Summary

A radiant divine being appears before the Buddha shortly before dawn and asks a series of questions, in the form of riddles, about how best to live a good life. The Buddha’s responses constitute a concise and direct teaching on some of the core orientations and values of Buddhism, touching on the three poisons, the virtues of body, speech, and mind, and providing wisdom for daily life.

Acknowledgements

A draft translation by Khenpo Kalsang Gyaltsen and Chodrungma Kunga Chodron of the Sakya Pandita Translation Team was revised, introduced and edited by George FitzHerbert and finalized by members of the 84000 editorial team.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. George FitzHerbert edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

In The Devatā Sūtra, a radiant divine being (Skt. devatā, Tib. lha) appears before the Buddha one night shortly before dawn and, in a series of verses, asks the Buddha questions about how to live, success and failure, the pursuit of happiness, and liberation. The Buddha’s simple and direct responses to these enduring questions present an eloquent introduction to the core ethical values of Buddhism and a concise guide to daily life. The sūtra is extant in many manuscripts from the first millennium ᴄᴇ, in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan.

There are two Sanskrit witnesses. A full version of the sūtra, which matches the Tibetan translation quite closely, is included among the Gilgit Buddhist manuscripts discovered in 1931 in present-day northern Pakistan. Written in the proto-Śāradā script, the manuscript is dated between the sixth to eighth centuries ᴄᴇ. Sanskrit editions of the sūtra that are based on this manuscript have been published by two contemporary scholars. The sūtra is also included as one of the twenty sūtras in an undated Sanskrit manuscript written in the Dhārikā script and preserved in the Potala Palace, Lhasa. A comparative critical edition based on this manuscript, which also presents the parallel Tibetan and Chinese texts along with an English translation, has been published by Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā. While the Gilgit manuscript corresponds quite closely in length and content to the Tibetan translation found in the Kangyur, the Potala Palace Sanskrit manuscript contains five additional ślokas at the beginning and two ślokas toward the end that are not found in the Tibetan.

A Chinese translation of The Devatā Sūtra was completed by Xuanzang in 648 ᴄᴇ and is included in the Chinese canon (Taishō 592). It is slightly shorter than both the Tibetan and Sanskrit witnesses. Over twenty manuscripts containing the sūtra in Chinese are among the manuscripts retrieved from the cave library at Dunhuang, and many illustrations of the sūtra have been identified among the murals of the cave complex there.

The Tibetan translation of The Devatā Sūtra has no colophon, making its translation history uncertain. However, in both the Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) and Phangthangma (’phang thang ma) imperial catalogs, it is listed among translated “Hīnayāna” (Tib. theg pa chung ngu) sūtras, so its translation into Tibetan was no later than the early ninth century ᴄᴇ. An attribution to the great translator Yeshé Dé has been suggested, based on the listing in Butön’s History of Buddhism. However, that citation may just refers to The Shorter Devatā Sūtra (Toh 330), which immediately follows it in Kangyur collections. Jonathan Silk has listed The Devatā Sūtra among “questionable cases” that may have been translated into Tibetan from Chinese. There is a close correspondence between the Tibetan and Chinese in the opening narrative, and in the first seven exchanges (or fourteen verses) in the latter part of the sūtra. However, the Tibetan and Chinese also diverge, and the Tibetan contains two exchanges (exchanges 8 and 10 below) that are not found in the Chinese at all but are found in the extant Sanskrit witnesses. This indicates that a translation from Sanskrit (or perhaps from both languages) is more likely. In Sanskrit, each verse consists of two sixteen-syllable lines. The Tibetan is presented in four-line verses (each consisting of two couplets) of seven-syllable lines.

Two short suttas entitled Devatāsutta contained in the Aṅguttara Nikāya of the Pali canon (AN 9.19 and AN 6.69) do not correspond in content to this text.

The versions of the sūtra found in Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line are largely in agreement and contain only minor orthographic variation. The versions in Kangyurs of the Thempangma line, however, display more significant variation. The Stok Palace Kangyur version, for example, gives the Sanskrit title as Devasūtra and presents the verses and their contents in a different order.

The sūtra is found in three Tibetan manuscripts retrieved from the cave library at Dunhuang, Pelliot tibétain 103, 731, and 732. These versions display considerable variation, indicative of their compilation prior to the creation of a Tibetan canon. While the Kangyur versions of the sūtra, like the Gilgit manuscript, have no parallel for the first five verses found in the Sanskrit Potala Palace manuscript, Pelliot tibétain 731 has versions of two of these extra opening verses. Pelliot tibétain 732, in which the sūtra’s title is given as lhas gsold pa’i mdo, presents an alternative version with a number of interesting features, some of which, according to Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā, find parallel in the Gondlha manuscript version.

One exchange in particular from the sūtra continues to be well known and frequently quoted:

“The divine being asked:

• “ ‘What is attractive but not beneficial,
• And what is beneficial but not attractive?
• What is a harmful disease,
• And who, the supreme physician?’

“The Blessed One replied:

• “ ‘Lust is attractive but not beneficial,
• And liberation is beneficial but not attractive.
• Attachment is a harmful disease,
• And the Buddha is the supreme physician.’ ”

An early English translation of the sūtra from Chinese was published by Carus (1894). This English translation was made from the Tibetan text as found in the Degé Kangyur, with reference to the Tibetan variants recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), the Stok Palace Kangyur, and the Tibetan Dunhuang manuscripts. The Sanskrit was also consulted. Where significant alternative readings have been identified, this has been recorded in the notes.

Summary

A radiant divine being appears before the Buddha shortly before dawn and asks a series of questions, in the form of riddles, about how best to live a good life. The Buddha’s responses constitute a concise and direct teaching on some of the core orientations and values of Buddhism, touching on the three poisons, the virtues of body, speech, and mind, and providing wisdom for daily life.

Acknowledgements

A draft translation by Khenpo Kalsang Gyaltsen and Chodrungma Kunga Chodron of the Sakya Pandita Translation Team was revised, introduced and edited by George FitzHerbert and finalized by members of the 84000 editorial team.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. George FitzHerbert edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

In The Devatā Sūtra, a radiant divine being (Skt. devatā, Tib. lha) appears before the Buddha one night shortly before dawn and, in a series of verses, asks the Buddha questions about how to live, success and failure, the pursuit of happiness, and liberation. The Buddha’s simple and direct responses to these enduring questions present an eloquent introduction to the core ethical values of Buddhism and a concise guide to daily life. The sūtra is extant in many manuscripts from the first millennium ᴄᴇ, in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan.

There are two Sanskrit witnesses. A full version of the sūtra, which matches the Tibetan translation quite closely, is included among the Gilgit Buddhist manuscripts discovered in 1931 in present-day northern Pakistan. Written in the proto-Śāradā script, the manuscript is dated between the sixth to eighth centuries ᴄᴇ. Sanskrit editions of the sūtra that are based on this manuscript have been published by two contemporary scholars. The sūtra is also included as one of the twenty sūtras in an undated Sanskrit manuscript written in the Dhārikā script and preserved in the Potala Palace, Lhasa. A comparative critical edition based on this manuscript, which also presents the parallel Tibetan and Chinese texts along with an English translation, has been published by Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā. While the Gilgit manuscript corresponds quite closely in length and content to the Tibetan translation found in the Kangyur, the Potala Palace Sanskrit manuscript contains five additional ślokas at the beginning and two ślokas toward the end that are not found in the Tibetan.

A Chinese translation of The Devatā Sūtra was completed by Xuanzang in 648 ᴄᴇ and is included in the Chinese canon (Taishō 592). It is slightly shorter than both the Tibetan and Sanskrit witnesses. Over twenty manuscripts containing the sūtra in Chinese are among the manuscripts retrieved from the cave library at Dunhuang, and many illustrations of the sūtra have been identified among the murals of the cave complex there.

The Tibetan translation of The Devatā Sūtra has no colophon, making its translation history uncertain. However, in both the Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) and Phangthangma (’phang thang ma) imperial catalogs, it is listed among translated “Hīnayāna” (Tib. theg pa chung ngu) sūtras, so its translation into Tibetan was no later than the early ninth century ᴄᴇ. An attribution to the great translator Yeshé Dé has been suggested, based on the listing in Butön’s History of Buddhism. However, that citation may just refers to The Shorter Devatā Sūtra (Toh 330), which immediately follows it in Kangyur collections. Jonathan Silk has listed The Devatā Sūtra among “questionable cases” that may have been translated into Tibetan from Chinese. There is a close correspondence between the Tibetan and Chinese in the opening narrative, and in the first seven exchanges (or fourteen verses) in the latter part of the sūtra. However, the Tibetan and Chinese also diverge, and the Tibetan contains two exchanges (exchanges 8 and 10 below) that are not found in the Chinese at all but are found in the extant Sanskrit witnesses. This indicates that a translation from Sanskrit (or perhaps from both languages) is more likely. In Sanskrit, each verse consists of two sixteen-syllable lines. The Tibetan is presented in four-line verses (each consisting of two couplets) of seven-syllable lines.

Two short suttas entitled Devatāsutta contained in the Aṅguttara Nikāya of the Pali canon (AN 9.19 and AN 6.69) do not correspond in content to this text.

The versions of the sūtra found in Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line are largely in agreement and contain only minor orthographic variation. The versions in Kangyurs of the Thempangma line, however, display more significant variation. The Stok Palace Kangyur version, for example, gives the Sanskrit title as Devasūtra and presents the verses and their contents in a different order.

The sūtra is found in three Tibetan manuscripts retrieved from the cave library at Dunhuang, Pelliot tibétain 103, 731, and 732. These versions display considerable variation, indicative of their compilation prior to the creation of a Tibetan canon. While the Kangyur versions of the sūtra, like the Gilgit manuscript, have no parallel for the first five verses found in the Sanskrit Potala Palace manuscript, Pelliot tibétain 731 has versions of two of these extra opening verses. Pelliot tibétain 732, in which the sūtra’s title is given as lhas gsold pa’i mdo, presents an alternative version with a number of interesting features, some of which, according to Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā, find parallel in the Gondlha manuscript version.

One exchange in particular from the sūtra continues to be well known and frequently quoted:

“The divine being asked:

• “ ‘What is attractive but not beneficial,
• And what is beneficial but not attractive?
• What is a harmful disease,
• And who, the supreme physician?’

“The Blessed One replied:

• “ ‘Lust is attractive but not beneficial,
• And liberation is beneficial but not attractive.
• Attachment is a harmful disease,
• And the Buddha is the supreme physician.’ ”

An early English translation of the sūtra from Chinese was published by Carus (1894). This English translation was made from the Tibetan text as found in the Degé Kangyur, with reference to the Tibetan variants recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), the Stok Palace Kangyur, and the Tibetan Dunhuang manuscripts. The Sanskrit was also consulted. Where significant alternative readings have been identified, this has been recorded in the notes.