Toh 322 — Verses for Prasenajit

Notes

1. Unlike in the Tibetan, which separates the terms blo mchog and bde ba, their Sanskrit equivalents, agrabuddhe and sukha, are adjacent in the Sanskrit manuscripts from the Potala and Cambridge. Vinītā (2010, p. 212, nn. 2–3) emends both terms in the Potala MS such that agrabuddhe becomes agrabuddheḥ, the genitive (or ablative) singular form of agrabuddhi (feminine), and sukha becomes sukhaṃ, the accusative form one finds in the Gilgit and Cambridge manuscripts that preserves the verse. In the Gilgit manuscript (1581, 5–6) cited in Vinītā 2010 (p. 212, n. 2), she renders a genitive relationship between the terms, i.e., “the bliss of the ultimate understanding.” Ven. Gyalten Lekden (2019), in his translation, takes the terms to be related by a conjunction, i.e., “supreme awareness and bliss.” However, Silk (2013, p. 71), in examining Ven. Vinītā’s translation of this stanza, suggests that the line should read, “How do mortal beings obtain bliss in other [future] existences through making offerings to the supreme sagacious one...” This reading reflects what would be a locative sense of agrabuddha (m.) rather than a genitive of agrabuddhi (f.). Still, we have a further option, namely agrabuddhe as the vocative of agrabuddhi (f.). Tournier (2015, p. 191, n. 40) favors this reading, translating agrabuddhe as “supremely sagacious one” and citing the Gilgit manuscript that preserves this verse where it shows agryabuddhe as further support for doing so. The Cambridge MS also reads agrabuddhe, supporting both Silk and Tournier’s interpretations without emendation. It seems likely that the Tibetan translator(s) understood agrabuddhe as a vocative.

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2. Preferring the variant in the Stok Palace Kangyur: mngon sum spyan. The Degé and the Pedurma (sans notes) show mngon sum spyad for aparokṣacakṣuḥ.

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3. While the Degé and Stok have rgyal ba dag and rgyal ba rnams respectively, several other Kangyurs have mchod rten dag. See, for example, the Choné, Lhasa, Lithang, Narthang, and Yongle. Translating mchod rten instead of rgyal ba, the line would read, “How, by making offerings to stūpas, do people obtain the various rewards they desire in other lives?”

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4. The Degé reads rnma smin ’dod pa sna tshogs ci thob pa while the Stok reads rnma smin ’dod pa rgya chen sna tshogs ’thob. Observing the ci in the Degé, the line has been translated as a question above, i.e., “How, by worshiping the victors, do people, in other lives, obtain the various rewards they desire? Listen, O King, to the answer to your question!” However, the Stok (as well as the Phukdrak and Gondhla) reflect the Sanskrit more closely with the inclusion of rgya chen for vipulaṃ, and they do not include ci. A translation that would reflect those versions would be, “By worshiping the victors accordingly, people, in other lives, obtain the abundant, various rewards they desire. Listen, O King, to the information you requested!”

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5. This stanza, the fifth in the Tibetan, is the first that is not in the Sanskrit manuscripts.

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6. Cohen (2006) provides a translation of the lines that echo this verse at Ajaṇṭā. See p. 301 on Inscription 52 in Cave X and p. 331 on Inscription 90 in Cave XXII. On the Ajaṇṭā inscriptions as they relate to verses of Verses for Prasenajit, see also Tournier 2015, pp. 184–85.

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7. For this line, the Tibetan translation reflects the reading that is preserved in the Cambridge MS, rogaśoka­bhayaduḥkhavi­muktaṃ, over the one found in the Potala MS, which has sarva­rogabhayaśokavi­muktaṃ (“free of all disease, fear, and sorrow”). The Gilgit MS does not contain this verse.

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8. chos dang rjes ’thun [preferring the Narthang var. mthun] chos la sgrub pa could be rendered as “one conforms with the Dharma and accomplishes the Dharma.” However, the line reflects the Sanskrit dharmānudharma, and on this compound, Edgerton (p. 27) points us to the Pali Text Society’s Pali English Dictionary (p. 36), which states that dhammānudhamma is “to be judged as a redupl. cpd. [reduplicative compound] after the manner of cpds. [compounds] mentioned under anu iv. & meaning ‘the Law in all its parts, the dhamma and what belongs to it, the Law in its fullness.’ ” The Gondhla manuscript (284.b.6), where we find eleven syllables instead of nine, captures this sense more fully: chos dang rjes su mthun ba’i chos la sgrub pa dang.

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9. This line varies across versions, particularly in terms of the seventh syllable. E.g., the Degé reads lus sems nad dang mya ngan byed spangs te; the Stok has lus sems nad dang mya ngan rgud spangs te; the Phukdrak MS reads lus sems nad dang mya ngan rab spangs; and the Gondhla has lus sems nad myed mya ngan myed spangs te. For comparison, the Potala MS has śokāgnirogojjhitasarvadehā (“the whole body freed from the fire of anguish and disease”), whereas the Cambridge MS has rāgāgniśokājjhitacittadehā (“the body and mind free from sorrow and the fire of passion”). The Gilgit MS appears to split the difference with śokāgnirogojjhitacittadehāḥ (“the body and mind free from disease and the fire of sorrow”).

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10. gser dngul spa ba’i glegs mos g.yogs pa yi. The Potala MS reads suvarṇarūpyojjvala paṭṭabaddhaṃ, while the Cambridge MS has paṭṭabandhaṃ. It may be that the term spa ba in this line is doing double duty as a way to evoke the sense of both ujjvala (“blazing up,” “luminous”) and baddhaṃ or bandhaṃ (“bound”) in paṭṭabaddhaṃ or bandhaṃ. The terms paṭṭabaddha and paṭṭabandha refer to a binding or crowning of the head with a turban, an Indian symbol of royalty. The line could be meant to suggest that sheets or strips of gold and silver come together to cover the stūpa in a turban-like fashion.

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11. The parasol (Skt. chattra, Tib. gdugs) symbolizes protection and secular wealth or royalty. On this point, see Beer (1999), pp. 176–80 and The Transformation of Karma (Toh 339), section #UT22084-072-039-366.

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12. Skt. vibaddhapaṭṭaṃ sugatasya caitye (“a turban tied on a stūpa of the Sugata”).

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13. Tournier (2015, pp. 192–93) discusses the idea of a crown or turban of liberation.

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14. Cf. The Transformation of Karma (Toh 339), section #UT22084-072-039-373, on the significance of offering bells.

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15. The Degé reads tshig btsan while the Phukdrak MS reads phyug btsun. Vinītā (2010: p. 225, n. 1) emends tshig btsan to tshig btsun, which makes sense for the Skt. ādeyavākyāḥ (“speech that is agreeable”). Above, we attempt a middling position between “agreeable” or “noble” (btsun) speech and “forceful” or “authoritative” (btsan) speech with the use of “compelling.”

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16. rgyan rnams sna tshogs ’thob. While the Tibetan here does not specify that people will obtain bodily adornments, the Sanskrit includes ˚āṅgāḥ, i.e., “limbs” adorned with various ornaments.

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17. de dag do shal rgyan phreng nor bu dang / gdu bu dag dang dpung rgyan mchog rnams kyis. Skt. MS hārārdhahāraiḥ kaṭakaiḥ saharṣaiḥ keyūravaryaiś ca vibhūṣitāṅgāḥ. See Vinītā (2010, p. 224, n. f) for a comparison to KaṭhA (p. 33, 30.12) where we find hārārdhahāraiḥ kaṭakair anekaiḥ keyūrataḍaṅkavidhair upetāḥ. It is unclear exactly how many types of ornamentation are being understood in the Tibetan. Vinītā (2010, p. 227), following the Potala manuscript, translates four, i.e., necklaces of various strings (hārārdhahāra), bracelets (kaṭaka), necklaces (saharṣa), and excellent armlets (keyūravarya). In the Tibetan, it seems to be a question of how do shal, rgyan phreng, and nor bu function together. We take do shal rgyan phreng to translate hārārdhahāra and nor bu for saharṣa. As Vinītā (2010, p. 227, n. a) notes, we do not find saharṣa but rather harṣa for “necklace” in Edgerton, and in that definition, which includes the Tibetan mgul gdub, we see a citation of the series “harṣa-kaṭaka-keyūra- (etc.) [LV] 295.4.” The precise distinction between the types of necklaces is unclear, but it could be that do shal rgyan phreng refers to multiple, longer strands of pearls (or the like), which are clasped together at each collarbone, while nor bu could refer to shorter pieces like chokers or collar-style necklaces.

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18. Cow dung is considered sacred in Indian culture and is thought to possess many beneficial qualities. It is used as a base covering for interior floors in village buildings and as a covering for walls and, in this case, a sacred object such as a stūpa.

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19. Taking the variant sred pa for Degé srid pa. The Degé has srid pa’i skyon rnams, i.e., “the flaws of existence.” However, sred pa occurs widely over srid pa. See, for example, the Phukdrak, Gondhla, and Stok Palace manuscripts. Therefore, based on the prevalence of sred pa, it seems likely that the Tibetan translators understood this phrase in the sense of tṛṣṇārajasā vimuktā, i.e., “free from the flaws of craving,” which occurs in both the Cambridge and Gilgit manuscripts, rather than kṛṣṇārajasā vimuktā, which, based on the Potala Sanskrit manuscript, Vinītā translates as “free from the black impurity.” See Vinītā 2010, pp. 240, n. 4, and 241, n. b.

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20. Tentative translation of mchod rten sku gzugs khang. The term mchod rten sku gzugs might be from caityabimba, i.e., the dome of the stūpa, or from stūpabimba, which Monier-Williams defines as maṇḍala. In context, however, it seems likely to refer to shrines or the walls within them.

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21. brtsegs par ’gyur (“to become layered” with something). Above, the sense is that just as one would paint a stūpa with coats of paint, the person who does so will become coated (or laminated) with the Sugata’s qualities; more simply, one will come to possess them.

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22. The Tibetan here is dpyid ka’i dus, i.e. “springtime,” while the Sanskrit is grīṣmakāla, i.e., “summertime,” or more specifically the hot, dry season during which a windy day can blow the dust everywhere. Grīṣma typically occurs in the months of April and May according to the Gregorian calendar.

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23. The Degé and Phukdrak MS read ro mchog kun thob mi rdzi stobs dang ldan; the Stok has mi rje’i stobs; and the Gondhla reads myi’i stobs. It is unclear how the elements of this line relate to one another. It could be that one will experience all supreme tastes and they will have a level of strength that cannot be dominated. On the other hand, perhaps it is that one will have an indominable might as a result of which one obtains all supreme tastes.

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24. cha byad yid ’ong sna tshogs legs par brgyan. While the Potala manuscript has svalaṃkṛtāś citramanojñaghoṣāḥ for this line, the Gilgit Buddhist Manuscript 1 reads svalaṃkṛtāś citramanojñaveṣāḥ, which more closely aligns with the use of cha byad (Skt. veṣa), i.e. “garments,” in the Tibetan. The Cambridge MS appears to read varṇṇāḥ (“coverings”).

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25. The Degé reads shin tu rgyas; however, there is an interesting variation in the Phukdrak MS, which reads sangs rgyas ’gyur, i.e., “they will become a buddha.” See Tournier 2015, pp. 193–94, on how, at some point in its history, Verses for Prasenajit might have been “updated” to align with the bodhisattva ideal.

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26. Reading rigs pas with Peking, whereas Degé and Stok have rig pas (“with intelligence”).

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27. ’dod chags chags med zhe sdang sdang (Phukdrak: skye) mi (Stok: med) ’gyur / gti mug rmongs med lta ngan chags mi ’gyur. Skt. na rāgaraktā na ca doṣaduṣṭā / na mohamūḍhā na kudṛṣṭisaktāḥ. Vinītā (2010, p. 239) translates the Sanskrit as follows: “Not impassioned by desire, nor defiled by hatred, nor bewildered by ignorance, nor engaged in wrong doctrines.” In this stanza, the Tibetan chags serves as a translation for the terms rakta and sakta, both of which convey a sense of becoming excited by and/or engaged in something.

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28. Taking the Lhasa variant dril dpyangs for the Degé dril spyangs.

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29. Taking the Choné and Narthang variants byas over byams in the Degé and the Stok, which aligns with the Sanskrit puṇyakṛtā.

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30. Understanding dpe med mchod rten as “a stūpa of the Incomparable One,” rather than “an incomparable stūpa,” based on the Potala and Gilgit MSS, which read nivedyānupamasya caitye. The Cambridge MS reads here sugatasya caitye (“a stūpa of the Sugata”).

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31. In the Degé (203.b.5) block print, it looks like it could read either mar me dngar ba ’bul or mar me dang rab ’bul. The Pedurma (581) shows mar me dang rab ’bul but the Stok Palace manuscript has mar me dngar ba ’bul. Vinītā emends what she takes to be dang rab in the Degé to dra ba (Skt. jāla). Considering how many variants reflect the Old Tibetan term dngar ba, it seems more likely, however, that the text should read mar me dngar ba ’bul, i.e., an offering of butter lamps that are “arranged” or “made into rows” (dngar ba).

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32. mdzod rab rgyas. The Potala has susamṛddhakoṣā; the Gilgit has susamṛddhakośo; the Cambridge has susamṛddhakośā. Vinītā (2010, p. 238, n. 4) emends koṣā to kośā and translates the phrase as “perfect flower-buds” (p. 239). Rather than understand kośa (or koṣa) in the sense of “treasury” or “storehouse,” common English translations for the Tibetan mdzod, one should understand it in this context to refer to “the sheath or integument of a plant,” which is here the bud of the blue lotus. On this definition, see Monier-Williams, p. 314.

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33. Taking the Stok variant ’tsham par for the Degé mtshan ma.

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34. Taking the Phukdrak, Gondhla, and Stok variants seng ge’i over the Degé gser gyi, which is in line with the Skt. siṃhāsanāni.

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