Toh 321 — The Verses on Circumambulating Shrines
Caityapradakṣiṇagāthā
The Verses on Circumambulating Shrines
F.198.b Homage to the Three Jewels.
Notes
Following the Cambridge Sanskrit MS, which reads yo ’graḥ prajñāvatāṃ, and a handful of Kangyurs, such as London and Namgyal, which have shes rab ldan mchog. Most editions of the Kangyur, including Degé, Stok, and those collated in the Pedurma, read shes rab blo ldan, “possessing wisdom and intelligence.”
backFollowing Stok, which reads: lha klu de bzhin gnod sbyin dang// sha za de bzhin srin rnams kyis// thams cad du yang mchod par ’gyur. Stok is supported by the Cambridge MS, which reads devair nāgais tathā yakṣaiḥ | piśācair atha rākṣasaiḥ | sarvatra pūjāṃ prāpnoti…. The last three lines of the Degé read a bit differently here, lha klu gnod sbyin dri za dang // lha min mkha’ lding mi’am ci// lto ’phye che rnams mchod byed ’gyur, “…shall be honored by devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas.”
backThe Degé reads lha dang de bzhin mi rnams kyis, while the Cambridge MS has divyaṃ mānuṣyakaṃ tathā.
backThe Tibetan reads blo ldan, “possessing intelligence,” while the Cambridge MS has vīro, “a hero.”
backHere and in verse 6, the Cambridge MS uses the same word, vicakṣaṇa (“clear sighted” or “bright”), whereas the Degé in verse 6 has mdzangs pa and here reads mkhas pa, “wise.” We have chosen “bright” here because it conveys both the physical and mental quality of the term.
backThe Tibetan reads ’du byed stong par mthong na kyang, apparently reading dṛṣṭvā saṃskāraśunyatāṃ, whereas the Cambridge MS reads dṛṣṭvā saṃsāraśunyatāṃ, “seeing saṃsāra as empty.”
backThe Tibetan has sang rgyas bstan la dga’ ba dang, while the Cambridge MS reads prasanno buddhaśāsane. This is the first of several instances in this Tibetan translation in which the Tibetan term dga’ ba, more commonly used to translate words meaning “joy,” appears to translate the Sanskrit term prasanna, which typically means “faithful,” “serenely confident,” or “trusting,” but which can also sometimes mean “pleased” or “glad.” Other occurrences of these terms are found in verses 49–55 and 57, while in the translation of verse 58 the Tibetan translates prasanna with dad, “faithful.”
backThe Tibetan has de ni nor bu dag pa bzhin, while the Cambridge MS reads maṇivatpariśuddho sau, “…pure like a jewel.”
backTib. ma ma and Skt. dhātrī may indicate female caregivers more broadly, such as wet nurses, nannies, and so on, and may even refer to mothers, though the former sense seems the more primary usage. The overall sense of the verse suggests something about the affluent circumstances into which one is born.
backFor this line, S reads de la gnod ba mi nus te, while D has de la gnod par mi ’gyur te, but the Cambridge MS, which has nāsau laṃghayituṃśakyaḥ, would seem to support the former.
backS has lus brtan, while D reads lus bde, “comfortable body,” but the Cambridge MS has sthirakāya, which again supports the former.
backTib. dpung mgo zlum zhing brtan par ’gyur. “Rounded shoulders” (Tib. dpung mgo zlum, Skt. saṃvṛttaskandha) are among the thirty-two auspicious marks of a great being. This line may indicate a variation, since the Cambridge MS reads sthirasthaḥ sarvadharmeṣu, “abides in steadiness in regard to all things.”
backThe Degé has ’thab bral lha yi rgyal po, “king of the gods of the Heaven Without Strife,” while S has ’thab bral lha yi dbang po, “lords of the gods of the Heaven Without Strife,” and the Cambridge MS has suyāmo devaputraś, “the god Suyāma,” who is said to be the divine ruler of the Yāma Heaven or Heaven Without Strife.
backTib. shas cher, Skt. samvegabahula. The concept of saṃvega (“agitation,” “intensity”) is one that is sometimes applied in Buddhist literature to persons who are practicing the Buddhist path with a persistent mindset.
backThe Degé has’khor rnams tham cad, “all assemblies,” but the Stok has khon rnams tham cad…, which is indeed supported by the Cambridge MS, which reads sarvavaira.
backIn Tibetan, this verse interrupts the preceding series of four-line verses with a verse of six lines. This six-line verse appears to be an elaboration of the extant Sanskrit versions from Gilgit and Central Asia, on which see Melzer 2010, p. 64. However, it is supported textually, at least in part, by the Cambridge MS, which includes the line praṇidhiśca pradakṣiṇaṃ (Tib. smon lam btab pa’ang bskor ba yin), “circumambulation is also the taking of a vow,” which none of the others have. Nonetheless, the Cambridge MS still does not seem to contain anything corresponding to the Tibetan bgrod dka’ bde dgur…, “easily” and “…that are difficult to reach.” Further work is required here to establish a textual basis for the underlying Sanskrit.
backIn this and the following two verses, the Tibetan has bskor ba’i gom pa gcig, “a single step of a circumambulation,” but none of the extant Sanskrit versions, including the Cambridge MS, include a word corresponding to bskor ba, in keeping with what seems to be the original context of their utterance in the Vinaya. It is worth noting that the Tibetan translation of the Vinaya passage does not include the word bskor ba either. In the Tibetan, verses 46–48 are six-line verses with seven syllables per line.
backD kam bod za yi bu mo brgya; Skt śataṃ kāmbojikākānyāḥ; S tho gar yul gyi bu mo brgya (“one hundred Tocharian girls”).
backThe Tibetan has gangs kyi glang chen, “elephants of the snows,” while the Sanskrit has haimavatā nāgāḥ, haimavat being another word for himālaya, which in Sanskrit means “abode of snow.”
backHere and in the next several verses, Tib. mkhas pa gang gis, “by a wise one,” and dga’ ba’i sems kyis, “with a thought of joy,” translate Skt. vidvān and prasannacittaḥ, respectively. For dga’ ba’i sems / prasannacitta, we have chosen to prioritize the Tibetan interpretation, although other renderings are possible. For more on these terms, see the #UT22084-072-021-95 and notes #end-note-UT22084-072-021-136 and #UT22084-072-021-191 for further discussion.
backIn the Tibetan, verses 49–55 are four-line verses with nine syllables per line, reflecting the fact that the meter of the Sanskrit verses also changes from eight syllables to eleven syllables per line.
backThe Degé has pho drang, “palaces,” while the Stok has pha bong, “nuggets,” which works better with the comparison made in the verse and is closer to the Sanskrit piṇḍā.
backThe final three verses in the Tibetan translation return to a pattern of four lines of seven syllables each, reflecting a return to anuṣṭubh meter in the Sanskrit.
backHere we have chosen to vary the translation of dga’ ba in the phrase sems dga’ ba ni mtshungs ’gyur na, which translates saṃaṃ cittaṃ prasādyeha, choosing “devout” as a translation for it here even though “joyful” would remain consistent with the Tibetan interpretation. The term again translates a form of the Sanskrit verb prasad, “to settle down,” “to become clear,” “to be pleased or glad,” “to have faith or trust,” of which prasanna is the past passive participle. For more on this verse and the general idea it expresses, see Schopen 1997, pp. 131–33 and note 75.
backHere the Tibetan translation of prasanna varies from dga’ ba to dad rnams, “those who have faith.”
backThis verse has parallels or close variants in other canonical texts, including the Vinaya passages cited in the introduction, as well as Toh 189 (#UT22084-061-009-95) and Toh 846a (#UT22084-100-002-8).
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