༄༅། །ད་པ་འ་བ་མ།

The Sūtra on Transmigration Through

Existences

Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra
 འཕགས་པ་ད་པ་འ་བ་ས་་བ་ག་པ་ན་ ་མ།
’phags pa srid pa ’pho ba zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “Transmigration Through Existences”

Āryabhavasaṅkrāntināmamahāyānasūtra

· Toh 226 ·
Degé Kangyur, vol. 63 (mdo sde, dza), folios 175.a–177.a

ᴛʀᴀɴsʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛɪʙᴇᴛᴀɴ ʙʏ

· Jinamitra · Dānaśīla · Yeshé Dé ·
 Translated by the Kīrtimukha Translation Group
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

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co. TABLE OF CONTENTS
ti. Title
im. Imprint
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
· Extant Sources of the Sūtra
· The History and Philosophy of the Sūtra
· Our Translation Approach
tr. The Translation
1. Transmigration Through Existences
c. Colophon
ap. Appendix
ap1. The Seven Verses Found in the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra
ap2. Similar Verses Found in Other Sūtras of the Kangyur
ap3. Nāgārjuna’s Bhavasaṅkrānti Treatises
ap4. Other Quotations from the Tengyur, Sorted by Verse
· Verse {1}
· Verse {2}
· Verse {3}
· Verse {4}
· Verse {5}
· Verse {6}
· Verse {7}
ab. Abbreviations
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
· Primary Tibetan Sources
· Primary Sanskrit and Chinese Sources
· Secondary Kangyur and Tengyur Texts
· Other Secondary Sources
g. Glossary
s. SUMMARY
s.1 King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha approaches the Buddha and asks him
how a past action can appear before the mind at the moment of death. The
Buddha presents the analogy of a sleeping person who dreams of a beautiful
woman and on waking foolishly longs to find her. He cites this as an
example of how an action of the distant past, which has arisen from
perception and subsequent afflictive emotions and then ceased, appears to
the mind on the brink of death. The Buddha goes on to explain how one
transitions from the final moment of one life to the first moment of the next,
according to the ripening of those actions, without any phenomena actually
being transferred from one life to another. The Buddha concludes with a set
of seven verses that offer a succinct teaching on emptiness, focusing on the
two truths and the fictitious nature of names.
ac. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ac.1 This sūtra was translated by the Kīrtimukha Translation Group. Celso
Wilkinson, Laura Goetz, and L.S. Summer translated the text from the Tibetan
and Sanskrit. William Giddings provided comparisons to the Chinese
versions of the text.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
i. INTRODUCTION
i.1 The Sūtra on Transmigration Through Existences (Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra) is set in the
Kalandakanivāpa, at the Veṇuvana near Rājagṛha, where King Śreṇya
Bimbisāra of Magadha approaches the Buddha and asks him how, given the
doctrine that formations are empty, an action that has long ceased can
appear before the mind at the moment of death.1 The Buddha presents the
analogy of a beautiful woman in a dream; the sleeping person dreams of
cavorting with her, and even after waking foolishly longs to find her. The
analogy illustrates how a karmic deed of the distant past, which arose from
perception and ensuing afflictive emotions and then ceased, manifests in the
mind of someone on the verge of death. The Buddha goes on to explain the
transition from the final moment of one life to the first moment of the next,
according to the ripening of that karmic deed, without any phenomena
actually being transferred. Thus, in this sūtra, the Buddha provides a
fundamental explanation for how transmigration between lives occurs in
conformity with the view that there is no self—as an immutable, incomposite
entity—that goes from this life to the next. The Buddha concludes with a set
of seven verses that do not summarize his prose teachings or even mention
transmigration at all, but rather offer a succinct teaching on emptiness,
focusing in particular on the two truths and the fictitious nature of all
nominal designations.
i.2 It is notable that this sūtra can be divided into two distinct parts —the
prose and the verse sections —which are thematically quite different. The
second has little relation to the title of the sūtra and seems to be more a deep
reading of the preceding prose than the kind of verse summary commonly
found in other Mahāyāna sūtras. This divide is one key to navigating the
sūtra’s complex history, which is explained below. In essence, this early
Mahāyāna sūtra holds an important place in the tradition as one of the
 earliest statements on the two truths 2 and was used by both the
Madhyamaka and early Yogācāra schools as a scriptural authority on the
ultimate truth.

· Extant Sources of the Sūtra ·

i.3 The Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra was translated and edited by the Indian scholars
Jinamitra and Dānaśīla and the Tibetan translator and editor Yeshé Dé, who
were active from the eight–ninth centuries ᴄᴇ. The Denkarma and
Phangthangma imperial catalogs, dated to the early ninth century, both
include it in their lists of translated sūtras.3 It is also listed in the
Mahāvyutpatti.4
i.4 There was no known Sanskrit witness of this sūtra until recently, when a
manuscript containing twenty texts, all of them sūtras, was found in the
Potala Palace in Lhasa. Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā published a critical edition and
English translation of this collection in the series Sanskrit Texts from the
Autonomous Region (2010). Unfortunately, due to the inaccessibility of the
manuscript collection and because it was missing a final colophon, its origin
and date are currently unknown.5 There seems to be a thematic connection
among the twenty sūtras. Vinītā gives the example of moral discipline (śīla)
as a recurrent theme running through the manuscript,6 and we can likewise
note the recurrence of themes of karmic cause and effect and the hierarchy of
merit. Interestingly, this sūtra is quoted among others, including several
from the Potala manuscript, by Kawa Paltsek (ska ba dpal brtsegs) in a text
contained in the Tengyur called the *Pravacanaratnākhyānaśākyavaṃśāvalī.7
Here we can identify the same recurrent themes among the quotations.
i.5 Other fragments from the Sanskrit text have been found extant in
quotation in other works, with a great number of variations.8 The Pitāputra-
samāgamasūtra (The Sūtra of the Meeting of Father and Son) contains a passage
that closely parallels the prose passage of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra in both the
Tibetan and Sanskrit. The extant Sanskrit is found in quotation in Śāntideva’s
Śikṣāsamuccaya.9 In addition to being quoted extensively among treatises, the
verse section of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra has some passages in common with
or closely resembling verses found in other sūtras and treatises. There are
three similarly titled treatises found in the Tengyur, all attributed to
Nāgārjuna, called the Bhavasañcara (Toh 2277), the Bhavasaṅkrānti (Toh 3840),
and the Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā (Toh 4162), and for the second of these there is
a word-by-word commentary called the Bhavasaṅkrāntitīka (Toh 3841),
attributed to a “Paṇḍita Maitreyanātha.”10 All three of these treatises contain
within them verses that loosely match the verse section of the Bhavasaṅkrānti-
sūtra. Ostensibly these treatises are themselves a commentary on the sūtra;
 however, the relationships are ambiguous, and some scholars have
suggested the possibility that it was the treatises, in some form, that had a
later influence on the verse section of the sūtra.11 Since the whole set of the
canonical quotations and parallel passages to the verse section is complex
and extensive, a comprehensive list of these instances is found in the
appendix.
i.6 There are three translations of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra found in the Chinese
菩提流⽀, sixth century
Tripiṭaka: one (Taishō 575) translated by Bodhiruci (
ᴄᴇ), another (Taishō 576) translated by Buddhaśānta ( 佛 陀 扇 多 , sixth
century), and a third (Taishō 577) translated by Yijing ( 義淨 , seventh to
eighth century).
i.7 There are several other Western-language translations of this sūtra
available. In 1936, Giuliana Stramigioli translated both the Tibetan and
Chinese (Taishō 557) versions, separately, into Italian. The Tibetan translated
was derived from a thirteenth- or fourteenth-century manuscript found in
Tholing Monastery.12 N. Aiyaswami Sastri published a translation in 1931
from the Narthang Kangyur and another in 1938 from the Tibetan and all
three Chinese translations. Fernando Tola and Carmen Dragonetti translated
the sūtra into Spanish based on Stramigioli’s edition in 1977, again in 1980
based on Sastri’s edition, and into English in 1986. As is mentioned above,
there is also Vinītā’s 2010 English translation based the Sanskrit manuscript
from the Potala. Most recently of all, Peter Skilling has included a fine
translation of the sūtra and some helpful notes on it in his 2021 collection,
Questioning the Buddha: A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras.13

· The History and Philosophy of the Sūtra ·

i.8 Noriaki Hakamaya, in his detailed analysis of Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra, theorizes

that the prose section of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra and its parallel in the Pitā-
putrasamāgamasūtra originated as an explanation on the topic of
transmigration that later developed under the influence of the Prajñā-
pāramitā tradition, at which time elements of the emptiness doctrine would
have been introduced. He further suggests that the verse section may have
been an addition of the Yogācāra school.14
i.9 Hakamaya’s thesis is supported by several contextual points in the sūtra.
To begin with, the prose section presents an explanation of rebirth as
resulting from the causal force of an action (karma) without the actual
transmigration of any self or permanent phenomenon. This accords with the
standard Buddhist nominalist view, in which what seems to be a coherent
“self” is merely a collection of factors known as the five aggregates, which
include consciousness, and thus rebirth occurs through causality and
 without a “self” transferring from this life to the next. In general, this
explanation of rebirth would be accepted by any Buddhist school. One
exception would be those schools described by their critics as
Pudgalavādins, or “proponents of a person,” who assert that a person
(pudgala) transmigrates from one life to the next. However, two such schools,
the Vātsiputrīya and Saṃmitīya, make this claim while maintaining the
Buddhist tenet of no-self (anātman): this “person” is defined as neither
permanent nor impermanent and is neither the same nor different from the
five aggregates.15
i.10 Interestingly, the Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Chinese versions of the sūtra
unanimously state that “no phenomenon whatsoever transmigrates from
this world to another world,” with one notable exception in Bodhiruci’s
Chinese translation (Taishō 575), which states in the same passage, “there is
one phenomenon that transmigrates from this life into the future life.”16
Intriguingly, the Bodhiruci version does not indicate what exactly this one
phenomenon is or how it functions in the process of transmigration.
Discussing this passage, N. Aiyaswami Sastri speculates that this version, as
the earliest translation, may indicate that the original narrative of the sūtra
originated from schools, such as the Vātsiputrīya and Saṃmitīya, that assert
the transmigration of the “person” or some similar phenomenon. In this
case, the title of the sūtra, Transmigration Through Existences, would indeed
accord with those that say transmigration occurs.17 However, our research
has not unearthed any other evidence that traces the sūtra specifically to
these schools, and all the later editions clearly do not reflect this view.
i.11 Regardless of this disparity, the prose section of the sūtra provides a
standard early Buddhist explanation of rebirth. As in the analogy of the
dream, even something we know so well to be illusory can have
consequences: the dreamer remembers the dream woman or even goes out
searching for her.18 In the same way, although nothing passes from one life
to another, the effects of the actions of one life can shape the next.
i.12 The prose section of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra is concordant with the
Sautrāntika view that consciousness, which itself seems to be a continuity,
consists only of distinct momentary consciousnesses arising and ceasing.
Thus, it is said in this sūtra that when one reaches the last moment of
consciousness of one life, in the next moment the first consciousness of the
next life arises in turn, and these are connected only by the potential of the
past karma that shapes each moment as it arises.
i.13 The Sautrāntikas maintained that karma, too, is momentary, and thus an
action leads to an evolving stream of germinal potentialities (bīja or “seed”)
leading to the fruition. The difference in the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra and other
Mahāyāna sūtras is that all the elements of the transmigration—
 consciousness, karma, and so forth—are said not to arise, remain, or cease;
they are devoid of essential nature, so any seeming functioning of karma is
an illusion.
i.14 A particularly interesting feature of the prose is that it makes this doctrinal
assumption that the karma of a single action arises in the mind at the
moment of death and is instrumental in determining a being’s next state of
existence. While the Buddha accepts this principle implicit in King
Bimbisāra’s question, he does not explain the reasoning behind it, which
could be interpreted in different ways according to various Buddhist views.
It is worth noting that this sūtra does not implicate an intermediate state
between lives and seems to imply that the first moment of consciousness of
the next life arises immediately following the cessation of the final moment
of consciousness in the previous one.19 In light of this, without forcing a
specific interpretation of how this causality functions, we can say that the
arising of the karma in the mind in the final moment of death provides an
explanation for how the continuum of consciousness transmigrating from
one existence to the next occurs in lieu of a self or any perpetuating
phenomena to be carried through that transmigration. This explanation also
maintains the ethical principle of the law of karma, indispensable to
Buddhism, that one’s ethical conduct determines one’s next existence and
that pleasure and suffering arise from one’s past actions.
i.15 It is also up for interpretation exactly how the analogy of the dream
should be understood. The Buddha gives this analogy to explain the
principle of how the karma appears at the moment of death, stating that the
woman in the dream is analogous to that karma, and that her arising in the
mind of the man waking from the dream is to be understood as analogous to
the karma appearing before the mind at the moment of death. Certainly, he is
not implying that the phenomena of karma itself appears, since it has
explicitly long since passed, but its potentiality or causal force is present
somehow at that crucial moment of death. Perhaps the analogy also
emphasizes that the karma itself is nonexistent, like the woman in a dream.
But on the whole, the precise implications of this analogy might be
explicated differently according to the theory of karma and transmigration
held by any particular Buddhist school.
i.16 In the Buddha’s final remarks of the prose section we find some passages
that align the narrative closely with the Prajñāpāramitā teachings on how
phenomena lack any essential nature and on emptiness, in particular at 1.14,
where the phenomena including final consciousness, transmigration, karma,
first consciousness, and birth are declared to be empty of themselves.
i.17 Moving on to the verses, the first four pertain to the Buddhist nominalist
position that all phenomena are only nominally existent (prajñaptisat), having
no independent substantial existence (dravyasat), a position that was used by
Madhyamaka thinkers to support their school’s interpretation of
emptiness.20
i.18 The final three verses present a śūnyavāda interpretation of the two
truths. The relative truth refers to conventional appearances, as in verse five
when “one who observes correctly” says “The eye sees forms.” From the
perspective of the ultimate truth there is only the nature of emptiness, all
phenomena existing dependently, or, according to the statement in verse six,
“seeing comes from a conjunction.”21 Finally, verse seven points out the
“supreme truth” that “The eye does not see form / And the mind does not
know phenomena,” meaning that the conceptual notion of the two truths is
itself provisional.
i.19 Although the verse section presents a Madhyamaka position, and despite
having parallel treatises attributed to Nāgārjuna, Hakamaya intriguingly
suggests the possibility that these verses were an addition of the Yogācāra
school. The evidence he provides is that the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra is cited in
numerous Yogācāra texts, including the Bodhisattvabhūmi and Sāgaramegha’s
commentary on its treatment of the second verse, in which it is interpreted
according to the Yogācāra trisvabhāva (three nature) theory,22 and the fact
that the sūtra is cited in dialectical treatises to refute the Yogācāra position as
the basis of their scriptural authority.23 Regardless of the question of the
sūtra’s history, the verse section is quoted or echoed in many treatises as a
definitive statement on the two truths and the nominalist position of
phenomena.
i.20 All of this is merely an overview, food for further research, and is intended
to draw attention to some facets of the fascinating history of this brief sūtra.

· Our Translation Approach ·

i.21 We have based our translation primarily on the Tibetan version in the Degé
Kangyur, but we consulted the Sanskrit and versions in other Kangyurs in
the case of questionable terms or passages, in order to establish the most
plausible and accurate readings of the text. The citations of the Sanskrit we
provide in the notes are from Vinītā’s emendations of the handwritten Potala
manuscript. Instances where our translation diverges from the Degé have
been noted, and any significant differences found in the various versions of
the sūtra are recorded and explained in the notes. In general, all these
versions, along with the Sanskrit and Chinese sources, are unanimous in
terms of their general structure and meaning (except for the phrase found in
 Bodhiruci’s translation, Taishō 575, mentioned above). However, there are
many minute variations to be found among the various versions, especially
in comparison to the parallel passages found in the Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra
and quotations of both the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra and Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra
found in many other texts. These numerous variations are both the likely
result and evidence of the sūtra’s complex development.
i.22 Since the minor variations found in comparing the different versions are
particularly numerous, we have chosen to provide annotations only for
differences that change the meaning in a significant way or that we
otherwise deemed to be interesting or noteworthy.24 To note all variant
readings would require the preparation of a diplomatic edition of the
multiple texts, which lies beyond the scope of this translation. As mentioned
above, a comprehensive list of all the Kangyur and Tengyur quotations and
congruent passages relating to the verse section of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra is
given in the appendix.
 The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
Transmigration Through Existences
1. The Translation
[F.175.a]

1.1 Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

1.2 Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the
Kalandakanivāpa, at the Veṇuvana near Rājagṛha, together with a great
monastic saṅgha of 1,250 monks and a multitude of bodhisattva
mahāsattvas. The Blessed One, surrounded [F.175.b] and venerated by an
audience of many hundreds of thousands, taught the Dharma. He
expounded the wholesome conduct that is virtuous in the beginning,
virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end, and that is excellent in
meaning, excellent in words, distinctive, perfect, completely pure, and
thoroughly refined.
1.3 At that time King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha set out from the great city
of Rājagṛha. With great royal pomp and power, he arrived at the Veṇuvana
before the Blessed One. He bowed his head to the feet of the Blessed One,
circumambulated him three times, and sat to one side.
1.4 Seated to one side, King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha inquired of the
Blessed One,25 “Blessed One, how does an action, performed and
accumulated, having ceased and ceased for a long while, manifest in the
mind when the moment of death is imminent?26 Since all formations are
empty, how are actions not lost?”
1.5 The Blessed One replied to King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha,27 “Great
king, it is like this: To give an analogy, a man has dreamed that he has
cavorted with the most beautiful woman in the land,28 and then upon
waking he keeps recollecting that most beautiful woman in the land. What
do you think, king? Does that most beautiful woman in the land from the
dream exist?”
“No, Blessed One, she does not,” he replied.
1.6 The Blessed One then asked, “Great king, what do you think? In that case,
is that person who has become fixated on the most beautiful woman in the
land wise in nature?”29
1.7 “No, Blessed One, he is not,” he replied. “Why is that? Blessed One, the
most beautiful woman in the land from the dream is utterly nonexistent and
cannot be [F.176.a] observed; as there is no way he can cavort with her, that
man is bound to be miserable and exhausted.”
1.8 “Great king,” said the Blessed One, “childish and unlearned beings, in the
same way, become fixated on pleasant30 forms that they see with their eyes.
Having become fixated, they then become desirous. Being desirous, they
then become enamored. Being enamored leads them to commit actions
stemming from passion, anger, and ignorance, which are conditioned by
body, speech, and mind.31 The actions, thus conditioned, then cease.32
Having ceased, an action does not remain anywhere —in the east or in the
south, in the west or in the north. It does not remain above, below, or in the
intermediate directions.
1.9 “But at some other time, whenever it might be, when the moment of death
is approaching and the karma concordant with one’s fortune for this life is
exhausted, the final consciousness ceases, and this next karma—just like the
most beautiful woman in the land for the person in the analogy sleeping and
waking from sleep—will manifest in the mind.33
1.10 “Great king, that is how, as the final consciousness ceases, there arises the
first consciousness belonging to the next life,34 be that among the gods,
humans, asuras,35 hell beings, animals, or pretas.36
1.11 “Great king, immediately after that first consciousness ceases,37 there
arises the mindstream concordant with one’s fortune along with the
experiences of karmic fruition that manifest therein.
1.12 “Great king, no phenomenon whatsoever transmigrates from this world to
another world,38 yet there are the manifestations of death and birth.39
1.13 “Great king, the cessation of the final consciousness [F.176.b] is known as
death. The arising of the first consciousness is known as birth. Great king, the
moment the final consciousness ceases, it does not go anywhere. The
moment the first consciousness pertaining to birth arises, it also does not
come from anywhere. Why is that? It is because they40 are devoid of essential
nature.
1.14 “Great king, the final consciousness is empty of final consciousness,
transmigration after death is empty of transmigration after death,41 action is
empty of action,42 the first consciousness is empty of the first consciousness,
and birth is empty of birth, yet actions manifest without being lost.
1.15 “Great king, no sooner does the first consciousness pertaining to birth
cease than there arises, without any interruption, the mindstream in which
the experiences of karmic fruition manifest.”43
1.16 Thus spoke the Blessed One. The Sugata having spoken, the Teacher
further declared:44 45

1.17 “All of these are mere names —

They abide only as notions.
Set apart from their verbal designations,
What is designated does not exist. {1}

1.18 “By whatever names

Any phenomena are designated,
They do not exist therein.
This is the very nature of phenomena. {2}

1.19 “The nature of name is empty of name.

A name does not exist as a name.
All nameless phenomena
Have been designated by name. {3}

1.20 “These phenomena do not exist;

They originate from conceptual thought.
The conceptual thought that conceptualizes them as empty
Also does not exist. {4}

1.21 “ ‘The eye sees form’

Is said by one who observes correctly.
To the world with its perverse arrogance,46
This was taught as the relative truth. {5}

1.22 “What the Guide has made known—

That seeing comes from a conjunction47—
The wise speak of
As the grounds for designating ultimate truth. {6}

1.23 “The eye does not see form

And the mind does not know phenomena.
That is the supreme truth;
The world does not fathom48 it.” {7} [F.177.a]

1.24 The Blessed One having spoken, King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha, the
bodhisattvas and monks, and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and
gandharvas rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.
1.25 This concludes the noble Mahāyāna sūtra “Transmigration Through Existences.”
c. Colophon
c.1 Translated and edited by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla and
the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé. It was then revised and
finalized according to the new terminology.
ap. Appendix

APPENDIX
ap1. · The Seven Verses Found in the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra ·

ap1.1 The verse section of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra is quite significant to Buddhism’s

commentarial literature, as it has been used as scriptural authority to support
philosophical views concerning key concepts about emptiness, phenomena,
the nature of phenomena, and the two truths. However, because these
verses were so often quoted in treatises, they at times appear to have been
altered and are attributed to various sources. Furthermore, as noted in the
introduction, it is uncertain whether the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra was the original
source of these seven terse but important verses. What follows is an account
of all the quotations and verses we found in the Kangyur and Tengyur; here
we have supplemented the research of previous scholars with our own
findings. The list is by no means exhaustive, and it is confined to the seven
verses found at the end of the Bhavasaṅkrāntiśāstra with a primary focus on
Tibetan sources. There are also numerous Sanskrit fragments of the verses
that are not listed here. For a comprehensive view of these, see Vinītā (2010),
pp. 438–47, which compares Sanskrit readings found in different extant
quotations, and some of the Chinese sources as well.
ap1.2 Braces {} have been used when referring to the verse numbers as they
appear in the present translation of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra, to disambiguate
them from indexes used in other texts.

ap2. · Similar Verses Found in Other Sūtras of the Kangyur ·

ap2.1 Laṅkāvatārasūtra (Toh 107): Verse {1} is found at folio 129.b3 and folio 260.b5;
note that the wording here is quite different: ming dang ’du shes bye brag
gis/ /mdo dang mdo las rnam rtog bshad/ /brjod pa dag ni ma gtogs par/ /brjod par bya
ba’ang mi rig go/. Verse {4} is found at folio 159.a6; note that the wording here
 is also quite different: chos ’di dag ni snying po med/ /rlom sems las ni byung ba
yin/ /gang gis stong zhes snyems pa yi/ /snyems pa de yang stong pa’o/. Some of the
Tengyur treatises listed below quote these verses as they appear in the
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra but attribute them to the Laṅkāvatārasūtra.

ap2.2 Ghanavyūhasūtra (Toh 110): Verses {1–2} are found together in three instances:
folio 39.b4–6, folio 40.a6–7, and folio 41.b3–4. Note that the content is
somewhat different, and the first instance is interspersed with parts of
dialogue.

ap2.3 Pratyutpannabuddhasaṃmukhāvasthitasamādhisūtra (Toh 133): Lindtner (1992), p.

264, n. 30, mentions this sūtra as having verses in common with the Bhava-
saṅkrāntisūtra, although these do not appear to be present in the Tibetan
editions.

ap3. · Nāgārjuna’s Bhavasaṅkrānti Treatises ·

ap3.1 As mentioned in the introduction, these treatises attributed to Nāgārjuna

each contain a section resembling the seven-verse section of the Bhava-
saṅkrāntisūtra but contain significant differences and some partial omissions.
While there are further variations between the verses of the three treatises
themselves, Sastri suggests that they are all recensions of the same older
source. See Sastri (1931), pp. xxii–xxxi, for his discussion of the differences
between each text.

ap3.2 Bhāvasañcara (Toh 2277), Nāgārjuna: Includes verses {1–7} with some
variation at folio 128.a1–5.

ap3.3 Bhavasaṅkrānti (Toh 3840), Nāgārjuna: Includes verses {1–7} with some
variation at folio 151.b2–6 (verse {4} is shortened into two lines). This treatise
is also referred to as the Madhyama (dbu ma) Bhavasaṅkrānti, according to the
colophon.

ap3.4 Bhavasaṅkrāntitīka (Toh 3841), Paṇḍita Maitreyanātha: Contains a phrase-level

commentary on the Bhavasaṅkrānti treatise (Toh 3840) above.

ap3.5 Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā (Toh 4162), Nāgārjuna: Includes verses {1–7} with

some variations at folios 167.b7–168.a3 (verse {2} is shortened into two lines
and {3} is omitted).

ap3.6 Bhavabhedaśāstra (Taishō 1574), Nāgārjuna: This is not included in the

Tengyur but is found in the Chinese Tripiṭaka, vol. 30, no. 1574. Sastri
describes this as yet another recension of the treatises attributed to
 Nāgārjuna above.

ap3.7 Comparisons between the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra and three Bhavasaṅkrānti

treatises attributed to Nāgārjuna that are represented in the Degé Kangyur:

{V}: {1}
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra:

Bhāvasañcara:

Bhavasaṅkrānti[śāstra]:

Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā:

{V}: {2}
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra:

Bhāvasañcara:

Bhavasaṅkrānti[śāstra]:

Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā:

{V}: {3}
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra:

Bhāvasañcara:

Bhavasaṅkrānti[śāstra]:

Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā: Omitted

{V}: {4}
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra:

Bhāvasañcara:

Bhavasaṅkrānti[śāstra]:

Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā:

{V}: {5}
 Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra:

Bhāvasañcara:

Bhavasaṅkrānti[śāstra]:

Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā:

{V}: {6}
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra:

Bhāvasañcara:

Bhavasaṅkrānti[śāstra]:

Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā:

{V}: {7}
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra:

Bhāvasañcara:

Bhavasaṅkrānti[śāstra]:

Bhavasaṅkrāntiparikathā:

ap4. · Other Quotations from the Tengyur, Sorted by Verse ·

ap4.1 This section contains all other Tengyur sources that contain quotations of
the verses found in the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra. The list is indexed in subsections
by the latter’s verse number. Treatises that quote multiple verses are
repeated for each subsection. Note that in most cases the source of the
quotation is not stated in the treatise. It has been noted when the quotation
is attributed to the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra or if it is attributed by the text to a
different source (often when the quote was attributed to another source, it is
in fact most close to that of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra).

· · Verse {1} · ·
ap4.2 Acintyastava (Toh 1128), Nāgārjuna: Verse {1} is quoted at folio 78.a3. This text
also quotes verse {4}; see below.

ap4.3 Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstrābhisamayālaṅkāravṛtti (Toh 3787),

Vimuktasena: Verse {1} is quoted at folios 150.b7–151.a1.

ap4.4 Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstrābhisamayālaṅkārakārikāvārttikā
(Toh 3788), Vimuktasena: Verse {1} is quoted at folio 118.a3–4.

ap4.5 Abhisamayālaṅkārālokā (Toh 3791), Haribhadra: Verse {1} is quoted at folio

32.a4 and folio 253.b5–6.

ap4.6 Bhagavadratnaguṇasañcayagāthāpañjikā (Toh 3792), Haribhadra: Verse {1} is

quoted at folio 24.a5.

ap4.7 Prajñāpāramitāsaṅgrahakārikāvivaraṇa (Toh 3810), Triratnadāsa: Verses {1–3} are

quoted at folio 314a4–5 ({2–3} appear before {1}).

ap4.8 Madhyamakāloka (Toh 3887), Kamalaśīla: Verse {1} is quoted at folio 230.a4–5.

ap4.9 Munimatālaṅkāra (Toh 3903), Abhayākaragupta: Verse {1} is quoted at folio

140.b6.

ap4.10 Laṅkāvatāranāmamahāyānasūtravṛttitathāgatahṛdayālaṅkāra (Toh 4019), Jñānavajra:

Verse {1} is quoted at folio 73.b7.

ap4.11 Yogācārabhūmaubodhisattvabhūmivyākhyā (Toh 4047), *Sāgaramegha: Verse

{1ab} is quoted at folio 71.b2, and then the text proceeds to comment on lines
from verse {2}.

ap4.12 Vyākhyāyukti (Toh 4061), Vasubandhu: Partial quotations of verses {1–3} at

folio 110.b1–7 with interspersed commentary.

ap4.13 gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shAkya’i rabs rgyud (Toh 4357), Kawa
Paltsek: Verses {1–2}, {3ab}, and {7} are quoted at folio 265.b.5–7, and verse
{7} is quoted again at folio 281.a4–5.

· · Verse {2} · ·

ap4.14 Prajñāpāramitāsaṅgrahakārikāvivaraṇa (Toh 3810), Triratnadāsa: Verses {1–3} are

quoted at folio 314a4–5 ({2–3} appear before {1}).

ap4.15 Bhagavatyāmnāyānusāriṇīnāmavyākhyā (Toh 3811), Jagaddalanivāsin: Verse

{2ab} is quoted at folio 52.a.2; the lines following this paraphrase ideas in the
other verses found in the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra.
ap4.16 Prajñāpāramitāvajracchedikāṭīkā (Toh 3817), Kamalaśīla: Verse {2} is quoted at
folio 254.b3–4.

ap4.17 Prajñāpradīpamūlamadhyamakavṛtti (Toh 3853), Bhāvaviveka: Verse {2} is

quoted at folio 243.b6.

ap4.18 Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā (Toh 3855), Bhāvaviveka: Verse {2} is quoted at folios

22.b7–23.a1.

ap4.19 Madhyamakahṛdayavṛttitarkajvālā (Toh 3856), Bhāvaviveka: Verse {2} is quoted

at folio 219.a5. “This scripture is renowned among both traditions” (de la
gzhung lugs gnyi ga la grags pa’i lung yang yod de) refers to proponents of both
the Mādhyamika and Yogācāra.

ap4.20 Prajñāpradīpaṭīkā (Toh 3859), Avalokitavrata: Verse {2} is quoted at vol. 101,
folio 282.b4–5. The source is unspecified (gzhan las kyang ji skad du), but
following this is the same quote in prose form attributed to the Bhava-
saṅkrāntisūtra (srid pa ’pho ba’i mdo las).

ap4.21 Sugatamatavibhaṅgabhāṣya (Toh 3900), Jitāri: Verse {2} is quoted at folio 64.a5.

ap4.22 Akṣayamatinirdeśaṭīkā (Toh 3994), Vasubandhu: Verse {2} is quoted at folio

80.a6.

ap4.23 Mahāyānasūtrālaṅkāraṭīkā (Toh 4029), Asvabhāva: Verse {2} is quoted at folio

41.a2.

ap4.24 Sūtrālaṅkāravṛttibhāṣya (Toh 4034), Sthiramati: Verse {2} is quoted at folio 9.a5.

ap4.25 Bodhisattvabhūmi (Toh 4037), Asaṅga: Verse {2} is quoted at folio 27.a4–5. The
quote is attributed to the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra (srid pa ’pho ba’i mdo las).

ap4.26 Vyākhyāyukti (Toh 4061), Vasubandhu: Partial quotations of verses {1–3} at

folio 110.b1–7 with interspersed commentary.

ap4.27 Prajñāpāramitopadeśa (Toh 4079), Ratnākaraśānti: Verse {2} is quoted at folio

145.a3. The quote is attributed to the Laṅkāvatārasūtra (Toh 107) (’di skad du
’phags pa lang kar gshegs pa las).

ap4.28 Tattvasaṅgraha (Toh 4266), Śāntarakṣita: Verse {2} is represented at folio 33.a1–
2 using different words, but following the same structure as found in the
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra.

ap4.29 Tattvasaṅgrahapañjikā (Toh 4267), Kamalaśīla: Verse{2} is quoted at folio

143.a5–6 and folio 312.b1.
ap4.30 gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shAkya’i rabs rgyud (Toh 4357), Kawa
Paltsek: Verses {1–2}, {3ab}, and {7} are quoted at folio 265.b5–7, and verse {7}
is quoted again at folio 281.a4–5.

· · Verse {3} · ·

ap4.31 Prajñāpāramitāsaṅgrahakārikāvivaraṇa (Toh 3810), Triratnadāsa: Verses {1–3} are

quoted at folio 314.a4–5 ({2–3} appear before {1}).

ap4.32 Śikṣāsamuccaya (Toh 3940), Śāntideva: Quotes verse {3}; however, the quote is
omitted in the Tibetan but is found in the Sanskrit. See Vaidya (1960), p. 241,
v. 9–14. The verse is attributed to the Lokanāthavyākaraṇa, the identity of which
is uncertain.

ap4.33 Vyākhyāyukti (Toh 4061), Vasubandhu: Contains partial quotations of verses

{1–3} at folio 110.b1–7 with interspersed commentary.

ap4.34 gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shAkya’i rabs rgyud (Toh 4357), Kawa
Paltsek: Verses {1–2}, {3ab}, and {7} are quoted at folio 265.b5–7, and verse {7}
is quoted again at folio 281.a4–5.

· · Verse {4} · ·

ap4.35 Acintyastava (Toh 1128), Nāgārjuna: Verse {4} is quoted at folio 78.a3. This text
also quotes verse {1}, see above.

ap4.36 Bodhicaryāvatārapañjikā (Toh 3872), Prajñākaramati: Quotes the Acintyastava

above, containing this quotation of Verse {4} at folio 274.b1–2.

· · Verse {5} · ·

ap4.37 Prajñāpradīpaṭīkā (Toh 3859), Avalokitavrata: Verse {5} is quoted at vol. 100,
folio 8.a5. The quote is attributed to the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra (srid pa 'pho ba’i
mdo las). In other sections this text also quotes verses {6} and {7}, see below.

· · Verse {6} · ·

ap4.38 Prajñāpradīpamūlamadhyamakavṛtti (Toh 3853), Bhāvaviveka: Verse {6} is

quoted at folio 203.b7.

ap4.39 Madhyamakahṛdayavṛttitarkajvālā (Toh 3856), Bhāvaviveka: Verse {6} is quoted

at folio 53.a1–2. The connotation of {6cd} is somewhat different: de ni blo can
’jig rten chos/ /nye bar gdags pa’i sar ston to.
ap4.40 Prajñāpradīpaṭīkā (Toh 3859), Avalokitavrata: Verse {6} is quoted at vol. 101,
folio 147.a4. The quote is attributed to the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra (srid pa ’pho ba’i
mdo las). In other sections this text also quotes verses {5} and {7}; see above
and below.

ap4.41 Prasannapadā (Toh 3860), Candrakīrti: Verses {6–7} are quoted at folios 40.b7–
41.a1. Verse {6} is placed after verse {7}.

· · Verse {7} · ·

ap4.42 Prajñāpradīpaṭīkā (Toh 3859), Avalokitavrata: Verse {7} is quoted at vol. 100,
folio 8.a2, folio 8.a6, and folio 35.a3. The quote is attributed to the Bhava-
saṅkrāntisūtra (srid pa ’pho ba’i mdo las). In other sections this text also quotes
verses {5} and {6}; see above.

ap4.43 Prasannapadā (Toh 3860), Candrakīrti: Verses {6–7} are quoted at folios 40.b7–
41.a1. Verse {6} is placed after verse {7}.

ap4.44 gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shAkya’i rabs rgyud (Toh 4357), Kawa
Paltsek: Verses {1–2}, {3ab}, and {7} are quoted at folio 265.b.5–7, and verse
{7} is quoted again at folio 281.a4–5.
ab. ABBREVIATIONS
BhSS Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra
C Choné (co ne) Kangyur
D Degé (sde dge) Kangyur
H Lhasa (zhol) Kangyur
J Lithang (’jang sa tham) Kangyur
K Peking (pe cin) Kangxi Kangyur
Kʏ Peking Yongle (g.yung lo) Kangyur
N Narthang (snar thang) Kangyur
PPSS Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra (Toh 60)
S Stok Palace (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur
Sanskrit Sanskrit manuscript found in the Potala Palace (see introduction
and bibliography)
Taishō Sixth-century Chinese translation by Bodhiruci (菩提流⽀)
575
Taishō Sixth-century Chinese translation by Buddhaśānta ( 佛陀扇多)
576
Taishō Seventh–eighth-century Chinese translation by Yijing ( 義淨)
577
U Urga (ku re) Kangyur
n. NOTES
n.1 The ideas that actions committed in the past appear to the mind at the
moment of death, and that a person’s last thought determines their next
existence, are not frequently encountered in Mahāyāna literature. There are,
however, precedents for the second idea—the karmic efficacy of final
thoughts —in Hindu and early Buddhist texts. See McDermott (1980), pp.
177–78. For an example from the Pali suttas, see MN 3.214 in Bhikkhu
Ñāṇamoli and Bhikkhu Bodhi (1995), pp. 261–62.

n.2 Willis (1982), p. 119.

n.3 Denkarma folio 299.b; Phangthangma (2003), p. 17. Both catalogs describe the
sūtra as seventy ślokas in length.

n.4 Mahāvyutpatti, no. 1379.

n.5 Currently, the manuscript is kept in the Potala. Vinītā’s critical edition is
based on a copy of the manuscript that is kept in the China Tibetology
Research Center. For further details on the state of this manuscript see Vinītā
(2010), pp. xv–xvii.

n.6 Vinītā (2010), pp. xxvii–xxix.

n.7 Kawa Paltsek, gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shAkya’i rabs rgyud. BhSS is
quoted on pp. 805–7 in the Pedurma edition.

n.8 There are numerous Sanskrit fragments of this text. See Vinītā (2010), pp.
410–47, for a detailed critical edition, which compares the various sources.
Vinītā includes transcribed sections of Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatārabhaṣya
from a copy of a Sanskrit manuscript from the Potala kept at the China
Tibetology Research Center (Box 136). The critical edition also includes
Sanskrit fragments from Candrakīrti’s Prasannapadā, Prajñākaramati’s Bodhi-
caryāvatārapañjikā, Asaṅga’s Bodhisattvabhūmi, and Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya,
 all of which quote the BhSS or parallel passages of the PPSS (as is the case
with the Śikṣāsamuccaya).

n.9 See n.8.

n.10 See Degé Tengyur, vol. 96 (dbu ma, tsa), folio 158.a. The authorship of these
texts is uncertain. See Hakamaya (1977), p. 482; see also Tola and Dragonetti
(1986), p. 13, fn. 1. The Tibetan and restored Sanskrit editions of these texts,
along with a translation of the śāstras and summary of the ṭīka, are given in
Sastri (1938).

n.11 Lindtner states that Nāgārjuna had adopted these verses from the BhSS,
while Tola and Dragonetti suggest that it may have been the other way
around, and that while the prose section certainly predates Nāgārjuna’s
work, it is possible that some of the verses, being later additions, were drawn
from the śāstra. See Lindtner (1992), pp. 264–66; see also Tola and Dragonetti
(1986), pp. 4–5.

n.12 Tola and Dragonetti (1986), p. 3.

n.13 Skilling (2021), pp. 393–408.

n.14 Hakamaya (1977), pp. 480–82. This very informative paper is merely an
abstract from a larger, more detailed article. Unfortunately for us it was only
available in Japanese. See “The Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra—Introduction and
Translation,” Journal of Buddhist Studies (Komazawa daigaku bukkyō gakubu
ronshū) 8, Tokyo: Komazawa University, 1977: 276–302.

n.15 See Buswell and Lopez (2014) under “pudgala” and “pudgalavāda.” See also
McDermott (1980), pp. 168–69. There may also be some theoretical
discrepancy between the causality described in the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra, in
which the action from the past ceases before the first consciousness of the
next birth arises (although the two are causally connected), and the general
Sarvāstivādin view that maintains that past, present, and future actions exist
simultaneously.

n.16 See n.38.

n.17 Sastri (1938), pp. xvi–xvii.

n.18 The Viṃśatikā of Vasubandhu (Toh 4056) describes the causal efficacy of
external objects using an example, similar to that of BhSS, of a person having
intercourse in a dream, but in which the perception is compared to the
resulting seminal emission. Nāgārjuna’s Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra gives
another similar account, in which three brothers wonder why dreaming of
 three courtesans who were described to them brought them pleasure and
woke them up from sleep. This story is used to teach the emptiness of
phenomena. Lamotte (1944), p. 425.

n.19 The Theravādins and several other Buddhist schools likewise refute an
intermediary state. For a discussion of the different theories of
transmigration in early Buddhist schools, see McDermott (1980), pp. 165–92,
and Wayman (1984), p. 251.

n.20 It should be noted that theories of the nominalist critique of “self” go back to
Pali sources like the Milindapanha and were later used to support the
śūnyavāda view in Madhyamaka works. We are grateful to David Higgins
for providing this insight along with the following note: “A shared premise
of such [Madhyamaka nominalist] critiques is that the ‘self’ is a mere
nominal designation (prajñāpti) for what is in reality a heterogeneous
assemblage of partite factors. Although nominalism is often associated with
Buddhist epistemological views concerning the ontological status of
universals, early Buddhist thinkers already regarded composite entities such
as selves and persons as having a mere nominal existence. Along these lines,
early Abhidharma traditions distinguished between substantially existent
(dravyasat) and nominally existent (prajñaptisat) entities and regarded the
‘person’ as nothing more than a merely conventional denomination
established on the basis of the five psychophysical aggregates and having a
merely conventional reality. According to Mi bskyod rdo rje, […]
Madhyamaka thinkers such as Candrakīrti denied even ‘nominal existence’
to selves and persons within the tenets of their own system.” Higgins
(forthcoming).

n.21 That is, “seeing” cannot occur independent of a number of causes and
conditions.

n.22 Hakamaya (1977), p. 479, fn. 4. The trisvabhāva theory (mtshan nyid gsum) is a
creation of the Yogācāra school used to address what it perceived to be
insufficiency (and nihilism) of the two truths of the Madhyamaka school. The
three natures are (1) parikalpitasvabhāva (kun brtags pa’i mtshan nyid), the
“imagined” nature, that is our mistaken conception of phenomena; (2) para-
tantrasvabhāva (gzhan dbang gi mtshan nyid), or “relative” nature, which refers
to the causal, interdependent nature that gives rise to that conceptuality; and
(3) pariniṣpannasvabhāva (yongs grub pa’i mtshan nyid), or the “perfect” nature,
which is the true, ultimate nature of phenomena.

n.23 To quote Hakamaya, “The most part of the BhSS is quoted in the
Madhyamakāvatarabhāṣya […] of Candrakīrti in order to refuse the ālayavijñāna
 of Yogācāra. Though it is difficult to explain the reason why Candrakīrti
would be better pleased to take the BhSS than the PPSS, he would perhaps
expected [sic] the more efficacious refutation by means of employing the
BhSS as the scriptural authority, which belonged to the just opposite of him,
i.e. the Yogācāra. It was also to the Yogācāra tradition that the Chinese
translators of the BhSS had belonged.” Hakamaya (1977), p. 480.

n.24 For a more detailed comparison of the various editions, see Vinītā (2010), pp.
409–51. See also Sastri (1938), pp. 8–19, for a side-by-side translation of the
three Chinese versions.

n.25 In Taishō 575 and Taishō 576, the Buddha initiates the conversation by
immediately describing the example of a man dreaming of a beautiful
woman. This corresponds to the parallel passage found in PPSS.

n.26 See n.1.

n.27 The following section from here up until the verse section at 1.16 has a
parallel in the PPSS.

n.28 In the Chinese versions, the content of the dream varies slightly. Taishō 575:
“Suppose a man had a dream in which he saw a crowd of people, and among
them was a beautiful woman taking part in amusement.” Taishō 577:
“Suppose a man, while asleep and dreaming, saw some people, and among
them was a very beautiful woman, and he became completely
overwhelmed.” The other versions more closely resemble the scenario here
in D.

n.29 In the Sanskrit, the Buddha’s question here varies slightly: “Great king, what
do you think? Would the man be wise who would reminisce about the most
beautiful woman in the land, whom he has enjoyed in his dream and
consequently become passionate for?” (tat kiṃ manyase mahārāja, api tu sa
puruṣaḥ paṇḍitajātīyo bhavet, yaḥ svapnāntare bhuktāṃ janapadakalyāṇīṃ striyam
anusmaret, tataś cāsyāḥ pratiharṣanam). There are also slight variations in the
way the question is worded in the Chinese and the editions of the parallel
passage found in PPSS, although the meaning is essentially the same.

n.30 Sanskrit reads “pleasant and unpleasant” (saumanasyadaurmanasya).

n.31 PPSS reads “enacted by three types of conditioning of the body, four types of
conditioning of speech, and three types of conditioning of mind” (lus kyis
rnam pa gsum/ ngag gis ni rnam pa bzhi/ yid kyis ni rnam pa gsum mngon par ’du
byed).
 Sanskrit: “ceases in the mind” (manasi nirudhyate); PPSS: “are exhausted and
n.32 cease from the beginning” (thog ma nyid nas zad cing ’gags).

n.33 Taishō 575: “Just as with the man waking from a dream who does not see the
beautiful woman and the crowd.” (Note that in Taishō 575, the man dreams
of a crowd; see n.28.) In all the other versions, the woman appears in the
mind of the person waking from the dream; here perhaps it is implied that
while she is not seen in actuality, the mental attachment to her continues in
the waking state. It is also possible that this is a scribal error in the Chinese.

n.34 PPSS adds: “Great king, on the basis of two conditions, the last
consciousness as the empowering [condition] and the action as the object
[condition], the first consciousness pertaining to birth appears” (rgyal bo chen
po de la rnam par shes pa tha ma’i dbang dang / las dmigs pa de dag dang / rkyen gnyis
kyis skye ba’i char gtogs pa’i rnam par shes pa dang po ’byung). This phrase is not
found in the quotation of PPSS found in the Śikṣāsamuccaya.

n.35 Y, K, Taishō 575, and Taishō 577 omit being born among the asuras. All the
other versions, including PPSS, mention six realms of birth. Hakamaya
suggests that this indicates that this prose section originated from a non-
Mahāyāna discourse. See Hakamaya (1977), p. 481.

n.36 On the fact that this sūtra does not implicate an intermediate state between
lives, see n.19.

n.37 Sanskrit and Taishō 577 have “arises” (pradurbhūta). PPSS also has “ceases”
(’gag).

n.38 Here Taishō 575 is unique among all the sources, reading “there is one
phenomenon that transmigrates from this life into the future life.” Based on
this statement, Sastri theorizes that this edition may indicate that the sūtra
originates from schools, such as the Vātsiputrīya and Saṃmitīya, that assert
the transmigration of a “person” (pudgala) or some similar phenomenon from
one life to the next. See introduction, i.10; and Sastri (1938), pp. xvi–xvii.
However, with little context or commentary for this statement in Taishō 575,
it is difficult to say exactly what is meant by this curious statement.

n.39 The Chinese version of the PPSS (Taishō 310) reads (quoted from Vinītā’s
translation), “It is perceived that both the performed karma and the
experienced result do not perish. There exists neither a doer, nor an
experiencer.” Vinītā (2010), p. 433, note b.

n.40 Sanskrit has sarvadharmāṇaṃ (“all phenomena”), as does Candrakīrti

(Madhyamakāvatārabhaṣya).
n.41 Taishō 576 omits this part of the list (“transmigration after death is empty of
transmigration after death”).

n.42 Sanskrit omits this part of the list (“karma is empty of karma”).

n.43 Sanskrit reads, “Then, great king, when the first consciousness pertaining to
birth has consecutively arisen, there arises, without interruption, the
mindstream concordant with one’s fortune, in which the experience of the
result of the previous actions is perceived” (tasya ca mahārāja aupapattyaṃ-
śikasya prathamavijñānasya samanantaropapannasya tatsabhāgāvicalā cittasaṃtatiḥ
pravartate yatra karmaṇāṃ vipākasya pratisaṃvedanā prajñāyate).

n.44 In the following verse section Taishō 576 is significantly different; it is only
six verses long and, in several instances, quite difficult to decipher. Taishō
575 and 577 are more coherent and generally accord with the Tibetan and
Sanskrit, albeit with some differences in phrasing. See Sastri (1938), pp. 16–19
for a comparative translation of the three Chinese versions of this verse
section.

n.45 In addition to being quoted extensively among Tengyur treatises, the

following verse section contains many parallels to other sūtras and treatises.
These citations are provided in the appendix.

n.46 The Tib. nga can (N, H: ngang can) is likely a shortened form of nga rgyal can,
which conforms with the Sanskrit abhimānin. This is supported by the
translation of the last two lines of this stanza in Prajñāpradīpaṭīkā (Toh 3859),
vol. 100, folio 8.a5: log pa’i nga rgyal ’jig rten la / / de ni kun rdzob bden par bstan / /.

n.47 Meaning a combination of causes and conditions such as the object, the eye,
the consciousness, etc.

n.48 Translated from H: mi dpog, in reference to the Sanskrit na gāhate (“does not
penetrate”). C, D, K, Y, J, N, and S read dpogs, which is the same verb but
usually only used for the imperative tense.
b. BIBLIOGRAPHY
· Primary Tibetan Sources ·

srid pa ’pho ba’i mdo (Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra). Toh 226, Degé Kangyur vol. 63 (mdo
sde, dza), folios 175.a–177.a.

srid pa ’pho ba’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), 2006–2009, vol. 63, pp. 477–
81.

srid pa ’pho ba’i mdo. Stok 237, Stok Palace Kangyur vol. 74 (mdo sde, ’a), folios
238.b–241.a.

yab dang sras mjal ba’i mdo (Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra). Toh 60, Degé Kangyur vol.
42 (dkon brtsegs, nga), folios 1.b–167.a.

· Primary Sanskrit and Chinese Sources ·

Bodhiruci, trans. 佛説⼤⽅等修多羅王經 (fo shuo da fang deng xiu duo luo wang
jing; Chinese translation of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra), Taishō 575
(https://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2018/T0575.html).

Buddhaśānta, trans. 佛説轉有經 (fo shuo zhuon you jong; Chinese translation of
the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra), Taishō 576 (https://21dzk.l.u-
tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2018/T0576.html).

Vinītā, Bhikṣuṇī, ed. and trans. A Unique Collection of Twenty Sūtras in a Sanskrit
Manuscript from the Potala. Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous
Region 7/1. Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House; Vienna: Austrian
Academy of Sciences Press, 2010.
Yijing, trans. 佛説⼤乘流轉諸有經 (fo shuo da cheng liu zhuan zhu you jing;
Chinese translation of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra), Taishō 577
(https://21dzk.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/SAT2018/T0577.html).

· Secondary Kangyur and Tengyur Texts ·

rgya cher rol pa (Lalitavistara). Toh 95, Degé Kangyur vol. 46 (mdo sde, kha),
folios 1.b–216.b. English translation in Dharmachakra Translation
Committee (2013).

da ltar gyi sangs rgyas mngon sum du bzhugs pa’i ting nge ’dzin (Pratyutpanna-
buddhasaṃmukhāvasthitasamādhi). Toh 133, Degé Kangyur vol. 56 (mdo sde,
na), folios 1.b–70.b.

sdong po bkod pa’i mdo (Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra). Toh 44, ch. 45, Degé Kangyur vol. 35–
38 (phal chen, ka–a), folios 1.b (ka)–363.a (a). English translation in Roberts
(2021).

lang kar gshegs pa (Laṅkāvatāra). Toh 107, Degé Kangyur vol. 49 (mdo sde, ca),
folios 56.a–191.b.

Asaṅga. rnal ’byor spyod pa’i sa las byang chub sems dpa’i sa (Bodhisattvabhūmi).
Toh 4027, Degé Tengyur vol. 129 (sems tsam, wi), folios 1.b–213.a. See
partial English translation (Tattvārtha chapter) in Willis (1982).

Bhāvaviveka. dbu ma’i snying po’i tshig le’ur byas pa (Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā).

Toh 3855, Degé Tengyur vol. 98 (dbu ma, za), folios 1.b–40.b.

Candrakīrti. dbu ma la ’jug pa’i bshad pa (Madhyamakāvatārabhaṣya). Toh 3862,

Degé Tengyur vol. 102 (dbu ma, ’a), folios 220.b–348.a.

— — —. dbu ma rtsa ba’i ’grel pa tshig gsal ba (Mūlamadhyamakavṛttiprasannapadā).

Toh 3860. Degé Tengyur vol. 102 (dbu ma, ’a), folios 1.b–200.a.

Haribhadra. ’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa’i bshad pa,
mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan gyi snang ba (Āryāṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā-
vyākhyānābhisamayālaṅkārāloka). Toh 3791, Degé Tengyur vol. 85 (shes phyin,
cha), folios 1.b–341.a.

Kamalaśīla. de kho na nyid bsdus pa’i dka’ ’grel (Tattvasaṅgrahapañjikā). Toh 4267,
Degé Tengyur vol. 191 (tshad ma, ze), folios 133.b–363.a.

Kawa Paltsek (ska ba dpal brtsegs). gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shAkya’i
rabs rgyud (*Pravacanaratnākhyānaśākyavaṃśāvalī). Toh 4357, Degé Tengyur
vol. 204 (sna tshogs, co), folios 238.b–377.a. Also in 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). 120 volumes. Beijing:
krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing
House), 1994–2008, vol. 115, pp. 802–22.

Mahāvyutpatti (bye brag rtogs byed chen po). Toh 4346, Degé Tengyur vol. 306
(sna tshogs, co), folios 1.b–131.a. Also in Sakaki, Ryozaburo, ed. 1916–25;
reprint, 1965; and Delhi: Tibetan Religious and Cultural Publication Centre
(bod gzhung shes rig dpe khang), 2000.

Maitreyanātha. srid pa ’pho ba’i TI ka (Bhavasaṅkrāntitīka). Toh 3841, Degé

Tengyur vol. 96 (dbu ma, tsa), folios 151.b–158.a. See summary in Sastri
(1938).

Nāgārjuna. bsam gyis mi khyab par bstod pa (Acintyastava). Toh 1128, Degé
Tengyur vol. 1 (bstod tshogs, ka), folios 76.b–79.a.

— — —. srid pa ’pho ba (Bhavasaṅkrānti[śāstra]). Toh 3840. Degé Tengyur vol. 96

(dbu ma, tsa), folios 151.a–151.b. See English translation in Sastri (1938).

Prajñākaramati. byang chub kyi spyod pa la ’jug pa’i dka’ ’grel (Bodhicaryāvatāra-
pañjikā). Toh 3872, Degé Tengyur vol. 105 (dbu ma, la), folios 41.b–288.a.

Śāntideva. bslab pa kun las btus pa (Śikṣāsamuccaya). Toh 3940, Degé Tengyur
vol. 111 (dbu ma, khi), folios 3.a–194.b. See translation in Goodman (2016).

Vasubandhu. rnam par bshad pa’i rigs pa (Vyākhyāyukti). Toh 4061, Degé
Tengyur vol. 136 (sems tsam, shi), folios 29.a–134.b.

Denkarma (pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh
4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.

Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang,
2003.

· Other Secondary Sources ·

Buswell Jr., Robert E., and Donald S. Lopez Jr. The Princeton Dictionary of
Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2014.

Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. The Play in Full

(https://read.84000.co/translation/toh95.html) (Lalitavistara, Toh 95). 84000:
Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.

Goodman, Charles. The Training Anthology of Śāntideva: A Translation of the Śikṣā-

samuccaya. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.

Hakamaya, Noriaki. “Analysis of the Bhavasaṃkrāntisūtra.” Indogaku

Bukkyōgaku kenkyū 印度学仏教学研究 26, no. 1 (1977): 483–79.
Higgins, David. “Buddha Nature and Selfhood: Critical Reflections by the
Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje.” In Buddha Nature across Asia, edited by
Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Casey Kemp. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie
und Buddhismuskunde. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie
der Wissenschaften, (forthcoming).

Hopkins, Jeffrey. Emptiness in the Mind-Only School of Buddhism: Dynamic

Responses to Dzong-ka-ba’s The Essence of Eloquence: I. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1999.

Lamotte, Étienne, trans. Le traité de la grande vertu de sagasse de Nāgārjuna (Mahā-

prajñāpāramitāśāstra). Volume 1. Bibliothèque du muséon 18. Louvain:
Bureaux du Muséon, 1944.

Lindtner, Christian (1982). Nagarjuniana: Studies in the Writing and Philosophies

of Nāgārjuna. Buddhist Traditions. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982.

— — —(1992). “The Laṅkāvatārasūtra in Early Indian Madhyamaka

Literature.” Asiatische Studien 46, no. 1 (1992): 244–79.

McDermott, James P. “Karma and Rebirth in Early Buddhism.” In Karma and

Rebirth in Classical Indian Traditions, 165–92. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1980.

Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, and Bhikkhu Bodhi, trans. The Middle Length Discourses of
the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom
Publications, 1995.

Roberts, Peter Alan, trans. The Stem Array (https://read.84000.co/translation/toh44-

45.html) (Gaṇḍavyūha, Toh 44-45). 84000: Translating the Words of the
Buddha, 2021.

Sastri, N. Aiyaswami. Bhavasaṅkrānti Sūtra and Nāgārjuna’s Bhavasaṅkrānti Śāstra

with the Commentary of Maitreyanātha. Fremont, California: Jain Publishing
Company, 1938 (reprint 2006).

Silk, Jonathan A. Review of Buddhist Sūtras in Sanskrit from the Potala, by

Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā. Indo-Iranian Journal 56 (2013): 61–87.

Skilling, Peter. Questioning the Buddha: A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras.

Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2021.

Stramigioli, Giuliana. “Bhavasaṅkrānti.” Rivista degli studi orientali 16, no. 3/4
(1937): 294–306.

Tola, Fernando, and Carmen Dragonetti. “Āryabhavasaṃkrāntināma-

mahāyānasūtra: The Noble Sūtra on the Passage through Existences.”
Buddhist Studies Review 3, no.1 (1986): 3–18.
Wayman, Alex. “The Intermediate-State Dispute in Buddhism.” In Buddhist
Insight: Essays by Alex Wayman, 251–69. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984.

Willis, Janice D. On Knowing Reality: The “Tattvārtha” Chapter of the Asaṅga’s

Bodhisattvabhūmi. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1982.
g. GLOSSARY

· Types of attestation for names and terms of the corresponding ·

source language

AS Attested in source text

This term is attested in a manuscript used as a source for this translation.

AO Attested in other text

This term is attested in other manuscripts with a parallel or similar context.

AD Attested in dictionary
This term is attested in dictionaries matching Tibetan to the corresponding
language.

AA Approximate attestation
The attestation of this name is approximate. It is based on other names
where the relationship between the Tibetan and source language is attested
in dictionaries or other manuscripts.

RP Reconstruction from Tibetan phonetic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the Tibetan phonetic rendering of the
term.

RS Reconstruction from Tibetan semantic rendering

This term is a reconstruction based on the semantics of the Tibetan
translation.

SU Source unspecified
This term has been supplied from an unspecified source, which most often
is a widely trusted dictionary.

g.1 action
las

ལས།
karman
 A single term is used in Sanskrit and Tibetan to denote both an “action” as a
conditioning factor and the “karma” that it conditions. In translation it may
be necessary to use one term or the other to clarify the meaning, but the
source term is no different.

g.2 concordant with one’s fortune

skal ba ’dra ba

ལ་བ་འ་བ།
tatsabhāga
“One’s fortune” in this phrase refers to the realm of birth (gati) that one
experiences currently or will experience in the future as the maturation of
karma, both positive and negative.

g.3 devoid of essential nature

ngo bo nyid dang bral ba

་་ད་དང་ལ་བ།
prakṛtivivikta

g.4 emptiness
stong pa nyid

ང་པ་ད།
śūnyatā
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
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.

g.5 five aggregates

phung po lnga

ང་་།
 pañcaskandha
The five constituents of a living entity: form, sensation, perception, mental
formations, and consciousness.

g.6 formations
’du byed

འ་ད།
saṃskāra
In its most general usage this term refers to any phenomenon has been
formed, conditioned, or dependently brought into being. It is this broad use
of the term that is used in the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra when King Bimbisāra
asserts that “formations are empty” (1.4). The same term is also used to
describe the second of the twelve links of dependent origination (pratītya-
samutpāda) and also the fourth of the five aggregates, where the term has a
more specific usage related to those teachings.

g.7 Kalandakanivāpa
bya ka lan da ka gnas pa

་ཀ་ལན་ད་ཀ་གནས་པ།
kalandakanivāsa
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
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.

g.8 Magadha
 ma ga d+hA

མ་ག་།
magadha
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
An ancient Indian kingdom that lay to the south of the Ganges River in what
today is the state of Bihar. Magadha was the largest of the sixteen “great
states” (mahājanapada) that flourished between the sixth and third centuries
ʙᴄᴇ in northern India. During the life of the Buddha Śākyamuni, it was ruled
by King Bimbisāra and later by Bimbisāra's son, Ajātaśatru. Its capital was
initially Rājagṛha (modern-day Rajgir) but was later moved to Pāṭaliputra
(modern-day Patna). Over the centuries, with the expansion of the
Magadha’s might, it became the capital of the vast Mauryan empire and seat
of the great King Aśoka.

This region is home to many of the most important Buddhist sites, including
Bodh Gayā, where the Buddha attained awakening; Vulture Peak (Gṛdhra-
kūṭa), where the Buddha bestowed many well-known Mahāyāna sūtras; and
the Buddhist university of Nālandā that flourished between the fifth and
twelfth centuries ᴄᴇ, among many others.

g.9 nature of phenomena

chos nyid

ས་ད།
dharmatā
Definition from the 84000 Glossary of Terms:
The real nature, true quality, or condition of things. Throughout Buddhist
discourse this term is used in two distinct ways. In one, it designates the
relative nature that is either the essential characteristic of a specific
phenomenon, such as the heat of fire and the moisture of water, or the
defining feature of a specific term or category. The other very important and
widespread way it is used is to designate the ultimate nature of all
phenomena, which cannot be conveyed in conceptual, dualistic terms and is
often synonymous with emptiness or the absence of intrinsic existence.

g.10 notions
’du shes

འ་ས།
saṃjñā
 Often this term is translated as “perception” or “discrimination” when it is
included as the third of the five aggregates, in which case it refers to the
mental function of differentiating and identifying objects according to their
qualities. Thus it does not refer to the perceptions of the senses but to the
conceptual notions or labels that are ascribed to sense perceptions before
they may be conceived by the rational mind. In this sense, they are not really
concepts or thoughts either, but rather the fundamental units ascribed to
phenomena by the dualistic mind in order to form conceptual thoughts
about them. Thus we have translated this as a “notion,” as the verses of the
Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra emphasize the insubstantiality of the names as mere
notions ascribed to phenomena, which exist as nothing other than a
designation imputed by the mind.

g.11 phenomena
chos

ས།
dharma
The term dharma has many different interrelated meanings: it may refer to the
teaching of the buddhas, to religious teachings in general, to phenomena in
general, or to the specific characteristics of an object or objects in a generic
sense, among other meanings. In our translation of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra,
we have translated this term as “phenomena,” as it is generally used in this
latter sense; however, we have translated the term as “Dharma” when it
specifically refers to the teaching of the Buddha.

g.12 Rājagṛha
rgyal po’i khab

ལ་ ་ཁབ།
rājagṛha
Literally “King’s House”; the capital city of Magadha ruled by King
Bimbisāra. It is currently the modern-day city of Rajgir in Bihar, North India.

g.13 relative truth

kun rdzob bden pa

ན་བ་བན་པ།
saṃvṛtisatya
Conveys the relative or conventional view of the world according to the
understanding of ordinary unenlightened beings. This is distinguished from
the ultimate truth, which conveys the understanding of phenomena as they
 really are. Saṃvṛti literally means “covered” or “concealed,” implying that
the relative reality seen by ordinary beings seems to be convincingly real,
but it is ultimately, in its actual state, illusory and unreal.

g.14 Śreṇya Bimbisāra

bzo sbyangs gzugs can snying po

བ་ངས་གགས་ཅན་ང་།
śreṇya bimbisāra
The king of Magadha and a great patron of the Buddha. In other sources he
is simply called “King Bimbisāra.” There are several accounts of King Śreṇya
Bimbisāra’s first meeting with the Buddha, early on when the latter was the
wandering mendicant known as Gautama. Impressed by his conduct,
Bimbisāra offered to take Gautama into his court, but Gautama refused, and
Bimbisāra wished him success in in his quest for enlightenment and asked
him to visit his palace after he had achieved his goal. One account of this
episode can be found in the sixteenth chapter of The Play in Full (Toh 95,
Lalitavistara). There are other accounts where the two meet earlier on in
childhood. Later, after the Buddha’s enlightenment, Bimbisāra became one of
his most famous patrons and donated to his saṅgha the Kalandakanivāpa
Bamboo Grove, which is the setting of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra and many other
teachings.

g.15 supreme truth

bden pa mchog

བན་པ་མག
paramasatya
An unusual feature of the Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra is that it presents a third
“supreme truth” in contrast to the usual doctrinal presentation of the two
truths (the relative truth and the ultimate truth). In doing so, the Bhava-
saṅkrāntisūtra does not propose a third ontological category but demonstrates
in its final verse that both the relative and ultimate truths are conceptual
categories and therefore provisional to understanding the ultimate nature of
reality. The conception of ultimate truth should not be misunderstood, like a
finger pointing to the moon, but to arrive at its actual understanding one
must transcend any dualistic notion or designation altogether. See 1.23.

g.16 transmigration
’pho ba

འ་བ།
 saṅkrānti
The causal process of the transference of a mindstream from one life to the
next. The Bhavasaṅkrāntisūtra asserts that there is no phenomenon that
actually transmigrates from one life to the next, but rebirth occurs through
the causal power of actions (karma). See introduction at i.9. The term may also
refer to the yogic or tantric practice of deliberately ejecting consciousness
from the body, but this practice is not related to the context of this sūtra.

g.17 two truths

bden pa gnyis

བན་པ་གས།
satyadvaya
The relative truth and the ultimate truth. See glossary entries for each. Later
schools of Buddhism defined and categorized the two truths in varying
ways, but in all cases the presentation of the two truths is understood to be
an exhaustive categorization that includes all phenomena. Note that the two
truths are not understood to be separate dimensions, but rather as two
aspects of the same reality, although from the perspective of the relative
truth reality is falsely perceived.

g.18 ultimate truth

don dam · don dam bden pa

ན་དམ། · ན་དམ་བན་པ།
paramārtha · paramārthasatya
Paramārthasatya literally means “the highest-object truth,” because it is what
is realized by wisdom (prajñā) as the highest form of mind. It refers to the
absolute understanding of phenomena and reality as it is perceived by a
mind that is purified of all delusion, in contrast to the relative truth that is
perceived by ordinary unenlightened beings.

g.19 Veṇuvana
’od ma’i tshal

ད་མ་ཚལ།
veṇuvana
The famous bamboo grove near Rājagṛha where the Buddha regularly
stayed and gave teachings. It was situated on land donated by King
Bimbisāra of Magadha and, as such, was the first of several landholdings
donated to the Buddhist community during the time of the Buddha.
g.20 verbal designations
brjod pa

བད་པ།
abhidhāna
Literally, “speaking” or “telling”; any expression of words or speech that
conveys meaning.