Primary Sources

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The Source Text:
The Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra

ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།

The Texts

RKTSK 417
Gzhan stong dbu ma'i rgyan gyi lung sbyor
Mnyam med dwags po'i chos bzhir grags pa'i gzhung gi 'grel pa snying po gsal ba'i rgyan
Mdo rgyud rin po che'i mdzod
Theg chen bstan pa'i snying po'i gzhung
Dbu ma la 'jug pa'i rnam bshad dpal ldan dus gsum mkhyen pa'i zhal lung dwags brgyud grub pa'i shing rta
Springs yig bdud rtsi'i thig le
Dbu ma'i byung tshul rnam par bshad pa'i gtam yid bzhin lhun po zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
'phags ma shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa'i snying po'i dka' 'grel 'gran zla med pa'i rgyal po tshig le'ur byas pa
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel bshad de kho na nyid rab tu gsal ba'i me long
Theg pa chen po'i tshul la 'jug pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
Rājopadeśadarśanamālā (RKTST 2725)
Chos dbyings rin po che'i mdzod kyi 'grel pa lung gi gter mdzod
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bsdus don
Tathāgatahṛdayālaṃkāra
Bka' yang dag pa'i tshad ma zhes bya ba mkha' 'gro ma'i man ngag
Chos dang chos nyid rnam par 'byed pa'i tshig le'ur byas pa'i 'grel pa ye shes snang ba rnam 'byed
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bsdus pa'i don
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi bsdus pa'i don
Rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa Ti ka nyi 'od gsal ba
Rgyud bla ma'i bsdus don rton pa bzhi ldan mkhas pa dga' byed
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa dgongs pa nges gsal
Rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos gsal byed
Rgyud bla ma'i gsal byed bsam mi khyab pa'i yi ge
Mdo sde rgyan dang rgyud bla ma spyod 'jug rnams kyi 'grel TIk+ka gi dbu zhabs kyi tshigs bcad
Rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel mchan
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i don gyi snying po gsal byed kyi snang ba chen po
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i zin bris tI kA
Rgyud bla ma'i bsdus don rin chen sgron me
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos zhes bya ba'i mchan 'grel gyi mchan bu
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi tshig 'grel thub bstan yar rgyas
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i dka' gnad kyi mtha' dpyad mun sel
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i TIk+ka de nyid snang ba
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel ba rigs khams bde gshegs snying po'i me long
De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po'i mdo'i 'grel pa snying po rab gsal
Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel pa byams mgon dgyes pa'i mchod sprin
Bde gshegs snying po'i skor zin bris
Lam rim chen mo
Dbu ma la 'jug pa'i rnam bshad dgongs pa rab gsal
Legs bshad gser phreng
Rig pa rang shar chen po'i rgyud
Sgra thal 'gyur chen po'i rgyud
Bkra shis mdzes ldan chen po'i rgyud
Dasheng qixin lun
Kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long gi rgyud
Rdo rje sems dpa' snying gi me long gi rgyud
Nyi ma dang zla ba kha sbyor ba chen po gsang ba'i rgyud
Gzhan stong chen mo
Kǔmgang sammae kyǒng
Bar do spyi'i don thams cad rnam pa gsal bar byed pa dran pa'i me long

... further results

Source Texts

Sanskrit Texts

Tibetan Texts

Chinese Texts

  • Ratnamati 勒那摩提 (508 A.D.), 究竟一乘寶性論 (Chinese translation of Rgvbh), in T 1611. Attributed author is Sāramati.

Sutra Sources

Commentaries

Indian Commentaries

Tibetan Commentaries

Select Tibetan Texts[2]

English Translations

When the Clouds Part

When the Clouds Part-front.jpg

"Buddha nature" (tathāgatagarbha) is the innate potential in all living beings to become a fully awakened buddha. This book discusses a wide range of topics connected with the notion of buddha nature as presented in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and includes an overview of the sūtra sources of the tathāgatagarbha teachings and the different ways of explaining the meaning of this term. It includes new translations of the Maitreya treatise Mahāyānottaratantra (Ratnagotravibhāga), the primary Indian text on the subject, its Indian commentaries, and two (hitherto untranslated) commentaries from the Tibetan Kagyü tradition. Most important, the translator’s introduction investigates in detail the meditative tradition of using the Mahāyānottaratantra as a basis for Mahāmudrā instructions and the Shentong approach. This is supplemented by translations of a number of short Tibetan meditation manuals from the Kadampa, Kagyü, and Jonang schools that use the Mahāyānottaratantra as a work to contemplate and realize one’s own buddha nature. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
... read more
Brunnhölzl, Karl. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2014.

French Translations

German Translations



The Gyü Lama

Text Information

Author: Maitreya (Byams pa) or Maitreyanātha (Byams pa mgon po)
Sanskrit Title: Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra
Alternate Title: Ratnagotravibhāga
Tibetan Title: Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos
Translated to Tibetan by: Sajjana and Blo ldan shes rab
Tibetan Catalogue: Tôh. no. 4024. Dergé Tanjur, vol. PHI, folios 54v.1-73r.7

The Gyü Lama (རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་), also called the Mahāyānottaratantra Śāstra (ཐེག་ཆེན་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་), the Ratnagotravibhāga (RGV), or simply the Uttaratantra, is one of the most important texts of the Yogācāra tradition that expounds the tathāgatagarbha (buddha nature) theory, the idea that all sentient beings possess the nature of a buddha.[3] The Tibetan Buddhist tradition holds the Ratnagotravibhāga to be one of the Five Treatises that Maitreya taught to Asaṅga (4th century?). According to Klaus-Dieter Mathes, the Ratnagotravibhāga was largely ignored until the eleventh century when Indian scholars and adepts attempted to bring the tantric teachings in line with mainstream Mahāyāna.[4] The Ratnagotravibhāga and buddha nature theory provided the necessary doctrinal support for this kind of work, paving the road for its entry and subsequent importance within the Tibetan Buddhist dialogue.

As a whole, the Ratnagotravibhāga consists of three parts: (1) basic verses, (2) commentarial verses and (3) prose commentary, the third being the vyākhyā, the commentary attributed to Asaṅga.[5] Issues with regards to authorship arise when comparing the Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan texts, as the only extant Sanskrit version[6] attributes no author, and the only Chinese version, translated by Ratnamati sometime after 508[7], attribues the entire text to Sāramati.[8] (You can see various interpretations of the RGV authorship here.)

The only extant Tibetan version of the Ratnagotravibhāga was translated by rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab (1059–1109) and Sajjana (late 11th cent.),[9] though according to gZhon-nu-dpal there were a total of six translations made, the first by Atiśa (982–1054) and Nag-tsho Tshul-khrims-rgyal-ba (1011–1064).[10] rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab wrote the first commentary on the RGV[11] officially bringing it into Tibetan discourse at the end of the 11th century, from which point, the various Tibetan interpretations of the buddha nature theory take off. Mathes points to the main issue in the various interpretations as being whether the teaching that all beings are buddhas is provisional or definitive in meaning.[12] Over the next nine centuries, 45 commentaries were written on the Ratnagotravibhāga alone[13], and the text was referenced in "different ways to doctrinally support disputed traditions, such as the zhentong (gzhan stong) ("empty of other") of the Jonangpas (Jo nang pa) or sūtra-based mahāmudrā."[14] The text also serves as an important basis for both the Dzogchen tradition of Longchenpa and the Mahamudra tradition of the Kagyüpas.[15]


Tibetan Catalogue Information[16]
Version Catalogue # Category Vol. Folio #'s Alt
Peking 5525 sems tsam phi 54b7-74b6 (vol.108, p.24-32)
Dergé (Tôh.) 4024 sems tsam phi 54b1-73a7
Narthang 4314 sems tsam phi 48b3-69a3.
Kinsha [17] 3524 sems tsam phi 64b1 (p.33-3-1)
Cone 3991 sems tsam phi 51b1-69b1.

The emphasis of this site is to provide information on the resources available in the study of the Ratnagotravibhāga and all of its interpretations within the Tibetan Buddhist milieu. The information presented here is far from complete and will continue to develop as new scholarship arises. We welcome any feedback, and if you see any omissions or errors, please let us know via email.


The Five Dharmas of Maitreya

The Ornament of Clear Realization
Skt. Abhisamayālaṃkāra
Tib. མངོན་རྟོགས་པའི་རྒྱན་
Wyl. mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan
The Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras
Skt. Māhayānasūtrālaṃkāra
Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ་སྡེ་རྒྱན་
Wyl. theg pa chen po'i mdo sde rgyan
Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes
Skt. Madhyāntavibhāga
Tib. དབུས་དང་མཐའ་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ་
Wyl. dbus dang mtha' rnam par 'byed pa
Distinguishing Dharma and Dharmata
Skt. Dharma-dharmatā-vibhāga
Tib. ཆོས་དང་ཆོས་ཉིད་
Wyl. chos dang chos nyid rnam par 'byed pa
The Sublime Continuum
Skt. Uttaratantra Śāstra
Tib. རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་
Wyl. rgyud bla ma

Resources

BDRC Content

BDRC.png BDRC Derge Version
Bibliographical Title
theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos
Other Title
mahayanottaratantrasastra
Page Numbers
109-148 in Volume 123 of Work W23703
Location
ff. 54v-73r
Authorship
byams pa (author); sajjana (translator); blo ldan shes rab
Tohoku Catalog Num.
4024
Citation
tshul khrims rin chen. "theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos." In bstan 'gyur (sde dge). TBRC W23703. 123: 109 - 148. delhi: delhi karmapae choedhey, gyalwae sungrab partun khang, 1982-1985. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O1GS6011%7CO1GS601137645$W23703
BDRC.png BDRC Narthang Version
Bibliographical Title
theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/
Title Page Title
mahayana uttara tantara sastra
Page Numbers
100-141 in Volume 132 of Work W22704
Location
vol.132,ff.48v-69r (pp.96-137)
Colophon
theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/ mgon po byams pas mdzad pa rdzogs so/ /dpal grong khyer dpe med kyi mkhas pa chen po/ bram ze rin chen rdo rje'i dpon po paN+Di ta mkhas pa chen po sa dza na dang / lo tsA ba shAkya'i dge slong blo ldan shes rab kyis/ grong khyer dpe med de nyid du bsgyur pa'o//
gSer bris Catalog Num.
3528
Otani, Beijing Catalog Num.
5525
Citation
"theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/." In bstan 'gyur (snar thang). TBRC W22704. 132: 100 - 141. [narthang]: [s.n.], [1800?]. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O2DB75712%7CO2DB757122DB79425$W22704
BDRC.png BDRC Chone Version
Bibliographical Title
theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/
Other Title
mahayanottaratantrasastra
Page Numbers
109-143 in Volume 123 of Work W1GS66030
Location
ff. 51r-68r
Authorship
byams pa (author); sajjana (translator); blo ldan shes rab
Tohoku Catalog Num.
4024
Citation
grags pa bshad sgrub . "theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/." In bstan 'gyur (co ne). TBRC W1GS66030. 123: 109 - 143. [co ne dgon chen]: [co ne], [1926]. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O2DB20796%7CO2DB207962DB24440$W1GS66030
BDRC.png BDRC Pe Durma Version
Bibliographical Title
theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/
Other Title
mahayanottaratantrasastra
Page Numbers
958-1009 in Volume 70 of Work W1PD95844
Location
pp. 935-986
Authorship
byams pa (author); sajjana (translator); blo ldan shes rab
Tohoku Catalog Num.
4024
BDRC.png BDRC Ser Drima Version
Bibliographical Title
theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos
Title Page Title
mahayana uttara tantara sastra
Page Numbers
129-180 in Volume 132
Location
vol.132,ff.64r-89v(pp.127-178)
Colophon
theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/ mgon po byams pas mdzad pa rdzogs so/ /dpal grong khyer dpe med kyi mkhas pa chen po/ bram ze rin chen rdo rje'i dpon po paN+Di ta mkhas pa chen po sa dza na dang / lo tsA ba shAkya'i dge slong blo ldan shes rab kyis/ grong khyer dpe med de nyid du bsgyur pa'o
gSer bris Catalog Num.
3528
Otani, Beijing Catalog Num.
5525
Citation
"theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos." In bstan 'gyur/?gser bris ma/?. TBRC W23702. 132: 129 - 180. tibet: [snar thang], [17-?]. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O00CR0008%7CO00CR000800CR034422$W23702


Secondary Sources and Further Studies

Notes

  1. Besides this text, the only other two known Indian “commentaries” on the Uttaratantra are Vairocanarakṣita’s (eleventh century) very brief ahāyānottaratantraṭippaṇī (eight folios) and Sajjana’s (eleventh/twelfth century) Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa (a summary in thirty-seven verses). Brunnholzl, K. Luminous Heart pg 403 note 24
  2. For an extensive list of Tibetan Commentaries, see A List of the Commentaries on the Ratnagotravibhāga
  3. Mathes, A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, 2
  4. Ibid.
  5. Kano, RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine, 17
  6. critically edited by Johnston in Prasad, H. S., ed. The Uttaratantra of Maitreya. Containing E.H. Johnson's Sanskrit text and E. Obermiller's English translation. Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica, 79. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1991.
  7. Kano, RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga, 17
  8. For a detailed discussion regarding the authorship of the verses and prose, see Kano, RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga; Takasaki, A study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra), being a treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha theory of Mahayana Buddhism
  9. Kano, RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga, 89
  10. Ibid. 90
    (a) Atiśa (982–1054) and Nag-tsho Tshul-khrims-rgyal-ba (1011–1064)
    (b) rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab (1059–1109) and Sajjana (late 11th cent.)
    (c) sPa-tshab Nyi-ma-grags (b.1055)
    (d) Mar-pa Do-pa Chos-kyi-dbang-phyug (1042–1136)
    (e) Jo-nang Lo-tsā-ba Blo-gros-dpal (1299–1353 or 1300–1355)
    (f) Yar-klungs Lo-tsā-ba Grags-pa-rgyal-mtshan (1242–1346)
  11. Translated in Kazuo's Ph.D. dissertation, "rNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine
  12. Mathes, A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, 3
  13. Burchardi, A Provisional List of Tibetan Commentaries on the Ratnagotravibhāga; Kano, RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga (See Appendix G)
  14. Mathes, A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, 3
  15. Ibid., 1
  16. Catalogue information from Phil Stanley and http://web.otani.ac.jp/cri/twrp/tibdate/Peking_online_search.html
  17. Golden Manuscript - Tengyur
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