Human transcription — may contain minor errors.
The Jeweled Rosary : A Presentation of the commentary on the Bodhicittavivarana composed by the Second Conqueror, Nagarjuna
Composed by Dagpo Gomchen Ngawang Dragpa (ca. XVth cent.)
(translated by Ilia Durovic)
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I prostrate to the King of the Dharma, the Great Tsong kha pa, Father and Sons as well as the lineage and so forth who are inseparable from the Vajra Mind of Enlightenment, the Bhagavan. Take care [of me] with great empathy !
Primordial disposition in the nature of all phenomena transcending all elaborations,
All aspects of whatever arises simultaneously and inseparably blaze with the glory of the major and minor marks,
Foremost of the hundred types, holy nature of all animate and inanimate entities,
I prostrate to the Lord of the all-pervading Vajradhatishvari. Protect me until Full Enlightenment !
With the golden appearance of that wisdom of supreme bliss and emptiness.
[In] the iron realm of mistaken, impure dualistic appearances
Born as a supreme jewel. Scholar of the Great Chariot,
I prostrate respectfully to Nagarjuna, Lord of the ten grounds.
In the assembly of the pinnacle of power, Supreme Leader,
Powerful prayers holding the pure Dharma,
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With forceful enthusiasm offered from all the Sons of the Victors,
From the depths of my heart I praise Manjushri, renowned [and of] utmost clarity.
Within their vast tongues, source of ambrosia,
My mind, [akin to a] frisky young bee, is born.
Oh Noble Root and Lineage Gurus,
With [all] three doors, I prostrate with veneration.
Albeit a helmsman of the wise famed among scholars,
The bee of my mind is unable to ford
[The] mother of the ambrosia of the supreme treatises which induce indolence,
I will delight through heartfelt and close blessings.
Here, the One Gone to Bliss, the Great Friend who is unfamiliar to all worlds,
that supreme Refuge, Protector and Comrade-in-Arms, the main king of the Shakyas, the Lion of the Shakyas, the Teacher, Buddha Shakyamuni, the completely, peerlessly, Enlightened Being
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with the wishful aspiration of freeing living beings Himself from suffering -[living] beings bound very tightly and for a very long time, as with a spool of string, by manifestly emanated karma from the collection of the eighty-four thousand enemies, the afflictions, which arise in their [very] nature as only harmful, tormented, begininglessly and constantly, by all the varieties of sufferings after entering into this gaol of fearsome and unbearable depth which [stretches] from the Peak of Cyclic Existence to the Avici Hell- the Great Compassionate One, [we say], although unable to give birth to the rain which dispels [suffering], cut with the bellow of a maddened elephant all the threads of compositional phenomena by means of the alluring meanings which take [one] out of the prison of existence, the eighty-four thousand collections of Dharmas and so forth which uproot totally the congress of the enemies. The best, the most outstanding and the principal from within those preparing for the war of Dharma are the teachings on the effect-[vehicle], the Vajrayana. Moreover, from within the four-fold precious collection of Tantras, the pinnacle is the the Anuttarayoga-tantras and, moreover, from within these, the final, holy vessel of all the teachings is that solitary jewel of the three worlds, the “Shri-Guhyasamaja” [Tantra].
Moreover, in the second chapter of the Root Tantra, from within the six sections of the treatise uttered by the six Ones Gone to Bliss, the treatise teaching as [it’s] topic Bodhicitta [requested] by Kashyapa, the [so-called] “Treatise uttered by Vairocana” ‘s principal meaning taught [is] the Dharma to be explained, [i.e.]
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the “Commentary on Bodhicitta” which ascertains the ultimate state, the object of the mind of clear light.
Hence, this has three [divisions] :
The characteristics of the author
Thereby the manner of commenting on the thought of the Victorious One,
The topic to be explained: the nature of the Treatise.
I)
The author of this treatise is [the Great Being, Arya Nagarjuna and is one endowed with the three characteristics: the characteristic of qualities, recitation; the characteristic of activities, deeds and the characteristic of subsequent praise.
The first [characteristic] in turn has two [further sub-divisions]:
This Great Being is said to have been born in an extremely high Brahmin caste and, abandoning the wealth [associated] with that [status] as that much spittle in the dust to have gone forth from home to homelessness and to have become a fully-ordained Bhikshu after entering the orders in the Main Temple of the glorious [monastery] of Nalanda under the aegis of the Abbot Rahulabhadra. Untainted in the slightest by the faults of infractions, he perfected the heap of merit. Let alone this, he attained the characteristic of abandonment through relinquishing the afflictions, their seeds and so forth [at the level of] the abandonments [of the path of] seeing and, generally speaking, was learned in the Five Sciences of the objects of knowledge, but in particular he had attained the state of fearlessness with regards to all the scriptures encompassed within Buddhist philosophy. Moreover, from within these, since he had interiorized the unmistaken meaning of the Sutra collection of definite meaning of the Great Vehicle, he had attained the characteristic of having interiorized all the Dharmas of Realization
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and on the First Ground having gained direct realization of the core of phenomena as omnipresent and having attained from the first instant on the occasion of Subsequent Attainment onwards, the [capacity] to see Buddhas and so forth, he obtained twelve-hundred qualities and [finally] from the standpoint of Anuttara [Yoga-Tantra], having attained in that very life the state of Vajradhara, he was endowed with the qualities of realization.
Attaining superior Perfection of Generosity on the First Ground and laying-out the basis of the Body, Speech and Mind [ of a Buddha], cause of the unparalleled weal of self and others.
Donating without any attachment outer objects through compounding the elixir transforming [base substances] into gold, donating without regret inner objects which are hard to give and performing [the deeds] of granting the protection of fearlessness to the sick afflicted by demons by means of the protection [afforded by] medicine as well as sating by means of the donation of uncontaminated Dharma, [such as] bringing from the Land of the Nagas the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and bringing from the Land of Oddiyana many baskets of Tantra.
Engaging in the erection of many bases of the Body, Speech and Mind [of the Buddha] through building ten million Main Temples after bringing large amounts of Vajra-clay from the Land of the Nagas.
In addition, the characteristic of subsequent praise is three-fold :
Praise of the name which was obtained [after] birth
Praise through worldly repute
Praise by the Victorious One in numerous Sutras and Tantras.
Regarding the name “Nagarjuna”, which is composed of “Naga”, “nagas” and “Arjuna”, “Builder of the world”, it praises by “King of the Nagas” and “Builder of the World” which is similar to Dharma praise by means of similarity to Dharma.
In keeping with the quote from [Candrakirti’s] “Clear Words”:
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“Dispelling abiding in the state of either [of] the two extremes . . .”
he [i.e. Nagarjuna] did not dwell in the two extremes of the wrong views, he was born in the ocean of wisdom realizing directly Suchness; he became the lord of the concentrations on dependent-originations which lack inherent production and cessation, the profound subject of the treasures of the Tathagatha’s treatises; he burnt all the flotsam, without exception, of the evil tenets which bound one’s own and of others schools of thought by the fires of reasoning into the five selflessnesses of phenomena which are concordant with Dharma as well as the poison seen in the [land of]the Nagas and he dispelled through tenets all the darkness which had obscured ordinary, uncontaminated worldly beings.
Regarding the mode of similarity of Dharma and Builder of
the World, in keeping with the quote in [Candrakirti’s] “Clear Words”:
“He [let loose] the bunch of arrows, the scriptures [of] the non-dual wisdom . . .”
the wisdom realizing emptiness directly overcomes all of the hosts of ennemies of beings [dwelling] within the three realms of the world [such as] gods and so forth, trainees who are similar to the silk-plumed arrows of “Arjuna” [and thereby] the great Dharma-King [Nagarjuna] is focused on the government of Buddha and Bhagavan.
This indicates the similarity between “Builder of the World” and Dharma.
Regarding the second [i.e. Praise through worldy repute], he is reputed and acknowledged in all this world as akin to a Second Buddha.
3) There are prophecies unstained by fallacy in the commentaries upon the thought of Sutras and Tantras such as “The Great Drum Sutra”, “The Great Cloud Sutra”, “The Kalachakra Tantra”, “The Lankavatara Sutra”, “The Root Tantra of Manjushri” and so forth.
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Thereby, commenting on the thought of the Victorious One: although this Acarya [i.e. Nagarjuna] composed many treatises, such as the “Six Collections of Reasoning” and so forth, commenting upon the thought of the scriptures of theVictorious One, the Sutras and the Tantras, I will not explain them in detail.
The topic to be explained, the nature of the Treatise, has two [subdivisions]: the principal and the ancillary [topics]. The first [i.e the principal topic] in turn has four subdivisions :
The meaning of the title
The hommage of the translator
The [actual] meaning of the treatise
The meaning of the conclusion [of the treatise]
From within the four categories of languages which existed in India, since [this treatise is composed in] the “Excellently established language”, [it is said to be composed] “In Sanskrit”.
This treatise is called the “Bodhicittavivaranam-nama” and if translated into Tibetan [i.e. English] , “Bodhicitta”[ stands for ]“The Mind of Awakening”, “Vivaranam” [stands for ] “commentary” and “Nama” [stands for] “so-called”.
[The hommage of the translator is]: “Homage to Glorious Vajrasattva”
The third [i.e. the actual meaning of the treatise] has three [parts]:
Explaining the two Bodhicitta by setting out the Sutra to be explained.
Explaining the meaning of the Sutra.
c) Finally, dedicating the virtue [accumulated].
a)
Of inherent being all entities are free.
The aggregates, the elements, the sense fields,
Percepts and perceivers are devoid of real existence.
All things are equal in their lack of self,
And thus our minds primordially
Are unborn and their nature emptiness
This is said [in the Guhyasamaja Tantra].
Just as the Bhagavan Buddhas and the great Bodhisattvas cultivated the state of mind directed to great enlightenment, I too, from this moment until the heart of enlightenment is gained, will cultivate this same state of mind directed to great enlightenment. I will do so in order to carry over to the other shore those who have not yet crossed, in order to free those as yet unfreed, to summon those who have not yet been summoned and to place in the state beyond all suffering those who are not yet there.
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It is by reflecting thus that Bodhisattvas who engage in the practice of the Secret Mantra must first cultivate relative bodhicitta, which has the character of an intention.
They must then go on to cultivate ultimate bodhicitta through the strength of their meditation. For this reason, the nature of ultimate bodhicitta must be explained.
Here, [the verse:] “Of inherent being all entities are free” is uttered to refute all the mistaken imputations of one’s own and other schools of thought. Moreover, “all entities” [refers to] the world of the vessel freedom from inherent establishment and to the total abandonment of establishment by their own characteristics of the aggregates which are the name-basis, in brief the form aggregate, and so forth, which are percepts and the perceivers, as well as the realm of phenomena and the sense-field of phenomena [accompanied by] the realm of mind and the sense-field of the mind.
Should one teach a State of Union which is the unity of entities and the meaning clear light, i.e. one’s own mind abiding begininglessly as of one taste with that unborn nature, emptiness, [and] were one to explain [in a more]elaborate [fashion], although “Of inherent being all entities are free” is stated to refute Non-Buddhists, “all entities”, all outer and inner entities [refer to], as far as inner entities are concerned, the enumerations of the self: life, birth, healing , beings and persons, he who is born from a youth, he who starts to foster a youth, the feeler, the knower, the spectator, the inspirer and the thorough inspirer [of both] self and sentient beings. Vases, fabric and so forth are exterior entities.
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In brief, after setting the aggregates, the realms and the sense-fields of phenomena, as basis of negation, the object of negation, inherent establishment is refuted on that [basis]. The unfindability, i.e. the disappearance, when one engages in analysis, by the means of reasonings of ultimate analysis, upon that [basis], generates certainty from the extinction of the mere happiness [which is] alone [present] if entities remain unexamined.
The two lines “The aggregates . . .” and so forth are uttered to refute the superimpositions which are imputed by the two [Schools] asserting objects [from within] our own schools. The five [aggregates], form and so forth, because they are aggregated from many [parts are called] “aggregates”. The eighteen [realms], the realm of vision and so forth, are called “realms” because they apprehend their own and general characteristics, as well as the objects of types and the seeds of existence. The twelve [sense-fields], the sense-field of vision and so forth are called “sense fields” because they give rise to consciousness and enhance it.
The aspect [of] substantial establishment [of] percepts, [such as] outer form and so forth [as well as] the inner sense-fields, such as the eye[sense-field] and so forth perceiving the six objects is completely abandoned. Form is best established as “ . . . dbu brngos pa ? . “.
Refuting the view of the Cittamatras is explained by [the verse] : “All things are equal in their lack of self”. Although this is explained differently in the commentary of the great scholar, Smirti, I cringe at such meanings. Differentiating between the characteristics of other-powered phenomena and thoroughly-established phenomena as truly established, on the one hand, and imputed phenomena as not truly established, on the other hand, is not acceptable because they all lack a self of phenomena, since it is said that: “They are equal in naturelessness”.
Thus, after dispelling the wrong views of Buddhist and Non-Buddhist logicians, the two lines “. . .our minds. . .” and so forth explain the final mode of existence in our system, the Madhyamika [system]. Now, what exactly is emptiness in our system, the Madhyamika [system] ?
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Our mind primordially, i.e. unborn by [it’s very] nature, is [our mind’s being] unborn, since, while existence at the time of it’s cause [entails that it is] not necessary to be born again, the mind which does not exist at the time of the cause is also not generated by [it’s] very nature. Then, that mind is not generated by whatosever nature. Then, if one were to enquire [regarding] that mind, what [sort of] nature [it had], [it has] the nature of emptiness. Entitiies’ non-existence by [their] very nature, is akin to space. For instance, uncompounded space is posited as the mere negation of obstructive contact. Likewise since it is said in the “Mother of the Conquerors”:
“Subhuti, the perfection of meditation on the Perfection of Wisdom, is space [like] meditation”
Such a view is completed by the Bodhicitta which has the essence of [both] aspiring and engaging Bodhicitta and, since it is taught : “After generating [it] in the nature of ultimate Bodhicitta, on must meditate”, [ Nagarjuna’s Bodhicittavivarana says:]
“Just as the Bhagavan Buddhas . . .”
as well as :
“[I] will cultivate [this same state of mind]”
In whom Bodhicitta [is present], in such the Great Enlightenment of the essence of the two aspects of the Rupakaya and the Dharmakaya, which is the wisdom engaging without the obstruction of desire all phenomena, [is present].
If [one enquires] by whom [it will be generated] ? By myself the practitioner !
In which way ? In that very [way in which] the Great Enlightenment was generated in the mind of the Buddha Bhagavans, the Bodhisattva Mahasattvas of yore, at the time of the path of training.
Should one enquire why it is necessary ? Because it is necessary to free swiftly those ordinary beings and so forth who are not freed from the the obstructions to liberation, from the terror of the obstructions to liberation;
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as well as to free swiftly the assembly of the Aryas who are not freed from the obstructions to omniscience, from the terror of the obstructions to omniscience; as well as to grant breath to beings in the evil realms whose breath has been taken away by suffering ; in brief to place swiftly all sentient beings who are not completely liberated ins [a state] of complete liberation, that is in a non-abiding Nirvana.
Althought that is explained as other, as to the intent of this treatise, “those as yet unfreed” are sentient beings of the three evil realms who are not liberated from the evil realms because of their oblivion to virtuous states of mind under the power of insupportable sufferings of suffering such as heat, cold, hunger, thirst and so forth. The Bhagavan pacified the sufferings of the evil realms through various emanations and after giving rise to virtuous states of mind, [He] placed [them] in happy realms. For instance, after the Lord [of the World], Arya Avalokiteshvara, went to the hell realms, the ground of the hell realms felt like milk.
Likewise it is also said in the “Sutra of the Stacking of Vessels”:
For the sake of the hells the One imbued with Great Compassion went,
The feeling of the ground became lotus-like,
And freed of suffering, such as the heats.
Likewise, those with frosty lips
[Upon whose] mouth his hand descended, with nectar were adorned
Overcoming hunger and thirst, in virtuous states of minds He placed.
Those of equal bodily fortune to bumblebees and so forth,
Attained the recitations of the names of the Triple Gem.
According to Gene Smith, Ngawang dragpa lived in his youth in Chab-mdo and was probably a native of Chab-mdo (he is supposed to have been born at Dwags po mda’ in the 15th century). In due course, he became the abbot of Dwags-po Grwa-tshang and built the retreats of Bra-mo Nags-‘dab and Gangs-dkar Phu G.yu-lung Skyid-mo-gshongs toward the end of his life. His collected works were still in existence recently and it would seem that some of texts they contain have been reprinted in Beijing.
brtse ba
The hundred-fold division of the Buddhas.
brtan gyo
snyems ma. The « Lord of Vajradhatishvari » is a euphemism for Vajradhara of whom she is the consort.
Reading dngos
mang thos
‘grogs pa
ma ‘dris pa. It is tempting to read ma ‘dres pa which would then mean “uncontaminated”.
byed pa
Reading kyis instead of kyi in the light of the meaning of the sentence.
phul du byung wa
The sentence’s synatx has had to be heavily reworked in English to make thesentence meaningful. Tibetan syntax enjoy huge periphrastic clauses which English as a language tends to abhor.
Of Guhyasamaja.
Third division missing.
rjes su sngags pa
sgra gcan ‘dzin bzang po
Viz. : 1) Arts and crafts
2) Medicine
3) Grammar
4) Logic
5) [Buddhist] philosophy
mi ‘jigs pa’i gnas
thugs su chud pa
lung gi chos
chos dbyings (Sk. Dharmadhatu)
Nagarjuna was a famous alchemist and is supposed to have obtained what Western alchemists called the “Philosopher’s Stone’, albeit in liquid form. His treatises on alchemy, the “Rasayana”, survive to this day.
dbu ?nga’ untranslated.
In the present day Swat valley, in Pakistan.
Also means “white” according to Tshig mdzod chen mo.
Prasannapada
mnga’ brnyas pa
reading ‘dogs pa as ‘binding”
sde pa
The Tibetan text reads “Secondly” which is a clear mistake: this refers to the third outline extolling the greatenss of Nagarjuna.
The Mahabheriharaka Parivarta Sutra, P. 888, vol. 35
Nagarjuna’s 6 famous treatises : i) “Fundamental Treatise on the Middle Way” (Mulamadhyamaka-karika)
ii) “Sixty Stanzas on Reasoning” (Yuktishashtika-karika)
iii) “Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness” (Shunyatasaptati-karika)
iv) “Refutation of Objections” (Vigrahavyavartani-karika)
v) “Treatise called “The Finely Woven”” (Vaidalyasutra-nama)
vi) “Precious Garland” (Ratnavali)
According to Tibetan native linguists, the four great categories of languages of Ancient India were :
1) Sanskrit
2) Prakrit
3) Pishascha (literally the language of the “ghouls”)
4) Aphabramsa
Legs sbyar [skad] a euphemism for Sanskrit
Ngawang Dragpa at present quotes the entire text of the Bodhicitta-vivaranam in his commentary. We have not translated Nagarjuna’s text anew, but have instead relied on the Padmakara group’s excellent English translation of the Bodhicittavivarana, which we will use throughout, as it was the English translation used during His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s transmission of Bodhicittavivarana in Nantes (France) in 2008 and it manages that rare feat of combining accuracy of translation and felicity of expression..
bzung ba
‘dzin pa
khams. We translate ‘realm’ in keeping with J. Hopkins instead of “element” in the Padmakara translation which is too misleading (it does not refer to the four elements). Otherwise, we have tried to use teh same technical terminology as that used by the Padmakara group in the translation of the commentary.
‘zung ‘jug (Sk. Yuganaddha)
mu stegs pa (Sk Tirthika)
shed bu (Sk. Manava) : literally “A child of Manu”
slong ba po
The genitive is implicit in the Tibetan and must be understood from the context.
dral ba
Reading nyams dga’
i.e. the Vaibhasika and Sautrantika schools.
rigs kyi don
Smirtijnanakirti a great Indian lineage holder of Abhidharmakosha, perhaps Kashmiri, author of the “Commentary on Bodhicittavivarana”. As he was the teacher of the second abbot of Narthang monastery, Sherab dragpa (1127-1185), we can assert he was born sometime before the XIIth century.
rtog ge ba (Sk Tarkika)
We will use throughout “born” and “generated” as synonymous and “unborn” and ‘non-generated” as synonymous.
The traditional definition of uncompounded space : “The mere elimination of obstructive contact” (thog reg bkag tsam).
One of Prajnaparamita Sutras, probably the “Eight Thousand Verse Perfection of Wisdom Sutra”.
If the tibetan term pha is not a misprint for pa, it can stand either for “Father” or be an abbreviation of phar phyin, “Perfection”. Alternatively it could simply be a misprint for pa, the verbal substantifier.
We see no reason to use the polite euphemism “lower realms”, when the Tibetan term ngan song litterally means “one who has gone bad”. “Evil realms” or even “evil destinations” seems to convey more of a sense of the harshness of the predicament of beings in those states.
As under note 55, the Tibetan term bde ‘gro means “one who goes to happiness”, so instead of using the euphemism “higher realms”, it seems more cogent so speak of “happy realms” or even “happy destinations”.
Dbang phyug stand for ‘jig brten dbang phyug (Sk. Lokeshvara), literally “The Lord of the base of destruction”.
Za ma tog bkod pa’i mdo (Sk. Karandavyuhanamasutra)
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