Toh 338 — The Exposition of Karma
Karmavibhaṅga
Translated by Bruno Galasek-Hul with Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
The Exposition of Karma
F.277.aHomage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was staying in Śrāvastī, in Prince Jeta’s grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.[1]
There the Bhagavān addressed the brahmin youth Śuka[2] thus: “Son,[3] I will teach you The Exposition of Karma.[4] Listen carefully and remember it well, and I will teach!”
“Please do so, Bhagavān!”
The brahmin youth Śuka having thus assented, the Bhagavān said to him, “Son, I say that beings are owners of their own actions,[5] they originate from their actions,[6] they are heirs of their actions,[7] and they take action as their refuge.[8] In this way, son, beings are divided into high, middle, and low in terms of their actions.
“In this regard, there are, for instance, the actions that lead to a short life.[9]F.277.b
“What kind of action leads to a short life? Killing, rejoicing in killing, celebrating killing,[10] instigating the death of an enemy, praising the death of an enemy, causing death in the womb,[11] praising the causing of death in the womb, and preparing the sacrificial ground where buffalo, cows, pigs, birds, and so on are to be killed. The children and grandchildren of the originator of this sacrifice, as well as other people hoping for a positive result or acting out of fear, will kill many beings as they continue to carry out this initial sacrifice.[12]
“For example, in a certain city in Kāśmīr, a certain mendicant who was an arhat was sitting at the door of a house. On a road leading straight to this house, a miserably mooing cow was being led along on a lead. The mendicant, having seen the cow, exclaimed, ‘Alas! What a misery!’
“The people then asked the mendicant, ‘Ācārya, why did you say, “Alas! What a misery”?’
“He replied, ‘Although I usually do not speak to those without faith, in this particular case I will speak.’[13] Then he said, ‘That cow being led along there, mooing, was in a former existence a rich merchant. He had prepared a piece of land for the yearly sacrifice and killed a great many cows there. When the time of his death drew near, he called his sons and said to them, “Sons, if you love me, you will also execute this yearly cattle sacrifice after I am dead!” So instructed, the sons agreed and said, “We will.” Then this man died and, because he had killed out of confusion, was reborn as a cow in his own house. After having been reborn there again and again, and having been killed time and again, this is now the sixth time he is being led to the sacrificial ground.’
“The mendicant then said to the cow with pity, ‘You yourself have prepared this very sacrificial ground. You yourself have performed this very sacrifice and killed many cows. F.278.a Your mooing is to no avail! What is it good for?’ So it was said.
“Seeing the preparation of a sacrificial ground such as this is like witnessing a battle[14] during which many beings such as humans and horses are killed,[15] or like being thrilled about the accoutrements of war.[16]
“As the Buddha has said in the Kālikasūtra:[17]
“ ‘Ānanda, resorting to killing and having grown accustomed to it and practiced it often becomes the cause for rebirth in the hells, in the animal realm, or as a ghost.’
“When killing is done few times and on a small scale, it leads to having a short lifespan.[18]
“What kind of action leads to a long life? Abstaining from killing; speaking praise of abstaining from killing and encouraging others to do so; freeing people and cattle, pigs, birds, and so forth that are to be killed; giving protection to those stricken with fear; arousing thoughts of kindness toward those who are without protection; arousing thoughts of love toward those who are sick, children, and the elderly; giving food to and arousing thoughts of love toward those who are in need; and rejecting all those things referred to above concerning war and so forth,[19] and instead practicing virtue such as renovating and restoring stūpas and monasteries[20] that have fallen into disrepair.
“It is said in that same sūtra:
“This kind of action leads to a long life.
“What kind of action leads to having many illnesses? Anger and hitting someone with the fist or the palm of the hand;[23] enjoying hitting somebody with the fist or the palm of the hand; speaking praise of the merit of hitting someone with the fist or the palm of the hand and encouraging it; causing one’s parents mental or physical distress; causing monks F.278.b who possess moral discipline mental distress; feeling glad when one’s enemies are stricken by illness; feeling unhappy when one’s enemies recover from an illness; and not giving medicine and giving indigestible foods—this kind of action leads to having many illnesses.
“What kind of action leads to having few illnesses? Not hitting someone with the palm of the hand or with the fist;[24] encouraging others to abstain from hitting with the palm of the hand or the fist and praising the merits of abstaining from hitting; rejoicing in not hitting; serving one’s ill parents, householders, and monks, regardless of whether they are senior or junior monks; caring for the sick; not feeling happy or glad when one’s enemies fall ill; rejoicing in their recovery; and giving medicine and digestible food[25]—this kind of action leads to having few illnesses.
“What kind of action leads to having an ugly appearance?[26] Anger, enmity, resentment, spite,[27] speaking ill of one’s parents, speaking ill of householders and of senior or junior monks, soiling stūpas and monasteries and the site of a stūpa, extinguishing offering lamps at stūpas and images, deriding ugly people, and having little sense of cleanliness—this kind of action leads to ugliness.
“What kind of action leads to beauty? The opposites of anger, enmity, resentment, and spite; donating clothing; plastering[28] stūpas and monasteries with white lime;[29] donating beautiful[30] bowls; making an offering of incense, scented ointment, cloth, and ornaments; praising one’s parents; praising noble ones and those who possess moral discipline; cleaning and sweeping the court around a stūpa, a monastery, and one’s house; not deriding ugly people; not deriding others in general, F.279.a whether old or young; and being very cleanly—this kind of action leads to beauty.
“What kind of action leads to having little power?[31] Avarice; envy; being unhappy about others’ successes; being unhappy when others are praised; despising one’s parents; despising noble ones and those who possess moral discipline; despising the sick, the old, and the young; praising what is vile, what is lacking Dharma,[32] and the roots of nonvirtue; and turning away from the mind of awakening—this kind of action leads to having little power.
“What kind of action leads to being powerful? Not being avaricious; not being envious; rejoicing in others’ successes; not rejoicing in others’ failures; rejoicing in hearing about others’ glory, renown, and good reputation;[33] being happy when others are praised; building stūpas and monasteries in commemoration of the Bhagavān;[34] turning away from what is vile, from what is lacking Dharma, and from the roots of demerit; encouraging others to engage in the roots of merit that lead to distinction; aspiring to reach awakening; and aspiring to attain distinction through the dedication of all roots of merit[35]—this kind of action leads to being powerful.
“What kind of action leads to being born into a low social status? Vanity; conceit; not honoring one’s father and mother, śramaṇas, and brāhmaṇas; not respecting the head of a family; not attending to[36] one’s parents; not attending to noble ones, to those who possess moral discipline, and to others occupying a position of authority, such as one’s preceptor and one’s teacher; and despising people of low class—this kind of action leads to being born into a low social status.
“What kind of action leads to being born into a family of high social status? Having little vanity; having no conceit; honoring one’s father and mother, śramaṇas, F.279.b and brāhmaṇas; honoring the head of the family; attending to one’s parents; attending to noble ones, to those who possess moral discipline, and to others occupying a position of authority, such one’s preceptor and teacher; and not despising people of low class.
“For example, the Buddha has said in a sūtra:[37]
“ ‘Monks, you should know that a community[38] that is approached by monks who possess moral discipline, are celibate, and possess the quality of virtue can expect five benefits. What are the five? It develops faith in the ones possessing moral discipline who have approached them. Furthermore, monks, at that time, that community enters the path leading to rebirth in heaven. And what is more, monks, the moment the community greets and welcomes those approaching who possess moral discipline, the community has already entered the path leading to rebirth in heaven.’
“This kind of action leads to being reborn in a family of high social status.
“What kind of action leads to poverty?[39] Stealing;[40] encouraging others to commit theft; speaking praise of stealing; taking pleasure in stealing and in having stolen;[41] depriving one’s parents of their livelihood; depriving noble ones and those who possess moral discipline of their livelihood and stealing the livelihood of monks, children, the elderly, the poor, and the sick; rejoicing when others fail to gain wealth; preventing others from gaining wealth; and rejoicing in a bad harvest—this kind of action leads to poverty.
“What kind of action leads to wealth? Abstaining from stealing; rejoicing when someone abstains from taking what was not freely given to them by others; providing one’s parents with a livelihood; providing noble ones and those who possess moral discipline F.280.a with a livelihood; offering sustenance to the sick, children, the elderly, the poor, and others; rejoicing in the gain of others; and rejoicing in a good harvest.
“In the same sūtra it is said:
“ ‘What is more, monks, when the merit-collecting communities make offerings to those approaching them who possesses moral discipline they enter the path leading to prosperity.’
“This kind of action leads to great wealth.
“What kind of action leads to low intelligence?[42] Here, one does not ask the learned[43] śramaṇas or brāhmaṇas or others, ‘What is the Dharma? What is not the Dharma?[44] What, when done by me, is conducive to happiness?’[45] One associates with[46] people who lack intelligence and abandons wise people. One teaches what is not the true Dharma, and even though one knows that a reciter of the Buddhist scriptures has spoken well, due to one’s being opinionated[47] one does not say ‘well done!’ But when a reciter has spoken what does not correspond with the Dharma, one says ‘well done!’ One praises wrong views and criticizes right views. One denigrates writers and reciters of manuscripts[48] and deprives them of their livelihood.
This kind of action leads to low intelligence.
“What kind of action leads to great intelligence? Here, one has a disposition that dares to inquire[49] and asks the learned śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas questions; one completely shuns those lacking wisdom; one extols the true Dharma and elucidates it; one criticizes what is not the true Dharma; and one praises the confidence of the Dharma reciters[50] and says ‘well done!’ One acclaims those who speak coherently and steers clear of those who speak what is unacceptable;[51] one praises right view and criticizes[52] wrong view; one makes offerings of paper, ink, and reed pens;[53] and, as explained in the Nandikasūtra,[54] one does not drink alcohol.
F.280.b The thirty-five[55] faults of drinking alcohol that are taught in that sūtra will be discussed later in the section on the nonvirtuous actions.[56] This kind of action leads to great intelligence.
“What kind of action leads to rebirth as a hell being? Carrying out gravely negative actions of body, speech, and mind with intensely angry thoughts; entertaining the wrong view of annihilation, the wrong view of eternalism, and the wrong view of nihilism;[57] speaking with hostility;[58] ingratitude; performing the evil actions that bring immediate retribution; and flinging false accusations at noble ones and those who possess moral discipline—this kind of action leads to rebirth in the hell realms.
“What kind of action leads to rebirth in the animal realm?[59] Carrying out moderately bad actions with body, speech, and mind and the varied actions stemming from desire, hatred, and confusion; presenting improper gifts[60] to one’s parents or Buddhist monks; ridiculing[61] beings who are reborn in the animal realm; and making the aspiration to be reborn there as, for example, when someone practices the ox vow or the dog vow,[62] thinking, ‘May I be reborn like that!’
“As an example, one may here relate the Heroic Past Deeds[64] of the Bodhisattva from the Siṃhajātaka, or the story of the brahmin Varṣākāra’s rebirth as a monkey.[65]
“The brahmin Varṣākāra saw the sthavira Mahākāśyapa on Vulture Peak, flying in the sky above the city of Rājagṛha.[66] Because of his close association with Devadatta and Prince Ajātaśatru, he harbored hostile thoughts in his mind and made this insulting comment:[67] ‘This monk flies through the air from mountain peak to mountain peak just as a monkey swings from tree to tree.’
“When the brahmin Varṣākāra, his mind filled with hatred, had made this insulting comment, the Buddha was asked, ‘Venerable Bhagavān, what will be the karmic result of this?’ F.281.a
“The Bhagavān replied, ‘By the karmic ripening of these abusive words, the brahmin Varṣākāra will be reborn as a monkey during five hundred future lives.’[68]
“Varṣākāra then became frightened and developed faith in the Buddha. He asked the Bhagavān at the time of his parinirvāṇa,[69] ‘Where[70] will this deed become exhausted?’[71]
“The Bhagavān said, ‘During these five hundred lives you will be reborn in Rājagṛha in the Jambu continent, the Rose-Apple continent, which derives its name from the fruits called jambu that are the size of large earthen pots and delicious like the pure honey of bees.[72] From there, leaving this incarnation, you will reach heaven.’[73]
“To give another example, having been reborn among lions by virtue of a thought of hatred, the Bhagavān spoke the following stanza in reference to this topic:[74]
“This kind of action leads to rebirth in the animal realm.
“What kind of action leads to rebirth in the realm of ghosts?[76] Here, someone adopts a negative course of conduct[77] of body, speech, and mind with a mind full of anger and hatred or craving; pursues a wrong way of making a living[78] due to improper desire; dies while being angry, hungry, or thirsty; or dies while having thoughts of attachment to material things.
“An illustration [818] from the Śatavarga-āgama Karmavibhaṅgasūtra:[79]
“ ‘The Bhagavān said to Ānanda, “Ānanda, either an action done by a person in a previous lifetime resurfaces and becomes present, or it becomes the force that leads to wrong views at the time of death.” ’[80]
“This kind of action leads to rebirth in the realm of ghosts.
“What kind of action leads to rebirth in the realm of the asuras? Someone’s committing only small or minor misdeeds with body, speech, and mind;F.281.b pride; arrogance;[81] the pride of identification with a self;[82] the pride of inferiority;[83] dedicating the roots of virtue of one’s positive actions to rebirth in the world of the asuras;[84] and following an immoral course of conduct yet in an intelligent manner that springs from refined desire—this kind of action leads to rebirth in the realm of the asuras.
“What kind of action leads to rebirth as a human? Here, one cultivates the ten virtuous courses of action. What are the ten? One abandons the ten nonvirtuous actions: the three physical actions of killing, stealing,[85] and sexual misconduct; the four verbal actions of lying, slander, harsh speech, and idle talk; and, furthermore, the three mental actions of covetousness,[86] malice, and wrong views.[87] This kind of action leads to rebirth as a human.
“What kind of action leads to rebirth as a deva belonging to the realm of sensuous desire?[88] Here, someone practices well, and brings to perfection, the ten virtuous courses of action—this kind of action leads to rebirth as a deva belonging to the realm of sensuous desire.
“What kind of action leads to rebirth as a deva belonging to the realm of form? Someone practices well the ten virtuous courses of action, accomplishes them, and brings them to perfection to an especially superior degree—this kind of action leads to rebirth as a deva belonging to the realm of form.
“What kind of action leads to rebirth as a deva belonging to the formless realm? One enters the four attainments of the formless states and, having entirely and completely transcended all notions of form, and the notion of materiality having vanished, through disengaging the mind from the notion of distinctness, thinking, ‘Space is infinite,’[89] one has perfected the sphere of infinity of space and abides in it.[90] Having entirely and completely transcended the sphere of infinity of space,F.282.a thinking, ‘Consciousness is infinite,’ one has perfected the sphere of infinity of consciousness and abides in it.[91] Having entirely and completely transcended the sphere of infinity of consciousness, thinking, ‘Nothing at all exists,’ one has perfected the sphere of nothingness and abides in it.
[92] Having entirely and completely transcended the sphere of nothingness, one has perfected the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception and abides in it.[93] This kind of action leads to rebirth as a deva belonging to the formless realm.
“What kind of action is performed but not accumulated?[94] Having carried out an action,[95] one feels shame, remorse,[96] and deprecation, and one confesses and openly admits one’s faults; one parts with it and vows not to do it again in the future.[97] This kind of action is performed but not accumulated.
“What kind of action is accumulated but not carried out? An action that is to be completed with the body and concerning which one says with a defiled mind, ‘I will do this,’ but then does not actually follow through[98]—this kind of action is accumulated but not carried out.
“What kind of action is both carried out and accumulated?[99] Having carried out an action, one does not feel shame; one does not remedy it, regret it, deprecate it, confess it, admit it, renounce it, or give it up; and one does not vow to not do it again in the future—action like this is both carried out and accumulated.
“What kind of action is neither carried out nor accumulated?[100] An action that one has intentionally carried out or made someone else carry out in a dream[101]—action like this is neither carried out nor accumulated.
“What kind of action leads to being reborn in hell and passing away from there only after having completely exhausted the lifespan of the hell?[102] In this regard, one has carried out actions that lead to rebirth as a hell being, and these actions are accumulated, F.282.b but having carried out these actions, one feels neither shame nor remorse, and one neither deprecates nor confesses and admits the actions done. One does not vow not to do them again in the future but instead rejoices and is satisfied like, for instance, Devadatta, Kokālika, and so forth.[103] Action like this leads to being reborn in hell and passing away from there only after having completely exhausted the lifespan of the hell.
“What kind of action leads to being reborn in hell and passing away from there after only half the lifespan of the hell is exhausted? In this regard, someone has carried out actions that lead to becoming a hell being but feels shame and remorse and deprecates, confesses, admits, rejects, and gives up those actions and vows not to do them again in the future. In this way does this kind of action lead to being reborn in hell and passing away from there after only half the lifespan of the hell is exhausted.[104]
“What kind of action leads to passing away from hell immediately upon being born there? In this regard, one has carried out actions that lead to rebirth as a hell being, and these actions are accumulated; but, having done these actions, one feels shame, remorse, and deprecation, confesses and admits those actions, and gives them up. By making the promise, ‘From now on I will not do it again!’ one will pass away from that state immediately upon being reborn there.
“For example, when King Ajātaśatru heard that he would go to the Avīci hell[105] for carrying out the evil actions that bring immediate retribution—namely, murdering his father, splitting the monastic saṅgha, releasing the wild elephant Dhanapāla,[106] and hurling a boulder onto the Tathāgata[107] to kill him—he became distraught[108] and developed faith in the Bhagavān.
He confessed his sins and, as is related in the Śrāmaṇyaphalasūtra,[109] restored his roots of virtue.[110] When he was about to die, he prayed, ‘From the core of my being[111] I take refuge in the Buddha. I have carried out intolerable actions, for which I feel remorse and which I confess; by promising not to do such actions ever again, they will diminish and eventually be completely erased.’F.283.a Then he went silent.[112]
“This kind of action leads to passing away from hell immediately upon being born there.
“What kind of action leads to a predetermined rebirth? As for that, a person carries out an action, and, by dedicating the action in a certain way—‘May I be reborn as such a one!’—that person will be reborn as that one.[113] For example, in the Śyāmākajātaka,[114] the Bhagavān relates accordingly how one is reborn through the power of a strong aspiration.[115] This kind of action leads to a predetermined rebirth.
“What kind of action leads to an unpredetermined rebirth? As for that, a person carries out an action but does not dedicate it by specifying ‘May I be reborn as such and such!’[116] This kind of action leads to an unpredetermined rebirth.
“What kind of action leads to the ripening[117] of a karmic result in a foreign country? In this regard, there will be ripening of a pleasant or painful karmic result in a foreign country either in this very life or in the next.[118]
“For example, the Bhagavān has told the following story:
“ ‘Monks, once upon a time, when the lifespan of humans of the Jambu continent was indefinite, like that of the king Māndhātar, there lived in a certain city a sea merchant’s[119] son named Maitrāyajña.[120] Surrounded by five hundred friends, he went to an orchard,[121] where his friends said to him, “In this city, merchants like your father[122] were sailors traveling to foreign lands like, for instance, the Golden Island[123] to see other continents and accumulate riches.[124] We, yourself included, should set sail and accumulate riches, too.”
“ ‘Maitrāyajña replied, “So be it!” and when darkness fell, he went home to his mother and said, “Mother, I will go to the Golden Island.”
“ ‘His mother replied, “Son, there is already such immeasurable wealth in this house. Don’t go!”
“ ‘Maitrāyajña, after hearing his mother’s words, which persuaded him not to go, immediately went back to the orchard. The friends said, “In this matter, you need to entreat your mother even more.”[125]F.283.b
“ ‘Having heard their words, he said, “So be it!” and again went to his mother to ask. But she clasped his feet,[126] and so, again, he stayed. Immediately upon having asked her for a third time, he went back to the orchard.
“ ‘His friends said to him, “This is impossible! We must go!”[127] And Maitrāyajña went once again to his mother and said, “I will go to a foreign land!” The mother then gathered all their possessions, clasped one of his feet, and made him stay once again.
“ ‘Therefore, once more the boy went to the orchard, and his friends said, “It is your fault that we, too, still have not left. We will now leave on the thirteenth day!”[128]
“ ‘Then Maitrāyajña, without his mother’s knowledge, drew out their abundant merchandise and put it on the street. His mother, standing in the doorway, clasped his feet again and said, “Son, don’t go!” but Maitrāyajña, in his anger, stepped on his mother’s head,[129] left, and went to the shore of the sea.
“ ‘There he instructed his friends, “When we are going to set sail, it is uncertain whether we will live or die. Therefore, we should all maintain the eight precepts!” And they, heeding Maitrāyajña’s words, promised to maintain the precepts.
“ ‘Thus, they set sail, and when they had gone far into the center of the ocean, they were caught by a mighty storm, and their ship capsized. All the others died, but Maitrāyajña had seized a large copper vessel whose mouth could be closed with a piece of fabric, and eventually he reached the end of the ocean.[130] He then continued to wander until he came to a city with a golden city wall and an orchard and a lotus pond that was pervaded by a pleasant fragrance. He saw flower petals scattered everywhere and many wreaths made from silk ribbons that had been put up as ornaments.[131] From inside this city, four goddesses appeared and, taking him by the hand, led him inside. Then, after he amused himself with them for many years, many hundreds of years, many thousands of years, and many hundreds of thousands of years, the goddesses ordered[132] him, “Son of noble family,[133] since you are a stranger in this land, you should not go outside.
F.284.a However, if you happen to leave sometime, head north!”[134]
“ ‘On another occasion, Maitrāyajña left the city and continued wandering until he arrived at a city with a silver city wall and an orchard and a lotus pond that was pervaded by a pleasant fragrance. He saw flower petals scattered everywhere and many wreaths made from silk ribbons that had been put up as ornaments. From inside the city, eight goddesses appeared. Like before, after he had amused himself with them,[135] at some other time he left.
“ ‘After wandering and wandering, he arrived at a city with a lapis lazuli[136] city wall. Just as before, he saw flower petals scattered everywhere and many wreaths made from silk ribbons hung up as ornaments. From inside the city, sixteen goddesses appeared, and they, too, took him by the hand and led him inside, and with them, too, he amused himself for many hundreds of thousands of years.
“ ‘At a later time he left, and after wandering and wandering, he arrived at a city with a rock-crystal city wall, and he saw everything like before—from the scattered flower petals to the wreaths made from silk ribbons. From inside this city, thirty-two goddesses appeared, and they, too, took him by the hand and led him inside. As before, after he had amused himself with them, they ordered him, “Son of noble family, since you are a stranger in this land, you should not leave this city.[137] However, if you have to go, head north!”[138]
“ ‘Immediately afterward, he left the house, faced north, and walked and walked. Eventually, he came to a thicket of thorns and saw a city with a black iron city wall. He approached, and as soon as he stepped inside, the city’s gates slammed shut. Looking up the city walls, he saw them rising higher, and he could hear a dreadful sound coming from beyond them. “What kind of place is this?” he thought, and he became terrified when he saw a man whose head was cut by a wheel made of sword blades that was rotating above his head.
“ ‘ “Hey, you! What is this?” he asked, and that hell being replied, “This is a personal hell.”[139]
“ ‘Maitrāyajña asked, “What sins have you committed?”
“ ‘The man told his story: F.284.b “In the Jambu continent there is a city called Mahākośalī. There I used to live, and I, too, happened to be a son of a sea merchant. Surrounded by five hundred friends, I went to the city’s large orchard.
“ ‘ “There my friends said, ‘Your father is the head of the sea merchants’ guild.[140] And following his lead,[141] they, our fathers, traveled to foreign lands and procured vast riches. They saw the Golden Island, the island of Sri Lanka, and many other islands. We, too, with you as our leader, will travel to foreign countries.’ So they pledged.
“ ‘ “Then I went home and said to my mother, ‘I will go aboard a ship and voyage the ocean to go to foreign countries!’
“ ‘ “My mother replied, ‘Son, your father, too, has gone aboard a ship, and having gone to many foreign countries, he died. Son, you are all I have left![142] Our house is filled with riches. Don’t go!’
“ ‘ “I, too, promised my mother that I would not go. In this way, mother clasped my feet three or four times, bidding me to stay, and I stayed. But at another time, I went to the orchard and my friends said, ‘We will go anyway.’
“ ‘ “ ‘Well, we should go then!’ I said, and by making this promise, we departed.
“ ‘ “My mother clasped my feet at the door and said, ‘It is not right to leave me behind!’ But I stepped on my mother’s head and went off with my five hundred friends to the shore of the sea.
“ ‘ “After we took up the eight precepts, we set sail. We were well on our way to the Golden Island[143] when a strong gale caught us and capsized the ship, killing all the friends. As for myself, after many days I reached the end of the ocean. I started to wander, and after continuously walking I eventually arrived at a city with a golden city wall and an orchard and a lotus pond that was pervaded by a pleasant fragrance. I saw flower petals scattered everywhere and many wreaths made from silk ribbons that had been put up as ornaments.
“ ‘ “From inside that city, four goddesses[144] appeared, F.285.a thirty-two goddesses appeared, and so on as before, until[145] I saw a city enclosed by an iron wall and went inside. As soon as I stepped inside, the gates slammed shut. There,[146] too, I saw a man with a wheel made of[147] swords rotating above his head. And there and then the wheel was transferred to where I was standing nearby, onto my own head. Due to the ripening of the karmic fruit of my action of having desisted from leaving home by obeying my mother’s words four times and taking up the eight precepts, I enjoyed a personal heaven in four cities. Due to the ripening of the karmic fruit of my action of stepping on my mother’s head when setting out, a wheel made of sword blades is now rotating above and lacerating my head.”
“ ‘Upon hearing this, Maitrāyajña thought, “I, too, have in the past carried out an action that is very similar to that one. I can see that the ripening of the karmic fruits of my own action is immanent!”
“ ‘The hell being asked Maitrāyajña, “Where do you come from?”
“ ‘And Maitrāyajña told his story: “In the Jambu continent there is a city called Tāmalipta.[148] I am from there. I, too, have done all those actions.”
“ ‘ “It is true then!”[149] said the hell being. “I heard a voice coming from the sky that said, ‘The karmic fruit of your action is exhausted. One will come whose name is Maitrāyajña, the son of a sea merchant, who has committed an action similar to yours.’ ”[150]
“ ‘Maitrāyajña asked, “What kind of food do you eat here?”
“ ‘ “I eat the flesh, pus, and blood flowing from my own shredded head.”[151] Then this man died there. Maitrāyajña, terrified and distraught, made this aspiration[152] for the sake of his mother:
“ ‘With an earnest intention, F.285.b he bowed down in reverence to his imagined parents and made another aspiration: “Wherever I am reborn, I will honor my parents! I will remain here in this individual hell for the sake of those who will be reborn here. To those in the world who are engaged in proper conduct[154] and those who are liberated, I bow in reverence. I pray that they will protect me.” And he stayed there as a being of this individual hell and made a further aspiration for the sake of his parents:
“ ‘Due to this utterance, the wheel remained in the air above, rotating but without touching his head. And also, because his mother perpetually made this aspiration, “If there is any benefit to be derived from the merit that I have accumulated through my practice of generosity, ethics, and being a faithful wife, may the fruit of this merit lead to the happiness of my son, whatever and wherever he may be,” he was at peace.
“ ‘And having stayed there in this personal hell, he passed away before even sixty years had passed.’[155]
“Accordingly, for example, King Ajātaśatru passed away without having entirely completed his lifespan in hell. But since the karmic fruit of actions do not dissipate, he sometimes suffered from excruciating[156] headaches.[157]
“Then, when the right time had come, the Bhagavān addressed the monks: ‘Monks, you may think that the sea merchant’s son named Maitrāyajña was just somebody else at that time. But this is not how you should see it. I myself was at that time the sea merchant’s son named Maitrāyajña. Therefore, monks, have faith in my words! You should cultivate reverence[158] for the Bhagavān! You should cultivate reverence for the Dharma and the Saṅgha! You should also revere your parents, F.286.a your preceptor, and your teacher! Know this, monks: Those who travel to a foreign land can experience both pleasure and pain, just like Maitrāyajña, who after traveling to a foreign country experienced a personal heaven and a personal hell in a single lifetime. In this way, action that leads to the experience of pleasure and pain in a foreign country will ripen accordingly in a foreign country.’
“Hence, the Bhagavān has furthermore said the following: ‘Whether something is done for me or for your parents, your preceptor, or your teacher, there is no difference, and the karmic result is the same, experienced either in this lifetime or the next.[159] How, then, is the karmic result the same in this very life?’
“For example, once in Śrāvastī some poor person saw the Bhagavān, together with the Saṅgha of hearers, begging for alms. And because at that moment he developed reverence in his mind, he accumulated an immense stock of merit, and since this also created the action that led him to become a king, that reverence by itself became the seed for his liberation. When this came to the Bhagavān’s attention, he uttered the following verses:
“And:
“Then, at the moment of his death, he was reborn as a god.
“Another example is that of the pratyekabuddha Tagaraśikhin.[163] During a famine, a poor man had offered some broth,[164] and because of that he was anointed king in this city[165] on that same day. Later he became a pratyekabuddha. Furthermore, it is said in the sūtrasF.286.b that the karmic fruit of a mind full of devotion similar to that of the pratyekabuddha whose name is Tagaraśikhin will ripen in this very lifetime.
“When he honored his parent, Maitrāyajña, the son of the sea merchant, experienced an individual heaven in four great cities because he had listened to his mother’s words and complied with them four times. Since it had become the seed for his liberation, the ripening of the karmic fruit took place in this life.[166]
“Will one go to hell through expressing anger toward the Bhagavān and one’s parents? An example here is Devadatta, who, after he had become angry with the Bhagavān, fell into the Avīci hell immediately upon his death. Or there is the prince Utraka[167] in the city of Rauruka[168] in the land of Sindhu, who killed his father and consequently fell into the hell realms.[169] Thus, one will go to the hell realms through expressing anger toward the Bhagavān or one’s parents.
“Now, is there a difference with regard to the Buddha and one’s parents, or are they not different?[170] Concerning the Bhagavān, generating devotion toward him, who during many hundreds of thousands of cosmic ages has accumulated a stock of merit generated by his roots of virtue, who taught the Dharma to those lacking a path,[171] and who bestows awakening upon us, the karmic fruit is immeasurable. To parents the path to liberation is unknown.[172] Furthermore, one need not always obey the words of one’s parents. Why not? Because there are some who hold false views and who say to their child,[173] ‘Child, bring us to an uninhabited place[174]—you will benefit from this and be happy!’ or ‘Abandon us in a chasm!
Commit us to the flames!’ When they say such things, this ought not to be done. Why not? Because through murdering one’s parents one will certainly go to the hell realms. Therefore, the Bhagavān has said not to accept those who have killed their parents into the novitiate and that such people should not be accepted for full ordination,F.287.a and for this reason such people should be shunned.[175]
“How, then, are one’s parents, one’s preceptor, and one’s teacher equal?[176] In this regard, the Bhagavān has said, ‘Parents love their children from the depths of their hearts.’[177] Therefore, when parents do not give their permission, one should not accept someone into the novitiate. Take, for example, the noble Rāṣṭrapāla,[178] among others.[179] When his parents did not let him go, the Bhagavān did not accept him as a novice.[180] Still today[181] ordination is not given without parents’ consent.[182] Or, for example, it is said that when the Bhagavān himself adopted the life of a mendicant, his parents went blind out of grief for the loss of King Śuddhodana’s son,[183] because they had wished for the birth of a son who would uphold their legacy in these five areas: ‘This son of ours that we will give birth to, after being born, will support us;[184] he will continue to perform our duties; he will become the inheritor of our wealth;[185] when we die, he will perform the ancestral food offerings; and he will continue the family lineage.’
“The preceptor and the teacher, however, have compassion as their priority. Their sole concern is this: ‘So long as he cannot adopt the life of a mendicant because his parents do not give their permission, how will this one who has been wandering in saṃsāra since time immemorial reach the end of it?’[187] For example, the Bhagavān says the following in the Vinaya:
“ ‘The preceptor regards the pupil as a son. The pupil regards the preceptor as a father. Thus, they consider each other parent and child.’[188]
“In this regard, the preceptor and the teacher are equal to the parents. Furthermore, the Bhagavān says in the Cakravartisūtra:[189]
“ ‘Which action leads to the karmic result of the wheel-turning monarch obtaining the precious elephant and the precious horse?[190] Carrying one’s parents around on one’s shoulders, or having them mount a carriage drawn by a horse or by an elephant, and carrying one’s preceptor and one’s teacher oneself.[191]F.287.b The wheel-turning monarch obtains the precious elephant and the precious horse through the karmic ripening of the action of having others carried. For this reason, too, are the parents and the preceptor and the teacher equal. Furthermore, for householders, parents are the object of adoration.[192] For those who have adopted the life of a mendicant, the preceptors and the teachers are the object of adoration. For this reason, too, are preceptors and the teachers equal to parents.’[193]
“To give another example, the Bhagavān addressed the monks as follows:
“ ‘Monks, suppose someone took their parents on their back and roamed the Jambu continent with them, provided them with provisions, and filled the whole of the four continents with riches and gold—even this kind of generosity could not repay the parents’ kindness. But, if someone were to cause another person to develop faith in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha and establish them in the five precepts and in the moral conduct that is praised by noble ones, in this way children would be repaying their parents’ kindness. And that is precisely what preceptors and teachers do!’[194]
“It is for this reason that the preceptor and the teacher are more distinguished than the parents.[195] In short, ever since the time of the Bhagavān’s nirvāṇa, all those pacified[196] and tamed monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen, and whoever else, have been pacified and tamed by their preceptors and teachers.[197] It is because of this that the Bhagavān has said, ‘Monks, those who believe in my words should give rise to the highest faith in the Bhagavān, as well as in the Dharma and the Saṅgha! And they should give rise to the highest faith in their parents, their preceptor, and their teacher! This will lead to their benefit and happiness for a long time to come.’[198] This kind of action F.288.a leads to the ripening of a karmic result in a foreign country.
“What kind of action leads to a person being happy at first and becoming unhappy in the future? If someone were to ask this, one should reply as follows:[200] ‘Here, a person is stopped by a beggar, for instance, and, asked for alms or a donation, delightedly accepts and then gives with joy but afterward regrets having given. When this person is reborn as a human in a rich and wealthy family, later the wealth is consumed and depleted. Then this person becomes poor, just as in the story of Gopaka.[201] He had offered a milk cow to the fully enlightened Buddha Krakucchanda and his saṅgha of monks. But later, people made him regret it so that he thought, “It was not good to have given this.” Therefore, because he had regrets, wherever he was reborn, he first was rich and then later, due to these regrets, became poor. Later,[202] he was reborn in Rājagṛha. His mother died at his birth and people said, “His birth is the reason for his mother’s death! Since he was born under the constellation Mūla,[203] he will destroy this family.
[204] He is bad luck!” And so they just discarded him together with his mother in the cemetery. But there, through the power of his merits, his mother’s breasts still produced milk. In this way, he nourished himself, developed fully, and eventually went to the Blessed One and became a monk.[205] Thus, this was the karmic fruit of his action of first offering a milk cow with faith and then later regretting it. His offering with a faithful attitude in the beginning became the very seed of his liberation. But due to his later regret, it is said, he always ended up poor.[206] This kind of action leads to a person being happy at first and becoming unhappy in the future.’
“What kind of action leads to a person being unhappy at first and becoming happy later? If someone were to ask this, one should reply as follows: ‘In this case, someone is asked to make an offering, accepts only very reluctantly,[207] and accordingly makes the offering only reluctantly, F.288.b but following the offering they experience joy. Then, when reborn among humans, this person is born into a poor family at first, but later their wealth increases. This kind of action leads to a person being unhappy at first and becoming happy later.’[208]
“What kind of action leads to a person being both happy at first and happy in the future? In this case, someone is begged by somebody for alms and delightedly and immediately agrees to give. And, having given alms joyfully, this person later, too, is happy. Then, when reborn as a human being, this person will be reborn in a very rich and very wealthy family. This kind of action leads to a person being both happy at first and happy in the future.[209]
“What kind of action leads to a person experiencing both suffering[210] at first and suffering in the future? In this case, someone is without a spiritual friend, a spiritual preceptor, who would encourage him to give alms. Consequently, he gives nothing whatsoever. But he has neither done nor accumulated any bad actions at all. When he is reborn as a human being, he will be born into a poor family that has to survive with a scarcity of food and drink due to hardship. When born there, he obtains food and clothing only with great difficulty.[211] Also, in the future his resources will not increase.[212] This kind of action leads to a person experiencing both suffering at first and suffering in the future.
“What kind of action leads to a person being wealthy and stingy? A person makes only a small offering to those who possess moral discipline and who are recipients worthy of offerings, but he does not make a habit of the attitude of giving away. Then, when he is reborn as a human being, due to the power of generosity, he will be born into a rich family F.289.a having great riches. However, because he did not make a habit of the attitude of giving away, he becomes stingy with his wealth. This kind of action leads to a person being wealthy and stingy.
“What kind of action leads to a person being poor and generous? In this case, a certain person makes offerings liberally to animals and to people who are ill behaved.[213] Then, when he is reborn as a human being, he will be both poor and generous. By virtue of having made practicing generosity a habit, he will be poor yet generous. This kind of action leads to a person being poor and being generous.
“What kind of action leads to a person being rich and generous? In this case, someone makes liberal offerings to those who possess moral discipline and who are worthy recipients of offerings and makes a habit of the attitude of giving. Therefore, when he is reborn as a human being, he will be rich, and his wealth will be extensive. For example, consider the householder Anāthapiṇḍada. He first offered Prince Jeta’s grove to the completely perfect Buddha Krakucchanda and had a monastery erected for the monks there. In the same manner, in former births[214] he offered Prince Jeta’s grove to the completely perfect buddhas Kanakamuni, Kāśyapa, and Sarvārthasiddha, and he will equally offer it to Maitreya with its entire ground strewn[215] with gold. This kind of action leads to a person being rich and generous.
“What kind of person has exhausted their lifespan but not their actions? A person who dies in a hell realm and is reborn in that same hell realm, a person who dies as an animal and is reborn as an animal, a person who dies in the realm of ghosts and is reborn in the realm of ghosts, and a person who dies as a god and is reborn as a god. The brahmin Varṣākāra, for instance, died repeatedly and was reborn as a monkey. F.289.b Or, for instance, the aforementioned householder[216] was repeatedly reborn as cattle.[217] When a certain poor householder in Śrāvastī died, an ox with an ulcer on its shoulder was standing in front of the house. Because the householder was very attached to his house, after he had died, he was reborn as a maggot in the ox’s ulcer. Immediately after he was reborn, a crow ate him, and later he was reborn in that same spot again as a maggot. In this manner, during one single day, he died and was reborn seven times in this same spot!
“Or, for example, when the venerable Mahāmaudgalyāyana was wandering through the country of Magadha collecting alms, he entered a house in which a householder sat together with his wife, holding their son in his lap. They were eating a meal of fish, while in front of them sat a dog, to whom they tossed the fish bones. Then, when the householder saw Mahāmaugalyāyana, he said to him, ‘Friend, nobody here gives alms to beggars. Go away!’ And Mahāmaugalyāyana turned around.[218]
“At the door of that house, there had been sitting all the while some man[219] who had come from another country and who knew the sthavira Mahāmaudgalyāyana.[220] When he saw what had happened, he was amazed and said, ‘Oh dear! This venerable monk is the foremost among those possessing magical powers. He has tamed the kings of the nāgas, Nanda and Upananda.[221] He shook the divine palace Vaijayanta with his left toe, and through that the king of the gods, Indra, marveled. He traversed the realm of the trichiliocosm in the blink of an eye. These things being so, it is astounding that he was sent away without having been offered alms!’
“Then, the sthavira Mahāmaudgalyāyana, to instill in him a sense of weariness with saṃsāra, said, ‘My dear, it is not so very astonishing.’
“ ‘Well, what then is astonishing?’ the man asked.
“He replied, ‘This householder here, eating fish curry, is astonishing! The fish was his father. He would frequently scoop out and eat fish from the pond behind the house that carried a lot of fish. F.290.a Then he died and was reborn as this very fish. His son, too, frequently scooped out and ate that fish many hundreds of times. And he, too, was reborn in that same spot many times, again and again. This female dog here was the householder’s mother. She, overpowered by greed, never made an offering to anybody. And she never safeguarded ethical conduct but instead meanly hoarded possessions for the sake of the family lineage. And after she had died with her thoughts attached to this same house, she was reborn here as that female dog. Then, after she died again, she was reborn again and again in this same place. This dog circles around the house on the outside for the whole night, afraid that somebody could enter. The son sitting in the lap of that man was the wife’s lover. When the householder found out that his wife was sleeping with another man, he pretended that he had to go to another city. As soon as he left, the woman slept with the other man, but her husband returned home[222] and killed him. But because he was attached and attracted to that woman, he was reborn in her womb. See, my dear: The meat they eat is their father’s. The one to whom they toss the fish bones is the mother. The enemy, the adulterer, who is the one who was killed in a rage, they cradle in their lap. Therefore, it is only reasonable to feel disgust for the faults of saṃsāra, because this is truly astounding.’
“Then the monk Maudgalyāyana recited a verse to instill a sense of weariness with saṃsāra in the many people of the western regions:
“This kind of person is someone whose lifespan is exhausted but not their actions.
“What kind of person has exhausted their actions but not their lifespan? A person who was happy at first and becomes unhappy in the future, or a person who was unhappy at first and in the future becomes happy—this kind of person is someone who has exhausted their actions but not their lifespan.
“What kind of person has exhausted both their actions and their lifespan? F.290.b A person who dies as a hell being and is reborn as an animal, a person who dies as an animal and is reborn in the realm of ghosts,[224] a person who dies as a ghost and is reborn as an asura, a person who dies as an asura and is reborn as a human being,[225] and a person who dies as a human being and is reborn as a god—this kind of person has exhausted both their actions and their lifespan.[226]
[227]“What kind of person has exhausted neither their lifespan nor their actions but has exhausted the kleśas? A stream enterer, a once-returner, a non-returner, and an arhat[228]—this kind of person has exhausted neither their lifespan nor their actions but has exhausted the kleśas.
“What kind of person is well[229] in body but unhappy in mind? A worldly, ordinary person who has acquired merit is well in body but not in his mind—for example, the brahmin, the householder, the king Māndhātar,[230] and so forth in the country of Magadha.[231] This kind of person is well in body but unhappy in his mind.
“What kind of person is happy in mind but unwell in body? For example, the arhat Karmaśa,[232] who was happy in mind but unwell in body. Or, in the same manner, the noble Śoṇottara,[233] who, in a former life, gave a ball made of cow dung mixed with cowhage[234] to a pratyekabuddha for his bath. Through the complete ripening of this action, he suffered from leprosy spreading all over his body.
The following verse is said to illustrate this:
“Or consider, for instance, Jaṅghākāśyapa:[237] When a certain pratyekabuddha came to Benares, Jaṅghākāśyapa thought, ‘I will offer him a meal.’ Then, after a long time, he offered food after the appropriate mealtime had passed. Through this action, in a future time, when he had become a noble person himself, while going on his morning alms round, he arrived too late to obtain any food. A person like this is happy in mind but unwell in body.
“What kind of person is well in both body and mind? F.291.a An arhat who has destroyed the contaminants and who has accumulated merit. For example, Bakula,[238] the son of the king Dharmayaśas, roared this lion’s roar: ‘In the eighty years since I have gone forth, I have not even experienced a light headache.’ In the past, he was a perfume seller in Benares. There he offered medicine to cure the sick to the Buddha Krakucchanda and his saṅgha of hearers. Also, he once gave a myrobalan fruit to an arhat. Through the karmic ripening of these actions, he was free from illness and obtained perfect health. This kind of person is well in both body and mind.
[239]“What kind of person is not well in both body and mind?[240] An ordinary person[241] who has not accumulated any merit, roves about other peoples’ homes, has no family or kin, and is without clothes, food, and drink. This person furthermore suffers from diseases like leprosy, chronic cough,[242] dysentery,[243] ulcers,[244] skin rashes, and so forth,[245] or this person is missing limbs, such as a foot or a hand, or is blind. Such a person is unwell in body and in mind.
“What kind of person has a pleasing body that is beautiful, shiny, of brilliant color, handsome, and lovely to look at despite being reborn in the lower realms? A wicked person, whose wickedness is due to desire, who is reborn in the lower realms—for example, the peacock, the parrot, the thrush,[246] the goose,[247] the ruddy shelduck,[248] and so forth. In this way, when a person behaves wickedly due to desire, they will have a pleasing body that is beautiful, shiny, of brilliant color, attractive, and lovely to look at, despite being reborn in the lower realms.
“What kind of person is reborn in the lower realms with an unpleasant appearance, rough skinned and unattractive? A wicked person, whose wickedness is due to hatred, F.291.b who is reborn in the lower realms—for example, the tiger, the lion, the raven, the jackal, the bear,[249] the spectacled cobra,[250] ghosts, flesh-eating demons, and so forth. In this way, when a person behaves wickedly due to hatred, they will be reborn in the lower realms and with an unpleasant appearance, rough skinned and unattractive.
“What kind of person is reborn in the lower realms, in a foul-smelling place, with underdeveloped and slow faculties?[251] A wicked person, whose wickedness is due to ignorance, who is reborn in the lower realms—for example, the muskrat, vermin, the constrictor,[252] the louse, the black honeybee,[253] and other bugs,[254] as well as the twenty kinds of worms living in the human body. Such a person is reborn in the lower realms, in foul-smelling places, with underdeveloped and slow faculties.
“There are ten courses of action that are nonvirtuous. What are the ten? There are three actions of the body, four actions of speech, and three actions of the mind. The karmic ripening of those ten nonvirtuous courses of action causes the ten kinds of external things[255] to deteriorate.[256]
“Through the karmic ripening[257] of the nonvirtuous action of killing, the earth loses its vitality and luster.[258] The karmic result equivalent to the action[259] is that one will have a short lifespan.
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of stealing, hail, birds, locusts, mice, vermin, [260] and so forth will appear on the earth and eat the crops. The karmic result equivalent to the action is that one will experience the loss of one’s wealth.
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of sexual misconduct, bad-smelling herbs and forests will grow on the earth.[261] The karmic result equivalent to the action is entering the state of a prosperous layman or laywoman. In this regard, there are three avadānas: the avadāna of Śvabhrapāda; the avadāna of Susudhī, the unfaithful wife of the king of Benares; and the avadāna of Kālodāyin[262] in his former rebirth in Devāvataraṇa.[263]
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of lying F.292.a come diseases of the mouth and throat,[264] bad breath, and so forth. The karmic result equivalent to the action is that one will be deceived by lies.[265]
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of slander, painful sensations arise from the touch of pebbles and gravel on the ground. The karmic result equivalent to the action is that one’s servants and retinue are likely to be divisive.[266]
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of harsh speech, winds carrying dust and dirt will rise, and heavy rains and so forth will fall to the ground. The karmic result equivalent to the action is that one will hear unpleasant sounds and see unpleasant sights.
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of idle talk, high and low grounds, deep valleys, ravines, precipices, and so forth will materialize.[267] The karmic result equivalent to the action is that no one will believe one’s words.[268]
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of covetousness, fruits, as well as the seed heads of barley, wheat, and so forth, will be small. These and other faults of awn and stalk will be rife. The karmic result equivalent to the action is that one’s possessions will be carried off by strangers.[269]
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of malice, the field crops and fruits will be pungent and bitter. The karmic result equivalent to the action is that one will see repulsive things.[270]
“Through the karmic ripening of the nonvirtuous action of wrong views, small fruits that are poisonous and putrid smelling,[271] and so forth, or no fruits at all, will appear.[272] The karmic result equivalent to the action is that one will be a nihilist and believe in the treatises of the nihilists,[273] the wrong view of annihilation[274] or that of the materialists,[275] and other wrong views.
“The more one cultivates the courses of the ten nonvirtuous actions, the stronger they become.[277] Therefore, during the eon of the universe’s dissolution, even if there are sesame seeds, no sesame oil can be produced; even if there is sugarcane, no sugarcane juice can be produced; even if there is sugarcane juice, no sugarcane molasses and no sugar can be produced; even if one has a cow, it will not produce any milk;F.292.b and even if one has milk, no butter will be produced.[278] In this way, as an effect of the karmic ripening of the ten nonvirtuous actions, external things will deteriorate.[279]
[280]“By way of correctly adopting the ten virtuous courses of action, the external world[281] will thrive. What are the ten?
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up killing living beings, the productivity[282] and vitality of the soil will not be lacking.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up stealing, no mice and worms will appear, and no hail and no famines, and so forth, will occur.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up sexual misconduct, no deposit of dirt and dust, no wind, and no torrential rains will occur.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up lying, no unpleasant smells will occur.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up slander, ravines, precipices, swamps, cesspits,[283] and ditches will not appear.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up harsh speech, one’s feet will not come into contact with pebbles, gravel, and potsherds.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up trivial talk, no thickets of grass, impenetrable forests, or thickets of thorns will appear.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up covetousness, field crops and so forth will always bear fruit.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up ill will, harvests will be abundant, and the fruits and seeds will not be bitter and pungent.
“Through the karmic ripening of giving up wrong views, one will not get seeds that produce no or only very small fruits. By way of properly engaging in these ten virtuous courses of action, the ten external kinds of things will flourish.
[284]“Now, regarding killing, one should know that ten evil consequences will ensue. What are the ten? One will have many enemies; one will see F.293.a repugnant things; one will have immoral thoughts that will lead to the destruction of living beings; one will sleep feeling uneasy;[285] one will wake up feeling uneasy; one will have bad dreams; at the time of one’s death one’s mind will be clouded; one will feel remorse; one will do and accumulate actions that lead to a short lifespan; and after one has died,[286] one will fall into the lower realms of existence, into evil destinies—one will be reborn in the hell realms.
“Regarding stealing, one should know that there are ten evil consequences. What are the ten? One will receive enmity; one will have qualms; one will wander about at inappropriate times, for instance at nighttime; one will associate with bad friends; one will be abandoned by good friends; one’s ethics will be faulty; one will receive harm through regal punishment; one will receive harm through penalty; one will do and accumulate actions that lead to being bereft of one’s wealth; and after one has died, one will fall into the lower realms of existence, into evil destinies—one will be reborn in the hell realms.
“Regarding sexual misconduct, one should know that there are ten evil consequences. What are the ten? Those who sleep with others’ wives will likely be attacked by Māra; there will be quarreling with one’s partner;[287] one’s nonvirtuous characteristics will increase; one’s virtuous characteristics will starkly diminish, and eventually they will be lost completely; one will be unable to hide and to protect oneself, one’s children,[288] one’s wife, or one’s wealth; one will have pangs of conscience; one will not be trusted by one’s close friends, family members,[289] paternal relatives,[290] or maternal relatives;[291] one will do and accumulate actions that will lead to committing adultery and the like; and after one has died, one will fall into the lower realms of existence, into evil destinies—one will be reborn in the hell realms.
“Regarding lying, one should know that there are ten evil consequences. What are the ten? One will have bad breath; F.293.b the deities will leave one’s body;[292] nonhuman beings will seek an opportunity to harm; even when one speaks the truth, as a liar one will not be trusted; one will speak even more lies; in matters that one must accept on faith, one will not think it necessary to consult the experts; one will praise, extol, and voice untruth; poetry will be nonexistent; one’s words will not be received sympathetically;[293] one will do and accumulate the action of slandering; and after one has died, one will fall into the lower realms of existence, into evil destinies—one will be reborn in the hell realms.
“Regarding the loss of mindfulness induced by drinking beer made from fermented barley and other intoxicating liquors,[294] thirty-six evil consequences should be known. What are the thirty-six? In this lifetime one’s wealth will be lost; one will become a ground for disease; quarrels, fights, and conflicts will increase; one will expose oneself; one will disgrace oneself; one’s intelligence will deteriorate; one will not obtain new possessions; one will completely lose the possessions that one has acquired; one will preach secrets in public; one will fail in carrying out one’s duties; one will become a source of suffering for others; one will become weak; one will have disrespect toward one’s mother; one will have disrespect toward one’s father; one will have disrespect toward śramaṇas;[295] one will have disrespect toward brāhmaṇas; one will pay no respect to the head of the family; one will have no reverence toward the Buddha; one will have no reverence toward the Dharma; one will have no reverence toward the Saṅgha; one will be associated with bad friends; one will be completely abandoned by virtuous friends; one will become shameless; one will become immodest; one will become someone who has no self-control;[296] one’s mindfulness with regard to women will fail;[297] one will appear unattractive to many; one will be in disharmony with many people;F.294.a one will be loathed by one’s paternal and maternal relatives and the noble ones; one will ardently embrace what is not the true Dharma; one ardently abandons the true Dharma; one will not want to pay attention to the experts; one will indolent regarding what one should be careful about; one will be far away from nirvāṇa; one will do and accumulate actions that lead to intoxication;[298] and after one has died, one will fall into the lower realms of existence, into evil destinies—one will be reborn in the hell realms.
[299]“There are ten[300] blessings of paying homage at a tathāgata’s stūpa with one’s palms joined in reverence.[301] What are the ten? One will obtain birth in a distinguished family,[302] an excellent body, and a large entourage of servants, and one will receive plentiful offerings and veneration; one will obtain extensive wealth, great erudition, great faith, an excellent fragrance, great intelligence, and great wisdom. These are the ten blessings of paying homage at a tathāgata’s stūpa with one’s palms joined in reverence.[303]
“There are ten blessings of prostrating[304] to a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One’s body will be pleasing and will have a color like that of gold; it will be attractive and lovely to behold; one will have a pleasant voice, and one’s words will be creditable; one will move fearlessly in an assembly; one will be dear to gods and humans; one will be a very charismatic person with considerable prestige;[305] the buddha-bhagavāns, the bodhisattvas, and the Buddha’s hearers will be one’s company; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of prostrating at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
[306]“There are ten blessings of sweeping at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One’s body will be pleasing, a pleasure to look at, and beautiful, and one will have a pleasant voice; one’s attachment, hatred, and ignorance F.294.b will diminish; when one walks on a path, there will be no grass, gravel, or pebbles; one will be born into a noble family; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of sweeping at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
“There are ten blessings of offering a parasol at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One will be like a parasol in the world; one’s body will never be scorched by heat; one’s mind, too, will not be distressed;[307] one will become a support for the world;[308] one will do and accumulate actions that lead to becoming a sovereign; one will obtain the empire of a wheel-turning monarch; one will become a powerful notability; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a parasol at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
“There are ten blessings of offering a bell at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One’s body will be pleasing; one will have a pleasant voice; one will speak charmingly; one’s speech will become like the voice of the kalaviṅka bird; one’s words will be received sympathetically;[309] one will become exceedingly happy; one will hear delightful, sublime sounds;[310] one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a bell at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
[311]“There are ten blessings of offering a flag[312] at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One will be like a victory banner in the world; one’s close friends, family members, paternal relatives, and maternal relatives will show one respect, and one will be revered, venerated, and worshiped by them; one’s glory, praise, renown, and good reputation will manifest in all directions; F.295.a one will have a pleasing body and will be a pleasure to look at and beautiful; in one’s future lives one will have a long lifespan, and one will stay long; one will become a powerful notability; one will be born into a noble family; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a flag at tathāgata’s stūpa.
“There are twelve[313] blessings of offering garments[314] at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the twelve? One will be beautiful and lovely to behold; one will have skin that is soft, silken, and fine; dust and dirt will be unable to stick to one’s body; one will possess fine carpets; one will possess fine clothes; one will have a conscience; one will be endowed with decorum;[315] one will be delightful to look at; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the twelve blessings of offering garments at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
“There are ten blessings of offering a flower at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One will become like a flower in the world;[316] one’s sense of smell will never deteriorate;[317] one’s body will never smell bad; one’s body will exude fragrance; the fine fragrance of moral discipline will pervade the cardinal and intermediate directions; worldly deities will gather and surround one;[318] one will obtain all attractive qualities; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a flower at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
“There are ten blessings of offering a garland at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One will become garland-like in the world;[319] one’s body F.295.b will never smell bad; the fine fragrance of moral discipline will pervade the cardinal and intermediate directions; one will always be fragrant; one will always be adorned; one’s entourage will be undivided; one will be appealing to women;[320] one will enjoy vast resources; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a garland at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
“There are ten blessings of offering a light at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One will become like a lamp in the world; one’s physical eyes will be completely purified;[321] one will become clairvoyant;[322] the wisdom to discriminate virtuous and nonvirtuous qualities will emerge;[323] ignorance and the darkness of mental obscuration will be cleared away; the light of wisdom will dawn; even while wandering in saṃsāra, one will not be in darkness;[324] one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a lamp at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
“There are ten blessings of offering scented water[325] at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? One will become perfume-like in the world; one’s sense of smell will be completely purified; one’s body will never smell bad; one will always be fragrant; one’s body will be pleasing; worldly deities will gather and surround one; one will obtain all attractive qualities;[326] one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering scented water at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
[327]“There are ten blessings of offering music and cymbals at a tathāgata’s stūpa. What are the ten? F.296.a One’s body will be pleasing and lovely to behold; one will have a pleasant voice; one’s speech will be charming; one will be famous; one’s words will be creditable; one will always be joyful; one will obtain an exalted voice that pleases all; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering music and cymbals at a tathāgata’s stūpa.
[328]“There are eighteen blessings of erecting[329] a tathāgata stūpa. What are the eighteen? One will be born in a noble family; one’s body will be pleasing; it will be beautiful and a feast for the eyes;[330] one will become a powerful notability; one will have a very large retinue; one’s entourage will be undivided; one will have great prosperity; worldly deities will gather and surround one; one will become a support for all; one’s glory, renown, and good reputation will spread throughout the ten directions; one will be celebrated by gods and humans; one will possess great riches and wealth; one will obtain the empire of a wheel-turning monarch; one’s lifespan will be long; one will have an adamantine body; one will be endowed with the major and minor physical marks; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the eighteen blessings of erecting a tathāgata stūpa.
“What are the ten blessings of offering a cushioned seat? One will enter a high rank in the world; one will become praiseworthy; one’s glory, praise, renown, and good reputation will spread far and wide; one will have much happiness and satisfaction of mind; one will be furnished with a carriage, a cushioned seat, F.296.b and servants;[331] worldly deities will gather and surround one; one will have great prosperity; one will become a powerful notability; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a cushioned seat.
“What are the ten blessings of offering shoes? One will never lack a carriage; one’s legs will be well formed; one will persevere when traveling on a road; one’s body will not get tired; when walking, one’s feet will not be injured by thorns, gravel, or rocks; one will obtain magical powers; one will have servants; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering shoes.
“What are the ten blessings of offering a bowl? One will become like a container for all good qualities of the world; one’s complexion will be radiant; one’s mindstream will be supple; one will not suffer thirst; if thirsty, water will appear; one will not be reborn among the ghosts; one will be dear to gods and humans; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a bowl.
“What are the ten blessings of offering food? One will have a long life; one will have a beautiful appearance;[332] one will be powerful; one will possess good memory and will be quick witted; one will move intrepidly in an assembly; one will easily sway the assembly in one’s favor;[333] one will be dear to gods and humans; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering food. F.297.a
“What are the ten blessings[334] of offering a vehicle? One’s feet will always be youthful; one will be surefooted;[335] when walking, the body will not get tired; one will be happy; one will not have many enemies; one will obtain the excellent four bases of magic powers; one will never be short of a means of transportation; one will have servants; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a vehicle.
[336]“The blessings of giving shelter[337] are many. What are they? The one who gives shelter will be fearless; one will obtain very soft mats and clothes; and one will obtain the five objects of sensual pleasures of gods and humans. If someone should wish, ‘May I be born into a family of a great and exalted royal lineage,’ or ‘May I be born into a family of a great and exalted brahmin lineage,’ or ‘May I be born into a family of a great and exalted householder lineage,’ then this wish will be fulfilled. Should one wish, ‘May I become the chief of a village,’ or ‘May I become the chief of a town,’ or ‘May I become the chief of a large city,’ or ‘May I become chieftain of a remote border-city,’ or ‘May I become ruler of a vassal kingdom,’ or ‘May I become a powerful monarch,’[338] then this wish will be fulfilled accordingly.
Should one wish, ‘May I become the sovereign of one continent,’ or ‘May I become the sovereign of two continents,’ or ‘May I become the sovereign of three continents,’ or ‘May I become a wheel-turning monarch,’[339] then one’s wish will be fulfilled.[340]Should one wish, ‘May I be born having equal status with the devas belonging to the retinue of the Four Great Kings,’ then this wish will be fulfilled. Or, the wish ‘May I be born having equal status with the devas of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the devas of the Yāma class, the devas of the Heaven of Joy, the devas of the Heaven of Delighting in Emanations, and the devas of the Heaven of Mastery over Others’ Emanations’ F.297.b will be fulfilled. Should one wish, ‘May I be born having equal status with devas belonging to Brahmā’s Retinue,’[341] then this wish will be fulfilled. Or, the wish ‘May I be born having equal status with the devas of the heavens called Brahmā’s Ministers, Great Brahmās, Limited Radiance, Boundless Radiance, Luminous Radiance, Limited Virtue, Boundless Virtue, Perfect Virtue, Cloudless, Abundance of Merit, Great Fruit, None Greater, Sorrowless,Beautiful, Delightful Appearance, and those of the Highest Heaven” will be fulfilled.
Should one wish, ‘May I be born having equal status with the devas belonging to the Sphere of Infinity of Space, the Sphere of Infinity of Consciousness, the Sphere of Nothingness,[342] and the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Nonperception,’ then this wish will be fulfilled. Should one wish, ‘May I attain the fruit of becoming a stream enterer,’ then this wish will be fulfilled. Should one wish, ‘May I attain the fruit of becoming a once-returner, a non-returner, and an arhat, and may I attain the awakening of a pratyekabuddha,’[343] then this wish will be fulfilled. Should one wish, ‘May I completely awaken to the unsurpassed completely perfect awakening,’ then this wish will be fulfilled. These are the many blessings of offering shelter.
“What are the ten blessings of offering a beverage? All one’s sense faculties will be complete; one will have a bright forehead,[344] and one’s face will be as if always smiling;[345] one will be endowed with merit; one’s mindstream will be supple; one will not suffer thirst; even when thirsty, water will appear; one will not be reborn as a ghost; one will have great prosperity; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of offering a beverage.
“What are the ten blessings[346] of monastic renunciation? F.298.a The one who renounces will not hanker after offspring, a spouse, or riches; one will not be in the grip of desire; one will delight in living in a forest as a recluse; one will be devoted to the Buddha; one will avoid the realm of Māra;[347] one will thoroughly strive for those qualities that cause one to obtain the happy, higher realms of existence and avoid those qualities that cause one to fall into the lower realms of existence; one will desire nothing, either from gods or from humans;[348] one will always become a nun or monk in the Buddha’s teaching; one will be reborn in heaven; and one will quickly attain complete nirvāṇa. These are the ten blessings of monastic renunciation.
“What are the ten blessings of retreating to the forest life?[349] One will leave behind society;[350] one will resort to[351] strict seclusion; one’s mind will focus on contemplation;[352] one will aspire to the state of the buddha-bhagavāns; joy, happiness and gladness will arise in the body; obstacles will not occur; one will develop full understanding of the meaning of the Dharma as one has received it; one will reach calm abiding; and one will reach insight.[353] These are the ten blessings of retreating to the forest life.
“What are the ten blessings of living on alms?[354] One will become accustomed to walking; one will become familiar with one’s alms round; one’s arrogance will be cut off; one applies oneself purposefully for one’s gain; one will firmly establish others in virtue; one will elucidate[355] the teachings of the Buddha; one will make them shine for future generations;[356] one will not cause harm[357] for one’s companions in the holy life; one will establish a humble attitude; and for the well-disciplined ascetic, alms will manifest without obstruction.[358]
“What are the ten blessings of the ten kinds of confidence? With confidence one enters a village; with confidence one leaves the village; F.298.b with confidence one enters into homes;[359] with confidence one teaches the Dharma in an assembly; with confidence one appears among the saṅgha; with confidence one approaches one’s preceptor and teacher; with confidence one approaches[360] one’s disciples with kind thoughts; with confidence one uses one’s permitted possessions: robes, begging bowl, bedding, and medicine to cure illnesses; with confidence one loudly performs one’s recitations;[361] and with confidence one passes away at the time of death.[362]
“Brahmin youth, it is like this: beings are owners of their own actions, they originate from their actions, they are heirs of their actions, and they take action as their refuge. Beings are divided into high, middle, and low by their actions. From now on, honor what I have said!”
When the Buddha had finished this discourse on Dharma, the brahmin youth Śuka developed faith in the Bhagavān and said, “Gautama, when you intend to go to the houses of other lay people in Śrāvastī, I beg you to consider also going to the house of my father, the brahmin Taudeya.[363] This will lead to happiness and benefit in the house of the brahmin Taudeya for a long time.” By remaining silent, the Bhagavān consented to the brahmin youth Śuka’s request. Then, when the brahmin youth Śuka recognized that the Bhagavān had consented through silence, he was delighted about the Bhagavān’s teachings. Having rejoiced, he departed from the Bhagavān.
“The Exposition of Karma” is complete.Notes
MS[A] reads anāthapiṇḍa.
backThe Sanskrit adds the patronymic Taudeyaputra to Śuka’s name (Lévi 1932, p. 29).
backD: bram ze’i bu; H bram ze’i khye’u. The Tibetan bram ze’i bu corresponds to the Sanskrit māṇavaka (see Kudo 2004, pp. 8 and 26; Mvy [Sakaki 3846]). Bhikkhu Bodhi translates the Pāli māṇava as “student” (see Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi 2009, p. 1053).
backAccording to the Tibetan (las rnam par ’byed pa bstan gyis). The Sanskrit reads Karmavibhaṅgaṃ te Māṇavaka dharmaparyāyaṃ deśayiṣyāmi (“Son, I will teach you the discourse on Dharma [called] The Exposition of Karma”). (Lévi 1932, p. 29; Kudo 2004, p. 27: MS[B] only, MS[A] omits.)
backThe terms translated here are well-known Buddhist terms in the context of the teachings on karma, and our translation follows the Sanskrit and Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation of the Pāli Cūḷakammavibhaṅgasutta (see Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi 2009, pp. 1053–54). Here the Tibetan seems to be literally saying “[beings] exist as their own actions” or “[beings] become their own actions” (sems can rnams bdag gi las las su gyur ba). The terms given in the Tibetan translation do not follow the standard translation equivalents given in Mvy (Sakaki 2313): las bdag gyir byed pa for karmasvakaḥ.
backThe Tibetan text deviates from the standard translation of karmayoniḥ, las kyi skye gnas pa (see Mvy [Sakaki 2315]). Also, the order in which the terms are presented differs from the Sanskrit editions, where karmadāyāda (see #UT22084-072-038-81) stands before karmayoni (Lévi 1932, p. 30; Kudo 2004, pp. 26 and 27).
backAgain, the Tibetan differs from the standard terminology of Mvy (Sakaki 2314), which gives las kyi bgo skal la spyod pa for karmadāyādaḥ.
backHere, the expression “they take action as their refuge” means that action is the basis for beings’ destiny in the sense that actions determine who one is or who one will become. The Sanskrit reads karmapratiśaraṇa (Lévi 1932, p. 30; Kudo 2004, p. 26, MS[A]; p. 27, MS[B], has a lacuna here). See Mvy (Sakaki 2316): karmapratisaraṇam = las brten par bya ba. According to Edgerton, this is a bahuvṛhi compound (BHSD, s.v. “pratisaraṇa”). The entire phrase is well known from the Pāli Canon (MN III, 203,4–6): Kammassakā, māṇava, sattā kammadāyādā kammayonī kammabandhū kammapaṭisaraṇā. Kammaṃ satte vibhajati yad idaṃ hīnappaṇītatāyāti. See Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi 2009, p. 1053: “Student, beings are owners of their actions, heirs of their actions; they originate from their actions, are bound to their actions, have their actions as their refuge. It is action that distinguishes beings as inferior and superior.”
backThe Sanskrit text first gives a list of all the categories that are to be analyzed and presented in detail in the main body of the text; see Lévi 1932, pp. 30–32. This list is absent in the Tibetan translation.
backThe Sanskrit additionally reads “welcoming the death of an enemy” (amitramaraṇābhinandanaṃ) here.
backThis very likely refers to the practice of abortion (Sanskrit garbhaśātana). However, we have opted for a more literal translation of the Tibetan.
backOur translation of this sentence largely follows the Sanskrit. The commentarial gloss on the Sanskrit reads as follows: “The children [lit. sons] and grandchildren of the originator of this sacrifice, as well as other people, hoping for a [positive, i.e., desired] result [of the ritual action of sacrifice] or filled with fear [i.e., of potential negative consequences of not performing the sacrifice], [will] kill many beings as they continue [this initial sacrifice]” (tasya yajñapravartakasya putrāḥ pautrāś cānye ca janāḥ phalārthino bhayabhītāś cānuvṛttiṃ kurvāṇāḥ sattvān nirghātayanti, Lévi 1932, p. 32; see Kudo 2004, pp. 36 and 37, with slightly different reading in MS[B] without, however, altering the meaning). The sense of repetition and thus establishing an act as a custom or tradition (anuvṛttiṃ √kṛ) is borne out by the illustrative story that follows.
backFollowing the reading of D: sgos kyis (see Jäschke 1972, s.vv. “sgos” and “phyir”). Y and K read dgos kyis?
backAccording to the Sanskrit, all editions of which read yuddhadarśanaṃ (Lévi 1932, p. 33; Kudo 2004, pp. 40 and 41). Tibetan reads dmag (“army” or “host”), the expected translation equivalent of which, according to Mvy, is the Sanskrit senā, etc.
backC reads mang por dog pa. If dog pa could be read as synonymous with nyam nga (“fear, despair; harm”), C should be read and the Degé reading corrected: “[Seeing] a sacrificial ground such as this is like a battle, seeing the fear and despair in the many beings, humans and horses, and so forth [that are going to be killed].”
backLévi translates, “and furthermore congratulating the men engaged in battle on their equipment” (et aussi les félicitations à propos des armes, adressées à des gens en train de se batter; Lévi 1932, p. 112).
backSee Kudo 2004, pp. 229–30, n. 2.
backThe Sanskrit editions (Lévi 1932, p. 33; Kudo 2004, pp. 40 and 41) contain an additional passage that mentions ten evil consequences (“disadvantages”) of killing living beings (without listing them) and refer to the Nandikasūtra for the full list; for the complete passage in a surviving Skt. witness of a version of the Nandikasūtra, the Āryanandikaparipṛcchāsūtra, see Vinīta 2010, pp. 109–11.
backTranslated according to Lévi’s conjecture of the Tibetan, which makes good sense; see Lévi 1932, p. 34, n. 2: dmag la sogs par sngar smos pa thams cad bzlog pa ste (“and having rejected/done the opposite of all that was said above regarding armies and so forth”). However, his conjecture (smon pa to smos pa) seems not to be backed by any edition of the Kangyur that we have consulted, i.e., Narthang (in Lévi 1932, p. 185), K, D, and the critical apparatus of the Comparative Edition.
backThe Tibetan here, and throughout, has only two terms, mchod rten and gtsug lag khang, where the Sanskrit specifies three objects: stūpa, caitya, and vihāra. According to Mvy (Sakaki 6999, 7000), the Tibetan mchod rten should be used to translate both the Sanskrit stūpa and caitya. The Sanskrit word caitya can refer to a stūpa, but also to a shrine, a sacred place, or any sacred object. Thus, in addition to the place where the Buddha Śākyamuni attained awakening (the bodhimaṇḍa) and other sacred sites associated with the life of the Buddha, it can also designate non-Buddhist shrines or sacred sites (see Drewes 2007, p. 103).
backTibetan zhig cing ral ba literally means “that which has dilapidated and/or was torn down.”
backA, D: tshe ’phrog bdud (literally, perhaps, “life-stealing demon”). This seems to be a gloss of the variations in Y, K, J, and N: ye ’grog and C: ye ’brog. According to Rolf A. Stein (see McKeown 2010, pp. 21, 34, 267, and specifically, 61–62), ye ’brog/ye ’drog/yen ’brog (the latter seemingly a phonetically influenced variant spelling) is Chinese vocabulary for ’dre gdon, a kind of evil spirit, demon, or demonic force that causes premature death and misery. (For the translations “contagious disease,” “injury inflicted on the soul,” and “harm done to the mind,” see Jäschke [1972, s.v. “ye ’brog”], who gives Milarepa’s songs and oral explanation as his sources.) The Sanskrit reads akālamṛtyur, “premature death” (Lévi 1932, p. 34; Kudo 2004, pp. 42 and 43). Thus it seems likely that the explanatory gloss tshe ’phrog bdud refers to more or less specific demonic forces (the ’dre) traditionally believed to steal the life force and cause sudden accidents and untimely death.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit does not mention anger.
backReading Y and K: de ni thal mo dang khu tshur gyis mi rteg pa dang; D and other versions omit mi.
backThis translation follows Lévi (1932, p. 37: “donner des remèdes et aussi des aliments digestibles”) and the Sanskrit parijīrṇabhojanaṃ. The Tibetan kha zas zhu nas stobs pa (literally “Having digested food, [they regain their] strength”) is not clear.
backThe core meaning of the Sanskrit term varṇa (Tibetan kha dog) is “color.” In a particular sense (from as early as the Ṛgveda), it can mean the color of skin or complexion, thus the derived meanings of “species,” “class of people,” and “caste” (Mayrhofer 1976, p. 154, s.v. “várṇaḥ”). It seems that it can also refer to the general appearance or figure of a person, and it is this latter sense that is probably intended here. Lévi interprets the Sanskrit durvarṇa (Kudo 2004, p. 52) as “disgracieux” (Lévi 1932, p. 115). The following paragraph makes it clear that the Tibetan mdzes (“beautiful,” for suvarṇa) refers to a general physical feature or appearance. See also Lévi 1932, p. 37, n. 2, where he refers to plate 21 of Borobudur’s hidden base, which is inscribed with virūpa and shows representations of people with deformations.
backAccording to Mvy (Sakaki 1964), the translation equivalent of the Tibetan ’tshig pa should be the Sanskrit pradāsa. Lévi prints the variant pradāśaḥ (Lévi 1932, pp. 37–38 and n. 2), but MS[A] has paridādya, which according to Kudo should be read as paridāgha (Kudo 2004, p. 52, n. 5). Edgerton prefers the reading paridāgha over pradāsa (see BHSD, s.v. “pradāsa”). Other Abhidharma lists of the upakleśas read pradāśa/pradāsa (see, e.g., Abhidh-k-bh 57,4 [= AKK II.27b] and 313,12 [= AKK V.50a]).https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4089.htmlhttps://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.htmlPradāśa (and its variants pradāsa/paridāgha) is a Buddhist Sanskrit word. Perhaps its etymological meaning, as reflected in the Tibetan translation ’tshig pa, is “burnt” or “smolder(ing),” which may hint at an underlying feeling of suppressed or concealed anger. Kenjiu Kasawara’s translation of the Dharmasaṃgraha has “contentiousness” for pradāśa (see Müller and Wenzel 1885, no. 69: Sanskrit p. 14 [pradāśa]; English translation p. 50). Someone whose anger is “smoldering” beneath the surface may consequently be more quarrelsome, i.e., more easily given to animosity, malice, and spite. The word “contentiousness,” however, does not seem to hit the appropriate linguistic register.
backThis translates the (lexicalized) variant reading skyang nul in Y and H (D: rkyang nul). See Jäschke 1972, s.v. “skyang nul.” The Sanskrit text reads sudhādānaṃ, “donating” (Kudo 2004, p. 52; Lévi 1932, p. 38; see also #UT22084-072-038-122).
backTibetan rdo thal (“limestone,” “chalk,” or “ashes”). Sanskrit reads stūpacaityagṛheṣu ca sudhādānaṃ, which may suggest chalk or lime (sudhā). Lévi (1932, p. 115) translated, “donner du plâtre pour les stūpas, les maisons à caitya.” This sentence may refer to the practice of whitewashing a stūpa, a ceremony that can still be witnessed today in the Kathmandu valley at the stūpas of Svayambhūnāth and Bodhanāth.
backThe Tibetan sdug gu here translates the Sanskrit suvarṇa, which can also mean “golden.”
backTibetan mthu chung ba, Sanskrit alpeśākhya, Pāli appesakkha(ttaṃ). See Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation “uninfluential” (Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi 2009, p. 1056). The Buddhist Sanskrit alpeśākhya (Pāli appesakkha) (see CPD, s.v. “appesakkha”; BHSD, s.v. “alpeśākhya”) originally means “unrespected, insignificant, of little esteem.” The scholarly consensus is that the Middle Indic form of the term is derived from an original Sanskrit form alpa-/mahā-yaśas-ka. Two forms are attested in the early Buddhist Sanskrit texts: alpa-/mahāśakya and alpe-/maheśākhya. The occurrence of either term can serve as an indicator of a text’s affiliation with the Sarvāstivādin or the Mūlasarvāstivādin school. The form alpa-/mahāśakya is surmised by Edgerton to have originated as a folk-etymological alteration of alpe-/maheśākhya (see BHSD, s.v. “mahāśakya”). The traditional analysis of the term, however, is alpa-īśa-ākhya (maheśākhya being an analogous formation), literally perhaps “named after an insignificant chief or master, of low origin” (Apte, s.v. “alpa-”). This meaning is reflected in the standardized Tibetan translation given in Mvy (Sakaki 6412): dbang chung bar grags pa.
backSanskrit dharmahīne, Tibetan chos ngan pa. The Tibetan expression is usually translated as “inferior doctrines.” Here, the Sanskrit equivalent seems rather to imply that something or someone outside of Dharma is referred to (see pw, s.vv, “a-dharma,” “dharma-hīna”).
backThe Sanskrit (Kudo 2004, p. 56) reads parasya yaśovarṇṇaśabdaślokaśravanena [sic] tuṣṭiḥ (“being gratified when hearing about others’ glory, praise, renown, and good reputation”). The Tibetan gzhan gyi grags dang sgra dang tshig su bcad pa snyan pa thos na seems not to have translated Sanskrit varṇa (“praise, renown, glory”; Tibetan brjod pa) here, while in later paragraphs we find the list extended by brjod pa (“praise”). See #UT22084-072-038-570 (grags pa dang brjod pa dang sgra dang tshigs su bcad pa), #UT22084-072-038-594 (brjod pa dang / sgra dang tshigs su bcad pa), and #UT22084-072-038-598 (grags pa dang / brjod pa dang / sgra dang tshigs su bcad pa). This variation in translating a stock phrase supports the assumption that the extant text of the Karmavibhaṅga is a text that grew over time, i.e., passages and paragraphs were added on at different times. Nonetheless, grags pa can translate both the Sanskrit yaśas and varṇa, which indeed share the same sense (“praise, renown, glory”) in Sanskrit.
backWe have supplied the word “commemoration” here to form an intelligible English sentence. The Tibetan reads, “Erecting a stūpa of/for the Bhagavān” (bcom ldan ’das kyi mchod rten … brtsigs pa). The Sanskrit expresses a causative sense (-kārāpaṇa, “causing to be built”): “commissioning the building of shrines and stūpas [in commemoration] of the Bhagavān” (bhagavānaś caityastūpakārāpaṇaṃ).
backAccording to the Tibetan reading of D. Neither the Tibetan (dge ba’i rtsa ba thams cad kyis mthu chen por sems bskyed pa ste) nor the corresponding Sanskrit (sarvamaheśākhyakuśalamūlaṃ bodhicittotpādanaṃ; Kudo 2004, p. 56—we have normalized Kudo’s transcription of the Sanskrit manuscript MS[A]) are clear. The Tibetan has only sems bskyed pa (cittotpāda), instead of byang chub kyi sems bskyed pa for bodhicittotpādana, and the syntax is parallel to the immediately preceding sentence (i.e., mthu chen po + la-don followed by sems bskyed pa). The Tibetan of D here seems to have preserved the better reading. The Sanskrit bodhicittotpādana does not make much sense in this context, and we think that bodhi- is a later addition. Lévi (1932, p. 39) edited the Sanskrit to read sarvamaheśākhyakuśalamūle bodhicittotpādanaṃ (Lévi’s copy seems to have read sarvamaheśākhyakuśalamūle instead of -mūlaṃ) and translated as “produire la Pensée de toutes les Racines-de-bien qui font les grands personnages” (to produce the thought [of awakening] from all the roots of good which make (the) great persons). However, Lévi (1932, p. 39, n. 4) refers to bas-relief 43 of the hidden base of the Borobudur, which bears the inscription maheśākhya (“distinguished, exalted, eminent, powerful”) and portrays a life of luxury. For a similar idea, see verse 18, chapter 31 of the Prajñāpāramitāratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā (Yuyama 1976, p. 128: tatu vardhate kuśala–mūla mahānubhāvo candro v’ an-abhru prabha-maṇḍala śukla-pakṣo, and the Tibetan translation of it in the Dunhuang recension: de-las dge-ba’i rtsa-ba mthu-chen ’phel ’gyur-te/ /sprin med zla ba yar ngo’i ’od kyi dkyil ’khor bzhin (Yuyama 1976, p. 190) (“From that his wholesome root grows into something of great might; As the moon, in the absence of cloud, is a circle of radiant light in the bright half of the lunar month”; translation Conze 1975, p. 70). Z reads dge ba’i rtsa ba chung ngu rgyun mi gcod pa dang / dge ba’i rtsa ba chen po yang dag par ’dzin du ’jug pa’o (“Not interrupting the continuous accumulation of lesser (or small? chung ngu) roots of merit; causing [someone] to take up/engage in the [accumulation of the] greater roots of merit”). It is not clear to us, however, what the lesser and greater roots of merit would be. See the extant Central Asian Sanskrit fragment from Eastern Turkestan (the Śukasūtra; Lévi 1932, pp. 235–36): [mahā-]śakyāt kuśalamūlād vicchandanam alpaśakyānāṁ pudgalānāṁ paribhavaḥ (“discouraging [vicchandana; for this Buddhist Sanskrit word, see Wogihara 1971, p. 37 and Mvy (Sakaki 6527): vicchandyati] [someone] from [accumulating] powerful roots of merit; having contempt for persons with little power”). In any case, the passage seems to point to the idea of dedicating one’s accumulated merit to the attainment of worldly happiness, wealth, and greatness with which comes worldly power and authority.
backTibetan rim gro is generally translated as “respect” or “honor.” Here, however, the meaning “to serve” or “to attend on” can be confirmed by the corresponding Sanskrit (a-)pratyupaṣṭhānaṃ in MS[A] (Kudo 2004, p. 58), used here in its meaning as found in the Pāli suttas: paccupaṭṭhāna (“tending to”). See PED, s.v.; BHSD, s.v. “pratyupasthāna (2).”
backThis sūtra has not been identified. A similar passage, however, can be found in the Pāli Aṅguttara Nikāya of the Sutta Piṭaka (AN III, 244–45). See Kudo 2004, p. 240, n. 10; Lévi 1932, p. 40, n. 3.
backAccording to the Tibetan, which uses grong (“village”) in the first sentence and rigs (= Sanskrit kula) in the following sentences. The Sanskrit (Lévi 1932, p. 40; Kudo 2004, p. 60) reads kula (“family, household, house community”). In Old and Classical Sanskrit, the term refers to all the people with whom one shares meals (German Speisegemeinschaft), which in traditional societies may exceed the modern, so-called (nuclear) family; thus we have opted for “community.”
backThe Tibetan longs spyod chung ba literally means “(having) few possessions/little wealth.”
backThe Tibetan ma byin par len pa (Sanskrit adattādāna) literally means “taking what was not given.”
backThe Sanskrit has only tadabhyanumodanam, “taking pleasure in stealing” (Kudo 2004, p. 60). An alternative translation of the Tibetan may be “taking pleasure in stolen goods” (ma byin par blangs pas dga’ ba).
backThe Tibetan reads shes rab chung ba. The Tibetan translation equivalent of the Sanskrit duṣprajña prescribed by the Mvy is shes rab ’chal ba “misconception, wrong understanding” (see Mvy [Sakaki 2470]).
backAccording to the Sanskrit, which adds paṇḍitān (Kudo 2004, pp. 64 and 65, MS[A] and MS[B], respectively; Lévi 1932, p. 41).
backThis sentence (chos ma yin pa ni gang yin) is missing in Y, J, K, N, and C.
backThe Sanskrit reads, “What is Dharma/right? Practicing which Dharma promotes happiness?” (Lévi 1932, p. 41: ko dharmaḥ kiṃ dharmaṃ kurvataḥ śreyaskaram iti; Kudo 2004, pp. 64 and 65).
backThis translates the variant reading sten in Y, J, K, and N. D has bston, which seems to be corroborated by the Sanskrit (both MS[A] and MS[B]; Kudo 2004, pp. 64 and 65, respectively) sevati (“to stay/remain with someone”; “to associate with someone”).
backThis is a free translation of the Tibetan ’jungs pa’i sems yod pas, corresponding to the Sanskrit abhiniveśa in the extant Sanskrit editions.
backD reads glegs bam ’dri ba. The better reading is perhaps that of Y and K: bri ba.
backAccording to the Tibetan (yongs su ’dri phod pa). The Sanskrit term paripṛcchakajātīyaḥ “inclined to inquire/ a questioner” occurs in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, published on the website Bibliotheca Polyglotta by the University of Oslo, accessed December 6, 2019. See also Gareth Sparham, trans., The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022).
backAccording to the Sanskrit of MS[B] (Kudo 2004, p. 69): dharmabhāṇakānāṃ vaiśāradyaṃ varṇṇayati. MS[A] (Kudo 2004, p. 68) reads varddhaya{ṃ}ti, which according to Kudo (2004, p. 68, n. 10) is a scribal error for varṇṇayanti. The Tibetan chos smra ba rnams la mi ’jigs pa nye bar sgrub pa dang does seems to be a standard translation of the Sanskrit; nye bar sgrub suggests some form of the Sanskrit upa + √hṛ (see Mvy [Sakaki 6395]: upasaṃhāra).
backSanskrit sahita literally means “connected, sensible, coherent, reasonable” (see BHSD, s.v. “sahita”: “of speech, connected, coherent, sensible”), which seems to be the sense chosen by the Tibetan translators. The Sanskrit could also be interpreted as “one applauds/acclaims those who speak what is beneficial/good [for others] (sa-hita), and one avoids those who speak what is unbeneficial/not good (a-hita) [for others]” (sahitabhāṣiṇāṃ sādhukāraṃ dadāti | ahitabhāṣiṇaḥ pariharati according to the emended Sanskrit version in Kudo 2004, p. 69, MS[B]). Lévi (1932, p. 44, n. 6) records saṁhitabhāṣitānām; according to Kudo’s new transliteration of MS[A], however, the part up to hita- is illegible in the manuscript (Kudo 2004, p. 68).
backTranslating Y and K smad pa instead of dmod pa (D and other Kangyur versions).
backFor “ink,” reading N, U, and H snag tsha instead of D snag tsa. D reads glegs bam dang snag tsa dang smyug gu la sogs pa’i sbyin pa byed pa, which faithfully (except that it has glegs bam, translating pustaka, first) renders the Sanskrit masīpustakalekhanīpradādāni dadāti (according to Lévi 1932, p. 44; MS[A] and MS[B] [Kudo 2004, pp. 68 and 69], give the same reading), “making gifts of ink, books (or leaves of birch bark?), and reed pens.” For the loanwords masi and pustaka, see Falk 1993, pp. 241 and 305–6 (pustaka [“skin”] perhaps meant tree bark).
backFor identification of the Nandikasūtra (Toh 334), see Kudo 2004, p. 230, n. 3; p. 233, n. 6; and p. 240, n. 13. For an English translation of the Tibetan version of the Nandikasūtra, see The Sūtra of Nandika (Toh 334). For an edition and English translation of the extant Skt. witness, the Āryanandikaparipṛcchāsūtra, see Vinīta 2010, pp. 97–114.
backMS[A] instead mentions forty faults of drinking alcohol (catvārīṃśad ādīnavāḥ madyadoṣāḥ; Kudo 2004, p. 70). The Tibetan follows MS[B].
backAccording to the Sanskrit akuśalapakṣeṇa (Lévi 1932, p. 44; Kudo 2004, pp. 70 and 71: MS[A] akuśalapakṣena; MS[B] akuśalapathe). The Tibetan reads dge ba’i phyogs su, which corresponds to kuśalapakṣeṇa (or -pakṣe?), instead of akuśalapakṣeṇa in the Sanskrit. This refers to the section below which starts with the sentence, “Regarding the loss of mindfulness induced by drinking beer made from fermented barley and other intoxicating liquors…”
backAccording to the Tibetan, which omits the Sanskrit akriyādṛṣṭiḥ (Lévi 1932, p. 44; Kudo 2004, pp. 70 and 71: MS[B] furthermore adds asatkriyāvādaḥ).
backAccording to the Sanskrit matsarivādaḥ (“one who speaks with hostility”). The Tibetan reads ser sna che ba, which one might literally translate as “(having) strong jealousy” or “great with regard to jealousy,” although that does not fit the context of the hell realms here. Edgerton’s definition in BSHD, s.v. “matsarin,” does not seem to apply here: “(Skt. id., Pali maccharin), in deśanā-°riṇaś ca Mv i.90.3, of backsliding would-be Bodhisattvas, prob. resentful of religious instruction.”
backThis well-established “Buddhist Hybrid English” term translates Tibetan (dud ’gro’i) skye gnas su, which renders Sanskrit (tiryag-)yoni, “mode/realm of existence” (German Daseinsform; see pw, s.v. “yoni”). As an alternative, one may perhaps translate this as “rebirth as an animal” or “rebirth in the animal kingdom.”
backSanskrit akalpikapradānam, Tibetan tshul dang mi ’dra (the translation equivalent of the antonym tshul dang ’dra ba according to Mvy (Sakaki 7073) is Sanskrit sārūpya): a gift that would not be appropriate with respect to the status and/or vows of its recipient.
backAccording to the Sanskrit avahasana, which means to make fun of someone by either laughing about/ridiculing or mocking a person’s ailment, condition, or disability. The Tibetan here reads phyas byed pa “to reproach, blame.”
backAccording to the Sanskrit kukkurravratika (Kudo 2004, p. 73). The Tibetan, strangely, reads bya’i brtul zhugs can (“observing a bird vow”), which is most probably a mistake in the manuscript or due to a misreading on the part of the translators, who read kukkuṭa (“cock”) instead of kukkura (“dog”) in the Sanskrit original. The “ox ascetics” and “dog ascetics” are well known from the Pāli Canon (see for example the Kukkuravatikasutta of the Majjhima Nikāya, no. 57; Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi 2009, pp. 493–97).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads atra, probably in the sense of “there” or “in that direction” (see Apte, s.v. “atra”; Lévi 1932, p. 44): atropapadyeyam iti. This appears to be a (deliberately?) warped understanding of these penance practices, the goal of which, according to the Kukkurravatikasutta (MN 57; Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi 2009, pp. 493–97), seems to have been rebirth in heaven.
backAccording to the Sanskrit, which reads avadānaṃ. The Tibetan has ched du brjod instead (= Sanskrit uddāna; see BHSD, s.v.). All available Sanskrit editions read avadānaṃ, Tibetan rtogs par brjod pa (see Lévi 1932, p. 44; Kudo 2004, pp. 72 and 73). The avadānas are illustrative moral stories of the former rebirths of the Bodhisattva Siddhārtha Gautama before becoming a buddha, in addition to the stories of other bodhisattvas.
backAccording to the Sanskrit. The translation of the following story follows the Tibetan. According to Kudo’s and Lévi’s notes, this story is not found in any of the known jātaka or avadāna collections (see Lèvi 1932, p. 44, n. 13; Kudo 2004, p. 247, n. 17). However, some version of it seems to be contained in Buddhaghosa’s commentary on the Gopakamoggallānasutta (MN 108) of the Majjhima Nikāya, Majjhimanikāyāṭṭhakathā (Majjhimanikāya-atthakathā II, 854; see also DPPN, s.v. “Vassakāra”). Here, the minister Vassakāra sees the elder Mahākassapa walking down the slope of Vulture Peak, when he makes the derogatory remark that the elder Mahākassapa looked like a monkey climbing down the hill. The Buddha reprimands him for having said this and adds that he may be reborn as a monkey if he does not apologize to the elder.
backAccording to the Tibetan, which leaves out ṛṣigiriparśvaṃ parvvataṃ (MS[A], MS[B]: girmakaparvataṃ) but otherwise corresponds almost literally to the Sanskrit (see Kudo 2004, pp. 72 and 73, respectively): “The brahmin Varṣākāra saw the elder Mahākāśyapa in the sky above the city of Rājagṛha, flying from Vulture Peak to the Mount of the Seers.”
backThe Sanskrit literally says, “he committed a wrongdoing with his speech” (vāgduścaritaṃ kṛtam).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads, “When Varṣākāra learned that the Bhagavān had said that during five hundred lives he would certainly be reborn as a monkey, he became upset and developed faith [in the Buddha]” (tatas tena Varṣākāreṇa śrutaṃ Bhagavānā nirdiṣṭas tvaṃ kila pañca janmāntaraśatāni markaṭo bhaviṣyatīti, sa saṃvignacittam prasāditavān; Sanskrit text according to Lévi’s emendation and MS[A]: Lévi 1932, p. 45; Kudo 2004, pp. 72 and 74).
backThis specification is unclear. No known story of the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa contains this episode.
backAccording to the Tibetan, which reads “where” (gang du). The Sanskrit reads “when” (kadā) in all editions.
backThe Sanskrit text of MS[B] adds “karmic ripening (of this deed)” (vipākaḥ; Kudo 2004, p. 75). Degé reads bcom ldan ’das sug las de gang du bas par ’gyur zhes zhus pa dang. The compound sug las (literally “manual work/labor,” “toil,” etc., in the sense of making or carrying out something with one’s own hands) does not seem to fit this context. We have translated it here as “deed” in accordance with its context (see the term karmabhūmi, Negi, s.v. “sug las kyi dog sa”). For bas par ’gyur (= Sanskrit kṣīyate) as an old Tibetan expression for zad pa, see Martin 2003, s.v. “bas pa.”
backAccording to the Sanskrit of MS[B]. The Tibetan interpretation of this passage is not entirely clear. This sentence is possibly corrupt. See Lévi 1932, p. 45, n. 16. The Sanskrit reads bhagavān āha. tāny eva pañca janmāntaraśatāni kiṃ tu rājagṛhe utpatsyase yathā [MS[B]: yayā] jambvā jambudvīpe jāyate [MS[A], MS[B]: jñāyate] yatroṣṭrikāmātrāṇi phalāni, yathā kṣaudramadhv aneḍakam evamāsvādāni. tatropapattir bhaviṣyati (Lévi 1932, p. 45; Kudo 2004, pp. 74 and 75). That the Rose-Apple Continent (i.e., the known human world or, more specifically, the Indian subcontinent) derives its name from the rose-apple tree(s) growing there is a well-known trope. The Tibetan here seems to say, “The Bhagavān said, ‘Through/after these five hundred lives [your karma] will be exhausted. For a short time, however, when [the jambu–?] tree in Jambudvīpa carries approximately five hundred fruits called jambū, which are sweet like honey and irresistibly tasty, you will be reborn there.” This Tibetan interpretation perhaps followed a Sanskrit version that read yadā instead of yathā, and jāyate instead of jñāyate.
backAccording to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan reads, “Then, having been reborn in Rājagṛha and died there, you will be liberated and reborn in heaven.” Lévi’s translation (1932, p. 120) of the whole section reads, “During five hundred births, you will be born in Rājagṛha; as the jambū is born only in the Jambudvīpa, where the fruit is the size of an uṣṭrikā pot, and its flavor is like that of clarified bee honey, this is where you will be born. Then you will part from there and have a good rebirth [in heaven]. (This is how the impiety of thought arises among lions.) And it is on this subject that the Most Holy pronounced this stanza.” (Pendant cinq cents naissances, tu naîtras a Rājagṛha; comme le jambū ne naît que dans le Jambudvīpa; là où les fruits ont la taille d’une cruche uṣṭrikā, et que leur saveur est comme celle du miel d’abeilles clarifié, c’est là que tu naîtras. Ensuite tu te relèveras et tu auras une bonne Destination. [C’est ainsi que l’impiété de la pensée fait naître parmi les lions.] Et c’est à ce sujet que le Très Saint a prononce cette stance.)
backThis is our tentative interpretation of the Tibetan. It is unclear what exactly this sentence refers to, but it may allude to the Siṃhajātaka mentioned above, in which the Bodhisattva is born as a lion (Haribhaṭṭa’s Jātakamālā contains a Siṃhajātaka, but it does not contain this verse). The Sanskrit editions of the Karmavibhaṅga print this sentence as belonging to the story of Varṣākāra’s rebirth as a monkey and thus to the Bhagavān’s speech. However, we fail to see the logical connection between this (or the following stanza) and the foregoing narrative. Furthermore, in the Tibetan the sentence starts with dper na (“for example”), which is regularly employed in the Karmavibhaṅga to introduce a scriptural quotation, an illustrative story, or a simile, and the Tibetan sentence is clearly signaled to end before dper na with zhes gsungs pa lta bu (“like that it was/is said”). Even Lévi’s translation is unfortunately not very helpful here: “C’est ainsi que l’impiété de la pensée fait naître parmi les lions” (Lévi 1932, p. 120; see also #UT22084-072-038-188).
backThe Sanskrit of this verse (Lévi 1932, p. 46; Kudo 2004, pp. 74 and 75) is identical with a verse from the Udānavarga: dīrghā jāgarato rātrir dīrghaṃ śrāntasya yojanam / dīrgho bālasya saṃsāraḥ saddharmam avijānataḥ (Uv I.19 = Patna-Dharmapada 185 = Dhammapada 60). The Tibetan translated here, however, differs from the Tibetan Udānavarga (ched du brjod pa’i tshoms) translation, Chapters of Utterances on Specific Topicshttps://read.84000.co/translation/toh326.html:
/mel tse byed la mtshan mo ring / /lam gyis dub la rgyang grags ring /
/dam chos rnam par mi shes pa’i/ /byis pa rnams la ’khor ba ring /
backAccording to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan reading gshin rje’i ’jig rten is confirmed by MS[A], which reads yamalokaḥ. Lévi (1932, p. 46) has adopted the reading of MS[A]. The Sanskrit of MS[B], however, reads pretaloka, which seems to be an alternative term for yamaloka (see also Tom Tillemans, trans., Questions Regarding Death and Transmigration, Toh 308 [84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2019], #UT22084-072-008-179). The inhabitants of the realm of the dead are also often designated “ghosts”; however, this particular translation is possibly more specific to a Chinese Buddhist cultural context. We have here opted for the translation “ghosts” because we see a cultural parallel in the Western concept of ghosts, but readers should keep in mind that this is the translator’s interpretation and that there are also important differences between Western and Buddhist notions of supernatural beings.
backTibetan ngan du spyad seems to be a nonstandard rendition of Sanskrit duścarita. Mvy (Sakaki 1682) lists Tibetan nyes pa spyad pa as the translation equivalent.
backEnglish translation adopted from Edgerton; see BHSD, s.v. “mithyājīva.”
backThe title of this unidentified work is according to the Sanskrit versions. The Tibetan reads brgya bsdus pa’i mdo (*Śatavargasūtra?). Lévi (1932, p. 97, n. 9) identified a partial correspondence of this citation in a passage of the Pāli Mahākammavibhaṅgasutta (MN III, 214–15). See also Kudo 2004, p. 248, n. 20.
backTentative translation. Presumably, the reader is supposed to supply “…leads to rebirth in the realm of ghosts.” The quotation nevertheless remains cryptic, and its connection to the theme of the paragraph is unclear.
backMS[B] (Kudo 2004, p. 77) reads apamāna (“contempt, disregard”; German Verachtung, Gerinschätzung; see pw, s.v.) and furthermore adds adhimāna (“conceit”; the Tibetan translation equivalent would be lhag pa’i nga rgyal but is omitted in the Tibetan), which is defined as lying about one’s spiritual accomplishments and constitutes a very grave offence according to the Vinaya.
backTibetan nga’o zhes pa’i nga rgyal literally means “the conceit ‘I [am].’ ” Mvy (Sakaki 1949) lists the variant nga’o snyam pa’i nga rgyal as standard translation equivalent for the Sanskrit asmimāna. This is defined as the pride of identifying with the five skandhas (psycho-physical aggregates that constitute the empirical person) and regarding them as “self” and “mine” based on false views.
backAccording to the Tibetan chung ba’i nga rgyal. The Sanskrit translation equivalent would be ūnamāna (see Mvy [Sakaki 1951], where the prescribed translation equivalent for Sanskrit ūnamāna is cung zad snyam pa’i nga rgyal. Ūnamāna, according to Vasubandhu (with Sthiramati’s commentary; see Jacobi 1932, pp. 33–4, commentary on Triṃśikā, v. 12a), conveys the following meaning: when encountering a person who far outshines one’s own moral and other qualities, one downplays the difference by saying that one is only slightly inferior to that person. The Sanskrit in all editions instead has mithyāmāna, “hypocrisy” (Lévi 1932, p. 47; Kudo 2004, pp. 76 and 77). Furthermore, we have here followed the Tibetan text’s listing of four different kinds of pride instead of the Sanskrit version’s five. MS[A]: mānaḥ, abhimānaḥ, adhimānaḥ, asmimānaḥ, mithyāmānaḥ; MS[B]: mānaḥ, apamānaḥ (or alpamānaḥ? see Lévi 1932, p. 47, n. 1), adhimānaḥ, asmiṃmānaḥ [sic], mithyāmānaḥ (Kudo 2004, pp. 76 and 77, respectively). For definitions of the different kinds of pride enumerated in Abhidharma literature, see Abhidh-k-bh ad V.10a = Abhidh-k-bh(P), 284,23–285,18): sapta mānāḥ māno ’timāno mānātimāno ’smimāno ’bhimāna ūnamāno mithyāmānaśca, etc. https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.htmlSee also Sthiramati’s commentary on Vasubandhu’s Triṃśikā, v. 12a (Jacobi 1932), which mentions mānaḥ, atimānaḥ, asmimānaḥ, abhimānaḥ, ūnamānaḥ, mithyāmānaḥ.
backAccording to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan leaves out asuralokopapatti[-pariṇāmitaṃ] (Lévi 1932, p. 47; Kudo 2004, pp. 76 and 77) and just reads der “[transfer to] there.”
backThe Tibetan literally means “taking what was not offered or given.”
backTibetan here translates very literally: gzhan gyi nor la chags sems su byed pa (“coveting others’ possessions”). The standardized translation according to Mvy (Sakaki 1696) is brnab sems.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit text instead positively states the cultivation of the ten virtuous actions as the cause for rebirth as a human and, unlike the Tibetan, qualifies the extent to which the ten virtuous actions have been cultivated, namely, only weakly or halfheartedly (mandabhāvita) (see Lévi 1932, p. 47; Kudo 2004, pp. 76 and 77; MS[B] in fact reads abhāvita, which is explained by Kudo as “scribal error for subhāvita”). The Sanskrit does not list the ten virtuous courses of action but merely states, “the threefold bodily actions, the fourfold vocal actions, and the threefold mental actions.”
backThe Sanskrit translation equivalent for the Tibetan ’dod pa’i khams is kāmadhātu (see Mvy [Sakaki 3072]). The Sanskrit manuscripts, however, have kāmāvacara instead (see Kudo 2004, pp. 78 and 79). The Tibetan ’dod pa’i khams na spyod pa’i lha would translate to Sanskrit as kāmadhātvāvacaradeva, which literally means “a deva whose sphere/range of activity/action is the realm of desire (kāmadhātu).”
backAn alternative translation of Tibetan nam mkha’ mtha’ yas so snyam nas may be “experiencing that space is infinite,” since conceptualization, and thus thought, is said to be suspended in these meditative states.
backThe Sanskrit editions only list the names of the four formless absorptions of the formless realm without their standard descriptions, which the Tibetan translation provides (see Lévi 1932, p. 47; Kudo 2004, pp. 78 and 79). Mvy (Sakaki 1492–95) gives the following as Sanskrit equivalents of the module describing the formless attainments: sa sarvaśo rūpasaṃjñānāṃ samatikramāt pratighasaṃjñānām astaṃgamān nānātvasaṃjñānām amanasikārād anantam ākāśam ity ākāśānantyāyatanam upasaṃpadya viharati. For an alternative rendering/interpretation, especially of the first of the four formless absorptions, see Karen Liljenberg, trans., The Question of Maitreya (1), Toh 85 (84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2016), #UT22084-044-005-30.
backThis sentence corresponds to the Sanskrit sa sarvaśa ākāśānantyāyatanaṃ samatikramyānantaṃ vijñānam iti vijñānānantyāyatanam upasaṃpadya viharati (Mvy [Sakaki 1493]).
backThis sentence corresponds to the Sanskrit sa sarvaśo vijñānānantyāyatanaṃ samatikramya nāsti kiṃcid ity ākiṃcanyāyatanam upasaṃpadya viharati (Mvy [Sakaki 1494]).
backThis sentence corresponds to the Sanskrit sa sarvaśo ākiṃcanyāyatanaṃ samatikramya naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñāyatanam upasaṃpadya viharati (Mvy [Sakaki 1495]).
backAn alternative translation for “accumulated” (Tibetan gsags pa, Sanskrit upacita) would be “increased,” “augmented,” or “intensified” (see Lévi [1932, p. 121], who translates as “est aggravé”). The abhidharmic differentiation between “action that is carried out” (karma kṛtaṃ) and “action that is accumulated” (karmopacita) is explained in detail in Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, verse IV.120 (see Abhidh-k-bh at AKK IV.120 = Abhidh-k-bh(P) 271,20–272,3; English translation La Vallée Poussin/Pruden 1988–90, pp. 701–2)https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4089.html: “Action ‘done’ (kṛta) is distinguished from ‘accumulated’ (upacita) action. What are the characteristics and conditions of accumulated action? 120. Action is termed ‘accumulated’ by reason of its intentional character, by its completion, by the absence of regret and opposition, by its accompaniments, and by its retribution.”
backAccording to the Sanskrit. “Action” (karma; las) is missing from the Tibetan text.
backAccording to the Tibetan ’gyod pa, the Sanskrit equivalent of which is, according to Mvy (Sakaki 1980), kaukṛtya. The orthography and derivation of the Sanskrit verb form āstīryati (emendation by Lévi 1932, p. 47, n. 8; MS[A] ārttīyati [Kudo 2004, p. 80]) found in the extant Sanskrit is problematic: see also the Pāli addiyati/aṭṭiyati (“to be worried, to feel loathing”; see CPD, s.vv. “addiyati,” “aṭṭiyati,” respectively); BHSD, s.v. “āstīryati,” gives only this occurrence in the Karmavibhaṅga as reference.
backA slightly variant string of verbs is found in the Sanskrit: āstīryati jihreti vigarhati vijugupsati deśayati ācaṣṭe vyaktīkaroti, “one is distressed, ashamed, offended, and disgusted by acts that one has done, and one confesses, tells, and lays it open” (Lévi 1932, pp. 47–48; Kudo 2004, pp. 80 and 81).
backThis translation follows the Sanskrit more closely than the Tibetan: yat karma kāyena paripūrayitavyam, tatra praduṣṭacitto vācam bhāṣate evaṃ te kariṣyāmīti, idaṃ karmopacitaṃ na kṛtaṃ (Lévi 1932, p. 47; for variant readings see Kudo 2004, pp. 80 and 81), with the exception of the part “but then does not actually follow through,” which is not expressed in the Sanskrit. The Tibetan differs slightly and is partly unclear with regard to the verb tenses and moods: “An action that is complete(d) with the body and with the mind, and when one even says, ‘I will carry out this action!’ [but] then does not carry it out—this kind of action is accumulated but not carried out” (de la bsags la ma byas pa’i las yod de de gang zhe na/ las gang lus kyis yongs su rdzogs par byas pa (= paripūritaṃ?) de/ sems kyis yongs su rdzogs par byas (= cittena paripūritaṃ?) shing tshig tu yang las ’di bya’o zhes smras la de ma byas pa ste/ las de lta bu ni bsags la ma byas pa’o).
backAccording to the Tibetan (which differs from the Sanskrit), except for the first sentence, the English rendering of which follows the Sanskrit syntax: “What kind of action is both done and accumulated?” (tatra katamat karma kṛtaṃ copacitañca). The answer in the Sanskrit is simply “intentional action” (yat karma sāṃcetanikaṃ; Kudo 2004, p. 80, paragraph 25). The whole paragraph in the Sanskrit runs thus: tatra katamat karma kṛtaṃ copacitaṃ ca. ucyate. yat karma sāṃcetanikam (Lévi 1932, p. 48). Then follows a citation of two verses from the Udānavarga (31.23, 24)https://read.84000.co/translation/toh326.html/Dhammapada (I.1, 2). This quotation is missing in the Tibetan, but see #UT22084-072-038-341 below for a variant of this quotation. The Tibetan reads, “What kind of accumulated action is [considered] both carried out and accumulated when carried out?”
backAccording to the Sanskrit. This paragraph is problematic, as the Sanskrit (see Lévi 1932, p. 48) differs from the Tibetan, and the two Sanskrit recensions edited by Kudo also differ between each other (see Kudo 2004, pp. 82 and 83): yat karma saṃcetanīyaṃ svapnāntar{a} kṛtaṃ kāritaṃ vā (MS[A]); yat karmaṃ sāṃcetanikaṃ na kṛtaṃ na kāritaṃ vā (MS[B]). The Tibetan is not very clear but seems to mean “Now, what kind of nonaccumulated action exists that is done but not accumulated when done? Intentional action that is not accumulated (read D: bsags pa), such as, for instance, action done or caused to be done in a dream.” Other editions (Y, J, K, N, and C) read ma bsams par (“unintentional”) for D ma bsags par.
backLévi (1932, p. 122) translates as “during sleep” (pendant le sommeil). Although it is possible to translate the Sanskrit svapna (Tibetan rmi lam) as sleep, the intentionality mentioned in all editions does not seem to call for this translation. According to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (Abhidh-k-bh ad IV,120)https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.html, the presence of intention in an action defines the action as accumulated. Different Buddhist schools of thought, however, come to different conclusions regarding the question of whether karma can be created during dreams.
backThe Tibetan literally reads, “What kind of action leads, for the person who possesses it, to passing away from the hells after having been reborn as a hell being but only after having completely exhausted the lifespan of the hell realm?”
backThe Degé reading of Devadatta’s name is lhas byin. Y, J, K, N, and C read the variant lhas sbyin. For Kokālika, see DPPN, s.v. “kokālika.” For Kokālika and his relationship with Devadatta, see the Kokālikasutta, SN III.10, especially vv. 657–78 (Norman 2001, pp. 85–87); AN V, 171–74 and II, 3; and SN I, 149ff. The name Kokālika is here translated into Tibetan as dus min (*kukālika?), which is not attested in any dictionary. Kokālika, in the transliterated form ko kā li ka, also appears in The Limits of Life (Āyuḥparyantasūtra, Toh 307), #UT22084-072-007-214.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit of this paragraph differs: “The person, having committed actions that will lead to rebirth in the hell realms, does not regret, etc., the actions but also does not overly rejoice in what they have done, resulting in the lifespan of the hell realm being cut in half (see Lévi 1932, p. 49). It is also mentioned in the Sanskrit that the actions are accumulated; this is omitted in the Tibetan, which is consistent with the definition of this category of karmic action in the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya.https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.html
backOn the Avīci hell, see Guenther 1986, pp. 58–59: “The torture of the denizens of the mNar.med (Avīci) hell consists in being thrust into huge iron kettles filled with molten […] bronze or copper from vast cauldrons and then being boiled over an unbearably hot fire. As has been written:
Some are cast into iron kettles,
Head down like the ingredients of rice soup.
Because of the uninterrupted pain this hell is called mNar.med (Avīci).” See also Khenpo Könchok Gyaltsen 1989, p. 98, and The Limits of Life (Āyuḥparyantasūtra, Toh 307), #UT22084-072-007-238–#UT22084-072-007-251. backThis is the name in the Sanskrit. In fact, the elephant’s name was originally Nālāgiri, according to the sources (the story is found in the Pāli Vinaya). Only after the Buddha had tamed the elephant, and those who had witnessed the event had heaped all their ornaments on him in reverence, did his name become Dhanapāla (“Protector of Wealth”).
backThe Sanskrit editions here add “acting upon Devadatta’s instruction/advice” (MS[A] and MS[B] read Devadattasyādeśena; Kudo 2004, pp. 86 and 87, respectively), which is how we generally know the story from Pāli sources. Also, earlier the Sanskrit text mentions Devadatta, who is not mentioned at all in the Tibetan translation: tena Devadatasahayena ānanta(r)yakarma kṛtam (MS[A], Kudo 2004, p. 86).
backTibetan mi dga’ ba. This translation is according to the Sanskrit, which reads saṃvigna (“alarmed, terrified”), which in Buddhist texts describes a state of having an acute awareness of the shortcomings of saṃsāra and consequently developing a strong desire for spiritual liberation. See also pw, s.v. “saṃvega”: German Verlangen nach Befreiung (“a longing for liberation”). Appleton (2014, p. 20) translates as “experienced profound shock.” The common sense of the Tibetan mi dga’ ba, literally “unhappy,” does not quite seem to capture this sense.
backAccording to Kudo (2004, p. 250, n. 22), this version of the Ajātaśatru episode of the Śrāmaṇyaphalasūtra does not match any of the known versions in Pāli, Sanskrit, or Chinese.
backAccording to the Sanskrit (pratisaṃdadhāti kuśalamulāni; see Lévi 1932, p. 49). The Tibetan reads “accumulated the roots of virtue” (dge ba’i rtsa ba bsags pa).
backThis is a free translation of the seemingly idiomatic expression (Sanskrit) asthibhir api (“even with my bones”). Lévi (1932, p. 122) translates this literally, according to the Sanskrit: “Même avec mes ossements.” The Tibetan translation reads rus pa yan cad kyang, literally “down to the bone.” The Sanskrit manuscripts read asthibhir iti (MS[A])/aṣṭhibhir api (MS[B]) Bhagavantaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi (Kudo 2004, pp. 86 and 87, respectively). Lévi’s copy of manuscript A apparently reads aṣṭabhir (see Lévi 1932, p. 49, n. 11): “Eight times [I go for refuge to the Bhagavān].” The reading asthibhir, however, is confirmed by the Tibetan translation.
backThe last two sentences (from “I have carried out intolerable actions” to “he went silent”) are not in the Sanskrit. The Sanskrit reads (after the refuge formula, buddhaṃ bhagavantaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi): The very moment he was reborn [in hell] he passed away (sa upapannamātra eva cyavati; Lévi 1932, p. 50).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads “there” instead of “such a one” (Sanskrit amutra … tatra).
backThis is the spelling in the Sanskrit manuscripts. For the Śyāmākajātaka (= dkar sham kyi skyes pa’i rabs), see Kudo 2004, pp. 250–51, n. 23.
backSanskrit differs slightly: yathā Bhagavāno jātake Śyāmākajātakaprabhṛtiṣu praṇidhānavaśād upapattir varṇyate, “For example, in a story of a former birth of the Bhagavān, e.g., in the Śyāmākajātaka, etc., rebirth due to a strong aspiration is related” (Lévi 1932, p. 50).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads, “A person does not dedicate his action to a rebirth in a certain place, saying, ‘May I be reborn there!’ ”
backTibetan rnam par smin pa. Sanskrit (all editions) reads vipakṣa for vipāka. Vipakṣa is a hyper-Sanskritism of the Middle Indic vipakka (see BHSD, s.v. “vipakṣa”). Lévi (1932, p. 50) emended the Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit reading to vipāka on the basis of the Tibetan.
backAccording to the Tibetan, which reads (literally) “In this very life or in another life” (de ni tshe ’di nyid dam tshe gzhan la). The Sanskrit, according to the manuscripts, reads yat karma tasminn eva janmāntare deśāntaragatasya vipacyate śubham aśubhaṃ vā (Kudo 2004, pp. 88 and 89): “Karma that ripens as good or bad karmic result in this or another life for someone who has gone abroad (literally ‘to another country’).” Lévi (1932, p. 50) emended the text following the Tibetan translation and added vā after tasminn eva janmāntare. However, since vā is not contained in either MS[A] or MS[B] according to Kudo’s edition, and unless both manuscripts are faulty, tasminn eva janmāntare could also mean “within this very life.” This interpretation seems consistent with #UT22084-072-038-348 below, which explicitly says that some actions can ripen in “in this very lifetime.” The Tibetan translation, however, suggests that -antare has the sense of Tibetan gzhan (“another”) here, and that the Sanskrit text as it is needs to be emended.
backLiterally “a merchant, captain, caravan leader” (Tibetan ded dpon, Sanskrit sārthavāha).
backAccording to Kudo, this is the form of the name used throughout in MS[B] (Kudo 2004, p. 92, n. 5).
backAccording to the Tibetan (bza’ shing gi ra ba). The Sanskrit reads “park” (udyānaṃ).
backSanskrit adds tasya pitaram pūrvaṃgamaṃ kṛtvā, “having made your father their leader” (Lévi 1932, p. 51).
backSanskrit MS[A] reads samudrabhūmi; MS[B] suvarṇṇabhūmi (Kudo 2004, pp. 88 and 89, respectively). Lévi (1932, p. 123) translates literally as “Land of Gold” (Terre de l’Ore). See also the glossary entry on this toponym.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads, “to acquire merchandise” (dravyopārjanaṃ; Lévi 1932, p. 51).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads, “I/we will beg her/make her understand” (tam arthaṃ vijñāpayāmi (MS[A])/vijñāpayāmaḥ (MS[B]); Kudo 2004, pp. 90 and 91, respectively).
backAccording to the Tibetan (rkang pa nas bzung). Sanskrit (Lévi 1932, p. 51 passim) reads pādapatanaṃ kṛtvā (“she threw herself at his feet”).
backAccording to the Tibetan, which literally says “It must not be that we do not go for certain!” The Sanskrit (Kudo 2004, p. 90, MS[A]) reads “We must go now!” (atha gantavyaṃ iti).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit similarly reads “on the thirteenth day” (trayodaśyāṃ, from trayodaśī, f. “the thirteenth day of a half moon”; see MW). However, neither the Tibetan nor the Sanskrit specifies whether the thirteenth day of the first (śuklapakṣa) or the second half (kṛṣṇapakṣa) of the month is intended. Lévi (1932, p. 125) translated “the thirteen of us” (Nous, les treize, nous partirons).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit (Kudo 2004, p. 90, MS[A]) reads mātuḥ pādaṃ mastake datvā prakrāntaḥ (“hitting her on the head with his foot, he set out”). The Sanskrit datvā should probably be emended to hatvā. See Klaus 1983, p. 50, v. 51b).
backOnly MS[A] preserves this passage (see Kudo 2004, p. 92): Maitroyajñas carmapraṭamukhyān avabaddhaṃ tāmaraghaṭañ ca gṛhya samudrakṛta utīrṇṇaḥ. Lévi’s emended edition (Lévi 1932, p. 52) reads Maitrāyajñaś ca ma. pra. ṭamukhyān avabaddhaṃ tāmraghataṃ ca gṛhya samudrakūla uttīrṇaḥ. Lévi translates with the help of his edition of the Tibetan (according to N: byams pa mchod sbyin ni zangs kyi ril [D ral] chen kha bskya [D skya] ’dar gyis bcad pa zhig la [D |] ’ju ’ju nas rgya mtsho mthar phyin te): “Maitrāyajña, lui, s’accrochant à un grand vase de cuivre qui avait le col fermé par une étoffe, put atteindre le rivage” (see also Lévi 1932, p. 52, n. 3). The N reading seems to be closer to the extant Sanskrit and makes most sense.
backAccording to the Tibetan. Mvy (Sakaki 6058) has avasaktapaṭadāmakalāpaḥ = dar gyi lda ldi mang po btags pa; Kudo 2004, p. 90 (MS[A]): avasaktapaṭṭadāmakālāpaṃ; D: dar gyi lda ldi mang po bres pa. The Sanskrit seems to mean “suspended bundles/tassels or ornaments (kalāpa) made from silk ribbons.”
backTibetan: bsgo ba (“to say, when used of superiors, hence mostly to bid, to order.” See Jäschke 1972, s.v. “sgo ba”). The Sanskrit simply says uktāḥ (“they said [to him]”).
backThe Sanskrit āryaputra can, besides the more literal translation “son of a reputable family,” also mean “husband” when a woman is addressing her man (see pw, s.v. “āryaputra”).
backTibetan is only partially successful in emulating the Tibetan diction (’phags pa’i bu ’di ni sngan cad khyod la med pa’i yul yin). The Sanskrit (Kudo, 2004, p. 92, MS[A]) reads āryaputra, tavāyaṃ pṛth(i)vīpradeśa apūrvam asmākam aviditaṃ na nirgantavyaṃ | yadi nirgacchasi sarvathā uttarābhimukho na{r}gantavyam iti (“Husband, this spot of the earth is new to you. You should not leave here without our knowledge. However, if you [have to] go away, do not go to the north”). The Sanskrit reads throughout (Kudo 2004, pp. 94 and 96; Lévi 1932, p. 52–53) uttarābhimukhena na gantavyaṃ (“should/must not go north”).
backThe Sanskrit here repeats “for many years, many hundreds of years, many thousands of years, and many hundreds of thousands of years.”
backThis is the common translation equivalent for the Sanskrit vaiḍūrya, Tibetan bai dū rya. The Sanskrit vaiḍūrya, however, was suggested by Alfred Master (1944) to be a Sanskritization of a Middle Indic form related to Ardhamāgadhī [ve]ruḷiya, Pāli [ve]ḷuriya, that is to be identified with beryl rather than lapis lazuli (at least not until later in Indian history). The words (English) beryl and (Pāli) veḷuriya are etymologically related.
backTibetan: gnas ’di nas phyi rol tu byung ta re, literally “you should not go outside from this place.”
backAccording to the Tibetan. As above, the Sanskrit reads “you must not go north!”
backMvy (Sakaki 4944): pratyekanarakaḥ (atyekanarakaḥ) (= nyi tse’i sems can dmyal ba) literally means “a denizen of a lesser hell,” i.e., a hell with less severe punishment. The Sanskrit equivalent may rather be prādeśika, and thus “a local/limited/lesser/ephemeral [hell].” However, see also Edgerton (BHSD, s.v. “pratyeka”), who cites the Karmavibhaṅga: “°narakaḥ Karmav 53.13–14; (tasminn eva janmani) pratyekasvargaṃ pra°narakaṃ (n. sg.) cānubhūtam 57.2 (refers to story of which 53.13–14 is part); here private, personal heaven and hell seem to fit, since the one who experiences both seems to be a single individual (at a given time; a former inhabitant of the pra°naraka is released as the new one arrives).”
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit adds “he is our ancestor” (asmākaṃ pūrvapuruśo ’sti; Lévi 1932, p. 53).
backAccording to the Sanskrit pūrvaṇgamaṃ kṛtvā (Lévi 1932, p. 53).
backTibetan bu yang khyod gcig pur zad. This expression is recorded in Jäschke’s dictionary: “you are my only son” (Jäschke 1972, s.v. “ ’dzad pa”).
backThis is a rather free translation of the Tibetan gser gnas su dong dong ba las.
backLévi translates the Sanskrit apsarasaḥ/apsaras (Tibetan lha mo) as “Nymphes célestes” (celestial nymphs).
backAccording to the Tibetan (bar du snga ma bzhin te), which simply leaves out the repeated arrival at the different cities that was related earlier by Maitrāyajña. The Sanskrit manuscripts, however, repeat the whole sequence. See Kudo 2004, p. 100.
backReading C and H de na instead of D de ni.
backOr “armored with”? See Lévi’s translation (1932, p. 126).
backThis spelling of the toponym is confirmed by several premodern Indian lexicographic works (see Patkar 1953, p. 297, s.v. “Tamluk”). Tāmalipta (present-day Tamluk) was an ancient Indian port city on the Hugli (anglicized also as Hooghli) River, a distributary of the Ganges in West Bengal. The famous Chinese pilgrim Faxian is reported to have left India from Tāmalipta on his way home (see Ch’en 1964, p. 91). Other spellings are found in lexicographic and other sources (see pw): tamoliptī, tāmralipta, dāmalipta, tamālikā, tamālinī.
backFor lta having the sense “indeed, thus then, evidently,” see Jäschke 1972, s.v. “lta.”
backThe Tibetan here omits Maitrāyajña’s first question about the lifespan in this individual hell: “ ‘What is the lifespan [here]?’ He replied, ‘six thousand years’ ” (kitrāyuḥ; Kudo suggests emending to ki(ṃ) tv āyuḥ or kiadāyuḥ). Lévi (1932, p. 54) also omits it, perhaps based on the Tibetan translation (N) that he consulted (see ibid., p. 195; see also Kudo 2004, p. 104, n. 1).
backAccording to the Tibetan [sha] rnyil ba (“broken down” = archaic Tibetan for ’gyel ba?). Lévi records sha ril ba (“the meat that is falling down [from my own head]”?) as a variant reading in his edition of N (Lévi 1932, p. 195). The flesh, however, is not mentioned at all in the Sanskrit, which reads ata eva mastakāc chidyamānād yat pūyaśoṇitaṃ sravati (“this here, the pus and blood that flows from [my] cut head”; Kudo 2004, p. 104, MS[A]). See also this description in the Maitrakanyakāvadāna, at 111+ (Klaus 1983, p. 81): svaśiraḥ-pravigalita-śoṇita-vasā-rasāhāra-mātra-vidhṛta-prāṇa-śeṣaṃ (“[Maitrakanyaka saw that hell being] for whom a [meagre] rest of the life force was preserved only by the food of blood and liquor oozing from his own head”).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs: “With his whole being he prostrated to his parents and said…” (sarveṇa bhāvena mātāpitroḥ praṇipātaṃ kṛtvāha; Kudo 2004, p. 104).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs in the details: pada c also mentions “humans” (nara) beside “snakes” (uraga): ūrddhaṃ bhavāgravitatām adharasya (’)vīciṃ | tiryagpradhān agaṇitān api lokadhātūn | ā[tma] «nsva»rāsuraṇaroragabhūtakāye | satvāni yāny upagatāni svakhī bhavantu (Kudo 2004, p. 104, MS[A]).
backAccording to the Sanskrit yuktās. The Degé edition’s orthography seems to reflect the Sanskrit: rigs pa dang ldan (“those who are able/devoted to/engaged in [practice and moral discipline]?”). C reads rig pa dang ldan (“learned”).
backAccording to the Tibetan. This last sentence occurs in the Sanskrit only after the insertion of two more textual references (32.b and 32.c) that are omitted in the Tibetan (see Lévi 1932, p. 55; Kudo 2004, p. 108, MS[A]: 32.c), which furthermore varies significantly from the Sanskrit: sa tatra prītyahāraḥ sthitvā paripūrṇeṣu ṣaṣṭivarṣasahasreṣu kālagataḥ (“He [Maitrayajña] remained there with joy as his nourishment and died after six thousand years” (Kudo 2004, p. 108, n. 17 gives {a}paripūrṇeṣu as possible variant reading of MS[A]; MS[B] missing).
backInserted according to the Sanskrit atīva (“extreme; exceedingly, very, excessively”).
backThere is a paragraph here in the Sanskrit (32.e; see Lévi 1932, p. 56) that is missing in the Tibetan.
backTibetan rim gro byed pa corresponds to the Sanskrit upasthānam (Mvy [Sakaki 1762]); the Sanskrit here, however, reads gaurava.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads slightly differently (Kudo 2004, pp. 112 and 113): yathā mayi tathā mātāpit[ṛ]ṣ[u] ācāryopādh‹y›āyeṣu vacanakāriṇāṃ samo vipāka ihaloke paraloke ca (“as for me, so for your parents, preceptor, and teacher—the karmic result for one who obeys orders/those meriting respect is the same, here in this world and in the next”).
backThe translation of this stanza is based on the Sanskrit. See also AN V.36, Kāladānasutta (III.42). Here in the Tibetan only the first half of the verse is given.
backThe Tibetan [yid ni] legs par mos [’gyur na] is meant to render the Sanskrit [manasā ca] prasannena, which in most translations of this verse is translated as “pure mind/intent.” This Tibetan rendering is not the standardized or expected translation equivalent of the Sanskrit pra + √sad (see Mvy [Sakaki 7295]: dang ba’am gsal ba; Mvy gives adhimukti [“reverence”] as translation equivalent for mos pa). However, the Tibetan translation has clearly favored the sense of “faith” (or “reverence, devotion”) for prasanna over its second main sense (“pure, clear”), probably in order that the verse better fit the theme of its present context of faith and devotion.
backThe translation of this stanza tries to follow the Tibetan, although the Tibetan text is partly unclear. Specifically, the Tibetan word order of the first pada is strange: chos rnams sngon du yid ’gro ste (see also Uv 31, 24: chos kyi sngon du yid ’gro ste). For the well-known parallels of these famous verses, see Dhp I.1, 2 (Pāli) and Uv 31, 24. Note that the Tibetan translation here is slightly different from the Sanskrit and from the Tibetan translation of the Uvhttps://read.84000.co/translation/toh326.html in the Kangyur.
backThe Tibetan translators appear to have read Nagaraśikhin (D grong khyer gtsug phud). The Sanskrit editions, however, confirm Tagaraśikhin as the correct form of the name. On Tagarasikhi in the Pāli Canon, see DPPN, s.v.
backTibetan bsod snyoms, Sanskrit piṇḍapata (see Mvy [Sakaki 8671]); Lévi (1932, p. 57) emended to sūpaḥ. MS[A] and MS[B], however, read yūpaḥ and yūṣaḥ, respectively. The latter means “(bone) broth” (see Kudo 2004, pp. 112 and 113; pw, s.v.). The text does not mention to whom the broth was offered.
backAccording to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan omits the Sanskrit tasmin nagare (“in this city”; Lévi 1932, p. 57).
backSee, however, Lévi 1932, p. 129: “Et de plus ce fut pour lui le germee de son salut.”
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit manuscripts give Śikhaṇḍī as the name of the prince.
backTibetan ’o dod can zhes bya ba grong khyer. MS[A] has the (perhaps orthographically more correct) Rorukā, while MS[B] and Lévi read Raurukaṃ (Kudo 2004, pp. 114 and 115; Lévi 1932, p. 129).
backOther versions of this story may be found in the Divyāvadāna (no. 38; cf. Klaus 1983) and the Mūlasarvāstivādin Vinaya. We are unable at this point to provide exact references. The Tibetan translation of the Vinaya of the Mūlasarvāstivādahttps://read.84000.co/translation/toh1-7.html school is currently being translated by 84000.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads tena kāraṇena kiṃ nāsti nānākaraṇaṃ ucyate (“Why is there no difference between those causes [i.e., between the Buddha and one’s parents]?” Kudo 2004, p. 117, reading MS[B]). The locution of the Tibetan translation is different but preserves the sense of the Sanskrit.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads “the Awakened One shows the path toward awakening; he is the revealer of the path for those for whom no path has yet arisen. Revering him yields immeasurable karmic fruit and, ultimately, awakening” (according to Lévi 1932, p. 58).
backAccording to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan is unclear: “At the time of his parinirvāṇa he set his parents on the path to liberation.”
backThe Tibetan and Sanskrit literally say “to the son(s)” (bu la; putrān).
backThe translation of this unclear expression follows Lévi’s French translation: “Allons! Conduis–moi dans un lieu inhabité,” together with the Sanskrit. The Tibetan expression kha ’tsho ba is unclear. Lévi (1932, p. 58, n. 12) reads kha ’tshe ba (Sanskrit avasanam/avaśanam = avasānam?) but does not provide a translation for his edition of the Tibetan.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit adds “There is no realization of the goal” (nāsti phalaprāptiḥ).
backSanskrit differs: “Except for this, one’s parents, one’s teacher, and one’s preceptor are equal” (evaṃvidhaṃ varjayitvā anyathā samasamā mātāpitaraḥ ācāryopadhyāyāḥ; Kudo 2004, p. 117, following MS[B], MS[A] defective; Lévi 1932, p. 59).
backThis is a free rendering of the idiomatic Tibetan: pha ma bu la byams pa ni rkang dang rus pa’i khong nas byams so. The Sanskrit literally reads “Parents’ love for their son enters the marrow and stays there” (mātāpitroḥ putrasnehaḥ yāvad asthimajjām āśritya tiṣṭhati; Kudo 2004, p. 117, MS[B]; Lévi 1932, p. 59).
backTibetan reads pho brang ’khor skyong. Mvy (Sakaki 1361) gives the later, standardized version of this name as yul ’khor skyong.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit here adds the name Śoṇa (MS[B]) or Sronita (MS[A]) (= Śroṇa[koṭikarṇa]? see Kudo 2004, p. 260, n. 33). For Rāṣṭrapāla, see the Pāli Raṭṭhapālasutta, MN 82 (Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi 2009, pp. 677–91); see also DPPN, s.v. “Śona–Kuṭikaṇṇa/–koṭikaṇṇa.”
backThis translates the D reading: rab tu ma phyung ba. N reads rab tu ma byung ba. The Buddha gives ordination (rab tu ’byin) rather than receives ordination (rab tu ’byung).
backAccording to the Sanskrit: adyāpi (Lévi 1932, p. 59).
backY, K, C, and N read nga chung yang pha mas ma gnang na/bar rab tu mi dbyung ste; D: da dung yang …
backAccording to the reading of D: mig rub par gyur pa lta bu’i pha mas. Y, K, and N read mig rub par gyur pa lta bu’o/ pha ma. The expression mig rub par gyur (= Sanskrit cakṣuṣī antarhite, “the eyes disappeared/shut”) seems uncommon. The only parallel to this story, according to Kudo, is found in the Mahāvastu; there, however, it is the Buddha’s mother who goes blind (see Kudo 2004, 260, n. 34).
backAccording to the Tibetan (rim gror byed par ’gyur ro). The Sanskrit differs slightly: “When he is grown up, he will protect us when we are old” (saṃvardhito no vṛddhībhūtān pālayiṣyati).
backJ and C omit this sentence.
backThis almost certainly constitutes a quotation from a Buddhist scripture, but we were unable to identify the source. See Lévi 1932, p. 59; Kudo 2004, pp. 118 and 119 and, for a synopsis of different versions of this list, n. 35). See also the list of essentially the same items in the Pāli Canon at AN III.39 (III, 43–44).
backThis sentence is problematic in the Tibetan. Should we adopt the variant reading in Y and K: ’khor ba’i mthar phyin par bya instead of D, J, C, and N: da dung pha mas ma gnang na rab tu mi ’byung gi bar du phyin par bya? The first corresponds better with the extant Sanskrit (Lévi 1932, p. 59; Kudo 2004, pp. 118 and 119). For the sake of comparison, we here give the whole paragraph, highlighting in bold the corresponding passages: na evam ācāryopādhyāyāḥ ‹|› kevalam eva kāruṇyaṃ puraskṛtya katham asyānādikālavṛttasya saṃṣārasya paryantaṃ kuryād iti (Kudo 2004, p. 119, MS[B]; Lévi p. 59).
backThis last sentence of the quotation differs in the Skt.: evam anyonyaniśritāḥ sukhino bhaviṣyanti, “In this way relying/leaning on each other will be conducive to their happiness” (Kudo 2004, p. 119, MS[B]; Lévi p. 59).
backAs to this text and its variant titles, see Kudo 2004, pp. 262–63, n. 37.
backThe precious elephant and the precious horse are part of the “seven treasures/jewels of a wheel-turning monarch” (the wheel, precious jewel, queen, minister, elephant, general, and horse).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs slightly: MS[A] and MS[B] add dīrgharātraṃ (“for a long time”), and the (future) wheel-turning monarch “carries his parents himself or has them carried” (ācāryopādhyāyān svayaṃ vahati vā vāhayati vā; Kudo 2004, pp. 120 and 121, respectively).
backTibetan mchod pa’i gnas, Sanskrit gṛhasthānāṃ mātāpitṛ pravrajitāḥ pūjyāḥ (Kudo 2004, p. 121, MS[B]).
backThe Sanskrit contains another reference here that is missing in the Tibetan (see Lévi 1932, p. 60; Kudo 2004, pp. 121 and 122).
backThis paragraph was translated according to the Sanskrit yaś ca punar […] evaṃ mātrāpitṝṇāṃ putraiḥ pratyupakāraḥ kṛto bhavati (Lévi 1932, 61,2–5). The Tibetan is unclear and does not seem to fit the context: “It is said that if someone makes someone else develop faith in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, establishes one in the five precepts, and encourages one to seek refuge (skyabs su gtong ba) in the path that is praised by the noble ones, then through merely saluting and greeting them respectfully with one’s palms joined in reverence (thal mo sbyar ba) and providing them with a mat, robes, alms, bedding, and medicine against illness, it is impossible to repay their kindness (phan pa’i lan lon par mi nus so). In this way, the preceptor and the teacher are more distinguished than the parents.”
backThis sentence occurs later in the Sanskrit version (Lévi 1932, p. 64), after a portion of text in the Sanskrit (Lévi 1932, pp. 61–64) that is not contained in the Tibetan. The missing portions gives examples from Buddhist scriptures in which individuals are said to have appeased different lands, areas, or beings such as Mahendra (or Mahinda in Pāli), who, according to tradition, was sent to convert the island of Sri Lanka to Buddhism.
backAccording to the Sanskrit abhiprasādita (Kudo 2004, p. 127). The Tibetan has mngon par mos pa, which according to Negi renders the Sanskrit abhilāṣa.
backThis sentence is not preserved in MS[A], but only in MS[B]. See Kudo 2004, p. 126, especially nn. 7, 127, and 226. Lévi (1932, p. 64) gives the reading of MS[B] in the main text of his edition.
backFor the most part, this passage, starting from “Monks, suppose someone took their parents on their back and roamed the Jambu continent,” follows the structure of the text as it is preserved in the Degé edition, unless indicated otherwise in the notes. Sometimes it was necessary to resort to the corresponding Sanskrit portions when extant, for the Tibetan is oftentimes obscure. Overall, the extant Sanskrit manuscripts preserve a different version and different readings, and the exact original Sanskrit form of the Tibetan text is difficult to reconstruct.
backThis paragraph is essentially a praise of the Blessed One’s words or Dharma or his teaching. See also the famous quotation in the Vakkalisutta, SN III, 120: yo kho vakkali, dhammaṃ passati so maṃ passati, yo maṃ passati so dhammaṃ passati, dhammaṃ hi vakkali, passanto maṃ passati. Maṃ passanto dhammaṃ passati (“He who sees the Dhamma, Vakkali, sees me; he who sees me sees the Dhamma. Truly seeing the Dhamma, one sees me; seeing me one sees the Dhamma”).
backThis phrase deviates from earlier paragraphs and from the Sanskrit, which continues as before with the reply (ucyate).
backThis is his name given in the Sanskrit. The Tibetan reads khye’u grags pa, which, according to Lévi (1932, p. 65, n. 5), may be the result of an erroneous reading in the Sanskrit manuscript written in a Gupta-type script: the Tibetan translators may have read yathāyaśo- for yathāyagopakaḥ (MS[A]; Kudo 2004, pp. 273–74, n. 49).
backMS[A]: paścime pi; MS[B]: paścime bhave (“in a later reincarnation”). These add anyatamasmin gṛhe (MS[A]) and anyatarasmin gṛhe (MS[B]) “in a certain home” (see Kudo 2004, pp. 130 and 131, respectively). The Tibetan phyis (“later”) generally corresponds with MS[A] paścime pi but leaves out “in a certain home.”
backSanskrit mūlanakṣatra, Tibetan skar ma snrubs. The nineteenth of the twenty-eight “lunar mansions” (Sanskrit nakṣatra).
backAccording to the Tibetan rigs phung bar byed par ’gyur te (“to kill, destroy”). MS[B] reads ayaṃ mā nirmūlaṃ eva kulaṃ kariṣyati (“lest he should eradicate this family”); MS[A] omits kulaṃ (Kudo 2004, pp. 130 and 131). The Tibetan does not emulate the pun involving the Sanskrit word mūla.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit adds here, “All this the Blessed One told the monks from beginning to end” (etac ca sarvaṃ anupūrveṇa Bhagavānā bhikṣūṇāṃ kathitaṃ; see Lévi 1932, p. 66).
backHere the Sanskrit text adds another story, which is missing in the Tibetan (see Kudo 2004, pp. 132 and 133; Lévi 1932, p. 66).
backAccording to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan kha sra ba las is obscure here but seems to correspond to the Sanskrit kṛcchreṇa, “with difficulty” (here rendered as “reluctantly”).
backAccording to the Tibetan. At this point the Sanskrit additionally contains the summary of a story from a former life of Aniruddha, together with the instruction to tell that story in full (Kudo 2004, p. 274, n. 50).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit contains additional references to stories of great donors of the Buddha, beginning with Miṇḍhaka (= Meṇḍhaka?). See Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, Divyāvadāna nos. 9 and 10; for exact references, see Kudo 2004, p. 278, n. 52.
backHere the context demands the translation “suffering” for the Tibetan sdug bsngal (Sanskrit duḥkhita) instead of “unhappy,” as in the foregoing paragraphs.
backHere the Tibetan translation has tshegs chen po where the Sanskrit reads kṛcchrāt, instead of kha sra ba las as in #UT22084-072-038-407 above.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit additionally contains a story from an otherwise unknown Daridrakārasyāvadāna (see Kudo 2004, pp. 140 and 141 and n. 54).
backAccording to the Tibetan log pa’i ngang tshul can (= duḥśīleṣu?); the Sanskrit adds abrahmacāriṣu (“[and] who conduct themselves unethically/immorally”).
backThe phrase “in former births” is added here to provide context.
backIt is not clear what the Tibetan expression gser gyi yag mag [= yag ma (“rug”; “saddlecloth”)?] bting ba exactly means. The Sanskrit reads suvarṇāstīrṇaṃ niryātayiṣyati (“he will spread out gold covering [the entire ground of Prince Jeta’s grove]”). It is clear, though, that the expression refers to the famous story of the gift of Prince Jeta’s grove to the Buddha and his saṅgha by Anāthapiṇḍada as a dwelling for the monks.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit adds Kāśmīrāyāṃ; see Lévi 1932, p. 72; Kudo 2004, pp. 149 and 150.
backThis refers to the story told at #UT22084-072-038-89 above.
backLiterally “he departed” (Tibetan slar log pa dang, Sanskrit saṃprasthitaḥ).
backThe Tibetan mkhas pa (Sanskrit vidvāṃsaḥ) usually means “learned, skilled, experienced; knowing, wise; a scholar,” etc. Here, however, it more likely just means that he knew who the sthavira Maudgalyāyana was.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has a plural here: taśmiṃś ca gṛhadvāre deśāntarābhyāgatāḥ puruṣā vidvāṃsaḥ pūrvasthitāḥ te taṃ dṛṣṭvā vismayaṃ prāptāḥ, “At that door had been standing some learned people who had come from a foreign country” (Lévi 1932, p. 72).
backThe reading nyer dga’ bo (“Upananda”) is according to the Degé edition. Y and K: bsnyen dga’ bo; N: nye dga’ bo. Mvy (Sakaki 3278) records the reading nandopanandau nāgarājānau = klu’i rgyal po dga’ dang nye dga’ gnyis.
backThe Sanskrit additionally has “at night” (rātrau).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The verse is slightly different in the Sanskrit (Lévi 1932, p. 73; Kudo 2004, p. 159), where pada c reads “The world is full of delusion.” A similar verse is cited by Patrul Orgyan Jigme Chökyi Wangpo (1808–1887) in his celebrated kun bzang bla ma’i zhal lung, F.35.a–b (“The Words of My Perfect Teacher,” p. 51), but is said there to have been spoken by Kātyāyana.
backAccording to the Sanskrit yamaloke (Lévi 1932, p. 74; Kudo 2004, pp. 158 and 159). The Tibetan has yi dags (= Sanskrit preta) instead.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit leaves out the asuras.
backHere the Sanskrit contains an additional story that illustrates this karma category; missing in the Tibetan.
backMS[A] has an additional paragraph here, 43a, that is missing in MS[B] and in the Tibetan translation.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit has pratyekabuddha (Tibetan rang sangs rgyas) instead of Tibetan dgra bcom pa (= arhat) (see Lévi 1932, p. 75; Kudo 2004, pp. 162 and 163, respectively).
backKudo (2004, p. 293, n. 61) translates the Tibetan bde ba (Sanskrit sukhin) as “blessed.” The Tibetan bde ba usually means “happiness, joy” or “happy,” and the Sanskrit sukha means “happiness,” “well-being.” The kind of person referred to here seems to be someone who is physically healthy and well but still suffers because they are not liberated.
backTibetan rgyal po man ta.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs: yathā mahādhanabrāhmaṇagṛhapatayo rājā ca māndhātā (Lévi 1932, p. 75; Kudo 2004, pp. 162 and 163). Lévi (1932, p. 139) translates following the Tibetan. The identity of the individuals referred to here is unclear.
backDegé spells the name ka ra ma sha; N reads kar ma sha, according to Lévi 1932, p. 75, n. 3. This person is not mentioned in the Sanskrit. The Sanskrit readings are unclear: MS[B] reads ya(thā)rhann alpapuṇyaḥ, where Alpapuṇya might be a proper name (Kudo 2004, p. 165; Lévi 1932, p. 75, n. 3); MS[A] reads yathātyapuṇyaḥ (“as [someone] with an extreme lack of merit”?).
backThe Sanskrit manuscripts have the following variants of this person’s name: MS[A] Śroṇottaraḥ; MS[B] Śoṇottaraḥ (Kudo 2004, pp. 164 and 165). The exact identity of this person is unknown. The Sanskrit of Lévi’s edition (Lévi 1932, 75; corresponding with MS[A]) reads yathārhann apuṇyaḥ. MS[B] (Kudo 2004, p. 165) has the variant alpapuṇya cittena sukhī na kāyena (“As, for example, an arhat with little[/no] merit is someone who is joyful in mind but not [well] in body.”
backAccording to the Sanskrit kapikacchumiśraḥ. D reads ka pi ta su ka ra bsregs pa te. This passage is problematic. The Tibetan could also mean “[a ball made of] cow dung and burnt sugar (ka ra bsregs) in Juniper resin (ka pi ta).” The N, Y, and K reading of bsres te instead of bsregs, however, may be confirmed by the Sanskrit miśra (“mixed with”), and ka pi ta su ka ra might be an attempt at rendering Sanskrit kapikacchu phonetically in Tibetan. For kapikacchu (Mucuna pruriens or “cowhage”), see s.v. under pw and Medicinal Plant Names Services, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, last accessed July 21, 2020.
backTibetan literally reads, “Acts are more powerful when their objects have the nature of diamonds.”
backThis verse and how exactly it is supposed to illustrate the story of Śoṇottara remains obscure. Our translation is a free rendering of the Sanskrit reading of MS[A], which, at this time, makes most sense to us: Offering someone a soap ball containing cowhage, a plant whose hairy seed pods cause stinging and itching, seems like a harmless prank at first. The action becomes more serious when considering the victim/object of such an action—a pratyekabuddha. The origin or prevalence in other Buddhist literature of this verse is unknown. The Tibetan seems to be in closer correspondence with MS[B] (see also Lévi 1932, p. 76, n. 1). MS[A] reads karmāṇi nūnaṃ balikatarāṇi dharmeṣu vajrakalpatareṣu | yatra vaśībhūtā api anubhavāmo duḥkhāni karmāṇi || (Kudo 2004, p. 164).
backThe identity of this figure is not known (see Kudo 2004, p. 296, for further references).
backReading J, N, and C ba ku la instead of D la ku ba. According to the Pāli sources, Bakula was the son of a householder of Kosambī; see DPPN, s.v.; Kudo 2004, p. 297, n. 63.
backMS[A] omits this entire paragraph.
backFree rendering of the Tibetan. The Tibetan syntax here is slightly awkward. Tibetan may literally mean: “What kind of action leads to a person not being well in both body and mind” or “When endowed with what [kind of] action is a person not well in both body and mind” (las gang dang ldan na/ gang zag lus kyang mi bde la sems kyang mi bde ba yod de).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit uses the plural form.
backAccording to the Tibetan. Our translation is tentative. It is not clear whether cough or phlegm is meant: the Tibetan reads lud (“phlegm”; see lud pa lu ba “to cough up phlegm”), but the Sanskrit reads kāsa (“cough”).
backTranslation tentative (see Jäschke 1972, s.v. “dysentery”). The Tibetan reads rims (“infectious disease, plague”), the Sanskrit jvara (“fever”).
backAccording to the Tibetan shu ba; the Sanskrit reads pāṇḍuroga (“jaundice”).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit additionally mentions pāmā (“scabies”).
backTibetan (transliterated Sanskrit) sha ri ka, Sanskrit sārikā. A bird of the genus Turdus in the thrush family. The exact species referred to here is unknown (the blackbird?). According to Böhtlingk (pw, s.v. “sārikā”), a kind of crow (“Predigerkrähe”).
backTibetan (transliterated Sanskrit) kA ran Da va, Sanskrit kāraṇḍava. A kind of duck or goose. The exact genus and species are not determinable. Different religious texts in the South Asian context refer to different kinds of aquatic birds with the name kāraṇḍava.
backTibetan ngur pa, Sanskrit cakravāka. This bird has been identified as Anas casarca (pw) or Tadorna ferruginea (ruddy shelduck). Populations of the eastern hemisphere are migratory birds who winter in the Indian subcontinent. According to Indian mythology, these ducks are monogamous and utter their characteristic cry when separated; see also pw, s.v. “cakravāka.”
backTibetan dred mo, missing in Sanskrit. See, however, Jäschke 1972, s.v. “dred mo”: “hyena.”
backTibetan sbrul nag po, Sanskrit kṛṣṇasarpa. Coluber naja or Naja naja.
backTranslation with the help of the (emended) Sanskrit, which literally reads “with crooked and underdeveloped sense faculties” (durgandho bhavati jihmendriyo ’vyaktendriyaḥ; Lévi 1932, p. 77). The Tibetan translation does not seem to make good sense. The Tibetan (lce’i dbang po) apparently reads the Sanskrit jihvendriya (“with a taste organ tasting (only) bad smells”; lce dbang po dri nga bar). The idea of this passage seems to be that the animals mentioned are found in bad-smelling places. Lévi (ibid., p. 77, n. 8), however, felt certain that it must be corrected to jihmendriya, which he translates as “les sens obtus” (ibid., p. 141). MS[B] does contain the reading jihmendriya, which was apparently overlooked by Lévi (see Kudo 2004, p. 171; the respective folios are missing in MS[A]).
backTibetan sbrul, Sanskrit ajagara. The Sanskrit refers to large snakes or constrictors such as a boa.
backAccording to the Tibetan sbrang ma, which corresponds to the Sanskrit bhramara. The Sanskrit editions, however, have makṣika (“the fly”).
backTibetan of A (p. 841) mang kun should be corrected to mang ku na, Sanskrit maṅkuna “bug”. Lévi, in his edition of N (1932, p. 204), records the correct reading maṅkuna (= mang ku na). (The original of the N edition was not consulted to verify Lévi’s edition.) The term is missing altogether in all the extant editions of the Sanskrit text.
backIt is not clear, or not known to us, what exactly “the ten kinds of external things” refers to. The Abhidharmakośabhāṣya mentions eleven tangible things in connection with the skandha of matter (“things that have the nature of being tangible”): spṛśyamekādaśātmakam […] spraṣṭavyamekādaśadravyasvabhāvam | catvāri mahābhūtāni ślakṣṇatvaṃ karkaśatvaṃ gurutvaṃ laghutvaṃ śītaṃ jighatsā pipāsā ceti (Abhid–k–bh 7,9–10 ad AKK I.10b).https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4089.htmlhttps://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.html It seems more plausible, however, that the Karmavibhaṅga wishes to establish a (karmic) connection between the ten nonvirtuous actions or the ten virtuous actions and the state or quality of one’s rebirth environment. Therefore, this may be referring to the five elements and their qualities: earth, water, fire, air, and space; and smell, taste, touch, color, and sound.
backAccording to the Tibetan rgud par ’gyur (“deteriorate, decline”). The Sanskrit reads abhivṛddhiḥ, “growth, increase; success, prosperity” (Lévi 1932, p. 78). See also Kudo 2004, p. 171, for MS[B]: abhivṛddhir (MS[A] lacuna); p. 171, n. 8; and p. 32 (uddeśa), paragraph 51A (n. 13). MS[B] seems to have originally contained two variants of this sentence: “The karmic ripening of the ten virtuous courses of action consists in a proliferation of external things” and “the karmic ripening of the ten nonvirtuous courses of action consists in a decline/destruction of external things.” MS[A] does not contain the second sentence, and the Tibetan translation appears to have confused, or perhaps deliberately interchanged, the two.
backFor essentially the same, but more systematic, presentation of the karmic results of the ten nonvirtuous courses of action, see the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya ad AKK IV.85 (La Vallée Poussin/Pruden 1988–90, pp. 669–71).https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4089.htmlhttps://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.html
backThis is in Sanskrit the adhipatiphala or the “predominating karmic result” of an action according to Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya.https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.html
backTibetan las de nyid kyi rnam par smin pas, Sanskrit tasyaiva ca karmaṇo vipākena (according to MS[B], Kudo 2004, p. 173; MS[A] lacuna) implies rebirth under the same conditions under which the action was carried out. Both the Tibetan and Sanskrit of this second form or aspect of karmic result imply that, due to karmic forces other than the action concerned, one is reborn in the human realm, as is explicitly mentioned in the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya: “If a transgressor is reborn in a human existence” (La Vallée Poussin/Pruden 1988–90, p. 669). This constitutes the second of the different karmic results: the “outflowing result” in the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (niṣyandaphala; La Vallée Poussin/Pruden 1988–90, p. 669, IV.85a,b). https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.html
backAccording to the Tibetan, except for “locusts,” which follows the Sanskrit reading, where the Tibetan list has ba lang (“ox, bull; cow”). The Sanskrit list contains hail (aśani), birds (śuka, lit. “parrots”?), locusts (śalabha), mice (mūṣika), and vermin (kīṭa).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit text has lacunae here (see Lévi 1932, p. 78, n. 4; Kudo 2004, pp. 172 and 173) but probably did not read “bad smelling” but “grasses, brush, and forests obstructing one’s passage” (tṛṇavankuśadurga(va)sarvadurgādīni; Kudo 2004, p. 173, n. 4).
backReading N nag po ’char ldan gyi tshe rabs (see Lévi 1932, p. 78, n. 5) instead of D nag po ’char ldan gyis tshe rabs.
backAccording to the Sanskrit. The Tibetan is not clear. Kudo (2004, p. 304, n. 66) writes “In this section […], three avadānas are referred to: the avadānas of Śvaprapada, Susudhī, and Kālodāyin,” which is true for the Sanskrit text. However, the references in the Sanskrit are unclear, and the Tibetan is not very clear either. There are no equivalents for the Sanskrit names Śvabhrapada and Susudhī in the Tibetan translation—the former is completely missing from the Tibetan. Lévi interpreted the Tibetan as referring to a single avadāna, that of Kālodāyin, and translates literally: “here one should relate the jātaka of Kālodāyin, the story of a previous rebirth, placed in a house where the harvest of the year had been good” (Lévi 1932, p. 78, n. 5). The Sanskrit (ibid.; Kudo 2004, pp. 172 and 173) reads tasyaiva karmaṇo vipākena sampannagṛhāvāsaṃ praviśanti. atrāvadānaṃ Śvabhrapādasya Susudhī dārikā Kāsirājñaḥ patnī Devāvataraṇe Kālodāyinaḥ pūrvajanmany avadānaṃ vaktavyaṃ. The Tibetan approximately says, “The karmic result equivalent to the action is illustrated by prosperous laymen and laywomen (lo legs pa’i khyim na gnas pa’i rtog pa brjod pa). Here, one should relate the story of the king of Benares’s wife (ka shi rgyal po dga’ bas) and that of the former birth (rtogs brjod pa) of Kālodāyin in [the town of] Devāvataraṇa.”
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads “diseases of the teeth” (dantaroga).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads “one will obtain/get false explanations/expositions [of the Dharma?]” (abhūtavyākhyānaṃ pratilabhate; Lévi 1932, p. 79).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit additionally reads “there will be division within one’s family and friends” (jātivyasanā mitravyasanā bhavanti).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads “gorges and crevices will manifest” (kandaraśvabhrādīni prādurbhavanti; Lévi 1932, 79).
backSee Jäschke 1972, s.v. “btsun pa,” under sense 3: tshig mi btsun pa (“was explained to me: one whom nobody believes”).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads, “one’s possessions will be desired by others” (paraprārthanīyabhogā bhavanti; Lévi 1932, p. 79).
backAccording to Kudo (2004, pp. 174 and 175), MS[A] and MS[B] both read apratikūla, not pratikūla as in Lévi’s edition (Lévi 1932, p. 79). The Tibetan reads yid du mi ’ong ba mthong bar ’gyur ro, which may confirm the reading pratikūla, even though the Tibetan reading does not have the expected standard equivalent (Mvy [Sakaki 2647]: pratikūlaḥ = mi mthun pa).
backDegé has the reading rku ba, a verb meaning “to steal, rob.” We translate Ybku ba (“stench”; Jäschke 1972, s.v.), as given in the apparatus of the Comparative Edition of the Kangyur (K: dgu ba).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs (Lévi 1932, pp. 79–80): tiktakaṭukabhāvāny api picumandakoṣātakīviṣatiktālābuprabhṛtīni phalāni prādurbhavanti, “bitter and pungent fruits such as the neem tree (picumanda/picumarda), the ribbed gourd (koṣātakī, Luffa acutangula), creepers, the poisonous, bitter bottle gourd, and so forth will manifest.”
backAccording to the Tibetan (’jig rten rgyang pan pa’i gtsug lag la sogs pa la dad par ’gyur ro); the Sanskrit equivalently reads, “[the karmic result will be] the wrong view of annihilation and belief in the treatises of the materialists” (ucchedadṛṣṭiḥ lokāyatādiṣu ca śāstreṣu prasādo bhavati). gtsug lag can render the Sanskrit śāstra (see McKeown 2010, pp. 126–29). It is not clear in this passage, however, whether a particular treatise is intended, or which. No original writings of the Indian Lokāyata or Cārvāka school have survived.
backThis term is difficult to translate into English with one word. In the English language the terms annihilationist and annihilationism, as well as destructionism or extinctionism, usually denote a discrete Christian sectarian belief, and we have therefore avoided them here.
backTibetan ’jig rten rgyang pan pa, Sanskrit lokāyata (“materialist,” the doctrine or the philosophical school of Cārvāka; see pw, s.v. “lokāyata”). Mvy (Sakaki 3520) gives the alternative (or correct?) spelling ’jig rten rgyang phen pa. Other spelling variants are ’jig rten rgyang ’phen pa and ’jig rten rgyang phan pa. Cārvāka is the name of a disciple of Bṛhaspati, the mythical founder of the philosophical school called lokāyata. Lokāyata—literally “turned toward [this] world”—is the doctrine or view that there is no other world beyond this empirical world. The meaning or derivation of the Tibetan term is unclear. However, Jamgön Kongtrül (’jam mgon kong sprul), in Light of the Sun, explains the name in a literal sense: “In their thoughts and behavior they act like they cast (’phen) far away (rgyang) any regard or concern for their future lives” (folios 3.a–3.b). However, it seems to us that the Tibetan is a slightly odd but fairly literal rendering of the Sanskrit name of the school: “those who consider (’phen; see Jäschke 1972, p. 357, s.v. “ ’phen pa,” sense 3) [only] the range/extent (rgyang, āyata) of this world (’jig rten, loka).”
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit here adds as an example a reference to the chieftain Padāśva (Pāli Pāyāsi; see the Pāyāsisutta, DN 23): yathā padāśvasya rājaputrasya yaḥ kumārakāśyapena śvetikāyāṃ vinīto lokāyatikaḥ (see Lévi 1932, p. 80, n. 3).
backSanskrit reads tathaiṣāṃ daśānām bāhyānām bhāvānām atīva prādurbhāvo bhavati, “[To the degree to which beings cultivate the ten nonvirtuous courses of action,], to that degree the ten outer (material) things will appear in excess” (Lévi 1932, p. 80).
backThe Sanskrit treats this list of substances differently (Lévi 1932, p. 80): anenaiva ca kāraṇena mahāsaṃvartakalpe bhaviṣyati samayo ’nāgate ’dhvani yat tilā bhaviṣyanti tilapiṣṭaṃ bhaviṣyati tailaṃ na bhaviṣyati ikṣur bhaviṣyati ikṣuraso na bhaviṣyati guḍo na bhaviṣyati. na khaṇḍaṃ bhaviṣyati na śarkarā bhaviṣyanti. gāvo bhaviṣyanti kṣīraṃ bhaviṣyati dadhi bhaviṣyati navanītaṃ na bhaviṣyati na ghṛtaṃ na gḥrtamaṇḍo bhaviṣyati. evam anupūrveṇa sarveṇa sarve rasā antardhāsyanti. MS[A] and MS[B] contain slightly different readings, too; see Kudo 2004, pp. 176 and 177, respectively.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads, “In this way, one after the other/step by step, all the different tastes disappear” (evam anupūrveṇa sarveṇa sarve rasā antardhāsyanti; Lévi 1932, p. 80). We have here the same deviation from the Sanskrit as in paragraph #UT22084-072-038-482 above: according to the Tibetan translation, engaging in the ten nonvirtuous actions leads to deterioration of the “ten external things.”
backAccording to the Tibetan. This paragraph and the nine that follow it, corresponding to 51b–61b in Lévi’s edition (1932, pp. 80–82, n. 8), are missing in all extant Sanskrit versions. Also, the karmic results of some of the actions are transposed: while at #UT22084-072-038-498 above, slander leads to painful sensations through stepping on pebbles, etc., the opposite action, at #UT22084-072-038-527, giving up speaking divisively, leads to not living in an environment with deep ravines, etc., the opposite of which is the result of idle talk at #UT22084-072-038-501.
backThe Tibetan literally means “external things” (phyi rol gyi dngos po rnams).
backFree translation of C sa’i bcud dag, which corresponds to the Sanskrit pṛthivīrasaḥ, “juices, saps, essences or the nutrients, potency of the earth or the soil” (Mvy [Sakaki 5286]). D reads mthu dang [gzi byin med par mi ’gyur ro]. See also the expression bhūmirasaḥ in the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya, AKK III.98 (Abhidh-k-bh(P) 186,27; La Vallée Poussin/Pruden 1988–90, p. 488), which may be a related idea.https://read.84000.co/translation/toh4089.htmlhttps://read.84000.co/translation/toh4090.html
backThis is a tentative translation of the Tibetan ngan skyugs kyi ljan ljin; J and C read ngan skyugs kyi ljon. ngan skyugs usually means “vomiting.”
backThe following list of five categories that constitute the five precepts or rules of conduct (Sanskrit pañcaśīla, Tibetan bslab pa nga) and their (ten, respectively,) evil consequences are not in the Sanskrit version. The pañcaśīla constitute the very foundation of (lay) Buddhist ethics.
backTranslating H bzhin instead of D zhing. The parallel sentence structure suggests that this is the preferred reading: mi bde bzhin nyal zhing mi bde bzhin sad pa dang.
backTibetan literally means “at the breakup of the body, following one’s death,” which is reminiscent of a stock phrase in Pāli and Sanskrit Buddhist literature meaning simply death: kāyasya bhedāt. The expression was therefore simplified here.
backLiterally “wife” (Tibetan chung ma).
backLiterally “sons” (Tibetan bu).
backTibetan blon po, Sanskrit amātya; literally “relative” (German Angehöriger; Hausgenosse; see pw).
backFamily in the paternal line: Tibetan nye du, Sanskrit jñāti (German Verwandte väterlicherseits; see pw).
backFamily in the maternal line: Tibetan snag gi gnyen mtshams, Sanskrit sālohita. The translation of these kinship terms is largely based on the Sanskrit equivalents given in Mvy (Sakaki 3681, 3910, and 3912).
backTentative translation of the Tibetan de’i lus las lha rnams ’phang ba. What exactly this sentence refers to is not clear. Behind it may be the indigenous Tibetan and pre-Buddhist idea of the bla, the life essence or vital principle, which resides in the body and which is connected to the concept of the ’go ba’i lha lnga, the five individual patron deities that are said to be born simultaneously with a child and remain in certain parts of the body to protect the individual (see Samuel 1993, p. 187).
backTibetan gzung ba’i tshig tu mi ’gyur ba might also mean that one’s own words will not be believed or will be incomprehensible. See also #UT22084-072-038-567 below.
backTibetan ’bru’i chang dang sbyar ba’i chang bag med pa’i gnas (= surāmaireyapramādasthāna; Mvy [Sakaki 8505]). Several kinds of alcoholic beverages are known from Buddhist scriptures, summarized in the canonical formula suramaireyamadyapramādasthāna (“the failures of mindfulness due to becoming inebriated by alcoholic drinks made from fermented grains and other ingredients”). Alcoholic beverages were mostly produced from fermented grains—mostly rice in India and barely in Tibet—but also from various fruits and sugar cane juice. Pramādasthāna (Tibetan bag med pa’i gnas) is sometimes translated as “negligence” (see La Vallée Poussin/Pruden 1988–90, p. 607).
backReading D (dge sbyong). K has dge slong, which corresponds to the Sanskrit bhikṣu (“monk”).
backThis is a free translation of a stock phrase in Pāli/Sanskrit Buddhist literature: “someone with uncontrolled sense doors.” Pāli indriyesu guttadvāra (“having the doors of the senses guarded, practicing self-control”; PED, s.v. “gutta”).
backLiteral translation of the Tibetan bud med rnams la shin tu bag med par ’gyur ba.
backCp. this list to the one in The Sūtra of Nandika (Nandikasūtra, Toh 334), #UT22084-072-034-92, and to the one in Vinīta 2010, pp. 127–31.
backThe Sanskrit text continues again at this point (Lévi 1932, p. 82). See #UT22084-072-038-537.
backMS[A] reads dvādaśānuśaṃsā (“twelve blessings”; Kudo 2004, p. 178).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs: “What are the ten blessings/benefits of paying homage at a tathāgata’s stūpa with the palms of one’s hands joined in reverence, for example at the four major caityas such as the one in Lumbinī or the Mahābodhi temple?” (katame daśānuśaṃsā madhyadeśe caturmahācaityalumbinīmahā-bodhiprabhṛtiṣu tathāgatacaityāñjalikarmapraṇipāte; Lévi 1932, p. 83).
backAccording to the Tibetan rgya chen po’i khyim. The Sanskrit differs: “One will be reborn in Madhyadeśa; one will obtain excellent clothes and an excellent family” (Lévi 1932, pp. 83–84).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs; see Lévi 1932, pp. 82–83.
backThe Tibetan phyag ’tshal ba literally means “making obeisance” (Sanskrit vandanā).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads maheśākhya, “distinguished, exalted, eminent; powerful” (Lévi 1932, p. 84). The Tibetan gzi byin chen po (“splendor, glory; majesty, charisma”) seems to render the Sanskrit maheśākhya here. The standard translation equivalent given in Mvy (Sakaki 6411) is dbang che ba/dbang che bar grags pa.
backThis paragraph has no equivalent in the Sanskrit.
backLiterally “heated” (Tibetan gdung ba med pa, Sanskrit anavatapta).
backAccording to the Tibetan ’jig rten gyi rten du ’gyur ba; there is no corresponding Sanskrit.
backTibetan gzung ba’i tshig tu ’gyur ba, Sanskrit ādeyavākyo bhavati. Lévi 1932, p. 144: “having persuasive words” (on a la parole persuasive). See also #UT22084-072-038-545 above.
backTranslating N thos pa instead of D ’thob pa, confirmed by Sanskrit śṛṇoti (Lévi 1932, p. 87; Kudo 2004, pp. 184 and 185).
backThis paragraph has no equivalent in the Sanskrit.
backTibetan ba dan, Sanskrit patākā; for the meaning of the Buddhist symbol of the flag in Tibetan Buddhist iconography, see Beer 2003, p. 174.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads daśa, “ten” (Lévi 1932, p. 89; Kudo 2004, pp. 184 and 185).
backTibetan na bza’, Sanskrit vastra. Mvy, however, gives as the standard translation equivalent for Sanskrit vastra as ras sam gos (Sakaki 5846).
backTibetan khrel yod, Sanskrit apatrāpya.
backSanskrit (Lévi 1932, p. 100) reads “for/of the world” (lokasya).
backSanskrit reads “to be purified” (viśudhyati).
backAccording to the Tibetan (’jig rten pa rnams ’khor zhing ’du bar ’gyur ba dang). This translation is tentative. Sanskrit reads “one will be approachable” (abhigamanīyaś ca bhavati).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit syntax differs: mālābhūto bhavati lokasya, “one becomes the garland of the world” (Lévi 1932, pp. 98 and 147).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs slightly: sarvajanapriyo bhavati, “one will be liked by/popular with everyone” (Lévi 1932, p. 98).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads māṃsacakṣur naśyati, “the fleshly eye is/will be destroyed” (Lévi 1932, p. 101; Kudo 2004, p. 205, MS[B]—MS[A] omits naśyati divyacakṣuḥ).
backLiterally, “one will obtain the divine eye” (Tibetan lha’i mig, Sanskrit divyacakṣus).
backI.e., the wisdom will arise that lets one see what one should do and what one should not do.
backAccording to the Tibetan, which does not explicitly indicate whether mun pa here is intended in a literal sense (as darkness) or metaphorical sense (as the lack of understanding and clarity). The Sanskrit is more explicit: avidyāndhakāro (“the darkness of ignorance”).
backTibetan byug spos. The Sanskrit has gandha (“perfume”; Lévi 1932, p. 151), for which one would rather expect the Tibetan dri (see Mvy [Sakaki 1861]).
backSee #UT22084-072-038-589 above. Tibetan reads thos pa here instead of ’thob pa, which is most probably an error. The Sanskrit is completely identical for both sentences (Lévi 1932, p. 103; Kudo 2004, pp. 208 and 209).
backThere is no corresponding paragraph in the extant Sanskrit editions.
backThe Tibetan text of the following seven paragraphs is not contained in either MS[A], MS[B], or Lévi’s edition. However, they correspond (more or less accurately) to a different, fragmentary manuscript, MS[C], which was also edited by Kudo (2004, pp. 218–24).
backTibetan de bzhin gshegs pa’i mchod rten byed pa’i phan yon bco brgyad yod de. The Sanskrit reads pratiṣṭhāpana (“consecrating”).
backThe Tibetan here has a slightly variant expression: mig tu sdug par ’gyur ba, instead of blta na sdug par ’gyur ba in earlier instances of the same phrase.
backThis sense of the Tibetan rim gro byed pa dang ldan pa seems to be confirmed by the roughly corresponding Sanskrit upasthāyakair avaikalyam bhavati, “there will be no lack/shortage of servants” (Lévi 1932, p. 90; see also Kudo 2004, p. 186 and 187). MS[A] reads upasthāyikair vaikalyaṃ bhaviṣyati.
backThe Tibetan mdog bzang is likely a very literal translation of the Sanskrit adjective varṇavant (“possessing a [nice] color”). The meaning “beautiful” is documented in the PED for the Pāli vaṇṇavant (see PED, s.v.). It is debatable whether the Sanskrit varṇa (“color”) referred to skin color. Since this term is problematic, we have opted for a more neutral translation.
backAccording to the Sanskrit of MS[C], pariṣadam āvarjayati (Kudo 2004, p. 220: viśāradaḥ pariṣadam upasaṃkramya pariṣadam āvarjayati, “Having fearlessly approached an assembly, he/she wins over that assembly”). The Tibetan ’khor ’dun pa is unclear.
backWhile the Tibetan continues to translate phan yon (= Sanskrit a-/ānuśaṃsa), the Sanskrit here reads guṇa (= Tibetan yon tan), “merits, rewards, good results,” instead of ānuśaṃsa in MS[A] and MS[B] (Kudo 2004, pp. 192 and 193; Lévi 1932, p. 94). Only MS[C] reads ānuśaṃsā (Kudo 2004, p. 221).
backLévi 1932, p. 94; MS[B] supratiṣṭhita-caraṇo; MS[A], MS[C] susaṃsthita-caraṇo (see Kudo 2004, pp. 192, 193, and 221, respectively). The Tibetan (shin tu gnas pa) corresponds to MS[B] supratiṣṭhita; see Mvy (Sakaki 265).
backThe Sanskrit text of MS[A] and MS[B] does not match the Tibetan translation, which seems rather to correspond with MS[C]. See Kudo 2004, pp. 221 and 222; Lévi 1932, pp. 96–97.
backFor the exact referent of the word shelter as “lodging for travelers,” etc., see Lévi 1932, p. 97, n. 9.
backAccording to the Tibetan grong gi gtso bo, grong khyer gyi gtso bo, grong rdal gyi gtso bo, ri brags kyi rgyal po, rgyal phran, rgyal po btsan pa. The Sanskrit and Tibetan lists do not match. The Sanskrit in Lévi’s edition (ibid., 1932, p. 96) reads: rājā bhavati prādeśikaḥ. rājā bhavati māṇḍalikaḥ. rājā bhavati jambudvīpādhipatiḥ. rājā bhavati dvīpadvayādhipatiḥ. rājā bhavati dvīpatrayādhipatiḥ. rājā bhavati caturdvīpādhipatiś cakravartī. Here, rājā bhavati prādeśikaḥ, “ruler/chief of a district” or “landowner,” seems to have no correspondence in the Tibetan; rājā bhavati māṇḍalikaḥ, “ruler of a province” (Kudo 2004, pp. 194 and 195), may correspond with rgyal phran; Tibetan ri brags kyi rgyal po seems to correspond to Sanskrit rājā syāṃ kārṣarvvaṭayaḥ of MS[C], Kudo 2004, p. 221 (for the Sanskrit kārvaṭika/karvaṭaka [“mountain hamlet”], see BHSD, s.v. “kārvaṭika”).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs slightly: rājā bhavati Jambudvīpādhipatiḥ (“ruler of the Jambu continent”), rājā bhavati dvīpadvayādhipatiḥ (“ruler of two continents”), rājā bhavati dvīpatrayādhipatiḥ (“ruler of three continents”), rājā bhavati caturdvīpādhipatiś cakravartī (“ruler of all four continents, a wheel-turning monarch”) (Lévi 1932, p. 96; Kudo 2004, pp. 194 and 195, respectively).
backThe following list of the different heavens and the stages of liberation and awakening are only contained in the Tibetan translation and in Sanskrit MS[C] (Kudo 2004, pp. 221 and 222).
backReading Y and K tshangs ris kyi lha rnams (instead of D tshangs rigs kyi lha rnams), which is confirmed by the Sanskrit brahmakāyikānāṃ devānaṃ (Kudo 2004, p. 222; see also Mvy [Sakaki 3058]).
backSanskrit ākiñcanyāyatana; the Tibetan term used here (chung zad med pa’i skye mched) is not the standard translation. One would instead expect the standardized form recorded in Mvy (Sakaki 3112): ci yang med pa’i skye mched (kyi lha rnams).
backAccording to the Sanskrit saced ākāṃkṣet pratyekāṃ bodhiṃ sākṣāt kuryām iti. The Tibetan is unclear: byang chub mngon du bya’o (“May [I] realize awakening”?).
backTibetan dpral ba dag, Sanskrit (vi)śuddhalalāṭaḥ. Perhaps a mark of beauty? According to a widespread and popular South Asian belief, Brahmā (or some deity) appears on the sixth day after a child is born to inscribe the child’s fate on its forehead. See the similar passage in Toh 339 (Bruno Galasek-Hul and Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche 2021, #UT22084-072-039-420), dpral ba’i dbyes legs pa (“a good-sized [i.e., broad] forehead”). A broad forehead is one of the eighty secondary physical characteristics of a great being or a buddha (aśīty anuvyañjanāni). See also Jäschke (s.v. “dbyes”), who seems to have taken it as a general characteristic of beauty.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads prahasitavadanaḥ (MS[C], Kudo 2004, p. 223), “having a laughing face.”
backAccording to the Tibetan phan yon. The Sanskrit MS[C] reads ānuśaṃsā; MS[A] and MS[B] guṇāḥ.
backAccording to the Sanskrit of MS[C], māragocara (Kudo 2004, p. 253), and the Tibetan bdud kyi spyod yul. MS[A] and MS[B] read bālagocara (Lévi 1932, p. 104, n. 3; Kudo 2004, pp. 210 and 211). Sanskrit MS[C] breaks off after the word māragocara (Kudo 2004, p. 223).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads “The gods will envy one” (devā asya spṛhayanti).
backTibetan dgon pa la gnas pa, Sanskrit araṇyavāsa. “Forest life” is one of the so-called thirteen dhūtaṅgas/dhūtaguṇas (“ascetic practices”) that are optional (i.e., not prescribed by the Vinaya) for monks and nuns to develop certain qualities such as contentment and detachment.
backAccording to the Sanskrit saṃgaṇikā vivarjayati. The Tibetan translates the Sanskrit saṃgaṇikā as ’du ’dzi (“noise, crowd, bustle, tumult”). The word saṃgaṇikā (“society, crowd, association”) is well known from Pāli and Sanskrit Buddhist texts (see BHSD, s.v.). That the Tibetan translators rendered it with saṃsargaḥ, the standard translation equivalent suggested by Mvy (Sakaki 6535), is strange. Lévi (1932, p. 104, n. 5) comments that the Tibetan translators apparently were not familiar with its Buddhist usage. Its opposite is “solitude” (viveka), which is addressed in the next sentence.
backTranslating the D reading (rab tu dben pa la) sten pa. Yra bsan; K par gnas; H pa la bsten.
backThe Sanskrit reads dhyānālambanaṃ cittam bhavati (“the mind becomes a support for contemplation”).
backThese are the two stages of Buddhist meditation: Tibetan zhi gnas, Sanskrit śamatha; and Tibetan lhag mthong, Sanskrit vipaśyanā. This available Sanskrit editions do not use these terms. The Sanskrit edition by Lévi (ibid., 1932, p. 105) reads: “The celibate will attain meditative concentration easily” (brahmacaryasya alpāyāsena samādhim adhigacchati).
back“Living on alms” is another of the optional thirteen dhūtaṅgas/dhūtaguṇas (“ascetic practices”).
backThis translates the reading of D, ston pa, which is confirmed by the Sanskrit dīpayati (Y and K read sten).
backTibetan and Sanskrit literally mean “One will become somebody who will have illuminated [the teachings] for future generations” (Tibetan phyi ma’i skye bo la snang bar sbyas ’gyur ba, Sanskrit paścimāyā janatāyā ālokaḥ kṛto bahavati; Lévi 1932, p. 105).
backAccording to the Sanskrit upaghāta (“injury, damage, hurt; assault”); see CPD, Apte, s.v. “upaghāta.” The Tibetan nyam nga ba does not appear to be a standardized translation equivalent for upaghāta.
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit differs: piṇḍapātaparacittasya bhikṣoḥ sarvā diśo ’pratikūlā bhavanti gamanāya (Lévi 1932, p. 105).
backOne enters to beg for alms food, i.e., one is confident that one will not break one’s vows.
backAccording to the Tibetan gan du ’gro ba. The Sanskrit reads, “with confidence one instructs (anuśāsati) one’s disciples” (see Lévi 1932, p. 105).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit reads: “one’s words will be respected” (Lévi 1932, p. 105: grāhyaṃ cāsya vaco bhavati).
backAccording to the Tibetan. The Sanskrit does not contain this sentence but instead reads, “these are the ten kinds of confidence.”
backA, D to’u de ya; J, C to’u da ya. Pāli Todeyya. A rich brahmin from Tudigāma. See DPPN, s.v. “Todeyya.” His story is related in the narrative frame of the Sanskrit version of this sūtra (see Kudo 2004, pp. 2–26 and Lévi 1932, pp. 21–29) and in the commentaries on the Pāli Cūḷakammavibhaṅgasutta (MN 135) and the Subhasutta (DN 10). It is, however, missing from the Tibetan versions. It is the story of the conversion of Śuka. After his death, Taudeya was reborn as a dog in his son’s house, where he is identified by the Buddha on one of his visits during his alms round. The Bhagavān calls the barking dog by the name Taudeya, whereupon it runs into the house, jumps onto the bed, and cannot be removed from it. At first, Śuka does not believe the Buddha’s assertion that the dog is his deceased father and becomes angry. Later, however, he is convinced when the Buddha makes the dog unbury a treasure in the house, of which no one knew but Taudeya. After being the addressee of the Buddha’s teachings on karmic cause and effect on several occasions, Śuka eventually becomes a lay follower.
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