Verse I.62 Variations
न व्ययो न स्थितिश्चित्तप्रकृतेर्व्योमधातुवत्
na vyayo na sthitiścittaprakṛtervyomadhātuvat
ཁམས་ལྟར་རྒྱུ་མེད་རྐྱེན་མེད་དེ། །
ཚོགས་པ་མེད་ཅིང་སྐྱེ་བ་དང་། །
འཇིག་དང་གནས་ལའང་ཡོད་མ་ཡིན། །
Lacking aggregation, and lacking
Arising, ceasing, and abiding,
The nature of the mind resembles space.
De l’esprit n’a ni cause ni condition Et n’est pas une combinaison ; elle n’a pas non plus De naissance, de cessation et de durée.
RGVV Commentary on Verse I.62
Tibetan
English
Sanskrit
Chinese
Full Tibetan Commentary
Full English Commentary
Full Sanskrit Commentary
Full Chinese Commentary
Other English translations
Obermiller (1931) [6]
- But the Spiritual Essence is like space,
- Being uncaused and unconditioned;
- It is devoid of the complex (of producing factors)
- And knows no birth, destruction, and (temporary) stability.[7]
Takasaki (1966) [8]
- The Innate Mind is like space,
- Being of no cause or condition,
- Or complex [of producing factors],
- It has neither origination nor destruction,
- Nor even stability [between two points].
Holmes (1985) [9]
- The nature of mind is like the space element:
- it has neither causes, nor conditions
- nor these in any combination,
- nor any arising, destruction or abiding.
Holmes (1999) [10]
- The nature of mind is like the space element:
- it has neither causes nor conditions
- nor these in combination,
- nor arising, abiding or destruction.
Fuchs (2000) [11]
- The nature of mind as the element of space
- does not [depend upon] causes or conditions,
- nor does it [depend on] a gathering of these.
- It has neither arising, cessation, nor abiding.
Textual sources
Commentaries on this verse
Academic notes
- Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Unicode Input
- Brunnhölzl, Karl. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, 2014.
- This refers to the ancient Indian cosmological model of worlds arising in space due to the four elemental spheres of wind, fire, water, and earth being stacked up in that order and thus supporting the upper spheres. As VT (fol. 13r1) confirms, the element of fire is not mentioned among the four elements in this text because fire is used to illustrate sickness, aging, and death, which destroy one’s prior state of existence.
- Here, the text has indriya, which is always replaced by āyatana below.
- Given the example of space’s being completely unaffected by what arises and ceases in it, I follow DP’s negative before "afflicted" (the Sanskrit and C lack this negative).
- Obermiller, E. "The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism." Acta Orientalia IX (1931), pp. 81-306.
- This is verse 61 in Obermiller's translation
- Takasaki, Jikido. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra): Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Serie Orientale Roma 33. Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (ISMEO), 1966.
- Holmes, Ken & Katia. The Changeless Nature. Eskdalemuir, Scotland: Karma Drubgyud Darjay Ling, 1985.
- Holmes, Ken & Katia. Maitreya on Buddha Nature. Scotland: Altea Publishing, 1999.
- Fuchs, Rosemarie, trans. Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra. Commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul and explanations by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso. Ithaca, N. Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 2000.