Summary

In The Twenty-Five Gateways to the Perfection of Wisdom the Buddha teaches the twenty-five gateways to the perfection of wisdom to Vajrapāṇi and a vast gathering of bodhisattvas and nonhuman beings. These twenty-five gateways, also found in related Prajñāpāramitā and Yoga tantra works, are mantra formulae comprised of seed syllables (bījas) and semantically meaningful phrases that act as a means of accessing the many qualities of awakening. The Twenty-Five Gateways, like some other short Prajñāpāramitā scriptures, holds a dual sūtra-tantra status.

Acknowledgements

This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Lowell Cook produced the translation and wrote the introduction. David Fiordalis and John Canti edited the translation and the introduction, and Ibby Caputo copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The Twenty-Five Gateways to the Perfection of Wisdom is a short Prajñāpāramitā scripture that sets out points of entry to the Perfection of Wisdom teachings in the form of mantra formulae. Because of its brevity, it is classified in the Tibetan tradition among the eleven “son” Prajñāpāramitā works (sras bcu gcig), as distinct from the six longer “mother” scriptures (yum drug) that cover the whole range of topics outlined in Maitreya-Asaṅga’s Ornament of Clear Realizations (Abhi­samayālaṃkāra, Toh 3786).

There are two versions of this sūtra in the Kangyur, one (Toh 20) found with the other Perfection of Wisdom sūtras (in the volume of short, “miscellaneous” Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, shes phyin sna tshogs), and the other (Toh 491) found in the Yoga tantra section. The reasons underlying the placement of the latter will become clear below.

In the sūtra, while the Buddha is teaching in the deva realms to a large, mostly nonhuman assembly, Vajrapāṇi and an extensive entourage of nonhuman beings descend from the sky. They bow to the Buddha and circumambulate him, prompting him to deliver this discourse on the twenty-five gateways to the perfection of wisdom. The text concludes with Vajrapāṇi and the rest of the gathering rejoicing in the Buddha’s teaching.

The twenty-five gateways that constitute the main subject matter are mantra formulae, or dhāraṇīs, comprising an initial seed syllable (bīja) followed by a semantically meaningful phrase. As made clear by the term dhāraṇī gateway (dhāraṇī­mukha), dhāraṇīs are said to act as “gateways” providing access to the infinite qualities of awakening. It is in this sense that the twenty-five mantra formulae act as a set of approaches to the perfection of wisdom.

There are two other works‍—one a Prajñāpāramitā scripture‍—in which these same twenty-five gateways to the perfection of wisdom appear. With minor differences as signaled in the notes to the translation, they are a feature of The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines (Toh 17/489, Prajñā­pāramitā­naya­śata­­pañca­śatikā), in which they are called “mantra words” (mantrapada, sngags kyi tshig) and, as in the present text, are taught to Vajrapāṇi. They are also found in Ornament of the Vajra Essence Tantra (Toh 490, Vajra­maṇḍālaṃkāra­tantra), a tantra of the Yoga class, where they are taught to Mañjuśrī. In this latter text, the phrases of the mantras are not translated into Tibetan as they are here in The Twenty-Five Gateways, but are left in transliterated Sanskrit.

The intended meanings of the twenty-five formulae themselves are not, for the most part, immediately obvious, and their translations in English can only be tentative. That would be even more so were they to be understood solely from their Tibetan translation, as found here. Fortunately, however, some useful orientation is provided by the Sanskrit forms preserved in the other two texts, which show that all the gateways are in the vocative case and the feminine. It is a reasonable assumption, therefore, that they are phrases addressed to the Prajñāpāramitā, whether personified as the female goddess or seen metaphorically as mother of all the buddhas.

The present sūtra does little more than list the twenty-five gateways, and although the wording of some of the gateways hints at a tantric theme, it is only in the two longer texts that clear references are made to the more obvious tantric themes of great bliss (mahāsukha) and the purity (viśuddhi) of sensual pleasures. The latter theme, in particular, is characteristic of the Paramādya Yoga tantra cycle (Toh 487–488), which makes frequent reference to the Perfection of Wisdom teachings. Despite the somewhat indirect tantric references in the present sūtra, the text’s close relationship to The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines (Toh 17/489) and the placing of both these Prajñāpāramitā scriptures as duplicates in the Yoga tantra section nevertheless confirms the Yoga tantra status of this text. Indeed, in the catalog to the Degé Kangyur, Situ Panchen Chökyi Jungné (1700–74) cites this intertextuality as the reason why duplicates of The Twenty-Five Gateways (as Toh 491) and The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines (as Toh 489) are included with the Yoga tantras.

The “tantric” status of these two texts is thus of a different nature compared to the “tantric” categorization of some of the other short Prajñāpāramitā works. While no fewer than six of the shorter Prajñāpāramitā sūtras are duplicated in the tantra sections of the Kangyur, four of these are classified as Action (kriyā) tantras, not because their themes are particularly tantric, but mainly because, in common with a large number of other sūtras and dhāraṇī texts in that section, they contain dhāraṇīs or mantras. The two that are placed with the Yoga tantras‍—the present text and The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines‍—are different because they have specifically tantric perspectives.

The equivalents of the works that in Tibet were classified as Yoga tantras, including the Paramādya cycle and the Adhyardha­śatikā Prajñā­pāramitā, became important in Chinese esoteric Buddhism and particularly in the Japanese Shingon tradition. Several Chinese translations of the Adhyardha­śatikā Prajñā­pāramitā were completed from the sixth century onward, and one of the Vajra­maṇḍālaṃkāra­tantra was completed in the tenth century. However, The Twenty-Five Gateways as a work by itself seems to have been unknown in China until recently, when it was translated into modern Chinese by the Kumarajiva Project.

No translators are mentioned in the sūtra’s colophon. The sūtra is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial-period inventories, and we can thus be confident that it was translated into Tibetan sometime between the late eighth and early ninth centuries.

An English translation of The Twenty-Five Gateways and a study of the shorter Prajñāpāramitā works can be found in Conze (1973). A French translation from the Tibetan by George Driessens was published in 1996.

With no Sanskrit version of The Twenty-Five Gateways extant as a complete text, the current translation was produced based on the witness preserved in the Degé Kangyur with reference to the variant readings noted in the Comparative Edition Kangyur and the Stok Palace Manuscript Kangyur. Of these variant witnesses, the Narthang text displays a wide range of untenable readings. Tomabechi’s Sanskrit edition of the Adhyardha­śatikā Prajñā­pāramitā proved useful in rendering the twenty-five gateways themselves.

Summary

In The Twenty-Five Gateways to the Perfection of Wisdom the Buddha teaches the twenty-five gateways to the perfection of wisdom to Vajrapāṇi and a vast gathering of bodhisattvas and nonhuman beings. These twenty-five gateways, also found in related Prajñāpāramitā and Yoga tantra works, are mantra formulae comprised of seed syllables (bījas) and semantically meaningful phrases that act as a means of accessing the many qualities of awakening. The Twenty-Five Gateways, like some other short Prajñāpāramitā scriptures, holds a dual sūtra-tantra status.

Acknowledgements

This publication was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

The text was translated, edited, and introduced by the 84000 translation team. Lowell Cook produced the translation and wrote the introduction. David Fiordalis and John Canti edited the translation and the introduction, and Ibby Caputo copyedited the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

The Twenty-Five Gateways to the Perfection of Wisdom is a short Prajñāpāramitā scripture that sets out points of entry to the Perfection of Wisdom teachings in the form of mantra formulae. Because of its brevity, it is classified in the Tibetan tradition among the eleven “son” Prajñāpāramitā works (sras bcu gcig), as distinct from the six longer “mother” scriptures (yum drug) that cover the whole range of topics outlined in Maitreya-Asaṅga’s Ornament of Clear Realizations (Abhi­samayālaṃkāra, Toh 3786).

There are two versions of this sūtra in the Kangyur, one (Toh 20) found with the other Perfection of Wisdom sūtras (in the volume of short, “miscellaneous” Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, shes phyin sna tshogs), and the other (Toh 491) found in the Yoga tantra section. The reasons underlying the placement of the latter will become clear below.

In the sūtra, while the Buddha is teaching in the deva realms to a large, mostly nonhuman assembly, Vajrapāṇi and an extensive entourage of nonhuman beings descend from the sky. They bow to the Buddha and circumambulate him, prompting him to deliver this discourse on the twenty-five gateways to the perfection of wisdom. The text concludes with Vajrapāṇi and the rest of the gathering rejoicing in the Buddha’s teaching.

The twenty-five gateways that constitute the main subject matter are mantra formulae, or dhāraṇīs, comprising an initial seed syllable (bīja) followed by a semantically meaningful phrase. As made clear by the term dhāraṇī gateway (dhāraṇī­mukha), dhāraṇīs are said to act as “gateways” providing access to the infinite qualities of awakening. It is in this sense that the twenty-five mantra formulae act as a set of approaches to the perfection of wisdom.

There are two other works‍—one a Prajñāpāramitā scripture‍—in which these same twenty-five gateways to the perfection of wisdom appear. With minor differences as signaled in the notes to the translation, they are a feature of The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines (Toh 17/489, Prajñā­pāramitā­naya­śata­­pañca­śatikā), in which they are called “mantra words” (mantrapada, sngags kyi tshig) and, as in the present text, are taught to Vajrapāṇi. They are also found in Ornament of the Vajra Essence Tantra (Toh 490, Vajra­maṇḍālaṃkāra­tantra), a tantra of the Yoga class, where they are taught to Mañjuśrī. In this latter text, the phrases of the mantras are not translated into Tibetan as they are here in The Twenty-Five Gateways, but are left in transliterated Sanskrit.

The intended meanings of the twenty-five formulae themselves are not, for the most part, immediately obvious, and their translations in English can only be tentative. That would be even more so were they to be understood solely from their Tibetan translation, as found here. Fortunately, however, some useful orientation is provided by the Sanskrit forms preserved in the other two texts, which show that all the gateways are in the vocative case and the feminine. It is a reasonable assumption, therefore, that they are phrases addressed to the Prajñāpāramitā, whether personified as the female goddess or seen metaphorically as mother of all the buddhas.

The present sūtra does little more than list the twenty-five gateways, and although the wording of some of the gateways hints at a tantric theme, it is only in the two longer texts that clear references are made to the more obvious tantric themes of great bliss (mahāsukha) and the purity (viśuddhi) of sensual pleasures. The latter theme, in particular, is characteristic of the Paramādya Yoga tantra cycle (Toh 487–488), which makes frequent reference to the Perfection of Wisdom teachings. Despite the somewhat indirect tantric references in the present sūtra, the text’s close relationship to The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines (Toh 17/489) and the placing of both these Prajñāpāramitā scriptures as duplicates in the Yoga tantra section nevertheless confirms the Yoga tantra status of this text. Indeed, in the catalog to the Degé Kangyur, Situ Panchen Chökyi Jungné (1700–74) cites this intertextuality as the reason why duplicates of The Twenty-Five Gateways (as Toh 491) and The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines (as Toh 489) are included with the Yoga tantras.

The “tantric” status of these two texts is thus of a different nature compared to the “tantric” categorization of some of the other short Prajñāpāramitā works. While no fewer than six of the shorter Prajñāpāramitā sūtras are duplicated in the tantra sections of the Kangyur, four of these are classified as Action (kriyā) tantras, not because their themes are particularly tantric, but mainly because, in common with a large number of other sūtras and dhāraṇī texts in that section, they contain dhāraṇīs or mantras. The two that are placed with the Yoga tantras‍—the present text and The Principles of the Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred and Fifty Lines‍—are different because they have specifically tantric perspectives.

The equivalents of the works that in Tibet were classified as Yoga tantras, including the Paramādya cycle and the Adhyardha­śatikā Prajñā­pāramitā, became important in Chinese esoteric Buddhism and particularly in the Japanese Shingon tradition. Several Chinese translations of the Adhyardha­śatikā Prajñā­pāramitā were completed from the sixth century onward, and one of the Vajra­maṇḍālaṃkāra­tantra was completed in the tenth century. However, The Twenty-Five Gateways as a work by itself seems to have been unknown in China until recently, when it was translated into modern Chinese by the Kumarajiva Project.

No translators are mentioned in the sūtra’s colophon. The sūtra is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial-period inventories, and we can thus be confident that it was translated into Tibetan sometime between the late eighth and early ninth centuries.

An English translation of The Twenty-Five Gateways and a study of the shorter Prajñāpāramitā works can be found in Conze (1973). A French translation from the Tibetan by George Driessens was published in 1996.

With no Sanskrit version of The Twenty-Five Gateways extant as a complete text, the current translation was produced based on the witness preserved in the Degé Kangyur with reference to the variant readings noted in the Comparative Edition Kangyur and the Stok Palace Manuscript Kangyur. Of these variant witnesses, the Narthang text displays a wide range of untenable readings. Tomabechi’s Sanskrit edition of the Adhyardha­śatikā Prajñā­pāramitā proved useful in rendering the twenty-five gateways themselves.