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O B S E RVAT I O N S O N T R A N S L AT I O N F R O M T H E C L A S S I C A L

T IB E TA N L A N G U A G E I N T O E U R O P E A N L A N G U A G E S

byALEX WAYMAN

Columbia University in the C ity of N ew York

A n increasing num ber of scholars a re turn ing the i r a t ten t ion to Tibe tans tudies , som e having prop er ly com e to im agine by the re la tive ly fewtrans la tions o f m ajor wo rks tha t there a re un to ld r iches of re lig iousl i te ra ture in the T ibe tan language . The d i ff icu l ty of these works , rep le tewi th subt le Buddhis t t e rminology, ra i ses a se r ious ques t ion about theidea ls and s tandards of trans la t ion tha t shou ld be employed . I t is there .fore app ropr ia te to devote an essay to c la r ify cer ta in ac tua l it ies o f sucht rans la t ion end eavor. Th e d iscuss ion will p rocee d unde r these headings :A. The T ibe tan Lang uage: Genera l i ti es ; B . Some Pr inc ip les of Trans-la t ing f rom Classical Tibe tan ; C. The In t ro du ctor y Counse l of theSarva rahasya- t an t ra ; D. Tsof i -kha-pa 's "Auspic ious Prep ara t ion " ; E .

Apropos Trans l a tion o f Some M adhy am ika Passages .

A. THE TIBETAN LAN GUA GE: GENERALITIES

All the A sian language s have their diff icult ies reg arding t ran slat ion intoEu rope an languages . Tibe tan shares wi th Chinese (they are the so-ca l led "m onosyl lab ic" languages) the fea ture tha t jus t l earn ing the gram -mat i ca l ru l es - - a l t hough e s sen ti al - - does no t ge t one ve ry f a r i n t heclassical language. O ne m ust read a lot of these languages, enjoy doin gso, an d repr od uc e passages w hen eve r possible . Rese archers into Tibe tanl it e r a tu re were fu r the r hand icapped fo r a l ong t ime by inadequa te r e f e r-ence wo rks a nd scarc ity of ins truc t iona l centers ; for tuna te ly there hasbeen cons iderable improvement on th i s score in recent years .~

Classical Tibe tan h as a p ecul iar i ty tha t i t is ful l of s tand ardize d term sda t ing back to t he ea r ly n in th cen tu ry compos i t i on o f t he Sansk r i t -

1 Cf. W. Simon, "Tibetan Lexicographyand E tymologicalResearch",Transactionso f the Philological Society, 196 4,pp. 85-107.

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162 ALEX WAYMAN

T i b e t a n d i c t i o n a r y c a l l e d t h eMahf~vyutpatti. T h e t e x ts o f t h e T i b e t a n

B u d d h i s t c a n o n , t r a n s l a t e d a l m o s t e n t i re l y f r o m S a n s k r i t i n a s t r ic t lyl i t e r a l f a s h i o n ~ a n d g r o u p e d i n t o t h e t w o c o l l e c t i o n s c a l l e d th eKanjura n d Tanjur, h a v e a s o m e w h a t a r t i f i c i a l c h a r a c t e r o f l a n g u a g e . T h e r e i st h e a d v a n t a g e t h a t l e a r n e d T i b e t a n s h a v e r e a d t h e s e c a n o n i c a l t e x ts

c e n t u r y a f t e r c e n t u r y w i t h g o o d u n d e r s t a n d i n g , w h i l e t h e i r s p o k e n l a n -

g u a g e c h a n g e d 2 B u t t h e t r a n s l a t o r G u e n t h e r w r i te s , " .. . I h a v e t r i ed t o

r e m a i n a s c l os e as p o s s i b l e t o t h e a s s o c i a t i o n s t h es e t e r m s e v o k e i n s p o k e n

T i b e t a n a n d t o t h e i d e a s t h e y c o n v e y t o t h e T i b e t a n l is te n e r. '4 H o w -

e v er , w h e n m y w i fe a n d I w e re in D h a r m s a l a i n S p r i n g 1 97 0, M r s . P e m a

G y a l p o , 5 s i st e r o f H i s H o l i n e s s t h e D a l a i L a m a , r e p e a t e d t o v i s i t o rs

t h a t h e r c o m m a n d o f s p o k e n T i b e t a n h a s n o t h e l p e d h e r i n t h e s li g h te s t

t o u n d e r s t a n d a n y T i b e t a n B u d d h i s t t ex t . O f c o u r s e , a b i l i t y i n s p o k e n

T i b e t a n e n a b l e s o n e t o c o m m u n i c a t e w i t h a n a t i v e s p e a k e r ; a n d i f t h a t

n a t i v e is a n e x p e r t o n a p a r t i c u l a r s u b j e c t, o n e c a n d e r i v e m o r e i n f o r m a -

t i o n , sa y o n a B u d d h i s t te x t. T h a t c o m m u n i c a t i o n i s g e n e r a l l y a w o n d e r -

f u l t h i n g f o r h u m a n r e l a ti o n s , b u t t h e p r o b l e m o f t r a n s l a t in g t h e t e c h n i c a l

w o r k s o f B u d d h i s m i s a d if f er e n t m a t t e r . A T i b e t a n m o n k s h o u l d n o t

Long ago I found ou t , in the course o f p repar ing the w orkAnalysis of the Sr~vaka-bMtmi Manuscript (Berkeley, 1961), that theYogacarabh~tmi vers ions in bo th Tibe tanand Chinese t r ans la t ions o f Asaf iga 's wo rk a re so l i t e ra lly c lose to each o the r byavo id ing any ex t ra express ions , tha t one cou ld se t up a f rac t iona l p ropor t ion be tweenthe two tex ts and accord ing ly f rom the p lace in the Tibe tan t r ans la t ion p red ic t ve ryclosely the equivalent spot in Hsi ian- tsan g 's Chinese t ransla t ion. Cf . Ni ls Simonsso n,Indo-tibetische Smdien (Uppsa la , 1957) , r egard ing some of the m ethods o f t r ans la t ionin to Tibe tan f rom the Sanskr i t language . Am ong g lossar ies tha t expose these t r ans -la t ion m ethods , e spec ia lly no tewor thy i s F r iedr ich W el le r 'sTibetisch-SanskritischerIndex zum Bodhicary6vatara, Heft I (Ber l in , 1952) and He ft I I (Ber l in , 1955). Alsowor th ment ion ing i s Gad j in M. Nagao ' sIndex to the Mahayana-SMralarhkdra, P a r tOn e (Tokyo , 1958) and Pa r t Tw o (Tokyo , 1961) .

3 T h e g r a n d l a m a o f M o n g o l i a n a m e d D i l o w a G e g e n H u t u k h t u o n c e t o l d t h e p re s e n twr i t e r in B erkeley, Ca l ifo rn ia , tha t he ha d never read theBodhi Miir, t h e M o n g o l i a nt rans la t ion o f T sof i -kha-pa 'sLain rim chen rno, by the founder of h is sect , a l thoughof course he had read the w ork in the o r ig ina l Tibe tan , and a l though h i s na tive spokenlanguage was Mongol ian . C lass ica l Tibe tan became a sace rdo ta l l anguage in whichthe sac red sc r ip tu res o f Tibe tan Buddhism were s tud ied by Tibe tan and M ongol ianmo nks , and even a t t imes by some Chinese Buddhis t s. As such , i t was c lea r ly in -dependen t o f mod ern sp oken l anguages .

Herber t V. Guen ther,The Royal Song of Saraha (Seatt le, 1969), p. vi .Th i s s ing le repor t f rom a Tibe tan i s no t necessa ry to d i sp rove Dr. Gu en ther ' s

thesis abou t the spo ken language, which is baseless on other ground s (cf. n . 3 , above) .How ever, I canno t em phasize too s t rongly that , despi te his ins is tence, the Tib etanspoken l anguage i s no t r espons ib le , e .g. fo r h i s p re fe rence o f the ina ppropr ia te wo rd"mot i l i ty" over "wind" to t r ans la te Tibe tanrlu~ (Skt . vayu) in The Life and Teachingsof N6ropa (Ox ford, 1963). A nd s ince the wordvayu i s f requent ly used in the plural ,for exam ple , in the Ta ntr ic doctr ines descended f rom the o ld Upani.sads ab out these"winds" , the w ord "m ot i l ity" appears even more awkw ard .

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TRANSLATION OF CLASSICAL TIBETAN 163

be held responsible for the possession, or tack of competency in the

classical Tibetan language by the translators or would-be translators.That is, a mere elementary ability to read the classical Tibetan languageis not compe nsat ed for by talking to a native. 6

As a measure of adequate training in the classical language, there isthe Japanese photographic reprint of the Peking edition of the TibetancanonY This edition in Western format is of extraordinary value forresearch. Yet I have heard a criticism that there are ma ny unreadabl espots. Fo r the most part, this criticism can be discounted. The phot o-graphic reduction has practically obliterated the separating dots between

the Tibe tan syllables. But anyone sk_illed in reading Tibetan does no tdepend on those dots, so much of that criticism is an unwitting confes-sion of insufficient skill. Thus, to read classical Tibeta n of the canoni caltype, one should have recognition of Tibetan compounds and typicalphrases to ensure that the mere nonvisibility of those separating dotsdoes not impair the utilization of a text.

The translator should be aware of the nature of Tibetan Buddhism.It has been predominantly a commentarial or lineage-oriented religion.The educated Tibetan Buddhist monk ordinarily would not claim profi-ciency in any primary text, particularly one in verse form -- like theA b h i s a m a y ~ l a . m k ~ r aof the P r a j ~ @ ~ r a m i t ~ literature -- unless he hadsufficiently studied the comme ntari al exegesis of that text. In practicethis meant that a number of K a n j u r texts with no available commentariesin the Ta n j u r were hardly read at all, because the monks could not trustthemselves to understand those works under such circumstances. It isnot that they are incapable of understanding isolated texts; rather it isa case of lacking lineage permission.

Therefore, it is not necessary, as has sometimes been tried, to recon-struct the 'origi nal' Sanskrit of the Tibetan tr anslated fro m Sanskrit. s

6 Let this point not be misconstrued! Students of the Tibetan language should tryto meet and communicate with learned Tibetan natives. The principle here beingalluded to holds in a wider context but especially with Asian languages. It has fre-quently happened that a Westerner with a smattering of an Asian language thinkshe can collaborate with a native who knows a little of his European language, totranslate a work into his own European language. This is folly. For example, a Tibe-tan monk should not have to vouch for the English equivalents of Buddhist wordsif the translation is into English, let alone English syntax.7 The Tibetan Tripitaka, Pe kin g edition ... .repr. under the supervision of the OtaniUniversity, Kyoto, vols. 1-168 (Tokyo-Kyoto, 1955-1961), referred to by abbrevia-tion P T T.s Of course, it is as proper to translate Tibetan into Sanskrit as into any other lan-guage, and what was sometimes termed "reconstruction" was in fact a translationback into Sanskrit, the language from which the Tibetan text had been translated.

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A s i d e f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t i t is v i r t u a l ly i m p o s s i b le t o r e c o n s t r u c t e x a c t ly,

the thes i s tha t i t i s necessa ry reduces to the absurd i ty tha t the Tibe tansc a n n o t u n d e r s t a n d a n y o f t h o s e pa s sa g es f o r w a n t o f r e c o n st r u c ti n g t h ee q u i v a l e n t S an s k r it . B u t i n f a c t i t s h o w s t h a t t h e t r a n s l a t o r d o e s n o tk n o w c l a ss ic a l Ti b e t a n a s a n in d e p e n d e n t l a n g u a g e . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d ,s i n c e t h e c a n o n w a s t r a n s l a t e d f r o m S a n s k r i t , a t r a n s l a t o r s h o u l d c o n -su l t such a re fe rence work as theMahSvyutpattiwhich es tab l i shes theSan skr i t -Tibe tan equ iva lences fo r techn ica l t e rms . T ha t is , he need no tpre tend tha t these t echn ica l t e rms in Tibe tan have a spec ia l s ign i f i cancei n t h e m s e l v e s i n d e p e n d e n t o f t h e c o n n o t a t i o n o f a p p e a r i n g r e p e a t e d l y

i n B u d d h i s t w o r k s t r a n s l a t e d f r o m S a n s k r i t .I n a d d i t i o n t o t h a t c a n o n , e v e n t u a l ly a n a t i v e B u d d h i s t l i te r a t u r e

a r o s e w i t h s t y le s o f w r i ti n g q u i t e d i f fe r e n t f r o m w h a t i s e n c o u n t e r e d i nth e Kanjura n d Tanjuran d re f lec t ing the v iews o f the va r iou s Tibe tansect s. In fac t , na t ive Tibe ta n wr i t ing has specia l p rob lem s fo r the t r ans -l a t o r t h a t h e d o e s n o t o r d i n a r i l y e n c o u n t e r i n t r a n s l a t i n g m a t e r i a l f r o mthe can on . In th i s case , i t i s qu i t e a d i ffe ren t m at te r to t r an s la te work so f o n e r a t h e r t h a n a n o t h e r Ti b e t a n s c h o o l. I n t h e ca s e o f t h e G e l u g p asect , fou nd ed by T sof l -kha-pa (1357-1419) , the l i t tl e t ex t by h im t rans -la ted in th i s e ssay wi l l c l ea r ly show how h i s schoo l i s founded on theTi b e t a n e q u i v a le n c e s o f S a n s k r it B u d d h i s m . T h e r e f o r e , w h e n t r a n s -l a t in g w o r k s o f t h is s c h o o l , it is a g a i n n e c e s s a r y t o b e a r i n m i n d t h ee s t a b l i s h e d S a n s k r i t - Ti b e t a n t e r m s , a s t h o u g h o n e w e r e r e a d i n gKanjuro r Tanjurt ex t s. H o w e v e r, w h e n i t c o m e s to o t h e r Ti b e t a n s ec ts w h e r eo t h e r i n fl u e nc e s m a y h a v e e n t e r e d in , it m a y n o t b e t h e e a s e t h a t i m p o r-t a n t t e r m s r e fl e ct S a n s k r i t B u d d h i s t o ri g in a l s. T h e t r a n s l a t o r s w h o w o r ko n t e x t s o f Ti b e t a n s ec ts o t h e r t h a n t h e G e l u g p a c a n d e c i d e o n t h a t f o r

t h e m s e lv e s i n c o n s u l t a t i o n w i t h t h e l e a r n e d Ti b e t a n s o f t h o s e p a r t i c u l a rt r a d i t i o n s ?

S o f a r t h e k i n d s o f T i b e t a n b o o k s t r a n s la t e d in t o E u r o p e a n l a n g u ag e s h a v e b e e ne i th e r w o r k s p o p u l a r a m o n g a ll T i b e ta n s , s u c h as t h e G e s a r S a g a , th e T i b e t a n B o o ko f th e D e a d , M i l a r e p a , a n d T h e B l u e A n n a l s ; o r w o r k s o f t h e R f ii f l- m a - p a ( t h e o l ds e ct ) a n d t h e B k a ' - B rg y u d - p a , s u c h a s P a d m a s a m b h a v a , t h e S r i - C a k r a s a r 0 v a r a t ex t sp u b l i s h e d as Vo l. V I I o f A r t h u r A v a l o n ' s Ta n t r a s e ri es , a n d S g a m - p o - p a ; a n d e v e nw o r k s o f t h e B o n - p o - - i n c o n t r as t w i t h w o r k s o f th e G e l u g p a s e ct , a l t h o u g h m u c hi s k n o w n o f Ts o f l - k h a - p a ' s li fe . T h e r e a s o n i s t h a t , p r i o r t o t h e r e c e n t e x o d u s f r o mTi b e t o f l ea r n e d m o n k s , We s t e r n e r s s u c h a s W. Y. E v a n s - W e n t z w h o c o n t a c t e dTi b e t a n s n e a r t h e Ti b e t a n b o r d e r o n t h e I n d i a n s i d e , g e n e r a l l y h a d g o o d r e l a t i o n sw i t h r e p r e s e n t a ti v e s o f s ec ts o t h e r t h a n t h e G e l u g p a . S i n c e t h e G e l u g p a w a s t h ep r e d o m i n a n t s e c t i n C e n t r a l Ti b e t a n d h a d p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l t h e r e , t h e o t h e r s e c t so f t e n d i d n o t s p e a k w e l l o f t h e G e l u g p a i n c o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h We s t e r n e r s ; t h i s w e n th a n d i n h a n d w i t h a c e r t a i n a l o o f n e s s o f G e l u g p a m o n k s , e s p e c i a l l y s i n c e t h e u s u a lW e s t e r n e r w a s f a s c i n a te d w i t h Ta n t r a r a t h e r t h a n w i t h B u d d h i s m i t se lf . S o it t u r n e d

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TRANSLATIONOF CLASSICALTIBETAN 165

I n s u b s e q u e n t s e c t i o n s , I s h a l l p r e s e n t s o m e p r in c i p l e s o f t r a n s l a t i o n

f r o m Ti b e t a n , a n d t h e n i l l u s t r a te t h o s e p r i n c i p le s , fi rs t b y t h e k i n d o ft e x t w h i c h n e e d s a c o m m e n t a r y, t h e n t h e k i n d w h i c h n e e d s h e l p f r o ma n a t iv e . F i n a ll y, s o m e p r a c t i c a l e x a m p l e s f r o m M : d h y a m i k a - t y p e te x t sw i ll b e c o n s i d e r e d f o r e v a l u a t i n g p u r p o s e s .

T h e r e i s t h e f o r m a l i t y o f t r a n s c r i p t io n f r o m T i b e t a n . H e r e I h a v e a c c e p t e dt h e T i b e t a n r o m a n i z a t i o n t a b le a d o p t e d b y t h e L i b r a r y o f C o n g r es s . :~

B. SOME PRINCIPLES OF TRA NSLA TION FRO M CLASSICAL TIBETAN

1. Group ing o f t r ans l a to r s

H e r e t h e r e is a t r ia d i c g r o u p i n g a n d a t w o f o l d g r o u p i n g .A n u m b e r o f i m p o r t a n t i s su e s a b o u t t r a n s la t io n o f B u d d h i s t w o r k s

h a v e b e e n w e l l s t a te d b y R u e g g : : i n th e c o u r s e o f c o n s i d e r in g G u e n t h e r ' sT h e J e w e l O r n a m e n t o f L ib e r at io n .A m o n g o t h e r o b s e r v a t i o n s , R u e g gp l a c e s tr a n s l a t o r s o f B u d d h i s t w o r k s i n t h r e e g r o u p s , t o w i t, t h o s e w i t he x t r e m e l i t e r a l n e s s ( e s p e c i a l l y S . L 6 v i ) , t h o s e i n t h e o p p o s i t e c a m p o fi n t e rp r e t iv e t r a n s l a t io n ( e sp e c ia ll y T h . S t c h e r b a t s k y a n d H . G u e n t h e r ) ,a n d t h o s e w i t h a m i d d l e - o f - t h e - r o a d m e t h o d ( e.g . d e L a Va ll 6e P o u s s in ,1~. L a m o t t e , E . C o n z e ) . T h e t w o e x t r e m e g r o u p s d e s e r v e so m e d i sc u s si o n .

O f c o u r s e d e L a Va l l ~ e P o u s s i n w a s r i g h t i n c r i t i c i z i n g L 6 v i ' s F r e n c ht r a n s l a t i o n o f th eSf~tr~lam. k~ ra as un in t e l l ig ib l e . 12 H ow ev er, i n o rde r

t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e s i t u at io n , w e s h o u l d r e c o g n i z e th a t L 6 v i d i d n o t o r i-g i n a t e t h e u n i n t el li g ib i li ty. T h e b a s i c v e r s e s o f t h eS~ t rd l a .mkdra a re

out that the Lessing-Wayman translation ofM kha s gru b rje 's F undamentals of theBuddhist Tantrasis the first example of an important Gelugpa text to appear in aEuropean language.10 The table for the Tibetan language that was approv ed by the Am erican LibraryAssociation, the Canadian Library Association, and the Library of Congress, waspublished in the Library of Congress, Cataloging Service, Bulletin 90, Washington,D.C., September 1970. The Library of Congress has a procurement service officein Delhi furnishing pre-catalogued Indian books to subscribing American univer-sities. M r. G ene Smith, who works in that Delhi o ffice, has rendered excellent serviceby cataloging the newly printed Tibetan books in accordance with that table for theTibetan language.11 Da vid Seyford Ruegg, "A Pr op os of a Recent Contribution to Tibetan and Bud-dhist Studies",Journal of the American Oriental Society,Vol. 82, No. 3 (July-Sept.,1962), pp. 320-331. Dr. Ruegg shows his own fine standard of translation fromTibetan/n La thdorie du Tathagatagarbha et du Gotra(Paris, 19 69); and when, as inthis case, the many citations from different Tibetan books are prevalently on thesame topic, they help each other in the understanding by reason of consistency interminology.:~ Cf. Ruegg, "A Pro po s", p. 325, n. 10.

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indeed unintell igible , in fact of ten jus t l i sts of technical term s gro upe d

unde r sub jec t head ings . Asaf lga 's p rose comm entary, which L6vi ed i ted ,reduc ed the unintel l igibi li ty of the or iginal verses . Bu t apparen t ly Asafi -ga 's br ief rem arks did n ot c lear that up suff ic iently, becau se in t imeSth i ramat i wro te a huge sub-com m entary to t ry to f in ish the job . (Not icetha t Asa t iga , o r in the nex t remove S th i ramat i , does no t comment byrep lac ing words of the bas ic t ex t , bu t ra ther by def in ing or expandingup on them) . Thus , i f L6vi had t rans la ted in such a w ay as to avo idunintel l igibi l i ty, i t could be argued that he was not fa i thful to the wordsof the or iginal wo rk. In short , the a t te m pt to rend er inte l lig ible in an-other language what is di ff icul t and obscure in the or iginal can some-t imes in t roduce e lements qu i te a t var iance wi th the in ten t ions of theor ig ina l wo rk . As Ruegg po in t s ou t , c la r ify ing remarks should be adde d(say in b racke ts ) to , ra ther than rep lace the b as ic te rm.

At the o ther ex t reme o f in terpre tive t rans la tion , S tcherba tsky m ighthave pro tes ted be ing grouped wi th Dr. Guenther, a rgu ing tha t he(Stcherbatsky) feels f ree to m ake syntact ical rearrangem ents wh en t rans-la t ing, whi le Dr. Guenther ' s f reedom is in render ing the technical termsthemselves . Som e years ago I cop ied ou t the Tibe tan which S tcherba tskyhad pub l i shed o f Dha rmak i r ti ' sNygtyabindu, minus Dha rmot t a r a ' scom men tary, and cor re la ted each of the aphor i sms wi th h is Engl i sht rans la t ion . W hen I com pare the Tibe tan w i th h i s t rans la t ion , i t tu rnsou t tha t he adheres qu i te close ly and p u ts com men tar ia l expans ion inparentheses . Fo r exam ple, here isNy6yabindu, Chap. I I , 27, in Tibetan,wi th h i s t rans la t ion in f luenced by Dharmot ta ra :dhos po yod na ni demi srid pa'i phyir ro. "Because when a real object is present ( i t i s per-ceived and i t ) becom es superf luous ( to imagine i ts presence) ." Th e sec-

on d " i t " sho uld have been ou ts ide the paren theses because i t is ac tua l lyrepresen ted by the Tibe tan(de). On the o the r hand , my spo t checksind ica te tha t S tcherba tsky i s more f ree in t rans la t ions f rom thePrasan-napad~ (in his The Conception of Buddhist Nirv~n.a). Abou t t e rms , wecan see the s i tuat ion in Stch erbatsk y 's s tudent , Dr. E. O berm il ler, wh oexplains the th ree bodies o f Buddh a as thesa.mbhoga-k6ya ~ t h e B o d yo f Bl iss - - Bu dd ha in the heav en Akani .s t.ha ,nirm6n, a-k~ya -- the In-carna te Form ( in the person of g~kyamuni , e tc . ) , anddharma-k~yathe Cosmical Body, represent ing the Universe sub specie aeterni ta t is

( in the la s t case , ado pt ing Stcherb atsky 's rendi t ion) . 13 So far w e areobv ious ly i n Buddh i sm, o f t he M ah~ygna va r ie ty. W hen w e pas s to

1~ Dr. E. Oberm iller,History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, Part I (Heidelberg, 1931),pp . 138-39, n. 4.

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TRANSLATION OF CLASSICAL TIBETAN 16 7

G u e n t h e r ' s " n o e t i c b e in g " f o rdharma-kaya;" c o m m u n i c a t i v e b e i n g " f o r

sa.mbhoga-k~ya;a n d " a u t h e n t i c b e i n g " f o rnirmt.na-k6ya , 14w e h a v e ar e p l a c e m e n t o f te r m s t h a t i s n o t i m m e d i a t e l y r e c o g n i z a b le a s B u d d h i s t .B y r e f e r e n c e t o R a t n g k a r a g ~ n t i ' s c o m m e n t s o n t h eSarvarahasya-tantra,verses 7 -8 ( see nex t sec tion o f th i s e ssay) , we observe th a t G ue n th er ' s" n o e t i c b e i n g " i s b a s e d o n t h e c o m m e n t a r i a l g l o s s e s o n t h e t e r mdhar-makgtya.O n e w o u l d h a v e t o s t ra i n m i g h t i l y t o ju s t i f y h i s " c o m m u n i c a -t i v e b e i n g " f r o m t h e I n d i a n c o m m e n t a r i a l g l o s s e s o nsa.mbhoga-kaya;a n d h a v e t o g iv e u p a l t o g e t h e r fi n d i n g a n I n d i a n j u s t if i c a t io n o f h i s" a u t h e n t i c b e i n g " f o r t h en i rm~a-k~ya .

T h e t w o f o l d g r o u p i n g a m o u n t s t o t h e s e t o f i n i ti a l t r a n s l a t o r s a n d t h es e t o f s u p p l a n t i n g t r a n s la t o r s . O n e c a n n o t a v o i d t h is is su e o f t r a n s l a t i o na n d r e t r a n s l a ti o n . I t is p e c u l i a r t h a t s o m a n y s c h o l a r s ar e r e l u c t a n t t oa p p r o a c h a n A s i a n c l a s s i c t h a t h a s n o t h i t h e r t o b e e n r e n d e r e d i n t o aE u r o p e a n l a n g u a g e . O f t e n t h i s r e fl ec ts l a c k o f i m a g i n a t i o n o r g o o dadvice , o r poss ib ly even conf idence . Ho wev er, the re i s a l eg i t imatef u n c t i o n o f r e t r a n s la t i o n . T h e l a te R i c h a r d R o b i n s o n h a d a g e n u i n eab i l i ty to re t rans la te Chinese Buddhis t se lec t ions , a s when he d id th i sw i t h s o m e p a ss a g e s t h a t h a d a l r e a d y b e e n t r a n s l a t e d b y L i e b e n t h a l .15

I t is m y o w n o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t s c h o la r s w h o e n g a g e i n t h e s u p p l a n t i n gt y p e o f r e tr a n s l a t i o n f ee l u n e a s y a b o u t , a n d s o m e t i m e s a r e o p e n l y h o s ti le ,to the scho la r s wh o a re in i t ia l t r ans la to r s . Th e l a t te r have ha d thec o u r a g e t o t a c k l e a g r e a t c la ss ic , b u t t h r o u g h t h e v e r y f a c t o f t h i n k i n gd e e p l y o v e r t h e w o r d s o f t h e o r i g in a l , o f t e n th e i r t r a n s l a t i o n w o r d s i nt h e E u r o p e a n l a n g u a g e - - e v e n i f i t b e t h e ir n a ti v e la n g u a g e - - a r e n o tthe m os t f e l ic i tous . Th e sup p lan t ing ind iv idu a l , r e l ieved o f the se r iousp r o b l e m s o f a p p r o a c h i n g a d i ff ic u lt w o r k f o r t h e f ir s t t im e , c a n e a s i ly

n o t i c e p la c e s w h e r e h e c a n e m p l o y m o r e f in e ss e.

14 Guen the r,The Royal Song, p. 5.in F o r e x a m p l e , W a l t e r L i e b e n t h a l ,The Book o f Chao(Pek ing , 1948 ) , p . 60 : "T he re -f o r e i t is i m p o s s i b l e t o t e a c h A b s o l u t e Tr u t h(paramdrtha satya)b y m e a n s o f d e f i n i -t i o n s . T h e n h o w c a n i t b e m a d e t h e su b j e c t o f w r i t in g ? ( I t c a n n o t ) . B u t I a ls o c a n n o tr e m a i n s i le n t. I n s p i te o f ( w h a t I h a v e j u s t s a id ) I s h a l l s t a t e m y o p i n i o n i n s p e e c ha n d t r y t o m a k e i t c l e a r. " ; W a l t e r L i e b e n t h a l ,Chao Lun ( H o n g K o n g , 1 9 68 ), p . 5 6 :" T h e r e f o r e t h e s p h e re o f Tr u t h i s b e y o n d t h e n o i s e o f v e r b a l te a ch i n g . H o w t h e nc a n i t b e m a d e a s u b j e c t o f d i s cu s s io n ? S t il l I c a n n o t r e m a i n s i le n t. I n s p i t e o f ( w h a tI h a v e j u s t s a id ) I s h a l l s t a t e m y o p i n i o n a n d d e f e n d i t. " ; R i c h a r d H . R o b i n s o n ,Early M~dhyamika in India and China( M a d i s o n , 1 9 67 ), p . 1 4 0 : " A b s o l u t e Tr u t h i sa n a m e , s o i t c a n n o t b e c a ll e d a t h i n g . T h e t h e o r y t h a t n a m e s c o r r e s p o n d t o t h i n g sd o e s n o t a p p l y t o i t. N e v e r t h e l e ss , t h o u g h l a n g u a g e c a n n o t r e f e r t o i t a s a n o b j e c to f re f e r en c e , I p r o p o s e t o t a l k a b o u t i t ." - - I n t h e a b o v e , w e h a v e L i e b e n t h a l ' s o r i g i n a lt r a n s l a t i o n , t h e n h i s o w n r e v i s ed t r a n s l a t i o n , a n d f i n a l ly R o b i n s o n ' s r e n d i t i o n o f t h es a m e p a s s a g e a s a p r e s u m e d i m p r o v e m e n t o v e r L i e b e n t h a l ' s f i rs t v e r s io n ,

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First, by hearing insight he arouses the hearing of the Tantra of words. Then

by pondering insight he learns to attach the meaning to the words. There-upon, with skillful intellect that contemplates intensely, he first learns theStage of Generation and after that fulfills the Stage of Completion.The first phase, searching for broad learning, was completed.

Hence, the literal translation of the "S~tra of words" or "Tantra ofwords" goes with the translator's humility. If there is a scholarly pur-suit to recover an old text in the role of what it meant to the personswho revered it, presumably a scholar cannot avoid the text in the senseof the words themselves, as that text is prior to the fuller understanding

of it represented by paraphrase and exegesis.

A good illustration of justifiably suspended judgment is the disputeover the meaning of the tantric term sa.mdha-bhr.sa. Now, the plodding,earth-bound translators who rely on the dictionary would think thismeans "twilight language", and this is the way it was rendered manyyears ago by MahSmahop~dhy~ya H. P. S~stri, whose fancy title willbe seen as justified. But later scholars could see no reason why thepart icular expressions that were labelled sa~dha-bhr.sa should be called"twilight language", so (the logical consequence of their inabil ity to seea reason) they tried to come up with a better translation. V. S. Sastridecided that these were expressions that intend something different fromthe words, and proposed the translation "intentional language" (althougha native speaker of English would hardly get the sense "intending some-thing else" from the word "intentional"). Note the procedure of arrivingat this supposedly better translation: Someone works about in secondarymaterials, and then speculates about the word; and believing in his own

intelligence, and that he can arrive at the truth of the matter thereby,announces what is indubitably the fact. Later, I wrote an article on thesubject, e citing authorities on the Tantras , such as the tantric N~g~rjunaand the tantric Candrakirti, showing how these authorities use and ex-plain the term. As a result, I had to conclude that the term meant justwhat it seemed to mean from the outset, "twilight language", but nowclarified in usage as language expressed in the manner of twilight, ex-pressed in an ambiguous and unclear manner. Of course, the wordsa~dha (twilight) was employed metaphorically. But is there anyth ing

xe A l e x W a y m a n , " C o n c e r n i n gs a ~ n d h ~ - b h ~ ] s a.m dh i-b h~ .s~ / s a ~ d h y ~ b h ~ " ,M d l a n g e s d ' l n d i a n i s m e a l a m ~ m o i r e d e L o u i s R e n o u(Paris , 1968), pp . 789-96. A lo ngthe l i ne s o f t he f i nd ings i n t h i s a r t i c l e , when Mah~y~na sc r ip tu re s u se such t e rmino l -o g y ( i n Ti b e t a n :dgot~s nas . . . bda d pa ) ,o n e c a n r e n d e r i t v a r i o u sl y a s " s p e a k i n g o b -s c u r e l y " o r " s p e a k i n g w i t h a m b i g u i ty " .

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wrong with metaphorical use of terms? If there is something wrong in

this case, it is with the translator whose mind cannot respond to a meta-phor, and so has to change it into something else, thus to hide obtuseness.

3. A Tibetan and Chinese translation o f the termTath~gatagarbha

When the Buddhist scripture called Sr~m?d~devisi~nhan6da-sfltra,17 anauthority on the Tath~gatagarbha doctrine, was translated into Chineseand Tibetan, these languages adopted contrasting ways of translatingthe word garbha.

The Chinese version translates garbha as "womb", the Tibetan with aterm s~i~ po meaning "heart" , "pi th" , "essence". The question arises:Does this mean that the reader of the Chinese scripture gains a differentidea of the Tath~gatagarbha doctrine than does the Tibetan reader ofthe Tibetan form of the same scripture? No t necessarily, that is, not byvirtue of the differing translation o f the term tath?tgatagarbha,becausethis scripture makes important statements about that term, and so thedifference in understanding -- if there is a difference -- would mostlikely come about in how different readers understand those sentencesabout the tathagatagarbha. In short, Buddhism was never taught bymeans of isolated words, but by precepts and more drawn-out explana-tions that contained and elucidated important words of the system. Forthis purpose, it is very important to be consistent in representation ofa term, and so both Chinese and Tibetan emphasized a consistency intranslation o f certain important Buddhist terms.

However, it could also be argued that a word with physiological sense,i.e. "womb", would color the sentence differently than a word with moreabstract sense, i.e. "essence". This also does not follow necessarily.The reason is that the connota tion of a word for "womb" in any languagedepends on other words. We do not know without further advice fromintelligent native speakers and readers of a language whether they takesuch a word as "womb" in its concrete physiological sense or in variousmetaphorical levels. These more learned natives might respond that itdepends on the sentence. They might mention that there are other books

with information on the topic (in China and Tibet: other scriptures onthe Tath~gatagarbha). In that case, we are back to the situation of the

1~ A n a n n o t a t e d tr a n s l a ti o n o f t h i s w o r k b y A l ex W a y m a n a n d H i d e k o W a y m a n ,w i th t i t le The Lion's Roar o f Queen ~rirnala,i s i n p r e s s o f C o l u m b i a U n i v e r s i t y P re s s .

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TRANSLATION OF CLASSICALTIBETAN 171

B u d d h i s t s e n t e n c e , w h i c h i s f i r s t l e a r n e d w i t h f a i t h , a n d l a t e r u n d e r s t o o d

t h r o u g h p o n d e r i n g .I t s h o u l d b e o b s e r v e d t h a t b o t h t h e C h i n e s e a n d Ti b e t a n a g r e e i n

t r a n s l a t i n g t h e t e r mgarbha b y a c h o s e n s e n s e o f t h e w o r d a s w a s w e lle s t a b li s h e d i n I n d i a n u s a g e, a n d c a n n o w b e v e r if ie d b y r e f e r e n c e w o r k ss u c h a s m o d e r n d i c t io n a r ie s . N e i t h e r t h e C h i n e se n o r t h e Ti b e t a n r e-p l a c e s t h e w o r dgarbha b y s o m e o t h e r n o n - c o r r e s p o n d i n g t e r m w h i c ht h e t r a n s l a t o r s m i g h t d e e m t o s u i t t h e c o n t e x t b e t te r. T h e r e f o r e , i n t h i sc a s e a s w e ll a s e ls e w h e r e - - a n d w h e t h e r o r n o t t h e C h i n e s e B u d d h i s tu n d e r s t a n d s t h e m a t t e r d i f fe re n tl y f r o m t h e T i b e ta n m o n k - - t h e C h in e s e

a n d Ti b e t a n t r a n s l a ti o n s m a i n t a i n a w o r d c o n s i s t e n c y f o r " i n s ig h t c o n -s i st i n g o f l e a r n i n g "(grutamayi pra jg~) .

C . T H E IN T R O D U C TO R Y C O U N S E L O F T H ES A RVA R A H A S YA - TA N T R A

T h e Sarvarahasya- tantra a n d i ts c o m m e n t a r y b y R a t n ~ k a r a ~ n t i c al le dth e ~ri-sarvarahasya-nibandha-rahasyapradfpa-n~ma, a r e e x t a n t o n l y inTi b e t a n t r a n s l a ti o n , t h e f o r m e r in t h eKanjur a n d t h e l a t t e r i n t h eTan-jur. i s T h e f i r s t t e n v e r s e s , c o n s t i t u t i n g t h e i n t r o d u c t o r y c o u n s e l , a r eh e r e g i v e n i n Ti b e t a n t r a n s la t i o n , t o g e t h e r w i t h a n E n g l i sh v e r s i o n o ft h a t a n d o f e x t r a ct s f r o m R a t n ~ k a r a ~ g n t i ' s c o m m e n t a r y . I t w i ll b e c le a rt h a t t h e v e rs e s d o n o t m e a n m u c h w h e n r e a d b y t h e m s e lv e s w i t h o u t t h isc o m m e n t a r i a l e x p a n s io n . I n d e e d , th e y w o u l d h a v e b e e n ev e n m o r e u n -i n te ll ig i b le i f t r a n s l a t e d w i t h o u t t h e h e lp o f t h a t c o m m e n t a r y . H o w e v e r ,i n t h is c a s e, b e c a u s e t h e c o m m e n t a r y w a s a v a i la b l e , i t w a s n o t n e c e s s a r yt o c o n s u l t w i th a k n o w l e d g e a b l e Ti b e t a n . S in c e b o t h t h e b a s i c t e x t a n d

i ts c o m m e n t a r y a r e o f I n d i a n o r ig i n , it is q u it e p r o p e r f o r a t r a n s l a ti o ni n t o a E u r o p e a n l a n g u a g e t o r e s t o r e s o m e t e c h n i c a l t e r m s o f th e o r i g in a lS a n s k r i t a s a r e c e r t a i n b y t h e w e l l - k n o w n c o r r e s p o n d e n c e s .

/ 'byuh lha gid ky is lha yi bdag ~ id can // m i rnams lus la hes pa r mthoh ba dag // rah seres rab tu sgom s pa r gyu r na n i // dhos der sgorns pa s r ies pa r sar is rgyas 'g yu r / /

is I have employed the Peking edition,PTT,Vol. 5, pp. 56 to 60, for the basic Ta ntra ;and PTT, Vol. 76, pp. 1 to 15, for Ratn~kara~mti 's commentary. Fro m m y manu -script translation of this work, I have included another block of verses in the essay"Contributions on the Symb olism of the Mao..dala-Palace",Etu des tib~taines d~di~es

la m dmoire de M arcelle Lalou(Paris, 1971).

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1. Cer ta in ly the me n w ho o bserve the bo dy by w ay of the f ive e lements ga inmastery o f the five . An d having contem plated the i r ow n mind, cer ta in ly the i rcon templa t ion in tha t mode o f be ing(bhava)l eads to Buddhahood .

C o m m . : T h e f iv e e l e m e n t s a r e e a r t h , w a t e r, f ir e , w i n d , a n d s p a c e(~kaga).T h o s e m e n o b s e r v e t h e b o d y t o b e li k e a m e n d i c a n t ' s r o b e , a n d t h em i n d t o b e l ik e t h e w i s h - g r a n t i n g j e w e l(cint?tman. ).

/ raft ~es gsaf t ba da m p a ni // sans rgyas ye ges b la reed de // ggis reed g~is ky i tshul can te /

/ sans rgyas r tag par rab tu 'du d/ /

2. Th e subl ime secret of the i r ow n knowledge is the incomparab le Bu ddh aknowledge, non dua l wi th the character of (appear ing as) two, tha t the B uddhasa lways hon or.

C o m m . : " S e c r e t" b e c a us e s u p r a m u n d a n e ; " s u b li m e " b e ca u s e b e s t a m o n gt h e su p r a m u n d a n e . O n e ' s o w n m i n d h a s t h e i n c o m p a r a b l e k n o w l e d g eb e l o n g i n g t o t h e Ta t h ~ g a t as . O r d i n a r y p e r s o n s w i t h a d v e n t i ti o u s d ef il e-m e n t s r e g a r d m i s t a k e n l y t h e n o n d u a l k n o w l e d g e a s t w o , n a m e l y a s s u b -

j e c t a n d o b j e ct . T h e B u d d h a s s a l ut e o n e 's tr u e m i n d(cittat6).

/ gab yah bdag reed las byun s in // g~is reed ye ges las byun ba // sdug daft m i sdug rnam s spaf ts pa // c i la 'an phy ag n i m i ' t sha l to / /

3. W ho w ould not sa lu te the one who avoids bo th the unpleasant tha t a r i sesf rom no nsel f and the p leasant tha t a r ises f ro m nond ual knowledge?

C o m m . " " W h a t a r i se s ", i.e . a s ef fe c t, f r o m n o n s e l f o r f r o m t h e n o n d u a lk n o w l e d g e . " C a u s e " is c o u n t e d as o n e 's o w n m i n d w h e n ta k i n g a n yd h a r m aa s o b j e c t , a n d i s n o n s e l f i n t h e s e n s e o f r e g a r d i n g a s t w o . " C a u s e " ,a s t h e n o n d u a l k n o w l e d g e , b r in g s e v e r y t h i n g t o f u lf i lm e n t . T h e " p l e a s-a n t " m e a n s t h edha rmast o b e a c q u i re d ; " u n p l e a s a n t " m e a n s t h e d h a r m a st o b e r ej e ct e d . T h e o n e w h o a v o i d s b o t h a t t a i n s th e u l t im a t e n a t u r e .

/ m a s k y e s p a n i y a h d a g b s k y e d // skyes pa ' i ' og tu r t ag pa r n i // s ans rgyas sku r n i sgom p a de // ran g i ye ges mch og phy ag ' t sha l / [

4. H e r ight ly generates the un born , and af ter i ts b i r th contemplates i t as theeternal Buddha body, and sa lu tes i t as h is own highes t knowledge.

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C o m m . : " U n b o r n " is t h e s ta t e o f o n e ' s o w n m i n d w h e n i t is n o t i n v o l v e d

w i t h d u a l it y. A n d h e " s a l u t e s " it w i t h h is o w n b o d y, s p e e ch , a n d m i n d .

/ rnal 'byor pa dab seres can kun // m a skyes pa n i yah dag bskyed // sk ye s pa ' i "og tu rtag pa r ni // ~on m obs bag chags ky i sun 'by in/ /

5 . The yog in - - and he i s am on g a l l s en ti en t beings - - r igh t ly gene ra te s theunborn; and af te r b i r th i s ever t roubled by the habi t -energ ies(vdsana)o fdefi lement(klega).

C o m m . : H e r e th e y o g a is t h e n o n d u a l k n o w l e dg e . T h e o n e w h o h a s i ti s t h e y o g i n . B u t th e y o g i n i s a m o n g t h e s e n t i e n t b e i n g s w h o , a f t e r b ir t h ,a r e t r o u b l e d i nsa~s~ra .

/ lus can rnams n i 'khor gyur pa // sdug dab m i sdug rnam 'byed yin // seres gab de g id sdug bshal te /] seres can rnam s k yi lus 'byuti t io //

6 . The embod ied ones(dehin)in sa.msdradis t inguish the p leasant and theunpleasant ; and whichever one be thought indeed i s the suffer ing tha t a r i seswi th the b od y of sent ien t be ings .

C o m m . : T h e " p l e a s a n t " is a b o d e , e n jo y m e n t s , a n d s o o n . T h e " u n p l e a s -a n t " i s t h e fu l l c o m p r e h e n s i o n w h i c h e s p e c i a ll y d i s ti n g u i s h e s t h o s e s a m et h in g s . F r o m t h o s e t w o c o m e s th e h a b i t - e n e r g y o f d i s ti n g u i sh i n g t h et w o . T h e n c e , b i r th i nsa.ms~ra w i t h a b o d y n e c e s s a r i l y a t t e n d e d w i t hsuffer ing .

/ sem s de yi ni rgyun ~ id ky i // 'gro ba sdug bshal gnon par 'gyur // rnam par shah md zad rgyal ba rngon // sahs rgyas tham s cad bsdus gcig p u /// salis rgyas tham s cad rtogs gyur pa // sahs rgyas 'kho r ba sgrol ba po // seres can kun la phan ba'i ph yir // thugs rje ' i gains dab yah dag lda n//

7-8 . Th e l iv ing be ing who has cont inui ty o f tha t consc iousness suppressessuffering. H e is Va irocan a, the Victor (J ina) , the Lo rd (Nfi tha) . H e is theso l it a ry one compr i s ing al l o f the Buddha . He h as becom e a l l t ha t was com -prehended by the Buddhas . H e is t he Budd ha w ho re scues f romsa~sdra, en-dowed wi th compass ionate hear t for the benef i t o f a l l sen t ien t be ings .

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17 4 ALEX WAYMAN

C o m m . : " C o n t i n u it y " , n a m e l y o f th e f ull c o m p r e h e n s i o n w h i c h e s p e -

c i a l ly d is t in g u i s h e s , a n d t h i s r e sc u e s f r o msa.msara. H e i s Va i r o c a n a ,b e c a u s e h e p e r v a d e s e v e ry w h e r e w i t h u n i m p e d e d a n d i m m a c u l a t e k n o w l -e d g e ; t h e Vic t o r , b e c a u s e h e a r o u s e s e n j o y m e n t o f D h a r m a i n a ll a s -p e c t s ; t h e L o r d b e c a u s e h e p e r f o r m s t h e a i m o f li v in g b e in g s i n e v e r yw a y. A n d t h e s e a re r e s p e c ti v e ly t h e S v a b h g v a k ~ y a [ = h e r e t h e D h a r -m a k ~ y a ] , t h e S a m b h o g a k g y a , a n d t h e N i r m ~ n . a k ~ y a . " A l l o f t h e B u d d h a "m e a n s a l l dha rmas o f t h e B u d d h a . " C o m p r i s i n g " t h e m w i t h s in g let a s t e - - t h a t r e fe r s t o Va i r o c a n a . " A l l t h a t w a s c o m p r e h e n d e d b y th eB u d d h a s " r e fe r s t o th e Vi c t o r. " W h o r e sc u e s f r o msa.ms~ra" r e fe r s t ot h e L o r d .

/ rgyu y i de ~ id m~am sbyor bas // ' b ras bu ' i de ~ id rnam s ky ah s ton /] 'bras bu ' i de ~ id yah dag ~ugs [/ rgyu y i de ~ id mi 'dod 'o [/ gab du ' dodp a skyes gyur pa /] de g id 'kho r ba ' i bag chags yin ] /19

9. By equipoise which i s the rea l i ty of the cause he show s the rea l it ies of the

frui t . Rig htly instal led in the real i ties of the frui t , he doe s no t desire the real i tyof the cause . W herever occurs a des i re , a t tha t p lace i s the habi t -energy ofsa~sdra.

C o m m . : " R e a l i t y o f t h e c a u s e " i s t h e p r a x i s f o r a c c o m p l i s h i n g e n l ig h t e n -m e n t m o s t q u i c k l y a n d e a si ly. " R e a l it ie s o f t h e f ru i t " a r e t h e b o d i e s o ft h e B u d d h a . " H e d o e s n o t d e s i re " b e c a u s e h e h a s d o n e h i s d u t y.

[ mkhas pa y i n i cho ga y i s // bsgom pa ru n i yohs su br tags /

/ gab $ ig s la r yah gc ig gyur pa // r na l ' byo r pa y i rna l 'byo r by uh / /

10. On e may fu lly d iscern in a con temp la t ion wi th wise ma nner. Ho wev er,wh at i s s ingle is the yo ga o f the yogin .

C o m m . : T h e d i v e rs e v e h i cl e s o fgrgtvaka, pratye kabu ddha ,a n d P r a j f i ~ -p ~ r a m i t ~ , e a c h h a v e " a c o n t e m p l a t i o n w i t h w i s e m a n n e r " . 2~

19 This verse appa rently represents an originalglokawith three hemistichs ratherthan the customary two.20 The grffvakaand pratyekabuddhaare the persons of Hinayfma Buddhism, whilethe te rm "Prajfigpftramitft" here refers to the persons of the Mah~ yfma called bodhi-sattvas. Fo r the respective paths of the three ldnds o f persons, see E. O bermiller,"Th e Doctrine of Prajfift-pftramitf~ as exposed in the Abhisamayfilam. ftra of Mai-treya", A cta O rientalia,Vol. X I (1932).

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D. TSOlq-KHA-PA'S "AUSPICI OUS PREPARATION" ( M D U N L E G S M A )

F o r t h e s e c o n d e x a m p l e , I p r e s e n t t h e Ti b e t a n t e x t a l o n g w i t h t r a n s l a t io no f Ts o f i - k h a - p a ' s r e m a r k a b l eMdun legs ma( A u s p i c i o u s P r e p a r a t i o n )w h i c h i s a l s o c a l l e d t h eRah gid kyi rtogs brjod( P e r s o n a l N a r r a t i o n ) 21I n t h i s ca s e , t h e t r a n s l a t io n h a s i n c o r p o r a t e d s o m e fi ne s u g g e s ti o n s o fi m p r o v e m e n t b y G o n S a r R i m p o c h e o f D h a r m s a l a , H . P. I n di a. T h ist y p e o f n a t iv e Ti b e t a n n e e d s h e l p f o r t r a n s l a t io n b y r e a s o n o f i ts b r o a dc o v e r a g e o f B u d d h i s t t o p i c s in c o n c e n t r a t e d f o r m , a n d w h i c h b y i ts v e r yn a t u r e o f a te x t d o e s n o t h a v e a c o m m e n t a r y. I t w o u l d h a v e b e e n q u it e

h a z a r d o u s t o a t t e m p t a tr a n s la t io n w i t h o u t th e b a c k g r o u n d w h i c h I h a v eg a i n ed b y i n d e p e n d e n t r e a d in g i n v a r i o u s w o r k s o f Ts o f i- k h a - p a a n db y m y c o l l a b o r a ti o n o n t h e w o r kM kh as grub rje 's Fundamentals o f theBuddha Tantras (The Hague , 1968) .

/ /O .m bde legs su gyur cig /

Ore . . May the re be happ iness and good fo r tune !

/ ~]ig rten m tho ris byah gro l lta ba'i m ig /

/ srid lain 'kh ya m s pas dub pa 'i hal gso'i gnas // bde legs rtsa ba drin can bla ma dab // r je btsun m khye n pa ' i gter gyi ~a bs la 'du d/ /

I w orsh ip a t t he f ee t o f the k ind ly gu ru and Vene rab le Treasu re o f W isdom,wh o are the roots of happiness and goo d for tune , the eyes v iewing the wor ld ,heaven , and the way o f re l ease ; and the p l ane o f u tm os t r e s t in t he t i ri ng jou r-ney th roughsa.msdra.

/ 'b ad pa chub bus rlabs ehen tshogs sdud la /

/ dge la rjes su yi r af mehog tu gs ufs // khy ad pa r raf t gis sfon byas dge ba la // r lom seres bral has dga' ba eher bsk ye d na // short byas dge ba g o f du 'phel lo ~es // rgyal bas gsu fs pa ' i don de bsgrub phy ir daft // dgos po g~an yah mah du m thoh bas na // seres khy od dga' ba 'di ltar bsk ye d na legs // dab por rgya ehen thos pa mah du btsal // bar du g~uf lugs tha ms cad gda m s par ~ar /

21 Th e text from which this translation was first m ade in Dharmsala, in Spring 1970,was furnished b y Geshe Rabten, T utor to H . H. the DaIai Lam a. A mo re recentprinting is in a set of several brief works by Tsofi-kha-pa:M ~am reed rje btsun tso~kha pa chertpos mdzadpa'i g sol 'debs lain mchog sgo 'byed kha sko~ dab bcas pa sogs(Dharmsala, Distt . Kangra H.P., Kashmir House, 1970).

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176 ALEX WAYM AN

/ th a m a r ~ i n m t s h a n k u n ~ a m s s u b la ~ s /

/ k u n k y a h b s t a n p a rg y a s p a ' i c h e d d u b s ~ o s // t s h u l ' d i b s a m s ~ i ~ m d u n m a l e g s h a s g d a ' // b k a ' d r in c h e 'o r j e b t s u n m k h y e n p a ' i g t e r / /

I t i s s a i d t h a t t h e t i m e o f m e a g e r e f f o r t is b e s t f o r c o l l e c ti n g m a g n a n i m i t y a n df o r s y m p a t h e t i c j o y w i t h ( o t h e r s ' ) v i r tu e . I n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e Vi c t o r s a i d t h a tw h e n o n e g e n e r a t e s t h e g r e a t j o y f r e e f r o m p r i d e i n o n e ' s f o r m e r v i r t u e , t h ef o r m e r v i r t u e d e v e l o p s e v e r h ig h e r. I n o r d e r t o f u lf i ll t h e m e a n i n g o f t h a ts a y i n g , a n d b e s i d e s t o r e p e a t e d l y o b s e r v e o t h e r s t i p u l a t i o n s , i t is g o o d t o g e n -e r a t e i n t h e f o l l o w i n g w a y t h e j o y o f t h e e , O M i n d . I n t h e b e g i n n i n g f r e q u e n t l ys e e k b r o a d l e a r n i n g . I n t h e m i d d l e h a v e a l l t h e t e x ts a r is e a s c o u n s e l. I n t h ee n d t a k e t h e m t o h e a r t a l l d a y a n d n i g h t ; a n d t r a n s f e r t h e m ( t o o t h e r s ) fo rt h e s a k e o f s p r e a d i n g t h e T e a c h i n g . 22 C o n t e m p l a t i n g t h i s m e t h o d , i t i s i n d e e da n a u s p i c io u s p r e p a r a t io n . O h , h o w k i n d i s t h e Ve n e r a b le Tr e a s u r e o f W i s d o m !

/ b la ~ d o t g n a s l a k u n n a s " t h or n s p a ' i m u n // y a h d a g t h o s p a ' i s g r o n r u e s m a b s a l b a r // la i n m i ~ es n a t h a r p a ' i g r o h m c h o g t u // 'j u g p a r ' g y u r b a s m o s k y a h c i 5 ig d g o s // d e ~ i d p h y i r n a m i p h a m c h os r je da ~ /

/ ' d z a m g li ~ rg y a n d r u g m c h o g g ~ i s 5 e s g r a g s p a ' i // g S u ~ la p h y o g s r e b a d a ~ r a g s p a r e s // ts h i m p a r m a b y a s k u n l a 5 ib t u s b ya ~ s // t shu l ' d i bsa m s S i f t . ../ bka ' d r in che 'o r j e b t sun . . .

N o t h a v i n g d i s p e l l e d b y t h e l a m p o f r i g h t l e a r n i n g th e c o n f u s i n g d a r k n e s sr e g a r d i n g a b a n d o n m e n t a n d a c c e p ta n c e , ~ o n e d o e s n o t k n o w t h e w a y ; i nt h i s ca s e it i s u s e le s s t o s a y o n e c a n h a v e e n t r a n c e i n t o t h e s u p r e m e C i t y o fL i b e r a t i o n ! O n t h a t a c c o u n t , I w a s n o t s a t is f i ed w i t h o c c a s i o n a l c o n s u l t a t i o n

a n d r o u g h a p p l i c a t i o n t o t h e t e a c h i n g s o f M a i t r e y a - n ~ tt h a a n d o f t h o s e p e r s o n sf a m e d a s t h e s i x o r n a m e n t s a n d t w o b e s t o f I n d i a , ~ b u t e x e r t e d m y s e l f i n fi n e

~ 2 Tsofi -k ha-pa 's three s tages of beginning, mid dle , and end, go w ith the three levelso f p r a j ~ ment ioned ea r li e r, nam ely~rutamay~praise, and so on .z3 This is a bas ic pract ice of Bu ddhism ; cf . " the th ings to be re jected and accepted"(blat~ da~ do r by a'i d ~os po, heyop ddeya-va stu;D h a r m a k i r t i ' sPrama~avarttika,I I ,3b). Ratn~kara~ ant i refers to the sam e point in his com m entary, c i ted previously,o n Sarvarahasya-tantra,verse 3.z~ The s ix o rnaments a re Aryad eva , Vasubandhu , Dignf iga , Dh arm aki r t i , Gu .na-prabh a and Sf ikyaprabha ; and the two bes t a re N~ g~j una and A saf iga , accord ingto Rgyan-drug M chog-gnyis(Gang tok , S ikk im, N amg ya l Ins t i tu te o f Tibe to logy, 1962) .H o w e v e r, in L a m a C h i m p a a n d A l a k a C h a t t o p a d h y a y a , tr a n s la t o r s,Taranatha'sHistory of Buddhism in lndia(Sim la, 197 0), p. 240, of th e Six Jewels, Nf~g~rjuna,Asa~ ga and Dign~tga comp osed o r iginal t reatises , and .~kryadeva, Va suband hu andDh arm aki r t i composed commenta r ies . In the l a t t e r t r ad i t ion , it seems(Tdran~tha's,pp . 17-18) tha t the two "bes t " a re f l an tideva and Candragom in .

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de ta i l on a l l (o f those teach ings). Co ntem pla t ing th i s m eth od , i t i s indeed an

ausp i c ious p r epa ra t i on . Oh , how k ind i s t h e Vene rab l e Tr ea su r e o f W isdom !/ khy adp ar tshu ro l mthoh bas dhospo y i // de gid gtan la 'bebs pa ' i sgo gcig pu // yah dag rigs pa ' i g~u h gi dka ' gnas la // "badpa du m as yah dab yah du sbyahs // tshul 'di bsarns gih .../ bka' drin ehe'o rje btsun ...

I n p a r t icu l a r, by l o ok ing i n t h i s d i r e c t ion , 2s I a g a in a nd aga in exe r t ed m yse l f

wi th many e ffor t s in the d i ff icu l t spo ts o f t ex t s tha t have r igh t p r inc ip les , thuscons t i t u t ing t he s ing l e ga t eway t o a f o u n da t i o n f o r conc re t e r e a li ty. Co n -t emp l a t i ng t h is me thod , i t i s i nd e ed an aus p i c ious p r epa r a t i on . O h , h o w k i n di s t h e Vene rab l e Trea su re o f W isdom !

/ redo shags g~uh la hal ba mah byas kya h // zab don ~a ms su len dab smra ba na // gab yah m a bslabs ci yah m i des pa ' i // l ta ba' i tshul las rib d u m a sob bar // m thoh nas lhag pa r k lu sgrub g~uh lugs ky i // zab mo 'byedpa ' iphra ba ' i r igs la in has// yah dag lta ba 'dren pa ' i gnas kun la // legspar sbyahs te the tshom chodpar byas// tshul 'di bsa m s ~t'~ .../ bka' drin che'o rje btsun ...

Ev en t h ou gh I had o f t en s t ayed on t he t ex ts o f S f it ra and T a n t r a , w h en I p r ac -t ic e d a n d t o l d t h ei r d e e p m e a n i n g , I fo u n d t h a t I h a d n o t a d v a n c e d m u c h f r o mtha t k ind o f t heo ry wh ich ha s no s t udy ing le t a lone unde r s t and ing . So I s t ud i ed

a l l the essen tia l s o f N~ g~r ju na ' s t ex tua l sc hool tha t l ead in per fec t theoryt h r o u g h t h e p a t h o f fi ne pr in c ip l es t o t h e o p e n i n g o f t h e D e e p ; a n d m y d o u b t swe re cl e a red up . Con t emp la t i ng t h is me t h o d , i t is i n deed a n a u sp i c ious p r ep -a r a t i on . Oh , how k ind i s t he Ve n e r a b l e Tr e a su r e o f W i s d om !

/ 'di na rdzogs sahs rgyas su b gro dpa la // zab m o rdo rje theg dab pha r phy in theg // rnam p a g~is yod gsah shags pha r phyin las // gin tu kh ya d par 'phags pa yin no ~es // gi ma zla ba l ta bur kun tu grags /

/ tshig de bd en pa 'i tshig tu 'clod b~in du // zab m o'i theg rdo rje l ta bu ~ig ces /

2~ "I n this direction" has a con nota tion ofsa.mv.rti-satya(conventional truth), hencealso "c onc rete reality".

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178 ALEX WAYMAN

/ t sho l ba r m i , b yed m k h a s pa ' i k h u r ' d zin pa /

/ de ' d ra de yah ges rab can y in n a // d e la s g~an pa ' i dbah po r t u lp o ga b // g in tu ' phrad dka" gob na medpa ' i l a in // ' d i ' d ra ya l ba r ' dor ba kye rna 'o mtshar // d e g i d p h y i r n a rg y a l b a 'i t h e g p a m c h o g // sahs rgyas l as kya~ dkon pa ' i rdo r j e theg // d~ os g rub g g i s ky i g t e r gyu r z ab mo de r // ~ugs nas ' b ad pa mal t po s r i~ du sbyahs // t shul 'd i bsams gih . . .

/ bda ' d r in che 'o r j e b t sun . . .Now, for guidance to Complete Buddhahood, there are both the profoundDi am on d Vehicle an d P~ramit~t Vehicle. It is well kn ow n that the Ma nt rapath far surpasses the P~ramita path, like the sun and mo on. Some respectthis as a true word, but do not try to find out what the Diamond Vehicle is,while posing as wise men. If in such man ner they are wise men, who then arethe more stupid ones? It is most surprising that one should cast aside thissort of highest pat h so difficult to enco unte r. Therefore, I entered and exer-cised myself with many endeavors in that Deep which is the highest vehicleof the Jina and even more rare tha n a Buddha and which is the treasure of thetwo occult successes. ~6 Con temp lat ing this method, it is indeed a n a uspiciou spreparation. Oh, how kind is the Venerable Treasure of Wisdom!

/ rgyud s de ' og m a g su m g y i la rn g y i t shu l // m i ges de y i s rna l ' byor b la reed rgyu d // rgyud sde k un gy i mchog t u t hag bcad kyah // d am bc a ' ts am du z a d p a r l eg s m th o h h a s // gsa ft ba spy i rgyu d legs pa r g rub pa dab // dpuh b zah g i s ~us b sa m g t an ph y i m a so gs // bya rgy ud r ig s g s u m spy i d ab bye b r ag g i // rgyud sde rnams la r i~ du 'd r i s pa r byas // t shul 'd i bsams gih . . ./ bka ' dr in che 'o r je btsun . . .

When one, not knowing the way of the path of the three lower Tantras, con-dudes that the Anuttarayogatantra is the chief of the Tantra divisions, thatis no more than a vow. Upo n observing that, I engaged myself at length onthe ge neral and special Tantr as be long ing to the three families of the Kriy~t-tantra, including the S6manyavidhin~m guhyatantra,the Susiddhi,the Subfihu-pariprccha, and the Dh yfinottara. z7Contemplating this method, it is indeed

an auspicious preparation. Oh, how kind is the Venerable Treasure of Wisdom!26 The two occult successes are mundane siddhi(in tantrism, the eight mahfisiddhis)and supramundane siddhi(Complete Buddhahood); cf. M khas grub rje's Fundamen-tals of the Bud dhist Tantras,pp. 220-21.27 Cf. M khas grub rje's Funda mentals,pp. 135-39, for these works.

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/ rgyud sde ggis pa spyod pa ' i rgyud rnams k y i /

/ gtso bor gyur pa rnam shah m hon by ah gi // rgyud la sbyahs pas spy odp a ' i rgyud kyi phyogs // gab yin d e yah legs par hes par byas // tshul 'di bsams g ih.. ./ bka' drin che'o rje btsun ...

I t h e n r e a c h e d c e r t i t u d e i n t h e p a r t s o f th e C a r y ~ - t a n t r a , t h e s e c o n d c l a s s o fTa n t r a , b y e x e r c i si n g i n ( a n d w e l l u n d e r s t a n d i n g ) t h eMahavairocanabhisa.m-bodhi, t h e c h i e f Ta n t r a o f t h i s d i v i s io n . ~s C o n t e m p l a t i n g t h i s m e t h o d , i t i si n d e e d a n a u s p i c io u s p r e p a r a t i o n . O h , h o w k i n d i s t h e Ve n e r a b le Tr e a su r e

o f W i s d o m !

/ rgyud sde gsum pa rnal 'byor rgyud rnams ky i // gtso bo dpal ldan de gid bsdus pa ' i rg yud // bgad rgy ud rdo rje rtse m o la sogs la // sbya~s pa s rnal 'byor rg yud k yi dga' ston rnyoh // tshul 'di bsams gih .../ bka' drin che'o rje btsun ...

I e x e r c is e d i n t h e t h i r d Ta n t r a d i v i si o n , t h e Yo g a - t a n t r a , w i t h t h e c h i e f w o r k s ,

t h e ~ritattvasa.mgraha;i ts E x p l a n a t o r y Ta n t r a , t h eVajragekhara,a n d s o o n ,a n d e x p e r i e n c e d k e e n e n t h u s i a s m f o r t h e Yo g a - t a n t r a . z9 C o n t e m p l a t i n g t h i sm e t h o d , i t is i n d e e d a n a u s p i c i o u s p r e p a r a t i o n . O h , h o w k i n d i s t h e Ve n e r -a b l e Tr e a s u re o f W i s d o m !

/b ~ ip a rnal 'byor bla na me d pa la // 'phags yu l m kha s pa rnam s la ~i zla l tar // yohs su grags pa ' i pha rgyud 'dus pa dab // rnal 'byor m a rgy ud kyi rdor bde m chog gi // r tsa rgyud bgadpa ' i rgyud la sogs pa dab // redo rgyud g~an dab bgad srol m i 'dra ba' i // gih rta ' i srol chen dus ky i 'khor lo 'i rg yu d// gsal byed dri ma m ed pa ' i 'od la sbyahs // tshu l 'di bsa m s gih .../ bka' drin che'o rje btsun ....

I e x e r c is e d m y s e l f i n t h e f o u r t h Ta n t r a d i v i si o n , t h e A n u t t a r a y o g a - t a n t r a ,w h i c h h a s t e x ts c e l e b r a t e d l i k e t h e s u n a n d t h e m o o n t o t h e l e a r n e d m e n o fI n d i a , n a m e l y, t h eGuhyasamdjao f t h e F a t h e r Ta n t r a , t h eHevajra a n d ~ri-

Cakrasa.mvarao f th e M o t h e r Ta n t r a , t h e i r E x p l a n a t o r y Ta n t r a s, a n d s o o n ,t h e g r e a t w a y - l a y e rKdlacakratantraa n d i t s c l a r i f i c a t i o n t h eVimalaprabhd

28 Cf. ibid.,pp . 205ff.29 Cf. ibid.,pp. 215ff.

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which have ways of explanation differing from other SQtras and Tantras. 8~Contemplating this method, it is indeed an auspicious preparation. Oh, howkind is the Venerable Treasure of Wisdom!

/ rg ya c hen po ma ~ d u t h os pa b t s a l ba ' i s k ab s t e d ab p o ' o / /

T h e f i rs t p h a s e , s e a r c h i n g f o r b r o a d l e a r n i n g , w a s c o m p l e t e d .

/ de has gdu l bya ' i b lo mun se l ba ' i mchog // ' j am pa ' i d byaf is l a gugs d rag rgyu n r ib g i // d a d pa b r tan po s g ~ u~ l ug s gda m s p a ru // ' c h a r p h y i r g s o l b ta b rg y u t sh o g s k u n la " ba d /

/ t shul 'd i bsams Aih . . ./ bka ' dr in che 'o r je btsun . . .

T h e n I p r a y e d a n d p e r s e v e r e d in a l l t h e s e t o f r e a s o n s , s o a s t o g e t t h e t e x t u a lm a t t e r t o a r i s e ( i n m y m i n d ) a s c o u n s e l . T h i s I d i d b y s t e a d f a s t f a i t h w i t hp r o t r a c t e d f i e rc e Te n e rg y t o w a r d M a f i ju g h o .s a , w h o b e s t d i s p e ls t h e d a r k n e s so f c o g n i t i o n i n t h e c a n d i d a t e s . C o n t e m p l a t i n g t h i s m e t h o d , i t i s i n d e e d a na u s p i ci o u s p r e p a r a t i o n . O h , h o w k i n d i s t h e Ve n e r a b l e Tr e a s u r e o f W i s d o m !

/ de l ia r ' ba dp as k lu sgrub thogs reed las ]/ r im b~in b rg yu dp a ' i byah chub la in r im la /

/ t hu n m ob min pa ' i h e s pa r~ed gyu r pa s // z ab mo ' i g ~uh mc h o g ph a r p hy i n g d am s pa r g ar // t shul 'd i bsams ~ih . . ,/ bka ' dr in che 'o r je btsun . . .

B y s u c h e n d e a v o r , I o b t a i n e d u n c o m m o n c e r t a i n t y i n th e S t a g e s o f t h e P a t ht o E n l i g h t e n m e n t d e s c e n d e d i n s e q u e n c e f r o m N a g ~ t rj u n a a n d A s a lh g a , w h e r e -u p o n t h e m o s t p r o f o u n d o f t e x t s , t h e P ~ t r a m i t ~ t ,31 a r o s e a s c o u n s e l . C o n t e m -p l a t i n g t h i s m e t h o d , i t is i n d e e d a n a u s p i c i o u s p r e p a r a t i o n . O h , h o w k i n d i st h e Ve n e r a b l e Tr e a s u r e o f Wi s d o m !

/ byan phyo gs 'd i na t shad m a ' i gSuh lugs l a // s b y a hs d a b m a s b y a h s d u m a m g r i n g c ig t u // redo dab sde bdun ku n la byah chub tu // bgro dp a ' i Karns l en r im pa y od rnin ze r // ' jam p a ' i dbyahs ky i s phyog s ky i g la li po l a // d~os su 'd i r t sams 'd i n i ma 'ohs dus // 'g ro ba kun gy i m ig tu ' gyur ro 5es // g s uh g i gna h ba s t s a l ba 'a h t s h ad ma r b y e d // d e n i m i r i g s smr a b a ' i ph u l by u h d u // m tho ti ha s lhag pa r t shu l der dp ya dp a na /

30 Cf. ibid.,pp . 251ff.3x The "P~ramit~" texts mean, in th is context , the range of Mah~ty~aa texts , ra the rtha n the specia l col lect ion of Praj f iapf i ramita scr iptures .

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/ ts had m a k u n l a s b tu s pa ' i m eho d b r j od don /

/ t shad m a grub par lugs ' byu~ lugs ldog g i s I] r n am g r o l don du ghe r ba beom ldan ' d a s // t shad m ar bsgrub d i fi de l as de y i n i // bs tan pa kho na thar ' dod ' jug t logs su // ti es pa g t i~ na s r ~e dp as t heg g~ i s ky i // l a in gy i gnad k un 'd r il ba r r igs l a in h as // l eg s pa r t hon pa s l ha g p a r dg a ' ba r~e d // t shul 'd i bsams di~ . . ./ bka" drin ehe'o rje btsun . . .

Now, in this Northern land, there are many, trained and untrained in the textsof logic, asserting in unison that this "s~tra" (by Dignfiga) and the SevenTreatises (by Dharmakirt i) contain no stages to take to heart that lead toenlightenment. I found this to be an important saying lacking principle, be-cause I respect as authoritative Mafijugho.sa's gracious prophecy to Dignfigathat his composition actually would be in the future an "eye" for all livingbeings. Upon pondering along these lines, (I decided) that the meaning ofthe introductory prayer of the Pramdn.asamuccayawhen it termed the Lordpramd.nabhata("become logic"), was that He pursued the goal of liberationby the forward and the reverse order (of Dependent Origination), provinglogically? ~ Since I had gained profound certainty that the Teaching fromHim and of Him is the entering ford for those desiring liberation, I found agreat joy in the fact that the essentials of the two paths, Hinayfina and Ma-h~tyfina, issue from this logical method. Contemplat ing this method, it is in-deed an auspicious preparation. Oh, how kind is the Venerable Treasure ofWisdom!

] de nas bya h sa redo sde rg yan g~is po ]/ legs pa r sb yar t e t shu l bd in rab 'bad pa s [/ m i ph am ehos r j e ' i gdut~ da~ r jes 'b ra~ g i // gdu~ ku n ~a rns su l e n pa ' i gd am s p a r ~ a r // t shul 'd i bsams di~ . . ./ bka ' dr in ehe 'o r je btsun . . .

Then I worked methodically on the two fine compositions - - the Bodhisattva-bh amiand the Satrdla.mkdra,correlating them, and all the texts of Maitreyathe Dharmaswamin and his followers arose (in my mind) as counsel to taketo heart. Contemplating this method, it is indeed an auspiciouspreparation.Oh, how kind is the Venerable Treasure o f Wisdom!

/ lhag pa r za b c i t rgya che ' i gsu~ rab t shogs ]/ bsgr igs pa ' i go r im ~ id l as l a in gy i gnad /

8a Tsofi-kha-pa refers here to the contemplation of dependent origination as ida~-pratyayatd,"state of having this as its condition (for arising)",

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/ kun la r ies s te r bs lab pa ku n b tus l a ]

/ b r ten na s redo sde kun las b tus pa sogs // k lu sgrub lugs ky i g~ur i mchog du ma ' i don // flares su len pa ' i r im p a legs pa r mthori // t shul 'd i bsams ~ih . . ./ bka ' dr in che 'o r je btsun . . .

Especially by depending on the Siks.~samuccayawhich bestows (on everybody)certainty in all the essentials of the path according to a sequence preparedfrom the scriptures broad and profound, I have seen the meaning of the manysuperb texts of the NggSrjuna school, such as the Satrasamuccaya,and thus

have observed the steps to take to heart. Contemplating this method, it isindeed an auspicious preparation. Oh, how kind is the Venerable Treasureof Wisdom!

/ d e na s b sam g t a n ph y i m a rn a m s na ri n i /] mrion pa r bya h chub saris rgya s gsari ba yis ]/ l eg sp a r b~a dpa ' i m an r i ag l a b r t en na s // la i n gy i gna d k un l e gs p a r gda ms pa r ~ a r // t shul 'd i b sam s ~iri . ../ bka ' dr in che 'o r je btsun . . .

Then I relied on the well-expressed precepts by Buddhaguhya (in his commen-taries) on the Dhy~nottaraand the Mah~vairocan~bhisa.mbodhi,and all theessentials of the path arose (in my mind) in the manner of counsel. Contem-plating this method, it is indeed an auspicious preparation. Oh, how kind isthe Venerable Treasure of Wisdom!

/ dpa l ldan de ~ id bsdus pa ' i l a in gy i gna d // ti h 'd z in g su m gy i s b s dus p a r m tho h ba r n i // cub za d la yari l a in d er zab m o ' i don /

/ s gom t shu l r tog s pa r dka ' ba pan . chen n i // sa ris rgyas gsah b as r t sa b~ad cha m thun rgyu d /] r na m gsu m sbyar t e t shu l b~ in b~ad pa daft ]/ rg y u d s de g s u m g y i z a b m o ' i ~ a m s l en r n a m s ]/ s g o m r i m f i b ~ i n b ~ a d p a s b l o m u n g s a l /] t shul 'd i b sam s ~if i . . ./ bka ' d r in che 'o r j e b t sun . . .

When I had taken notice of the essentials of the path of Sritattvasam.grahacomprised by the three samfidhis, a8 it was difficult to comprehend the methodof meditating on the profound meaning of even a small part of that path.But the great Pandit Buddhaguhya systematically explained, by combiningthem together, the Basic Tantra, Explanatory Tantra, and Part-wise Smailar

~ For th~ three sam~dhis,cf. M khas grub rje's Fundamentals,pp. 223-24.

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TRANSLATION OFCLASSICAL TIBETAN 183

Ta nt ra ? * The way in which he explained the meditative sequence of the pro-foun d stipulated procedures be longing to the three (lower) Tant ra divisionsdispelled the darkness of my cognition. Conte mplat ing this method, it is in-deed an auspicious preparation. Oh, how kind is the Venerable Treasure ofWisdom!

/ thub pa ' i legs bdad kun gyi mthar thug p a // dpal ldan rnal 'byor bla na m ed pa ' i rgy ud // de yi naft nas din tu ehes zab p a // dpal ldan gsah ba 'dus pa ' i rg yud rgy al la // smr a ba' i dam p a klu sgrub 'di sk ad gsuh ]35

/ r tsa ba 'i rgyud du lam g yi gnad rnam s ni // mtha' drug tshul b~i'i rgya yis btab ste gnas ]] de phy ir bAad pa'i rg yud k yi rjes 'brahs nas [/ bla ma'i man hag las ni des byar gsuhs // tshul de gnad du bzuft nas ma n hag gi ]/ m thar thug tudor byas spyod bsdus rnam b~ag sogs // 'dus pa 'phags pa ' i skor g yi phran kun la ]/ r ib du 'dris pa r by as te rtsa ba' i rg yu d/] sgron m e lta bur gsal bar by ed pa la ]/ brten nas bdad rgyud chen po lha dab ni // legs pa r sbyar la "badpa chert po s sbyahs // sbyahs pas 'dus pa ' i r im ggis sp yi daft ni // khya d par rdzogs pa ' i r im pa ' i gnad kun r~ ed // tshul 'di bsams gih .../ bka' drin che'o rje btsun ...

The glorious Anut tar a T antras are the ultimate of all the well-expressed Teach-ing of the Mu ni; an d amon g them the most profound is the Srf-Guhyasamaja-tantra. That is stated by the illu strious speaker N~garju na. The essentialsof the path in the Basic Tan tra are placed with the seal of six alternatives and

34 Fo r the "Part-wise Similar Tantra", cf. Alex Wayman, "Analysis of the TantricSection o f the Kanjur Correlated to Tanjur Exegesis", Indo-Asian Studies,Part 1(New Delhi, 1962), p. 122: "A Cha mthunTantra is one with materials arranged togo specifically with one or more sections of the basic Tantra [of the Yoga-tantral.Explanatory Tantras that are not Cha mthundevelop various topics of the basicTantra without regard to the sectional divisions".35 The expression 'di skad gsu~in Tibetan regularly refers to what follows ratherthan to what precedes. It has been necessary to interpret this line of Tibetan differ-ently in the present case, for the reason that the tantr ic writer N~g~rjuna did not inhis commentary on the Guhyasarnajatantradeal with the six alternatives and fourways; this terminology is found in Candrakirti's PradTpoddyotanacommentary onthe Guhyasam~jatantra.The difference between these two commentaries is clarifiedin my forthcoming Yoga of the Guhyasamdjatantra~ the Arcane Lore o f Forty Verses,

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f o u r w a y s ? 6 H e n c e t h e y a r e s a id t o b e k n o w n f r o m t h e g u r u ' s o r a l i n s tr u c t io nb y f o ll o w i n g t h e E x p l a n a t o r y Ta n t r a . H a v i n g g r a s p e d t h a t m e t h o d a s e s se n -t i a l, I lo n g e n g a g e d m y s e l f w i t h s u c h f u n d a m e n t a l w o r k s a s t h eCarydmel@alcaw h i c h c o m p r e s s e s th e u l t i m a t e o f o r a l i n s t r u c t i o n a s w e l l a s w i t h m i n o r m a t t e r so f t h e . ~ r y a c y c le o f t h eSam~ja. T h e n t h e B a s i c Ta n t r a w a s m a d e c l e a r l i k ea f ir e l a m p . Ta k i n g r e c o u r s e t o i t, I e x e r c i s ed w i t h g r e a t e n d e a v o r o n t h e f i veg r e a t E x p l a n a t o r y Ta n t r a s a n d o n g o o d ( c o m m e n t a r ia l ) c o m p o s i t i o n s . H a v i n ge x e r c is e d , I o b t a i n e d a l l t h e e s s e n t ia l s c o n s t i tu t i n g g e n e r a l it i e s o f t h e t w o s t a g e s( o f g e n e r a t i o n a n d o f c o m p l e t i o n ) , a n d i n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e e s s e n t ia l s o f t h e S t a g eo f C o m p l e t io n . C o n t e m p l a t i n g t h is m e t h o d , i t is i n d e e d a n a u s p i c io u s p r e p -a r a t io n . O h , h o w k i n d i s t h e Ve n e r a b l e Tr e a s u r e o f W i s d o m !

/ de y i s m thu las bde dgyes d us ' Ichor sogs // rg y u d s d e m a h p o ' i g n a d d o n g d a m s p a r g ar // d e dag bd ag g i s g~an du bgad p a s na // ' d i r n i rnam dpyod can la sgo t sam ~ig // t shul 'd i b sam s gif t . ../ bka ' dr in che 'o r je btsun . . .

B y d i n t o f t h a t ( e ff o rt ), th e e s s e n t i a ls o f m a n y o t h e r T a n t r a s , s u c h a sCakra-sa.mvara, Hevajra, Kalacakra,a r o s e ( i n m y m i n d ) a s c o u n s e l . S i n c e I h a v ee x p l a i n e d t h e m e l se w h e r e , h e r e t h e r e i s j u s t a d o o r w a y t o t h e d i s c r i m i n a t i n gp e r s o n . C o n t e m p l a t i n g t h i s m e t h o d , i t i s i n d e e d a n a u s p i c i o u s p r e p a r a t i o n .O h , h o w k i n d i s t h e Ve n e r a b l e Tr e a s u r e o f Wi s d o m !

/ b a r du g~uh lugs t h ams ca d gd a ms pa r ga r ba ' i s ka bs t eg~is pa ' o [

T h e s e c o n d p h a s e , t h e a r i s i n g o f a ll m a n n e r o f t e x t s a s c o u n s e l, w a s c o m p l e t e d .

/ d e l ta r gdam s pa ' i g t e r du gyu r p a n a // theg che n ggis ky i thun mo ft la in daf t n i /

/ thun mo f t ra in pa ' i l a in gy i r im pa g~is // gn ad bsdus t shah ba ' i l a in l a ' d r is pa r sbyaf ts // t shul 'd i bsams gih . . ./ bka ' d r in che 'o r j e b t sun . . .

W h e n b e c o m i n g i n t h a t w a y a t r e a s u r e o f c ou n s e l, I e x e r c is e d w i t h e n g a g e m e n to n t h e p a t h t h a t i s f u ll o f t h e c o n c i s e e s s e n ti a ls , n a m e l y o f t h e t w o k i n d s o fs t a g e s - - t h o s e o f t h e s h a r e d p a t h o f t h e t w o V e h i cl e s ( i. e. a s in t h eLain r im

a6 Th e s ix a l ternat ives and fo ur ways are se t for th in that m anusc r iptYoga of theGuhyasam~jatantrain accordance wi th thePradfpoddyotana.In b r ie f the s ix a l t e r-na t ives a re : h in ted mean ing and ev iden t mean ing(neyarthaa n d n~tartha),twi l ightl anguage and non- twi l igh t l anguage(sa~d hya bha,yaa n d no satvd hya bhas.d),s tandardte rmino logy and co ined t e rmino logy(yatharutaa n d no yatharuta).T h e f o u r w a y sof exp lana t ion a re : invaf ian t sense(aks.arartha),shared sense (samasta~g~rtha),pregnant sense(garbhyartha),and u l t ima te sense(kolikartha).

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chen mo)and o f t he unsha red pa th o f t he two Veh i cl e s (i.e . a s i n t heShagsrim ch en too).Con temp la t i ng t h i s me thod , i t i s i ndeed an ausp i c ious p r epa ra -t i o n . O h , ho w k ind is t he Vene rab l e Trea su re o f W isdom !

/ rgyal sras smon lain gah-g~'i kluh rnarns ni// da rn chos 'dus pa'i srnon larn nat} 'dus pa r // gsuhs phyir dge rtsa fi s~ed bsags pa ni // kun kya h thub bstan rgyas pa ' i ched du bshos // tshul 'di bsarns 5ih.../ bka' drin che'o rje btsun ...

The Gan ges s t r e ams fu ll o f t he f e rve n t a sp i ra t i ons o f t he J i n a a nd H i s s p i r it ua lsons a re sa id to be inc luded wi th in the fe rven t asp i ra t ions of the I llus t r iousD h a rm a ga the ri ng . I n r e t u rn , t o wha t eve r ex t en t is m y co ll e c ted roo t o f v i r t ueI t r an s f e r i t a ll f o r t he s ake o f sp r ead ing t he Teach ing o f t he Sage (Mun i ) .Con t e m p la t i ng th i s me thod , i t i s i n d e ed an aus p i c ious p r epa ra t i on . Oh , ho wk ind i s t he Vene rab le Trea su re o f W isdom !

/ tha m ar ~in rntshan kun tu ~arns su blahs pa dab / ku n kya hbstan pa rgyas pa ' i ched du bsfios pa ' i skab s te gsurn pa'o /

The t h i rd phase , t ak ing t o hea r t t h roughou t day and n igh t , and t he t r an s f e ro f a ll f o r t he s ake o f sp read ing t he Teach i n g , was com pl e t ed .

/ rah gi dge ba rgya cher spel phy ir dab // rnam dpyo d ldan pa ' i sk al bzah rnah po la // ' jug sgo rna nor tshul b~in bstan pa 'i phyir // rah gi rtogs pa brjod pa "di byas so /] de las thub pa 'i d ge ba 'i tshogs rnarns ky is [/ r im pa 'di yis 'gro ba rna lus kun // thub pa'i brtu l ~ugs bla na reed bzuit nas // rgya l ba dgyes pa 'i lain la 'jug pa r gog /

I have wr i t t en th i s perso na l n ar ra t ion , so as to g rea t ly increase nay ow n v i r tue ,and so a s t o t e ach me thod i ca l l y and e r ro r l e s s l y t he en t r ance ga t e t o manyfo r tuna t e p e r sons o f d is c r im ina t i on . By r ea son o f t he co l l e c ti on o f v i r tue sob t a ined , and by r ea son o f t h is s equence, m ay a l l l iv ing be ings t ake t he i n -com pa rab l e v ow o f t he Sage and en t e r t he pa th w h ich p lea ses t he Vic to r.

/c es rah gi r togs pa rn~on par br jod pa rndo tsam du b~adpa 'di n i / rnah du thos pa ' i dge slob ~ar tsoit kh a pa blobzah grags pa'i dpal gyis 'brog ri bo dge ldan rnarn pa r rg yalba'i gliit du sbyar baY

Th u s t h i s exp l ana t i on l im i t ed t o apho r i s t ic f o rm o f h i s own na r r a t i on is com -p o s e d a t D g e l d a n r n a m p a r rg y a l b a 'i g lifl o f ' B r o g ri b o b y t h e b h i k s h u w h ohea rd m an y t h ings , Ea r Tso f i kha pa B lo bza f i g r ags pa ' i dpa l . .7

~ The colophon appends the name of the scribe(yi ge pa),.Ka shipa Rin-chen-dpal.

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E . A P R O P O S T R AN S LAT IO N O F S O M E ~ H Y A M I K A PAS SA G ES

W h i l e t h i s s e c ti o n p r es e n t s c o r r e c t io n s o f a f e w M ~ d h y a m i k a - t y p e p a s -s ag e s, m o s t a s s u r e d l y t h e r e is n o i n t e n t i o n o f e x t r a p o l a t i o n t o w i d e re v a l u a t i o n o f t ra n s l a t i o n e n d e a v o r s b y t h e r e sp e c ti v e a u t h o r s o f t h ep a s t o r p r e s e n t g e n e r a t i o n . T h e p a ss a g e s a r e d is c u s se d h e r e si m p l y t of u r t h e r c l a r if y p ri n c ip l e s o f t r a n s l a t i o n f r o m t h e T i b e t a n l a n gu a g e .

T h e M ~ d h y a m i k a s c h o o l o f B u d d h i s m - - e s p ec i al ly i n it s Pr ~ sa f ig i k as u b d i vi s io n - - h a s b e e n f o r t u n a t e in it s a b l e E u r o p e a n t r a n s la t o r s . T h ev a r i o u s c h a p t e r s o f C a n d r a k i r t i 's d if fi cu l t S a n s k r i t c o m m e n t a r y, t h e

Prasannapada, o n N ~ g ~ r j u n a ' s Mfda-Madhyamaka-k6r ikS,h a v e b e e nf u l l y t r a n s l a t e d i n t o E u r o p e a n l a n g u a g e s b y T h . S t c h e r b a t s k y , S . S c h a y e r,J . W. d e Jo n g , a n d J . M a y. W h i le th e Ti b e t a n t r a n s l a ti o n o f t h is w o r kw a s s t u d i e d f o r c e n t u r i e s i n Ti b e t a s t h e b a s is o f th e M ~ d h y a m i k a , s in c et h e o r i g i n a l S a n s k r i t h a s b e e n a v a i l a b l e th e Ti b e t a n v e r s i o n is s e c o n d a r yf o r o u r p u r p o s e s a n d t h e r e f o r e n e e d n o t f u r n i s h e x a m p l e s f o r t h e p r e s e n te s sa y. T h e s i t u a t i o n is d i f f e r e n t w i t h C a n d r a k i r t i ' sMadhyamakSvat6ra ,b e c a u s e e x c e p t f o r a f e w c i ta t i o n s , t h e o r i g i n a l S a n s k r i t is n o t e x t a n t .L . d e L a Va ll 6e P o u s s in t r a n s l a t e d i n t o F r e n c h m o s t o f t h eMadhya-makavat~ra v e rs es t o g e t h e r w i th C a n d r a k i r t i 's o w n p r o s e c o m m e n t a r y(Le Musdon,1907 , 1910 , 1911). In th i s case the T ibe tan ve r s ion is p r i -m a r y. A n e s p e c ia l l y i n t e r e s t in g v e r s e i sMadhyamak~vat6ra, V I , 2 6 :

/ m i des ggid kyis tab bs kyod mu stegs can // rn am s kyis bdag ~id f i b~in btags pa dah ]/ sgyu rna smig rgyu sogs la btags pa gab ]/ de dag 'j ig rten las kya h y od rain ~ id /

T h i s i s L a V a ll 6 e P o u s s i n ' s t r a n s l a t i o n :

Les co ncep tions imaginaires des h6r6tiques(tfrthikas)t roubl6s par le sommei lde l 'i gnorance , - - comm el 'dtman -- et les concept ions imaginai res commeles magies optiques, les mirages, etc. , sont 6galement inexistantes du pointde vue m~me du m onde .

H e n o t e d h is d o u b t a b o u t t h e t r a n sl a ti o n " c o m m el '6 tman" f o r T i b e t a nbdag-gidji-b~in: " L a t r a d u c t i o n p r o p o s 6 e n e m e s a t i s f a i t q u e m 6 d i o c r e -m e n t , - - P e u t - ~ t r e =yatMtsvam = c h a c u n ~t s a m a n i ~ r e , c h a c u n p o u rs o i ; e o m p a r e rBodhicaryavatarapa~jika,p . 3 53 ,11 . " T h e s e c o n d t h o u g h t so f th i s a d m i r a b l e n o t e a r e b o r n e o u t b y t h eMehan bu a n n o t a t i o n o nth i s ve r se a s i t was c i t ed in Tsof i -kha-pa ' sLain rim ehe n too. 3sT h e a n -zs I d e s c r i b e d t h i s a n n o t a t i o n e d i t i o n i n " I n t r o d u c t i o n t o Ts o f i k h a p a ' sLam rimehen too", Phi Theta Annual, Papers of the Oriental Languages Honor Society, Uni-versity of California, Vol . 3 (Berke ley, 1952) , p . 53 .

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TRANSLATION OF CLASSICAL TIBETAN 18 7

n o t a t i o n o nbdag g id j i b~inm a y b e s u m m e d u p , " a c c o r d i n g t o ( m is le d )

p e r s o n a l th e o r i e s" . N o w, t h e F r e n c h s c h o l a r p r o p e r l y u n d e r s t o o d th ed e m o n s t r a t i v e p r o n o u nde dag t o g o v e r n t h e a d j e c t i v a l p h r a s e s e a c he n d i n g i n brags pa , b u t h e d i d n o t n o t i c e t h a t t h e s a m e p r o n o u n , a f t e rt h a t d o u b l e d u t y, s h o u l d a g a i n b e e m p l o y e d b y t h e s u g g e s ti o n o f t h eTi b e t a n w o r d kyah (Skt . api) w h i c h h e o m i t t e d t r a n s l a t i n g ; a n d s o h ew a s a l so l e d t o w r o n g l y tr a n s l a t eyod ra ina s " s o n t i n e x i s ta n t e s " . A c o r -r e c t t r a n s l a t i o n o f t h e v e r s e f o l l o w s :

Th e things imagined, accord ing to (misled) 39 perso nal theories, by the heret icscorru pted throu gh the s leep o f ignorance; the imaginary concept ions of phan-toms, mirages, and so on; as well as those things (horses, water, etc.) whichexist according to the wo r ld - - a re (a ll ) nonexis tent .

T h i s v e r s e h a s s e v e ra l l e s so n s t o t e a c h . F i r s t, n o m a t t e r w h a t s t y le o ft r a n s l a t i o n o n e a d o p t s ( cf . t h e t h r e e k i n d s o f t r a n s l a t o r s e a r l i e r i n t h ise s sa y ), o n e m u s t t a k e a c c o u n t o f al l t h e w o r d s : f a i lu r e t o d o t h is w i t ht h e w o r d k y a h l e d t o a s e r io u s m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f th e v e r s e ' s g r a m -m a t i c a l st r u ct u r e. T h e n e x t p o i n t is t h a t C a n d r a k i r t i 's o w n c o m m e n t a r yo n t h e v e r s e g av e li tt le h e l p f o r t r a n s la t i n g i t ; t h e c o m m e n t a r y e x p a n d s

u p o n t h e d o c t r i n a l c o n t e n t o f t h e v e rs e. H o w e v e r , t h eMchan bu ( t ip-pan.O t y p e o f c o m m e n t a r y, b y i t s v e r y f e a t u r e o f i so l a te d w o r d s a n dp h r a s e s , h a s t h e f l e x ib i l it y t o c l a r i f y t h e g r a m m a r a s w e ll a s t o e l u c i d a t es o m e d o c t r i n a l p o i n t . F i n a l l y, e x p e r i e n c e a n d c o n s c i e n t i o u s n e s s s u ff ic et o

Wayman 1972

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