Verse I.1

Ratnagotravibhāga Root Verse I.1

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Verse I.1 Variations

बुद्धश्च धर्मश्च गणश्च धातु-

र्बोधिर्गुणाः कर्म च बौद्धमन्त्यम्
कृत्स्नस्य शास्त्रस्य शरीरमेतत्
समासतो वज्रपदानि सप्त

buddhaśca dharmaśca gaṇaśca dhātu-

bodhirguṇāḥ karma ca bauddhamantyam
kṛtsnasya śāstrasya śarīrametat
samāsato vajrapadāni sapta

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

སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་ཚོགས་ཁམས་དང་བྱང་ཆུབ་དང་། །

ཡོན་ཏན་སངས་རྒྱས་ཕྲིན་ལས་ཐ་མ་སྟེ། །
བསྟན་བཅོས་ཀུན་གྱི་ལུས་ནི་མདོར་བསྡུ་ན། །
རྡོ་རྗེ་ཡི་ནི་གནས་བདུན་འདི་དག་གོ། །

Dege, PHI, 108

Buddha, dharma, assembly, basic element,

Awakening, qualities, and finally buddha activity–
The body of the entire treatise
Is summarized in these seven vajra points.

When the Clouds Part, Brunnhölzl, 331. ^[2]

佛法及眾僧性道功德業

略說此論體七種金剛句

CBETA T31n1611_p0820c24

The Buddha, the Doctrine, and the Community,

The Essence [of the Buddha], the Supreme Enlightenment,
The Virtuous Qualities [of the Buddha],
And, last of all, the Act of the Buddha; —
These are the 7 Adamantine Subjects, [which show]
Briefly, the body of the whole text.

Takasaki, p. 141^[3], from Sanskrit with reference to the Chinese.

Le Bouddha, le Dharma, la Communauté, l’Élément, l’Éveil,

Les qualités et, enfin, les activités éveillées Le corps du traité tout entier se ramène À ces sept points de vajra.

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

RGVV Commentary on Verse I.1

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Buddha, dharma, assembly, basic element,

Awakening, qualities, and finally buddha activity—

The body of the entire treatise

Is summarized in these seven vajra points. I.1

{P75a} "Vajra point"^[4] refers to the footing or locus of the actuality of the realization that is like a vajra. This actuality, which is to be realized through personally experienced [wisdom] and has an inexpressible nature, is to be understood as being like a vajra because it is difficult to penetrate by any cognitions that arise from studying and reflecting.^[5] The words that express this actuality^[6] through teaching the path that accords with attaining it are [also] called "footings" because they serve as the support of this [actuality]. In this way, in the sense of being what is difficult to penetrate and in the sense of being [its] support, respectively, that actuality and the letters [that describe it] are [both] to be understood as "vajra footings."

So what does "actuality" and what does "letters" refer to? "Actuality" refers to the sevenfold actuality of realization, that is, the actuality of the Buddha, the actuality of the dharma, the actuality of the assembly, the actuality of the basic element, the actuality of awakening, the actuality of [its] qualities, {J2} and the actuality of [enlightened] activity. These are called "actuality." The words that point out and elucidate this sevenfold actuality of realization are called "letters."

This discussion of the vajra points should be known in detail according to [a number of] sūtras.

Ānanda, the Tathāgata is indemonstrable. He cannot be seen with the eyes. Ānanda, the dharma is inexpressible. It cannot be heard with the ears. Ānanda, the saṃgha is unconditioned. It cannot be worshipped with body or mind.^[7]

Thus, these three vajra points should be understood by following the Dṛḍhādhyāśayaparivarta.^[8]

Śāriputra, {D75a} this actuality^[9] is the object of the Tathāgata and [solely] the sphere of the Tathāgata. First of all, Śāriputra, this actuality cannot be correctly [known,]^[10] seen, or discriminated even by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas through their own prajñā, let alone by ordinary naive beings, unless they realize [this actuality] through trust in the Tathāgata. {P75b} Śāriputra, what is to be realized through trust is the ultimate. Śāriputra, "the ultimate" is a designation for the basic element of sentient beings.^[11] Śāriputra, "the basic element of sentient beings" is a designation for the tathāgata heart. Śāriputra, "the tathāgata heart" is a designation for the dharmakāya.^[12]

Thus, the fourth vajra point is to be understood by following the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta. {J3}

Bhagavan, "supreme awakening" is a designation for the dhātu of nirvāṇa. Bhagavan, "the dhātu of nirvāṇa" is a designation for the dharmakāya of the Tathāgata.^[13]

Thus, the fifth vajra point is to be understood by following the Āryaśrīmālā[devī]sūtra.

Śāriputra, the dharmakāya that is taught by the Tathāgata is endowed with inseparable attributes and qualities that [can]not be realized as being divisible [from it],^[14] which [manifest] in the form of the attributes of a tathāgata that far surpass the sand grains in the river Gaṅgā [in number].^[15]

Thus, the sixth vajra point is to be understood by following the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta.

Mañjuśrī, the Tathāgata does not think and does not conceptualize. Nevertheless, his activity, which has such a nature, operates effortlessly and without thinking and conceptualizing.^[16]

Thus, the seventh vajra point {D75b} is to be understood by following the Tathāgataguṇajñānācintyaviṣayāvatāranirdeśa.

In brief, these seven vajra points should be known as the "body" of the entire treatise, in the form of the [seven] summary topics that are the gateways to [what this treatise] teaches.

buddhaśca dharmaśca gaṇaśca dhātu-

rbodhirguṇāḥ karma ca bauddhamantyam/

kṛtsnasya śāstrasya śarīrametat

samāsato vajrapadāni sapta//1//

vajropamasyādhigamārthasya padaṃ sthānamiti vajrapadam/ tatra śruticintāmayajñānaduṣprativedhādanabhilāpyasvabhāvaḥ pratyātmavedanīyo'rtho vajravadveditavyaḥ/ yānyakṣarāṇi tamarthamabhivadanti tatprāptyanukūlamārgābhidyotanatastāni tatpratiṣṭhābhūtatvāt padamityucyante/ iti duṣprativedhārthena pratiṣṭhārthena ca vajrapadatvamarthavyañjanayoranugantavyam/ tatra katamo'rthaḥ katamadvyañjanam/ artha ucyate saptaprakāro'dhigamārtho yaduta buddhārtho dharmārthaḥ saṃghārtho dhātvartho bodhyartho guṇārthaḥ karmārthaśca/ ayamucyate'rthaḥ/ yairakṣaraireṣa saptaprakāro'dhigamārthaḥ sūcyate prakāśyata idamucyate vyañjanam/ sa caiṣa vajrapadanirdeśo vistareṇa yathāsūtramanugantavyaḥ/

anidarśano hyānanda tathāgataḥ/ sa na śakyaścakṣuṣā draṣṭum/ anabhilāpyo hyānanda dharmaḥ/ sa na śakyaḥ karṇena śrotum/ asaṃskṛto hyānanda saṃghaḥ/ sa na śakyaḥ kāyena vā cittena vā paryupā situm/ itīmāni trīṇi vajrapadāni dṛḍhādhyāśayaparivartānusāreṇānugantavyāni/

tathāgataviṣayo hi śāriputrāyamarthastathāgatagocaraḥ/ sarvaśrāvakapratyekabuddhairapi tāvacchāriputrāyamartho na śakyaḥ samyak svaprajñayā xxx draṣṭuṃ vā pratyavekṣituṃ vā/ prāgeva bālapṛthagjanairanyatra tathāgataśraddhāgamanataḥ/ śraddhāgamanīyo hi śāriputra paramārthaḥ/ paramārtha iti śāriputra sattvadhātoretadadhivacanam/ sattvadhāturiti śāriputra tathāgatagarbhasyaitadadhivacanam/ tathāgatagarbha iti śāriputra dharmakāyasyaitadadhivacanam/ itīdaṃ caturthaṃ vajrapadamanūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivartānusāreṇānugatavyam/

anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhiriti bhagavan nirvāṇadhātoretadadhivacanam/ nirvāṇadhāturiti bhagavan tathāgatadharmakāyasyaitadadhivacanam/ itīdaṃ pañcamaṃ vajrapadamāryaśrīmālāsūtrānusāreṇānugantavyam/

yo'yaṃ śāriputra tathāgatanirdiṣṭo dharmakāyaḥ so'yamavinirbhāgadharmā/ avinirmuktajñānaguṇo yaduta gaṅgānadīvālikāvyatikrāntaistathāgatadharmaiḥ/ itīdaṃ ṣaṣṭhaṃ vajrapadmanūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśānusāreṇānugantavyam/

na mañjuśrīstathāgataḥ kalpayati na vikalpayati/ athavāsyānābhogenākalpayato'vikalpayata iyamevaṃrūpā kriyā pravartate/ itīdaṃ saptamaṃ vajrapada tathāgataguṇajñānācintyaviṣayāvatāranirdeśānusāreṇānugantavyam/ itīmāni samāsataḥ sapta vajrapadāni sakalasyāsya śāstrasyoddeśamukhasaṃgrāhārthena śarīramiti veditavyam/

佛法及眾僧性道功德業略說此論體七種金剛句

此偈明何義言金剛者猶如金剛難可沮壞所證之義亦復如是故言金剛所言句者以此論句能與證義為根本故此明何義內身證法無言之體以聞思智難可證得猶如金

剛名字章句以能詮彼理中證智隨順正道能作根本故名為句此復何義有二義故何謂二義一難證義二者因義是名為義金剛字句應如是知又何謂為義何謂為字義者則有七種證義何謂七義一者佛義二者法義三者僧義四者眾生義五者菩提義六者功德義七者業義是名為義是故經言又第一義諦者所謂心緣尚不能知何況名字章句故所言字者隨以何等名字章句言語風聲能表能說能明能示此七種義是名為字是故經言又世諦者謂世間中所用之事名字章句言語所說故又此七種金剛句義如諸經中廣說應知應云何知依佛義故如來經中告阿難言阿難所言如來者非可見法是故眼識不能得見故依法義故如來經中告阿難言阿難所言法者非可說事以是故非耳識所聞故依僧義故如來經中告阿難言阿難所言僧者名為無為是故不可身心供養禮拜讚歎故依眾生義故如來經中告舍利弗言舍利弗言眾生者乃是諸佛如來境界一切聲聞辟支佛等以正智慧不能觀察眾生之義何況能證毛道凡夫於此義中唯信如來是故舍利弗隨如來信此眾生義舍利弗言眾生者即是第一義諦舍利弗言第一義諦者即是眾生界舍利弗言眾生界者即是如來藏舍利弗言如來藏者即是法身故依菩提義故經中說言世尊言阿耨多羅三藐三菩提者名涅槃界世尊言涅槃界者即是

法身故依功德義故如來經中告舍利弗言舍利弗如來所說法身義者過於恒沙不離不脫不思議佛法如來智慧功德舍利弗如世間燈明色及觸不離不脫又如摩尼寶珠明色形相不離不脫舍利弗法身之義亦復如是過於恒沙不離不脫不思議佛法如來智慧功德故依業義故如來經中告文殊師利言文殊師利如來不分別不分別無分別而自然無分別如所作業自然行故如是等名略說七種金剛字句總攝此論體相應知

Other English translations

Listed by date of publication

Obermiller (1931) ^[17]

The Buddha, the Doctrine, the Congregation,

The Germ (of Buddhahood), Supreme Enlightenment,

The attributes of the Buddha and last of all his acts,一

These are the seven adamantine topics,

In which the compass of this treatise can be summarized.

Takasaki (1966) ^[18]

The Meaning of the 7 Vajrapadas.

The Buddha, the Doctrine, and the Community,

The Essence [of the Buddha] , the Supreme Enlightenment,

The Virtuous Qualities [of the Buddha],

And, last of all, the Act of the Buddha; —

These are the 7 Adamantine Subjects, [which show]

Briefly, the body of the whole text.

Holmes (1985) ^[19]

The entire body of this treatise can be condensed into the following seven vajra points:

1 . the buddha,

2. the dharma,

3. the saṅgha,

4. the buddha-nature,

5. enlightenment,

6. the qualities of enlightenment and

7. buddha-activity.

Holmes (1999) ^[20]

The entire body of this treatise can be condensed

into the following seven vajra abodes:

buddha. dharma, saṃgha, buddha-nature,

enlightenment, qualities and buddha-activity.

Fuchs (2000) ^[21]

If condensed, the body of the entire commentary

[consists of] the following seven vajra points:

Buddha, Dharma, the Assembly, the element,

enlightenment, qualities, and then buddha activity.

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.
I generally render vajrapada—lit. "vajra foot(ing)"—as "vajra point." Among the many meanings of pada, those that are relevant here are "footing" (or "basis") and "word."
Compare the explanation of "vajra"in the Eighth Karmapa’s Lamp (15–16): "The means to generate the actual type of realization of the vajra-like samādhi are as follows. In the beginning, the minds and mental factors of ordinary beings are made pure through the power of the triad of study, reflection, and meditation. Thereafter, without having to rely on the power of any [element] among the triad of study, reflection, and meditation, but in a self-arisen manner, the vajra-like wisdom of realization is able to overcome the hosts of ignorance right upon the light of wisdom’s meeting them for a single moment at the same time. This is just as the orb of the sun, in a single instant of its shining, roots out completely the darkness of the latent tendencies of ignorance. This is the meaning of ‘vajra,’ and therefore it is [also] the meaning of ‘the seven vajra points’ in the Uttaratantra."JKC (10–12) explains the following on what the Uttaratantra teaches and the meaning of "vajra." The basis of explanation of the Uttaratantra is the heart of the matter taught by the Buddha, which is that "all sentient beings always possess the tathāgata heart." Though there are infinite different approaches of explaining this by following distinct scriptures, reasonings, and meditations in both India and Tibet, the masters of the Madhyamaka of definitive meaning assert the following. The entirety of the definitive meanings of all three dharma wheels is included in the two kinds of identitylessness. The ultimate meaning of these is the emptiness of the duality of apprehender and apprehended in terms of persons and in terms of phenomena. However, the manner of being empty is not just a nonimplicative negation. Madhyāntavibhāga I.20 says:
Emptiness here is the nonbeing

Of persons and phenomena.

The real being of this nonbeing

In it is another emptiness.

Accordingly, it is the manner of being empty that is an implicative negation—the essence of self-lucid self-awareness—that is taught as the tathāgata heart in the context of the Uttaratantra. This is the vajra of the definitive meaning, which becomes threefold through being divided by its phases, as in Uttaratantra I.47:

Its being impure, its being both impure and pure,

And its being completely pure, in due order,

Are expressed as "sentient being,"

"Bodhisattva," and "tathāgata."

Its phase of not being pure of adventitious stains is described as "sentient being," and this expanse is also called "disposition" or "the basic element that is the tathāgata heart." Its phase of possessing both impurity and purity is described as the persons who have entered the path, and from the perspective of isolates, the expanse represents the dharma and the saṃgha. That is, from the perspective of the isolate that is the mere wisdom of the path of seeing, it is the saṃgha. From the perspective of the uninterrupted path, it is the path. From the perspective of the path of liberation and its distinctive features, it is cessation. Its phase of being completely pure is described as the Tathāgata and so on, and the expanse is called "dharmakāya." If this is divided in terms of isolates, it is threefold—awakening, the qualities, and enlightened activity. Therefore, through these internal subdivisions, that vajra is also taught as the seven vajra points. It is easy to understand that the entire definitive meaning of the two latter dharma wheels is included in it, but you may wonder how the definitive meaning of the first wheel—personal identitylessness—is included in it. The basis of purification, the means of purification, and the result of purification of the inferior paths are all included in the suchness with stains. Therefore, the main topic of this treatise is the tathāgata heart, and one should understand that the entirety of the definitive meanings of all three dharma wheels is included in it.
Skt. artha can also mean "topic" or "meaning," as in a meaning and the words that express it. However, as made clear in the preceding sentence, here the term refers to the actual true nature of all phenomena, which is not a semantic, conceptual, or abstract meaning or topic, but something to be perceived directly. GC (20.25–21.6) also makes this very clear, saying that the seven vajra points are very difficult to be understood through study and reflection because these two are conceptual and the actuality of the vajra points cannot be made a direct object of conceptions. Rather, this actuality is the object of what has the nature of the personally experienced direct perception that arises from meditation. Since this actuality is to be personally experienced and thus is inexpressible, it cannot arise right away on the basis of words. However, it still serves as the subject matter of this treatise because this text teaches the cognitions of study and reflection that represent the causes that accord with, and are the path to, attaining what is to be personally experienced. This is similar to expressing the city Pātaliputra when saying, "This is the way leading to Pāṭaliputra." The same is said in Uttaratantra V.16.
Sthirādhyāśayaparivartasūtra, D224, fol. 172b.2–3. VT (fol. 9v.2–3) glosses this passage as the Tathāgata’s being "unarisen and characterized by unconditioned wisdom."
The Kangyur has the title of this text as Sthirādhyāśayaparivartasūtra.
VT (fol. 9v.3) glosses "this actuality" as "the actuality of the dhātu," with "dhātu" referring to natural purity and "awakening," to the purity of being free from stains.
This is inserted in accordance with DP.
Though Edgerton 1953 and Takasaki 1966a take the term sattvadhātu to mean "mass of beings,"this makes no sense in the context of RGVV. Rather, as clearly explained throughout RGVV (particularly on I.48), the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta (see the next sentence in this quote as well as other passages from that sūtra on J40 and J41), and the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (J6), sattvadhātu is an equivalent of tathāgatagarbha.
Taishō 668, 467a. YDC (243) comments on this quote as follows. "Object" and "sphereto meditative equipoise and subsequent attainment, respectively. As for "known, seen, or discriminated," according to Ngog Lotsāwa, this refers to the knowing during preparation, main practice, and conclusion or the knowing during the paths of preparation, seeing, and familiarization. According to Shang Chökyi Lama, this refers to the knowing through study, reflection, and meditation.
D45.48, fol. 269a.1–2.
J dharmakāyaḥ so ’yam avinirbhāgadharmā ’vinirmuktajñānaguṇo, DP chos kyi sku gang yin pa de ni ’di lta ste . . . de bzhin gshegs pa’i chos dag dang / rnam par dbyer med pa’i chos dang ldan pa ma bral ba’i ye shes kyi yon tan can yin no. Schmithausen 1971 suggests to understand the compound avinirmuktajñāna° as vinirmuktatvena jñānam yeṣām na bhavati ("with which knowing them to be divisible [from the dharmakāya] never happens"). The corresponding passage grol bas shes pa in the Śrīmālādevīsūtra (D45.48, fol. 272b.1) seems to support that (though it should read ma grol bas shes pa, which is instead found for the afflictions, which are actually realized as being divisible). Schmithausen also suggests a second possibility of reading this compound as vinirmuktaṃ jñānaṃ yeṣām na bhavati ("whose realization is not divisible [from the realization of the dharmakāya]"). I follow Schmithausen 1971 and Mathes 2008a in translating "qualities that cannot be realized as being divisible" (which corresponds to how the Śrīmālādevīsūtra uses this phrase). However, guṇa is here in the singular, which seems also how GC (24.15–17) understands it (though taking avinirmuktajñāna to mean "inseparable wisdom"). GC comments that the dharmakāya is endowed with inseparable attributes because they are of the same nature as buddha wisdom. Even at the time of being obscured by the afflictions, it possesses the quality of inseparable wisdom (or the feature of wisdom’s being inseparable from it). In brief since the tathāgata heart and its qualities have a connection of identity, the term "kāya" refers to "nature."
Taishō 668, 467a.
D185, fol. 187b.4–5.
Obermiller, E. "The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism." Acta Orientalia IX (1931), pp. 81-306.
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.

[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] I generally render vajrapada—lit. "vajra foot(ing)"—as "vajra point." Among the many meanings of pada, those that are relevant here are "footing" (or "basis") and "word."

[5] Compare the explanation of "vajra"in the Eighth Karmapa’s Lamp (15–16): "The means to generate the actual type of realization of the vajra-like samādhi are as follows. In the beginning, the minds and mental factors of ordinary beings are made pure through the power of the triad of study, reflection, and meditation. Thereafter, without having to rely on the power of any [element] among the triad of study, reflection, and meditation, but in a self-arisen manner, the vajra-like wisdom of realization is able to overcome the hosts of ignorance right upon the light of wisdom’s meeting them for a single moment at the same time. This is just as the orb of the sun, in a single instant of its shining, roots out completely the darkness of the latent tendencies of ignorance. This is the meaning of ‘vajra,’ and therefore it is [also] the meaning of ‘the seven vajra points’ in the Uttaratantra."JKC (10–12) explains the following on what the Uttaratantra teaches and the meaning of "vajra." The basis of explanation of the Uttaratantra is the heart of the matter taught by the Buddha, which is that "all sentient beings always possess the tathāgata heart." Though there are infinite different approaches of explaining this by following distinct scriptures, reasonings, and meditations in both India and Tibet, the masters of the Madhyamaka of definitive meaning assert the following. The entirety of the definitive meanings of all three dharma wheels is included in the two kinds of identitylessness. The ultimate meaning of these is the emptiness of the duality of apprehender and apprehended in terms of persons and in terms of phenomena. However, the manner of being empty is not just a nonimplicative negation. Madhyāntavibhāga I.20 says:
Emptiness here is the nonbeing

Of persons and phenomena.

The real being of this nonbeing

In it is another emptiness.

Accordingly, it is the manner of being empty that is an implicative negation—the essence of self-lucid self-awareness—that is taught as the tathāgata heart in the context of the Uttaratantra. This is the vajra of the definitive meaning, which becomes threefold through being divided by its phases, as in Uttaratantra I.47:

Its being impure, its being both impure and pure,

And its being completely pure, in due order,

Are expressed as "sentient being,"

"Bodhisattva," and "tathāgata."

Its phase of not being pure of adventitious stains is described as "sentient being," and this expanse is also called "disposition" or "the basic element that is the tathāgata heart." Its phase of possessing both impurity and purity is described as the persons who have entered the path, and from the perspective of isolates, the expanse represents the dharma and the saṃgha. That is, from the perspective of the isolate that is the mere wisdom of the path of seeing, it is the saṃgha. From the perspective of the uninterrupted path, it is the path. From the perspective of the path of liberation and its distinctive features, it is cessation. Its phase of being completely pure is described as the Tathāgata and so on, and the expanse is called "dharmakāya." If this is divided in terms of isolates, it is threefold—awakening, the qualities, and enlightened activity. Therefore, through these internal subdivisions, that vajra is also taught as the seven vajra points. It is easy to understand that the entire definitive meaning of the two latter dharma wheels is included in it, but you may wonder how the definitive meaning of the first wheel—personal identitylessness—is included in it. The basis of purification, the means of purification, and the result of purification of the inferior paths are all included in the suchness with stains. Therefore, the main topic of this treatise is the tathāgata heart, and one should understand that the entirety of the definitive meanings of all three dharma wheels is included in it.

[6] Skt. artha can also mean "topic" or "meaning," as in a meaning and the words that express it. However, as made clear in the preceding sentence, here the term refers to the actual true nature of all phenomena, which is not a semantic, conceptual, or abstract meaning or topic, but something to be perceived directly. GC (20.25–21.6) also makes this very clear, saying that the seven vajra points are very difficult to be understood through study and reflection because these two are conceptual and the actuality of the vajra points cannot be made a direct object of conceptions. Rather, this actuality is the object of what has the nature of the personally experienced direct perception that arises from meditation. Since this actuality is to be personally experienced and thus is inexpressible, it cannot arise right away on the basis of words. However, it still serves as the subject matter of this treatise because this text teaches the cognitions of study and reflection that represent the causes that accord with, and are the path to, attaining what is to be personally experienced. This is similar to expressing the city Pātaliputra when saying, "This is the way leading to Pāṭaliputra." The same is said in Uttaratantra V.16.

[7] Sthirādhyāśayaparivartasūtra, D224, fol. 172b.2–3. VT (fol. 9v.2–3) glosses this passage as the Tathāgata’s being "unarisen and characterized by unconditioned wisdom."

[8] The Kangyur has the title of this text as Sthirādhyāśayaparivartasūtra.

[9] VT (fol. 9v.3) glosses "this actuality" as "the actuality of the dhātu," with "dhātu" referring to natural purity and "awakening," to the purity of being free from stains.

[10] This is inserted in accordance with DP.

[11] Though Edgerton 1953 and Takasaki 1966a take the term sattvadhātu to mean "mass of beings,"this makes no sense in the context of RGVV. Rather, as clearly explained throughout RGVV (particularly on I.48), the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta (see the next sentence in this quote as well as other passages from that sūtra on J40 and J41), and the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra (J6), sattvadhātu is an equivalent of tathāgatagarbha.

[12] Taishō 668, 467a. YDC (243) comments on this quote as follows. "Object" and "sphereto meditative equipoise and subsequent attainment, respectively. As for "known, seen, or discriminated," according to Ngog Lotsāwa, this refers to the knowing during preparation, main practice, and conclusion or the knowing during the paths of preparation, seeing, and familiarization. According to Shang Chökyi Lama, this refers to the knowing through study, reflection, and meditation.

[13] D45.48, fol. 269a.1–2.

[14] J dharmakāyaḥ so ’yam avinirbhāgadharmā ’vinirmuktajñānaguṇo, DP chos kyi sku gang yin pa de ni ’di lta ste . . . de bzhin gshegs pa’i chos dag dang / rnam par dbyer med pa’i chos dang ldan pa ma bral ba’i ye shes kyi yon tan can yin no. Schmithausen 1971 suggests to understand the compound avinirmuktajñāna° as vinirmuktatvena jñānam yeṣām na bhavati ("with which knowing them to be divisible [from the dharmakāya] never happens"). The corresponding passage grol bas shes pa in the Śrīmālādevīsūtra (D45.48, fol. 272b.1) seems to support that (though it should read ma grol bas shes pa, which is instead found for the afflictions, which are actually realized as being divisible). Schmithausen also suggests a second possibility of reading this compound as vinirmuktaṃ jñānaṃ yeṣām na bhavati ("whose realization is not divisible [from the realization of the dharmakāya]"). I follow Schmithausen 1971 and Mathes 2008a in translating "qualities that cannot be realized as being divisible" (which corresponds to how the Śrīmālādevīsūtra uses this phrase). However, guṇa is here in the singular, which seems also how GC (24.15–17) understands it (though taking avinirmuktajñāna to mean "inseparable wisdom"). GC comments that the dharmakāya is endowed with inseparable attributes because they are of the same nature as buddha wisdom. Even at the time of being obscured by the afflictions, it possesses the quality of inseparable wisdom (or the feature of wisdom’s being inseparable from it). In brief since the tathāgata heart and its qualities have a connection of identity, the term "kāya" refers to "nature."

[15] Taishō 668, 467a.

[16] D185, fol. 187b.4–5.

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

[18] 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.

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

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

[21] 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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