Toh 254 — The Sūtra of Dharmaketu
Dharmaketusūtra
The Noble Mahāyāna
Sūtra of Dharmaketu
F.70.b Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in Śrāvastī, in Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s park. At that time, a bodhisattva named Dharmaketu who was present in his retinue rose from his seat and addressed this question to the Blessed One: “Blessed One, which are the qualities that bodhisattvas must possess to become unsurpassed, perfect, and completely awakened buddhas quickly?”
The Blessed One replied, “Noble child, there are ten qualities that bodhisattvas should possess to become unsurpassed, perfect, and completely awakened buddhas quickly. What are those ten? They are as follows:
The Blessed One spoke these words, and the bodhisattva Dharmaketu[2] and all those in that retinue praised what the Blessed One had said.
This concludes the noble “Sūtra of Dharmaketu.”Notes
This follows the Stok Palace Kangyur reading bla ma dang mkhan po’i gdams ngag yongs su btsal ba. The Degé and other Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line read differently as “bestow the oral instructions of teachers and preceptors” (bla ma dang mkhan po’i gdams ngag yongs su stsal ba). The difference hinges on the spelling of two homophonous verbs in Tibetan. While btsal ba (as found in the Stok version) means “seek out” or “look for,” stsal ba (as found in the Degé) means “give” or “bestow.” Peter Skilling likewise favors “seek out.” In a note, he offers a reconstruction of the Sanskrit that this could potentially translate, *guru-upādhyāya-upadeśa-paryeṣti / paryeṣana. See Skilling 2021, p. 538, n. 436. It is also notable that this is the only text in the Kangyur to use the phrase bla ma dang mkhan po.
backThe Lithang, Kangxi, Narthang, and Choné Kangyur witnesses here have the epithet “compassionate” (Tib. snying rje dang) before the bodhisattva’s name.
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