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། །
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.
通智及無垢 不離於真如

如燈明煖色 無垢界相似

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.

RGVV Commentary on Verse I.44

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

  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 °°] 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.