Mahāyāna — Northern Canon · Kangyur — General Sūtras

Toh 330The Shorter Devatā Sūtra

Pāli / Sanskrit:Alpadevatāsūtra

📖1,947 words · ~8 min read

Summary

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

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Full translation (English)

Summary

While staying in Śrāvastī, the Buddha is approached by an
unnamed “divine being,” who
inquires as to what behavior merits rebirth in the higher
realms. In response, the Buddha explains, in a series of
concise and powerful verses, that abandoning each of the ten
nonvirtues—killing, taking what is not given, sexual
misconduct, telling lies, slander, harsh words, idle talk,
covetousness, ill will, and wrong views—and embracing their
opposites, the ten virtues, will lead to rebirth in the
higher realms.

Acknowledgements

The sūtra was translated by Giuliano Proença, who also
prepared the introduction, the glossary, and the notes. The
English translation and ancillary materials were proofread
by Daniela Espíndola. Thanks to Karin Kerb for making
otherwise unavailable bibliographical material accessible to
us.

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

The Shorter Devatā
Sūtra (Skt. Alpadevatāsūtra, Tib. lha’i mdo nyung ngu) is
a brief sūtra in which the Buddha, while staying in
Śrāvasti, is approached by an unnamed divine being
(Skt. devatā, Tib. lha), who inquires about
what behavior merits rebirth in the higher realms.
The Buddha replies with a series of simple and
powerful verses in which he states that those who
relinquish the ten nonvirtues of body, speech, and
mind—killing, taking what is not given, sexual
misconduct, telling lies, slander, harsh words, idle
talk, covetousness, ill will, and wrong views—and
embrace their opposites, the ten virtues, here
called “the tenfold path of the good Dharma”, will be reborn in the
higher realms.

A Sanskrit manuscript fragment of the Alpadevatāsūtra,
covering only the initial part of the sūtra, is
found among the Gilgit Buddhist manuscripts
discovered in 1931. This fragment is
written in the proto-Śāradā script that was in use
from the seventh century ce and is mostly found in non-Mahāyāna
texts. It is believed that the Gilgit manuscripts
were written during the Palola Ṣāhi Dynasty (sixth
to eighth century ce). In
this manuscript, as in the Tshalpa Kangyurs, The Shorter Devatā Sūtra
appears immediately after The
Devatā Sūtra (Toh 329),
which is slightly longer and shares the
general framing narrative and the theme of rebirth
in higher realms but is otherwise distinct. Both
texts have been published in a number of modern
Sanskrit editions, all based on the Gilgit
manuscript. As
compared to the Tibetan, the Sanskrit fragment of
the Alpadevatāsūtra
has a slightly longer prose introduction, specifying
that the devatā who came before the Buddha was
beautiful and arrived at night. Otherwise, the three
extant Sanskrit stanzas that open the dialogue are
very close to the first three verses in the Tibetan
translation.

The Shorter Devatā
Sūtra is extant in two Chinese
translations, both of which are found in the
Saṃyuktāgama, and are probably based on a Sanskrit
text from the (Mūla)sarvāstivāda school. These are
sūtra no. 1299 of the Saṃyuktāgama (Za a han jing
雜阿含經, Taishō 99),
which was translated by Guṇabhadra during the Song
(宋) between 435–443 ce in Jiankang (today’s
Nanjing); and sūtra no. 297 of what is
known as the Alternative Saṃyuktāgama (Bie yi za a han jing 別譯雜阿含經,
Taishō 100), which was translated earlier during the
Three Qin (三秦) period, probably between
385–431 ce, by an unknown
translator in the Gansu corridor. While the Sanskrit and Tibetan
correspond in their parsing of the opening three
verses, the second Sanskrit verse is instead found
as a short prose passage in Taishō 99. However, the
opening narrative in both Chinese translations
aligns more closely with the Sanskrit than the
Tibetan translation.

A colophon in Kangyurs of the Tshalpa lineage as
well as the Narthang and Lhasa Kangyurs states that
the sūtra was translated into Tibetan by the master
translator Bandé Yeshé Dé, suggesting a translation
from a Sanskrit source. The sūtra is listed among
“Hīnayāna” (Tib. theg pa chung ngu) sūtras in
the Denkarma imperial catalog, as
well as in the Phangthangma
catalog, confirming that it was translated no
later than the early ninth century ce.

Although no copy of TheShorter Devatā Sūtra is found among themanuscripts recovered from the cave library atDunhuang, we know that the teaching on the tenvirtues (Tib. dge ba bcu) had considerable prominencein the Tibetan imperial period, when it wasestablished as a public code of ethics that wouldlay the foundation for Tibetan law (khrims)for centuries to come.

The Shorter Devatā
Sūtra has been the object of Western
scholarly attention since the end of the nineteenth
century, when a full French translation from the
Tibetan was published by Léon Feer in his Extraits du
Kandjour, together with a short introduction
on the subject of the ten virtues. Most modern
scholarly attention on the sūtra has been concerned
with the Gilgit manuscript. Adelheid Mette published
a Sanskrit edition of the fragmentary Shorter Devatā Sūtra along
with The Devatā Sūtra
(Toh 329), in which the
Sanskrit and Tibetan texts are compared, and a
partial German translation from the Tibetan is
presented. Soon after that publication, Hisashi
Matsumura published further Sanskrit editions of the
same texts in two separate articles, also based on
the facsimile edition of the Gilgit manuscripts, and
improving on Mette’s editions. The second of
these articles (Matsumura 1983) presents The Shorter Devatā Sūtra
with the Sanskrit and Chinese (Taishō 99) texts
placed side by side, and in those portions of the
text where the Sanskrit is not extant, with the
Tibetan and Chinese side by side. Differences are
highlighted and references are also made to some
textual parallels identified by Fumio Enomoto, such
as two corresponding verses in the Gāndhārī Dharmapada.

The Shorter Devatā
Sūtra is found in the General Sūtra
(mdo sde) section
in all Kangyurs of the Tshalpa line, the mixed line,
Hemis I, and in the independent Kangyurs, such as
the Phukdrak, Langdo, and Namgyal. It is also
included in some collections from Western Tibet,
such as Tholing and Gondhla. However, it is missing
from the Kangyurs of the Thempangma lineage.

The Tibetan title, in all editions, is lha’i mdo nyung gu, but
the various Kangyurs offer three variants on its
Sanskrit title. In most Kangyurs of the Tshalpa
line, the title is Alpadevatāsūtra, while the Qianlong and
Kangxi have Albalbadevatasūtra and
Alpalbadevatasūtra (sic for Alpālpadevatāsūtra) respectively, meaning
The Very Short Devatā
Sūtra. The Yongle, Hemis I, and
independent Kangyurs have Svalpadevatāsūtra, also meaning The Shorter Devatā Sūtra.

This translation is based on the Tibetan as
found in the General Sūtra (mdo sde) section of the Degé Kangyur, in
consultation with the variants recorded in the Comparative Edition
(dpe bsdur ma),
and other editions such as the Phukdrak, Hemis I,
and Gondhla. All significant variations have been
recorded in the notes. Matsumura’s annotated edition
of the Sanskrit fragment among the Gilgit
manuscripts as well as the parallel verses of the
Gāndhārī Dharmapada
have also been consulted, and where differences with
the Tibetan are apparent this has also been recorded
in the notes. Léon Feer’s French
translation, and Adelheid Mette’s partial German
translation were also consulted.

The Translation

The Shorter 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, when a divine being
approached the Blessed One, paid homage by bowing
its head to the feet of the Blessed One, and sat
down to one side. Thereupon the divine being asked
the Blessed One:

“With what discipline, what conduct,

What qualities, what actions,

What manner of living, and what wisdom

Do beings go to the higher realms?”

Touched by compassion for the divine being,

The Teacher told him:

“O divine being, listen to me!

These beings go to the higher realms:

“Those who turn back from killing,

Who uphold the law and delight
in restraint,

Who do not harm any beings—