Toh 155The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara”

Summary

In this very short sūtra, the Buddha explains to a nāga king and an assembly of monks that reciting the four aphorisms of
the Dharma is equivalent to recitation of all of the 84,000 articles of the Dharma. He urges them to make diligent efforts to
engage in understanding the four aphorisms (also called the four seals), which are the defining philosophical tenets of the
Buddhist doctrine: (1) all compounded phenomena are impermanent; (2) all contaminated phenomena are suffering; (3) all phenomena
are without self; (4) nirvāṇa is peace.

Acknowledgments

Translated by the Sakya Pandita Translation Group (Tsechen Kunchab Ling Division), comprising Venerable Khenpo Kalsang
Gyaltsen and Reverend Dr. Chodrung Kunga Chodron.

This translation has been completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

In the Tibetan canon there are three sūtras entitled The Questions of the Nāga King
Sāgara (Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā): a long version (Toh 153), one of middle length (Toh 154), and a short sūtra (Toh 155). They have quite different contents and are all to
be found in a group of sūtras in the Kangyur entitled “The Questions of…” (…paripṛcchā), including The Questions of Brahmā, The Questions
of Mañjuśrī, The Questions of an Old Lady, and several others. There is also another
nāga king whose questions were the occasion for a sūtra in this group, entitled The Questions of the Nāga
King Anavatapta (Anavataptanāgarājaparipṛcchā), Toh 156.

The text translated here is the shortest of the three Sāgaranāgarājaparipṛcchā
sūtras. The Buddha’s teaching of this very brief sūtra to an assembly of monks is presumed—from the title—to be in response to
a question or questions put to him by a king of the supernatural beings known as nāgas, serpents who guard the Dharma,
although in this sūtra the questions themselves are not explicitly stated. The Buddha explains that recitation of the four
aphorisms of the Dharma is equivalent to recitation of all of the 84,000 articles of the Dharma, and that they constitute the
inexhaustible doctrine of the bodhisattvas. The four are:

all compounded phenomena are impermanent (anitya);

all contaminated phenomena are suffering (duḥkha);

all phenomena are without self (anātman);

nirvāṇa is peaceful/peace (śānta/śānti).

These four aphorisms, or tenets—also called the four seals—are central to Buddhist philosophy and characterize the
Buddhist view of the nature of reality. The Buddha stated that any doctrine characterized by these four seals is genuinely in
accord with the philosophical view of Buddhism, just as a document purportedly written by a king that has the proper seals is
known as genuine. Because the concepts of anitya(tva), duḥkha, anātman, and nirvāṇa are central to the Buddhist philosophical view, over the centuries, countless
commentaries and elaborations on these concepts have been written by scholars from every Buddhist tradition. Various sūtras and
commentaries focus on one, two, three, or all four of the concepts.

Indian texts speak of the four aphorisms of the Dharma as well as of the four seals. The Sanskrit of the four aphorisms
can be extracted from Vasubandhu’s commentary to verse XVIII.80 of the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra
of Asaṅga (fifth century ce):

sarvasaṃskārā anityāḥ (all compounded phenomena are impermanent);

sarvasaṃskārā duḥkhāḥ (all compounded phenomena are suffering);

sarvadharmā anātmānaḥ (all phenomena are without self);

śāntaṃ nirvāṇaṃ (peaceful is nirvāṇa).

The same four aphorisms are listed and described in chapter 17 of Asaṅga’s Bodhisattvabhūmi. The only minor difference in these formulations of them,
compared to the four aphorisms as set out in the present sūtra, is that here the second aphorism does not speak of “all
contaminated phenomena,” but simply “all compounded phenomena.”

Although this sūtra’s Sanskrit original is no longer extant, the colophon to the Tibetan translation of the sūtra
tells us that it was translated from Sanskrit to Tibetan by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the Tibetan
editor-translator Yeshé Dé (ye shes sde). We can thus infer that this sūtra
was translated from Sanskrit to Tibetan sometime during the late eighth to early ninth century.

This sūtra is also included in the Chinese Buddhist canon (Taishō 599). Both the Tibetan and Chinese versions of the sūtra are very similar in their
brevity, meaning, and story line, although there are a few minor differences between them. A twelfth-century fragment containing this sūtra in the
Tangut, or Xixia, language was discovered, among other pieces of the Tangut
canon, at Khara-khoto along the ancient Silk Road by the British explorer Sir Aurel Stein during his 1913–16 journey. Now in the British Museum, the Tangut version is very close
to the Chinese version, indicating that it was likely translated from the Chinese.

There are two other notable English translations from the Tibetan: one by
Geshe Lhakdor in 2010 for a workshop presented at
the India Habitat Centre in Delhi under the auspices of the Foundation for Universal Responsibility, and the most recent translation
by Peter Skilling, along with helpful notes, in his 2021 anthology Questioning the Buddha: A Selection of Twenty-Five Sutras.

The present translation from Tibetan is based on the version in the Degé (sde dge)
Kangyur, with reference to the differences between this and various other versions noted in the Pedurma (dpe bsdur ma) comparative edition of the Degé Kangyur.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara

Homage to all buddhas and
bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Bhagavān was dwelling at the place of the nāga king Sāgara together with a great assembly of
1,250 bhikṣus as well as a multitude of bodhisattva mahāsattvas. At that time the Bhagavān said
to the nāga king Sāgara:

“Lord of the nāgas, if one utters these four aphorisms of the Dharma, in uttering them one is expressing all of the 84,000
articles of the Dharma. What are the four? They are as follows:

“To fully engage in understanding the inexhaustible doctrine of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas that all compounded
phenomena are impermanent; to fully engage in understanding the inexhaustible doctrine of the bodhisattva mahāsattvas that all
contaminated phenomena are suffering; to fully engage in understanding the inexhaustible doctrine of the bodhisattva
mahāsattvas that all phenomena are without self; and to fully engage in understanding the inexhaustible doctrine of the
bodhisattva mahāsattvas that nirvāṇa is peace.

“Lord of the nāgas, if one utters these four aphorisms of the Dharma, in uttering them one is expressing all of the 84,000
articles of the Dharma.”

When the Bhagavān had spoken in this way, the bhikṣus and bodhisattvas rejoiced and greatly praised the teachings of
the Bhagavān.

This completes The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra, “The Questions of the Nāga King Sāgara.”

Colophon

Translated and finalized by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the senior editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.

Notes

Abbreviations:

C
Choné Kangyur

D
Degé Kangyur

N
Narthang Kangyur

K
Peking Kangyur

T
Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)

Bibliography