ན་ང་འལ་བར་འང་བ་མདོ།

The Sūtra on Dependent Arising

Pratītyasamutpādasūtra
 འཕགས་པ་ན་ང་འལ་བར་འང་བ་ས་་བ་ག་པ་ན་པོ ་མདོ།

ʼphags pa rten cing ʼbrel bar ʼbyung ba zhes bya ba theg pa chen poʼi mdo

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on Dependent Arising

Āryapratītyasamutpādanāmamahāyānasūtra
 Toh 212
Degé Kangyur vol. 62 (mdo sde, tsha), folios 125.a–125.b also Toh 520, Degé
Kangyur vol. 88 (rgyud ’bum, na), folios 41.a–42.a and Toh 980, Degé
Kangyur vol. 101 (gzungs ’dus, waṃ), folios 99.a–99.b.

Translated by the Buddhavacana Translation Group

under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of
the Buddha.

v 1.01 2016

84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit

initiative that aims to translate all of the Buddha’s words into modern
languages, and to make them available to everyone.

This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution -
Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but
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details, see the Creative Commons license.
co. CONTENTS

ti. Title
co. Contents
s. Summary
ac. Acknowledgements
i. Introduction
tr. The Translation
c. Colophon
n. Notes
b. Bibliography
g. Glossary
s. SUMMARY

s.1 While the Buddha is residing in the Realm of the Thirty-Three Gods with a
retinue of deities, great hearers, and bodhisattvas, Avalokiteśvara asks the
Buddha how beings can gain merit from building a stūpa. The Buddha
responds by stating the Buddhist creed on dependent arising:

All phenomena that arise from causes,

The Tathāgata has taught their cause,
And that which is their cessation,
Thus has proclaimed the Great Renunciant.

The Buddha then explains that this dependent arising is the dharmakāya, and
that whoever sees dependent arising sees the Buddha. He concludes the sūtra
by saying that one should place these verses inside stūpas to attain the merit
of Brahmā.

ac. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ac.1 Translation by the Buddhavacana Translation Group, Vienna, under the

supervision of Khenpo Konchok Tamphel. This sūtra was translated into
English by Rolf Scheuermann and Casey Kemp with the aid of Tom
Tillemans.
This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision
of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
i. INTRODUCTION

i.1 The topic of this sūtra, as is evident from its title, is the Buddhist doctrine of
the dependent arising of conditioned phenomena. This concept is considered
by many Buddhists to be the essence of the teaching, the Dharma. Dependent
arising is often presented as a series of twelve links (nidāna) of causes and
effects that begins with ignorance and ends with death. This schema is found
in many canonical texts, and is the principal topic of the two works that
precede the present sūtra in the Degé Kangyur, the Śālistambhasūtra (Rice
Seedling Sūtra, Toh 210), and the Pratītyasamutpādādivibhaṅganirdeśa-
sūtra (Sūtra Teaching Dependent Arising with Its Beginning and Divisions,
Toh 211).1
i.2 The teaching on dependent arising is epitomized by the famous “creed”
(dhāran ̣ī) in verse-form, stating that the Buddha teaches the causes for the
arising of phenomena as well as that which is their cessation. This verse
formula is perhaps best known from a narrative in the Vinaya recounting
Śāriputra’s life. The story tells of Upatisya
̣ (as Śāriputra was called before he
met the Buddha) first hearing about the Buddha from Aśvajit, one of the
Buddha’s five erstwhile companions and earliest disciples. When Upatisya
̣
asks Aśvajit to summarize the very essence of the Buddha’s teaching, Aśvajit
answers him by reciting this verse. As soon as he hears it, Upatisya
̣
immediately attains a preliminary state of realization.2
i.3 In the sūtra translated here, however, these same lines are taught to
Avalokiteśvara by the Buddha himself.3 The Buddha then instructs his
followers to insert them into stūpas in order to generate the merit of Brahmā,
an extraordinary type of merit.4 The practice of inserting these verses, as well
as impressing or inscribing them on religious images, appears to have
become popular during the second half of the first millennium,5 and was
observed by Xuanzang in the seventh century.6 The creed can be found
inscribed on, or inserted within, miniature caityas or stūpas at holy sites
throughout the Buddhist world such as Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, and Rājagrha,
̣ as
 far east as Kedah and Java, and as far west as Afghanistan.7 This practice was
continued by the Tibetans into the second millennium and to this day it is
considered by Buddhists to be a meritorious act.8
i.4 Xuanzang mentions that these objects were considered relics of the
Dharma (dharmaśarīra). Buddhist scripture came to be identified as a type
of relic of the Buddha from the time of early Mahāyāna discourse, according
to which worshipping the words of the Buddha was considered to be
equivalent, if not superior, to worshipping the Buddha himself.9 Canonical
sources, such as the Śālistambasūtra (Toh 210), have furthermore equated
dependent arising with the Dharma itself.10 Thus, inserting or inscribing the
verse of dependent arising empowers an object just as a fragment of the
Buddha’s remains would.11 Included in the Tibetan text of this sūtra is the
Sanskrit transliteration of the verse, implying that they were used like a
mantra or dhāran ̣ī;12 the Sanskrit syllables are considered potent in their
own right as a manifestation of the Dharma and thus of the Buddha himself.
i.5 The sūtra is found in three places within the Kangyur, as well as in an
abridged version in two locations.13 To date we do not know of any extant
Sanskrit original version, and although there appear to be a few minor
spelling mistakes and inconsistencies found in some versions, there are no
significant variations among the available Tibetan texts.
 THE TRANSLATION

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on

Dependent Arising

1.1 [F.125a] Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

1.2 Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was in the Realm of the Thirty-
Three Gods, seated on the throne of Indra. With him were great hearers such
as the venerable Aśvajit; bodhisattva mahāsattvas such as noble Maitreya,
noble Avalokiteśvara, and Vajrapān ̣i, who were adorned with immeasurable
precious qualities; as well as various gods such as the great Brahmā, who is
the lord of the Sahā world, Nārāyan ̣a, the great Īśvara, Śakra, who is the chief
of the gods, and Pañcaśikha, who is the king of the gandharvas.
1.3 On that occasion, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara rose from his
seat and, having draped his upper robe over one shoulder, knelt down with
his right knee on the peak of Mount Meru. His palms together, he then bowed
toward the Blessed One and addressed to him these words:
1.4 “Blessed One, these gods all really wish to build a stūpa. Now that they are
present in this entourage, please teach them the Dharma in such a way so
that their merit of Brahmā [F.125b] will increase, and the merit of the monks,
nuns, laymen, and laywomen will increase much more than that of all types
of beings in the world of gods, māras, and Brahmā, including renunciants
and brahmins.”

1.5 At this, the Blessed One spoke the verses of dependent arising:

ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ tes ̣āṃ tathāgato hy avadat

tes ̣āṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśraman ̣ah ̣ 14

“All phenomena that arise from causes,

The Tathāgata has taught their cause,
And that which is their cessation;
 Thus has proclaimed the Great Renunciant.

1.6 “Avalokiteśvara, it is like this. This dependent arising is the dharmakāya of all
the tathāgatas. A person who sees dependent arising sees the Tathāgata.
Avalokiteśvara, if a faithful son or daughter of a noble family builds, in a
remote place, a stūpa the size of a gooseberry fruit, with a central pillar the
size of a needle and a parasol the size of a flower of the bakula tree, and
inserts this verse of dependent arising which is the dharmadhātu, he or she
will generate the merit of Brahmā. When such persons pass on from here and
die, they will be reborn in the world of Brahmā. When they pass on from
there and die, they will be reborn with fortunes equaling those of the gods of
the Pure Abodes.”15

1.7 After the Blessed One had thus spoken, the hearers, bodhisattvas, the whole
assembly, and the universe of gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced
and praised his words.

c. Colophon

c.1 This concludes the Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on Dependent Arising.

Translated and edited by the Indian scholar Surendrabodhi and the
principal editor and translator Venerable Yeshe Dé.16
n. NOTES

1 For the first, see Reat (1993) and Dharmasāgara Translation Group
(forthcoming); for the second, see Bien (forthcoming). There is a
famous commentary to the Pratītyasamutpādādivibhaṅganirdeśa-
sūtra entitled the Pratītyasamutpādavyākhyā, attributed to
Vasubhandu. For an overview of the content of this sūtra and its
commentary, see Mejor (1997a, 1997b).

2 In the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, the story is told in the Pravrajya-

vastu, the first chapter of the Vinayavastu (Toh 1), Degé Kangyur
vol. 1 (’dul ba, ka), folios 32b et seq.. For a translation, see Miller
(forthcoming). In the Pāli Canon, the same story is told in the
Vinayapitaka
̣ (Mahāvagga I.23.1-10). See also Oldenberg (1997, pp
39-41).

3 It would nevertheless seem significant, in view of the story

mentioned in the previous paragraph, that this sūtra makes specific
mention of Aśvajit, his name (unusually) being the only individual
one used to represent the group of hearer disciples in the assembly.

4 For a detailed study of the use of the concept of the merit of Brahmā
in Buddhist inscriptions and textual sources, see Salomon and
Schopen (1984). This article also includes a partial translation of
the Pratītyasamutpādasūtra (see p 117).

5 See Boucher (1991), p 1.

6 See Boucher (1991), p 7.

7 See Sykes (1856), pp 40 and 48; and Skilling (2003). Both articles
outline some locations in which this “creed” has been discovered
and the linguistic variations found among them.

8 Bentor mentions that prominent Tibetan Buddhist figures such as

Jetsün Trakpa Gyaltsen (rje btsun grags pa rgyal mtshan), the fifth
Dalai Lama Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso (ngag dbang blo bzang rgya
mtsho), and Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (’jam mgon kong sprul
 blo gros mtha ’yas) all list the verses on dependent arising (rten
’brel snying po) among the Five Great Dhāran ̣īs (gzungs chen sde
lnga) that are to be inserted into stūpas. See Bentor (1995), p 254.

9 The identification of the Dharma with the Buddha himself is

expressed in multiple early canonical sources, including the
Saṃyutta Nikāya (III, 120), of the Pāli sūtra canon (Suttapitaka),
̣
in which the Buddha states, “He who sees the Dharma, Vikkali, sees
me. He who sees me, sees the Dharma.” (yo kho vakkali dhammaṃ
passati so maṃ passati, yo maṃ passati so dhammaṃ passati).
Ibid., p 2.

10 dge slong dag sus rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba mthong ba des chos
mthong ngo/ sus chos mthong ba des sangs rgyas mthong ngo,
“Bhiksus,
̣ whoever sees dependent arising sees the Dharma.
Whoever sees the Dharma sees the Buddha.” (Dharmasāgara
Translation Group, forthcoming). For available editions of the
relevant passage, see Reat (1993), p 27.

11 This equivalence is made explicit in another sūtra preserved in

Chinese, which may in fact be a slightly longer version of the same
sūtra, titled Sūtra on the Merit of Building a Stūpa by the Buddha.
Boucher (1991), pp 8-9, provides a full translation of this sūtra.

12 This is also attested, of course, by the inclusion of a copy of this

work (as Toh 980) in the gzungs ’dus (Dhāran ̣ī) section of the
Kangyur.

13 See bibliography.

14 There are multiple variations of this creed found throughout the

Buddhist world. See Sykes (1856) and Skilling (2003).

15 This last sentence is omitted in the otherwise identical copies of the

work found in the Tantra and Dhāran ̣ī sections of the Kangyur, Toh
520 and Toh 980, respectively.

16 Mention of the translators is omitted from the colophon in the

versions Toh 520 and Toh 980 (see previous note).
b. BIBLIOGRAPHY

ʼphags pa rten cing ʼbrel bar ʼbyung ba zhes bya ba theg pa chen poʼi mdo.
Toh 212, Degé Kangyur, vol. 62 (mdo sde, tsha), folios 125a–125b. Cf. also
Toh 520, vol. 88 (rgyud ’bum, na), folios 41a–42a; and Toh 980, vol. 101
(gzungs ’dus, waṃ), folios 99a–99b.

ʼphags pa rten cing ʼbrel bar ʼbyung ba zhes bya ba theg pa chen poʼi 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. 62, pp 342-344. Cf.
also vol. 88, pp 183–185; and vol. 98, pp 324–326.

ʼphags pa rten cing ʼbrel bar ʼbyung ba’i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen
poʼi mdo. Toh 521, Degé Kangyur, vol. 88 (rgyud ’bum, na), folio 42a. Cf.
also Toh 981, vol. 101 (gzungs ’dus, waṃ), folios 99b–100a.

ʼphags pa rten cing ʼbrel bar ʼbyung ba’i snying po zhes bya ba theg pa chen
poʼi 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. 88, p 187. Cf. also
vol. 98, p 328.

Bentor, Yael. “On The Indian Origins of the Tibetan Practice of Depositing
Relics and Dharanis in Stupas and Images.” In Journal of the American
Oriental Society 115.2 (1995), pp 248-261.

Bien, Annie. The Sūtra Teaching Dependent Arising with Its Beginning
and Divisions (Pratītyasamutpādādivibhaṅganirdeśasūtra, Toh 211).
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha (forthcoming).
Boucher, Daniel. “The Pratītyasamutpādagāthā and Its Role in the
Medieval Cult of the Relics.” In Journal of the International Association
for Buddhist Studies 14.1 (1991), pp 1-27.

Dharmasāgara Translation Group. The Rice Seedling (Śālistambhasūtra,

Toh 210). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha (forthcoming).

Mejor, Mareck. “On the Formulation of Pratītyasamutpāda: Some

Observations from Vasubhandu’s Pratītyasamutpādavyākhyā.” In
Agata Bareja-Starzyńska and Mareck Mejor (eds.). Aspects of Buddhism:
Proceedings of the International Seminar on Buddhist Studies (June,
1994). Warsaw: Instytut Orientalistyczny, Uniwersytet Warszawski
(1997a), pp 125-138.

————. “On Vasubhandu’s Pratītyasamutpādavyākhyā.” In Agata

Bareja-Starzyńska and Mareck Mejor (eds.). Aspects of Buddhism:
Proceedings of the International Seminar on Buddhist Studies (June,
1994). Warsaw: Instytut Orientalistyczny, Uniwersytet Warszawski
(1997b), pp 139-148.

Miller, Robert. The Chapter on Joining the Renunciate Order (Vinayavastu

Pravrajyāvastu, Toh 1). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
(forthcoming).

Oldenberg, Hermann (ed.). The Vinayapitakaṃ

̣ : One of the Principal
Buddhist Holy Scriptures in the Pāli Language, Vol. I: The Mahāvagga.
Oxford: Pali Text Society (1997).

Reat, N. Ross. The Śālistamba Sūtra. Delhi: Banarsidas (1993).

Sakaki, Ryōzaburō (ed.). Mahāvyutpatti, 2 vols. Kyoto: Daigaku

Shingonshū (1916 [1925]).

Salomon, Richard and Gregory Schopen. “The Indravarnam (Avaca) Casket

Inscription Reconsidered: Further Evidence for Canonical Passages in
Buddhist Inscriptions.” In Journal of the International Association for
Buddhist Studies 7.1 (1984), pp 107-123.

Skilling, Peter. “Traces of the Dharma: Preliminary reports on some ye

dhammā and ye dharmā inscriptions from Mainland South-East Asia.”
In Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient, 90-91 (2003-2004),
pp 273-287.

Sykes, Lieutenant-Colonel. “On the Miniature Chaityas and Inscriptions of

the Buddhist Religious Dogma, Found in the Ruins of the Temple of
Sárnáth, near Benares.” In Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland (1856), vol. 16, pp 37-53.
g. GLOSSARY

g.1 Aśvajit
rta thul
་ལ།
Aśvajit
One of the five ascetics who became the first disciples of the Buddha.

g.2 Avalokiteśvara
spyan ras gzigs
ན་རས་གགས།
Avalokiteśvara
First appeared as a bodhisattva beside Amitābha in the Sukhāvativyūha. The name has been variously
interpreted. “The lord of Avalokita,” Avalokita has been interpreted as “seeing,” although, as a past
passive participle, it is literally “lord of what has been seen.” One of the principal sūtras in the Mahā-
sāṃghika tradition was the Avalokita Sūtra, which has not been translated into Tibetan, in which the
word is a synonym for enlightenment, as it is “that which has been seen” by the buddhas. In the early
tantras he was one of the lords of the three families, as the embodiment of the compassion of the
buddhas. The Potalaka Mountain in South India became important in Southern Indian Buddhism as
his residence in this world, but Potalaka does not feature in the Kāranḍ ạ vyūha.

g.3 Bakula tree

ba ku la
བ་་ལ།
bakula
Indian tree with a very fine flower.

g.4 Brahmā
tshangs pa
ཚངས་པ།
Brahmā
The personification of the universal force of Brahman, who became a higher deity than Indra, the
supreme deity of the early Vedas.

g.5 Central pillar

srog shing
ོག ་ང་།
yasṭ ị

g.6 Dependent arising

 rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba
ན་ང་འལ་བར་འང་བ།
pratītyasamutpāda

g.7 Dharmadhātu
chos kyi dbyings
ས་་དངས།
dharmadhātu
In combination with pratītyasamutpāda (in this text rten cing ’brel bar ’byung ba chos kyi dbyings),
the term dharmadhātu can refer to a type of Buddhist relic which is said to embody the essence of the
Buddhist doctrine.

g.8 Dharmakāya
chos sku
ས་།
dharmakāya
Dharmakāya or “body of dharma” refers to the Buddha’s realization of reality.

g.9 Gandharva
dri za
་ཟ།
gandharva
Gandharvas, lit. “smell-eaters.” A class of deities known for being skilled musicians. Also the name of
spirits in the bardo state.

g.10 Gooseberry
skyu ru ra
་་ར།
āmalaka

g.11 Great Renunciant

dge sbyong chen po
ད་ོང་ན་པོ།
Mahāśraman ̣a
Epithet of the Buddha.

g.12 Īśvara
dbang phyug
དབང་ག
Īśvara
One of the most frequently used names for Śiva. A deity of the jungles, named Rudra in the Vedas, he
rose to prominence in the Purān ̣ic literature at the beginning of the first millennium.

g.13 Laymen
dge bsnyen
ད་བན།
upāsaka
Male lay devotees who have taken the five precepts.

g.14 Laywomen
 dge bsnyen ma
ད་བན་མ།
upāsika
Female lay devotees who have taken the five precepts.

g.15 Maitreya
byams pa
མས་པ།
Maitreya
Bodhisattva of loving kindness; the next buddha to follow Śākyamuni.

g.16 Māra
bdud
བད།
māra
Demon who creates obstacles to practice and enlightenment.

g.17 Merit of Brahmā

tshangs pa’i bsod nams
ཚངས་པ་བསོད་ནམས།
brahmāpun ̣ya
Brahmic merit or pure merit refers to an extraordinary type of merit which leads to rebirth in the realm
of Brahmā.

g.18 Monk
dge slong
ད་ོང་།
bhiksụ
Fully ordained Buddhist monk.

g.19 Mount Meru

ri rab
་རབ།
Meru; Sumeru
According to the ancient Indian cosmological system, Mount Meru is a mountain which forms the
centre of the universe.

g.20 Nārāyan ̣a
sred med kyi bu
ད་ད་་།
Nārāyan ̣a
An alternate name for Visṇ ̣u. The Sanskrit is variously interpreted, including as “dwelling in water,” but
is most obviously “the path of human beings.”

g.21 Nun
dge slong ma
ད་ོང་མ།
bhiksun
̣ ̣ī
Fully ordained Buddhist nun.
g.22 Pañcaśikha
zur phud lnga pa
ར་ད་་པ།
Pañcaśikha
A gandharva known for playing the lute.

g.23 Pure Abodes

gnas gtsang ma
གནས་གཙང་མ།
Śuddhāvāsa
Name for the five highest levels of existence within the form realm.

g.24 Sahā
mi mjed
་མད།
Sahā
Indian Buddhist name usually referring to the trichiliocosm, the world system that is the universe of
ordinary beings, but sometimes only to our own world with four continents around Mount Meru. It
means “endurance,” as beings there have to endure suffering.

g.25 Śakra
brgya byin
བ་ན།
Śakra
Alternate name for Indra, the king of the gods in Hindu mythology.

g.26 Stūpa
mchod rten
མད་ན།
stūpa
Reliquary for the remains of the Buddha or holy beings that represents the body of the Buddha.

g.27 Thirty-Three Gods

gsum cu rtsa gsum
གམ་་་གམ།
Trāyastriṃśāh ̣
Name of a class of gods in the desire realm. There is also an associated heavenly realm, the Realm of
the Thirty-Three Gods, which is named after these.

g.28 Throne of Indra

ar mo nig lta bu’i rdo leb
ཨར་མོ་ག་་་ོ་བ།
Pān ̣d ̣ukambalaśilātalam
A huge flat rock, Indra’s throne in the Realm of the Thirty-Three Gods; it is called Pānḍ ukambala,
̣ “like
a blanket,” because it is made of a pale stone reminiscent of thick wollen cloth. Sakaki 7127 in the
Mahāvyutpatti.

g.29 Vajrapān ̣i
phyag na rdo rje , lag na rdo rje
ག་ན་ོ་། , ལག་ན་ོ་།
Vajrapān ̣i
First appeared in Buddhist literature as the yaksạ bodyguard of the Buddha, ready at times to shatter a
person’s head into a hundred pieces with his vajra if he speaks inappropriately to the Buddha. His
identity as a bodhisattva did not take place until the rise of the Mantrayāna in such sūtras as the
Kāranḍ avyūha.
̣ However, although listed (paradoxically along with Avalokiteśvara) as being in the
assembly that hears the teaching of this sūtra, in the sūtra itself he is grouped with the worldly spirits
that Avalokiteśvara frightens.