Verse I.44

Ratnagotravibhāga Root Verse I.44

Verse I.44 Variations

अभिज्ञाज्ञानवैमल्यतथताव्यतिरेकतः
दीपालोकोष्णवर्णस्य साधर्म्यं विमलाश्रये

abhijñājñānavaimalyatathatāvyatirekataḥ
dīpālokoṣṇavarṇasya sādharmyaṃ vimalāśraye

E. H. Johnston as input by the University of the West.^[1]

དྲི་མེད་གནས་ལ་མངོན་ཤེས་དང་། །
ཡེ་ཤེས་དྲི་མེད་དེ་ཉིད་དང་། །
རྣམ་དབྱེ་མེད་ཕྱིར་མར་མེ་ཡི། །
སྣང་དང་དྲོ་མདོག་ཆོས་མཚུངས་ཅན། །

Dege, PHI, 112

In the stainless foundation, the supernatural knowledges,
Wisdom, and stainlessness are inseparable from suchness.
Therefore, they are similar, respectively, to
The light, heat, and color of a lamp.

When the Clouds Part, Brunnhölzl, 370 ^[2]

通智及無垢不離於真如

如燈明煖色無垢界相似

http://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/en/T31n1611_p0831c03

Dans la base immaculée, les connaissances extraordinaires,

La sagesse primordiale et l’absence de souillures

sont indissociables de l’ainsité.

Voilà autant de qualités qui correspondent à celles d’une lampe –

La lumière, la chaleur et les couleurs.

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

RGVV Commentary on Verse I.44

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Now, what is taught by the latter half of verse [I.42]?

In the stainless foundation, the supernatural knowledges,

Wisdom, and stainlessness^[3] are inseparable from suchness.

Therefore, they are similar, respectively, to

The light, heat, and color of a lamp.^[4] I.44

In the due order of [the following] three points, the tathāgata element is similar to a lamp in three ways. By virtue of that, the topic of endowment is to be understood in terms of [the tathāgata element’s] being associated with [certain] results. {P98b} Which are these three points? They consist of [being endowed with] (1) the supernatural knowledges, (2) the wisdom of the termination of contaminations, and (3) the termination of contaminations. Here, (1) the five supernatural knowledges resemble the light^[5] [of the flame of a lamp] because they have the characteristic of providing the approach to overcome the darkness of the antagonistic factors of the wisdom^[6] of experiencing [true] actuality. (2) The wisdom of the termination of contaminations resembles the heat [of the flame of a lamp] because it has the characteristic of providing the approach to consume the entire fuel of karma and afflictions without exception. (3) The termination of contaminations that is the change of the foundation^[7] resembles the color [of the flame of a lamp] because it has the characteristic of utterly stainless {D95b} and pure luminosity. {J39} Here, it is stainless by virtue of the afflictive obscurations’ having been relinquished. It is pure by virtue of the cognitive obscurations’ having been relinquished.^[8] It is luminous by virtue of not having the nature of these two^[9] adventitious [stains]. Thus, in brief, these seven dharmas in the mind streams of nonlearners (which consist of the [five] uncontaminated^[10] supernatural knowledges, wisdom, and relinquishment) [that exist] in the uncontaminated basic element are inseparable from each other, not distinct [from each other], and associated with the dharmadhātu in terms of [both] being equal.^[11] This is what is called "endowment" [here].

This example of a lamp with regard to the topic of endowment is to be understood in detail according to the [Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa]sūtra:

Śāriputra, it is as follows. A lamp is endowed with inseparable attributes and possesses indivisible qualities. That is, it is [inseparable] from its light, heat, and color. Or, a jewel is [inseparable] from its radiance, color, and shape. Likewise, Śāriputra, the dharmakāya that is taught by the Tathāgata is endowed with inseparable attributes and qualities that [can]not be realized as being divisible [from it], which [manifest] in the form of the attributes of a tathāgata that far surpass the sand grains in the river Gaṅgā [in number].^[12]

Other English translations

Obermiller (1931) ^[13]

(When) the state of Perfect Purity (is attained),

One is possessed of the supernatural faculties,

Of the Wisdom bringing about the extirpation of defilement,

And this extirpation itself, which are indivisible.

Therefore (the Essence of the Buddha in the aspect of the result)

Suggests a resemblance with the rays, the heat, and the colour of a light.

Takasaki (1966) ^[14]

In the immaculate basis, the supernatural faculties,

The Wisdom and Immaculateness are inseparable from Reality;

Therefore, they have a resemblance to a lantern,

On account of its light, heat and colour.

Fuchs (2000) ^[15]

Clairvoyance, primordial wisdom, and absence of pollution

are totally indivisible and native to the unstained abode.

Thus it has properties corresponding

to the light, heat, and color of a lamp.

Textual sources

Commentaries on this verse

Academic notes

Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Unicode Input
Brunnhölzl, Karl. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, 2014.
VT (fol. 12v4) glosses "wisdom" as "the wisdom of the termination of contamination" and "stainlessness"as "the termination of contamination."
I follow Schmithausen’s emendation of MB dīpāloṣṇatāvarṇṇasya [or °sā°] dharmamālāśraye to dīpālokoṣṇavarṇasādharmyaṃ amalāśraye against J dīpālokoṣṇavarṇasya sādharmyaṃ vimalāśraye.
I follow MB āloka against J jvāla.
DP omit "wisdom."
VT (fol. 12v5) glosses "the change of the foundation" as "[the contaminations] not even existing as latent tendencies."
VT (fol. 12v5) glosses "relinquished" as "changed (into something else)" (parāvṛtti).
MB tadubhayasyā° against J tadubhayā°.
J omits this word, but see MB anāsravābhijñā° and DP zag pa med pa’i mngon par shes pa.
I follow MB dharmadhātusamatāsamanvāgamo (confirmed by DP chos kyi dbyings dang mnyam pa nyid kyis ldan pa) against J dharmadhātusamanvāgamo.
Taishō 668, 467a.
Obermiller, E. "The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism." Acta Orientalia IX (1931), pp. 81-306.
Takasaki, Jikido. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra): Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Serie Orientale Roma 33. Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (ISMEO), 1966.
Fuchs, Rosemarie, trans. Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra. Commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul and explanations by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso. Ithaca, N. Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 2000.

[1] Digital Sanskrit Buddhist Canon Unicode Input

[2] Brunnhölzl, Karl. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, an imprint of Shambhala Publications, 2014.

[3] VT (fol. 12v4) glosses "wisdom" as "the wisdom of the termination of contamination" and "stainlessness"as "the termination of contamination."

[4] I follow Schmithausen’s emendation of MB dīpāloṣṇatāvarṇṇasya [or °sā°] dharmamālāśraye to dīpālokoṣṇavarṇasādharmyaṃ amalāśraye against J dīpālokoṣṇavarṇasya sādharmyaṃ vimalāśraye.

[5] I follow MB āloka against J jvāla.

[6] DP omit "wisdom."

[7] VT (fol. 12v5) glosses "the change of the foundation" as "[the contaminations] not even existing as latent tendencies."

[8] VT (fol. 12v5) glosses "relinquished" as "changed (into something else)" (parāvṛtti).

[9] MB tadubhayasyā° against J tadubhayā°.

[10] J omits this word, but see MB anāsravābhijñā° and DP zag pa med pa’i mngon par shes pa.

[11] I follow MB dharmadhātusamatāsamanvāgamo (confirmed by DP chos kyi dbyings dang mnyam pa nyid kyis ldan pa) against J dharmadhātusamanvāgamo.

[12] Taishō 668, 467a.

[13] Obermiller, E. "The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism." Acta Orientalia IX (1931), pp. 81-306.

[14] Takasaki, Jikido. A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra): Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Serie Orientale Roma 33. Roma: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (ISMEO), 1966.

[15] Fuchs, Rosemarie, trans. Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra. Commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul and explanations by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso. Ithaca, N. Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 2000.

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