The Discourse to Prince Candraprabha

THE DISCOURSE TO PRINCE CANDRAPRABHA dBET PDF Version © 2025

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BDK English Tripiṭaka Series THE DISCOURSE TO PRINCE CANDRAPRABHA (Taishō Volume 15, Number 639) Translated by Shinkan Murakami BDK America, Inc. 2025

Copyright © 2025 by Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai and BDK America, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means —electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of the publisher. First Printing, 2025

ISBN: 978-1-886439-97-9

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A Message on the Publication of the

English Tripiṭaka

The Buddhist canon is said to contain eighty-four thousand different teachings. I believe that this is because the Buddha's basic approach was to prescribe a different treatment for every spiritual ailment, much as a doctor prescribes a different medicine for every medical ailment. Thus his teachings were always appropriate for the particular suffering individual and for the time at which the teaching was given, and over the ages not one of his prescriptions has failed to relieve the suffering to which it was addressed.

Ever since the Buddha's Great Demise over twenty-five hundred years ago, his message of wisdom and compassion has spread throughout the world. Yet no one has ever attempted to translate the entire Buddhist canon into English throughout the history of Japan. It is my greatest wish to see this done and to make the translations available to the many English-speaking people who have never had the opportunity to learn about the Buddha's teachings. Of course, it would be impossible to translate all of the Buddha's eighty-four thousand teachings in a few years. I have, therefore, had one hundred thirty-nine of the scriptural texts in the prodigious Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon selected for inclusion in the First Series of this translation project. It is in the nature of this undertaking that the results are bound to be criticized. Nonetheless, I am convinced that unless someone takes it upon himself or herself to initiate this project, it will never be done. At the same time, I hope that an improved, revised edition will appear in the future. It is most gratifying that, thanks to the efforts of more than a hundred Buddhist scholars from the East and the West, this monumental project has finally gotten off the ground. May the rays of the Wisdom of the Compassionate One reach each and every person in the world.

Numata Yehan

Founder of the English

August 7, 1991 Tripiṭaka Project

v

Editorial Foreword

In the long history of Buddhist transmission throughout East Asia, translations of Buddhist texts were often carried out as national projects supported and funded by emperors and political leaders. The BDK English Tripiṭaka project, on the other hand, began as a result of the dream and commitment of one man. In January 1982 Dr. Numata Yehan, founder of Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), initiated the monumental task of translating the complete Taishō shinshū daizōkyō edition of the Chinese Tripiṭaka (Buddhist canon) into the English language. Under his leadership, a special preparatory committee was organized in April 1982. By July of the same year the Translation Committee of the English Tripiṭaka was officially convened. The initial Committee included the following members: (late) Hanayama Shōyū (Chairperson), (late) Bandō Shōjun, (late) IsHIgami Zennō, (late) Kamata Shigeo, (late) Kanaoka Shūyū, Mayeda Sengaku, (late) Nara Yasuaki, (late) SayeKI Shinkō, (late) SHIoiri Ryōtatsu, (late) Tamaru Noriyoshi, (late) Tamura Kwansei, (late) Uryūzu Ryūshin, and (late) Yuyama Akira. Assistant members of the Committee were as follows: Kanazawa Atsushi, Watanabe Shōgo, Rolf Giebel of New Zealand, and Rudy Smet of Belgium. After holding planning meetings on a monthly basis, the Committee selected one hundred and thirty-nine texts for the First Series of the project, estimated to be one hundred printed volumes in all. The texts selected were not limited to those originally written in India but also included works composed in China and Japan. While the publication of the First Series proceeds, the texts for the Second Series will be selected from among the remaining works; this process will continue until all the texts, in Japanese as well as in Chinese, have been published. Given the huge scope of this project, accomplishing the English translations of all the Chinese and Japanese texts in the Taishō canon may take as long as one hundred years or more. Nevertheless, as Dr. Numata wished, it is the sincere hope of the Committee that this project will continue until completion, even after all the present members have passed away. vii

Publisher’s Foreword

Editorial Foreword

Dr. Numata passed away on May 5, 1994, at the age of ninety-seven. He entrusted his son, Mr. Numata Toshihide with the continuation and completion of the English Tripiṭaka project. Mr. Numata served for twenty-three years, leading the project forward with enormous progress before his sudden passing on February 16, 2017, at the age of eighty-four. The Committee previously lost its able and devoted first Chairperson, Professor Hanayama Shōyū, on June 16, 1995, at the age of sixty-three. In October 1995 the Committee elected Professor Mayeda Sengaku (then Vice President of Musashino Women's College) as Chairperson, and upon the retirement of Professor Mayeda in July 2016, the torch was passed to me to serve as the third Chairperson. Despite these losses and changes we, the Editorial Committee members, have renewed our determination to carry out the noble ideals set by Dr. Numata. Present members of the Committee are Kenneth K. Tanaka (Chairperson), Mayeda Sengaku, IcHIsHIma Shōshin, Katsura Shōryū, Minowa Kenryō, Saitō Akira, SHImoda Masahiro, Watanabe Shōgo, and Yonezawa Yoshiyasu. The Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research was established in November 1984, in Berkeley, California, U.S.A., to assist in the publication of the translated texts. The Publication Committee was organized at the Numata Center in December 1991. In 2010, the Numata Center's operations were merged with Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai America, Inc. (BDK America), and BDK America continues to oversee the publication side of the English Tripiṭaka project in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee in Tokyo. To date, the project has completed the translation of about eighty percent of the seven thousand one hundred and eighty-five Taishō pages of texts selected for the First Series. Much work still lies ahead of us but we are committed to the completion of the remaining texts in order to realize the grand vision of Dr. Numata, shared by Mr. Numata and Professor Hanayama, to make the Buddhist canon more readily accessible to the English-speaking world. Kenneth K. Tanaka

Chairperson

Editorial Committee of

the BDK English Tripiṭaka

viii

Publisher's Foreword

On behalf of the members of the Publication Committee, I am happy to present this volume as the latest contribution to the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series. The Publication Committee members have worked to ensure that this volume, as all other volumes in the series, has gone through a rigorous process of editorial efforts. The initial translation and editing of the Buddhist scriptures found in this and other BDK English Tripiṭaka volumes are performed under the direction of the Editorial Committee in Tokyo, Japan. Both the Editorial Committee in Tokyo and the Publication Committee, headquartered in Moraga, California, are dedicated to the production of accurate and readable English translations of the Buddhist canon. In doing so, the members of both committees and associated staff work to honor the deep faith, spirit, and concern of the late Reverend Dr. Yehan Numata, who founded the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series in order to disseminate the Buddhist teachings throughout the world. The long-term goal of our project is the translation and publication of the texts in the one hundred-volume Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon, along with a number of influential extracanonical Japanese Buddhist texts. The list of texts selected for the First Series of this translation project may be found at the end of each volume in the series.

As Chair of the Publication Committee, I am deeply honored to serve as the fifth person in a post previously held by leading figures in the field of Buddhist studies, most recently by my predecessor, John R. McRae. In conclusion, I wish to thank the members of the Publication Committee for their dedicated and expert work undertaken in the course of preparing this volume for publication: Managing Editor Marianne Dresser, Dr. Hudaya Kandahjaya, Dr. Carl Bielefeldt, Dr. Robert Sharf, and Rev. Brian Kensho Nagata, Director of the BDK English Tripiṭaka Project.

A. Charles Muller

Chairperson

Publication Committee

ix

Contents

A Message on the Publication of the English Tripiṭaka Numata Yehan v Editorial Foreword Kenneth K. Tanaka vii Publisher's Foreword A. Charles Muller ix Translator's Introduction Shinkan Murakami xiii Fascicle One Chapter 1 3 Chapter 2 21 Chapter 3 25 Chapter 4 31 Fascicle Two Chapter 5 35 Chapter 6 43 Chapter 7 47 Chapter 8 53 Chapter 9 55 Chapter 10 65 Chapter 11 75 Fascicle Three Chapter 11 (continued) 77 Chapter 12 83 Chapter 13 87 Chapter 14 91 Chapter 15 103 Chapter 16 105 Fascicle Four Chapter 17 109 xi

Translator’s Introduction

Contents

Fascicle Five Chapter 18 131 Chapter 19 137 Chapter 20 141 Chapter 21 143 Chapter 22 147 Chapter 23 153 Chapter 24 171 Fascicle Six Chapter 25 179 Chapter 26 181 Chapter 27 183 Chapter 28 185 Chapter 29 201 Chapter 30 213 Chapter 31 215 Fascicle Seven Chapter 32 219 Chapter 33 245 Fascicle Eight Chapter 34 253 Chapter 35 263 Fascicle Nine Chapter 35 (continued) 279 Chapter 36 285 Chapter 37 295 Fascicle Ten Chapter 38 305 Chapter 39 325 Chapter 40 347 Notes 349

Glossary 353 Bibliography 359 Index 361

A List of the Volumes of the BDK English Tripiṭaka (First Series) 391 xii

Translator's Introduction

Shinkan Murakami

History of the Origin and Development

of this Scripture

The Discourse to Prince Candraprabha (Skt. *Candrapradīpa-samādhi-sūtra; Ch. Yuedeng sanmei jing; Jp. Gattō zanmai kyō, T.639:549a1-619c29) is one of the essential canonical texts of Mahayana Buddhism. We can find in this text the religious practices and philosophical doctrines of the Mahayana described in detail and at length, together with many stories illustrating its doctrines and good examples of its practices.

The Sanskrit version, the Samādhirāja-sūtra (Discourse on the King of Concentration), was very popular in Indian Buddhism and is now one of the nine Dharmas of Nepalese Buddhism. Candrakīrti (seventh century C.E.) quoted in his Prasannapadā many verses from this text, which he referred to variously as the Ārya-samādhirāja[-sūtra], the Samādhirāja-sūtra, or the Ārya-samādhirājabhaṭṭāraka. Śāntideva (seventh-eighth centuries C.E.), referred to this text many times as the Ārya-candrapradīpa-sūtra in his Śikṣāsamuccaya. In his Bodhicaryāvatāra-pañjikā, Prajñākaramati (tenth-eleventh centuries C.E.) referred to this text as both the Candrapradīpa-sūtra and the Ārya-samādhirāja-sūtra.1 Thus, this text was well known and regarded as authoritative, especially in the Madhyamaka school in India. A commentary on this sutra, the Kīrtimālā by Mañjuśrīkīrti, was preserved in Tibetan (Tohoku no. 4010, Otani no. 5511). However, the text was not very popular in China or Japan and to my knowledge no commentaries were produced in those countries.

The text was translated into Chinese by Narendrayaśas of the Gao Qi (Northern Qi) dynasty in 557 (or 565-569). The Sanskrit text was first published in 1896 by Rai Śarat Chandra Das and Pandit Harimohan Vidyābhūshan under the title Samādhirāja-sūtram.

2 This text is based on a single Nepalese manuscript,

xiii

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covering chapters 1-12 and 15-19 (about a third of the full text), but it is imperfect and has many errors and lacunae. K. Regamey published a study, edition, and translation of Chapters 8, 19, and 22 in 1938.3

The full Sanskrit text of the Samādhirāja-sūtra, the Sarva-dharma-svabhāvasamatā-vipañcita-samādhirāja-sūtram, was edited by Nalinaksha Dutt in Gilgit Manuscripts.4 This newly edited version of the Discourse to Prince Candraprabha was based on the manuscript discovered at Gilgit and collated with two modern Nepalese manuscripts, designated "A" and "B." Dutt's edition was re-edited by P. L. Vaidya,5 but in this translation I have referred primarily to Dutt's edition. Seiren Matsunami published a text based on the Nepalese manuscripts,6 but it covers only the first seven chapters. Christoph Cüppers published a study of Chapter 9 together with the text and its translation.7 The Gilgit manuscript is, according to Dutt, written in Gupta characters typical of the sixth or seventh centuries. The text of the Gilgit manuscript is close to the Chinese translation by Narendrayaśas. The text of the Nepalese manuscript A, which is later than B, is the most expanded version. The Tibetan version8 was translated by Śīlendrabodhi and Dharmatāśīla at the beginning of the ninth century. This Tibetan version is close to the Nepalese text B. The Samādhirāja-sūtra consists of a prose portion and verses, as in the popular style of such Mahayana scriptures as the Lotus Sutra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra), the Daśabhūmika-sūtra, and so on. The Chinese version by Narendrayaśas consists of ten fascicles, and while some chapter titles were recorded,9 most were lost. Dutt's Sanskrit version is divided into forty chapters. For the sake of convenience, in this English translation, I have retained the fascicle numbers of the Chinese text together with the chapter numbers and verse numbers, as in Dutt's edition.

In addition, there are two Chinese versions, also titled Yuedeng sanmei jing,10 each of which consists of one small volume. The first of these versions,11 which is similar to chapters 26-28 of the Samādhirāja-sūtra, was recorded in traditional editions as translated by Xiangong (or Shi Xiangong) of the Liu Song dynasty (420-478). This text bears a second title, Wenzhou zheli pusa zhe che hing jing (*Mañjuśrī-bodhisattva-daśa-caryā-sūtra, T.640:620a5-623a24); and a third title, Daihui sanmei jing (*Prajñā-samādhi-pratilambha-sūtra) also appears in the catalogue of Fajing, et al., in 594.12 This catalogue recorded xiv

Translator's Introduction

Xiangong as the translator of the text for the first time, although the older catalogue of Sengyou (445-518)13 lists the Daihui sanmei jing (Wenzhou zheli pusa zhe che hing jing) without mentioning the name of the translator or the title Yuedeng sanmei jing. In 597, Fei Zhangfang ascribed the Daihui sanmei jing (Wenzhou zheli pusa zhe che hing jing) as the translation done during the Wei and Wu dynasties (220-280 C.E.), but he also attributed Shi Xiangong as the translator14 and refers to the text as the Yuedeng sanmei jing along with the other two titles. He was confounded. According to its language, this translation must be a little older but it cannot date to earlier than 400 C.E. This text is a discourse to Prince (kumāra) Mañjuśrī.

The second Chinese version (T.640:623b3-629a23) was also attributed to Shi Xiangong. The Kauli edition (ca. 1251 C.E.), however, cast doubt as to the translator and attributed its translation to An Shigao of the Han dynasty (in the mid-second century). On careful examination, I find the latter opinion unacceptable, in view of the fact that An Shigao seemed to be unaware of any Mahayana texts, and the style and language of this version differs greatly from his translations. However, my view is not yet widely supported.15 This version does not seem to be an actual translation but a Chinese composition written about the mid-fifth century, bearing some similarity to the middle part of fascicle five of the version by Narendrayaśas, which corresponds to chapter 23 of the Samādhirāja-sūtra.

The oldest translation of the Samādhirāja-sūtra is the Yueming pusa jing (*Candraprabha-bodhisattva-sūtra, T.169:411a5-c27), which was translated into Chinese by Zhi Qian of the Southern Wu dynasty (222-253 C.E.). This is a short version of chapter 34 of the Samādhirāja-sūtra, consisting of one page of prose and just two verses, instead of the fifty-two verses of Dutt's edition. According to Sengyou, there was another Chinese translation, the Sanmei wang jing in five fascicles,16 the original title of which seems to be Samādhirāja-sūtra. This text was lost by Sengyou's time (early fifth century), as he included it in the list of lost texts that he had not yet seen, and its translator was unknown. In his catalogue Fei Zhangfang ascribed this text as the translation done during the Wei and Wu dynasties and listed it in the bibliography of the Royal Buddhist Library under the title "Mahayana sutras of unknown translators;"17 his record does not seem to be wholly trustworthy, however. xv

Translator's Introduction

This record of the unknown translator of the Wei and Wu dynasties was repeated in later catalogues, though none suggested the presence of the text itself.18 If this is true, we can infer that the first complete version of the Samādhirāja-sūtra must have been compiled before the end of the third century at the latest. Fajing's 594 catalogue19 mentioned one volume of the Sanmei wang sanmei jing (*Samādhirāja-samādhi-sūtra), which was said to have been lost and whose translator was unknown. Similar records are also preserved in the later catalogues.20 Fei Zhangfang listed this text in the bibliography of the Royal Buddhist Library as well.21 These records make clear that several versions of the Samādhirāja-sūtra were translated in China many times over the centuries. As we know from its Sanskrit versions, the Samādhirāja-sūtra does not seem to be a very old text. However, it has a long history of development and expansion, alongside other Mahayana sutras such as the Prajñāpāramitā sutras, the Sukhāvatīvyūha-sūtra, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra (Lotus Sutra), the Daśabhūmikasūtra, etc. The oldest translation, done in the first half of the third century by Zhi Qian, is a short version of Chapter 34 only. Notwithstanding, the core theme of the Samādhirāja-sūtra, i.e., "this samādhi" (concentration), could have been of ancient tradition as well, for we can easily trace it in Zhi Qian's translation: Long, long ago, a monk who kept, protected, and recited this samādhi suffered from an ill swelling on the thigh. And this monk was cured and relieved by taking a medicinal meal that was provided by Prince Jñānavat, who cut flesh from his own thigh to make that medicinal meal. At the end of this discourse, the Buddha enjoined [us] to learn and recite this samādhi in order to attain supreme enlightenment.22

"This samādhi" must refer to the samādhi of the Samādhirāja-sūtra, which is also repeatedly mentioned in the so-called Xiangong translation,23 though it is not certain whether these instances really refer to the samādhi of this sutra. The samādhi in the later Sanskrit version is called sarva-dharma-svabhāvasamatā-vipañcita[-nāma-]samādhi.24 This means, as in the Tibetan title, "the concentration on the equality of all dharmas (i.e., the constituent elements of existence) in their own-nature that is verbally (or conceptually) expounded in detail." This is always interpreted by Narendrayaśas as "the concentration on the equality of [all] dharmas in their own-nature that is not verbally expounded in detail."25 Here sarva-dharma-svabhāva-samatā-vipañcita-samādhi is xvi

Translator's Introduction

interpreted as "sarva-dharma-svabhāva-samatā'vipañcita-samādhi," i.e., sarvadharma-svabhāva-samatā-avipañcita-samādhi instead. As the interpretation by Narendrayaśas is also possible, I follow him in this translation. The term samādhirāja ("king of concentration") is found in the Prajñāpāramitā sutras. In Dutt's edition of the Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā it reads: "The Lord (Bhagavat)…entered samādhi-rāja nāma samādhi, in which all the samādhis are contained and commingled together into union."26 This samādhi was also translated into Chinese by Mokṣala in 291 as the sanmei ming sanmei wang27 and by Kumārajīva in 404 as the sanmei wang sanmei. 28

The other Chinese versions of the Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā also mention this samādhi as the deng-chi wang or the sanmei ming dingyi wang. 29

The above-mentioned Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā edited by Dutt gives the names of many samādhis, including the samādhirāja-samādhi30 and the samādhirāja-supratiṣṭhita-samādhi.

31 While it remains uncertain if the name

samādhirāja[-nāma]-samādhi really refers to the Samādhirāja-sūtra, a large commentary on the Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā, the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa-śāstra traditionally attributed to Nāgārjuna (second-third centuries C.E.) and translated into Chinese by Kumārajīva in 405 as the Da zhidu lun (T. 1509), refers to and comments on the samādhirāja-samādhi several times: Why is this samādhi called samādhirāja? Because this samādhi is the first (i.e., most important) among all other samādhis and it comprehends infinite dharmas freely at will. Just as a king is the first among all the people, a universal monarch (cakravartin, wheel-turning king) is the first among all the kings, and the Buddha is the first among all the sentient beings in all the world and heaven, so is this samādhi the first among many samādhis.… This samādhirāja-samādhi is so called because in this samādhi all the other samādhis are contained, just as all the rivers and streams pour into the sea, or as all the people belong to a king.… (T.1509:111c25-28) When he enters into this samādhirāja-samādhi, he can let the six kinds of supernatural powers of knowledge pervade infinitely in all the ten directions. And as the Buddha enters into this samādhirāja-samādhi, he manifests variously many supernatural powers of knowledge.… (112a7-9) Question: Each samādhi has its own specific characteristic. Why do all the other samādhis come into this [samādhirāja-samādhi]? xvii

Translator's Introduction

Answer: Because when this samādhirāja-samādhi is attained all the other samādhis are attained, [so] it is said that all the other samādhis come into this [samādhirāja-samādhi]. Because by the power of this samādhi all the other innumerable, infinite, and unthinkable samādhis can be attained, therefore it is said that [all the other samādhis] come into this [samādhirāja-samādhi]. And when one enters into this samādhirāja-samādhi he can enter into any samādhi at will. And when one enters into this samādhirāja-samādhi he can see all the phases of all the samādhis, just as how one can look down from the top of a mountain to view [what is] below. As the Buddha enters into this samādhirāja-samādhi he looks well over all the worlds of all the ten directions and beholds well all the sentient beings. Therefore, he enters into this samādhirāja-samādhi. (112a27-b7)

The samādhirāja-samādhi thus includes all the samādhis and it gives rise to supernatural powers of knowledge. In this sense, the samādhi of the Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā and its commentary, the Da zhidu lun, seems to be akin to "this samādhi" of the Samādhirāja-sūtra. If so, the origins of the Samādhirāja-sūtra must be of ancient tradition as well. Another name of this samādhi, candrapradīpa-samādhi, reminds us that this samādhi is known in the Lotus Sutra,32 together with a variant reading of candraprabha-samādhi.33 No Chinese equivalent samādhi is found in Kumārajīva's translation of the Lotus Sutra or in two other translations (T. vol. 9, nos. 262, 263, 264). In the Lotus Sutra a bodhisattva named Gadgadasvara acquired many samādhis, among which the saddharmapuṇḍarīka-samādhi and this candrapradīpa-samādhi are mentioned. Whether this refers to the Samādhirājasūtra is uncertain. The Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, however, twice mentions the ārya-candrapradīpa-samādhi,34 which undoubtedly refers to the Samādhirājasūtra, because in its pages this name is mentioned along with the [Ārya-]prajñāpāramitā, the Ārya-gaṇḍavyūha, the Ārya-daśabhūmika, etc., all of which represent well-known Mahayana sutras. The samādhi of the Samādhirāja-sūtra is not only the concentration (samādhi) on the emptiness (śūnyatā), equality (samatā, "sameness"), and impermanence of all dharmas, but also includes all religious disciplines, practices, morals, etiquette, and manners, as well as all kinds of Buddhist philosophies, doctrines, and creeds. Creating (delivering) the scripture passages xviii

Translator's Introduction

(sūtrānta-abhinirhāra; sūtrānta-nirhāra) or creating (delivering) the verses (gāthā-abhinirhāra)35 is also included in this samādhi as well. This means that creating scriptures anew is, as it were, a kind of duty for Mahayana Buddhists. This tendency seems to have encouraged repeated expansions of this scripture over nearly fifteen centuries, as we can infer upon studying its many versions and manuscripts.

The Chinese version by Narendrayaśas is not always readable. In making this translation I consulted Dutt's Sanskrit text in order to understand the Chinese text, and in some places I have included certain Sanskrit words in parentheses. Though the Sanskrit terms are not always the same as the Chinese, they give us some clues on how to read difficult or ambiguous passages in the Chinese version; thus, in some cases I have followed only Dutt's version. I translate kumāra[bhūta] (Ch. tongzi) as "prince," rather than "boy" or "young man," because he is a truth-seeking bodhisattva, just as is Mañjuśrī kumārabhūta.

Summary of the Text

While good summaries of the Samādhirāja-sūtra have already been written,36 I endeavor here to offer a new summary. For the sake of convenience I have adopted the chapter numbers and titles given in Dutt's Sanskrit version, though in this translation the material is organized by fascicle number. The Chinese text was traditionally divided into ten fascicles (Kauli edition) or eleven fascicles (three Chinese editions), but I follow the former.

Fascicle One contains Chapters 1-4. The Buddha's discourse on the samādhi (concentration) begins and continues in response to Prince Candraprabha's questions on the religious practices required to attain the inconceivable knowledge of the Buddha.

Chapter 1 (Nidāna-parivarta, "Chapter of the Introductory Story"). The text begins with a description of the Bhagavat (World-honored One, i.e., the Buddha) who was staying on Vulture Peak (Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa), near the royal city of Rājagṛha, with a large assembly of monks, bodhisattvas, gods, and other sentient (living) beings. In this assembly, a bodhisattva, Prince Candraprabha, asks him about the bodhisattvas' practice and inconceivable knowledge to attain enlightenment (i.e., become a buddha). It is Candraprabha's own xix

Translator's Introduction

great vow (praṇidhi) and earnest intention to attain enlightenment. The Buddha replies, "A bodhisattva who is endowed with one dharma (quality, virtue) shall soon attain supreme enlightenment (samyak-saṃbodhi), having acquired many dharmas. This one dharma is to possess an even (equal) mind (samacitta), a benevolent mind, an unhindered mind, and a mind that has no malice toward any sentient being. The bodhisattva endowed with this dharma will attain the samādhi called the concentration on the equality of all dharmas in their ownnature that is not verbally (or conceptually) expounded in detail (sarva-dharmasvabhāva-samatā-avipañcita-samādhi)." This samādhi is repeated as a religious slogan throughout this scripture.

Here I offer some introductory comments on the meanings of the term "dharma." The word "Dharma(s)" when capitalized primarily means the Buddha's teaching, speech, sermon, or discourse; and in a larger sense law, truth, virtue, religion, discipline, etc. The lower-case word "dharma(s)" refers to the constituent elements, properties, or qualities of which sentient beings' existence and experience consist. The term "dharma(s)" also means mental objects that are experienced, perceived, cognized, imagined, desired, and known. This explication on the differing meanings of the words Dharma/dharma(s) serves as an interpretation of the samādhi that is explained and illustrated in detail throughout the text. A fundamental principle of Early Buddhism seems to be based on our own direct perceptual experience. Important topics of discourse are limited in the spheres of the senses (indriyas), i.e., eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind (manas) together with sensory and mental objects (viṣayas), i.e., form, sound, odor, taste, tangible qualities, and mental objects, i.e., dharmas. To these are added six kinds of cognitions (vijñānas), i.e., visual cognition, auditory cognition, olfactory cognition, gustatory cognition, somatosensory cognition, and mental cognition. These are called eighteen elements of cognition (dhātus). These encompass everything—the entire world experienced by each of us. This is one's personal and subjective inner world, not an objective, external world. Often five physical and mental constituents are enumerated, namely, what is perceived internally and externally as form (rūpa), feelings (vedanā), concepts (saṃjñā), mental and physical latent forces (saṃskāras), and cognition (vijñāna). These are called the five aggregates (skandhas). All of these constituent elements—the five aggregates, the six sense organs together with their objects, and the eighteen elements of cognition—are called dharmas, and all xx

Translator's Introduction

dharmas are impermanent/momentary (anitya), painful (duḥkha), not "mine," and not "self" (ātman).

The practice of meditation leads to the insight and realization that none of these constituent elements (dharmas) is "mine" or my "self." However, practitioners must inevitably rely on themselves to uphold morals and precepts that they have vowed to uphold and keep as part of a Buddhist community as well as in one's daily life.

According to the Chinese version, a bodhisattva is said to acquire by virtue of this samādhi twenty-one sets of ten dharmas: morality, religious practices, discipline, learning, qualities, virtues, etiquette, good manners, and Dharmas, i.e., important Buddhist teachings, doctrines, concepts, and ideas. This samādhi is next called each of one hundred and six dharmas (in the Sanskrit text these are all the appositional predicates of the samādhi). Thus more than three hundred dharmas37 are enumerated, and the text concludes that this is called the sarva-dharma-svabhāva-samatā-avipañcita-samādhi.

These three hundred dharmas are repeated two more times in the text with a few variants, in the verses in Chapter 17 (Fascicle Four, 570a29-571c29) and in Chapters 38-39 (Fascicle Ten, 611c18-619b28). Chapter 17 expresses in verse that the samādhi has been delivered and explained by former buddhas for a long time, and that the Buddha had heard it many times in his former (past) existences; in this context the contents of this excellent samādhi are related at length. In Chapter 38 the first three dharmas (moral discipline of body, speech, and mind) are exhorted, praised, and explained in prose and verse. In Chapter 39 each of the remaining dharmas38 is explained very briefly in prose. Chapter 4 also enumerates the contents of the samādhi, which are quite similar to the abovementioned dharmas. The Praśāntaviniścaya-prātihārya-sūtra39 also enumerates nearly the same list of dharmas given in Chapters 1 and 4 of this Samādhirāja-sūtra in nearly the same order.

According to Chapters 1 and 17, these three hundred dharmas are the contents of the samādhi. In other words, put simply, this samādhi contains all the factors of moral discipline (śīla), concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (prajñā). The Appendix provides a tentative classification of these concepts (dharmas) in order to illustrate the contents of this samādhi.

A key term to understand the meaning or full concept of this samādhi or of this text is Dharma/dharma(s). The list of dharmas in Appendix I is arranged xxi

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according to the concept of the threefold learning (śikṣā): moral discipline (śīla), concentration (samādhi), and wisdom (prajñā), which are, generally speaking, also close to the order of their enumeration in Chapter 1. The totality of this exhaustive list of dharmas is called "this samādhi" in this text, and in other places it is subsumed under the term "threefold learning," which means the whole of the Buddhist path, the teaching of the Buddha, i.e., the Dharma. The Buddha's Dharma (law, teaching, truth) begins with morality or moral discipline (śīla). There are two kinds of morality: one for the community of monks (sangha) and one for the community of nuns, respectively. All members of the monastic order must leave home (i.e., ordinary, domestic life) to live and practice in forests or monasteries. There is another kind of moral discipline for ordinary people (laypeople, householders). The complete moral discipline for monastic life is not detailed in this text. Only the "code of moral discipline" (prātimokṣa, usually consisting of more than two hundred precepts) and the "code of the sangha" (Vinaya, history and explanation on the precepts) hint at the existence of the moral discipline for monks (Chapter 39). In any case, the threefold moral discipline of body, speech, and mind (restraint of one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions) is at the top of the list of dharmas. To uphold moral discipline (śīla) is of the first importance in order to attain enlightenment (Chapters 1, 27, 36, 38). Moral discipline (śīla) for everyone consists in general of the five precepts: not to kill, not to lie, not to steal, not to commit sexual misconduct, and not to take intoxicants. Eight special precepts (poṣadha) are to be observed on six special days each month (the eighth, fourteenth, fifteenth, twenty-third, twentyninth, and thirtieth). These eight precepts consist of the basic five (though in this case one is to abstain completely from sexual conduct), with the addition of not wearing or using garlands, scents, and unguents; not viewing dances or listening to music; not using a high and spacious bed; and avoiding untimely eating (i.e., not eating after noon).

In addition, there are ten good deeds that constitute very basic morality and consist of not committing the ten evil deeds: killing living beings, taking what is not given, committing adultery, telling lies, engaging in slander, using harsh speech, engaging in idle speech, greed, hatred, and wrong views. This system of morality is based on the concepts of the emptiness and nonself of all dharmas (Chapters 37, 38). In many chapters, unfit and immoral monks are depicted as xxii

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deplorable. The authors of this text extol for monastics the simple ascetic life (dhūta) and recommend living in forests apart from ordinary domestic life. As mentioned above, this discourse begins with Prince Candraprabha's question to the Buddha, based on his great vow (praṇidhi) and earnest intention to attain enlightenment. In Appendix I the first two items (dharmas) concern aspiration and wish (A). Twenty-eight items concern moral discipline (B), and sixty-five items relate to etiquette and good manners, how to live and behave among other people (C). Moral discipline is inseparable from religious practice, discipline, and training on the path (mārga), which, when tentatively calculated, totals eighty-one items (D). The second stage of learning is concentration (samādhi), meditation, and mental training, which consist of nineteen items (E). The last stage of learning is the attainment of perfect knowledge or wisdom (jñāna, prajñā) that follows concentration, meditation, etc., which calculated totals fifty-one items (F). These are followed by nineteen items that concern virtues and merits, and which seem also to follow concentration, meditation, etc. (G). The last part of the list contains fifty-one phrases or concepts with which the highest stage of learning is recommended and described (H). In this way, I have endeavored to classify these three hundred and sixteen items (dharmas). Some are often repeated or redundant and have been omitted here. The word "dharmas" usually means constituent elements, qualities, or functions of sentient beings' existence. These dharmas are all that we perceive and cognize, which comprises our impermanent/momentary sensations, perceptions, and cognitions together with feeling, impressions, and other mental elements or functions. These dharmas have been enumerated, classified, and systematized variously in the history of Buddhism. The five aggregates (skandhas), the twelve spheres of cognition (āyatanas), and the eighteen elements of cognition (dhātus), which are dharmas in themselves and which each also consist of some number of dharmas, are fundamental concepts of very early origin in Buddhism. The five aggregates, the mental and physical elements of which our existence together with our experience consists, comprise the whole of human existence. In other words, our existence is comprised of physical name and form, mental elements (or functions), and physical and mental forces only. There is no separate, permanent person, no man or woman, no eternal unchanging soul (or self), no creator god, no matter. The entire outer world is reduced to perceived names and forms together with sensations, concepts, images, cognitions, etc. xxiii

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This system reveals a very fundamental notion in that it consists of qualities, properties, or partial elements that make up a "person," along with what is perceived and thought, but without taking account of the person or what is perceived (the world). All of the elements of the five aggregates are conditioned (saṃskṛta) dharmas, i.e., they originate only through causes and conditions, they do not arise of themselves. It is supposed that this system does not account for the state of enlightenment, the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta) dharma, i.e., nirvana. Some sentient beings have only four aggregates (skandhas) or only one. Deities of the formless realm (ārūpyadhātu) have four aggregates without the aggregate of name and form, and unconscious deities (āsaṃjñikāḥ) have only the aggregate of name and form.

The twelve spheres of cognition (āyatanas) reveal a similar but separate viewpoint. They consist of six inner spheres of cognition (the six sense organs, ādhyātmika-āyatanas), i.e., the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind (or the sense organ of thought, manas); and six outer spheres of cognition (six objective spheres, bāhya-āyatanas), i.e., name and form, sound, odor, taste, tangibles, and mental (imagined and thought) objects (dharmas). These cover all of the sense organs, perceptions, and cognitions, together with their perceived and cognized objects. No individual persons, no individual animals, no stones, no trees—to sum up, no objective world—is accounted. Yet we always have a concept of a self ("I," myself, etc.), as well as of other objectively existing persons, animals, and the world, because we have constructed or composed all our perceptions and cognitions together by way of experience, learning, studying, and learned knowledge. Individual persons or concrete things of the objective world are, as it were, solely the products of mental, conceptual constructions (vikalpa, kalpanā). The twelve spheres of cognition are enlarged into the eighteen elements of cognition by discriminating each cognition from the six sense organs, as seen above. In these two systems, the mental object, i.e., dharma, can comprise the unconditioned elements (asaṃskṛta-dharmas) such as nirvana (enlightenment, extinction), but the five aggregates cannot.

The Sarvāstivāda school devised a system of five categories of dharmas: name and form, mind, mental elements (functions), nonmental forces, and the unconditioned (annihilation of mental impurity through analytical wisdom, i.e., nirvana, annihilation without analysis, and empty space). In this system, the old basic concepts of dharmas are maintained and developed. According to this xxiv

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school, dharmas really exist in the future, in the present, and in the past because they can be cognized.

It seems probable that the authors of this Samādhirāja-sūtra knew such a system of dharmas. In this text the dharmas are said to be empty (śūnya) of "self" (ātman), soul (puruṣa, jīva), or a living individual (sattva). The emptiness (śūnyatā) of all dharmas is then repeatedly expounded and illustrated. Emptiness, a very basic and fundamental concept, is paraphrased variously. This scripture repeats the "concentration (samādhi) on the equality of all the dharmas (elements) in their own-nature that is not conceptually expounded in detail" (sarva-dharma-svabhāva-samatā-avipañcita-samādhi). The original nature (svabhāva, own-being) of all the constituent elements of our existence (i.e., dharmas) as well as of the law/truth (i.e., Dharma) is essentially the same, due to the emptiness of difference. According to the Chinese translation, it is said not to be conceptually expounded in detail as it really is. In contrast, according to the Tibetan translation it is conceptually expounded in detail. These are two explanations, but in any case, in emptiness, all are necessarily equal. Chapter 2 (Śālendrarāja-pūrvayoga-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Correlated Story of Śālendrarāja Buddha"). The Buddha continues his discourse on the samādhi to Prince Candraprabha in verse. He states that he has heard six hundred million buddhas discourse on this samādhi on Vulture Peak in his previous existences in past eons (kalpas). The last buddha was Śālendrarāja, from whom he asked to receive this samādhi. Śālendrarāja was then a king named Bhīṣmottara, who offered various necessities to the Buddha and then renounced the world together with his wife, sons, and daughters to ask the Buddha to teach this samādhi. Many past buddhas had the name Śākyamuni, and they all had a son called Rāhula, an attendant called Ānanda, and chief disciples called Maudgalyāyana and Śāriputra, and all of them declared this samādhi and dwelled on this mountain. The king worshiped these buddhas and presented abundant offerings because he wished to hear and recite the samādhi. The text states that this samādhi is not difficult to obtain for one who is established in meritorious religious practices. One who wishes to see Amitābha Buddha and his Pure Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī) should hear and keep this samādhi. All buddhas of past, present, and future in the ten directions (the four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions, and the zenith and xxv

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nadir, i.e., everywhere) have attained, now attain, and will attain unconditioned enlightenment (asaṃskṛta-bodhi) due to learning and practicing this samādhi. Chapter 3 (Bhūta-guṇa-varṇa-prakāśana-parivarta, "Chapter on Declaring Praise of the True Virtues of the Buddha"). The Bhagavat's discourse on the samādhi continues in prose and then in verse. If a bodhisattva wishes to reveal and declare the true virtues, meanings, and names of the tathāgatas and the teachings of all the buddhas, they should recite and keep this samādhi and declare it to others. The bodhisattva who is well established in this samādhi reveals and declares the true virtues and the teachings of all the buddhas. Here the ten synonyms of the Buddha (Tathāgata) are given. Their virtues are glorified, and this samādhi has been taught by them. Prince Candraprabha swears to defend this excellent Dharma in the latter degenerate age. Chapter 4 (Buddha-anusmṛti-parivarta, "Chapter on Remembrance of the Buddha"). For the second time Candraprabha asks the Bhagavat to explain this samādhi. The Bhagavat replies by giving forty phrases40 that illustrate the samādhi, and utters twenty-five verses that also reveal the necessary conditions through which one can obtain it.

Fascicle Two contains Chapters 5-10 and the first part of Chapter 11. Chapter 5 (Ghoṣadatta-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Story of Ghoṣadatta Buddha"). The Bhagavat continued his discourse to Candraprabha, relating the ancient story of Ghoṣadatta Buddha, who had been worshiped by King Mahābala and the people of his kingdom, and who had taught them to leave household life and renounce the world to seek enlightenment. The king and his family followed Ghoṣadatta's advice and renounced the world to go forth in his presence and he then announced this samādhi. The king, having heard, recited, memorized, and practiced the samādhi, was not reborn in evil worlds for two hundred million eons and over successive lifetimes he encountered two hundred million buddhas. By virtue of these wholesome roots (kuśalamūlas), after a hundred million eons he attained supreme enlightenment and was called Jñānadatta Tathāgata. Having given benefits to immeasurable sentient beings, Jñānadatta then entered into perfect extinction (parinirvāṇa). The king's family members also renounced the world and heard, recited, memorized, and practiced the samādhi, and they later attained supreme enlightenment in other worlds. Each was named Dṛdhaśūra Tathāgata and entered nirvana. This story is then repeated in the following verses.

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Chapter 6 (Samādhi-parivarta, "Chapter on Concentration"). The Bhagavat continued his discourse: a bodhisattva mahāsattva who seeks this samādhi should do the first (preparatory) practice (parikarman): offering garlands, incense, unguents, food and drink, medicines for illness and emaciation, etc., to present or past buddhas. He should then dedicate all of the merit resulting from this practice to the attainment of the samādhi and ultimately supreme enlightenment. By virtue of this root of goodness he will obtain the highest result of inconceivable merit: by cultivating this samādhi he shall soon attain supreme enlightenment.

In the following twenty-five verses a slightly different list of practices is given, including worship of the buddhas by offering incense; the practice of patience (kṣānti); accepting the nature of the selflessness (nairātmya) of dharmas; abandoning wrong notions, greed, lust, etc.; maintaining moral discipline; the practice of application of mindfulness (smṛty-upasthāna); and the seven factors of enlightenment (bodhyaṅga).41 Finally the Buddha declares in verse, "One who hears of the great merit of this samādhi and then immediately teaches and causes others to practice this samādhi will attain supreme enlightenment." (25). Chapter 7 (Tri-kṣānty-avatāra-parivarta, "Chapter on the Three Kinds of Patience"). The Bhagavat explains to Prince Candraprabha the division of the discourse on the Dharma, i.e., entering the three kinds of patience (tri-kṣāntyavatāra-dharma-paryāya), discussed briefly in the introductory prose section and at length in the following verses. The Buddhist term kṣānti means not only the quality of patience, forbearance, or perseverance on being subjected to ill treatment, insults, cruelty, violence, torture, etc. from others (or accepting this kind of pain without the mind losing its equanimity), but also acceptance of or receptivity to the Buddhist Dharma. Both meanings are expressed in this chapter: first is not to enter into conflict with others, not to be attached to the marks of the dharmas, and to believe in the Dharma of all the buddhas. Second is not to become confused by various heretical opinions, to keep the dhāraṇīs (mystic formulas), and not to retreat from the path to enlightenment. Third is to learn and master all the techniques of the arts and handicrafts; to have mental control with an immovable power of quietude (śamatha) and the power of insight (vipaśyanā); to maintain concentration in the three actions of speaking, sitting, and lying down; to possess the supernatural powers of knowledge; to learn all the buddhas' Dharmas, practices, and deportment; and to be unmoved by worldly gain or fame. xxvii

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The three kinds of acceptance (kṣānti) are called acceptance conforming to the voice of the teacher (ghoṣa-anugāmi-kṣānti), acceptance consisting of thinking of (cintāmayī kṣāntiḥ), and acceptance of the truth that the constituent elements of phenomena (dharmas) have no origination (anutpattika-kṣānti). A bodhisattva is well established in the Dharma of the acceptance of selflessness (nairātmya-kṣānti), without fear or anger even in the face of others' insults and violence against him. The last verse reads, "Anyone who practices this patience (kṣānti) taught by the Buddha shall attain enlightenment without difficulty" (38). Chapter 8 (Abhāvasamudgata-parivarta, "Chapter on the Past Abhāvasamudgata Buddha"). The Buddha told Candraprabha the story of a past buddha, Abhāvasamudgata, who at birth declared that all dharmas are born of nonexistence. When this buddha preached a sermon, a prince named Mahākaruṇācintin came into his presence and heard this samādhi from him. The prince, having renounced the world, heard and memorized the samādhi and explained it to others. Owing to the store of merit resulting from this, he met many millions of buddhas and finally attained supreme enlightenment after twenty eons. Mahākaruṇācintin appeared on earth as Suvicintitārtha Tathāgata. Chapter 9 (Gambhīra-dharma-kṣānti-parivarta, "Chapter on Acceptance of the Profound Truth"). The Bhagavat continued his discourse to Candraprabha: this samādhi has the power to lead bodhisattvas to the attainment of supreme enlightenment, for which purpose they should be well established in the state of acceptance of the profound Dharma (dharma-kṣānti). In other words, bodhisattvas should understand the truth of all dharmas, which are like a magical appearance, a dream, a mirage, an echo, a gleam, the reflection of the moon in water, or of the nature of space.

When bodhisattvas attain this state of acceptance they are free from attachment, anger, and delusion. This is because they do not see in all dharmas anything to which to become attached. There is no one to be attached to, nothing to be attached to, and no action of attachment. Bodhisattvas see no one who gets angry, nothing that causes anger, and no state of anger. They see no one who is deluded, nothing that causes delusion, and no state of delusion. Such a bodhisattva is described variously in the following list of seventy-four epithets in the Chinese version. Next, the Buddha utters sixty verses that reveal the emptiness (śūnyatā) and selflessness (nairātmya) of all dharmas as well as of the Dharma. xxviii

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Chapter 10 (Pura-praveśa-parivarta, "Chapter on the Buddha's Coming to the City of Rājagṛha"). The Bhagavat concludes his discourse to Candraprabha by saying that a bodhisattva should learn to achieve the firm practice (pratipattisāra), because for such a bodhisattva it will not be difficult to attain supreme enlightenment as well as this samādhi. Prince Candraprabha then entreats the Buddha, together with the sangha, to accept his invitation for breakfast the next morning. The Bhagavat silently assents. Candraprabha returns from Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa (Vulture Peak) to his home in the city of Rājagṛha, arranged for ornaments to be placed all over the city, and ordered a delicious meal to be prepared during the night. The next morning he goes to the Buddha to lead him to his house in Rājagṛha. When the Bhagavat enters the gate of the city, supernatural appearances occur and all his divine merits came to deliver verses that describe the mysterious appearances. It is repeated that the Buddha possesses ten powers.

Chapter 11 (Sūtra-dhāraṇā-parivarta, "Chapter on Keeping the Scripture"). The Bhagavat comes to Candraprabha's house together with the sangha, and Candraprabha offers them a delicious meal. Afterward, he presents precious garments to the Buddha and the sangha. He then queries the Buddha in verse about the practices and methods by which one can know the original nature (svabhāva, own-being) of dharmas, one's own former existence, etc., often offering praises to him.

Fascicle Three consists of the remainder of Chapter 11 and Chapters 12-16, in which the Buddha's discourse continues in Candraprabha's house. The Bhagavat responds that a bodhisattva who has attained one Dharma (truth) obtains all the most excellent merits and soon attains supreme enlightenment. The term "one Dharma" means the original nature of all dharmas. In other words, all dharmas are free from names, sounds, language, and letters; free from origination, annihilation, the characteristics of cause, the characteristics of conditions, and the characteristics of objects. Bodhisattvas who know well the emptiness of dharmas have nothing that is unknown to them. The following verses repeat nearly the same meanings but the last verses read, "The hearing and learning of one stanza [of this samādhi] is equal to worshiping all the buddhas; in the last evil ages, this is the best worship" (46); "Amitāyus Buddha also explains the immeasurable excellent benefit for him and xxix

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he will go to the Pure Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī)" (49abc); "If you wish for merits like mine, you should keep this scripture in the last degenerate ages" (51cd). Chapter 12 (Samādhy-anuśikṣaṇā-parivarta, "Chapter on Learning this Samādhi"). The Bhagavat continues: a bodhisattva who knows the inconceivable original nature (svabhāva) of the dharmas obtains the benefit of virtues (guṇa-anuśaṃsā), and praises the Tathāgata's true merits. Their mind (citta) is without own-nature (niḥsvabhāva), without forms, and invisible. The own-nature (svabhāva) of the mind is the own-nature of the Buddha's virtues; moreover, the own-nature of the Buddha is thus the own-nature of all dharmas. When this discourse had been delivered, many gods, humans, and others attained the undisturbed state of acceptance (kṣānti). They received the Buddha's prediction that they would attain supreme enlightenment after incalculable eons (asaṃkhyeya kalpas). Next, the Buddha uttered verses that amplified the meaning given above and concludes, "One should learn this excellent samādhi. One who learns this is the best among gods and humans" (20).

Chapter 13 (Samādhi-nirdeśa-parivarta, "Chapter on the Discourse on this Samādhi"). The Bhagavat continues his discourse: the bodhisattva should be good at explaining this samādhi to others. The explanation of this samādhi is interpreted as to have an even (equal) mind to all dharmas, without thoughts of "this" or "that," without discrimination, nondiscrimination, production, origin, birth, and death. It is to renounce all false conceptions, discriminations, and recollections. It is to renounce all the objects of mental activities and what is thought in the mind about various names. It is to renounce all evil thoughts and contemplations, to know that there is no own-nature in the aggregates of the physical and mental elements, the spheres and elements of cognition, and to renounce greed, hatred, and delusion. It is to have memory, wisdom, liberation, modesty, courage, practices, and observances. It is to abide in quiet and remote places, to perform all the practices of the bodhisattvas and all the deeds of buddhas, and to acquire all merits and virtues. The following verses amplify this meaning. Chapter 14 (Smita-saṃdarśana-parivarta, "Chapter on the Appearance of the Buddha's Smile"). Candraprabha tells the Tathāgata how marvelous it is that he has explained the equality of all dharmas in their essence (sarva-dharmasvabhāva-samatā), which is to be learned by bodhisattvas. It is also marvelous that the bodhisattva who learns and practices well the samādhi that has been taught shall attain supreme enlightenment. He again delivers a speech in verse, xxx

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which is like a hymn of praise for the Buddha, referring to some of his previous lives, i.e., his vow (praṇidhi) to attain enlightenment and benefit sentient beings. After eulogizing the Bhagavat's physical characteristics, he prays to become a buddha like Śākyamuni. On listening to his words, the Bhagavat smiled. Seeing this, Maitreya Bodhisattva asks, "Please tell us why you have smiled!" He continued his eulogy to the Bhagavat and repeated his question. Chapter 15 (Smita-vyākaraṇa-parivarta, "Chapter on the Explanation of the Buddha's Smile" ). The Bhagavat replied to Maitreya's question in verse: In his former existences in this city of Rājagṛha, this Candraprabha saw many millions of buddhas, and always asked each of these buddhas to teach this excellent calm samādhi. He performs religious practices and there shall be no hindrances in his practice and life; he will see many buddhas and will worship them in the future. Having heard this prediction (vyākaraṇa),42 Candraprabha rejoices and, leaping high in the air, utters verses of thanks and eulogy. He beseeches the Buddha to place his golden hand on his head in blessing, in the presence of the assembly of gods and humans.

Chapter 16 (Pūrva-yoga-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Correlated Story"). The Bhagavat recounts in verses an ancient story of his own past existence as a prince named Mati, who suffered acute pain in his body. His teacher was a bhikṣu (monk) named Brahmadatta in the order of Siṃhadhvaja Buddha. No physicians were able to cure Mati, but when Brahmadatta heard of his illness he came and consoled him, and explained this samādhi to him. On listening to his teacher, Mati became indifferent to possessing material goods, free from attachment, knew the original nature of dharmas, and was cured of the pain of illness. The Bhagavat said, "Afterward that monk became the buddha called Dīpaṃkara. When I was Prince Mati, I was cured of illness by this samādhi" (6) and "I entreat you: keep and recite this samādhi to endure others' blame and infliction [of pain] on you" (7).

Beginning with the next verse, the Bhagavat makes a prediction about the future deterioration of the morals of idle, greedy, fraudulent, and profane monks, who will speak ill of this samādhi. He concludes, "Have patience with those who are very greedy, hateful, have many delusions, are confused, arrogant, without shame and restraint, and who are uncontrolled." (29); "But one who is steadfast in religious practice shall attain enlightenment." (30).

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Fascicle Four contains only Chapter 17. The discourse is said to have been delivered on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa.

Chapter 17 (Bahu-buddha-nirhāra-samādhi-mukha-parivarta, "Chapter on the Gate to this Samādhi Delivered by Many Buddhas").43 The Bhagavat, having left the house of Prince Candraprabha in Rājagṛha,44 went to Vulture Peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa) together with his attendants, monks, gods, etc. Candraprabha and others came before the Buddha and, having received the Bhagavat's permission, Candraprabha asks him how many dharmas (disciplines, duties, or laws) a bodhisattva should fulfill in order to attain this samādhi. The Buddha teaches four dharmas: (1) self-restraint (dānta) and patience in the face of others' insults, (2) maintaining good moral discipline (śīla), (3) fear of and disgust for the world and great compassion for other sentient beings in order to save them from suffering, and (4) learning and respecting the Dharma (Buddha's teachings, Laws). The Buddha then relates, from memory and in verse, long ancient stories that illustrate that the discourse of this samādhi had been delivered, explained, and practiced by innumerable buddhas for a very long time. Many buddhas' names are listed, followed by the story of Narendraghoṣa Buddha and his devotee, King Śiribala. Narendraghoṣa Buddha had declared this supreme calm samādhi when King Śiribala, having heard of this samādhi, along with his wives, sons, daughters, and relatives, left home to become a monk in the presence of this buddha. After six years of diligent religious practice, Śiribala passed away and was soon reborn in his former palace spontaneously, without the impurities of birth through a mother's womb. The newborn prince asked his father, King Dṛḍhabala, whether or not the Buddha was still expounding this calm samādhi. Here the concept of this samādhi is clearly articulated at length. The samādhi expounded in verse (570a29-571c29) consists of about three hundred dharmas (enumerated in Chapter 1 and also explained in Chapters 38-39). Śiribala's father told him with astonishment that Narendraghoṣa Tathāgata was still in the world, and asked the prince how he had known of him. The prince explained that he knew his own former lives and then summarized his past history. Having heard this, King Dṛḍhabala and his attendants visited Narendraghoṣa Buddha, and the king subsequently left home to become a monk, kept and recited this samādhi, and explained it for others. Six thousand eons later he became Padmottara Buddha. The Bhagavat concludes by explaining that King Śiribala was himself, who had made great effort to seek this excellent samādhi, wishing to attain supreme enlightenment.

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Fascicle Five contains Chapters 18-24.

Chapter 18 (Samādhy-anuparindana-parivarta, "Chapter on the Transmission of This Samādhi"). After the opening paragraph, this chapter consists of verses. The Buddha tells Candraprabha about the merits of the bodhisattva who keeps, recites, and propagates this sutra on samādhi. Namely, the bodhisattva accomplishes blessed virtues, is not hated by enemies, attains infinite intelligence and eloquence, shall see many buddhas, and so on. Candraprabha asks, "Who will be able to hear of such a scripture in latter degenerate ages?" (18). The Bhagavat replies that one who wishes to protect the Dharma, worships all the buddhas, and maintains the qualities of the purified ascetic life (dhūta) will be able to hear this scripture, but evil monks who violate the moral precepts cannot hear this samādhi sutra. He explains that the sin of those who revile this scripture is the most grievous, and then asks who will deliver the scripture in latter degenerate ages when the right Dharma has been destroyed. Candraprabha vows to propagate the scripture, without concern for his life and body, in the latter degenerate ages. The Bhagavat places his golden hand on Candraprabha's head and promises to protect him in latter degenerate ages if he should encounter obstacles.

Many other monks who keep the Dharma also vow to keep the scripture in latter degenerate ages. At that time many yakṣas (demigods) and nāgas (serpent gods) promise the Buddha that they will protect these monks. At that moment, the worlds quake as the Buddha sends into every world many magically created buddhas (buddha-nirmita) who delivered the scripture. All people could hear this sutra. The Bhagavat prophesizes that they will all see buddhas in the future and says, "Those who worship Maitreya Tathāgata with many excellent offerings and keep the true Dharma of the Buddha will all go to the Pure Land of Sukhāvatī" (51) and "I hand over this scripture to you" (55). Chapter 19 (Acintya-buddha-dharma-nirdeśa-parivarta, "Chapter on the Explication of the Inconceivable Teachings of the Buddha"). This chapter consists of prose and verses. The Bhagavat tells Candraprabha that a bodhisattva who wishes to practice this samādhi should be expert in the teachings of the buddhas, and have deep faith in these teachings and seek them out. Candraprabha asks him how to become expert in these teachings. At that time, a gandharva (heavenly musician) named Pañcaśikha, accompanied by five hundred other gandharvas holding various musical instruments in their hands, appears, xxxiii

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producing a harmonious sound playing on emerald harps. The Bhagavat then performs a magical feat harmonizing five hundred musical sounds, producing a tone that teaches noncovetousness, obedience to the Dharma, and observance of the Dharma.

Verses resound, giving the understanding of the inconceivable teachings of the Buddha: On the tip of a single hair there are many buddhas and their buddha lands. The true nature of the buddha lands is empty and without characteristics. On the tip of a single hair there appear all beings: the beings of the realms of hell, animals, hungry ghost (pretas), gods, and human beings, and of all the worlds. All dharmas that are seen, heard, and thought are unreal, like a dream. When one acquires this samādhi, they can understand all dharmas. When these verses are uttered, Prince Candraprabha is able to acquire the mental concentration in the inconceivable dharmas of the buddhas, and he is able to discourse on the scriptures (sūtrānta-abhinirhāra). Chapter 20 (Indraketudhvajarāja-parivarta, "Chapter on the Past Buddha Indraketudhvajarāja"). The Bhagavat tells Candraprabha to become well established in the wholesome roots, to ask true friends about the Dharma, and to regard highly Dharma teachers. He then narrates in verses the ancient story of Indraketudhvajarāja Buddha, who declared this samādhi: there is no self, no life—just like foam, a mirage, or lightning, dharmas are like the image of the moon reflected in water. Deeds once done cannot be destroyed and the retribution and reward for evil and good deeds (karman) shall not come to naught. There was a monk, a Dharma teacher (dharma-bhāṇaka), who performed religious practices, heard and maintained this teaching, and who had the aspiration for supreme enlightenment (bodhicitta). Indraketudhvajarāja Buddha told him to maintain moral discipline, rely on true friends, accord with perfect wisdom, and always avoid false friends, and he would soon be able to attain supreme enlightenment. Chapter 21 (Pūrvayoga-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Correlated Story"). The Bhagavat continues with verses that narrate the ancient story of the two diligent sons of a wealthy family who left home to become monks, living solitary in the forest "like the horn of a rhinoceros." At that time a king who was out hunting heard them speak, approached and paid respect to them and listened to the monks deliver the Dharma. The king venerated and loved the Dharma teachers. One of the two teachers told the king to protect the right Dharma and associate with righteous friends, and the king and his attendants then gave rise to the aspiration for supreme enlightenment. xxxiv

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At that time, many arrogant monks, who were attached to wrong views and lacked the correct understanding of the Buddha's teaching, urged the king to commit the injustice of killing the two monks, who had been accused of expounding on emptiness and nihilism. The king was dissuaded from doing evil by a god who had been his true friend in the past. The evil monks then went to the king's younger brother, urging him to kill the two monks. The king's brother followed the villains' suggestion, and went with his army to kill the two monks, but the king's brother and his army were killed by nāgas and yakṣas, who, knowing their malicious intention, rained down a terrible hail of stones on them. The king's brother and the malicious monks suffered infinite pain in hell for fully one billion lives, while those who had protected the two monks saw buddhas. The righteous king and his attendants would become buddhas in every other world, and they all practiced and expounded this samādhi. Chapter 22 (Tathāgata-kāya-nirdeśa-parivarta, "Chapter on the Exposition of the Body of the Tathāgata"). The Bhagavat continues in prose and verse the discourse concerning this samādhi. The first discourse is that a bodhisattva should sacrifice their life and not be attached to their body, because they will do evil if they have attachment to the body.

The theme of the body (kāya) of the Buddha Tathāgata then follows. A bodhisattva should know the visible body (rūpakāya) and the Dharma body (dharmakāya) of the Buddha. Buddhas are of the Dharma body and not of the visible body; they appear in the Dharma body, not in the visible body. A bodhisattva who wishes to do what the Buddha did, to seek the Tathāgata's body, to seek the Tathāgata's wisdom, and to know the Tathāgata's body, should bear this samādhi sutra in mind, read it, explain it to others, and apply themself to meditation. All dharmas are expressed variously: they are free from all marks, profound, immeasurable, motionless, nondual, invisible, inconceivable, and so on; dharmas are empty, non-eternal, expressible, of the absolute truth, neverending, etc. The body of the Buddha is in truth nothing but Dharma (i.e., the essential nature or truth of dharmas). So the text says, "This is looked upon as the body of the Tathāgata." The following verses reiterate and variously describe the body of the Buddha: his visible body, though mysteriously described as radiant and adorned with auspicious marks, must be a physical human body. He creates many magically transformed (nirmita) bodies that go to many buddha lands to teach the Dharma to sentient beings. The Buddha's Dharma body is without xxxv

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marks, signless, just as is the sky, such that no one can see it. The Buddha's body is born of the truth (Dharma), so he has the truth body but never the visible body, and this is interpreted as being a buddha. In conclusion, those who know the Buddha's body will be able to become buddhas too.

Chapter 23 (Tathāgata-acintya-nirdeśa-parivarta, "Chapter on An Inconceivable Discourse of the Tathāgata").45 This chapter begins with the enumeration of seventy-four sets of fourfold inconceivable concepts, i.e., dharmas, followed by an exposition of the faculty of a good memory (dhāraṇī, "mystic formula") and four kinds of unhindered insight, and twenty-eight lines of verses.46 All seventyfour sets of fourfold concepts are related to the mental and physical latent forces (saṃskāra, "power" or "energy"), the mental and physical conditioned elements (saṃskṛta) that are to be abandoned (i.e., not to be attached to), the mental impurities (saṃkleśa, "defilements," "cravings"), and their purification (vyavadāna). These four concepts seem to point to human existence and experience. Each set begins with the inconceivable (mystical) speech (vyavahāra), method (naya), suitability (yukti, "reasonableness"), and so on, ending with the inconceivable gate to the faculty of a good memory (dhāraṇī).47

The import of this passage must be that the bodhisattva's knowledge of every element of their existence and experience and also their faculties of a good memory are inconceivable (mystical or infinite), and their speech is inconceivable and infinite too. As for the four kinds of unhindered insight (eloquence), the text reads: This faculty of a good memory (dhāraṇī) is knowledge (jñāna). With this knowledge, he comprehends all dharmas. The knowledge of names and letters is called the unhindered insight into dharmas (dharma-pratisaṃvid). With this knowledge of these dharmas to know the meaning [of words] is unhindered insight into the meaning (artha-pratisaṃvid). With this knowledge of the dharmas to know the difference of languages is unhindered insight into language (nirukti-pratisaṃvid). [With the knowledge of dharmas] to expound, show, suppose, manifest, analyze, understand, and show these words equally without fear, is unhindered insight into eloquence (pratibhānapratisaṃvid) (T.639:581a). This is followed by verses:

What is supposed by words is also expressed by voice.

As is expressed by voice, so is the Buddha's knowledge. (1) xxxvi

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This and following verses seem to mean that everything is even (equal) in its original nature, "To know all is equal (even) is the teaching of the samyaksaṃbuddha who gives numerous names for the benefit of the bodhisattvas." (10) At the end of the verses the text says that the bodhisattva who keeps this sutra can declare many inconceivable sutras and acquire infinite knowledge. Chapter 24 (Pratisaṃvid-avatāra-parivarta, "Chapter on Entering Unhindered Insight and Eloquence"). The Bhagavat continues his discourse: The bodhisattva who has unhindered insight into the truth (dharma-pratisaṃvid) sees the Dharma (truth, reality) and is settled in the Dharma. The bodhisattva who knows that nonform (arūpa) is not other than form (rūpa) expounds the Dharma. Knowing that nonform is not other than form, he engages in religious practice. Form, the own-nature of form (rūpa-svarūpa), and the Tathāgata are the same, not distinct or separate from each other. Anyone who sees the dharmas (constituent elements of our existence) is thus called one who has unhindered insight into the Dharma. As is with form (rūpa), so too are sensation or feeling (vedanā), conceptions (saṃjñā), latent forces (saṃskārāḥ), and cognition (vijñāna).

This idea is expressed in the following verses in further detail. For instance, the text reads:

Enlightenment is shown by form; form is shown by enlightenment. These dissimilar two reveal the ultimate [Dharma]. The aspect of form is gross but the own-nature of form is very profound; form and enlightenment are the same, and the difference between the two cannot be grasped. (1-2) Referring to the Buddha's body, it reads:

He who sees the Buddha's visible body (rūpakāya) says that he sees the Tathāgata; however, my body is not a perceptible form, and there is no one who sees me. As is the original nature of form, so is the characteristic of form known. He who knows the original nature of form makes my great body manifest. Such are the five aggregates (skandhas) of the physical and mental elements. I know already not only their aspect but also the original nature of the dharmas, and I am well settled in the Dharma body (dharmakāya)." (7-9) Next, idle, covetous, and transgressing monks are discussed in a tone of disapproval and condemnation. The Buddha admonishes the prince not to befriend xxxvii

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such evil monks, but teaches how to deal with them in a friendly way without causing strife, and how to live the religious life. The last part is admonition to bear this samādhi as well as this scripture.

Fascicle Six contains Chapters 25-31.

Chapter 25 (Anumodanā-parivarta, "Chapter on Rejoicing in Others' Merits"). The Bhagavat continues his discourse: a bodhisattva should accomplish skillful means. A bodhisattva gives rise to the thought that all sentient beings are their kinspeople. They should rejoice in all the good works of sentient beings. Rejoicing in their merits six times throughout the day and night, the bodhisattva has a cause for omniscience. With the thought of this cause for omniscience, they will let all sentient beings obtain merits. The bodhisattva, by virtue of these wholesome roots, shall soon attain this samādhi and acquire supreme enlightenment. The following verses reiterate this concept in more detail and add praise of the samādhi, "Diligent carefulness (apramāda) is the root of all the merits that assist in the way to enlightenment. It is not difficult to attain this samādhi for those who are free from idle carelessness" (11) and "Those bodhisattvas who are diligently careful acquire eloquence, and those who have no doubt about the Buddha's knowledge can easily attain this samādhi." (15) Chapter 26 (Dāna-anuśaṃsā-parivarta, "Chapter on the Advantage of Generosity").48 The Bhagavat continues his discourse on diligent carefulness: those who are diligently careful can attain supreme enlightenment, as well as this samādhi. To be diligently careful a bodhisattva maintains moral discipline (śīla) and learns the six perfections (pāramitās): generosity (dāna), moral discipline (śīla), patience (kṣānti), effort (vīrya), meditation (dhyāna), and wisdom (prajñā), without giving up the aspiration for omniscience (sarvajñatā). A bodhisattva who believes in the perfection of generosity (dāna-pāramitā) has ten kinds of merits (anuśaṃsā, "advantage"): subduing the impurity of miserliness, practicing generosity continually, sharing one's property with others, being born in a wealthy family, having the wish to practice generosity in every place where they are born, being loved by people, not being cowardly and fearful, winning fame, possessing soft hands and feet, and not being forsaken by true friends. The following verses repeat these advantages of generosity. Chapter 27 (Śīla-nirdeśa-parivarta, "Chapter of the Discourse on Moral Discipline"). The Bhagavat continues his discourse: a bodhisattva who maintains xxxviii

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pure moral discipline (śīla) has ten kinds of merits (advantages): they are able to achieve omniscience, practice the Buddha's practices, will not be censured by the wise, do not abrogate their vow, are established in religious practices, become free from birth and death (transmigration), have the aspiration for enlightenment, attain nonattachment, attain excellent concentration (samādhi), and do not lack faith. The following verses repeat these advantages of maintaining moral discipline. Chapter 28 (Daśa-anuśaṃsā-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ten Advantages"). The Bhagavat continues his discourse in prose and in verse, in the nearly same way as the previous chapter, on friendliness (maitrī), patience (kṣānti), effort (vīrya), meditation (dhyāna), the perfection of wisdom (prajñā-pāramitā), great learnedness (bāhuśrutya), offerings of the truth (dharma-dāna), emptiness (śūnyatā), meditative seclusion (pratisaṃlayana), living in a remote quiet place (araṇya, "wilderness"), and the purified ascetic life (dhūta) living on alms, together with the ten merits (advantages) of each case. Some verses are quite impressive, for instance:

When this bodhisattva dies, they are reborn in the Pure Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī), where Amitāyus [Buddha] teaches the Dharma for them and they attain the state of patient acceptance (kṣānti) of [the truth that] dharmas have no origination (anutpāda-dharmeṣu) (69).

Chapter 29 (Tejagaṇirāja-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Story of Tejagaṇirāja Buddha"). After the first line of prose this chapter consists of verses. The Bhagavat resumes the discourse on this samādhi, illustrating the ancient story of Tejagaṇirāja Buddha, who discoursed on the samādhi, and King Dṛḍhadatta, who, having heard this samādhi, left home to become a monk. Dṛḍhadatta was Śākyamuni in a former lifetime.

The meaning of this samādhi is revealed in detail: "The realms of existence are like a dream, and there is neither birth in the beginning nor death in the end" (13cd); "A sentient being, life, or person is not perceived, all dharmas are empty just like empty space, lightning, apparitions, mirages, or the moon reflected on the surface of water" (14); "No dharmas appear or disappear in this world, no one goes to the other world after death, but the three kinds of acts of body, speech, and mind one has previously committed do not perish; black (bad) and white (good) retributions of these deeds are inevitable" (15). In future xxxix

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degenerate ages, when many immoral and irreligious people will appear, one must not associate with them.

The Bhagavat tells the prince of the many ways to attain this samādhi, illustrated with stories of his own former lives in which he overcame many difficulties to attain this samādhi. He exhorts the prince to believe his words and speaks in praise of the samādhi and its many merits, and the advantages of one who has this samādhi. For example: "When he is about to die, the compassionate, wise, and brave Amitābha Buddha will appear before him, because he has such samādhi" (111); "He is sure to go to the Pure Land of Bliss (Sukhāvatī) because he has such samādhi" (112cd); "O prince, you should know the tranquil way―this samādhi of the ultimate meaning of emptiness. Anyone who writes, recites, and memorizes this samādhi is called a bearer of the basket of the Dharma" (115).

Chapter 30 (Anuśaṃsā-parivarta, "Chapter on the Advantage"). The Bhagavat continues the discourse on this samādhi: a bodhisattva should discourse on the Dharma, keep (memorize) this samādhi, and recite and explain it in detail for others. He should practice it correctly for the sake of all living beings. The following verses give praise for the samādhi and many of its merits and advantages are related. Chapter 31 (Sarva-dharma-svabhāva-nirdeśa-parivarta, "Chapter on the Discourse on the Own-nature of all Dharmas). The Bhagavat continues his discourse on this samādhi, repeating the same words as the previous chapter: "The bodhisattva mahāsattva should memorize this samādhi, recite and explain it in detail for others, and correctly practice it for the sake of all sentient beings." Next follow verses that reveal the samādhi and the religious practices and advantages or merits of one who knows this Dharma. Referring to the past buddha Dīpaṃkara's prophecy of his becoming a buddha, he concludes the chapter: "He who is near supreme enlightenment in a latter degenerate age will keep my treasury of teaching, and he will keep this scripture. Thus I prophesize" (30). Fascicle Seven contains Chapters 32-33.

Chapter 32 (Sūtra-dhāraṇā-anuśaṃsā-parivarta, "Chapter on the Advantages of Keeping this Scripture"). This chapter begins with the Bhagavat saying, "A bodhisattva mahāsattva should always be willing to practice the preparatory purifying exercise for the supernatural powers of knowledge (abhijñāxl

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parikarman)." This means not to adhere to the aggregates of moral discipline, concentration, and wisdom, to liberation, and to the awareness of deliverance. He can thus manifest all magical transformations (vikurvita) at will, and discourse on the Dharma to all people to convert them to Mahayana Buddhism. The following two hundred and eighty-nine verses reveal, simply speaking, the philosophy of this samādhi, i.e., emptiness and the merits of those who know and keep this scripture. However, a number of important concepts are revealed here, as shown in the following verses: "The preparatory purifying exercise for the supernatural powers of knowledge is to show that it has no fruit. Anyone who practices it, on desiring to bear good fruit, cannot renounce the idea of attachment to the self" (1); "The inconceivable dharmas are manifested by sound. Anyone who is attached to sound cannot attain the secret teaching (sandhā-bhāṣya, "cryptic saying") of skillfulness" (3); "All the scriptures that I have expounded from time to time in the triple thousand worlds are of one meaning, of various flavors and beyond expressions" (5). "The Buddha expounds that these four kinds of gates, i.e., practicelessness, wishlessness, marklessness, and emptiness, lead to liberation" (15); "The Buddha's Dharma is not stationary, does not move in other directions; it is without origination, and without annihilation, therefore it is called undefiled" (22); "Anyone who knows that the natures of the dharmas are like a reflected image cannot see the true Buddha only by way of seeking for the Buddha's visible body (rūpakāya). All dharmas have no form, and no one can grasp their appearance. Such formless dharmas are the Buddha's Dharma body (dharmakāya)" (29-30); "The Dharma body is supreme enlightenment" (31); "As are sentient beings, so is this thought (cintā); as is this thought, so are the tathāgatas. The inconceivable buddhas reveal themselves in this thought" (100); "This inexhaustible supreme concentration (samādhi) is the mother of all bodhisattvas. He who wishes to realize enlightenment should quickly keep this scripture" (161); "All the offerings dedicated to all the buddhas in a hundred thousand million buddha lands are not equal to even one part of compassion" (279); "If a bodhisattva who observes moral discipline in latter degenerate ages always worships the compassionate Buddha's body, this worship is the best" (281). Chapter 33 (Kṣemadatta-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Story of the Monk Kṣemadatta"). The Bhagavat introduces an ancient story of his former life as the monk Kṣemadatta. Long ago there appeared a buddha, Ghoṣadatta, who caused numerous people to become established in supreme enlightenment, xli

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and he then entered parinirvāṇa. King Śrīghoṣa, who had erected many stupas and worshiped them along with performances of plays, music, and many kinds of offerings, requested the great assembly of bodhisattvas to deliver the bodhisattva scriptures. At that time, a young monk, Kṣemadatta, in order to acquire this samādhi, worshiped the stupa of the Buddha; he covered his right arm with cloth and poured oil on it, and then set it on fire. The light of his burning right arm illuminated in all directions. He let all the people of the assembly hear this samādhi, in the form of poems.

When the king saw Kṣemadatta's marvelous deed, together with his queen and the other palace women he leaped into the air from the top of the palace and, by virtue of his wholesome roots from worship, he was not harmed. He and others who saw this monk were astonished and could not help weeping aloud and shedding tears. When Kṣemadatta saw the king and others crying in sorrow, he asked the king why he wept. The king replied in verse, "As I see your limb in flames, I weep in sorrow" (1); "As you have harmed your limb, I feel great sorrow" (10).

Kṣemadatta replied in verse, "He who has no hand is not called destitute of a limb, but one who does not maintain moral discipline can be called destitute of limbs" (12); "Be it certain that I am to become a Supreme One, if this word is true and not in vain, may the earth quake in six ways" (17); "The elements (dharmas) of our existences are like an echo. The voice once uttered in their midst cannot be grasped, though one may seek to grasp it. Know that these dharmas are like this. One who understands ultimate reality does not fear emptiness. Such a person tells the truth and even a fire cannot burn him" (23-24). "When he had uttered these words, his arm became unhurt as it was before, and the monk Kṣemandatta's body was adorned with auspicious corporeal marks" (27). The Bhagavat concludes: "Kṣemadatta was I myself, and King Śrīghoṣa was Maitreya" (41); "He who has listened to this scripture that tells of the confirmed virtue and who has no attachment to his body should learn such a teaching as this" (44).

Fascicle Eight contains Chapter 34 and the larger part of Chapter 35, which relate the Bhagavat's former lives and his self-sacrificing deeds done in order to protect this samādhi.

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Chapter 34 (Jñānāvatī-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Story of Princess Jñānāvatī").49 The Bhagavat continues his discourse on this samādhi: a bodhisattva who wishes to seek this concentration should practice the wholesome roots, i.e., make offerings of the Dharma or of material goods. They should transfer the merit of this perfection of offerings according to one of the four kinds of merit transference (pariṇāma): he should transfer the merit to their skillful means, meeting always true friends who teach the wholesome roots, using and enjoying all his property together with all people, or having their existence help and confer benefit to all sentient beings. A bodhisattva, in seeking for this samādhi, should attend one who observes moral discipline even to the point of giving their own flesh and blood to another in case of need. The Buddha illustrates this with an ancient story of Bhūtamati, a diseased monk, and Princess Jñānāvatī, who gave her own flesh and blood to heal him. Princess Jñānāvatī was the Buddha himself in a former life.

Long ago there appeared a buddha, Acintyapraṇidhānaviśeṣasamudgatarāja, who taught many people and entered nirvana. After this buddha's right Dharma was lost, there were many prejudiced monks who did not believe the scriptures and they killed the monks who had grasped this scripture. At that time, there was a king named Jñānabala in Jambudvīpa, who grasped and protected the right Dharma. A Dharma teacher named Bhūtamati, who had grasped this scripture, became a true friend at court, but he suffered from a malignant black tumor on his right thigh that no one could cure.

At that time, a kinsman of the king who had died and was reborn in heaven appeared in the king's dream. He told the king that the monk's disease could be cured only if his tumor were cleansed and anointed with the blood of a young unmarried virgin, and he then consumed a meal of rice with some of her flesh. When the king called the court ladies and told them of his dream, no one offered to give up their flesh. When Princess Jñānāvatī heard her father's words, however, she made up her mind to cure the ill monk. She cut off piece of flesh from her thigh, cooked it, and filled a golden bowl with her trickling blood. She washed and anointed the monk's tumor with her blood and offered him the meal of her flesh. When he ate it, the pain of disease was removed and he became healthy. Bhūtamati declared this supreme Dharma to the king and the court ladies. When the king asked his daughter in verse how she had obtained the human flesh and blood, she told the truth and spoke of her belief in the true Dharma: xliii

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"Because I deeply cherish the true Dharma, I cut off my flesh and gave it to him. All phenomena are like a mirage. The incised wound of my body again closed up and my flesh was as it was before" (27); "This holy man achieved proper virtue and upheld this supreme samādhi. As I have thus worshiped this monk, I aspire to attain enlightenment with this merit of mine" (32); "If this monk, a Dharma teacher, were to die, how would we hear the Dharma? O father king, know that this samādhi would soon disappear if this monk dies" (39). The Bhagavat concludes with these verses: "In the presence of the Buddha Tathāgata Dīpaprabha, I, on cultivating the religious practices of this buddha's Dharma I was able to transform my female body to become a great Dharma teacher, and I declared the supreme Dharma. King Jñānabala was Maitreya, who always courageously guards the Dharma. The Dharma teacher was Dīpaṃkara Buddha, and the princess of long ago was I myself" (46-47). Chapter 35 (Supuṣpacandra-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Story of the Monk Supuṣpacandra"). Ānanda asked the Bhagavat what are the direct and indirect causes through which bodhisattvas suffer terrible physical pain without receding from supreme enlightenment. The Bhagavat replied that he had suffered much for the sake of supreme enlightenment, and illustrates this with the ancient story of the monk Supuṣpacandra and King Śūradatta. This king had killed the monk out of envy and anxiety, and afterward suffered from great and deep regret and sorrow. Śūradatta was the Bhagavat himself in a former life. Long ago there appeared a buddha, Ratnapadmacandraviśuddhābhyudgatarāja, and after he had entered parinirvāṇa the right Dharma was lost in latter degenerate ages and this scripture came to be hated by numerous creatures. At that time many bodhisattvas left towns to go to the forest of Samantabhadra, where they lived with a Dharma teacher named Supuṣpacandra. Despite receiving advice against doing so, Supuṣpacandra wished to teach the Dharma to the people. After persuading them, he went to the capital city of Ratnāvatī and established many people in the Buddha's Dharma, not eating and sleeping for seven days, and every day and night he worshiped the stupa of the former buddha. On the seventh day, Supuṣpacandra went to the gate of the royal palace. King Śūradatta came out of the inner apartment of the palace together with many attendants. When the princesses and courtiers saw this monk, they all attained the state of nonretrogression in the path to supreme enlightenment. All xliv

Translator's Introduction

the people worshiped this monk, and the women worshiped him respectfully, offering their ornaments, and uttered verses praising him. Seeing this, the king, fearing he would lose his kingdom due to this monk, became very angry and ordered his sons to kill the monk, but they did not obey him. Next the king summoned the executioner Nandika and ordered him to cut off the monk's hands, legs, ears, and nose with a sharp knife, and pull out his eyes with an iron hook. After the king had the monk killed he went to the garden, staying there for seven days, with a heavy and uneasy heart. The king then returned to the capital and saw the dead monk, whose appearance had not yet changed. The king trembled with fright and repentance, and uttered verses that revealed his sorrow, agony, and repentance.

Fascicle Nine50 contains the remainder of Chapter 35 and Chapters 36-37. The Bhagavat continues the verses relating the ancient story of King Śūradatta, who had killed the monk Supuṣpacandra. The errant and repentant king was the Buddha himself in a former life. Because of his evil deed he was tormented in the human world and in other worlds for many hundreds of thousands of millions of eons. He renounced the throne, his children, beloved wives and property, court ladies, elephants, horses, chariots, ships, and various jewels and gave them to others in innumerable hundred million existences in order to attain enlightenment.

The Bhagavat concluded the chapter: "I myself was King Śūradatta, and the thousand buddhas of this auspicious eon (bhadrakalpa) were his thousand sons in former existences. Padmottara Buddha was the monk Supuṣpacandra, and Śāntirāja Buddha was the executioner Nandika" (147).

Chapter 36 (Śīla-skandha-parivarta, "Chapter on the Aggregate of Moral Discipline").51 The Bhagavat begins this chapter, "Therefore, O prince, a bodhisattva who wishes to attain supreme enlightenment easily should be established in the aggregate of moral discipline (śīla-skandha) and give rise to the thought that all bodhisattvas are his teachers." This is followed by verses that elucidate this meaning and the advantages of this samādhi. The verses of the latter part of this chapter, according to the Chinese version (T.639:6089-11), are ascribed to Maitreya Bodhisattva, who praised this samādhi. These verses concern how to live and practice in degenerate ages for one who can keep this scripture. xlv

Translator's Introduction

The last verse reads, "His unhindered eloquence is not exhausted and the merits of the buddhas that he praises are not exhausted. Such is the one who keeps in his mind this incomparable calm and stainless concentration" (91). Chapter 37 (Yaśaprabha-parivarta, "Chapter on the Ancient Story of the Monk Yaśaprabha").52 In this chapter, the Bhagavat relates in verse ancient stories of the bodhisattva's practices in order to show again the merits and advantages of this samādhi.

Long ago there appeared a buddha called Gaṇeśvara, who was worshiped by King Varapuṣpa with offerings of many gardens, temples, clothing, etc. The Buddha declared this samādhi, and on hearing it the king left home to become a monk. After the Buddha and his disciples entered nirvana and the right Dharma was in decline, King Varapuṣpa's son, Puṇyamati, had right faith, and a Dharma teacher named Yaśaprabha kept this supreme samādhi. This monk discoursed on the teaching of emptiness, nonself, and nonexistence. Some monks who did not believe the teaching of emptiness took up swords in their hands to kill him. Yaśaprabha regarded their raised swords without fear, joined his palms, and said, "Homage to the Buddha! If the emptiness of dharmas is not false, I pray that these swords will become māndārava flowers" (57).

At that moment flowers rained from the sky, the earth quaked, and the swords turned into beautiful flowers. All the monks who had threatened him felt shame and regret. Yaśaprabha said, "Owing to those who hate me, I am practicing [patience] for enlightenment" (61).

Very few followed him and he was constantly harassed by others; only the king protected him. He said to the king, "The buddhas arise from the power of patience (kṣānti-bala). If there is someone who speaks ill of me, then I should have great patience" (66).

The Bhagavat says, "The monk Yaśaprabha was I myself. Prince Puṇyamati, who protected Yaśaprabha, has been my friend always, and he shall be Maitreya Buddha in the future; King Varapuṣpa became a buddha named Padmottara" (67-69).

The Bhagavat teaches the prince how to behave in the world and practice religious practices: "Always meditate on emptiness and deliverance, do not aspire to be born in the realms of existence, neglect all the outer characteristics and always concentrate your mind on the signless (animitta)" (99); "You should avoid mistakes and endeavor to obtain virtues, O prince, and thus you shall surely become a buddha" (104).

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Translator's Introduction

Fascicle Ten contains Chapters 38-40.

Chapter 38 (Kāya-vāṅ-manaḥ-saṃvara-parivarta, "Chapter on the Moral Discipline of Body, Speech, and Mind"). The Bhagavat tells the prince to maintain the moral discipline (restraint) of body, speech, and mind (kāya-saṃvara, vāk-saṃvara, manaḥ-saṃvara) because of the merits and advantages of doing so, and explains the practice fully in prose and verse. These are the first three of three hundred dharmas of which this samādhi consists. It is said that a bodhisattva who maintains the moral discipline of the body can attain the Buddha's auspicious marks, powers, fearlessness (vaiśāradya), unhindered penetrating insight (pratisaṃvid), and uncommon virtues (āveṇikabuddha-dharma). The same is said of the moral disciplines of speech and of mind as well. Thus, one can become a buddha by maintaining moral discipline. The Bhagavat illustrates this with an ancient story of his own former life. Long ago there appeared a buddha named Jñānaprabhāsa, who discoursed on the moral discipline of the body to King Viśeṣacintin. After hearing his discourse the king left home to become a monk and maintained this discipline, and this king was the Buddha in a former existence.

Chapter 39 (Pada-tri-śata-nirdeśa-parivarta, "Chapter on the Explication of the Three Hundred Phrases"). The Bhagavat explicated in prose each of about three hundred dharmas53 of which this samādhi consists. In conclusion, it reads, "O prince, this is the explication of the meaning of the discourse on the Dharma that consists of three hundred phrases. O prince, this is called the concentration (samādhi) on the equality of all the dharmas in their own-nature that is not verbally (or conceptually) expounded in detail (sarva-dharma-svabhāva-samatā-avipañcita-nāma-samādhi)." Chapter 40 (Parīndanā-parivarta, "Chapter on the Transmission of this Scripture to Ānanda"). The Bhagavat uttered three verses, the last of which reads, "The practices of living beings are endless, so the discourses on the Dharma are vast. Endless is the meaning of the traditional canon (Āgamas), therefore this is called the "extensive (Vaipulya) scripture" (3). When this discourse on the Dharma was delivered, innumerable people gave rise to the aspiration for supreme enlightenment. The Buddha told Ānanda to keep this scripture that is called "Entry into Great Compassion" (Mahākaruṇāvatāra) and also known as "the samādhi on the equality of all dharmas in their original nature that is not verbally (or conceptually) expound in detail." xlvii