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This latter stage in our work made it clear that the Tibetan text is indeed a translation that follows the Chinese very closely. Thus, comparison with the Chinese text made it possible to identify several scribal errors and translation inaccuracies in the Tibetan translation, which we then revised in the translation according to the Chinese.
Tib. yangs read as dbyangs according to the Yongle and Narthang variants of the Kangyur. Comparative Edition, page 191, note 6.
Here and throughout, the Tib. uses the tern yon tan, generally translated as “qualities” (i.e., Skt. guṇa) to translate Ch. 功德, rendering Skt. puṇya, which is commonly translated as “merit.” The six occurrences of Tib. bsod nams in this text correspond with Ch. 福, which has been explicitly translated here as “merit.” See Stein, 54–56.
In the Tibetan, this line is presented in two lines. We have joined them here to keep the four-line structure of the verses.
Ch. 勇猛善安住 supports the variant Tib. reading of dpa’ zhing bde bar gnas par byed over dar zhing . . . .
Ch. 不與一切法 suggests that Tib. chos thams cad bdag dang ni is a misspelling for chos thams cad dag dang ni.
Ch. 不計諸劫量 supports the reading of bskal pa’i tshad ni mi ’dzin pas over the variant skal ba’i tshad ni mi ’dzin pas. This reading also agrees with the relevant prose passage that is summarized here.
Ch. 乃乘於此乘 supports the variant reading of des ’dod theg pa ’di bzhon ’gyur (“such a one will be permitted to mount this vehicle”) over des gdod theg pa ’di bzhon ’gyur.
Ch. 若有有身見 suggests that ’jig rten lta here is an error for jig tshogs lta, as in the corresponding prose passage above.
Ch. 安樂而出離 suggests that Tib. gyes shes [var. gyis shig] in nges par ’byung bar gyis shes smros may be an error for dgyes shog.
Tib. su read as ni according to the Yongle, Narthang, and Lhasa (Zhol) editions of the Kangyur. Comparative Edition, page 231, note 17.
Tib. phyir mi ldog par mi ’gyur bas read as phyir ldog par ni mi ’gyur bas according to the Lhasa (Zhol) edition of the Kangyur. Comparative Edition, page 237, notes 17, 18.
Tib. mngon par zhon pa read as mngon par zhen pa according to the Yongle, Lithang, Peking, Narthang, Cone, and Lhasa (Zhol) editions of the Kangyur. Comparative Edition, page 241, note 9.
This verse only has three lines in the Tibetan. The final line has been added based on the Chinese.
Tib. ston read as sten according to the Lithang and Cone editions of the Kangyur. Comparative Edition, page 247, note 10.
This verse only has three lines in the Tibetan. The fourth line has been translated from the Chinese.
Tib. gyis read as gyi following the Yongle, Kangxi (Peking), Narthang, and Lhasa (Zhol) editions of the Kangyur. Comparative Edition, page 281, note 6.
“Great elephant” (Tib. klu chen; Skt. mahānaga) is a common epithet of the hearers. It is the name of one of the mythical elephants that support the earth. It can also be translated as “Great Serpent.” In either case, the name refers to strength and power.
Tib. chos sems read as chog sems following the Narthang and Lhasa (Zhol) editions of the Kangyur. Comparative Edition, page 297, note 9.
Ch. 一小劫 supports the variant reading Tib. bskal pa chung ngu’i bar over bskal pa chung ngu lnga’i bar.
Ch. 無親近 suggests that Tib. bstan par bya ba ci yang med should be read as bsten par bya ba . . . .
Here we follow the Chinese, which reads 以無邊印印一切法，一切分別而不可得，離分別故. This is easier to understand than the somewhat perplexing Tibetan translation of this line, which reads ’di ltar phyag rgya dpag tu med pas chos thams cad phyag rgyas btab pas rnam par rtog pa thams cad mi dmigs. If rendered literally, the Tibetan would translate as “By the sealing of all phenomena with the boundless seal, they do not apprehend all conceptualization.” The basic sense, made clearer in the Chinese, is that when phenomena are understood to lack any concrete boundaries, there is no basis for differentiating them.
In these two lines, the Tibetan translation renders the same Chinese term 欲 “desire” as the more positive-sounding ’dun pa in the first case and as the more negative ’dod pa in the second case, which does not make much sense as a reading of the Chinese. We have chosen to follow the Chinese and translate these two consistently. Additionally, we translate the "seal of compounding that results from desire" from the Chinese 欲相應和合之印. The Tibetan reads ’dun pa dang / mtshungs par ldan pa’i phyag rgya, which would translate as “the seal that is congruent with desire.” This does not account for the Chinese 和合, which we here render as “compounding.”
The translator is only identified in the Narthang and Lhasa (Zhol) editions of the Kangyur, and only the Narthang edition specifies that it was translated from the Chinese. Pedurma page 356, notes 13–14.
See glossary entry for “absence of marks.”
The ultimate absence of marks and signs in perceived objects; one of the three gateways of liberation.
In a general sense, samādhi can describe a number of different meditative states. In the Mahāyāna literature, in particular in the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, we find extensive lists of different samādhis, numbering over one hundred.
In a more restricted sense, and when understood as a mental state, samādhi is defined as the one-pointedness of the mind (cittaikāgratā), the ability to remain on the same object over long periods of time. The Drajor Bamponyipa (sgra sbyor bam po gnyis pa) commentary on the Mahāvyutpatti explains the term samādhi as referring to the instrument through which mind and mental states “get collected,” i.e., it is by the force of samādhi that the continuum of mind and mental states becomes collected on a single point of reference without getting distracted.
An attainment characteristic of the effortless and spontaneous wakefulness of the eighth ground of the bodhisattvas.
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.
A buddha from the past.
The primary interlocutor of the sūtra, lit. “Infinite Intelligence.”
Name of the bodhisattva Vīrasena in a later life.
The Sanskrit term means “the view that the body is real,” the Tibetan term can be translated as “the view of the perishing collection,” and the Chinese translates as “the view of the body.” It refers to viewing the “perishing” collection of momentary, transitory aggregates—the body—as a self.
Head of the “sixteen excellent men” (ṣoḍaśasatpuruṣa), a group of householder bodhisattvas present in the audience of many sūtras. He appears prominently in certain sūtras, such as The Samādhi of the Presence of the Buddhas (Pratyutpannabuddhasaṃmukhāvasthitasamādhisūtra, Toh 133) and is perhaps also the merchant of the same name who is the principal interlocutor in The Questions of Bhadrapāla the Merchant (Toh 83).
A being who is dedicated to the cultivation and fulfilment of the altruistic intention to attain perfect buddhahood, traversing the ten bodhisattva levels (daśabhūmi, sa bcu). Bodhisattvas purposely opt to remain within cyclic existence in order to liberate all sentient beings, instead of simply seeking personal freedom from suffering. In terms of the view, they realize both the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of phenomena.
Name of Vīrasena when he becomes a buddha.
A buddha from the past.
A bodhisattva in the Buddha’s assembly.
(1) A queen of King Sarvārthasiddha. (dpag med spos) (2) A bodhisattva disciple of King of the Lunar Lamp. (dpag med dbyangs)
A high-ranking deity presiding over a divine world; he is also considered to be the lord of the Sahā world (our universe). Though not considered a creator god in Buddhism, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two gods (the other being Indra/Śakra) said to have first exhorted the Buddha Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens found in the form realm over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought-after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Since there are many universes or world systems, there are also multiple Brahmās presiding over them. His most frequent epithets are “Lord of the Sahā World” (sahāṃpati) and Great Brahmā (mahābrahman).
A son of King Sarvārthasiddha.
Mindfulness, discrimination, diligence, joy, pliability, absorption, and equanimity.
A fully awakened being; when spelled with a capital letter it refers to the Buddha Śākyamuni, one of the Three Jewels, unless another buddha is specified.
Means “Periphery.” Name of mountain range that surrounds the world according to Buddhist cosmology.
In Buddhist usage, a general term for non-Buddhist religious mendicants, often occurring paired with Skt. parivrājaka in stock lists of followers of non-Buddhist traditions.
A buddha from the past.
Two different individuals in this sūtra: (1) a son of King Sarvārthasiddha and (2) a bodhisattva disciple of King of the Lunar Lamp.
Relinquishing negative acts in the present and the future and enhancing positive acts in the present and the future.
The buddha field of the Buddha King Who Transcends the Light of Mount Meru.
A state of mind characterized by joyful persistence when engaging in virtuous activity.
Controlled behavior in accordance with an ethical code of conduct.
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.
Correct view, intention, speech, actions, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and concentration. These eight are included in the thirty-seven factors of awakening.
The body of a buddha visible to ordinary sentient beings.
Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.
A son of King Sarvārthasiddha.
A queen of King Sarvārthasiddha.
Name of Heroic Strength when he becomes a buddha.
Thirty-seven practices that lead the practitioner to the awakened state: the four applications of mindfulness, the four thorough relinquishments, the four bases of supernatural power, the five powers, the five strengths, the eightfold path, and the seven branches of awakening.
A buddha from the past.
Mindfulness of the body, feelings, the mind, and phenomena.
One-pointed intention, one-pointed thought, one-pointed diligence, and one-pointed investigation.
Four gods who live on the lower slopes (fourth level) of Mount Meru in the eponymous Heaven of the Four Great Kings (Cāturmahārājika, rgyal chen bzhi’i ris) and guard the four cardinal directions. Each is the leader of a nonhuman class of beings living in his realm. They are Dhṛtarāṣṭra, ruling the gandharvas in the east; Virūḍhaka, ruling over the kumbhāṇḍas in the south; Virūpākṣa, ruling the nāgas in the west; and Vaiśravaṇa (also known as Kubera) ruling the yakṣas in the north. Also referred to as Guardians of the World or World Protectors (lokapāla, ’jig rten skyong ba).
A Sino-Tibetan translator during the ninth century; the translator of The Armor Array.
The same as the Bodhisattva Vehicle, whose practitioners aim at complete buddhahood.
A disciple of the Buddha; in the sūtras, this term refers to the followers of the Hīnayāna, or the Lesser Vehicle.
A bodhisattva disciple of King Who Transcends the Light of Mount Meru.
The buddha field of the Buddha All-Illuminating.
The name of the southern continent in Buddhist cosmology, which can signify either the known human world, or more specifically the Indian subcontinent, literally “the jambu island/continent.” Jambu is the name used for a range of plum-like fruits from trees belonging to the genus Szygium, particularly Szygium jambos and Szygium cumini, and it has commonly been rendered “rose apple,” although “black plum” may be a less misleading term. Among various explanations given for the continent being so named, one (in the Abhidharmakośa) is that a jambu tree grows in its northern mountains beside Lake Anavatapta, mythically considered the source of the four great rivers of India, and that the continent is therefore named from the tree or the fruit. Jambudvīpa has the Vajrāsana at its center and is the only continent upon which buddhas attain awakening.
A place where the Buddha often resided, within the Bamboo Park (Veṇuvana) outside Rajagṛha that had been donated to him. The name is said to have arisen when, one day, King Bimbisāra fell asleep after a romantic liaison in the Bamboo Park. While the king rested, his consort wandered off. A snake (the reincarnation of the park’s previous owner, who still resented the king’s acquisition of the park) approached with malign intentions. Through the king’s tremendous merit, a gathering of kalandaka—crows or other birds according to Tibetan renderings, but some Sanskrit and Pali sources suggest flying squirrels—miraculously appeared and began squawking. Their clamor alerted the king’s consort to the danger, who rushed back and hacked the snake to pieces, thereby saving the king’s life. King Bimbisāra then named the spot Kalandakanivāpa (“Kalandakas’ Feeding Ground”), sometimes (though not in the Vinayavastu) given as Kalandakanivāsa (“Kalandakas’ Abode”) in their honor. The story is told in the Saṃghabhedavastu (Toh 1, ch.17, Degé Kangyur vol.4, folio 77.b et seq.). For more details and other origin stories, see the 84000 Knowledge Base article Veṇuvana and Kalandakanivāpa.
A buddha from the past.
The name of bodhisattva Cloud Voice when he becomes a buddha.
A buddha from the past.
A buddha from the past.
While this term is used as a name for the ancient materialist Skt. lokacārvāka school, it can also refer to non-Buddhist extremists in general.
’phags pa go cha’i bkod pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Toh 51, Degé Kangyur, vol. 40 (dkon brtsegs, kha), folios 70.b–140.a.
’phags pa go cha’i bkod pa bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. 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. 40, pp. 188–356.
pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag [Denkarma]. Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur, vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Bei jia zhuangyan hui 被甲莊嚴會. Taishō 310 (7).
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die lHan kar ma: ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Longchen Rabjam (klong chen rab ’byams). rdzogs pa chen po sems nyid ngal gso’i ’grel ba shing rta chen po zhey bya ba. In: rdzogs pa chen po ngal gso skor gsum. zhang kang then ma dpe skrun khang. 2005.
Pawo Tsuglag Trengwa (dpa’ bo gtsug lag phreng ba). byang chub sems dpa’i spyod pa la ’jug pa’i rnam par bshad pa theg chen chos kyi rgya mtsho zab rgyas mtha’ yas pa’i snying po. Xining: mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2004.
Dakpo Tashi Namgyal (dwags po bkra shis rnam rgyal), translated by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa. Mahāmudrā—The Moonlight—Quintessence of Mind and Meditation. Boston: Insight Publications, 2006.
Buswell, Robert E., Jr., and Donald S. Lopez, Jr. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013.
Stein, R.A. “Tibetica Antiqua I: The Two Vocabularies of Indo-Tibetan and Sino-Tibetan Translations in the Dunhuang Manuscripts.” In Arthur P. McKeown, trans. and ed., Rolf Stein’s Tibetica Antiqua. Boston: Brill, 2010, 1–96.
The Teaching of the Armor Array describes a dialog between the Buddha Śākyamuni and the bodhisattva Anantamati. The sūtra is primarily concerned with the great armor, a quality related to the perfection of insight. As such, it is no conventional sort of armor. Rather, donning it involves giving up all grasping at phenomena, and engaging diligently on the path, with insight into the nature of phenomena. The Buddha and Anantamati also discuss the nature of the Great Vehicle and the great path, all the while emphasizing their emptiness and lack of marks.
This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Timothy Hinkle translated the text from Tibetan into English and wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor compared the draft translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text. Felin Chung compared the work against the Chinese and compiled the Chinese glossary. Lastly, Josh Capitanio likewise compared the translation against the Chinese and made further edits and revisions to the translation.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Qing Dao Zheng Jian Group, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
The Teaching of the Armor Array takes place in Veṇuvana, the famous “Bamboo Grove” monastery on the outskirts of the ancient city of Rājagṛha, where the Buddha Śākyamuni and his community of monks took up residence during several rainy season retreats. This grove was offered to the Buddha by Bimbisāra, the king of Magadha, and it is a location where the Buddha is said to have taught numerous discourses. As is customary in sūtra literature, the Buddha delivers his Dharma teaching at the request of someone who poses a particular question. In this sūtra, the questioner is a bodhisattva named Anantamati, who asks the Buddha numerous questions about the Great Vehicle path, most notably about a type of metaphorical armor called the great armor. In his reply, the Buddha explains that donning the great armor has two dimensions: (1) a constant diligence in bodhisattva conduct in service to beings over countless eons, and (2) the relinquishment of any forms of objective fixation upon or apprehension of phenomena. As such, the great armor has both relative and ultimate aspects, a fact that various Tibetan commentators have also highlighted. Still, the great armor is primarily described as signless, formless, nonconceptual, and indescribable. It is precisely by virtue of not apprehending phenomena, the Buddha explains, that the great armor is able to shield its bearer. Given that it lies outside the limitations of conditioned existence, it offers protection from all conditioned forms of harm. Nevertheless, to describe its protective power, the Buddha draws significantly on various military analogies.
Apart from the great armor, the sūtra also discusses the Great Vehicle and what it terms the great path. The Buddha emphasizes that the Great Vehicle can accommodate all beings easily due to its absolute nature, which accords with the realm of phenomena. As for the great path, it is likewise due to the absence of any apprehension of phenomena that it can be traversed. Thus, as with the great armor, the ultimate nature of the Great Vehicle and the great path is emphasized. It is precisely because of their relationship to the ultimate truth, namely that they rely and depend on nothing, that they can accommodate and transport all beings on the relative plane. To illustrate the value of the great armor, the Great Vehicle, and the great path, the Buddha recalls a past eon in which a universal monarch named Sarvārthasiddha renounced his kingdom to receive and accomplish these teachings. The sūtra concludes with the Buddha describing in detail how bodhisattvas should be free from conceptual activity to carry out unlimited conduct. He explains that only by observing nothing and relying on nothing will bodhisattvas be in accord with the realm of phenomena, and thus don the great armor.
The Teaching of the Armor Array is the seventh sūtra among the forty-nine titles included in the Heap of Jewels (Skt. Ratnakūṭa) collection in the Degé Kangyur. Only a few of the texts contained in the Heap of Jewels are extant in Sanskrit, and this scripture is not one of them. The Tibetan translation, which we have rendered into English here, was completed in the early translation period and is listed in the early ninth-century Denkarma (Tib. ldan dkar ma) catalog. However, unlike most of the sūtras translated at the time, this text was translated from Chinese rather than Sanskrit. While the Degé edition of the Kangyur does not specify a translator, the Narthang edition states that it was translated from the Chinese by Gö Chödrup (ca. 755–849), who was a prolific Sino-Tibetan translator active in the Dunhuang region during the ninth century. Besides rendering The Armor Array into Tibetan, he also translated many other sūtras and dhāraṇīs from Chinese. The Chinese canon contains only one translation of The Armor Array (Bei jia zhuangyan hui, 被甲莊嚴會, Taishō 310 [7]), constituting the seventh text in the full Chinese translation of the Heap of Jewels, which was produced during the early eighth century
In Tibet, The Armor Array has been cited by several Tibetan masters in their presentations of the six perfections. For example, Longchen Rabjam (1308–64) refers to The Armor Array as scriptural evidence that liberation comes swiftly when skillful means is merged with insight into the nature of phenomena. Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa (1504–66) cites the sūtra in his renowned commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra as part of his explanation of armor-like discipline. The text was also cited by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal (1511–87) as an Indic source of Mahāmudrā teachings. Although the sūtra has been cited by Tibetan scholars of many traditions, to our knowledge the text has not previously received any attention in modern scholarship.
This English translation has been produced based on the Degé block print with reference to the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma). Subsequently, the translation and the Tibetan sources were compared with the Chinese translation and the English translation was edited in light of this comparison.
[B1] Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in Veṇuvana, at the Kalandakanivāpa, near Rājagṛha, together with his great community of monks and bodhisattva great beings, all of whom had gathered from myriad buddha fields. This immeasurably large assembly had gathered around the Blessed One and was respectfully serving and honoring him. Among those included in the assembly at that time was a bodhisattva great being named Anantamati. He rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. With his palms together, he bowed toward the Blessed One and said, “Blessed One, I have a few doubts. If I were to ask the Thus-Gone One some questions, would he be so kind as to teach me?”
The bodhisattva great being Anantamati then spoke the following verses:
The Blessed One then addressed the bodhisattva great being Anantamati, saying, “Anantamati, since you have now asked me so fervently, how many questions do you intend to ask the Thus-Gone One? If you have any questions, I will answer them.”
The Blessed One then spoke the following verses:
The bodhisattva great being Anantamati then said to the Blessed One, “I would like to ask the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, and perfect Buddha about a few doubts I have concerning the Bodhisattva Vehicle. How is it that virtuous beings, having distanced themselves from fear, with single-pointed, correct mindfulness, don the great armor for the sake of all sentient beings, adorn themselves with the great armor, generate great love and act respectfully, and carefully mount the Great Vehicle, taking the level and straight road of great purity—free from bumps, tiles, stones, thorns, the miscellaneous rubbish of the various evils, and the thickets of the various views, free from poisonous thorns and the pitfalls of the afflictions, free from bondage, attachment, fear, and hardship—proceeding straight ahead with no deviations on the level road of suchness, the unobstructed road, cutting down the thickets of the various views, tearing all snares, driving away darkness and obscurity, dispelling attachment, and abandoning involvement, and thus proceeding toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening? These are the points that I would like to ask the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, and perfect Buddha. What kind of great beings must don what sort of armor, so that, by donning this armor, they mount the Great Vehicle and set out upon this great path? Blessed One, you should explain the bodhisattva great beings’ array of armor, how they abide stably on the path, abide stably in the principle of phenomena, and are skilled in the principle of phenomena; and how, due to abiding in this skill, they are capable of skillfully illuminating the principle of various phenomena. Having illuminated phenomena, without abandoning the armor, they mount the Great Vehicle, and with the power of irreversible diligence, mindfulness free from forgetfulness, and the power of continuous insight, they swiftly accomplish skilled insight into the principle of the realm of phenomena, go to the site of awakening, turn the wheel of Dharma, and preach Dharma to various sentient beings, so that all sentient beings are liberated from birth and death according to their wishes and inclinations.
“Blessed One, it is for the sake of benefitting beings and bringing them happiness through the Great Vehicle that I am asking the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, and perfect Buddha about this. Blessed One, given that the Thus-Gone One knows and sees all, please reveal to us the teaching through which bodhisattva great beings accomplish the absorption of the oceanic seal of all phenomena and, by the power of attaining that absorption, remain irreversible until they fully awaken to buddhahood. Blessed One, the knowledge and vision of the Thus-Gone One possess amazing and marvelous qualities of a perfect nature. They are medicinal insight for the knowledge of all beings. Therefore, it is for that reason that I am making this request.”
The bodhisattva great being Anantamati then spoke the following verses:
The Teaching of the Armor Array describes a dialog between the Buddha Śākyamuni and the bodhisattva Anantamati. The sūtra is primarily concerned with the great armor, a quality related to the perfection of insight. As such, it is no conventional sort of armor. Rather, donning it involves giving up all grasping at phenomena, and engaging diligently on the path, with insight into the nature of phenomena. The Buddha and Anantamati also discuss the nature of the Great Vehicle and the great path, all the while emphasizing their emptiness and lack of marks.
This text was translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. Timothy Hinkle translated the text from Tibetan into English and wrote the introduction. Andreas Doctor compared the draft translation with the original Tibetan and edited the text. Felin Chung compared the work against the Chinese and compiled the Chinese glossary. Lastly, Josh Capitanio likewise compared the translation against the Chinese and made further edits and revisions to the translation.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Qing Dao Zheng Jian Group, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
The Teaching of the Armor Array takes place in Veṇuvana, the famous “Bamboo Grove” monastery on the outskirts of the ancient city of Rājagṛha, where the Buddha Śākyamuni and his community of monks took up residence during several rainy season retreats. This grove was offered to the Buddha by Bimbisāra, the king of Magadha, and it is a location where the Buddha is said to have taught numerous discourses. As is customary in sūtra literature, the Buddha delivers his Dharma teaching at the request of someone who poses a particular question. In this sūtra, the questioner is a bodhisattva named Anantamati, who asks the Buddha numerous questions about the Great Vehicle path, most notably about a type of metaphorical armor called the great armor. In his reply, the Buddha explains that donning the great armor has two dimensions: (1) a constant diligence in bodhisattva conduct in service to beings over countless eons, and (2) the relinquishment of any forms of objective fixation upon or apprehension of phenomena. As such, the great armor has both relative and ultimate aspects, a fact that various Tibetan commentators have also highlighted. Still, the great armor is primarily described as signless, formless, nonconceptual, and indescribable. It is precisely by virtue of not apprehending phenomena, the Buddha explains, that the great armor is able to shield its bearer. Given that it lies outside the limitations of conditioned existence, it offers protection from all conditioned forms of harm. Nevertheless, to describe its protective power, the Buddha draws significantly on various military analogies.
Apart from the great armor, the sūtra also discusses the Great Vehicle and what it terms the great path. The Buddha emphasizes that the Great Vehicle can accommodate all beings easily due to its absolute nature, which accords with the realm of phenomena. As for the great path, it is likewise due to the absence of any apprehension of phenomena that it can be traversed. Thus, as with the great armor, the ultimate nature of the Great Vehicle and the great path is emphasized. It is precisely because of their relationship to the ultimate truth, namely that they rely and depend on nothing, that they can accommodate and transport all beings on the relative plane. To illustrate the value of the great armor, the Great Vehicle, and the great path, the Buddha recalls a past eon in which a universal monarch named Sarvārthasiddha renounced his kingdom to receive and accomplish these teachings. The sūtra concludes with the Buddha describing in detail how bodhisattvas should be free from conceptual activity to carry out unlimited conduct. He explains that only by observing nothing and relying on nothing will bodhisattvas be in accord with the realm of phenomena, and thus don the great armor.
The Teaching of the Armor Array is the seventh sūtra among the forty-nine titles included in the Heap of Jewels (Skt. Ratnakūṭa) collection in the Degé Kangyur. Only a few of the texts contained in the Heap of Jewels are extant in Sanskrit, and this scripture is not one of them. The Tibetan translation, which we have rendered into English here, was completed in the early translation period and is listed in the early ninth-century Denkarma (Tib. ldan dkar ma) catalog. However, unlike most of the sūtras translated at the time, this text was translated from Chinese rather than Sanskrit. While the Degé edition of the Kangyur does not specify a translator, the Narthang edition states that it was translated from the Chinese by Gö Chödrup (ca. 755–849), who was a prolific Sino-Tibetan translator active in the Dunhuang region during the ninth century. Besides rendering The Armor Array into Tibetan, he also translated many other sūtras and dhāraṇīs from Chinese. The Chinese canon contains only one translation of The Armor Array (Bei jia zhuangyan hui, 被甲莊嚴會, Taishō 310 [7]), constituting the seventh text in the full Chinese translation of the Heap of Jewels, which was produced during the early eighth century
In Tibet, The Armor Array has been cited by several Tibetan masters in their presentations of the six perfections. For example, Longchen Rabjam (1308–64) refers to The Armor Array as scriptural evidence that liberation comes swiftly when skillful means is merged with insight into the nature of phenomena. Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa (1504–66) cites the sūtra in his renowned commentary on the Bodhicaryāvatāra as part of his explanation of armor-like discipline. The text was also cited by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal (1511–87) as an Indic source of Mahāmudrā teachings. Although the sūtra has been cited by Tibetan scholars of many traditions, to our knowledge the text has not previously received any attention in modern scholarship.
This English translation has been produced based on the Degé block print with reference to the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma). Subsequently, the translation and the Tibetan sources were compared with the Chinese translation and the English translation was edited in light of this comparison.
[B1] Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in Veṇuvana, at the Kalandakanivāpa, near Rājagṛha, together with his great community of monks and bodhisattva great beings, all of whom had gathered from myriad buddha fields. This immeasurably large assembly had gathered around the Blessed One and was respectfully serving and honoring him. Among those included in the assembly at that time was a bodhisattva great being named Anantamati. He rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, and knelt on his right knee. With his palms together, he bowed toward the Blessed One and said, “Blessed One, I have a few doubts. If I were to ask the Thus-Gone One some questions, would he be so kind as to teach me?”
The bodhisattva great being Anantamati then spoke the following verses:
The Blessed One then addressed the bodhisattva great being Anantamati, saying, “Anantamati, since you have now asked me so fervently, how many questions do you intend to ask the Thus-Gone One? If you have any questions, I will answer them.”
The Blessed One then spoke the following verses:
The bodhisattva great being Anantamati then said to the Blessed One, “I would like to ask the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, and perfect Buddha about a few doubts I have concerning the Bodhisattva Vehicle. How is it that virtuous beings, having distanced themselves from fear, with single-pointed, correct mindfulness, don the great armor for the sake of all sentient beings, adorn themselves with the great armor, generate great love and act respectfully, and carefully mount the Great Vehicle, taking the level and straight road of great purity—free from bumps, tiles, stones, thorns, the miscellaneous rubbish of the various evils, and the thickets of the various views, free from poisonous thorns and the pitfalls of the afflictions, free from bondage, attachment, fear, and hardship—proceeding straight ahead with no deviations on the level road of suchness, the unobstructed road, cutting down the thickets of the various views, tearing all snares, driving away darkness and obscurity, dispelling attachment, and abandoning involvement, and thus proceeding toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening? These are the points that I would like to ask the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, and perfect Buddha. What kind of great beings must don what sort of armor, so that, by donning this armor, they mount the Great Vehicle and set out upon this great path? Blessed One, you should explain the bodhisattva great beings’ array of armor, how they abide stably on the path, abide stably in the principle of phenomena, and are skilled in the principle of phenomena; and how, due to abiding in this skill, they are capable of skillfully illuminating the principle of various phenomena. Having illuminated phenomena, without abandoning the armor, they mount the Great Vehicle, and with the power of irreversible diligence, mindfulness free from forgetfulness, and the power of continuous insight, they swiftly accomplish skilled insight into the principle of the realm of phenomena, go to the site of awakening, turn the wheel of Dharma, and preach Dharma to various sentient beings, so that all sentient beings are liberated from birth and death according to their wishes and inclinations.
“Blessed One, it is for the sake of benefitting beings and bringing them happiness through the Great Vehicle that I am asking the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, and perfect Buddha about this. Blessed One, given that the Thus-Gone One knows and sees all, please reveal to us the teaching through which bodhisattva great beings accomplish the absorption of the oceanic seal of all phenomena and, by the power of attaining that absorption, remain irreversible until they fully awaken to buddhahood. Blessed One, the knowledge and vision of the Thus-Gone One possess amazing and marvelous qualities of a perfect nature. They are medicinal insight for the knowledge of all beings. Therefore, it is for that reason that I am making this request.”
The bodhisattva great being Anantamati then spoke the following verses: