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Most Kangyurs include one or more sections of dedication and aspiration texts, designated as such in the catalogs, and containing both extracts from longer texts and standalone works, all of them being canonical texts translated into Tibetan. In the Degé Kangyur, two such sections are found, one (Toh 809–27) at the end of the main Tantra collection (rgyud ’bum), and the other (Toh 1094–1108) at the end of the Compendium of Dhāraṇīs (gzungs ’dus). It is in these sections that we would perhaps most expect to find these texts placed; instead, however, they are treated in just the same way as the other texts in the General Sūtra section.
Pekar Sangpo (2006), pp. 383–90. In this regard, it is worth noting that Pekar Sangpo gives both texts titles that include the word “sūtra.”
The present text is found in the Denkarma catalog in the “Various Prayers” (smon lam sna tshogs) section under the title bsam pa thams cad yongs su rdzogs par byed pa’i bsngo ba. The Phangthangma catalog has it in the “One Hundred and Eight Names, Praises, Blessings, and Various Prayers” (mtshan brgya rtsa brgyad dang stod ra dang bkra shis dang smon lam sna tshogs) section under the title bsam pa thams cad yongs su rdzogs par byed pa zhes bya ba’i bsngo ba; its length is said to be fifty ślokas. See Denkarma, folio 304.a; Herrmann-Pfandt (2008), p. 268, no. 466; and Phangthangma, p. 33.
It is located in the “Various Sūtras” (Mongolian eldeb, Tib. mdo sna tshogs) section. Mongolian Kangyur vol. 84, folios 89.b–92.b; cf. Ligeti (1942), p. 279.
“Violations of ethical rules” (sbyor bas tshul khrims ’chal pa) and “violations of natural ethics” (dngos pos tshul khrims ’chal pa) refer to two types of unwholesome actions or “faults” (kha na ma tho ba; literally, “unmentionable”). The former are actions that are unwholesome because they violate a precept established by the Buddha to which one is committed, called “faults related to rules” (bcas pa’i kha na ma tho ba), which include actions forbidden for monks and nuns by rule but allowed for laypeople (such as, for example, eating after noon). These actions are not in themselves considered sins. The latter are actions that are “inherently unwholesome faults” (rang bzhin gyi kha na ma tho ba), such as killing, that relate also to laypeople.
Degé and other Kangyurs read: snyoms par ’jug pa thams cad dam bcas pa dang /, which is difficult to interpret. Here we have followed instead the reading in Yongle, Kangxi, Stok Palace, and Shey Kangyurs: snyoms par ’jug pa thams cad dang / dam bcas pa dang /.
A very similar set of four terms (bsam pa, bag la nyal, khams, rang bzhin) is common in the Vinaya literature and related texts such as The Hundred Deeds to describe the knowledge used by an arhat to assess the best approach in teaching an individual; indeed, that same set of four appears in the following text with which this one seems to form a pair (see The Dedication “Protecting All Beings”, Toh 286, 1.5). Here, however, in the place of the first of the four terms, bsam pa, different Kangyurs instead have three variants: snon pa, “addition, increase” (Degé); ston pa, “teach, show, demonstrate,” or possibly “teacher” (Narthang, Lhasa, Stok Palace, Shey, Gangteng); and smon pa, “aspiration, intention, wish” (Choné). The latter, though a minority variant, seems to correspond best to the other instances of this set of terms.
Tib. ’jig rten dang / ’jig rten las ’das pa’i dge ba’i rtsa ba (“mundane and transcendent roots of virtue”). This division relates to the roots of virtue that are gathered on the paths of ordinary beings and the paths of noble ones (so so skye bo’i lam and ’phags [pa’i] lam); that is, paths that are not world transcending and paths that are (’jig rten gyi lam and ’jig rten las ’das pa’i lam).
A monastic preceptor. Usually refers either to the abbot of a monastery or to the preceptor from whom one receives monastic ordination.
Hatred, aggression, and/or aversion. One of the affective behavior patterns or “afflictions” known as the three poisons.
In Buddhist literature, this is an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generally means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of six auspicious qualities (bhaga) associated with complete awakening. The Tibetan term—where bcom is said to refer to “subduing” the four māras, ldan to “possessing” the great qualities of buddhahood, and ’das to “going beyond” saṃsāra and nirvāṇa—possibly reflects the commentarial tradition where the Sanskrit bhagavat is interpreted, in addition, as “one who destroys the four māras.” This is achieved either by reading bhagavat as bhagnavat (“one who broke”), or by tracing the word bhaga to the root √bhañj (“to break”).
Those “great beings” who have the intention to achieve the complete enlightenment of a buddha in order to liberate all sentient beings from cyclic existence. An epithet of a bodhisattva.
Collections of the Buddha’s teachings.
The cycle of transmigrations through which sentient beings revolve and suffer.
Dedication of the merit at the end of a spiritual practice or virtuous action, usually for the attainment of full enlightenment by all sentient beings. In this way the actions thus dedicated contribute to the purpose of attaining enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings.
Literally, “to flow” or “to ooze.” Mental defilements or contaminations that “flow out” toward the objects of cyclic existence, binding us to them. Vasubandhu offers two alternative explanations of this term: “They cause beings to remain (āsayanti) within saṃsāra” and “They flow from the Summit of Existence down to the Avīci hell, out of the six wounds that are the sense fields” (Abhidharmakośabhāṣya 5.40; Pradhan 1967, p. 308). The Summit of Existence (bhavāgra, srid pa’i rtse mo) is the highest point within saṃsāra, while the hell called Avīci (mnar med) is the lowest; the six sense fields (āyatana, skye mched) here refer to the five sense faculties plus the mind, i.e., the six internal sense fields.
Passion, attachment, and/or lust. One of the affective behavior patterns or “afflictions” known as the three poisons.
Diligence or perseverance. One of the six perfections of the bodhisattva.
Correct and unhindered discriminating knowledge. See also the four discernments.
Eighteen special features of a buddha’s behavior, realization, activity, and wisdom that are not shared by other beings. They are generally listed as: (1) he never makes a mistake, (2) he is never boisterous, (3) he never forgets, (4) his concentration never falters, (5) he has no notion of distinctness, (6) his equanimity is not due to lack of consideration, (7) his motivation never falters, (8) his endeavor never fails, (9) his mindfulness never falters, (10) he never abandons his concentration, (11) his insight (prajñā) never decreases, (12) his liberation never fails, (13) all his physical actions are preceded and followed by wisdom (jñāna), (14) all his verbal actions are preceded and followed by wisdom, (15) all his mental actions are preceded and followed by wisdom, (16) his wisdom and vision perceive the past without attachment or hindrance, (17) his wisdom and vision perceive the future without attachment or hindrance, and (18) his wisdom and vision perceive the present without attachment or hindrance.
This refers to the miraculous power of the buddhas, and bodhisattvas at a certain stage of spiritual development, to project emanations of themselves in order to develop and teach sentient beings.
A term meaning acceptance, forbearance, or patience. As the third of the six perfections, patience is classified into three kinds: the capacity to tolerate abuse from sentient beings, to tolerate the hardships of the path to buddhahood, and to tolerate the profound nature of reality. As a term referring to a bodhisattva’s realization, dharmakṣānti (chos la bzod pa) can refer to the ways one becomes “receptive” to the nature of Dharma, and it can be an abbreviation of anutpattikadharmakṣānti, “forbearance for the unborn nature, or nonproduction, of dharmas.”
Morally virtuous or disciplined conduct and the abandonment of morally undisciplined conduct of body, speech, and mind. One of the six perfections of the bodhisattva. Also rendered here as “ethical rules” and “ethical discipline.” See also n.6.
The four correct and unhindered discriminating knowledges of the doctrine or Dharma, of meaning, of language, and of brilliance or eloquence. These are the essential means by which the buddhas impart their teachings.
The four sinful or nonvirtuous verbal actions, namely telling lies, using abusive language, slandering others, and indulging in irrelevant talk. Their counterparts are the four wholesome or virtuous actions of speech, namely, not telling falsehoods, not using abusive language, not slandering others, and not indulging in irrelevant talk.
The fourfold fearlessness or the four assurances proclaimed by the tathāgatas: fearlessness in declaring that one has awakened, that one has ceased all illusions, that one has taught the obstacles to awakening, and that one has shown the way to liberation.
The term bhikṣu, often translated as “monk,” refers to the highest among the eight types of prātimokṣa vows that make one part of the Buddhist assembly. The Sanskrit term literally means “beggar” or “mendicant,” referring to the fact that Buddhist monks and nuns—like other ascetics of the time—subsisted on alms (bhikṣā) begged from the laity.
In the Tibetan tradition, which follows the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya, a monk follows 253 rules as part of his moral discipline. A nun (bhikṣuṇī; dge slong ma) follows 364 rules. A novice monk (śrāmaṇera; dge tshul) or nun (śrāmaṇerikā; dge tshul ma) follows thirty-six rules of moral discipline (although in other vinaya traditions novices typically follow only ten).
The practice of giving or making offerings to others. One of the six perfections of the bodhisattva.
A reference to the last three of the ten bhūmis, (Tib. sa bcu); the bhūmis, often called the “grounds” or “levels,” are the successive stages through which a bodhisattva’s realization evolves.
The Buddhadharma or the Buddha’s teachings.
Delusion, stupidity, closed-mindedness, and/or mental darkness. One of the affective behavior patterns or “afflictions” known as the three poisons.
The inherent nature of a phenomenon; in the present text, this is possibly a reference to the buddha-nature, or tathāgatagarbha.
Habitual impulses or subconscious habit patterns that underlie emotions such as desire and hatred. These are also causes for the perpetuation of cyclic existence.
Karmic traces or residues imprinted by past actions and constituting tendencies that predispose one to particular patterns of behavior.
In this context, this refers to a category of advanced meditative attainments.
One of the synonyms for meditation, referring specifically to states of mental stability or one-pointed abiding in an undistracted state of mind free from afflicted mental states. bsam gtan/dhyāna can refer to the specific states of absorption of the form and formless realms (eight in total). One of the six perfections of the bodhisattva.
Meditative equipoise or evenness of mind. Another synonym for meditation, this also refers to a category of advanced meditative attainments.
A general term for states of deep concentration. One of the synonyms for meditation, referring in particular to a state of complete concentration or focus.
See “merit.”
Virtuous thoughts, words, and actions that produce positive results, or merit. In Mahāyāna practice, these are to be dedicated for the benefit of all sentient beings. Also rendered here as “meritorious deeds.”
See “merit.”
Virtuous thoughts, words, and actions that produce positive results, or merit. In Mahāyāna practice, these are to be dedicated for the benefit of all sentient beings. Also rendered here as “meritorious deeds.”
The ability to make manifest miraculous displays evident to ordinary beings.
Defilements that obstruct liberation and omniscience. This term refers both to affective (or “afflictive”) and cognitive obscurations.
This refers to the gnosis or omniscience of the Buddha, the “All-Knowing” or “Omniscient” One.
Literally “to have crossed over” or “transcended”; typically this refers to the specific practices of the bodhisattva that are motivated by bodhicitta and embraced by wisdom.
A “solitary enlightened one,” or “buddha on one’s own,” this refers to one who has attained liberation but does not teach the path to liberation to others. Pratyekabuddhas are said to appear in universes and at times in which there is no fully enlightened buddha who has rediscovered the path and taught it to others.
A declaration of one’s aspirations and vows, and/or an invocation and request of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, etc.
The essentially pure nature of mind is obscured and afflicted by various psychological defilements, which destroy the mind’s peace and composure and lead to unwholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, acting as causes for continued existence in saṃsāra. Included among them are the primary afflictions of desire (rāga), anger (dveṣa), and ignorance (moha). It is said that there are eighty-four thousand of these negative mental qualities, for which the eighty-four thousand categories of the Buddha’s teachings serve as the antidote.
Kleśa is also commonly translated as “negative emotions,” “disturbing emotions,” and so on. The Pāli kilesa, Middle Indic kileśa, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit kleśa all primarily mean “stain” or “defilement.” The translation “affliction” is a secondary development that derives from the more general (non-Buddhist) classical understanding of √kliś (“to harm,“ “to afflict”). Both meanings are noted by Buddhist commentators.
The preta realm, or the realm of ghosts, where Yama, the Lord of Death, is the ruler and judges the dead. Yama is also said to rule over the hells. This term is also the name of the Vedic afterlife inhabited by the ancestors (pitṛ).
Literally “near-afflictions,” or the subsidiary afflictive emotions derivative of or related to the primary afflictions.
Any living being in one of the six realms.
The six practices or qualities that a bodhisattva perfects and by which a bodhisattva transcends cyclic existence. A bodhisattva practices these perfections motivated by bodhicitta, the intention to attain full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, and with an awareness of the ultimate reality of all phenomena. These six perfections are generosity, ethics, endurance, diligence, meditative absorption, and wisdom.
The six modes of supernormal cognition or ability, namely, clairvoyance, clairaudience, knowledge of the minds of others, remembrance of past lives, the ability to perform miracles, and the knowledge of the destruction of all mental defilements. The first five are considered mundane or worldly and can be attained to some extent by non-Buddhist yogis as well as Buddhist arhats and bodhisattvas. The sixth is considered to be supramundane and can be attained only by Buddhist yogis.
The Sanskrit term śrāvaka, and the Tibetan nyan thos, both derived from the verb “to hear,” are usually defined as “those who hear the teaching from the Buddha and make it heard to others.” Primarily this refers to those disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain the state of an arhat seeking their own liberation and nirvāṇa. They are the practitioners of the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma on the four noble truths, who realize the suffering inherent in saṃsāra and focus on understanding that there is no independent self. By conquering afflicted mental states (kleśa), they liberate themselves, attaining first the stage of stream enterers at the path of seeing, followed by the stage of once-returners who will be reborn only one more time, and then the stage of non-returners who will no longer be reborn into the desire realm. The final goal is to become an arhat. These four stages are also known as the “four results of spiritual practice.”
“Thus-Gone One,” an epithet of a buddha. A buddha is one who has “gone” to thusness, suchness, or ultimate reality.
Instructor or spiritual teacher. Usually refers either to an accomplished master of meditation practice or to a learned scholar. The title of an official position in a monastery.
A category of the distinctive qualities of a tathāgata. They are: knowing what is possible and what is impossible; knowing the results of actions or the ripening of karma; knowing the various inclinations of sentient beings; knowing the various elements; knowing the supreme and lesser faculties of sentient beings; knowing the paths that lead to all destinations of rebirth; knowing the concentrations, liberations, absorptions, equilibriums, afflictions, purifications, and abidings; knowing previous lives; knowing the death and rebirth of sentient beings; and knowing the cessation of the defilements.
The three sinful or nonvirtuous mental actions, namely being covetous, being malicious, and holding perverted views. Their counterparts are the three wholesome or virtuous mental actions. These are the following: not being covetous, not being malicious, and not holding perverted beliefs.
The three sinful or nonvirtuous physical actions, namely, destroying life, taking what has not been given, and engaging in improper sexual practices. Their counterparts are the three wholesome or virtuous physical actions, namely, not destroying life, not taking what has not been given, and refraining from improper sexual practices.
bsam pa thams cad yongs su rdzogs pa’i yongs su bsngo ba. Toh 285, Degé Kangyur vol. 68 (mdo sde, ya), folios 77.a–79.b.
bsam pa yongs su rdzogs pa’i yongs su bsngo ba. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vol. 68, pp. 223–29.
bsam pa yongs su rdzogs pa’i yongs bsngo. Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 88 (mdo sde, ji), folios 377.b–381.a.
Qutuγ-tu qamuγ sedkigsen-i sayitur tegüsken üiledügči uγuγada ǰorin irügeküi neretü. Mongolian Kangyur vol. 84, folios 89.b–92.b. In Chandra, Lokesh, ed. Mongolian Kanjur. Śata-piṭaka Series 101–208. New Delhi: Sharada Rani, 1973–1979.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos kyi ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a. See also Herrmann-Pfandt.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte, 268. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Ligeti, Louis. Catalogue du Kanǰur Mongol imprimé. Vol. 1, Catalogue. Bibliotheca Orientalis Hungarica 3. Budapest: Société Kőrösi Csoma, 1942.
Pekar Sangpo (pad dkar bzang po). mdo sde spyi’i rnam bzhag. Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2006.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
This text is a prayer of dedication, and is meant to be recited. Its structure partly reflects the liturgy of “seven branches” or “seven limbs,” a set of practices that serves as the basic structure of many Mahāyāna Buddhist prayers and rituals. In this instance, however, the text consists of two sections: the first is a detailed prayer of confession, and the second a prayer of rejoicing, requesting that the wheel of the Dharma be turned, beseeching the buddhas not to pass into nirvāṇa, and extensively dedicating the merit.
This text was translated from the Tibetan, introduced, and edited by the translator Zsuzsa Majer in collaboration with Karma Dorje (Rabjampa), a native Tibetan speaker and Tibetan language expert; Beáta Kakas, who checked the Sanskrit terms; and Nathaniel Rich, the English-language editor, in the framework of the Alexander Csoma de Kőrös Translation Group.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
This short text and The Dedication “Protecting Beings” (Toh 286) seem to constitute a pair, and this for several reasons. First, the two texts, both of which lack Sanskrit titles, appear side by side both in the Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) imperial catalogue and in the extant Kangyurs of the Tshalpa and Thempangma lines. In the Tshalpa Kangyurs, the two are placed at the very end of the Mahāyāna division of the General Sūtra (mdo sde) section, and in the Thempangma Kangyurs toward the end of the entire General Sūtra section. Their function as dedications therefore seems to be reflected in that placement, and—in the Tshalpa Kangyurs at least—the two appear to be dedications meant specifically to seal the sections of Mahāyāna sūtras.
Furthermore, the fact that the two are consistently placed together in most Kangyurs suggests at least the possibility that the colophon to the following text refers also to this one, which otherwise lacks a colophon of its own. Since the two texts are dedications, it is perhaps not surprising that they are neither called sūtras, nor show features typical of sūtras, such as the opening “Thus did I hear” or an introductory passage describing the setting and audience of the discourse. What is somewhat surprising is that both are nonetheless included in the sūtra section of the Kangyur, indicating that they are to be considered discourses of the Buddha. Along those lines, the lack of features that typically distinguish sūtras led the fifteenth-century scholar Pekar Sangpo (pad dkar bzang po), in his analytical survey of all the sūtras found in the Kangyur, to conclude that the two texts are extracts from another, longer sūtra—though he does not say which, and our own search for matches (at least in the Tibetan corpus) has not yet identified any such text, sūtra or otherwise. Intriguingly, Pekar Sangpo also characterizes the present text as a sūtra of the Third Turning (bka’ tha ma). What can be said with a reasonable degree of confidence, however, is that, regardless of their exact provenance, the two texts were translated from Sanskrit or another Indic language in the early ninth century, as evidenced by the fact that the present text is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma (’phang thang ma) catalogs.
There is no extant Sanskrit text of this sūtra, and there are no known canonical or Tibetan commentaries. There is no known English translation of it nor any translation into any European language, and no academic research or scholarly studies of it are known. A translation of the Tibetan text is, however, available in the Mongolian Kangyur. The translation presented here is based on the Tibetan version in the Degé Kangyur and consultation of the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) as well as the Stok Palace manuscript.
The structure of the present text partly reflects the liturgy of “seven branches” or “seven limbs” (yan lag bdun pa), a set of practices that came to serve as the basic structure of many Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhist prayers, sādhanas, and pūjās. The seven branches are commonly as follows: prostration or homage, offering, confession, rejoicing in virtue, requesting the buddhas to teach, requesting the buddhas not to pass into nirvāṇa, and dedication of merit. Not all of these seven are present in this text, which suggests that perhaps the set was formalized only later. Here, there is only a single line of homage at the very beginning of the text, which might have been intended only as the customary line of homage found at the beginning of all Kangyur works. Offering is not mentioned at all. The body of the text consists of two main sections, each of which opens with a request that the buddhas and bodhisattvas pay heed to the reciter and closes (intriguingly) with the sentence “Thus I recite a second time, and thus a third time.” The first section is devoted solely to confession, while the second is devoted to rejoicing, requesting to teach, requesting to remain, and dedication. Each of these features a lengthy enumeration of deeds, qualities, and accomplishments that are confessed, rejoiced in, requested, or dedicated. This division into two parts, the one a detailed confession and the other ending with a detailed dedication, has the effect of emphasizing those two elements, the distinguishing feature of this prayer.
I bow my head at the feet of all the Buddhas, to the Teaching, and to the Assembly of fully ordained monks.
Blessed buddhas residing in the inexpressibly many world systems of the ten directions, and bodhisattva great beings who have entered the higher stages of complete awakening, please pay heed to me!
Whatever sins and nonvirtuous actions I have committed and accumulated from cyclic existence’s undiscoverable beginning, in this life and in other lives, as a householder and as a renunciant—what I have done physically, verbally, and mentally; what I have exhorted others to do and what I have rejoiced in others doing; what I have done knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, and what I have remembered or forgotten; what I have done under the influence of desire, under the influence of anger, under the influence of ignorance, under the influence of relationships with those who are not virtuous spiritual friends, under the influence of ignorance, under the influence of place, and under the influence of birth at a particular time; violations of proper ethics, violations of ethical rules, and violations of natural ethics; the faults I have engaged in toward the Buddha, the Teaching, the Assembly, my father and mother, my abbot, my spiritual master, or other teachers through the three kinds of physical wrongdoing, the four kinds of verbal wrongdoing, and the three kinds of mental wrongdoing; turning sentient beings toward perverted views; creating obstacles for sentient beings engaged in proper practice; dedicating my roots of virtue incorrectly; speaking falsely to a tathāgata; teaching non-Dharma as Dharma and teaching Dharma as non-Dharma; teaching what is not the vinaya as the vinaya and teaching the vinaya as not the vinaya; teaching what is not the path as the path and teaching what is the path as not the path; that, clouded by whichever obscurations, I gave rise to nonvirtuous qualities and did not establish my mind properly in virtue; that, clouded by other obscurations, I was distracted and mentally agitated—all such faults I confess. In whatever ways I was childish, in whatever ways foolish, in whatever ways confused, in whatever ways unwise, and in whatever ways misguided—all such faults I confess as faults. Having confessed those faults as faults, I vow that in the future I will not act in such ways again.
Thus I recite a second time, and thus a third time.
Again, blessed buddhas, please pay heed to me!
I rejoice that all the buddhas who formerly were bodhisattvas completely accomplished the six perfections, which is to say that they completely and manifestly awakened to unexcelled, perfect, complete enlightenment by means of generosity, ethical discipline, endurance, diligence, meditative absorption, and wisdom; that they turned the wheel of the Dharma, blew the conch of the Dharma, beat the drum of the Dharma, and set ablaze the lamp of the Dharma; that they led the mass of sentient beings to the practice of the Dharma in accordance with the Dharma; and that they taught the methods of the holy Dharma—and I rejoice in the roots of virtue by which the pratyekabuddhas realized the state of a pratyekabuddha; in the roots of virtue by which the śrāvakas realized the state of a śrāvaka, realized the three knowledges and the six superknowledges, and manifested discernment, the meditative absorptions, the liberations, the meditative concentrations, and the meditative attainments; in the roots of virtue by which sentient beings completely overcome falling into the lower, infernal realms of the hells, the realms of animals, and the realm of the Lord of the Dead; in their abandoning of the primary afflictions of desire, anger, and ignorance and the secondary afflictions; in their longevity, health, good complexions, excellent figures, great splendor, great power, high status, great wealth, and great wisdom; in their abandoning of all roots of nonvirtue and the possession of all roots of virtue; and in even as little as a single prostration, joining the palms for prayer even a single time, the offering of a single flower, and sentient beings who give rise to just a single moment of faith—in all of these things I rejoice! Supremely pleased I rejoice! I rejoice with rejoicing that is most excellent, supreme, best, perfect, unsurpassed, highest, even higher than the highest, unequaled, equal to the unequaled, matchless, and pure, completely pure like the sky.
I exhort those who, having understood all of the holy Dharma, know how to delight in the Dharma, how to discern the Dharma, how to generate all roots of virtue, how to protect all beings, and how to nurture and dedicate all good qualities; who know all the thousands of compilations of the Dharma, and all the meditative absorptions, liberations, meditative concentrations, and meditative attainments; who know the vows, the prayers, and the exhaustion of defilements; who know beings’ intentions, latent dispositions, temperament, and intrinsic nature and understand them correctly; yet who, having that understanding, also know that sentient beings do not delight in instruction, and so remain at ease, rest their minds and do not teach the Dharma—I exhort them! For the benefit of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the sake of the many masses of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of gods and humans, I entreat them to explain the holy Dharma. I entreat them to turn the wheel of the Dharma. I entreat them to blow the conch of the Dharma. I entreat them to beat the drum of the Dharma. I entreat them to set the lamp of the Dharma ablaze. I entreat them to establish the mass of sentient beings in the practice of the Dharma in accordance with the Dharma.
I entreat those who have gained mastery over life, mastery of emanation, mastery of blessing, and mastery of miraculous power; those who have and have not gained mastery of ripening the mass of sentient beings to be trained, who have forsaken life, intending to enter final nirvāṇa—I entreat them. For the benefit of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the sake of the many masses of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of gods and humans, I entreat them to grant the blessing of the conditions for their longevity.
I dedicate whatever roots of virtue I have created and accumulated from cyclic existence’s undiscoverable beginning—what I have done physically, verbally, and mentally; what I have exhorted others to do and what I have rejoiced in others doing; meritorious deeds arisen from generosity; meritorious deeds arisen from ethical discipline; meritorious deeds arisen from meditation; and even causing just a single sentient being to give rise to a single moment of faith—all of these I dedicate to all sentient beings. By these roots of virtue may all the roots of virtue of all sentient beings be completely perfected!
Having a long life, health, a good complexion, an excellent figure, great splendor, great power, high status, great wealth, great wisdom, possessions, magic spells, and medicine; encountering virtuous spiritual friends; listening to the holy Dharma; directing the mind appropriately; the practice in accordance with the Dharma; the abandoning of the primary afflictions of desire, anger, and ignorance as well as the secondary afflictions; completely overcoming falling into the lower, infernal realms of the hells, the realms of animals, and the realm of the Lord of the Dead; attaining all the meditative absorptions, liberations, meditative concentrations, and meditative attainments; completely overcoming physical and mental unhappiness; attaining all bliss and happiness; attaining the excellence of the enlightened attributes of the śrāvakas, the excellence of the enlightened attributes of the pratyekabuddhas, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four states of fearlessness, the four discernments, the eighteen distinctive qualities of a buddha, great loving kindness, great compassion, great joy, great equanimity, the vanquishing of the latent tendencies, the state of non-forgetfulness, the state of omniscience, the state of the knowledge of all aspects, the state of inexhaustible wisdom, the state of inexhaustible knowledge, the state of inexhaustible courage, the state of inexhaustible merit, the state of the sky treasury, the state of the jewel holder, and the unsurpassed wisdom of omniscience; and whatever mundane and transcendent roots of virtue there are—may all of these come to be for all sentient beings!
Whatever fruit there may be from the merit of dedicating my roots of virtue to all sentient beings, by the roots of virtue of having so dedicated them, having completely and manifestly awakened to unexcelled, perfect, complete enlightenment, may I ferry those sentient beings across who have not crossed over, may I liberate those who are not yet liberated, may I give relief to those who are unrelieved, may I cause all those who have not entered nirvāṇa to enter final nirvāṇa, and may I establish them in the realm of ultimate benefit and bliss!
Thus I recite a second time, and thus a third time.
The Noble Dedication “Fulfilling All Aspirations” is concluded.
This text is a prayer of dedication, and is meant to be recited. Its structure partly reflects the liturgy of “seven branches” or “seven limbs,” a set of practices that serves as the basic structure of many Mahāyāna Buddhist prayers and rituals. In this instance, however, the text consists of two sections: the first is a detailed prayer of confession, and the second a prayer of rejoicing, requesting that the wheel of the Dharma be turned, beseeching the buddhas not to pass into nirvāṇa, and extensively dedicating the merit.
This text was translated from the Tibetan, introduced, and edited by the translator Zsuzsa Majer in collaboration with Karma Dorje (Rabjampa), a native Tibetan speaker and Tibetan language expert; Beáta Kakas, who checked the Sanskrit terms; and Nathaniel Rich, the English-language editor, in the framework of the Alexander Csoma de Kőrös Translation Group.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
This short text and The Dedication “Protecting Beings” (Toh 286) seem to constitute a pair, and this for several reasons. First, the two texts, both of which lack Sanskrit titles, appear side by side both in the Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) imperial catalogue and in the extant Kangyurs of the Tshalpa and Thempangma lines. In the Tshalpa Kangyurs, the two are placed at the very end of the Mahāyāna division of the General Sūtra (mdo sde) section, and in the Thempangma Kangyurs toward the end of the entire General Sūtra section. Their function as dedications therefore seems to be reflected in that placement, and—in the Tshalpa Kangyurs at least—the two appear to be dedications meant specifically to seal the sections of Mahāyāna sūtras.
Furthermore, the fact that the two are consistently placed together in most Kangyurs suggests at least the possibility that the colophon to the following text refers also to this one, which otherwise lacks a colophon of its own. Since the two texts are dedications, it is perhaps not surprising that they are neither called sūtras, nor show features typical of sūtras, such as the opening “Thus did I hear” or an introductory passage describing the setting and audience of the discourse. What is somewhat surprising is that both are nonetheless included in the sūtra section of the Kangyur, indicating that they are to be considered discourses of the Buddha. Along those lines, the lack of features that typically distinguish sūtras led the fifteenth-century scholar Pekar Sangpo (pad dkar bzang po), in his analytical survey of all the sūtras found in the Kangyur, to conclude that the two texts are extracts from another, longer sūtra—though he does not say which, and our own search for matches (at least in the Tibetan corpus) has not yet identified any such text, sūtra or otherwise. Intriguingly, Pekar Sangpo also characterizes the present text as a sūtra of the Third Turning (bka’ tha ma). What can be said with a reasonable degree of confidence, however, is that, regardless of their exact provenance, the two texts were translated from Sanskrit or another Indic language in the early ninth century, as evidenced by the fact that the present text is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma (’phang thang ma) catalogs.
There is no extant Sanskrit text of this sūtra, and there are no known canonical or Tibetan commentaries. There is no known English translation of it nor any translation into any European language, and no academic research or scholarly studies of it are known. A translation of the Tibetan text is, however, available in the Mongolian Kangyur. The translation presented here is based on the Tibetan version in the Degé Kangyur and consultation of the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) as well as the Stok Palace manuscript.
The structure of the present text partly reflects the liturgy of “seven branches” or “seven limbs” (yan lag bdun pa), a set of practices that came to serve as the basic structure of many Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhist prayers, sādhanas, and pūjās. The seven branches are commonly as follows: prostration or homage, offering, confession, rejoicing in virtue, requesting the buddhas to teach, requesting the buddhas not to pass into nirvāṇa, and dedication of merit. Not all of these seven are present in this text, which suggests that perhaps the set was formalized only later. Here, there is only a single line of homage at the very beginning of the text, which might have been intended only as the customary line of homage found at the beginning of all Kangyur works. Offering is not mentioned at all. The body of the text consists of two main sections, each of which opens with a request that the buddhas and bodhisattvas pay heed to the reciter and closes (intriguingly) with the sentence “Thus I recite a second time, and thus a third time.” The first section is devoted solely to confession, while the second is devoted to rejoicing, requesting to teach, requesting to remain, and dedication. Each of these features a lengthy enumeration of deeds, qualities, and accomplishments that are confessed, rejoiced in, requested, or dedicated. This division into two parts, the one a detailed confession and the other ending with a detailed dedication, has the effect of emphasizing those two elements, the distinguishing feature of this prayer.
I bow my head at the feet of all the Buddhas, to the Teaching, and to the Assembly of fully ordained monks.
Blessed buddhas residing in the inexpressibly many world systems of the ten directions, and bodhisattva great beings who have entered the higher stages of complete awakening, please pay heed to me!
Whatever sins and nonvirtuous actions I have committed and accumulated from cyclic existence’s undiscoverable beginning, in this life and in other lives, as a householder and as a renunciant—what I have done physically, verbally, and mentally; what I have exhorted others to do and what I have rejoiced in others doing; what I have done knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, and what I have remembered or forgotten; what I have done under the influence of desire, under the influence of anger, under the influence of ignorance, under the influence of relationships with those who are not virtuous spiritual friends, under the influence of ignorance, under the influence of place, and under the influence of birth at a particular time; violations of proper ethics, violations of ethical rules, and violations of natural ethics; the faults I have engaged in toward the Buddha, the Teaching, the Assembly, my father and mother, my abbot, my spiritual master, or other teachers through the three kinds of physical wrongdoing, the four kinds of verbal wrongdoing, and the three kinds of mental wrongdoing; turning sentient beings toward perverted views; creating obstacles for sentient beings engaged in proper practice; dedicating my roots of virtue incorrectly; speaking falsely to a tathāgata; teaching non-Dharma as Dharma and teaching Dharma as non-Dharma; teaching what is not the vinaya as the vinaya and teaching the vinaya as not the vinaya; teaching what is not the path as the path and teaching what is the path as not the path; that, clouded by whichever obscurations, I gave rise to nonvirtuous qualities and did not establish my mind properly in virtue; that, clouded by other obscurations, I was distracted and mentally agitated—all such faults I confess. In whatever ways I was childish, in whatever ways foolish, in whatever ways confused, in whatever ways unwise, and in whatever ways misguided—all such faults I confess as faults. Having confessed those faults as faults, I vow that in the future I will not act in such ways again.
Thus I recite a second time, and thus a third time.
Again, blessed buddhas, please pay heed to me!
I rejoice that all the buddhas who formerly were bodhisattvas completely accomplished the six perfections, which is to say that they completely and manifestly awakened to unexcelled, perfect, complete enlightenment by means of generosity, ethical discipline, endurance, diligence, meditative absorption, and wisdom; that they turned the wheel of the Dharma, blew the conch of the Dharma, beat the drum of the Dharma, and set ablaze the lamp of the Dharma; that they led the mass of sentient beings to the practice of the Dharma in accordance with the Dharma; and that they taught the methods of the holy Dharma—and I rejoice in the roots of virtue by which the pratyekabuddhas realized the state of a pratyekabuddha; in the roots of virtue by which the śrāvakas realized the state of a śrāvaka, realized the three knowledges and the six superknowledges, and manifested discernment, the meditative absorptions, the liberations, the meditative concentrations, and the meditative attainments; in the roots of virtue by which sentient beings completely overcome falling into the lower, infernal realms of the hells, the realms of animals, and the realm of the Lord of the Dead; in their abandoning of the primary afflictions of desire, anger, and ignorance and the secondary afflictions; in their longevity, health, good complexions, excellent figures, great splendor, great power, high status, great wealth, and great wisdom; in their abandoning of all roots of nonvirtue and the possession of all roots of virtue; and in even as little as a single prostration, joining the palms for prayer even a single time, the offering of a single flower, and sentient beings who give rise to just a single moment of faith—in all of these things I rejoice! Supremely pleased I rejoice! I rejoice with rejoicing that is most excellent, supreme, best, perfect, unsurpassed, highest, even higher than the highest, unequaled, equal to the unequaled, matchless, and pure, completely pure like the sky.
I exhort those who, having understood all of the holy Dharma, know how to delight in the Dharma, how to discern the Dharma, how to generate all roots of virtue, how to protect all beings, and how to nurture and dedicate all good qualities; who know all the thousands of compilations of the Dharma, and all the meditative absorptions, liberations, meditative concentrations, and meditative attainments; who know the vows, the prayers, and the exhaustion of defilements; who know beings’ intentions, latent dispositions, temperament, and intrinsic nature and understand them correctly; yet who, having that understanding, also know that sentient beings do not delight in instruction, and so remain at ease, rest their minds and do not teach the Dharma—I exhort them! For the benefit of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the sake of the many masses of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of gods and humans, I entreat them to explain the holy Dharma. I entreat them to turn the wheel of the Dharma. I entreat them to blow the conch of the Dharma. I entreat them to beat the drum of the Dharma. I entreat them to set the lamp of the Dharma ablaze. I entreat them to establish the mass of sentient beings in the practice of the Dharma in accordance with the Dharma.
I entreat those who have gained mastery over life, mastery of emanation, mastery of blessing, and mastery of miraculous power; those who have and have not gained mastery of ripening the mass of sentient beings to be trained, who have forsaken life, intending to enter final nirvāṇa—I entreat them. For the benefit of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world, for the sake of the many masses of beings, and for the benefit and happiness of gods and humans, I entreat them to grant the blessing of the conditions for their longevity.
I dedicate whatever roots of virtue I have created and accumulated from cyclic existence’s undiscoverable beginning—what I have done physically, verbally, and mentally; what I have exhorted others to do and what I have rejoiced in others doing; meritorious deeds arisen from generosity; meritorious deeds arisen from ethical discipline; meritorious deeds arisen from meditation; and even causing just a single sentient being to give rise to a single moment of faith—all of these I dedicate to all sentient beings. By these roots of virtue may all the roots of virtue of all sentient beings be completely perfected!
Having a long life, health, a good complexion, an excellent figure, great splendor, great power, high status, great wealth, great wisdom, possessions, magic spells, and medicine; encountering virtuous spiritual friends; listening to the holy Dharma; directing the mind appropriately; the practice in accordance with the Dharma; the abandoning of the primary afflictions of desire, anger, and ignorance as well as the secondary afflictions; completely overcoming falling into the lower, infernal realms of the hells, the realms of animals, and the realm of the Lord of the Dead; attaining all the meditative absorptions, liberations, meditative concentrations, and meditative attainments; completely overcoming physical and mental unhappiness; attaining all bliss and happiness; attaining the excellence of the enlightened attributes of the śrāvakas, the excellence of the enlightened attributes of the pratyekabuddhas, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four states of fearlessness, the four discernments, the eighteen distinctive qualities of a buddha, great loving kindness, great compassion, great joy, great equanimity, the vanquishing of the latent tendencies, the state of non-forgetfulness, the state of omniscience, the state of the knowledge of all aspects, the state of inexhaustible wisdom, the state of inexhaustible knowledge, the state of inexhaustible courage, the state of inexhaustible merit, the state of the sky treasury, the state of the jewel holder, and the unsurpassed wisdom of omniscience; and whatever mundane and transcendent roots of virtue there are—may all of these come to be for all sentient beings!
Whatever fruit there may be from the merit of dedicating my roots of virtue to all sentient beings, by the roots of virtue of having so dedicated them, having completely and manifestly awakened to unexcelled, perfect, complete enlightenment, may I ferry those sentient beings across who have not crossed over, may I liberate those who are not yet liberated, may I give relief to those who are unrelieved, may I cause all those who have not entered nirvāṇa to enter final nirvāṇa, and may I establish them in the realm of ultimate benefit and bliss!
Thus I recite a second time, and thus a third time.
The Noble Dedication “Fulfilling All Aspirations” is concluded.