Toh 329The Devatā Sūtra

Summary

A radiant divine being appears before the Buddha shortly before dawn and asks a series of questions, in the
form of riddles, about how best to live a good life. The Buddha’s responses constitute a concise and direct
teaching on some of the core orientations and values of Buddhism, touching on the three poisons, the virtues
of body, speech, and mind, and providing wisdom for daily life.

Acknowledgements

A draft translation by Khenpo Kalsang Gyaltsen and Chodrungma Kunga Chodron of the Sakya Pandita
Translation Team was revised, introduced and edited by George FitzHerbert and finalized by members of the
84000 editorial team.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the
Buddha. George FitzHerbert edited the translation and the introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text.
Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

Introduction

In The Devatā Sūtra, a radiant divine being (Skt. devatā, Tib. lha) appears before the Buddha one night shortly before dawn and, in a series of
verses, asks the Buddha questions about how to live, success and failure, the pursuit of happiness,
and liberation. The Buddha’s simple and direct responses to these enduring questions present an
eloquent introduction to the core ethical values of Buddhism and a concise guide to daily life. The
sūtra is extant in many manuscripts from the first millennium ce, in
Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan.

There are two Sanskrit witnesses. A full version of the sūtra, which matches the Tibetan
translation quite closely, is included among the Gilgit Buddhist manuscripts discovered in 1931 in
present-day northern Pakistan. Written in the
proto-Śāradā script, the manuscript is dated between the sixth to eighth centuries ce. Sanskrit editions of the sūtra that are based on this manuscript
have been published by two contemporary scholars. The sūtra is also included as one of the twenty sūtras in an
undated Sanskrit manuscript written in the Dhārikā script and preserved in the Potala Palace,
Lhasa. A comparative critical edition based on this manuscript, which also
presents the parallel Tibetan and Chinese texts along with an English translation, has been published
by Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā. While the Gilgit manuscript corresponds quite closely in length and content to the Tibetan translation found in the Kangyur, the Potala
Palace Sanskrit manuscript contains five additional ślokas at the beginning and two ślokas
toward the end that are not found in the Tibetan.

A Chinese translation of The Devatā Sūtra was completed by Xuanzang
in 648 ce and is included in the Chinese canon (Taishō 592). It is slightly
shorter than both the Tibetan and Sanskrit witnesses. Over twenty manuscripts containing the sūtra in
Chinese are among the manuscripts retrieved from the cave library at Dunhuang, and many illustrations
of the sūtra have been identified among the murals of the cave complex there.

The Tibetan translation of The Devatā Sūtra has no colophon, making
its translation history uncertain. However, in both the Denkarma (ldan dkar
ma) and Phangthangma (’phang thang
ma) imperial
catalogs, it is listed among translated “Hīnayāna” (Tib. theg
pa chung ngu) sūtras, so its translation into Tibetan was no later than the early
ninth century ce. An attribution to the great translator Yeshé Dé has been
suggested, based on the listing in Butön’s History of Buddhism. However,
that citation may just refers to The Shorter Devatā Sūtra (Toh 330), which immediately follows it in
Kangyur collections. Jonathan Silk has listed The Devatā
Sūtra among “questionable cases” that may have been translated into Tibetan from
Chinese. There is
a close correspondence between the Tibetan and Chinese in the opening narrative, and in the first
seven exchanges (or fourteen verses) in the latter part of the sūtra. However, the Tibetan and Chinese
also diverge, and the Tibetan contains two exchanges (exchanges 8 and 10 below) that are not found in
the Chinese at all but are found in the extant Sanskrit witnesses. This indicates that a translation
from Sanskrit (or perhaps from both languages) is more likely. In Sanskrit, each verse consists of two
sixteen-syllable lines. The Tibetan is presented in four-line verses (each consisting of two couplets)
of seven-syllable lines.

Two short suttas entitled Devatāsutta contained in the Aṅguttara
Nikāya of the Pali canon (AN 9.19 and AN 6.69) do not correspond in content
to this text.

The versions of the sūtra found in Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line are largely in agreement and
contain only minor orthographic variation. The versions in Kangyurs of the Thempangma line, however,
display more significant variation. The Stok Palace Kangyur version, for example, gives the Sanskrit
title as Devasūtra and presents the verses and their contents in a different order.

The sūtra is found in three Tibetan manuscripts retrieved from the cave library at Dunhuang,
Pelliot tibétain 103, 731, and 732. These versions display considerable variation, indicative of their
compilation prior to the creation of a Tibetan canon. While the Kangyur versions of the sūtra, like
the Gilgit manuscript, have no parallel for the first five verses found in the Sanskrit Potala Palace
manuscript, Pelliot tibétain 731 has versions of two of these extra opening verses. Pelliot tibétain 732, in which the sūtra’s title is given as lhas gsold pa’i mdo, presents an alternative version with a number
of interesting features, some of which, according to Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā, find parallel in the Gondlha
manuscript version.

One exchange in particular from the sūtra continues to be well known and frequently quoted:

“The divine being asked:

“ ‘What is attractive but not beneficial,

And what is beneficial but not attractive?

What is a harmful disease,

And who, the supreme physician?’

“The Blessed One replied:

“ ‘Lust is attractive but not beneficial,

And liberation is beneficial but not attractive.

Attachment is a harmful disease,

And the Buddha is the supreme physician.’ ”

An early English translation of the sūtra from Chinese was published by Carus (1894). This English
translation was made from the Tibetan text as found in the Degé Kangyur, with reference to the Tibetan
variants recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), the Stok
Palace Kangyur, and the Tibetan Dunhuang manuscripts. The Sanskrit was also consulted. Where
significant alternative readings have been identified, this has been recorded in the notes.

The Translation

The Devatā Sūtra

Homage to all buddhas and
bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in Śrāvastī, in the Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park. One night,
shortly before the waking hour, a beautiful
divine being came before the Blessed One, paid homage by bowing its head to the feet of the Blessed
One, and sat down to one side. By the power of that divine being, the whole of Jetavana was suffused
with a great light.

At that time, the divine being made an inquiry with the following verses:

“What is the sharpest weapon?

What is the deadliest poison?

What is the fiercest fire?

What is the blackest darkness?”

The Blessed One replied:

“A harsh word is the sharpest weapon,

Attachment the deadliest poison.

Hatred is the fiercest fire,

And ignorance the blackest darkness.”

The divine being asked:

“What does a person possess,

And what is left behind here?

In this life, what is indestructible armor,

And what is the sharpest weapon?”

The Blessed One replied:

“What you give away is what you possess,

And what you keep at home is what you leave behind.

Patience is the indestructible armor,

And in this life, wisdom is the sharpest weapon.”

The divine being asked:

“Who is it that is called ‘thief,’

And what is the wealth of the holy?

In this world of gods and humans,

Who are called ‘the deceived’?”

The Blessed One replied:

“Conceptual thought is the skillful thief,

And ethical discipline is the wealth of the holy.

Those who fail in ethical discipline

Are the deceived of this world.”

The divine being asked:

“What is it that is called ‘happiness,’

And who are the mighty and holy?

Who are forever adorned,

And please tell, who are the scorned?”

The Blessed One replied:

“Those who desire little will know happiness,

And those who are content are the mighty and holy.

Those with discipline are forever adorned,

And those of weak discipline are the scorned.”

The divine being asked:

“Who is the affectionate relative,

And who is the enemy with hateful intent?

What is unbearable suffering,

And what, the supreme happiness?”

The Blessed One replied:

“Merit is the affectionate relative,

And negative deeds are the enemy with hateful intent.

The sufferings of hell are unbearable,

And the absence of aggregates, the supreme happiness.”

The divine being asked:

“What is attractive but not beneficial,

And what is beneficial but not attractive?

What is a harmful disease,

And who, the supreme physician?”

The Blessed One replied:

“Lust is attractive but not beneficial,

And liberation is beneficial but not attractive.

Attachment is a harmful disease,

And the Buddha is the supreme physician.”

The divine being asked:

“By what is this world obscured,

And by what is it dominated?

By what are friends separated,

And what prevents progress to higher realms?”

The Blessed One replied:

“This world is obscured by lack of understanding,

And is dominated by delusion.

Friends are separated by greed,

And attachment prevents progress to higher realms.”

The divine being asked:

“What increases friends?

And what pacifies enemies?

How will higher realms be attained,

And how will liberation occur?”

The Blessed One replied:

“Through generosity, friends are increased,

And through love, enemies are pacified.

Through ethical discipline, higher realms are attained,

And with understanding, liberation will occur.”

The divine being asked:

“When kings and thieves

Exert great effort,

What is it that cannot be plundered

From any man or woman?”

The Blessed One replied:

“Even if kings and thieves

Exert great effort,

Merit cannot be plundered

From any man or woman.”

The divine being asked:

“What fetters this world,

And what releases this world?

What, when abandoned,

Leads to the attainment of that called nirvāṇa?”

The Blessed One replied:

“Desire fetters this world,

And the absence of desire releases it.

If craving is completely abandoned,

That which is called nirvāṇa is attained.”

The divine being asked:

“What is not destroyed even by a strong wind,

Nor burned by fire?

Even if the entire ground is inundated,

What is not spoiled by water?”

The Blessed One replied:

“Merit is not destroyed, even by strong wind,

Nor burned by fire.

Even if the entire ground is inundated,

Merit is not spoiled by water.”

The divine being asked:

“Who, greatly deceived,

Goes from this world to the next?

You indeed are the one

To dispel this doubt of mine.”

The Blessed One replied:

“Whoever possesses wealth,

But does not accumulate merit,

They, being greatly deceived,

Go from this world to the next.”

The divine being said:

“Aha! I have finally seen

A powerful brahmin who has transcended the world,

Who is free from all fears,

Who has passed completely beyond sorrow.”

After the Blessed One had spoken thus, the divine being rejoiced. It paid homage by bowing its
head at the feet of the Blessed One, rejoiced, and disappeared.

This completes “The Devatā Sūtra.”

Notes

Abbreviations

D
Degé edition Kangyur

Q
Peking (Qianlong) edition Kangyur

S
Stok Palace edition Kangyur

Y
Peking (Yongle) edition Kangyur

Bibliography

Tibetan

##
Sanskrit

Chinese

Other Sources

hālāhala

Xuanzang

Jetavana, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park
jetavanam anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ
rgyal bu rgyal byed kyi tshal mgon med zas sbyin gyi kun dga’ ra ba
རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཚལ་མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན་གྱི་ཀུན་དགའ་ར་བ།