of consideration, (7) his motivation never falters, (8) his endeavor never fails, (9) his mindfulness never falters, (10) he never abandons his concentration, (11) his insight (prajñā) never decreases, (12) his liberation never fails, (13) all his physical actions are preceded and followed by wisdom (jñāna), (14) all his verbal actions are preceded and followed by wisdom, (15) all his mental actions are preceded and followed by wisdom, (16) his wisdom and vision perceive the past without attachment or hindrance, (17) his wisdom and vision perceive the future without attachment or hindrance, and (18) his wisdom and vision perceive the present without attachment or hindrance.

In this text:

The detailed list of the eighteen qualities is found in 62.74.

g.335

eighteen sensory elements

khams bcwo brgyad
khams bco brgyad

ཁམས་བཅྭོ་བརྒྱད།
ཁམས་བཅོ་བརྒྱད།

aṣṭadaśadhātu

g.338

eighth-lowest level

brgyad pa’i sa
brgyad pa

བརྒྱད་པའི་ས།
བརྒྱད་པ།

aṣṭamakabhūmi
aṣṭamaka

Name of the third of ten levels, denoting a person who is eight steps away from becoming an arhat, being on the cusp of becoming a stream-enterer. This is also the first and lowest stage in a list of eight stages or classes of a noble person (Skt. āryapudgala). The person at this stage is on the path of insight, and the name of this level may also be related to the “eightfold receptiveness to the path of insight” (darśanamārgāṣṭakṣānti, mthong lam gyi bzod pa brgyad) which comprises “knowledge of phenomena” (dharmajñāna, chos shes pa) and “subsequent knowledge” (anvayajñāna, rjes su rtogs pa’i shes pa) with respect to each of the four noble truths. The ten levels referred to here‍—not to be confused with the ten levels of the bodhisattva’s path‍—mark the progress of one who sequentially follows the paths of a śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and then bodhisattva on their way to completely awakened buddhahood.

g.341

elder

gnas brtan

གནས་བརྟན།

sthavira

g.345

eleven aspects of knowledge

shes pa bcu gcig

ཤེས་པ་བཅུ་གཅིག

ekādaśajñāna

g.349

empathetic joy

dga’ ba

དགའ་བ།

muditā

g.350

emptiness

stong pa nyid

སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

śūnyatā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.

g.351

emptiness as a gateway to liberation

rnam par thar pa’i sgo stong pa nyid

རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པའི་སྒོ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

śūnyatāvimokṣamukha

g.354

emptiness of both external and internal phenomena

phyi nang stong pa nyid

ཕྱི་ནང་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

adhyātmabahirdhāśūnyatā

g.358

emptiness of external phenomena

phyi stong pa nyid

ཕྱི་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

bahirdhāśūnyatā

g.361

emptiness of internal phenomena

nang stong pa nyid

ནང་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

adhyātmaśūnyatā

g.362

emptiness of intrinsic defining characteristics

rang gi mtshan nyid stong pa nyid

རང་གི་མཚན་ཉིད་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

svalakṣaṇaśūnyatā

g.367

emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities

dngos po med pa’i ngo bo nyid stong pa nyid

དངོས་པོ་མེད་པའི་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད།

abhāvasvabhāvaśūnyatā

g.382

entering the stream

rgyun du zhugs pa

རྒྱུན་དུ་ཞུགས་པ།

śrota’āpanna

g.386

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 take form and later disappear. 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.

g.387

equal to the unequaled

mi mnyam pa dang mnyam pa

མི་མཉམ་པ་དང་མཉམ་པ།

āgamasama

g.389

equanimity

btang snyoms

བཏང་སྙོམས།

upekṣā

g.391

essential nature

ngo bo nyid

ངོ་བོ་ཉིད།

svabhāva

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

This term denotes the ontological status of phenomena, according to which they are said to possess existence in their own right‍—inherently, in and of themselves, objectively, and independent of any other phenomena such as our conception and labelling. The absence of such an ontological reality is defined as the true nature of reality, emptiness.

g.394

ethical discipline

tshul khrims

ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས།

śīla

g.396

evil Māra

bdud sdig to can

བདུད་སྡིག་ཏོ་ཅན།

māra pāpīyas

g.397

exact knowledge

so so yang dag par rig pa

སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ།

pratisaṃvid

g.399

exact knowledge of eloquent expression

spobs pa so so yang dag par rig pa

སྤོབས་པ་སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ།

pratibhānapratisaṃvid

g.400

exact knowledge of language and lexical explanations

nges pa’i tshig so so yang dag par rig pa

ངེས་པའི་ཚིག་སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ།

niruktapratisaṃvid

g.406

extrasensory power

mngon par shes pa

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ།

abhijñā

g.418

eye of divine clairvoyance

lha’i mig

ལྷའི་མིག

divyacakṣus

g.419

eye of flesh

sha’i mig

ཤའི་མིག

māṃsacakṣuḥ

g.420

eye of the buddhas

sangs rgyas kyi spyan
sangs rgyas kyi mig

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་སྤྱན།
སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་མིག

buddhacakṣuḥ

g.421

eye of the Dharma

chos kyi mig

ཆོས་ཀྱི་མིག

dharmacakṣus

g.422

eye of wisdom

shes rab kyi mig

ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་མིག

prajñācakṣuḥ

g.432

factors conducive to enlightenment

byang chub kyi phyogs kyi chos

བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ཆོས།

bodhipakṣadharma

g.434

faculties

dbang po

དབང་པོ།

indriya

g.435

faculties endowed with the knowledge of all phenomena

kun shes pa rig pa’i dbang po

ཀུན་ཤེས་པ་རིག་པའི་དབང་པོ།

ājñātāvīndriya

g.436

faculties that acquire the knowledge of all phenomena

kun shes pa’i dbang po

ཀུན་ཤེས་པའི་དབང་པོ།

ājñendriya

g.437

faculties that will enable knowledge of all that is unknown

ma shes pa yongs su shes par bya ba’i dbang po
yongs su ma shes pa yongs su shes par bya ba’i dbang po

མ་ཤེས་པ་ཡོངས་སུ་ཤེས་པར་བྱ་བའི་དབང་པོ།
ཡོངས་སུ་མ་ཤེས་པ་ཡོངས་སུ་ཤེས་པར་བྱ་བའི་དབང་པོ།

anājñātamājñāsyāmīndriya

g.438

faculty of faith

dad pa’i dbang po

དད་པའི་དབང་པོ།

śraddhendriya

g.439

faculty of meditative stability

ting nge ’dzin gyi dbang po

ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གྱི་དབང་པོ།

samādhyindriya

g.440

faculty of perseverance

brtson ’grus kyi dbang po

བརྩོན་འགྲུས་ཀྱི་དབང་པོ།

vīryendriya

g.441

faculty of recollection

dran pa’i dbang po

དྲན་པའི་དབང་པོ།

smṛtyindriya

g.442

faculty of wisdom

shes rab kyi dbang po

ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་དབང་པོ།

prajñendriya

g.444

falsehood

brdzun du smra ba
rdzun du smra ba

བརྫུན་དུ་སྨྲ་བ།
རྫུན་དུ་སྨྲ་བ།

mṛṣāvāda

g.445

fearlessnesses

mi ’jigs pa

མི་འཇིགས་པ།

vaiśāradya

g.446

feelings

tshor ba

ཚོར་བ།

vedanā

g.456

fetter

kun tu sbyor ba

ཀུན་ཏུ་སྦྱོར་བ།

saṃyojana

g.459

five aggregates

phung po lnga

ཕུང་པོ་ལྔ།

pañcaskandha

g.463

five extrasensory powers

mngon par shes pa lnga

མངོན་པར་ཤེས་པ་ལྔ།

pañcābhijñā

g.464

five eyes

mig lnga

མིག་ལྔ།

pañcacakṣuḥ

g.465

five eyes of the tathāgatas

de bzhin gshegs pa’i spyan lnga

དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྤྱན་ལྔ།

pañcacakṣus

g.466

five faculties

dbang po lnga

དབང་པོ་ལྔ།

pañcendriya

g.467

five fetters associated with the higher realms

bla ma’i cha can gyi kun tu sbyor ba lnga

བླ་མའི་ཆ་ཅན་གྱི་ཀུན་ཏུ་སྦྱོར་བ་ལྔ།

pañcordhvabhāgīyasaṃyojana

g.468

five fetters associated with the lower realms

’og ma’i cha dang ’thun pa’i kun tu sbyor ba lnga
dam pa ma yin pa’i cha’i kun du sbyor ba lnga

འོག་མའི་ཆ་དང་འཐུན་པའི་ཀུན་ཏུ་སྦྱོར་བ་ལྔ།
དམ་པ་མ་ཡིན་པའི་ཆའི་ཀུན་དུ་སྦྱོར་བ་ལྔ།

adharabhāgīyapañcasaṃyojana

g.470

five obscurations

sgrib pa lnga

སྒྲིབ་པ་ལྔ།

pañcanivaraṇa

g.471

five powers

stobs lnga

སྟོབས་ལྔ།

pañcabala

g.472

five precepts

bslab pa’i gnas lnga

བསླབ་པའི་གནས་ལྔ།

pañcaśikṣā

g.476

focusing the attention correctly

tshul bzhin yid la byed pa

ཚུལ་བཞིན་ཡིད་ལ་བྱེད་པ།

yoniśomanaskāra

g.483

formative predispositions

’du byed

འདུ་བྱེད།

saṃskāra

Fourth of the five aggregates; also second of the twelve links of dependent origination. This term denotes the deep-seated predispositions inherited from past actions and experiences, some of which function in association with mind, while others do not. Formative predispositions are critical to the Buddhist understanding of the causal dynamics of karma and conditioning. It is the collection of such countless predispositions by afflicted mental states that constitutes the obscuration of misconceptions concerning the known range of phenomena, the total eradication of which occurs only when full awakening or buddhahood is achieved.

g.484

formless meditative absorptions

gzugs med pa’i snyoms par ’jug pa

གཟུགས་མེད་པའི་སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ།

ārūpyasamāpatti

g.488

four applications of mindfulness

dran pa nye bar gzhag pa bzhi

དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ་བཞི།

catuḥsmṛtyupasthāna

The four applications of mindfulness are (1) the application of mindfulness which observes the physical body; (2) the application of mindfulness which observes feelings; (3) the application of mindfulness which observes the mind; and (4) the application of mindfulness which observes phenomena. In the present sūtra, an explanation focused mainly on the first of the four is found at the beginning of chapter 9. See 9.1.

g.490

four attractive qualities

bsdu ba’i dngos po bzhi

བསྡུ་བའི་དངོས་པོ་བཞི།

catuḥsaṃgrahavastu

These are (1) generosity (sbyin pa, dāna), (2) pleasant speech (snyan par smra ba, priyavadita), (3) purposeful activity (don du spyod pa, arthacaryā), and (4) harmonious activity (don ’thun par spyod pa, samānārthatā). The last of these is interpreted in Asaṅga’s works to mean “doing oneself what one preaches to others,” but the original meaning in this context according to some sources including the Mahāvastu may have been consonance, or empathy, in the sense of sharing the joys and sorrows of others (see Edgerton p. 569).

g.492

four continents

gling bzhi

གླིང་བཞི།

caturdvīpa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

According to traditional Buddhist cosmology, our universe consists of a central mountain, known as Mount Meru or Sumeru, surrounded by four island continents (dvīpa), one in each of the four cardinal directions. The Abhidharmakośa explains that each of these island continents has a specific shape and is flanked by two smaller subcontinents of similar shape. To the south of Mount Meru is Jambudvīpa, corresponding either to the Indian subcontinent itself or to the known world. It is triangular in shape, and at its center is the place where the buddhas attain awakening. The humans who inhabit Jambudvīpa have a lifespan of one hundred years. To the east is Videha, a semicircular continent inhabited by humans who have a lifespan of two hundred fifty years and are twice as tall as the humans who inhabit Jambudvīpa. To the north is Uttarakuru, a square continent whose inhabitants have a lifespan of a thousand years. To the west is Godānīya, circular in shape, where the lifespan is five hundred years.

g.493

four correct exertions

yang dag par spong ba bzhi

ཡང་དག་པར་སྤོང་བ་བཞི།

catuḥprahāṇa

See 9.20. The four correct exertions are (1) preventing negative states of mind from arising, (2) removing those that have already arisen, (3) giving rise to positive states that have not yet arisen, and (4) maintaining those that have already arisen. While the translation of this term here follows the Sanskrit, a literal translation from Tibetan would be “four correct abandonings,” a rendering often seen. It is possible that the Tibetan translators may originally have confused the meaning in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (BHS) of the term prahāṇa (“priority”) with its meaning in classical Sanskrit (“elimination”). The classical Sanskrit equivalent of BHS prahāṇa is pradhāna.

g.495

four fearlessnesses

mi ’jigs pa bzhi

མི་འཇིགས་པ་བཞི།

caturvaiśāradya

The four fearlessnesses are proclaimed by the tathāgatas as: (1) “I claim to have attained completely awakened buddhahood”; (2) “I claim I am one whose contaminants have ceased”; (3) “I claim to have explained those phenomena that cause obstacles”; (4) “I claim to have shown the path that leads to realizing the emancipation of the noble and that will genuinely bring an end to suffering for those who make use of it.” The listing of the four fearlessnesses is translated and analyzed in Konow 1941: pp. 39–40, with reconstructed Sanskrit on pp. 106–7. A full explanation of the fearlessnesses can be found in the passage at 2.388–2.425 in The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata (Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśa, Toh 147), in which the four fearlessnesses are described as the eleventh to fourteenth of thirty-two actions of a tathāgata. See also Mahāvyutpatti 130–34 and the corresponding explanation in the Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa); Dayal 1932: pp. 20–21; and Sparham 2012 (IV): pp. 80–81. The four are generally known by other names, as in the Mahāvyutpatti: the first is the “fearlessness in the knowledge of all phenomena” (sarvadharmābhisambodhivaiśāradya, chos thams cad mkhyen pa la mi ’jigs pa), which the Buddha achieves for his own benefit; the second is the “fearlessness in the knowledge of the cessation of all contaminants” (sarvāśravakṣayajñānavaiśāradya, zag pa zad pa thams cad mkhyen pa la mi ’jigs pa), which the Buddha achieves for his own benefit; the third is the “fearlessness to declare that phenomena that obstruct the path will not engender any further negative outcomes” (anantarāyikadharmānanyathātvaviniścitavyākaraṇavaiśāradya, bar du gcod pa’i chos rnams gzhan du mi ’gyur bar nges pa’i lung bstan pa la mi ’jigs pa), which the Buddha achieves for others’ benefit; and the fourth is the “fearlessness that the path of renunciation through which all excellent attributes are to be obtained has been thus realized” (sarvasampadadhigamāyanairāṇikapratipattathātvavaiśāradya, phun sum tshogs pa thams cad thob par ’gyur bar nges par ’byung ba’i lam de bzhin du gyur ba la mi ’jigs pa), which the Buddha achieves for others’ benefit.

g.496

four formless meditative absorptions

gzugs med pa’i snyoms par ’jug pa bzhi

གཟུགས་མེད་པའི་སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ་བཞི།

caturārūpyasamāpatti

As found listed in 9.34 these comprise (1) the meditative absorption of the sphere of infinite space, (2) the meditative absorption of the sphere of infinite consciousness, (3) the meditative absorption of the sphere of nothing-at-all, and (4) the meditative absorption of neither perception nor nonperception. The four formless absorptions and their fruits are discussed in Jamgon Kongtrul, TOK Book 6, Pt. 2: pp. 436–38.

g.498

Four Great Kings

rgyal po chen po bzhi

རྒྱལ་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་བཞི།

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).

g.499

four immeasurable attitudes

tshad med pa bzhi

ཚད་མེད་པ་བཞི།

caturaprameya

g.501

four kinds of exact knowledge

so so yang dag par rig pa bzhi

སོ་སོ་ཡང་དག་པར་རིག་པ་བཞི།

catuḥpratisaṃvid

The four kinds of exact knowledge‍—the essentials through which the buddhas impart their teachings‍—comprise (1) exact knowledge of meanings, (2) exact knowledge of dharmas, (3) exact knowledge of their language and lexical explanations, and (4) exact knowledge of their eloquent expression. See 9.42. On the philological origins of these four kinds of exact knowledge, see Konow (1941): p. 40, and the reconstructed Sanskrit on p. 107; also Dayal (1932): pp. 259–67, and Sparham (2012 IV): pp. 78–79.

g.502

four knots

mdud pa bzhi

མདུད་པ་བཞི།

caturgranthā

g.503

four meditative concentrations

bsam gtan bzhi

བསམ་གཏན་བཞི།

caturdhyāna

g.507

four supports for miraculous ability

rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa bzhi

རྫུ་འཕྲུལ་གྱི་རྐང་པ་བཞི།

catvāra ṛddhipādāḥ

The four supports for miraculous ability, as enumerated in 9.21, comprise (1) the support for miraculous ability combining the meditative stability of resolution with the formative force of exertion, (2) the support for miraculous ability combining the meditative stability of perseverance with the formative force of exertion, (3) the support for miraculous ability combining the meditative stability of mind with the formative force of exertion, and (4) the support for miraculous ability combining the meditative stability of scrutiny with the formative force of exertion.

g.508

four torrents

chu bo bzhi

ཆུ་བོ་བཞི།

caturogha

g.509

four truths of the noble ones

’phags pa’i bden pa bzhi

འཕགས་པའི་བདེན་པ་བཞི།

caturāryasatya

The four truths of the noble ones, as listed in 18.43, comprise (1) the truth of suffering, (2) the truth of the origin of suffering, (3) the truth of the cessation of suffering, and (4) the truth of the path. (Strictly speaking, these should be translated “the truth of the noble ones concerning suffering,” and so on, but for brevity the widespread short form has been used.)

The topic from the perspective of this text is discussed in detail in 68.13-68.19. On the twelve aspects pertaining to the four noble truths, see n.394.

g.511

fourteen aspects of emptiness

stong pa nyid bcu bzhi

སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་བཅུ་བཞི།

caturdaśaśūnyatā

g.516

fruit of being destined for only one more rebirth

lan gcig phyir ’ong ba’i ’bras bu

ལན་གཅིག་ཕྱིར་འོང་བའི་འབྲས་བུ།

sakṛdāgāmīphala

g.517

fruit of entering the stream

rgyun du zhugs pa’i ’bras bu

རྒྱུན་དུ་ཞུགས་པའི་འབྲས་བུ།

śrota’āpannaphala

g.518

fruit of no longer being subject to rebirth

phyir mi ’ong ba’i ’bras bu

ཕྱིར་མི་འོང་བའི་འབྲས་བུ།

āgāmīphala

g.525

gandharva

dri za

དྲི་ཟ།

gandharva

g.528

Gaṅgā

gang gA’i klung

གང་གཱའི་ཀླུང་།

gaṅgā

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The Gaṅgā, or Ganges in English, is considered to be the most sacred river of India, particularly within the Hindu tradition. It starts in the Himalayas, flows through the northern plains of India, bathing the holy city of Vārāṇasī, and meets the sea at the Bay of Bengal, in Bangladesh. In the sūtras, however, this river is mostly mentioned not for its sacredness but for its abundant sands‍—noticeable still today on its many sandy banks and at its delta‍—which serve as a common metaphor for infinitely large numbers.

According to Buddhist cosmology, as explained in the Abhidharmakośa, it is one of the four rivers that flow from Lake Anavatapta and cross the southern continent of Jambudvīpa‍—the known human world or more specifically the Indian subcontinent.

g.529

Gaṅgadevī

gang gA’i lha mo

གང་གཱའི་ལྷ་མོ།

gaṅgadevī

g.532

gateway to liberation

rnam par thar pa’i sgo

རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པའི་སྒོ།

vimokṣamukha

g.533

gateways of meditative stability

ting nge ’dzin gyi sgo

ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གྱི་སྒོ།

samādhimukha

g.534

gateways to the letters

yi ge’i sgo

ཡི་གེའི་སྒོ།

akṣaramukha

g.535

generosity

sbyin pa

སྦྱིན་པ།

dāna

g.540

give rise to conceits

rlom sems su byed pa

རློམ་སེམས་སུ་བྱེད་པ།

manyate

g.543

god

ལྷ།

deva

One of the five or six classes of living beings, specifically engendered and dominated by exaltation, indulgence, and pride. Like human beings and asuras, they are all within the higher realms (svarga, mtho ris) of rebirth, but nonetheless remain trapped within cyclic existence. The gods are said to exist in realms higher than that of the human realm, their realms and abodes set out in their own hierarchy. The god realms altogether comprise (1) six god realms within the realm of desire (kāmadhātu), commencing with Caturmahārājakāyika and Trayastriṃśa, and concluding with Yāma, Tuṣita, Nirmāṇarata, and Paranirmitavaśavartin; (2) twenty-one realms in the realm of form (rūpadhātu), including (a) the sixteen Brahmā realms, extending from Brahmakāyika through Brahmapurohita, Brahmapariṣadya, Mahābrahmā, Ābha, Parīttābha, Apramāṇābha, Ābhāsvara, Śubha, Parīttaśubha, Apramāṇaśubha, Śubhakṛtsna, Bṛhat, Parīttabṛhat, and Apramāṇabṛhat to Bṛhatphala, which are attained corresponding to lesser, middling, and higher degrees of the four meditative concentrations; (b) the five Pure Abodes at the pinnacle of the realm of form, extending from Avṛha, through Atapa, Sudṛśa, and Sudarśana to Akaniṣṭha; and (3) the four formless realms at the summit of existence. See 2.66 and similar passages. Note that the list in this text differs from those in other texts in including four realms (instead of three) for each of the four groups of Brahmā realms, i.e., in listing sixteen Brahmā realms instead of twelve, and therefore twenty-one realms of form in all.

g.546

grasping

len pa

ལེན་པ།

upādāna

g.552

great compassion

snying rje chen po

སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahākaruṇā

g.553

great loving kindness

byams pa chen po

བྱམས་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāmaitrī

g.555

great trichiliocosm

stong gsum gyi stong chen po’i ’jig rten gyi khams

སྟོང་གསུམ་གྱི་སྟོང་ཆེན་པོའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྱི་ཁམས།

trisāhasramahāsāhasralokadhātu

g.556

Great Vehicle

theg pa chen po

ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāyāna

When the Buddhist teachings are classified according to their power to lead beings to an enlightened state, a distinction is made between the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle, which emphasizes the individual’s own freedom from cyclic existence as the primary motivation and goal, and those of the Great Vehicle, which emphasizes altruism and has the liberation of all beings as the principal objective. As the term “Great Vehicle” implies, the path followed by bodhisattvas is analogous to a large carriage that can transport a vast number of people to liberation, as compared to a smaller vehicle for the individual practitioner.

g.567

Haribhadra

seng ge bzang po

སེང་གེ་བཟང་པོ།

haribhadra

g.568

harmful intention

gnod sems

གནོད་སེམས།

duṣṭacitta
vyāpāda

g.569

harmony

don mthun pa
don ’thun pa
don ’thun par spyod pa

དོན་མཐུན་པ།
དོན་འཐུན་པ།
དོན་འཐུན་པར་སྤྱོད་པ།

samānavihāra
samānārthatā

g.570

harsh words

zhe gcod pa
zhe gcod pa’i tshig

ཞེ་གཅོད་པ།
ཞེ་གཅོད་པའི་ཚིག

pāruṣya
pāruṣavacana

g.571

hatred

zhe sdang

ཞེ་སྡང་།

dveśa

g.577

I claim I am one whose contaminants have ceased

bdag zag pa zad do

བདག་ཟག་པ་ཟད་དོ།

kṣīṇāsravasya me pratijānata

g.578

I claim to have attained completely awakened buddhahood

bdag gis yang dag par rdzogs par sangs rgyas so

བདག་གིས་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པར་སངས་རྒྱས་སོ།

samyaksaṃbuddhasya me pratijānata

g.579

I claim to have explained those phenomena that cause obstacles

bdag gis bar chad kyi chos su bstan pa de dag la bstan pa

བདག་གིས་བར་ཆད་ཀྱི་ཆོས་སུ་བསྟན་པ་དེ་དག་ལ་བསྟན་པ།

mayāntarāyikādharmākhyātaḥ

g.580

I claim to have shown the path that leads to realizing the emancipation of the noble and that will genuinely bring an end to suffering for those who make use of it

bdag gis lam ’phags pa’i ’byung ba rtogs par ’gyur ba de byed pa’i sdug bsngal yang dag par zad par ’gyur bar bstan pa

བདག་གིས་ལམ་འཕགས་པའི་འབྱུང་བ་རྟོགས་པར་འགྱུར་བ་དེ་བྱེད་པའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཡང་དག་པར་ཟད་པར་འགྱུར་བར་བསྟན་པ།

pratipadākhyātāryānairyāṇikīniryātikarasya samyagduḥkhakṣayāya

g.581

ignorance

ma rig pa

མ་རིག་པ།

avidyā

g.592

immaturity

skyon

སྐྱོན།

āma

g.593

immeasurable attitudes

tshad med

ཚད་མེད།

aprameya

g.600

inconceivable

bsam gyis mi khyab pa

བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པ།

acintya

g.606

individual

gang zag

གང་ཟག

pudgala

g.607

individual enlightenment

rang byang chub

རང་བྱང་ཆུབ།

pratyekabodhi

g.608

Indra

dbang po

དབང་པོ།

indra

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The lord of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven on the summit of Mount Sumeru. As one of the eight guardians of the directions, Indra guards the eastern quarter. In Buddhist sūtras, he is a disciple of the Buddha and protector of the Dharma and its practitioners. He is often referred to by the epithets Śatakratu, Śakra, and Kauśika.

g.615

inherent existence

rang bzhin

རང་བཞིན།

svabhāva

g.616

inherent nature

rang bzhin

རང་བཞིན།

svabhāva

g.619

inspired eloquence

spobs pa

སྤོབས་པ།

pratibhāna

g.620

inspired speech

spobs pa

སྤོབས་པ།

pratibhāna

g.627

intrinsic nature

rang bzhin

རང་བཞིན།

svabhāva

This term (also rendered here as “inherent existence” and “inherent nature”) literally means “own-being” and can be used in an ordinary sense to denote the most fundamental or characteristic quality, property, or nature of things. In Mahāyāna literature it is also used in several different ways in the examination of the ontological status of phenomena, most frequently in statements denying that phenomena may ultimately possess any such existence or nature, objectively in their own right, apart from ignorantly attributed concepts and designations. However, in the Yogācāra system and later literature the incompleteness of an ontological status is described in three or more successive levels or aspects that also use modulations of the same term; see “three natures.”

g.628

introduction to the letters

yi ge la ’jug pa

ཡི་གེ་ལ་འཇུག་པ།

akṣarapraveśa

g.629

irresponsible chatter

tshig kyal pa

ཚིག་ཀྱལ་པ།

abaddhapralāpa

g.631

irreversible

phyir mi ldog pa

ཕྱིར་མི་ལྡོག་པ།

avinivarta
avaivartika
avinivartanīya

g.633

Jambu River

’dzam bu chu bo
’dzam bu na da

འཛམ་བུ་ཆུ་བོ།
འཛམ་བུ་ན་ད།

jambunadī

g.634

Jambudvīpa

’dzam bu gling

འཛམ་བུ་གླིང་།

jambudvīpa

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium, particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named, one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the Vajrāsana at its center and is the only continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.

g.641

karma

ལས།

karman

g.642

Kauśika

kau shi ka

ཀཽ་ཤི་ཀ

kauśika

g.643

killing of living creatures

srog gcod pa

སྲོག་གཅོད་པ།

prāṇātighāta

g.647

knowledge of all the dharmas

thams cad shes pa
thams cad shes pa nyid

ཐམས་ཅད་ཤེས་པ།
ཐམས་ཅད་ཤེས་པ་ཉིད།

sarvajñatā

g.648

knowledge of phenomena

chos shes pa

ཆོས་ཤེས་པ།

dharmajñāna

g.649

knowledge of phenomena that is subsequently realized

rjes su rtogs pa shes pa

རྗེས་སུ་རྟོགས་པ་ཤེས་པ།

anvayajñāna

g.650

knowledge of suffering

sdug bsngal shes pa

སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཤེས་པ།

duḥkhajñāna

g.651

knowledge of the cessation of suffering

’gog pa shes pa

འགོག་པ་ཤེས་པ།

nirodhajñāna

g.652

knowledge of the extinction of contaminants

zad par shes pa
zad pa shes pa

ཟད་པར་ཤེས་པ།
ཟད་པ་ཤེས་པ།

kṣayajñāna

g.653

knowledge of the origin of suffering

kun ’byung ba shes pa

ཀུན་འབྱུང་བ་ཤེས་པ།

samudayajñāna

g.654

knowledge of the path

lam gyi rnam pa shes pa nyid
lam gyi rnam pa shes pa

ལམ་གྱི་རྣམ་པ་ཤེས་པ་ཉིད།
ལམ་གྱི་རྣམ་པ་ཤེས་པ།

mārgākārajñatā

A key term in the Prajñāpāramitā texts denoting the (incomplete) equivalent of omniscience that bodhisattvas progressively attain, including knowledge not only of their own path but also of the paths of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. It is the second of the eight main topics or “clear realizations” of The Ornament of Clear Realization. In this text it is explained clearly in chapter 58 at 58.32-58.38.

g.655

knowledge of the path

lam shes pa
lam gyi shes pa

ལམ་ཤེས་པ།
ལམ་གྱི་ཤེས་པ།

mārgajñāna

g.656

knowledge of the relative

kun rdzob shes pa

ཀུན་རྫོབ་ཤེས་པ།

saṃvṛtijñāna

g.657

knowledge that contaminants will not arise again

mi skye ba shes pa

མི་སྐྱེ་བ་ཤེས་པ།

anutpādajñāna

g.658

knowledge that is masterful

’dris pa shes pa

འདྲིས་པ་ཤེས་པ།

paricayajñāna
parijayajñāna

g.659

knowledge that is semantic

sgra ji bzhin shes pa

སྒྲ་ཇི་བཞིན་ཤེས་པ།

yathārutajñāna

g.665

layman

dge bsnyen

དགེ་བསྙེན།

upāsaka

g.666

laywoman

dge bsnyen ma

དགེ་བསྙེན་མ།

upāsikā

g.670

level of a crown prince

gzhon nu’i sa

གཞོན་ནུའི་ས།

kumārabhūmi

g.671

level of [an arhat’s] spiritual achievement

byas pa rtogs pa’i sa

བྱས་པ་རྟོགས་པའི་ས།

kṛtakṛtyabhūmi

g.672

level of attenuated refinement

bsrabs pa’i sa

བསྲབས་པའི་ས།

tanubhūmi

g.673

level of bright insight

dkar po rnam par mthong ba’i sa

དཀར་པོ་རྣམ་པར་མཐོང་བའི་ས།

śuklavidarśanābhūmi

g.674

level of insight

mthong ba’i sa

མཐོང་བའི་ས།

darśanabhūmi

g.675

level of no attachment

’dod chags dang bral ba’i sa

འདོད་ཆགས་དང་བྲལ་བའི་ས།

vītarāgabhūmi

g.676

level of the bodhisattvas

byang chub sems dpa’i sa

བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ས།

bodhisattvabhūmi

g.677

level of the buddhas

sangs rgyas kyi sa

སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ས།

buddhabhūmi

g.679

level of the pratyekabuddhas

rang sangs rgyas kyi sa

རང་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ས།

pratyekabuddhabhūmi

g.680

level of the spiritual family

rigs kyi sa

རིགས་ཀྱི་ས།

gotrabhūmi

g.681

lexical explanations

nges pa’i tshig

ངེས་པའི་ཚིག

nirukta

g.690

line

tshigs bcad
shlo ka

ཚིགས་བཅད།
ཤློ་ཀ

śloka

The term usually refers to a unit of metrical verse, most commonly in Sanskrit literature a couplet of two sixteen-syllable lines (pāda), each of which can be subdivided into two half-lines of eight syllables. In the Tibetan translations a śloka is usually rendered as a four-line verse. However, the term is also used (especially in catalogs of canonical works) as a unit measuring the length of texts written in prose or in a mixture of prose and verse, in which case it simply measures thirty-two syllables. The titles of the principal Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, most of which are written in prose, identify them by including mention of their length in ślokas, usually translated in English as “in nnn lines.” The original titles, even in their long form, include only the number itself, and that this refers to the length in ślokas is by convention inferred.

g.691

lingually compounded sensory contact

lce’i ’dus te reg pa

ལྕེའི་འདུས་ཏེ་རེག་པ།

jihvāsaṃsparśa

g.696

living creature

skyes bu
srog chags

སྐྱེས་བུ།
སྲོག་ཆགས།

puruṣa
jantu
prajā

g.699

longing for sensual pleasure

’dod pa la mos pa

འདོད་པ་ལ་མོས་པ།

kāmacchanda

g.700

lord buddha

sangs rgyas bcom ldan ’das

སངས་རྒྱས་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས།

bhagavanbuddha

g.702

loving kindness

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

maitrī

g.704

magical display

sgyu ma

སྒྱུ་མ།

māyā

g.705

Mahābrahmā

tshangs chen

ཚངས་ཆེན།

mahābrahmā

g.712

Mahāprajāpatī

skye dgu’i bdag mo chen mo

སྐྱེ་དགུའི་བདག་མོ་ཆེན་མོ།

mahāprajāpati

g.715

Mahāyāna

theg pa chen po

ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ།

mahāyāna

g.717

Maitreya

byams pa

བྱམས་པ།

maitreya

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

The bodhisattva Maitreya is an important figure in many Buddhist traditions, where he is unanimously regarded as the buddha of the future era. He is said to currently reside in the heaven of Tuṣita, as Śākyamuni’s regent, where he awaits the proper time to take his final rebirth and become the fifth buddha in the Fortunate Eon, reestablishing the Dharma in this world after the teachings of the current buddha have disappeared. Within the Mahāyāna sūtras, Maitreya is elevated to the same status as other central bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Avalokiteśvara, and his name appears frequently in sūtras, either as the Buddha’s interlocutor or as a teacher of the Dharma. Maitreya literally means “Loving One.” He is also known as Ajita, meaning “Invincible.”

For more information on Maitreya, see, for example, the introduction to Maitreya’s Setting Out (Toh 198).

g.720

malice

gnod sems

གནོད་སེམས།

duṣṭacitta
vyāpāda

g.724

māra

bdud

བདུད།

māra

As well as being the name of a deity who personifies obstructiveness to awakening, the term can apply generically to demons and demonic forces, and more abstractly to four kinds of malign or demonic influences which may impede the course of spiritual transformation. These include the impure aggregates; the afflicted mental states; desires and temptations; and submission to the “Lord of death,” at which point involuntary rebirth is perpetuated in cyclic existence. Also rendered here as “demonic force.”

g.727

maturity

skyon ma mchis pa
skyon med

སྐྱོན་མ་མཆིས་པ།
སྐྱོན་མེད།

niyāma

g.728

maturity with respect to all phenomena

chos skyon med pa nyid

ཆོས་སྐྱོན་མེད་པ་ཉིད།

dharmanyāmatā

g.730

meditative absorption

snyoms par ’jug pa

སྙོམས་པར་འཇུག་པ།

samāpatti

Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:

In this text:

Also rendered here as “absorption.”

g.731

meditative concentration

bsam gtan

བསམ་གཏན།

dhyāna

Meditative concentration is defined as the one-pointed abiding in an undistracted state of mind free from afflicted mental states. It is an advanced form of calm abiding, where often both calm abiding and penetrative insight may be present in perfect union. Four states of meditative concentration are identified as being conducive to birth within the realm of form, each of which has three phases of intensity. However, in the context of the Great Vehicle, meditative concentration is the fifth of the six perfections. See also “four meditative concentrations” and 9.32.

The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines

Toh 9

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