Toh 177Mañjuśrīnirdeśa — Kinh Đại Thừa Cao Quý "Giáo Thuyết của Văn-thù-sư-lợi"

Summary

The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī approaches the Buddha, who is teaching the Dharma in Śrāvastī, and offers him the shade of a
jeweled parasol. The god Susīma, who is in the audience, asks Mañjuśrī whether he is satisfied with his offering, to which
Mañjuśrī replies that those who seek enlightenment should never be content with making offerings to the Buddha. Susīma then asks
what purpose one should keep in mind when making offerings to the Buddha. In response, Mañjuśrī lists a set of four purposes.

Acknowledgements

This sūtra was translated by the Kīrtimukha Translation Group. Celso Wilkinson, Laura Goetz, and L.S. Summer translated the
text from the Tibetan and Sanskrit. William Giddings provided comparisons to the Chinese versions of the text.

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

Introduction

Mañjuśrī’s Teaching takes place in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, where
the Buddha is giving a teaching to congregations of monks and bodhisattvas. Mañjuśrī emerges from the audience with a parasol
and holds it over the Buddha’s head as an offering. The god Susīma, who is in the audience, asks Mañjuśrī whether he is
satisfied with his offering. Mañjuśrī replies that those who seek enlightenment should never be content with making offerings
to the Buddha. Susīma then asks which purpose one should keep in mind when making offerings to the Buddha. In response,
Mañjuśrī lists a set of four purposes: (1) the mind of awakening, (2) liberating all sentient beings, (3) preserving unbroken
the lineage of the Three Jewels, and (4) purifying the buddha realms.

This list of the four purposes seems to be uncommon in the Buddhist tradition. Although there are a few other sets of
fourfold purposes found in the Kangyur and Tengyur in various contexts, there is only one other occurrence of this list, which
is found in the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra. This sūtra is interesting as it begins with a passage closely resembling
Mañjuśrī’s Teaching; its setting and opening are the same and are followed by the same
dialogue between Mañjuśrī and the god, although here the god’s name is Śrībhadra (dpal
bzang) rather than Susīma. In the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra the four purposes are
phrased in somewhat different terms but have essentially the same meaning. The sūtra is considerably longer, too, since after
receiving Mañjuśrī’s reply regarding the four purposes Śrībhadra proceeds to ask a series of questions, all regarding things
that are taught in sets of four.

There was no known Sanskrit witness of Mañjuśrī’s Teaching until recently, when a
manuscript containing twenty texts, all of them sūtras, was found in the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Bhikṣuṇī Vinītā published a
critical edition and English translation of this collection in the series Sanskrit Texts from the Autonomous Region (2010).
Unfortunately, due to the inaccessibility of the manuscript collection and because it is missing a final colophon, its origin
and date are currently unknown. Citations of the Sanskrit are given
using Vinītā’s emendations of the handwritten manuscript. There seems to be a thematic connection among the twenty sūtras.
Vinītā gives the example of moral discipline (śīla) as a recurrent theme in
the manuscript, and we also can note the
prevalence of themes of karmic cause and effect and the hierarchy of merit. Interestingly, this sūtra is quoted among others,
including several sūtras from the Potala manuscript, by Kawa Paltsek (ska ba dpal
brtsegs, eighth century ce) in a text contained in the Tengyur called the gsung rab rin po che’i gtam rgyud dang shAkya’i rabs rgyud. Here we can identify the same recurrent themes among the quotations.

There is no Chinese translation of this sūtra, but there is a Chinese translation of the Catuṣkanirhārasūtra, which, as mentioned above, has an opening passage that closely parallels that of Mañjuśrī’s Teaching. This Chinese version of the Catuṣkanirhāra was
translated by Śikṣānanda between 695–700 ce.

According to the Tibetan translators’ colophon, Mañjuśrī’s Teaching was translated into
Tibetan by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé, who were active during the late
eighth–early ninth centuries ce. The Denkarma and Phangthangma imperial catalogs, which are dated
to the early ninth century, both list Mañjuśrī’s Teaching among their inventories of sūtras.

We have based our translation on the Degé edition of the Tibetan Kangyur in consultation with the Sanskrit and other
Kangyur editions, and compared this scripture to the parallel section found in both the Tibetan and Chinese versions of the
Catuṣkanirhārasūtra. These various Tibetan witnesses, along with the Sanskrit, are
generally consistent. Any instance in which we have diverged from the Degé has been noted, and significant differences found
in the various versions of the sūtra are recorded in the notes.

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

Mañjuśrī’s Teaching

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, together
with a great congregation of 1,250 monks and five thousand bodhisattvas.

At that time, the Blessed One was teaching the Dharma surrounded and venerated by an audience of many hundreds of
thousands. Youthful Mañjuśrī then hoisted a jeweled parasol measuring ten yojanas in circumference and held it directly over
the Blessed One’s head.

Present in the retinue, along with his entourage, was a god from the house of Santuṣita called Susīma, whose progress toward unsurpassed and perfect awakening had become irreversible. He now
rose from his seat, approached the place where Youthful Mañjuśrī was, and addressed him: “Mañjuśrī, aren’t you satisfied with
your offering to the Blessed One?”

Mañjuśrī asked in return, “Divine being, tell me, is the great ocean ever satisfied by having water poured into
it?”

“Mañjuśrī, no, it is not,” replied the god.

Mañjuśrī said, “Divine being, likewise, the wisdom of omniscience is as profound, immeasurable, and boundless as the great ocean. Those bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wish to search for that wisdom
should never be content in their desire to make offerings to the Tathāgata.”

The god then asked, “Mañjuśrī, with what purpose in mind should offerings be made to the Tathāgata?”

Mañjuśrī replied, “Divine being, offerings should be made to the Tathāgata with four purposes in mind. What are those
four? They are (1) the purpose of the mind of awakening, (2) the
purpose of liberating all sentient beings, (3) the purpose that the lineage of the Three Jewels will continue uninterrupted,
and (4) the purpose of purifying all buddha realms. Divine being, it is with these four purposes in mind
that offerings should be made to the Tathāgata.”

When Mañjuśrī had spoken, the god Susīma, the monks, nuns, bodhisattvas,
and the entire retinue, along with the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas, rejoiced and praised the words of
Youthful Mañjuśrī.

This concludes the noble Great Vehicle sūtra, “Mañjuśrī’s Teaching.”

Colophon

This was translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the chief editor and translator
Bandé Yeshé Dé.

Notes

Abbreviations

C
Choné (co ne) Kangyur

D
Degé (sde dge) Kangyur

Go.
Gondhla Collection

H
Lhasa (zhol) Kangyur

N
Narthang (snar thang) Kangyur

K
Peking (pe cin) or “Kangxi” Kangyur

Y
Yongle (g.yung lo) Kangyur

S
Stok Palace (stog pho brang bris ma) Kangyur

U
Urga (ku re) Kangyur

Sanskrit
Sanskrit manuscript found in the Potala Palace (see

introduction and
bibliography)

Toh 252

Catuṣkanirhārasūtra, which contains a parallel list of the four purposes addressed
in Mañjuśrī’s Teaching (see

introduction and
bibliography)

Bibliography

Tibetan Texts

Sanskrit and Chinese Texts

Secondary Literature