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Peter Skilling discusses the title and the term dhvajāgra/dhajagga at length in his introduction to Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] in Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, pp. 444–52. He observes that in a range of other canonical translations into Tibetan, the term was also translated as rgyal mtshan gyi rtse mo (“crest of the insignia”).
For more on the protective ritual use of the Mahāsūtras, see Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, pp. 63–88.
The following information is summarized from Skilling’s study of the Mahāsūtras. Readers interested in more detail should consult Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, pp. 441–67, as well as 84000’s Knowledge Base article “Mahāsūtras” on the subject.
A number of English translations from the Pali of this widely-recited text were published before the late 1990s. See Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, p. 442 for references.
There are Sanskrit manuscript fragments of Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] in both in the Turfan Collection (Berlin) and the Hoernle Collection (London). For references, see Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, p. 442.
For more information on these translators, see Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, pp. 111–42, especially pp. 115–30.
For bibliographic information and a few other references, see Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, pp. 442–43.
See Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, pp. 460–67. For example, the verse portion of the work is not extant in the available Sanskrit source material, but it is in Pali.
There are various slightly different ways of listing and enumerating the set of epithets presented here. In Pali versions of this work, the epithet “thus-gone one” (Pali, Skt. tathāgata, Tib. de bzhin gshegs pa) is missing, and anuttaraḥ (“unsurpassed”) is counted as its own separate epithet. For more on this, see Zhao 2018. See also Harrison 1992, pp. 215–38.
Versions of the following nine verses are also found elsewhere in Buddhist canonical literature. The correspondences are presented as a table in Skilling 2024, p. 327. See also Skilling 1994–97, vol. 2, pp. 464ff.
Verses 1 to 4 are also found as the first four verses in the verse section of the Pali Dhajaggasutta.
This fifth verse and the four that follow it, as Skilling has pointed out, are “well known in Buddhist literature” and “an early and authoritative group on the subject of refuge.” They are also found in the Udānavarga, in the Pali Dhammapada, and in the story of the Buddha’s “great miracle” (mahāprātihārya) in the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya.
A wealthy merchant in the town of Śrāvastī, famous for his generosity to the poor, who became a patron of the Buddha Śākyamuni. He bought Prince Jeta’s Grove (Skt. Jetavana), to be the Buddha’s first monastery, a place where the monks could stay during the monsoon.
A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).
A common epithet of buddhas. A fully awakened buddha who teaches the Dharma and brings it into a world, as opposed to a pratyekabuddha, who does not teach the Dharma or bring it into a world. Here it is the third epithet through which the Buddha Śākyamuni is to be recollected.
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”).
A military ensign or standard. In ancient Indic culture a dhvaja was a long pole surmounted by a top piece or finial (agra). The term dhvaja was translated into Tibetan as rgyal mtshan, literally “royal insignia.”
The path leading to the attainment of an arhat, consisting of correct view, intention, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and absorption.
According to Buddhist cosmology, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three is the second lowest of the six heavens of the desire realm (kāmadhātu), just above the Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Caturmahārājakāyika) and below the Yāma Heaven. It is situated on the flat summit of Mount Sumeru and has thirty-three regions each presided over by one of thirty-three chief gods, the overall chief being Śakra. The presiding gods are divided into four groups named in the Abhidharmakośaṭīkā (Toh 4092): the eight gods of wealth, two Aśvin youths, eleven fierce ones, and twelve suns. The thirty-three regions themselves are enumerated and described in The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma, Toh 287, 4.B.2 et seq.).
A park in Śrāvastī, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kośala in northern India. It was owned by Prince Jeta, and the wealthy merchant Anāthapiṇḍada, wishing to offer it to the Buddha, bought it from him by covering the entire property with gold coins. It was to become the place where the monks could be housed during the monsoon season, thus creating the first Buddhist monastery. It is therefore the setting for many of the Buddha's discourses.
Jinamitra was invited to Tibet during the reign of King Tri Songdetsen (khri srong lde btsan, r. 742–98 ᴄᴇ) and was involved with the translation of nearly two hundred texts, continuing into the reign of King Ralpachen (ral pa can, r. 815–38 ᴄᴇ). He was one of the small group of paṇḍitas responsible for the Mahāvyutpatti Sanskrit–Tibetan dictionary.
An epithet of a buddha. Here it is the sixth epithet through which the Buddha Śākyamuni is to be recollected when experiencing fear, trepidation, or terror.
An epithet of a buddha. Here it is the fourth epithet through which the Buddha Śākyamuni is to be recollected when experiencing fear, trepidation, or terror.
See “awakened one.”
An Indian Bengali paṇḍita resident in Tibet during the late eight and early ninth centuries. Arriving in Tibet on an invitation from the Tibetan king, he assisted in the translation of numerous canonical scriptures. He is also the author of a few philosophical commentaries contained in the Tengyur.
The lord of the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (trāyastriṃśa). Alternatively known as Indra, the deity that is called “lord of the gods” dwells on the summit of Mount Sumeru and wields the thunderbolt. The Tibetan translation brgya byin (meaning “one hundred sacrifices”) is based on an etymology that śakra is an abbreviation of śata-kratu, one who has performed a hundred sacrifices. Each world with a central Sumeru has a Śakra. Also known by other names such as Kauśika, Devendra, and Śacipati.
During the life of the Buddha, Śrāvastī was the capital city of the powerful kingdom of Kośala, ruled by King Prasenajit, who became a follower and patron of the Buddha. It was also the hometown of Anāthapiṇḍada, the wealthy patron who first invited the Buddha there, and then offered him a park known as Jetavana, Prince Jeta’s Grove, which became one of the first Buddhist monasteries. The Buddha is said to have spent about twenty-five rainy seasons with his disciples in Śrāvastī, thus it is named as the setting of numerous events and teachings. It is located in present-day Uttar Pradesh in northern India.
An epithet of a buddha. Here it is the eighth epithet through which the Buddha Śākyamuni is to be recollected when experiencing fear, trepidation, or terror.
The Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—the three objects of Buddhist refuge. In the Tibetan rendering, “the three rare and supreme ones.”
A frequently used synonym for buddha. According to different explanations, it can be read as tathā-gata, literally meaning “one who has thus gone,” or as tathā-āgata, “one who has thus come.” Gata, though literally meaning “gone,” is a past passive participle used to describe a state or condition of existence. Tatha(tā), often rendered as “suchness” or “thusness,” is the quality or condition of things as they really are, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms. Therefore, this epithet is interpreted in different ways, but in general it implies one who has departed in the wake of the buddhas of the past, or one who has manifested the supreme awakening dependent on the reality that does not abide in the two extremes of existence and quiescence. It is also often used as a specific epithet of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
An epithet of a buddha. Here it is the seventh epithet through which the Buddha Śākyamuni is to be recollected when experiencing fear, trepidation, or terror. In some enumerations of the epithets, “unsurpassed” (anuttaraḥ, bla na med pa), instead of being a qualifier of “leader …” is counted as an independent epithet of its own, increasing the number of epithets to nine.
The name of Śakra’s crest insignia. The Tibetan term literally means “Brings Victory.”
One of the standard epithets of the buddhas. A recurrent explanation offers three different meanings for su- that are meant to show the special qualities of “accomplishment of one’s own purpose” (svārthasampad) for a complete buddha. Thus, the Sugata is “well” gone, as in the expression su-rūpa (“having a good form”); he is gone “in a way that he shall not come back,” as in the expression su-naṣṭa-jvara (“a fever that has utterly gone”); and he has gone “without any remainder” as in the expression su-pūrṇa-ghaṭa (“a pot that is completely full”). According to Buddhaghoṣa, the term means that the way the Buddha went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su) and where he went (Skt. gata) is good (Skt. su).
According to Buddhist tradition, one who is worthy of worship (pūjām arhati), or one who has conquered the enemies, the mental afflictions (kleśa-ari-hata-vat), and reached liberation from the cycle of rebirth and suffering. It is the fourth and highest of the four fruits attainable by śrāvakas. Also used as an epithet of the Buddha.
Yeshé Dé (late eighth to early ninth century) was the most prolific translator of sūtras into Tibetan. Altogether he is credited with the translation of more than one hundred sixty sūtra translations and more than one hundred additional translations, mostly on tantric topics. In spite of Yeshé Dé’s great importance for the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet during the imperial era, only a few biographical details about this figure are known. Later sources describe him as a student of the Indian teacher Padmasambhava, and he is also credited with teaching both sūtra and tantra widely to students of his own. He was also known as Nanam Yeshé Dé, from the Nanam (sna nam) clan.
mdo chen po rgyal mtshan dam pa (Dhvajāgramahāsūtra). Toh 293, Degé Kangyur vol. 71 (mdo sde, sha), folios 265.b–267.a.
mdo chen po rgyal mtshan dam pa. 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), 2006–9, vol. 71, pp. 710–14.
mdo chen po rgyal mtshan mchog (Dhvajāgramahāsūtra). Toh 292, Degé Kangyur vol. 71 (mdo sde, sha), folios 262.a–265.b. English translation The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (1) 2024.
Asaṅga (attr.). sangs rgyas rjes su dran pa’i grel pa (Buddhānusmṛtivṛtti). Toh 3982, Degé Tengyur vol. 113 (mdo sde, ngi), folios 11.b–15.a.
Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan[/lhan] dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
84000. The Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma (Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna, dam pa’i chos dran pa nye bar gzhag pa, Toh 287). Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2021.84000.
84000. The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (1) (Dhvajāgramahāsūtra, mdo chen po rgyal mtshan mchog, Toh 292). Translated by 84000 Associate Translators. Online publication, 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
84000. “Mahāsūtras.” Online Knowledge Base. 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Harrison, Paul M. “Commemoration and Identification in Buddhānusmṛti.” In In the Mirror of Memory: Reflections on Mindfulness and Remembrance in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, edited by Janet Gyatso, 215–38. Albany: SUNY Press, 1992.
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Skilling, Peter. Mahāsūtras: Great Discourses of the Buddha. 2 vols. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 1994–97.
Zhao, Wen. “The Conception of Seeing the Buddha and Buddha Embodiments in Early Prajñāpāramitā Literature.” PhD diss., Ludwig Maximilian University, 2018.
The Buddha instructs his monks on how to overcome their fears by recollecting the qualities of the Buddha through a set of epithets. This is likened to how Śakra rallies his celestial troops with the sight of his military crest insignia. The sūtra concludes with verses summarizing the teaching and also recommending the recollection of the Dharma and Saṅgha. This is the shorter of two Mahāsūtras with the same title and similar themes.
This text was translated by Adam T. Miller. The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. David Fiordalis and John Canti edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (2), which we will refer to hereafter by its Sanskrit title, Dhvajāgrasūtra [2], is a short work in which the Buddha instructs his monks at Śrāvastī on how to alleviate fear by recollecting the Buddha (and, in the concluding verses, the Dharma and Saṅgha as well) and outlines the benefits and efficacy of doing so.
The Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] has the same Sanskrit title as the closely related Mahāsūtra that immediately precedes it in the Degé Kangyur (The Crest Insignia (1), Toh 292, hereafter Dhvajāgrasūtra [1]). In Tibetan, the titles of these two Mahāsūtras are differentiated by alternative translations of the word agra (as dam pa in the present text, Toh 293, and mchog in Toh 292), but we have translated the title in the same way in both texts based on the identical Sanskrit title Dhvajāgra. The term dhvajāgra itself refers to a symbol or insignia that was mounted at the end of a long pole, which was employed as a martial ensign on the battlefield in ancient India.
In the prose portion of the sūtra, the Buddha advises his monks, should they become afraid wherever they happen to be, to recollect him using a formula composed of a set of epithets that describe his qualities, traditionally said to be nine in number but with some differences between versions of the text. By recollecting him in this way, he assures them, all their fears will be allayed. He intercalates his teaching in this prose section with a story centered on Śakra and the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three that illustrates and encourages this practice. When the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three are faced with the fearsome prospect of battle against the asuras, Śakra tells them to recollect his crest insignia, or military ensign, and this, he says, will alleviate their fear. If the gods trust Śakra and are indeed relieved of their fear through engaging in the practice he advises, the Buddha continues, how much more so should the monks likewise trust the Buddha and know that the practice he advises will be efficacious, for he is superior to Śakra in all ways.
The work concludes with a modified reiteration of the teaching in verse. The verse summary advises the recollection not solely of the Buddha but of the Dharma and the Saṅgha as well. Recollecting the Three Jewels, leading as it does to the four truths of the noble ones and hence knowledge of the path, and ultimately to nirvāṇa, is the supreme refuge.
The inclusion of this work in the group of canonical texts known as the Mahāsūtras (literally “Great Sūtras”) reflects its status in early Buddhism as a “text recited for protection” (paritta in Pali or rakṣā in Sanskrit). An extensive study of this and the other Mahāsūtras has been published by Peter Skilling. The nine or ten texts that belong to this collection have a long and complex history, and the recensions that are preserved in Tibetan translation have many parallels in Buddhist literature as a whole.
Versions of the present sūtra are extant in Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan. A Pali work with the title Dhajaggasutta is found in the Sakkasamyutta in the first part of the Samyutta Nikāya (11.3). A Sanskrit work with the title Dhvajāgra (mahā)sūtra is known through manuscript fragments found in Central Asia. There are two Chinese translations. One is a translation produced in the mid-fifth century
According to Peter Skilling, the present work is “one of the most popular of Buddhist sūtras” on account of its content—the recollection of the Buddha, or of all Three Jewels, being a common theme throughout Buddhist literature—and its ritual use. The work is quoted or otherwise referenced in a small handful of Buddhist commentarial works: Buddhaghoṣa’s Sāratthappakāsinī, for example, and Sthiramati’s Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇavaibhāṣya (Toh 4066). The well-known formula for recollecting the Buddha is found in a wide variety of canonical texts and ritual works, including a short standalone scripture in the Kangyur with the title Buddhānusmṛti (Toh 279), of unknown origin but possibly derived in part from the two Dhvajāgrasūtra s and their parallels.
The Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] had not been translated into English until recently, when it appeared alongside Dhvajāgrasūtra [1] and the Pali Dhajaggasutta in Skilling 2024.
This translation was made from the version of the Tibetan text in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the critical edition published by Skilling based on twelve Tibetan versions, including the Peking, Lithang, Degé, and Narthang xylographs, the Stok palace manuscript, and two “independent editions” from monasteries that “do not reproduce any other single Kanjur, and do not have any significant descendants.” While there are quite a few differences between the sources and parallel texts that Skilling compared in his comprehensive study of this work, none of them much affects the meaning of the translation presented here.
Homage to the Three Jewels.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in Śrāvastī, in Jeta Grove, the park of Anāthapiṇḍada. The Blessed One addressed the monks, saying, “Monks, whether you stay in the wilderness, under a tree, or in an empty house, in the event that you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should recollect me thus through these epithets: ‘The Blessed One is a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, a learned and virtuous one, a well-gone one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed leader of those to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, an awakened one, and a blessed one.’ If at that time you recollect me through these epithets, then whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.
“Monks, previously, when a battle between the gods and the asuras was about to break out, Śakra, the king of the gods, called out to the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, saying, ‘If friends, when you go into the battle between the gods and the asuras, you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should at that time recall my crest insignia Vaijayanta. If at that time you recollect my crest insignia Vaijayanta, whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.’
“Monks, similarly, whether in the wilderness, under a tree, or in an empty house, in the event that you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should recollect me thus through these epithets: ‘The Blessed One is a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, a learned and virtuous one, a well-gone one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed leader of those to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, an awakened one, and a blessed one.’ Monks, if at that time you recollect me through these epithets, whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.
“Monks, Śakra, the lord of the gods, still has desire, hatred, and delusion, and he is not liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance. He also experiences fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice. Several times has he experienced fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice. Monks, the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three confidently regard the words of Śakra, the lord of the gods—who still possesses desire, hatred, and delusion, who is not liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance, and who experiences fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice—as something to be heard and obeyed. Considering that, given that I am a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one—one who is without desire, hatred, and delusion, one who is liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance, and one who does not experience fear, trepidation, alarm, or cowardice—these words of mine are worthy of being heeded, of what they say to be put into practice, and of being propagated accordingly.”
This is what the Blessed One said, and the Well-Gone One having spoken those words, the Teacher continued:
When the Blessed One had spoken these words, the monks were delighted and praised what the Blessed One had said.
This completes the Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia.”
Translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Prajñāvarman, the senior editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé, and others.
The Buddha instructs his monks on how to overcome their fears by recollecting the qualities of the Buddha through a set of epithets. This is likened to how Śakra rallies his celestial troops with the sight of his military crest insignia. The sūtra concludes with verses summarizing the teaching and also recommending the recollection of the Dharma and Saṅgha. This is the shorter of two Mahāsūtras with the same title and similar themes.
This text was translated by Adam T. Miller. The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. David Fiordalis and John Canti edited the translation and the introduction, and Laura Goetz copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.
The Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia” (2), which we will refer to hereafter by its Sanskrit title, Dhvajāgrasūtra [2], is a short work in which the Buddha instructs his monks at Śrāvastī on how to alleviate fear by recollecting the Buddha (and, in the concluding verses, the Dharma and Saṅgha as well) and outlines the benefits and efficacy of doing so.
The Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] has the same Sanskrit title as the closely related Mahāsūtra that immediately precedes it in the Degé Kangyur (The Crest Insignia (1), Toh 292, hereafter Dhvajāgrasūtra [1]). In Tibetan, the titles of these two Mahāsūtras are differentiated by alternative translations of the word agra (as dam pa in the present text, Toh 293, and mchog in Toh 292), but we have translated the title in the same way in both texts based on the identical Sanskrit title Dhvajāgra. The term dhvajāgra itself refers to a symbol or insignia that was mounted at the end of a long pole, which was employed as a martial ensign on the battlefield in ancient India.
In the prose portion of the sūtra, the Buddha advises his monks, should they become afraid wherever they happen to be, to recollect him using a formula composed of a set of epithets that describe his qualities, traditionally said to be nine in number but with some differences between versions of the text. By recollecting him in this way, he assures them, all their fears will be allayed. He intercalates his teaching in this prose section with a story centered on Śakra and the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three that illustrates and encourages this practice. When the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three are faced with the fearsome prospect of battle against the asuras, Śakra tells them to recollect his crest insignia, or military ensign, and this, he says, will alleviate their fear. If the gods trust Śakra and are indeed relieved of their fear through engaging in the practice he advises, the Buddha continues, how much more so should the monks likewise trust the Buddha and know that the practice he advises will be efficacious, for he is superior to Śakra in all ways.
The work concludes with a modified reiteration of the teaching in verse. The verse summary advises the recollection not solely of the Buddha but of the Dharma and the Saṅgha as well. Recollecting the Three Jewels, leading as it does to the four truths of the noble ones and hence knowledge of the path, and ultimately to nirvāṇa, is the supreme refuge.
The inclusion of this work in the group of canonical texts known as the Mahāsūtras (literally “Great Sūtras”) reflects its status in early Buddhism as a “text recited for protection” (paritta in Pali or rakṣā in Sanskrit). An extensive study of this and the other Mahāsūtras has been published by Peter Skilling. The nine or ten texts that belong to this collection have a long and complex history, and the recensions that are preserved in Tibetan translation have many parallels in Buddhist literature as a whole.
Versions of the present sūtra are extant in Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan. A Pali work with the title Dhajaggasutta is found in the Sakkasamyutta in the first part of the Samyutta Nikāya (11.3). A Sanskrit work with the title Dhvajāgra (mahā)sūtra is known through manuscript fragments found in Central Asia. There are two Chinese translations. One is a translation produced in the mid-fifth century
According to Peter Skilling, the present work is “one of the most popular of Buddhist sūtras” on account of its content—the recollection of the Buddha, or of all Three Jewels, being a common theme throughout Buddhist literature—and its ritual use. The work is quoted or otherwise referenced in a small handful of Buddhist commentarial works: Buddhaghoṣa’s Sāratthappakāsinī, for example, and Sthiramati’s Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇavaibhāṣya (Toh 4066). The well-known formula for recollecting the Buddha is found in a wide variety of canonical texts and ritual works, including a short standalone scripture in the Kangyur with the title Buddhānusmṛti (Toh 279), of unknown origin but possibly derived in part from the two Dhvajāgrasūtra s and their parallels.
The Dhvajāgrasūtra [2] had not been translated into English until recently, when it appeared alongside Dhvajāgrasūtra [1] and the Pali Dhajaggasutta in Skilling 2024.
This translation was made from the version of the Tibetan text in the Degé Kangyur, in consultation with the critical edition published by Skilling based on twelve Tibetan versions, including the Peking, Lithang, Degé, and Narthang xylographs, the Stok palace manuscript, and two “independent editions” from monasteries that “do not reproduce any other single Kanjur, and do not have any significant descendants.” While there are quite a few differences between the sources and parallel texts that Skilling compared in his comprehensive study of this work, none of them much affects the meaning of the translation presented here.
Homage to the Three Jewels.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in Śrāvastī, in Jeta Grove, the park of Anāthapiṇḍada. The Blessed One addressed the monks, saying, “Monks, whether you stay in the wilderness, under a tree, or in an empty house, in the event that you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should recollect me thus through these epithets: ‘The Blessed One is a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, a learned and virtuous one, a well-gone one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed leader of those to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, an awakened one, and a blessed one.’ If at that time you recollect me through these epithets, then whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.
“Monks, previously, when a battle between the gods and the asuras was about to break out, Śakra, the king of the gods, called out to the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, saying, ‘If friends, when you go into the battle between the gods and the asuras, you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should at that time recall my crest insignia Vaijayanta. If at that time you recollect my crest insignia Vaijayanta, whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.’
“Monks, similarly, whether in the wilderness, under a tree, or in an empty house, in the event that you experience fear, trepidation, or terror, you should recollect me thus through these epithets: ‘The Blessed One is a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one, a learned and virtuous one, a well-gone one, a knower of the world, an unsurpassed leader of those to be trained, a teacher of gods and humans, an awakened one, and a blessed one.’ Monks, if at that time you recollect me through these epithets, whatever fear, trepidation, or terror you are experiencing will subside.
“Monks, Śakra, the lord of the gods, still has desire, hatred, and delusion, and he is not liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance. He also experiences fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice. Several times has he experienced fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice. Monks, the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three confidently regard the words of Śakra, the lord of the gods—who still possesses desire, hatred, and delusion, who is not liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance, and who experiences fear, trepidation, alarm, and cowardice—as something to be heard and obeyed. Considering that, given that I am a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfectly awakened one—one who is without desire, hatred, and delusion, one who is liberated from birth, old age, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, unhappiness, and disturbance, and one who does not experience fear, trepidation, alarm, or cowardice—these words of mine are worthy of being heeded, of what they say to be put into practice, and of being propagated accordingly.”
This is what the Blessed One said, and the Well-Gone One having spoken those words, the Teacher continued:
When the Blessed One had spoken these words, the monks were delighted and praised what the Blessed One had said.
This completes the Mahāsūtra “The Crest Insignia.”
Translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Prajñāvarman, the senior editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé, and others.