Verse I.40

Ratnagotravibhāga Root Verse I.40

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Verse I.40 Variations

बुद्धधातुः सचेन्न स्यान्निर्विद्‍दुःखेऽपि नो भवेत्
नेच्छा न प्रार्थना नापि प्राणिधिर्निवृतौ भवेत्

buddhadhātuḥ sacenna syānnirvidduḥkhe'pi no bhavet
necchā na prārthanā nāpi prāṇidhirnivṛtau bhavet

E. H. Johnston as input by the University of the West.

གལ་ཏེ་སངས་རྒྱས་ཁམས་མེད་ན། །
སྡུག་ལའང་སྐྱོ་བར་མི་འགྱུར་ཞིང་། །
མྱ་ངན་འདས་ལ་འདོད་པ་དང་། །
དོན་གཉེར་སྨོན་པའང་མེད་པར་འགྱུར། །

Dege, PHI, 112

If the buddha element did not exist,
There would be no weariness of suffering,
Nor would there be the wish, striving,
And aspiration for nirvāṇa.

When the Clouds Part, Brunnhölzl, 367

若無佛性者 不得厭諸苦

不求涅槃樂 亦不欲不願

http://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/en/T31n1611_p0831a09

Si nous n’avions pas d’élément de bouddha,

Nous ne nous lasserions pas de souffrir

Et ne voudrions pas d’un nirvāṇa

Qui ne nous inspirerait ni intérêt ni désir.

Charrier, Christian and Patrick Carré. Traité de la Continuité suprême du Grand Véhicule. Plazac: Éditions Padmakara, 2019.

RGVV Commentary on Verse I.40

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Full Tibetan Commentary
Full English Commentary
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Full Chinese Commentary

Now, what is taught by the latter half of verse [I.35] about (4) the topic of function, which was referred to above [in that verse]?

If the buddha element did not exist,

There would be no weariness of suffering,

Nor would there be the wish, striving, {D94a}

And aspiration for nirvāṇa. I.40

{J36} As [the Śrīmālādevīsūtra] says: {P97a}

Bhagavan, if the tathāgata heart did not exist, there would be no weariness of suffering nor the wish, striving, and aspiration for nirvāṇa.

Here, in brief, even in those sentient beings who have [the dispositions that are] certain in terms of what is mistaken, the buddha element, which is the disposition for purity, readily procures this twofold function. It gives rise to weariness of saṃsāra based on seeing the flaws of suffering, and it produces the longing, wish, striving, and aspiration for nirvāṇa based on seeing the benefits of [its] bliss. Here, "longing" [means] "desire." As for "wish," "striving," and "aspiration,""wish" [refers to] not being cowardly about one’s desired aim.

"Striving" [means] to search for the means to attain one’s desired aim. "Aspiration" [refers to] applying one’s intention and mind to one’s desired aim.

tatra purvādhikṛtaṃ karmārthamārabhya pareṇa ślokārdhena kiṃ darśitam/

buddhadhātuḥ sacenna syānnirvidduḥkhe'pi no bhavet/

necchā na prārthanā nāpi prāṇidhirnivṛtau bhavet//40//

tathā coktam/ tathāgatagarbhaścedbhagavanna syānna syādduḥkhe'pi nirvinna nirvāṇa icchā vā prārthanā vā praṇidhirveti/ tatra samāsato buddhadhātuviśuddhigotraṃ mithyātvaniyatānāmapi sattvānāṃ dvividhakāryapratyupasthāpanaṃ bhavati/ saṃsāre ca duḥkhadoṣadarśananiḥśrayeṇa nirvidamutpādayati/ nirvāṇe sukhanuśaṃsadarśananiḥśrayeṇa cchandaṃ janayati/ icchāṃ prārthanāṃ praṇidhimiti/ icchābhilaṣitārthaprāptāvasaṃkocaḥ/ prārthanābhilaṣitārthaprāptyupāyaparimārgaṇā/ praṇidhiryābhilaṣitārthe cetanā cittābhisaṃskāraḥ/

後半偈者示現何義偈言

若無佛性者 不得厭諸苦 不求涅槃樂 亦不欲不願 以是義故聖者勝鬘經言世尊若無如來藏者不得厭苦樂求涅槃亦無欲涅槃亦不願求如是等此明何義略說佛性清淨正因於不定聚眾生能作二種業何等為二一者依見世間種種苦惱厭諸苦故生心欲離諸世間中一切苦惱偈言若無佛性者不得厭諸苦故二者依見涅槃樂悕寂樂故生求心欲心願心偈言若無佛性者不求涅槃樂亦不欲不願故又欲者求涅槃故求者悕涅槃故悕者於悕求法中不怯弱故欲得者於所求法中方便追求故及諮問故願者所期法中所期法者心心相行

Other English translations

Listed by date of publication

Obermiller (1931)

If the Germ of the Buddha did not exist，

The aversion to the suffering (of this world) would not arise;

There would be no desire of Nirvāṇa,

And there would be no effort for attaining it.

Takasaki (1966)

If there is no Essence of the Buddha,

There will be no aversion to Suffering,

Nor will there be desire nor earnest wish,

Nor prayer for Nirvāṇa.

Holmes (1985)

Were there no buddha-nature

there would be no discontent with suffering

nor desire, effort and aspiration for nirvāṇa.

Holmes (1999)

Were there no such buddha-element,

there would be no discontent with suffering,

nor desire, effort and aspiration for nirvāṇa.

Fuchs (2000)

If the buddha element were not present,

there would be no remorse over suffering.

There would be no longing for nirvana,

nor striving and devotion towards this aim.

Textual sources

Commentaries on this verse

Academic notes