The Inquiry of Avalokiteśvara on the Seven Qualities
Avalokiteśvaraparipṛcchā saptadharmaka
འཕགས་པ་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག་གིས་ཞུས་པ་ཆོས་བདུན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Inquiry of Avalokiteśvara on the Seven Qualities” Āryāvalokiteśvaraparipṛcchāsaptadharmaka- nāmamahāyānasūtra
Summary:
The sūtra is introduced with the Buddha residing on Vulture Peak Mountain in Rājagṛha, together with a great monastic assembly of 1,250 monks and a multitude of bodhisattva mahāsattvas. The Buddha is approached and asked by the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara about the qualities that should be
cultivated by a bodhisattva who has just generated the altruistic mind set on attaining awakening. The Buddha briefly expounds seven qualities that should be practiced by such a bodhisattva, emphasizing mental purity and cognitive detachment from conceptuality
Acknowledgments Translation by the University of Calgary Buddhist Studies team.
This sūtra was introduced and translated by James B. Apple.
Introduction
The Inquiry of Avalokiteśvara on the Seven Qualities is a brief sūtra describing seven qualities that should be cultivated by a bodhisattva immediately upon generating the altruistic mind set on attaining awakening. The mind of awakening is the intention or resolution to attain full and complete buddhahood
for the benefit of oneself and all sentient beings. The structure of the sūtra is in three parts: the opening formula that gives the time, place, and Buddha’s retinue when the discourse was taught; the prescription of seven dharmas to be cultivated; and a formulaic conclusion. The Buddha delivers his
teaching in response to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara’s inquiry. What is unusual in the formulaic inquiry phrases of this sūtra is that Avalokiteśvara places his right knee in the center of a lotus flower; in most sūtras that follow such a pattern, the questioner places his knee on the
ground. This implicitly demonstrates the reverence in which Avalokiteśvara was held by the compilers or transmitters of this sūtra. The Buddha prescribes seven qualities or dharmas that one should cultivate after producing the mind of awakening. They emphasize mental purity and cognitive detachment from
conceptuality. These prescriptions are straightforward and easy to understand according to the overview of the sūtra by Pekar Sangpo (pad dkar bzang po, see bibliography).
The Inquiry of Avalokiteśvara on the Seven Qualities was initially translated from an Indian language, most likely
Sanskrit, into Tibetan by Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (982-1054) and the Tibetan monk Gewai Lodrö. The translation took place in all probability at the monastery of Tholing in West Tibet, where the rulers of Ngari (mnga’ ris) first officially welcomed Atiśa and where Gewai Lodrö was active.1 Gewai Lodrö
collaborated with the great Kaśmiri scholar Subhūtiśrī(śānti) in Tholing before working with Atiśa. Atiśa and Gewai Lodrö worked together on several translations found in editions of the Tengyur, including the verses of the Bodhipathapradīpa (Toh 3947) and the Cittotpādasaṃvaravidhikrama (Toh 3969), and
two texts found in most Kangyurs, the Gaṇḍisamayasūtra (Toh 299) and the Siddhaikavīramahātantrarāja (Toh 544, Degé 541). Atiśa makes explicit reference to this sūtra in his Bodhimārgapradīpapañjikā, Cittotpādasaṃvaravidhikrama, and Ratnakaraṇḍodghāṭanāmamadhyamakopadeśa (Toh 3930, English translation Apple
2010: 142-43). In the Bodhimārgapradīpapañjikā this sūtra is mentioned in the sections discussing the mind of awakening (Sherburne 2000: 101), the monastic
life (Sherburne 2000: 127), and the supersensory knowledges (Sherburne 2000: 209). The Cittotpādasaṃvaravidhikrama also advocates the practice of this sūtra’s prescriptions for a bodhisattva who wishes to attain supersensory knowledge quickly (Sherburne 2000: 540-541).
The present translation from Tibetan is based upon a critical edition of ten Kangyur exemplars. A detailed philological analysis of the extant editions of this sūtra indicates that the oldest copies of this sūtra are preserved among Western Kangyur collections such as the Gondhla Collection, Hemis Kangyur, and Phudrak (phug brag) Kangyur.
THE TRANSLATION
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra The Inquiry of Avalokiteśvara on the Seven Qualities
Homage to the Bhagavān Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta! Thus have I heard at one time. The Bhagavān was dwelling in Rājagṛha4 on the Vulture Peak mountain5 together with a great monastic assembly of 1,250 monks and a multitude of bodhisattva mahāsattvas. At that time, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Noble Avalokiteśvara
rose from his seat, arranged his upper robe on one shoulder, and placed his right knee in the center of a lotus flower. Joining his hands in devotion toward the Bhagavān, he asked him, “Bhagavān, in how many qualities should a bodhisattva train, just after generating the altruistic mind set on attaining
awakening?”6 The Bhagavān replied to the bodhisattva mahāsattva Noble Avalokiteśvara’s inquiry with the following words. “Kulaputra, bodhisattvas should train in seven qualities just after generating the altruistic mind set on attaining awakening.
They are as follows.
“(1) One should not have sexual enjoyment even in thought, not to mention joining together the two sexual organs. [331b] “
(2) One should not take up with a non-virtuous friend even in dreams.
“(3) With a mind free like a bird, one should be completely without grasping.
“(4) With mastery in skill and wisdom, one should be without pride and reified conceptions of ‘I.’
“(5) One should abandon conceptions of existence and non– existence and be firm in the emancipation (vimokṣa) of emptiness.
“(6) One should not take delight in saṃsāra through an inauthentic conceptual understanding, saṃsāra being like a magical illusion or dream.
“(7) And one should refrain from deprecating the law of cause and effect. “Kulaputra, a bodhisattva who has just generated the altruistic mind set on attaining awakening should train in these seven qualities.”
When the Bhagavān had spoken, the bodhisattva Noble Avalokiteśvara, along with the monks and bodhisattvas, rejoiced and praised highly what had been proclaimed by the Bhagavān.
This completes the Noble Mahāyāna sūtra, “The Inquiry of Avalokiteśvara on the Seven Qualities.”10
Translated and edited by the Indian master Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna and the translator monk Gewai Lodrö.
Notes
Abbreviations
MsK Manuscript Kangyur PK Printed Kangyur
D Degé (sde dge) Kangyur PK F Phug brag MsK Go Gondhla Collection MsK He Hemis MsK J Lithang PK L London MsK Q Peking Qianlong PK rKTs University of Vienna Resources for Kanjur & Tibetan Studies (http://www.istb.univie.ac.at/kanjur/xml3/xml/) S Stog Palace MsK Z Shey Palace MsK
1 See Chattopadhyaya 1967: 325.
2 D, Go, He, J, L, and Q: spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug; F, S, and Z: spyan ras gzigs kyi dbang phyug
3 Go has the title ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gyis zhus pa / byang chub sems dpa’i slab pa bdun pa
4 Go, L, S, and Z: rgyal po’i khab na; D, F, He, J, and Q: rgyal po’i khab
5 F, Go, L, S, and Z: bya rgod kyi phung po; D, He, J, and Q: bya rgod phung po
6 F, Go, He, L, S, and Z: byang chub tu sems; D, J, and Q: byang chub kyi sems
7 D, F, Go, He, L, S, and Z: byang chub tu sems bskyed; J and Q: sems bskyed
8 D, F, Go, J, and Q: byang chub tu sems bskyed; He, L, S, and Z: sems bskyed
9 Go omits ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug dang / dge slong de dag dang byang chub sems dpa’ de dag yi rangs te/ bcom ldan ’das kyis gsungs pa la mngon par bstod do
10 D, F, He, J, L, Q, S, and Z: chos bdun pa; Go: byang sems dpa’i / slab pa bdun pa
Bibliography
For abbreviations, see notes
Tibetan Kangyur Editions ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo (Āryāvalokiteśvaraparipṛcchāsaptadharmakanāmamahā yānasūtra). Toh 150, rKTs-K150, D 150, Degé Kangyur (PK) vol. 57 (mdo sde, pa), folios 331a-331b. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=W22084 ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. rKTs-K150, He48.6, Hemis Kangyur (He) (MsK), (mdo sde, nga), folios 296b-299b. Digital scans from rKTs. ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. rKTs-K150, J94, Lithang (li thang) Kangyur (J) (PK), vol. 52 (mdo sde, pa), folios 278a-279a. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=W4 CZ7445 ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. rKTs-K150, Q 817, Peking Qianlong (Q) (PK), vol. 33 (mdo sna tshogs, nu), folios 293b-294b (p 36 in bound edition). ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006-2009, vol. 57, pp. 875-878.
’phags pa spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gyis zhus pa / byang chub sems dpa'i slab pa bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. Go16,04, Gondhla Collection (Go) (MsK), vol. 16 (ka), folios 49a-49b. Digital scans from rKTs. See also Tauscher (2008) below. ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs kyi dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo. rKTsK150, L154, London Kangyur (L) (MsK), vol. 52 (mdo sde, za), folios 8b-9a. Digital scans from rKTs. ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs kyi dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. rKTsK150, C790, Phug brag Kangyur (F) (MsK), vol. 80 (mdo sde, la), folios 371b-372b. Institute for Advanced Studies of World Religions. 1990. ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs kyi dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo. rKTsK150, Z242, Shey Palace Manuscript Kangyur (Z) (MsK), vol.69 (mdo, za), folios 7a-8a. Digital scans from rKTs. ’phags pa spyan ras gzigs kyi dbang phyug gis zhus pa chos bdun pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo. rKTsK150, S211, Stog Palace Manuscript Kangyur (bka’ ’gyur stog pho brang bris ma) (S) (MsK), vol. 73 (mdo sde, za) folios 7b-8b. TBRC W22083. 109 vols. leh: smanrtsis shesrig dpemzod, 1975-1980. http://tbrc.org/ link?RID=W22083
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2006. TBRC W1PD76588. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O2DB70299%7CO2DB702992DB7 0539$W1PD76588 Sherburne, Richard. 2000. The Complete Works of Atīśa Śrī Dīpaṁkara Jñāna, Jo-bo-rje: The Lamp for the Path and Commentary, together with the newly translated Twenty-Five Key Texts (Tibetan and English Texts). New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan. Tauscher, Helmut. 2008. Catalogue of the Gondhla protoKanjur. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien.
