Toh 26The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom”

Summary

The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom is a
condensed prajñāpāramitā sūtra in the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and
the bodhisattva Sūryaprabhāsa, who asks the Buddha how bodhisattvas skilled in
means should train themselves in the perfection of wisdom. In response, the
Buddha explains that a bodhisattva should train in a meditative stability called
the sun or the sun skilled in
means, elaborating upon the qualities of this meditative
stability using the analogy of the sun in terms of seven qualities. He then
further describes the training of the bodhisattva in the perfection of wisdom as
training concerning the true nature of all phenomena, which is characterized in
familiar terms found in the long prajñāpāramitā sūtras. It is also described in
terms of the various designations for ultimate truth. Finally, the Buddha
enumerates the characteristics of the one who trains in the perfection of
wisdom, ending with a verse of instruction.

Acknowledgements

Translated by the Indo-Tibetan Studies Translation Group, Visva-Bharati,
under the guidance of Ven. Geshe Dakpa Kalsang. The translation was produced by
Prof. Sanjib Kumar Das, who also served as project manager and editor. Ritiman
Das proofread the first English draft.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom is
a condensed prajñāpāramitā sūtra in the form of a dialogue between the
Buddha and the bodhisattva Sūryaprabhāsa, who asks the Buddha how
bodhisattvas skilled in means should train themselves in the perfection of
wisdom. In response, the Buddha explains that a bodhisattva should train in
a meditative stability called the sun or the
sun skilled in means. When Sūryaprabhāsa asks how this
meditative stability should be cultivated, the Buddha elaborates upon the
qualities of the meditative stability using the analogy of the sun in terms
of seven of its qualities. He then further describes the training of the
bodhisattva in the perfection of wisdom as training with respect to the true
nature of all phenomena. This is characterized in familiar terms found in
the long prajñāpāramitā sūtras, such as the lack of inherent existence,
signlessness, the absence of contamination, and emptiness. It is also
described in terms of the various designations for ultimate truth, such as
reality (dharmatā)), the
realm of phenomena (dharmadhātu), the real nature (tathatā), the very limit of reality (bhūtakoṭi), and so forth.
Finally, the Buddha enumerates the characteristics of the one who trains in
the perfection of wisdom, ending with a verse of instruction.

The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom is
one of five short prajñāpāramitā sūtras that are each named for the
bodhisattva who is the Buddha’s interlocutor. Curiously in the case of the
present sūtra, the bodhisattva who is the Buddha’s interlocutor is not
actually named Sūryagarbha, but rather Sūryaprabhāsa (Tib. nyi ma rab tu snang ba). It may be the case
that the sūtra is named for the bodhisattva Sūryagarbha known as one of the
bodhisattvas present in the assembly in each of the long prajñāpāramitā
sūtras—The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred
Thousand Lines (Toh 8),
The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand
Lines (Toh 9),
The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand
Lines (Toh 10), and
The Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand
Lines (Toh 11). The discrepancy presents something of a mystery,
and the fact that the meditative stability that the Buddha teaches is also
called the sun (Skt. sūrya, Tib. nyi ma) begs the question as to whether the title of the
sūtra might refer to the meditative stability as well as to the sūtra’s
interlocutor.

The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom
has no colophon, and it is not found in either of the Tibetan
imperial catalogs. There is no surviving Sanskrit witness, and it does not
appear that the sūtra was ever translated into Chinese and included in the
Chinese canon. There also do not appear to be any references to or citations
of the sūtra in the commentarial literature of India or Tibet.
Unfortunately, then, there is nothing that can be said about the sūtra’s
provenance or about its transmission and translation in Tibet. It was
translated into English with the other condensed prajñāpāramitā sūtras by
Edward Conze, who assumes that it dates from the “Tantric period,” after 750
ce. A contemporary
translation into Chinese was published by the Kumarajiva Project in
2020.
The present translation is based on the version found in the Degé Kangyur,
with reference to the variants recorded in the Comparative Edition (Tib.
dpe bsdur ma) and to the version found
in the Stok Palace Kangyur.

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in a
sacred grove in
the country of Magadha together with a large saṅgha of monks and an
immeasurable, incalculable number of bodhisattvas who had gathered from
infinite buddhafields.

Then the bodhisattva great being named Sūryaprabhāsa, who was in the
assembly, got up from his seat, went to the Blessed One, and said to him,
“Blessed One, I have come to the Tathāgata to ask a question. Blessed One, I
request your permission to ask it.”

The Blessed One replied, “Ask me whatever you wish, and I will
answer.”

The bodhisattva Sūryaprabhāsa then asked the Blessed One, “How,
Blessed One, should a bodhisattva who is skilled in means train in the
perfection of wisdom?”

“Son of a good family,” replied the Blessed One, “there is a
meditative stability that is skilled in means called the
sun. Bodhisattvas should train in it.”

“How should they train in it?” he asked the Blessed One.

“Son of a good family,” replied the Blessed One, “the meditative
stability the sun skilled in means
has seven aspects. What are they?
First, just as the sun ripens a sprout, the bodhisattva’s sun-like
meditative stability ripens the sprout of awakening in sentient beings.
Second, just as the sun never diminishes or dissipates, the compassion of the
bodhisattva’s meditative stability acts equally for all sentient
beings.
Third, just as the sun burns dust, the bodhisattva’s wisdom of insight burns
the dust of the defilements. Fourth, just as the sun melts ice, the
bodhisattva’s meditative stability, the antidote endowed with gnosis, melts
the ice-like defilements. Fifth, just as the sun dispels darkness, the
bodhisattva’s discriminating gnosis dispels the
darkness of grasped objects and grasping subjects. Sixth, just as the sun
revolves around the four continents, the bodhisattva’s perfect activity
liberates from the four torrents of suffering. Seventh, just as the sun
warms everything equally, the means that is the bodhisattva’s perfect
conduct, which gladdens all sentient beings, is like that act of warming.

“Furthermore, son of a good family, bodhisattvas should train in the
perfection of wisdom. They should train in the fact that all phenomena are
without inherent existence, are signless, are totally devoid of all signs,
are nonentities, are devoid of all entities, are that which is
uncontaminated, are that which is devoid of all contamination, and are empty
in their essential nature.

“Son of a good family, bodhisattvas should train in the meaning of
reality, the realm of phenomena, the real nature, the very limit of reality,
the unmistaken real nature, the one and only real nature, the truth, and
thusness.”

Then the Blessed One said to the bodhisattva Sūryaprabhāsa, “Son of
a good family, bodhisattvas should also train in the fact that all phenomena
are without conditioning and without arising. Son of a good family, they
should train in the fact that all phenomena are naturally pure. They should
know that all phenomena, such as form and so on, are naturally empty; they
should know that they are void in their essential nature.

“Son of a good family, someone who takes up the Perfection of Wisdom
sūtra will purify karmic obscurations, the accumulation of merit will arise,
they will come to possess an immeasurable accumulation of wisdom, and they
will come to possess mindfulness, ethical discipline, and meditative
stability. Son of a good family, bodhisattvas should also train in the
perfection of wisdom.”

At that point, the Blessed One recited this verse:

“Exertion in erudition and the holy Dharma,

Having loving kindness for all sentient beings,

Possessing the armor of perseverance,

Devotion to the purposes of self and others,

Exertion in cultivating meditative concentration and stability,

Being without perceptions of self and sentient beings,

Practicing like the previous children of the victors—

The wise unmistakably train thus.”

After the Blessed One had spoken, the bodhisattva Sūryaprabhāsa, and
the world with its gods and humans, rejoiced and praised what the Blessed
One had said.

This concludes the noble Great Vehicle sūtra “The Sūryagarbha Perfection of Wisdom.”

Notes

Bibliography

Tibetan Canonical Texts

Secondary Texts