Verse I.2

Ratnagotravibhāga Root Verse I.2

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Verse I.2 Variations

स्वलक्षणेनानुगतानि चैषां

यथाक्रमं धारणिराजसूत्रे
निदानतस्त्रीणि पदानि विद्या-
च्चत्वारि धीमज्जिनधर्मभेदात्

svalakṣaṇenānugatāni caiṣāṃ

yathākramaṃ dhāraṇirājasūtre
nidānatastrīṇi padāni vidyā-
ccatvāri dhīmajjinadharmabhedāt

E. H. Johnston as input by the University of the West.^[1]

འདི་དག་རང་མཚན་ཉིད་ཀྱི་རྗེས་འབྲེལ་བ། །

གོ་རིམས་ཇི་བཞིན་གཟུངས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་མདོར། །
གླེང་གཞི་ལས་ནི་གནས་གསུམ་རིག་བྱ་སྟེ། །
བཞི་ནི་བློ་ལྡན་རྒྱལ་ཆོས་དབྱེ་བ་ལས། །

Dege, PHI, 108

In accordance with their specific characteristics

And in due order, the [first] three points of these [seven]
Should be understood from the introduction in the Dhāraṇirājasūtra
And the [latter] four from the distinction of the attributes of the intelligent and the victors.

When the Clouds Part, Brunnhölzl, 333. ^[2]

七種相次第總持自在王

菩薩修多羅序分有三句
餘殘四句者在菩薩如來
智慧差別分應當如是知

CBETA T31n1611_p0820c24

Of these [seven subjects],

Accompanied by their own characteristics,
One should know respectively the [first] three subjects
From the introductory chapter in the Dhāranirāja—sūtra
And the [latter] four from [the chapter on] the distinction
Between the qualities of the Bodhisattva
and those of the Buddha.

Takasaki, p. 146^[3], from Sanskrit with reference to the Chinese.

On connaîtra ces sept points selon leurs caractéristiques propres

Et dans le même ordre. Les trois premiers viennent De l’introduction du Soûtra du Roi Dhāraṇīśvara Et les quatre derniers de la classification

des qualités des Vainqueurs et des sages.

Charrier, Christian and Patrick Carré. Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule. Plazac: Éditions Padmakara, 2019.

RGVV Commentary on Verse I.2

Tibetan
English
Sanskrit
Chinese

Full Tibetan Commentary
Full English Commentary
Full Sanskrit Commentary
Full Chinese Commentary

།འདི་དག་རང་མཚན་ཉིད་ཀྱི་རྗེས་འབྲེལ་བ། །གོ་རིམས་ཇི་བཞིན་གཟུངས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་མདོར། །གླེང་གཞི་ལས་ནི་གནས་གསུམ་རིག་བྱ་སྟེ། །བཞི་ནི་བློ་ལྡན་རྒྱལ་ཆོས་དབྱེ་བ་ལས། །རྡོ་རྗེའི་གནས་བདུན་པོ་འདི་དག་ལས་རང་གི་མཚན་ཉིད་བསྟན་པ་དང་། རྗེས་སུ་འབྲེལ་བ་ནི་གོ་རིམས་ཇི་ལྟ་བར་འཕགས་པ་གཟུངས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག་རྒྱལ་པོའི་མདོར་གླེང་གཞིའི་ལེའུ་ལས་གནས་གསུམ་རིག་པར་བྱ་ལ། དེའི་འོག་ཏུ་ལྷག་མ་བཞི་ནི་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ་དང་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱེ་བ་ལས་སོ། །དེ་ལས་ཇི་སྐད་དུ། བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་མཉམ་པ་ཉིད་དུ་མངོན་པར་རྫོགས་པར་སངས་རྒྱས་པ། ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ་ལེགས་པར་བསྐོར་བ། སློབ་མའི་ཚོགས་ཤིན་ཏུ་དུལ་བ་མཐའ་ཡས་པ་མངའ་བ་ཞེས་གསུངས་ཏེ། རྩ་བའི་ཚིག་འདི་གསུམ་གྱིས་ནི་གོ་རིམས་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་བཞིན་དུ་དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ་རིམ་གྱིས་སྐྱེ་བ་འགྲུབ་པ་རྣམ་པར་གཞག་པར་རིག་པར་བྱ་ལ། ལྷག་མ་གནས་བཞི་ནི་དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ་འབྱུང་བ་དང་རྗེས་སུ་མཐུན་པའི་རྒྱུ་འགྲུབ་པ་བསྟན་པར་རིག་པར་བྱའོ། །དེ་ལ་གང་གི་ཕྱིར་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ས་བརྒྱད་པ་ལ་གནས་པ་ན་ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་དབང་ཐོབ་པར་འགྱུར་བ་དེའི་ཕྱིར་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སྙིང་པོ་མཆོག་ཏུ་གཤེགས་པ་དེ་ལ་ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་མཉམ་པ་ཉིད་དུ་མངོན་པར་རྫོགས་པར་སངས་རྒྱས་པ་ཞེས་བྱའོ། །གང་གི་ཕྱིར་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ས་དགུ་པ་ལ་གནས་པ་ནི། བླ་ན་མེད་པའི་ཆོས་སྨྲ་བ་ཉིད་དང་ལྡན་པ། སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་བསམ་པའི་ཚུལ་ལེགས་པར་ཤེས་པ་དང་། དབང་པོ་མཆོག་གི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་དང་། སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་ཉོན་མོངས་པའི་བག་ཆགས་ཀྱི་མཚམས་སྦྱོར་བ་འཇོམས་པ་ལ་མཁས་པར་འགྱུར་བ།

དེའི་ཕྱིར་མངོན་པར་རྫོགས་པར་སངས་རྒྱས་པ་དེ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ་ལེགས་པར་བསྐོར་བ་ཞེས་བྱའོ། །གང་གི་ཕྱིར་ས་བཅུ་པ་ལ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་བླ་ན་མེད་པའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་ཚབ་ཏུ་དབང་བསྐུར་བ་ཐོབ་མ་ཐག་ཏུ་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་མཛད་པ་ལྷུན་གྱིས་གྲུབ་ཅིང་རྒྱུན་མི་འཆད་པར་འགྱུར་བ་དེའི་ཕྱིར་ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ་ལེགས་པར་བསྐོར་བ་དེའི་སློབ་མའི་ཚོགས་ཤིན་ཏུ་དུལ་བ་མཐའ་ཡས་པ་མངའ་བ་ཞེས་བྱའོ། །སློབ་མའི་ཚོགས་ཤིན་ཏུ་དུལ་བ་མཐའ་ཡས་པ་དེ་ཡང་དེ་མ་ཐག་ཏུ་དགེ་སློང་གི་དགེ་འདུན་ཆེན་པོ་དང་ཐབས་ཅིག་སྟེ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ནས། བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ཚོགས་གཞལ་དུ་མེད་པ་དང་ཐབས་ཅིག་གོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་བར་གྱི་གཞུང་འདིས་སྟོན་ཏེ། དེ་ལྟ་བུའི་ཡོན་ཏན་དང་ལྡན་པ་དག་དང་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ནི། གོ་རིམས་ཇི་ལྟ་བར་ཉན་ཐོས་ཀྱི་བྱང་ཆུབ་དང་། སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་བྱང་ཆུབ་ལ་ཤིན་ཏུ་དུལ་བའི་ཕྱིར་ན། དེ་ལྟ་བུའི་ཡོན་ཏན་དང་ལྡན་པ་དག་དང་ངོ། །དེ་ནས་ཉན་ཐོས་དང་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ཡོན་ཏན་བསྔགས་པ་བསྟན་པའི་རྗེས་ཐོགས་ལ། བསམ་གྱིས་མི་ཁྱབ་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་ཁྱུ་མཆོག་ལ་བརྟེན་ནས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བཀོད་པའི་འཁོར་གྱི་ཁྱམས་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་གྲུབ་པ་དང་། དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་འཁོར་འདུས་པ་དང་། ལྷ་རྫས་ཀྱི་མཆོད་པ་སྣ་ཚོགས་བསྒྲུབ་པ་དང་། བསྟོད་པའི་སྤྲིན་གྱི་ཆར་བབ་པས་སངས་རྒྱས་དཀོན་མཆོག་གི་ཡོན་ཏན་རྣམ་པར་དབྱེ་བ་རྣམ་པར་གཞག་པར་རིག་པར་བྱའོ། །དེའི་རྗེས་ལ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་གདན་གྱི་བཀོད་པ་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་དང་། འོད་དང་། ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་གྲངས་ཀྱི་མིང་དང་། ཡོན་ཏན་ཡོངས་སུ་བསྒྲགས་པས་ཆོས་དཀོན་མཆོག་གི་ཡོན་ཏན་རྣམ་པར་དབྱེ་བ་རྣམ་པར་གཞག་པར་རིག་པར་བྱའོ། །དེའི་རྗེས་ལ་ཕན་ཚུན་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གྱི་སྤྱོད་ཡུལ་གྱི་མཐུ་བསྟན་པ་དང་། དེའི་ཡོན་ཏན་གྱི་བསྔགས་པ་སྣ་ཚོགས་བསྟན་པས་དགེ་འདུན་དཀོན་མཆོག་གི་ཡོན་ཏན་གྱི་རྣམ་པར་དབྱེ་བ་བསྟན་པར་རིག་པར་བྱའོ། །དེའི་རྗེས་ལ་ཡང་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་འོད་ཟེར་གྱིས་དབང་བསྐུར་བས་བླ་ན་མེད་པའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོའི་སྲས་ཀྱི་ཐུ་བོ་ལ་མི་འཇིགས་པ་དང་། སྤོབས་

པ་མཆོག་ཉེ་བར་བསྒྲུབས་པ་ལ་བརྟེན་ནས་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཡང་དག་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་དོན་དམ་པའི་བསྟོད་པ་བསྟན་པ་དང་། ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་ཆོས་མཆོག་གི་གཏམ་གྱི་དངོས་པོ་ཉེ་བར་བཀོད་པ་དང་། དེ་རྟོགས་པར་བྱེད་པའི་འབྲས་བུ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག་དམ་པ་ཐོབ་པར་བསྟན་པས་གོ་རིམས་ཇི་ལྟ་བར་དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ་པོ་དེ་རྣམས་ཉིད་ཀྱི་བླ་ན་མེད་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་གྱི་རྣམ་པར་དབྱེ་བ་རྣམ་པར་གཞག་པ་གླེང་གཞིའི་ལེའུའི་མཐའ་ཉིད་དུ་བལྟ་བར་བྱའོ། །དེ་ནས་མདོའི་གླེང་གཞིའི་ལེའུའི་རྗེས་ཐོགས་སུ་དེ་ཡོངས་སུ་དག་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་གྱི་ཡོངས་སུ་སྦྱོང་བ་རྣམ་པ་དྲུག་ཅུ་བསྟན་པས། སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཁམས་གསལ་བར་མཛད་དེ་ཡོངས་སུ་དག་པར་བྱ་བའི་དོན་ཡོན་ཏན་དང་ལྡན་ན་དེ་ཡོངས་སུ་དག་པའི་ཡོངས་སུ་སྦྱོང་བ་འཐད་པའི་ཕྱིར་རོ། །དོན་གྱི་དབང་འདི་ཉེ་བར་བཟུང་ནས་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ས་བཅུ་པོ་དག་ལ་ཡང་ས་ལེ་སྦྲམ་གྱི་ཡོངས་སུ་སྦྱོང་བ་དཔེར་བརྗོད་པ་དང་། མདོ་དེ་ཉིད་དུ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཕྲིན་ལས་བསྟན་པའི་རྗེས་ཐོགས་ཉིད་དུ་མ་དག་པའི་ནོར་བུ་བཻ་ཌཱུརྱ་དཔེར་མཛད་དེ། རིགས་ཀྱི་བུ་དཔེར་ན་འདི་ལྟ་སྟེ། ནོར་བུ་མཁན་མཁས་པ་ནོར་བུ་སྦྱོང་བའི་ཚུལ་ལེགས་པར་ཤེས་པ་དེ་ནོར་བུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་རིགས་ནས་ཡོངས་སུ་མ་དག་པའི་ནོར་བུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བླངས་ཏེ། ལན་ཚྭའི་ཆུ་རྣོན་པོས་སྦངས་ནས་སྐྲའི་རེ་བའི་ཡོངས་སུ་སྦྱོང་བས་སྦྱོང་བར་བྱེད་དོ། །དེ་ཙམ་གྱིས་བརྩོན་པ་འདོར་བའང་མ་ཡིན་ཏེ། དེའི་འོག་ཏུ་ཟངས་ཀྱི་ཁུ་བ་རྣོན་པོས་སྦངས་ནས་བལ་གྱི་ལ་བའི་ཡོངས་སུ་སྦྱོང་བས་སྦྱོང་བར་བྱེད་དོ། །དེ་ཙམ་གྱིས་བརྩོན་པ་འདོར་བའང་མ་ཡིན་ཏེ། དེའི་འོག་ཏུ་སྨན་ཆེན་པོའི་ཁུ་བས་སྦངས་ནས་རས་སྲབ་མོའི་ཡོངས་སུ་སྦྱོང་བས་སྦྱོང་བར་བྱེད་དོ། །ཡོངས་སུ་བྱང་སྟེ་དྲི་མ་དང་བྲལ་བ་ནི་བཻ་ཌཱུརྱའི་རིགས་ཆེན་པོ་ཞེས་བརྗོད་དོ། །རིགས་ཀྱི་བུ་དེ་བཞིན་དུ་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་ཡང་ཡོངས་སུ་མ་དག་པའི་སེམས་ཅན་གྱི་ཁམས་མཁྱེན་ནས། མི་རྟག་པ་དང་། སྡུག་བསྔལ་བ་དང་། བདག་མེད་པ་དང་། མི་གཙང་བའི་ཡིད་འབྱུང་བའི་གཏམ་གྱིས་འཁོར་བ་ལ་དགའ་བའི་སེམས་ཅན་རྣམས་སྐྱོ་བ་སྐྱེད་པར་མཛད་དེ།

འཕགས་པའི་ཆོས་འདུལ་བ་ལ་འཛུད་པར་མཛད་དོ། །དེ་ཙམ་གྱིས་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་བརྩོན་པ་འདོར་བ་ཡང་མ་ཡིན་ཏེ། དེའི་འོག་ཏུ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་དང་། མཚན་མ་མེད་པ་དང་། སྨོན་པ་མེད་པའི་གཏམ་གྱིས་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཚུལ་རྟོགས་པར་མཛད་དོ། །དེ་ཙམ་གྱིས་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པ་བརྩོན་པ་འདོར་བ་ཡང་མ་ཡིན་ཏེ། དེའི་འོག་ཏུ་ཕྱིར་མི་ལྡོག་པའི་ཆོས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོའི་གཏམ་དང་འཁོར་གསུམ་ཡོངས་སུ་དག་པའི་གཏམ་གྱིས་རང་བཞིན་སྣ་ཚོགས་པའི་སེམས་ཅན་དེ་དག་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཡུལ་ལ་འཇུག་པར་མཛད་དོ། །ཞུགས་པར་གྱུར་ཞིང་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཆོས་ཉིད་རྟོགས་པར་འགྱུར་ན་ནི། བླ་ན་མེད་པའི་ཡོན་གནས་ཞེས་བརྗོད་དོ། །ཡོངས་སུ་དག་པའི་རིགས་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཁམས་འདི་ཉིད་ལ་དགོངས་ནས། ཇི་ལྟར་རྡོ་ཡི་ཕྱེ་མ་ལ། །ས་ལེ་སྦྲམ་ནི་མི་མཐོང་ཞིང་། །ཡོངས་སུ་སྦྱངས་པས་དེ་མཐོང་བཞིན། །འཇིག་རྟེན་ལ་ནི་དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས། །ཞེས་གསུངས་སོ། །དེ་ལ་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཁམས་ཡོངས་སུ་དག་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་ཡོངས་སུ་སྦྱོང་བ་རྣམ་པ་དྲུག་ཅུ་པོ་དེ་དག་གང་ཞེ་ན། འདི་ལྟ་སྟེ། བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་རྒྱན་རྣམ་པ་བཞི་དང་། བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྣང་བ་རྣམ་པ་བརྒྱད་དང་། བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་རྣམ་པ་བཅུ་དྲུག་དང་། བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་ལས་རྣམ་པ་སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གཉིས་སོ། །དེ་བསྟན་པའི་རྗེས་ཐོགས་སུ་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཆེན་པོའི་སྙིང་རྗེའི་རྣམ་པ་བཅུ་དྲུག་བསྟན་པས་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་བྱང་ཆུབ་གསལ་བར་མཛད་དོ། །དེ་བསྟན་པའི་རྗེས་ཐོགས་སུ། སྟོབས་བཅུ་དང་། མི་འཇིགས་པ་བཞི་དང་། སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཆོས་མ་འདྲེས་པ་བཅོ་བརྒྱད་བསྟན་པས་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཡོན་ཏན་གསལ་བར་མཛད་དོ། །དེ་བསྟན་པའི་རྗེས་ཐོགས་ལ། དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་ཕྲིན་ལས་བླ་ན་མེད་པ་བསྟན་པས་སངས་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་ཕྲིན་ལས་རྣམ་པ་སུམ་ཅུ་རྩ་གཉིས་གསལ་བར་མཛད་དོ། །དེ་ལྟར་རྡོ་རྗེའི་གནས་བདུན་པོ་འདི་དག་རང་གི་མཚན་ཉིད་བསྟན་པའི་སྒོ་ནས་རྒྱས་པར་ནི་མདོ་ཇི་ལྟ་བ་

བཞིན་དུ་རྟོགས་པར་བྱའོ།

Other English translations

Listed by date of publication

Obermiller (1931) ^[36]

Their essential character and mutual connexion

Is, in gradual order, (shown) in the Dharaṇiśvara-rāja-sūtra.

(The first) 3 topics are to be known from (its) introduction,

And the (remaining) 4—from the analysis of the Buddha’s

and the Bodhisattva’s attributes.

Takasaki (1966) ^[37]

Of these [seven subjects],

Accompanied by their own characteristics,

One should know respectively the [first] three subjects

From the introductory chapter in the Dhāraṇirāja—sūtra,

And the [latter] four from [the chapter on] the distinction

Between the qualities of the Bodhisattva

and those of the Buddha.

Holmes (1985) ^[38]

These are in a natural order and one should know that, following the above order, the first three points are derived from the introductory chapter of the dhāraṇiśvararājasūtra. The latter four are from its chapter on the various qualities of the wise and the victorious.

Holmes (1999) ^[39]

These are in a natural order and one should know

the first three abodes to be derived from the introductory

and the latter four from the Wise and Victors Qualities

chapters of the dhāraṇirājeśvarasūtra.

Fuchs (2000) ^[40]

In the above order, which presents them in a logical sequence, these [vajra points]

should be known to be derived from the Sutra Requested by King Dharanishvara.

The [first] three stem from its introductory chapter and the [latter] four from [its chapters]

on the properties of those who possess understanding and the Victorious One.

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.
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.
The actual title of this sūtra is Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśasasūtra.
The actual first chapter of this sūtra is called "Array of Ornaments" (rgyan bkod pa zhes bya ba ’dus pa’i le’u; D147, fols. 154a.1–179a.7). However, as we will see, what RGVV calls "introductory section"extends into the next section of the sūtra, which contains the discussion of the various attributes of bodhisattvas and buddhas, but is not marked as a separate chapter. According to GC (25.10–11) and RYC (6), the fourth vajra point (the basic element) is discussed in the section on the attributes of bodhisattvas, while the last three vajra points are found in the section on the attributes of a buddha.
D147, fol. 142a.4–5. The last phrase is translated in accordance with the sūtra and RGVV (DP), while the Sanskrit of RGVV has the compound anantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinītaḥ, which is to be read as a bahuvrīhi with the different meaning "[the Bhagavān by whom] limitless assemblies of disciples were superbly guided." The same phrase is quoted again in RGVV and is adapted in accordance with the sūtra. However, right thereafter, RGVV clearly explains the above compound to mean "[the Buddha] is the one who has superbly guided [disciples] in a progressive manner to the awakening of śrāvakas and the awakening of buddhas." Thus, the author of RGVV either had a different manuscript of the sūtra or interpreted this phrase differently.
This phrase is missing in MA, MB, and GC, but J adds the compound anuttaradharmabhāṇakatvasaṃpannaḥ in accordance with DP and C (which is further confirmed by the same phrase appearing in CMW, 437).
As attributes of the Buddha, this list is also found in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fol. 142a.5.
As already mentioned, different from what the sūtra says, RGVV’s Sanskrit compound anantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinītatāṃ here is to be read as "the fact that limitless assemblies of disciples were superbly guided [by the Bhagavān]." This is also clear from RGVV’s explanation as to where the Buddha guided his disciples ("the awakening of śrāvakas and the awakening of buddhas").
Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fol. 142a.6–142b.2.
Ibid., fol. 143a.1.
I follow °maṇḍalamāda° in MB and VT (fol. 9v5) against J °maṇḍalavyūha°.
Lit. "bull-like samādhi."
Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fols. 143a.2–152a.2.
Ibid., fols. 152a.2–153b.6.
Ibid., fols. 153b.6–157a.6.
The actual first chapter of the sūtra ends after the preceding section (that is, fol. 157a.6).
Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fols. 157a.6–159a.6. For the identification of these passages in the sūtra, see also CMW and Kano 2006, 605–8.
C, CMW (447–48), GC (30.9–14), and Ngog Lotsāwa’s commentary (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fol. 16b.2) all confirm that this example comes from the Daśabhūmikasūtra. The corresponding passage says: "O sons of the victors, it is as follows. For example, to whichever extent pure gold is heated in a fire by a skilled goldsmith, to that extent it becomes refined, pure, and pliable as he pleases. O sons of the victors, likewise, to the extent that bodhisattvas make offerings to the buddha bhagavāns, make efforts in maturing sentient beings, and are in a state of adopting these kinds of dharmas that purify the bhūmis, to that extent their roots of virtue that they dedicate to omniscience will become refined, pure, and pliable as they please" (for the Sanskrit, see Mathes 2008a, 505).
Skt. vaiḍūrya. Though this term is often rendered as "lapis lazuli"in translations, this is wrong. The Western name "beryl," chemical formula Be3Al2(SiO3)6, derives from Latin beryllus and Greek beryllos, which come from the Prakrit veruliya and the Sanskrit vaiḍūrya, which is of Dravidian origin and means "to become pale" (interestingly, the word "brilliance" also derives from beryllus). Originally, this term referred to "a precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone" (usually some kind of aquamarine) but later became used for the mineral beryl in general. Pure beryl is colorless (which is very rare), but there are many varieties of different colors due to its being mixed with other minerals. Beryl crystals range from very small to several meters in size and many tons in weight. The main varieties are aquamarine (blue), emerald (green), golden beryl (pale yellow to brilliant gold), heliodor (green-yellow), Morganite (pink or rose-colored), and red beryl.
VT (fol. 9v5–6) glosses this as kāñjikādi (kāñjika means "sour gruel" or "water of boiled rice in a state of spontaneous fermentation").
VT (fol. 9v6) reads gaṇḍikā ("piece of wood"), which fits with the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and C saying "a piece of wood covered with a cloth." However, VT gives tikṣṇarajaḥ ("acid dust") as its synonym.
Skt. mahābhaiṣajyarasa, which here seems to refer to mercury (in itself, rasa can also mean mercury, which is used as one of the most potent ingredients in āyurvedic and Tibetan medicine). As for the three cleansing liquids, Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and DP agree with J on the last one. As for the first two, 'Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra has "alkali" and "caustic mercury,"while DP say "caustic salty water" and "caustic food liquid" (D mistakenly has zangs instead of zas). YDC (330) says that according to Ngog Lotsāwa and Chaba Chökyi Sengé, the three are "rock salt," "fish broth," and "mercury," while Patsab Lotsāwa speaks of "alkali," "the three fruits (chebulic, beleric, and emblic myrobalans)," and "sulfur." Glosses in RYC (17) say "alkali," "fish broth," and "mercury or a toxic liquid." Thus, this cleansing process here begins with an alkaline solution, continues with an acidic one, and ends with quicksilver.
These are the three doors to liberation taught extensively in the prajñāpāramitā sūtras—the nature of phenomena is emptiness, causes lack any signs or defining characteristics, and the appearance of results is not bound to expectations or wishes.
VT (fol. 9v6) glosses this as "the discourses of the mahāyāna."
Usually, this means to be free from the three notions of agent, object, and action. However, the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (D147, fol. 177a.6–7) itself explains this purity of the three spheres as follows: "What is the termination of the three spheres? It is that [state] in which mind does not engage in the past, consciousness does not run after the future, and there is no mental engagement in what occurs at present. Since this is the nonabiding of mind, mentation, and consciousness, there is no conceiving of the past, no thinking about the future, and no discursiveness about what occurs at present." In effect, this means that all eight consciousnesses do not operate in this state ("mind" refers to the ālaya-consciousness, "mentation" to the afflicted mind, and "consciousness" to the six remaining consciousnesses). Naturally, mind’s not engaging in the three times as described is reminiscent of similar instructions in the Mahāmudrā tradition. GC (41.7–11) explains the purity of the three spheres according to Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra XII.11ab and its Bhāṣya, which comments that this purity is threefold in terms of that through which buddhas teach (speech and words), how they teach (in the form of instructions and so on), and those who are taught (those who understand through concise or through elaborate statements). Thus, GC says that this refers to the pure speech of those who explain the dharma (such as those who are renowned at Nālandā), the pure dharma to be explained, and the pure mind streams of the disciples.
Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fol. 215b.1–7. GC (41.11–24) explains "the dharma wheel of irreversibility" as follows. Since wisdom is irreversible on the eighth bhūmi, it is called "the bhūmi of irreversibility." This means that before that, some people become tired of sitting on a cushion and meditating, thus rising from their cushion as well as from their meditative equipoise. Thus, they do not have poised readiness for meditative equipoise. On the eighth bhūmi, bodhisattvas do not rise from their resting in meditative equipoise in the nature of nonarising. Therefore, it is referred to as "poised readiness for nonarising." Since it also means being irreversible from unarisen wisdom, the teachings that are primarily given on this bhūmi are called "irreversible." Since they are transferred into the mind streams of disciples, they are called a "wheel," which consists of the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and the other sūtras belonging to this dharma wheel of irreversibility. Those to be guided directly by this dharma wheel are "sentient beings with various causal natures,"with "natures" referring to their dispositions. These sentient beings are the results arisen from different dispositions and thus possess them as their causes. This corresponds to the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra speaking of "those who have entered all yānas." The fruition of this dharma wheel is "to enter the domain of the tathāgatas"—suchness or the nature of phenomena. Thus, such bodhisattvas realize the true nature of a tathāgata, such as knowing the minds of sentient beings in terms of the true nature of these minds, and, upon having become buddhas, attain the arhathood of the unsurpassable yāna. Therefore, they are called "unsurpassable venerable ones" (see also n. 1183 on "irreversible bodhisattvas"). As for the three dharma wheels with respect to the example of cleansing a beryl, GC (42.25–43.2) says that the first one washes away the afflictions that arise from views about a self. The second one purifies coarse and subtle thoughts of clinging to (real) entities. The third one purifies what are called "the appearances of objects in the mind" because these are obstructions to seeing the tathāgata heart well. Note that GC (44.20–74.26; Mathes 2008a, 243–304) goes into great detail in establishing the superiority of the third dharma wheel in all respects. The Eighth Situpa, in his introduction to the table of contents of the Derge Kangyur (Chos kyi ’byung gnas 1988, 52–53), says that the three wheels of turning the dharma as presented in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra are the wheel that speaks of revulsion toward saṃsāra, the wheel about the three doors to liberation, and the irreversible wheel. As for the rationale behind this division, according to the Uttaratantra (II.41 and II.57–59), those to be guided enter the path of peace (of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas) through first being exhorted by way of the teaching on developing revulsion toward their attachment to saṃsāra. Then, through speaking about emptiness, they are matured in the mahāyāna. Finally, through the contents of the irreversible wheel, they engage in the object of all tathāgatas and receive the great prophecy about their own awakening (on the eighth bhūmi). The Seventh Karmapa’s commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Chos grags rgya mtsho n.d., 74–84) compares the three turnings in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the three stages in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra, concluding that the first and second stages match perfectly in terms of both their topics and recipients, while the third ones are not the same. For the wheel of irreversibility in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra corresponds to the teachings on the tathāgata heart in general and the third phase explained in the Uttaratantra. The Eighth Karmapa’s commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2003, 1:32–35) agrees with this and elaborates as follows. "The wheel of prophecy"in the Uttaratantra is the dharma wheel that teaches that all sentient beings are endowed with the tathāgata heart. It is obvious that Maitreya coined this conventional terminology as a comment on the presentation in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra. As for Maitreya’s third "wheel of prophecy" and Nāgārjuna’s third "wheel that puts an end to all views,"Karmapa Rangjung Dorje said that these two come down to the same essential point in a general way, in the sense that whatever is the final wheel must necessarily be the wheel that teaches freedom from reference points. However, more specifically, Nāgārjuna’s final "wheel that puts an end to all views" states nothing but sheer freedom from reference points, while Maitreya’s final "wheel of prophecy" explains that wisdom free from reference points is the distinctive feature of what is to be experienced by personally experienced wisdom. This is the only difference in terms of these two wheels not representing the same essential point. As for what is of expedient and definitive meaning in the three wheels in the Uttaratantra, the Eighth Karmapa quotes the great Kashmiri paṇḍita Ratnavajra as follows: "The wheel that introduces to the path of peace is the expedient meaning. The wheel of maturation is the wheel that is predominantly of definitive meaning and contains some parts of expedient meaning. The wheel of prophecy is the wheel of nothing but the definitive meaning." According to the Seventh Karmapa (Chos grags rgya mtsho n.d., 85), in themselves, the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra and the Uttaratantra do not explicitly make a distinction in terms of expedient and definitive meaning. However, Asaṅga’s RGVV (J76; D4025, fols. 113b.7–114a.4) states that Uttaratantra I.155, through saying that the buddha heart is empty of adventitious stains but not empty of being the buddha heart, teaches the unmistaken emptiness by virtue of its being free from the extremes of superimposition and denial. Thus, implicitly, these texts hold that statements about the buddha heart’s being empty (of itself) are of expedient meaning. Ngog Lotsāwa’s commentary on the Uttaratantra (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 1b.2–2a.1) also connects the dharma wheel of irreversibility with the Uttaratantra, saying that the latter explains the true reality of the meaning of the mahāyāna—the intention of the sūtras of definitive meaning (the irreversible dharma wheel), which teach the dharmadhātu as the single principle. The other four Maitreya works, through explaining the meanings of the sūtras of expedient meaning, make beings into suitable vessels for this perfect dharma because they present seeming reality as well as the ultimate that is based on the thinking of others. For further details on the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, see Bu ston rin chen grub 1931, 2:45–56; Brunnhölzl 2004, 527–49; Brunnhölzl 2010, 23–28 and 213–15; and Brunnhölzl 2012a, 48–49).
CMW (448) says that this verse is from the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. However, this sūtra contains only a partly similar verse (X.751; translated from the Sanskrit):
The color of gold and the pure gold

In gravel become visible

Through cleansing it—so it is with the ālaya

In the skandhas of sentient beings.

The Tibetan version ends with "so it is with sentient beings in the skandhas." Note also that RGVV’s verse is in Prakrit, while there is no known Prakrit version of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. The Ghanavyūhasūtra (D110, fol. 7b.1–3) also contains a verse that corresponds closely to the first three lines of the verse in question:
In pulverized stone,

Gold does not appear to exist.

Through specific cleansing activities,

The gold will appear.

GC (44.18–19) quotes this verse from the Ghanavyūhasūtra and identifies it as the basis of RGVV’s citation. The lines that follow this verse in that sūtra say that if one cleanses entities such as the skandhas, dhātus, and āyatanas, buddha does not exist as an entity. However, that does not mean that buddha is nonexistent—those endowed with yoga see the buddha possessing the thirty-two major marks. Another verse in the same sūtra (D110, fol. 13a.5) says:
The tathāgata heart

Abides like gold in stone.

Mentation arises from the ālaya,

And so does the mental consciousness.
These are discipline, samādhi, prajñā, and dhāraṇī (Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 159a.6–167b.1). In due order, VT (fol. 9v6–7) glosses them as not harming sentient beings, loving-kindness, inquisitiveness, and not lacking recollection. According to GC (75.18–19), these four are called "ornaments" because, just as people delight in ornaments adorning the body, one’s retinue takes delight when one possesses these four factors.
According to VT (fols. 9v7–10r2), these are the illuminations that consist of (1) mindfulness (not letting previously accomplished virtue be lost and striving for virtue not yet accomplished), (2) insight (into the meaning, not just letters), (3) realization (of all phenomena and the intentions of all sentient beings), (4) dharmas (mundane and supramundane dharmas), (5) wisdom (the characteristics of the wisdom of stream-enterers up through buddhas), (6) reality (through being in accordance with reality, being disciplined, and attaining all the fruitions such as stream-enterer), (7) the supernatural knowledges (the illumination of seeing due to beholding all forms through the divine eye and so on), and (8) practice (the illuminations of wisdom and prajñā through practice). The Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (D147, fols. 167b.1–171a.1) explains the first seven of the eight illuminations as being eightfold and the eighth one as being ninefold. According to GC (76.10), they are called "illuminations" because the entire mahāyāna path is seen through them.
These are the ways in which bodhisattvas aspire to teach the dharma in order to eliminate sixteen sets of flaws of sentient beings, beginning with thinking, (1) "I will teach the dharma to sentient beings who are bound by the views about a real personality and are mixed up with various views, in order that they relinquish all their views." Furthermore, bodhisattvas aspire to teach the dharma to sentient beings who (2) entertain the fourfold mistakenness of taking what is impermanent to be permanent, suffering to be happiness, what is without a self to be a self, and what is repulsive to be beautiful, in order that these beings relinquish all these mistakennesses, (3) cling to "me" and what is mine and take nonentities to be entities, in order that these beings relinquish their clinging to "me" and what is mine, (4) are obscured by the five obscurations of being tormented by desire, having a lot of anger, being attached to dullness and sleep, having regrets about what is not genuine, and not having gained certainty about the profound dharma, in order that these beings relinquish all these obscurations, (5) are attached by way of the six āyatanas, that is, cling to the characteristics of forms, sounds, scents, tastes, tangible objects, and phenomena that they perceive through their six consciousnesses, in order that these beings relinquish such attachment, (6) entertain pride (feeling superior to inferior beings), excessive pride (feeling superior to one’s peers), overbearing pride (feeling superior to those who are superior to oneself), self-centered pride (claiming everything from form to consciousness as being the self—thinking, "I am all that makes up my existence"), showing-off pride (pride in qualities that one does not actually have), pri e of thinking less of oneself (saying, "I am so insignificant compared to those great beings" with the implication that one can never reach the greatness of one’s teachers but that one is quite important due to having such teachers), and perverted pride (pride about a wrong view’s being the correct view or pride about having something that is actually not a positive quality), in order that these beings relinquish all aspects of pride, (7) have entered bad paths and lack the path of the noble ones, in order that these beings relinquish bad paths and make them attain the path of the noble ones, (8) are the slaves of their craving, cling to wives and children, and, due to lacking self-control, cannot judge themselves, in order that these beings have self-control, are able to judge themselves, and are enabled to go where they like to, (9) are in discord with each other and have a lot of anger, hatred, and malice for each other, in order that these beings relinquish their anger, hatred, and malice, (10) are under the sway of evil companions, lack spiritual friends, and commit evil actions, in order that these being are taken care of by spiritual friends and abandon their evil companions, (11) are over- whelmed by attachment, are not content, and lack the prajñā of the noble ones, in order that these beings relinquish attachment and give rise to the prajñā of the noble ones, (12) regard any maturation of karma as nonexistent and dwell in views about permanence or extinction, in order to introduce these beings to profound dependent origination and the law of karma, (13) are blinded by ignorance and dullness and cling to a self, a sentient being, a life-force, a life-sustainer, an individual, and a person, in order that these beings purify the eye of the prajñā of the noble ones and relinquish all views, (14) delight in saṃsāra and are in the grip of the executioners of the five skandhas, in order to help them emerge from all three realms, (15) are bound by the fetters that are the nooses of the māras and who dwell in deceit and conceit, in order to liberate these beings from all these fetters and have them relinquish their deceit and conceit, and to (16) those for whom the door to nirvāṇa is closed while the door to the lower realms is open, in order to open the door to nirvāṇa and close the door to the lower realms. Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 171a.1–172b.4. VT (fol. 10r2–6) agrees with these explanations, providing them in abbreviated form.
On the basis of the sixteen kinds of great compassion, these thirty-two remedy thirty-two forms of improper states of mind or behaviors of beings. Both the sūtra and VT call them "the thirty-two unique activities of bodhisattvas." (1) Bodhisattvas see that sentient beings are asleep in the sleep of ignorance, while they themselves have awoken through prajñā, thus awakening sentient beings through prajñā. (2) Seeing that sentient beings aspire for what is small or inferior, while they aspire for what is vast, they make sentient beings embrace the mahāyāna. (3) Seeing that sentient beings wish for what is not the dharma, while they abide in the dharma, they establish them in wishing for the dharma. (4) Seeing that sentient beings engage in impure livelihood, while they have pure livelihood, they establish them in pure livelihood. (5) Seeing that sentient beings are drowning in wrong views, while they engage in the correct view, they establish them in the correct view of the noble ones. (6) Seeing that sentient beings are unaware and are immersed in improper mental engagement, while they dwell in proper mental engagement that accords with awareness, they establish them in such proper mental engagement. (7) Seeing that sentient beings abide in wrong dharmas, while they engage in the right dharma, they teach them the dharma in order to make them practice the right dharma. (8) Seeing that sentient beings are miserly and thus have a state of mind of clinging, while they give away all material things, they establish them in giving away all such things. (9) Seeing that sentient beings have bad discipline and do not abide by the vows, while they abide by correct discipline, they establish them in the vows of discipline. (10) Seeing that sentient beings have a lot of malice and anger, while they abide in the power of patience and in love, they establish them in the power of patience and in love. (11) Seeing that sentient beings are lazy and have little vigor, while they lack laziness and apply vigor, they establish them in applying vigor. (12) Seeing that sentient beings are distracted and weak in mindfulness, while they rest in meditative equipoise and cultivate samādhi, they establish them in nondistraction, mindfulness, and alertness. (13) Seeing that sentient beings possess corrupted prajñā and thus are inferior and dull, while they possess prajñā and lack dullness, they establish them in great prajñā and being free from dullness. (14) Seeing that sentient beings fall into what is not appropriate and commit improper actions, while they are endowed with skillful means and commit right actions, they establish them in skillful means and committing right actions. (15) Seeing that sentient beings are overwhelmed by their afflictions and engage in the sphere of imagination, conception, and ideation, while they have turned away from all afflictions, they establish them in relinquishing all afflictions. 16) Seeing that sentient beings are fettered by their views about a real personality and entertain reference points, while they understand the views about a real personality and are liberated from being fettered by reference points, they establish them in fully understanding the views about a real personality and being free from reference points. (17) Seeing that sentient beings are not disciplined, restrained, and refined, while they are disciplined and so on, they establish them in being disciplined and so on. (18) Seeing that sentient beings do not repay kindness, do not know that someone has been kind to them, and thus destroy their roots of virtue, while they repay kindness, know that someone has been kind to them, and thus guard their roots of virtue, they establish them in repaying kindness, knowing that someone has been kind to them, and not wasting their roots of virtue. (19) Seeing that sentient beings are under the sway of having fallen into the four rivers and desiring nonvirtue, while they are beyond all these rivers, they establish them in being beyond all these rivers (the four rivers are ignorance, views, becoming, and craving or birth, aging, sickness, and death). The first half of VT (10v2) "[establishing] those who have come through striking with weapons in going beyond all reference points" is strange and probably corrupt (hetyā praharaṇenāgatān sarvopalambhasamatikrame; Nakamura 1992 wants to read hetvāpraharaṇāgatān sarvopalambham abhikrame and translates this as "those who are going to give up the cause overcome all thoughts (which are) construed in their mind," which is not very helpful either). (20) Seeing that sentient beings do not heed and follow advice, while they do so, they establish them in doing so too. VT (10v2) says "[establishing] those who use bad language in using good language." (21) Seeing that sentient beings are ruined in many ways and cling to what is not genuine, while they are not ruined and dwell in the nectar of virtue, they establish them in nonclinging and dwelling in the roots of virtue. (22) Seeing that sentient beings are poor and lack the riches of the noble ones, while they possess the seven riches of the noble ones, they establish them in attaining these riches (the seven riches of the noble ones are confidence, discipline, study, giving, shame, embarrassment, and prajñā). (23) Seeing that sentient beings are always sick and seized by the venomous snakes of the four elements, while their health without any disease is unchanging, they establish them in relinquishing all sickness. (24) Seeing that sentient beings are engulfed in the darkness of ignorance and lack the light of wisdom, while they have attained the light of wisdom, they establish them in the great light of wisdom. (25) Seeing that sentient beings are attached to the three realms and enter the wheel of saṃsāra of the five kinds of beings, while knowing that they themselves are experts in fully understanding the three realms, they establish them in becoming such experts. (26) Seeing that sentient beings have entered the left-sided path and lack the right-sided path, while they dwell on the right-sided path, they establish them on the right-sided path (in India, the left hand is considered impure, so "left-handed" or "left-sided" generally refers to what is impure or wrong, while "right-sided" means pure or correct). (27) Seeing that sentient beings are attached to body and life-force and do not see their flaws, while they disregard body and life-force and see their flaws, they establish them in disregarding body and life-force and seeing their flaws. (28) Seeing that sentient beings are separated from the three jewels, while they abide in not interrupting the continuum of the disposition of the three jewels, they introduce them to not interrupting the continuum of the disposition of the three jewels. (29) Seeing that sentient beings deviate from the genuine dharma, while they fully embrace that dharma, they establish them in fully embracing the dharma. (30) Seeing that sentient beings are distant from the precious teacher and lack the six recollections, while they never let go of these recollections, they establish them in cultivating the six recollections (recollecting the Buddha, the dharma, the saṃgha, discipline, giving, and deities; for details, see Brunnhölzl 2011b, 104 and 270–72). (31) Seeing that sentient beings are obscured by the obscurations of karma and afflictions, while they are free from karma and afflictions, they establish them in such freedom. (32) Seeing that sentient beings are endowed with all nonvirtuous dharmas and have relinquished all virtuous dharmas, while they have relinquished all nonvirtuous dharmas and are endowed with all virtuous dharmas, they establish them in relinquishing all nonvirtuous dharmas and perfecting all virtuous dharmas. Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 172b.4–174b.6. Apart from the exceptions mentioned above, VT (fol. 10r6–10v4) agrees with these explanations, providing them in abbreviated form.
Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 175b.1–185a.6. For the contents of this sūtra passage, see CMW, 450–51.
Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 185a.6–215a.3. For these, see the text below and CMW, 451–52.
In the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, in terms of their respective functions, the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen unique qualities are described as "buddha activities" and are numbered as such up to thirty-two. Thus, the sūtra does not contain a separate section on thirty-two kinds of buddha activity apart from this description of the functions of the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen unique qualities. This section is followed by a further general discussion of buddha activity (D147, fols. 215a.3–217a.4), which includes the example of purifying a beryl. For further details and variations on the correspondences and the contents of the passages in RGVV about the qualities of the three jewels up through the thirty-two kinds of enlightened activity of buddhas as presented in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, see CMW (435–52) and Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b (fols. 9a.6–19a.1; translated in Kano 2006, 391–414), and GC (75.5–78.15; translated in Mathes 2008a, 304–11).
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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.

[1] Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Unicode Input

[2] 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.

[3] 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.

[4] The actual title of this sūtra is Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśasasūtra.

[5] The actual first chapter of this sūtra is called "Array of Ornaments" (rgyan bkod pa zhes bya ba ’dus pa’i le’u; D147, fols. 154a.1–179a.7). However, as we will see, what RGVV calls "introductory section"extends into the next section of the sūtra, which contains the discussion of the various attributes of bodhisattvas and buddhas, but is not marked as a separate chapter. According to GC (25.10–11) and RYC (6), the fourth vajra point (the basic element) is discussed in the section on the attributes of bodhisattvas, while the last three vajra points are found in the section on the attributes of a buddha.

[6] D147, fol. 142a.4–5. The last phrase is translated in accordance with the sūtra and RGVV (DP), while the Sanskrit of RGVV has the compound anantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinītaḥ, which is to be read as a bahuvrīhi with the different meaning "[the Bhagavān by whom] limitless assemblies of disciples were superbly guided." The same phrase is quoted again in RGVV and is adapted in accordance with the sūtra. However, right thereafter, RGVV clearly explains the above compound to mean "[the Buddha] is the one who has superbly guided [disciples] in a progressive manner to the awakening of śrāvakas and the awakening of buddhas." Thus, the author of RGVV either had a different manuscript of the sūtra or interpreted this phrase differently.

[7] This phrase is missing in MA, MB, and GC, but J adds the compound anuttaradharmabhāṇakatvasaṃpannaḥ in accordance with DP and C (which is further confirmed by the same phrase appearing in CMW, 437).

[8] As attributes of the Buddha, this list is also found in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fol. 142a.5.

[9] As already mentioned, different from what the sūtra says, RGVV’s Sanskrit compound anantaśiṣyagaṇasuvinītatāṃ here is to be read as "the fact that limitless assemblies of disciples were superbly guided [by the Bhagavān]." This is also clear from RGVV’s explanation as to where the Buddha guided his disciples ("the awakening of śrāvakas and the awakening of buddhas").

[10] Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fol. 142a.6–142b.2.

[11] Ibid., fol. 143a.1.

[12] I follow °maṇḍalamāda° in MB and VT (fol. 9v5) against J °maṇḍalavyūha°.

[13] Lit. "bull-like samādhi."

[14] Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fols. 143a.2–152a.2.

[15] Ibid., fols. 152a.2–153b.6.

[16] Ibid., fols. 153b.6–157a.6.

[17] The actual first chapter of the sūtra ends after the preceding section (that is, fol. 157a.6).

[18] Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, fols. 157a.6–159a.6. For the identification of these passages in the sūtra, see also CMW and Kano 2006, 605–8.

[19] C, CMW (447–48), GC (30.9–14), and Ngog Lotsāwa’s commentary (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fol. 16b.2) all confirm that this example comes from the Daśabhūmikasūtra. The corresponding passage says: "O sons of the victors, it is as follows. For example, to whichever extent pure gold is heated in a fire by a skilled goldsmith, to that extent it becomes refined, pure, and pliable as he pleases. O sons of the victors, likewise, to the extent that bodhisattvas make offerings to the buddha bhagavāns, make efforts in maturing sentient beings, and are in a state of adopting these kinds of dharmas that purify the bhūmis, to that extent their roots of virtue that they dedicate to omniscience will become refined, pure, and pliable as they please" (for the Sanskrit, see Mathes 2008a, 505).

[20] Skt. vaiḍūrya. Though this term is often rendered as "lapis lazuli"in translations, this is wrong. The Western name "beryl," chemical formula Be3Al2(SiO3)6, derives from Latin beryllus and Greek beryllos, which come from the Prakrit veruliya and the Sanskrit vaiḍūrya, which is of Dravidian origin and means "to become pale" (interestingly, the word "brilliance" also derives from beryllus). Originally, this term referred to "a precious blue-green color-of-sea-water stone" (usually some kind of aquamarine) but later became used for the mineral beryl in general. Pure beryl is colorless (which is very rare), but there are many varieties of different colors due to its being mixed with other minerals. Beryl crystals range from very small to several meters in size and many tons in weight. The main varieties are aquamarine (blue), emerald (green), golden beryl (pale yellow to brilliant gold), heliodor (green-yellow), Morganite (pink or rose-colored), and red beryl.

[21] VT (fol. 9v5–6) glosses this as kāñjikādi (kāñjika means "sour gruel" or "water of boiled rice in a state of spontaneous fermentation").

[22] VT (fol. 9v6) reads gaṇḍikā ("piece of wood"), which fits with the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and C saying "a piece of wood covered with a cloth." However, VT gives tikṣṇarajaḥ ("acid dust") as its synonym.

[23] Skt. mahābhaiṣajyarasa, which here seems to refer to mercury (in itself, rasa can also mean mercury, which is used as one of the most potent ingredients in āyurvedic and Tibetan medicine). As for the three cleansing liquids, Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and DP agree with J on the last one. As for the first two, 'Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra has "alkali" and "caustic mercury,"while DP say "caustic salty water" and "caustic food liquid" (D mistakenly has zangs instead of zas). YDC (330) says that according to Ngog Lotsāwa and Chaba Chökyi Sengé, the three are "rock salt," "fish broth," and "mercury," while Patsab Lotsāwa speaks of "alkali," "the three fruits (chebulic, beleric, and emblic myrobalans)," and "sulfur." Glosses in RYC (17) say "alkali," "fish broth," and "mercury or a toxic liquid." Thus, this cleansing process here begins with an alkaline solution, continues with an acidic one, and ends with quicksilver.

[24] These are the three doors to liberation taught extensively in the prajñāpāramitā sūtras—the nature of phenomena is emptiness, causes lack any signs or defining characteristics, and the appearance of results is not bound to expectations or wishes.

[25] VT (fol. 9v6) glosses this as "the discourses of the mahāyāna."

[26] Usually, this means to be free from the three notions of agent, object, and action. However, the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (D147, fol. 177a.6–7) itself explains this purity of the three spheres as follows: "What is the termination of the three spheres? It is that [state] in which mind does not engage in the past, consciousness does not run after the future, and there is no mental engagement in what occurs at present. Since this is the nonabiding of mind, mentation, and consciousness, there is no conceiving of the past, no thinking about the future, and no discursiveness about what occurs at present." In effect, this means that all eight consciousnesses do not operate in this state ("mind" refers to the ālaya-consciousness, "mentation" to the afflicted mind, and "consciousness" to the six remaining consciousnesses). Naturally, mind’s not engaging in the three times as described is reminiscent of similar instructions in the Mahāmudrā tradition. GC (41.7–11) explains the purity of the three spheres according to Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra XII.11ab and its Bhāṣya, which comments that this purity is threefold in terms of that through which buddhas teach (speech and words), how they teach (in the form of instructions and so on), and those who are taught (those who understand through concise or through elaborate statements). Thus, GC says that this refers to the pure speech of those who explain the dharma (such as those who are renowned at Nālandā), the pure dharma to be explained, and the pure mind streams of the disciples.

[27] Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fol. 215b.1–7. GC (41.11–24) explains "the dharma wheel of irreversibility" as follows. Since wisdom is irreversible on the eighth bhūmi, it is called "the bhūmi of irreversibility." This means that before that, some people become tired of sitting on a cushion and meditating, thus rising from their cushion as well as from their meditative equipoise. Thus, they do not have poised readiness for meditative equipoise. On the eighth bhūmi, bodhisattvas do not rise from their resting in meditative equipoise in the nature of nonarising. Therefore, it is referred to as "poised readiness for nonarising." Since it also means being irreversible from unarisen wisdom, the teachings that are primarily given on this bhūmi are called "irreversible." Since they are transferred into the mind streams of disciples, they are called a "wheel," which consists of the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and the other sūtras belonging to this dharma wheel of irreversibility. Those to be guided directly by this dharma wheel are "sentient beings with various causal natures,"with "natures" referring to their dispositions. These sentient beings are the results arisen from different dispositions and thus possess them as their causes. This corresponds to the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra speaking of "those who have entered all yānas." The fruition of this dharma wheel is "to enter the domain of the tathāgatas"—suchness or the nature of phenomena. Thus, such bodhisattvas realize the true nature of a tathāgata, such as knowing the minds of sentient beings in terms of the true nature of these minds, and, upon having become buddhas, attain the arhathood of the unsurpassable yāna. Therefore, they are called "unsurpassable venerable ones" (see also n. 1183 on "irreversible bodhisattvas"). As for the three dharma wheels with respect to the example of cleansing a beryl, GC (42.25–43.2) says that the first one washes away the afflictions that arise from views about a self. The second one purifies coarse and subtle thoughts of clinging to (real) entities. The third one purifies what are called "the appearances of objects in the mind" because these are obstructions to seeing the tathāgata heart well. Note that GC (44.20–74.26; Mathes 2008a, 243–304) goes into great detail in establishing the superiority of the third dharma wheel in all respects. The Eighth Situpa, in his introduction to the table of contents of the Derge Kangyur (Chos kyi ’byung gnas 1988, 52–53), says that the three wheels of turning the dharma as presented in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra are the wheel that speaks of revulsion toward saṃsāra, the wheel about the three doors to liberation, and the irreversible wheel. As for the rationale behind this division, according to the Uttaratantra (II.41 and II.57–59), those to be guided enter the path of peace (of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas) through first being exhorted by way of the teaching on developing revulsion toward their attachment to saṃsāra. Then, through speaking about emptiness, they are matured in the mahāyāna. Finally, through the contents of the irreversible wheel, they engage in the object of all tathāgatas and receive the great prophecy about their own awakening (on the eighth bhūmi). The Seventh Karmapa’s commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Chos grags rgya mtsho n.d., 74–84) compares the three turnings in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the three stages in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra, concluding that the first and second stages match perfectly in terms of both their topics and recipients, while the third ones are not the same. For the wheel of irreversibility in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra corresponds to the teachings on the tathāgata heart in general and the third phase explained in the Uttaratantra. The Eighth Karmapa’s commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2003, 1:32–35) agrees with this and elaborates as follows. "The wheel of prophecy"in the Uttaratantra is the dharma wheel that teaches that all sentient beings are endowed with the tathāgata heart. It is obvious that Maitreya coined this conventional terminology as a comment on the presentation in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra. As for Maitreya’s third "wheel of prophecy" and Nāgārjuna’s third "wheel that puts an end to all views,"Karmapa Rangjung Dorje said that these two come down to the same essential point in a general way, in the sense that whatever is the final wheel must necessarily be the wheel that teaches freedom from reference points. However, more specifically, Nāgārjuna’s final "wheel that puts an end to all views" states nothing but sheer freedom from reference points, while Maitreya’s final "wheel of prophecy" explains that wisdom free from reference points is the distinctive feature of what is to be experienced by personally experienced wisdom. This is the only difference in terms of these two wheels not representing the same essential point. As for what is of expedient and definitive meaning in the three wheels in the Uttaratantra, the Eighth Karmapa quotes the great Kashmiri paṇḍita Ratnavajra as follows: "The wheel that introduces to the path of peace is the expedient meaning. The wheel of maturation is the wheel that is predominantly of definitive meaning and contains some parts of expedient meaning. The wheel of prophecy is the wheel of nothing but the definitive meaning." According to the Seventh Karmapa (Chos grags rgya mtsho n.d., 85), in themselves, the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra and the Uttaratantra do not explicitly make a distinction in terms of expedient and definitive meaning. However, Asaṅga’s RGVV (J76; D4025, fols. 113b.7–114a.4) states that Uttaratantra I.155, through saying that the buddha heart is empty of adventitious stains but not empty of being the buddha heart, teaches the unmistaken emptiness by virtue of its being free from the extremes of superimposition and denial. Thus, implicitly, these texts hold that statements about the buddha heart’s being empty (of itself) are of expedient meaning. Ngog Lotsāwa’s commentary on the Uttaratantra (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 1b.2–2a.1) also connects the dharma wheel of irreversibility with the Uttaratantra, saying that the latter explains the true reality of the meaning of the mahāyāna—the intention of the sūtras of definitive meaning (the irreversible dharma wheel), which teach the dharmadhātu as the single principle. The other four Maitreya works, through explaining the meanings of the sūtras of expedient meaning, make beings into suitable vessels for this perfect dharma because they present seeming reality as well as the ultimate that is based on the thinking of others. For further details on the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, see Bu ston rin chen grub 1931, 2:45–56; Brunnhölzl 2004, 527–49; Brunnhölzl 2010, 23–28 and 213–15; and Brunnhölzl 2012a, 48–49).

[28] CMW (448) says that this verse is from the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. However, this sūtra contains only a partly similar verse (X.751; translated from the Sanskrit):
The color of gold and the pure gold

In gravel become visible

Through cleansing it—so it is with the ālaya

In the skandhas of sentient beings.

The Tibetan version ends with "so it is with sentient beings in the skandhas." Note also that RGVV’s verse is in Prakrit, while there is no known Prakrit version of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. The Ghanavyūhasūtra (D110, fol. 7b.1–3) also contains a verse that corresponds closely to the first three lines of the verse in question:
In pulverized stone,

Gold does not appear to exist.

Through specific cleansing activities,

The gold will appear.

GC (44.18–19) quotes this verse from the Ghanavyūhasūtra and identifies it as the basis of RGVV’s citation. The lines that follow this verse in that sūtra say that if one cleanses entities such as the skandhas, dhātus, and āyatanas, buddha does not exist as an entity. However, that does not mean that buddha is nonexistent—those endowed with yoga see the buddha possessing the thirty-two major marks. Another verse in the same sūtra (D110, fol. 13a.5) says:
The tathāgata heart

Abides like gold in stone.

Mentation arises from the ālaya,

And so does the mental consciousness.

[29] These are discipline, samādhi, prajñā, and dhāraṇī (Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 159a.6–167b.1). In due order, VT (fol. 9v6–7) glosses them as not harming sentient beings, loving-kindness, inquisitiveness, and not lacking recollection. According to GC (75.18–19), these four are called "ornaments" because, just as people delight in ornaments adorning the body, one’s retinue takes delight when one possesses these four factors.

[30] According to VT (fols. 9v7–10r2), these are the illuminations that consist of (1) mindfulness (not letting previously accomplished virtue be lost and striving for virtue not yet accomplished), (2) insight (into the meaning, not just letters), (3) realization (of all phenomena and the intentions of all sentient beings), (4) dharmas (mundane and supramundane dharmas), (5) wisdom (the characteristics of the wisdom of stream-enterers up through buddhas), (6) reality (through being in accordance with reality, being disciplined, and attaining all the fruitions such as stream-enterer), (7) the supernatural knowledges (the illumination of seeing due to beholding all forms through the divine eye and so on), and (8) practice (the illuminations of wisdom and prajñā through practice). The Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (D147, fols. 167b.1–171a.1) explains the first seven of the eight illuminations as being eightfold and the eighth one as being ninefold. According to GC (76.10), they are called "illuminations" because the entire mahāyāna path is seen through them.

[31] These are the ways in which bodhisattvas aspire to teach the dharma in order to eliminate sixteen sets of flaws of sentient beings, beginning with thinking, (1) "I will teach the dharma to sentient beings who are bound by the views about a real personality and are mixed up with various views, in order that they relinquish all their views." Furthermore, bodhisattvas aspire to teach the dharma to sentient beings who (2) entertain the fourfold mistakenness of taking what is impermanent to be permanent, suffering to be happiness, what is without a self to be a self, and what is repulsive to be beautiful, in order that these beings relinquish all these mistakennesses, (3) cling to "me" and what is mine and take nonentities to be entities, in order that these beings relinquish their clinging to "me" and what is mine, (4) are obscured by the five obscurations of being tormented by desire, having a lot of anger, being attached to dullness and sleep, having regrets about what is not genuine, and not having gained certainty about the profound dharma, in order that these beings relinquish all these obscurations, (5) are attached by way of the six āyatanas, that is, cling to the characteristics of forms, sounds, scents, tastes, tangible objects, and phenomena that they perceive through their six consciousnesses, in order that these beings relinquish such attachment, (6) entertain pride (feeling superior to inferior beings), excessive pride (feeling superior to one’s peers), overbearing pride (feeling superior to those who are superior to oneself), self-centered pride (claiming everything from form to consciousness as being the self—thinking, "I am all that makes up my existence"), showing-off pride (pride in qualities that one does not actually have), pri e of thinking less of oneself (saying, "I am so insignificant compared to those great beings" with the implication that one can never reach the greatness of one’s teachers but that one is quite important due to having such teachers), and perverted pride (pride about a wrong view’s being the correct view or pride about having something that is actually not a positive quality), in order that these beings relinquish all aspects of pride, (7) have entered bad paths and lack the path of the noble ones, in order that these beings relinquish bad paths and make them attain the path of the noble ones, (8) are the slaves of their craving, cling to wives and children, and, due to lacking self-control, cannot judge themselves, in order that these beings have self-control, are able to judge themselves, and are enabled to go where they like to, (9) are in discord with each other and have a lot of anger, hatred, and malice for each other, in order that these beings relinquish their anger, hatred, and malice, (10) are under the sway of evil companions, lack spiritual friends, and commit evil actions, in order that these being are taken care of by spiritual friends and abandon their evil companions, (11) are over- whelmed by attachment, are not content, and lack the prajñā of the noble ones, in order that these beings relinquish attachment and give rise to the prajñā of the noble ones, (12) regard any maturation of karma as nonexistent and dwell in views about permanence or extinction, in order to introduce these beings to profound dependent origination and the law of karma, (13) are blinded by ignorance and dullness and cling to a self, a sentient being, a life-force, a life-sustainer, an individual, and a person, in order that these beings purify the eye of the prajñā of the noble ones and relinquish all views, (14) delight in saṃsāra and are in the grip of the executioners of the five skandhas, in order to help them emerge from all three realms, (15) are bound by the fetters that are the nooses of the māras and who dwell in deceit and conceit, in order to liberate these beings from all these fetters and have them relinquish their deceit and conceit, and to (16) those for whom the door to nirvāṇa is closed while the door to the lower realms is open, in order to open the door to nirvāṇa and close the door to the lower realms. Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 171a.1–172b.4. VT (fol. 10r2–6) agrees with these explanations, providing them in abbreviated form.

[32] On the basis of the sixteen kinds of great compassion, these thirty-two remedy thirty-two forms of improper states of mind or behaviors of beings. Both the sūtra and VT call them "the thirty-two unique activities of bodhisattvas." (1) Bodhisattvas see that sentient beings are asleep in the sleep of ignorance, while they themselves have awoken through prajñā, thus awakening sentient beings through prajñā. (2) Seeing that sentient beings aspire for what is small or inferior, while they aspire for what is vast, they make sentient beings embrace the mahāyāna. (3) Seeing that sentient beings wish for what is not the dharma, while they abide in the dharma, they establish them in wishing for the dharma. (4) Seeing that sentient beings engage in impure livelihood, while they have pure livelihood, they establish them in pure livelihood. (5) Seeing that sentient beings are drowning in wrong views, while they engage in the correct view, they establish them in the correct view of the noble ones. (6) Seeing that sentient beings are unaware and are immersed in improper mental engagement, while they dwell in proper mental engagement that accords with awareness, they establish them in such proper mental engagement. (7) Seeing that sentient beings abide in wrong dharmas, while they engage in the right dharma, they teach them the dharma in order to make them practice the right dharma. (8) Seeing that sentient beings are miserly and thus have a state of mind of clinging, while they give away all material things, they establish them in giving away all such things. (9) Seeing that sentient beings have bad discipline and do not abide by the vows, while they abide by correct discipline, they establish them in the vows of discipline. (10) Seeing that sentient beings have a lot of malice and anger, while they abide in the power of patience and in love, they establish them in the power of patience and in love. (11) Seeing that sentient beings are lazy and have little vigor, while they lack laziness and apply vigor, they establish them in applying vigor. (12) Seeing that sentient beings are distracted and weak in mindfulness, while they rest in meditative equipoise and cultivate samādhi, they establish them in nondistraction, mindfulness, and alertness. (13) Seeing that sentient beings possess corrupted prajñā and thus are inferior and dull, while they possess prajñā and lack dullness, they establish them in great prajñā and being free from dullness. (14) Seeing that sentient beings fall into what is not appropriate and commit improper actions, while they are endowed with skillful means and commit right actions, they establish them in skillful means and committing right actions. (15) Seeing that sentient beings are overwhelmed by their afflictions and engage in the sphere of imagination, conception, and ideation, while they have turned away from all afflictions, they establish them in relinquishing all afflictions. 16) Seeing that sentient beings are fettered by their views about a real personality and entertain reference points, while they understand the views about a real personality and are liberated from being fettered by reference points, they establish them in fully understanding the views about a real personality and being free from reference points. (17) Seeing that sentient beings are not disciplined, restrained, and refined, while they are disciplined and so on, they establish them in being disciplined and so on. (18) Seeing that sentient beings do not repay kindness, do not know that someone has been kind to them, and thus destroy their roots of virtue, while they repay kindness, know that someone has been kind to them, and thus guard their roots of virtue, they establish them in repaying kindness, knowing that someone has been kind to them, and not wasting their roots of virtue. (19) Seeing that sentient beings are under the sway of having fallen into the four rivers and desiring nonvirtue, while they are beyond all these rivers, they establish them in being beyond all these rivers (the four rivers are ignorance, views, becoming, and craving or birth, aging, sickness, and death). The first half of VT (10v2) "[establishing] those who have come through striking with weapons in going beyond all reference points" is strange and probably corrupt (hetyā praharaṇenāgatān sarvopalambhasamatikrame; Nakamura 1992 wants to read hetvāpraharaṇāgatān sarvopalambham abhikrame and translates this as "those who are going to give up the cause overcome all thoughts (which are) construed in their mind," which is not very helpful either). (20) Seeing that sentient beings do not heed and follow advice, while they do so, they establish them in doing so too. VT (10v2) says "[establishing] those who use bad language in using good language." (21) Seeing that sentient beings are ruined in many ways and cling to what is not genuine, while they are not ruined and dwell in the nectar of virtue, they establish them in nonclinging and dwelling in the roots of virtue. (22) Seeing that sentient beings are poor and lack the riches of the noble ones, while they possess the seven riches of the noble ones, they establish them in attaining these riches (the seven riches of the noble ones are confidence, discipline, study, giving, shame, embarrassment, and prajñā). (23) Seeing that sentient beings are always sick and seized by the venomous snakes of the four elements, while their health without any disease is unchanging, they establish them in relinquishing all sickness. (24) Seeing that sentient beings are engulfed in the darkness of ignorance and lack the light of wisdom, while they have attained the light of wisdom, they establish them in the great light of wisdom. (25) Seeing that sentient beings are attached to the three realms and enter the wheel of saṃsāra of the five kinds of beings, while knowing that they themselves are experts in fully understanding the three realms, they establish them in becoming such experts. (26) Seeing that sentient beings have entered the left-sided path and lack the right-sided path, while they dwell on the right-sided path, they establish them on the right-sided path (in India, the left hand is considered impure, so "left-handed" or "left-sided" generally refers to what is impure or wrong, while "right-sided" means pure or correct). (27) Seeing that sentient beings are attached to body and life-force and do not see their flaws, while they disregard body and life-force and see their flaws, they establish them in disregarding body and life-force and seeing their flaws. (28) Seeing that sentient beings are separated from the three jewels, while they abide in not interrupting the continuum of the disposition of the three jewels, they introduce them to not interrupting the continuum of the disposition of the three jewels. (29) Seeing that sentient beings deviate from the genuine dharma, while they fully embrace that dharma, they establish them in fully embracing the dharma. (30) Seeing that sentient beings are distant from the precious teacher and lack the six recollections, while they never let go of these recollections, they establish them in cultivating the six recollections (recollecting the Buddha, the dharma, the saṃgha, discipline, giving, and deities; for details, see Brunnhölzl 2011b, 104 and 270–72). (31) Seeing that sentient beings are obscured by the obscurations of karma and afflictions, while they are free from karma and afflictions, they establish them in such freedom. (32) Seeing that sentient beings are endowed with all nonvirtuous dharmas and have relinquished all virtuous dharmas, while they have relinquished all nonvirtuous dharmas and are endowed with all virtuous dharmas, they establish them in relinquishing all nonvirtuous dharmas and perfecting all virtuous dharmas. Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 172b.4–174b.6. Apart from the exceptions mentioned above, VT (fol. 10r6–10v4) agrees with these explanations, providing them in abbreviated form.

[33] Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 175b.1–185a.6. For the contents of this sūtra passage, see CMW, 450–51.

[34] Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fols. 185a.6–215a.3. For these, see the text below and CMW, 451–52.

[35] In the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, in terms of their respective functions, the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen unique qualities are described as "buddha activities" and are numbered as such up to thirty-two. Thus, the sūtra does not contain a separate section on thirty-two kinds of buddha activity apart from this description of the functions of the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen unique qualities. This section is followed by a further general discussion of buddha activity (D147, fols. 215a.3–217a.4), which includes the example of purifying a beryl. For further details and variations on the correspondences and the contents of the passages in RGVV about the qualities of the three jewels up through the thirty-two kinds of enlightened activity of buddhas as presented in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, see CMW (435–52) and Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b (fols. 9a.6–19a.1; translated in Kano 2006, 391–414), and GC (75.5–78.15; translated in Mathes 2008a, 304–11).

[36] Obermiller, E. "The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism." Acta Orientalia IX (1931), pp. 81-306.

[37] 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.

[38] Holmes, Ken & Katia. The Changeless Nature. Eskdalemuir, Scotland: Karma Drubgyud Darjay Ling, 1985.

[39] Holmes, Ken & Katia. Maitreya on Buddha Nature. Scotland: Altea Publishing, 1999.

[40] 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.

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