Verse I.25

From Buddha-Nature
Ratnagotravibhāga Root Verse I.25

Verse I.25 Variations

शुद्‍ध्युपक्लिष्टतायोगात् निःसंक्लेशविशुद्धितः
अविनिर्भागधर्मत्वादनाभोगाविकल्पतः
śuddhyupakliṣṭatāyogāt niḥsaṃkleśaviśuddhitaḥ
avinirbhāgadharmatvādanābhogāvikalpataḥ
E. H. Johnston as input by the University of the West.[1]
།དག་དང་ཉོན་མོངས་དང་ལྡན་ཕྱིར།
།ཀུན་ནས་ཉོན་མོངས་མེད་དག་ཕྱིར།
།རྣམ་པར་དབྱེ་བ་མེད་ཆོས་ཕྱིར།
།ལྷུན་གྲུབ་རྣམ་པར་མི་རྟོག་ཕྱིར།
Since it is pure and yet associated with afflictions,
Since it is not afflicted and yet becomes pure,
Since its qualities are inseparable,
And since its activity is effortless and nonconceptual.
染淨相應處

不染而清淨
不相捨離法
自然無分別

Parce que [l’Élément] est pur mais encore associé aux affections ;
Parce que [l’Éveil] est dépourvu de souillures et pourtant purifié ;
Parce que les qualités ne sont pas séparées [de l’essence du réel] ;
Et parce que les [activités] spontanées ne recourent pas à la pensée.

RGVV Commentary on Verse I.25

Other English translations

Listed by date of publication
Obermiller (1931) [20]
Because—
(The Absolute as the Germ) is pure, but nevertheless in contact
with the defiling (worldly) elements,
(The Absolute as the Cosmical Body) is on the other hand
quite free from every defilement,
The attributes of the Buddha are essentially identical with the
Absolute as contained even in every ordinary being,
(And the Buddha's acts) are free from effort and (dialectical)
constructions.
Takasaki (1966) [21]
Because, [the Germ is] pure but defiled [at one and the same time],
[The Absolute Body is] of no impurity, and yet purified,
[The Qualities are] of inseparable nature [from the Absolute Body], and
[The Acts are] effortless and of no discrimination.
Holmes (1985) [22]
Pure yet accompanied by defilement,
completely undefiled I·et to be purified
truly inseparable qualities.
total non-thought and spontaneity.
Holmes (1999) [23]
it is pure yet accompanied by defilements,
and completely undefiled yet to be purified,
it has truly inseparable qualities
and is total non-thought and spontaneity.
Fuchs (2000) [24]
[The buddha element] is pure and yet has affliction.
[Enlightenment] was not afflicted and yet is purified.
Qualities are totally indivisible [and yet unapparent].
[Activity] is spontaneous and yet without any thought.

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. D45.48, fol. 275b.2–4 (in D45.48, the first sentence reads, "Devī, it is like that" and "pratyekabuddhas" is omitted).
  4. D147, fol. 210b.6–7 (DP no correspondence for lakṣana). The term samāyukta, following the Tibetan translated as "having,"can also mean "encountered," "joined," "prepared," and "ready." Accordingly, this supreme prajñā is a bodhisattva’s insight in the last moment of the tenth bhūmi that is in fact ready to join with or encounter mind’s natural luminosity in a single instant, which is equivalent to realizing buddhahood. This kind of prajñā is discussed in more detail in the seventh topic ("the instantaneous clear realization") of the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (see Brunnhölzl 2011b, 105–8 and 272–76 as well as Brunnhölzl 2012a, 358–60 and 522–24).
  5. VT (fol. 11v7) glosses this as clinging to characteristics" (nimittagraha).
  6. VT (fol. 11v7) glosses this as "naturally" (svarasataḥ).
  7. J "big manuscript" (mahāpusta), VT (fol. 12r1) "piece of cloth, canvas" (paṭaḥ), DP "big silken cloth" (dar yug chen po), C "roll of scripture."
  8. This sentence (yad uta mahācakravāḍapramāṇena mahācakravāḍa ālikhito bhavet /) is missing in J, but is present in MA/MB and DP.
  9. I follow MB tathāśeṣa (confirmed by DP ma lus pa) against J tathānyeṣu.
  10. I follow MA °jñānāpramāṇāni (confirmed by DP tshad med) against J °jñānapramāṇāni.
  11. The compound sarvadharmadhātusattvabhavanāni could also be read as "the states of all sentient beings—[their respective] dharmadhātus" or, with DP chos kyi dbyings sems can gyi gnas thams cad "all states of sentient beings—[their] dharmadhātus."
    • 1226. DP "wisdom of the noble ones" ( ’phags pa’i ye shes).
  12. DP "wisdom of the noble ones" ( ’phags pa’i ye shes).
  13. J pratyabhijñā (Tib. so sor mngon par shes pa) can also mean "to remember" and "to come to one’s self" or "recover consciousness,"which is quite fitting here in the sense of (re)awakening to one’s own true nature of being a buddha.
  14. D44.43 (phal po che, vol. ga, chapter 32; *Tathāgatotpattisaṃbhavanirdeśa in the Chinese version), fols. 116b.4–117b.6.
  15. I follow Takasaki’s and Schmithausen’s emendation yathāvaineyikeṣu of J yathāvainayikeṣu.
  16. DP "tathāgata wisdom" (de bzhin gshegs pa’i ye shes).
  17. D147, fol. 215a.3–6.
  18. This phrase (tryadhvānugataṃ) is missing in J, but found in MA/MB, DP, and C.
  19. D147, fols. 215b.7–216a.3.
  20. Obermiller, E. "The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism." Acta Orientalia IX (1931), pp. 81-306.
  21. 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.
  22. Holmes, Ken & Katia. The Changeless Nature. Eskdalemuir, Scotland: Karma Drubgyud Darjay Ling, 1985.
  23. Holmes, Ken & Katia. Maitreya on Buddha Nature. Scotland: Altea Publishing, 1999.
  24. 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.