Toh 251 — The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Four Factors
Āryacaturdharmakanāmamahāyānasūtra
Translated by Adam Pearcey under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on
The Four Factors
F.60.b Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Buddha was residing in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park, together with a great community of monks, consisting of 1,250 monks, and a great assembly of bodhisattvas. At that time, the Blessed One addressed the monks:
“Monks, for as long as they live, bodhisattvas, great beings, should not abandon four factors even at the cost of their lives. What are these four?
“Monks, for as long as they live, bodhisattvas, great beings, should not abandon the thought of awakening even at the cost of their lives.
“Monks, for as long as they live, bodhisattvas, great beings, should not abandon the spiritual friend even at the cost of their lives.
“Monks, for as long as they live, bodhisattvas, great beings, should not abandon tolerance and lenience even at the cost of their lives.[1]
“Monks, for as long as they live, bodhisattvas, great beings, should not abandon dwelling in the wilderness[2] even at the cost of their lives.
“Monks, for as long as they live, bodhisattvas, great beings, should not abandon these four factors even at the cost of their lives.”
The Blessed One spoke these words, and once the Sugata had spoken in this way, he, the Teacher, also said the following:
When the Blessed One had said this, the monks and bodhisattvas, together with the entire assembly, rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.
This concludes “The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Four Factors.”Notes
According to Jñānadatta’s commentary, tolerance (kṣanti; bzod pa) means bearing the harm done to one by others (pha rol gyi gnod pa byas pa la bzod pa), and lenience (sauratya; des pa) means refraining from harming them (pha rol la gnod pa mi byed pa).
backDwelling in the wilderness is also one of the twelve ascetic practices (dhūtaguṇa). Note that related to (and sometimes conflated with) the Sanskrit araṇya in the compound araṇyavāsa—attested for dgon pa la gnas pa not in this text but in the Sanskrit of the Rāṣṭrapālaparipṛcchā (Toh 62)—is another term, araṇa, in the compound araṇavihāra, of which the Tibetan rendering is nyon mongs pa med par gnas pa (Mvy 6366), with the more “inner” meaning of “dwelling free of afflicted mental states.” See Edgerton s.v. araṇya and araṇya.
backThe translation here follows the Degé and IOL Tib J 69 editions, which have sems skyed cig. The Stok Palace Kangyur version reads sems dpa’ cig.
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