Toh 194The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Inquiry of Jayamati”

Summary

The sūtra is introduced with the Buddha residing in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Wood, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park,
together with a great assembly of monks and a great multitude of bodhisatvas. The Buddha then addresses the
bodhisatva Jayamati, instructs him on nineteen moral prescriptions, and indicates the corresponding effects of
practicing these prescriptions when they are cultivated.

Acknowledgments

Translation by the University of Calgary Buddhist Studies team. This sūtra was introduced and
translated by James B. Apple.

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

Introduction

At first glance, the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra (“The Sūtra of the
Inquiry of Jayamati”) appears to be a short Mahāyāna sūtra preserved in the Tibetan Kangyurs, as well as in a
recently published Sanskrit manuscript. However, despite appearances, the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra in fact has an intertextual relationship, previously unrecognized,
as part of the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra (“The Concentration of Heroic
Progress”) (Apple 2015).

The Sanskrit version of the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra is
preserved as the eighth among twenty sūtras contained in a unique, but incomplete, manuscript collection
recovered from the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. The Sanskrit edition is divided into three paragraphs
with section numbers. We have retained the section numbers in the following translation of the Tibetan
version. The Tibetan version of the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra exists in
twelve available Tibetan exemplars that date initially from the late eighth to mid-ninth century,
beginning with the Dunhuang IOL Tib J 75 exemplar, up through the vulgate editions of handwritten and
printed Kangyur versions which date from the thirteenth to the eighteenth centuries.

The Inquiry of Jayamati is listed in two early ninth century Tibetan
catalogs, the Lhenkarma (lhan kar ma), and the Phangthangma
(’phang thang ma), as the Jayamatiparipṛcchā (rgyal ba’i blo gros kyis zhus pa) in
eleven ślokas. The late thirteenth century catalog of the Tibetan Kadampa master Darma Gyaltsen (dar ma rgyal mtshan, 1227-1305), commonly known as Chomden
Reltri (bcom ldan ral gri), lists the sūtra as the Jayamatiparipṛcchā (rgyal ba’i blo gros kyis zhus
pa) in eleven ślokas. A listing of texts appended to the History of
Buddhism in India and its Spread to Tibet by Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290-1364) also records the work as the Jayamatiparipṛcchā (rgyal ba’i blo gros kyis zhus
pa) in eleven ślokas. These catalog lists match the Tibetan title of the sūtra that is found in a
marginal note above the first line of the Sanskrit manuscript of the Jayamatiparipṛcchā as ’phags pa rgyal ba’i blo gros kyis zhus pa’i
mdo ste brgyad par rdzogs so.

However, among vulgate Kangyurs, the Tshalpa (tshal
pa) editions of Cone (C), Degé (D), Jangsatham (J), Peking (Q), the independent Kangyurs of
Phug brag (F, F2), and the Gondlha (Go) proto-Kangyur give the title as The Mahāyāna
Sūtra “Jayamati” (Jayamatināmamahāyānasūtra, rgyal ba’i blo gros zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo), while only the
Kangyurs of the Thempangma (thems spang ma) line of
London (L) and Stok Palace (S), as well as the mixed Kangyur of Narthang (N), give the title, in Tibetan
at least, as ’phags pa rgyal ba’i blo gros kyis zhus pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen
po’i mdo, (The Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Inquiry of Jayamati”).
Although this should translate the Sanskrit Jayamatiparipṛcchānāmamahāyānasūtra, these Kangyurs, too, use the Sanskrit title Jayamatināmamahāyānasūtra. None of the available Tibetan editions have
a colophon that lists the translators of the sūtra.

Analysis of the Sanskrit and Tibetan versions indicate that they preserve different nidāna or prologues. The Sanskrit version has the Bhagavān
residing at Vulture’s Peak in Rājagrḥa with a great company of 1,250 monks, while the Tibetan version has
the Bhagavān residing in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Wood, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, together with a great
assembly of monks and a great multitude of bodhisatvas. Vinītā’s study also notes that the
conclusions of the Sanskrit and Tibetan versions differ. These differences between the Sanskrit and
Tibetan versions of the introductory settings and formulaic conclusions may well indicate that this brief
sūtra was redacted in a manner similar to the Mūlasarvāstivāda rules on “how to make up a sūtra.” This is based on the fact
that all Tibetan versions of the sūtra give Śrāvastī as the setting, this being the favored location for a
redacted text among the Mūlasarvāstivāda according to Gregory Schopen’s recent analysis.

The other immediately apparent difference in content between the Sanskrit and Tibetan versions is
that the edited Tibetan contains nineteen prescriptions rather than the fourteen in the Sanskrit. In the
following translation, the third and fourth prescriptions in the Tibetan are in inverse order compared
with the Sanskrit. Notably, the eighth prescription in the Tibetan version discusses knowledge, while the
Sanskrit version has meditative absorption. Classical philological and phylogenetic textual analysis of
the available Tibetan exemplars of the Jayamatiparipṛcchā indicates
there are four lines of textual relations grouped within the (I) Tshalpa (C, D, J, N, Q, Y) line, (II)
Thempangma (L, S) line, (III) Dunhuang (M) and Phug brag (F, F2) manuscripts, and (IV) Western Kangyur
lines (Go). Textual analysis also indicates two recensions of the sūtra, with the Dunhuang exemplar and
the two Phug brag exemplars, each containing sixteen prescriptions, representing one textual recension,
while the Gondlha proto-Kangyur and vulgate Kangyurs represent another textual recension. The Dunhuang and
Phug brag exemplars may represent early, but incomplete, Tibetan translations of the sūtra.

Be that as it may, the doctrinal content of the Jayamatiparipṛcchā, including all nineteen prescriptions found among vulgate Tibetan
Kangyurs, is actually contained within the much older version of Kumārajīva’s early fifth century Chinese
translation of the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, the Shoulengyan sanmei jing, 首楞嚴三昧經 (Taishō. no. 642, 15), as well as the later ninth century
Tibetan translation of the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra
. This intertextual
relation between the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra and Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra has not been noticed before, either by traditional
Buddhist scholars or by modern Buddhist studies scholars. Versions in French and English of the
corresponding content are located in section 153 of Étienne Lamotte’s translation of the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, under
the title given by Lamotte, “Why and How to Practice the Heroic Progress.” Kumārajīva’s Chinese version
and the Tibetan version of the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, translated by
Śākyaprabha and Ratnarakṣita, closely match the syntax and terminology found in the Tibetan version of the
Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra, despite several minor differences in
wording (Apple, 2015).

Although there is a direct correspondence in content between the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra and this section of the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, a significant difference between the two sūtras is the person
speaking the prescribed content. In the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra the
prescriptions are delivered by the Buddha to the bodhisatva Jayamati. The
Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, on the other hand, attributes the
prescriptions to Jayamati. After Jayamati proclaims the nineteen prescriptions in the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, the Buddha responds to Jayamati, corresponding to
section 154 of Lamotte’s Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra translation, with a
proclamation advocating the practice of the Śūraṃgamasamādhi,
emphasizing how this samādhi encompasses and goes beyond
the qualities that the bodhisatva Jayamati had declared.

The correspondence between the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra and
this section of the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra brings up a number of
interesting questions related to philology, intertextuality, and other cultural practices in the study of
Mahāyāna sūtras. Based on the analysis of these sūtras, the stemma
codicum for the content of the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra,
due to its being incorporated into the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, pushes
the inferred archetype or oldest inferable ancestor of this sūtra back before the fifth century of
Kumārajīva.

How do we know this? The content of the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra was wholly subsumed and inverted from the Buddha’s speech to
represent the bodhisatva Jayamati’s proclamation, including all nineteen prescriptions in the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra. This means that the content of the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra must precede the composition of this section of
the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra. Most modern scholars theorize that the
Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra is one of the oldest Mahāyāna sūtras due to its listing in
Chinese catalogs as being translated several times before Kumārajīva’s fifth century Chinese version,
including the non-extant second century Shoulengyan jing, 首楞嚴經, of Lokakṣema
(支讖, 185 c.e.) and the lost third century translation of Zhi Qian (支謙). Although we
are unable to verify that these early, but lost, Chinese versions included the section that corresponds
with the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra, we can still infer that the content
of the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra with its nineteen prescriptions must go
back to the fourth century. It is highly probable that the content of the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra circulated as a type of subhāṣita or set of well-spoken sayings for monks who took up the vocation of Mahāyāna practices.

In sum, the evidence of relationships between the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra and Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra
brings a nuanced awareness to the intertextual relationships between Mahāyāna sūtras. This evidence
indicates that the authorial communities that composed and compiled “Mahāyāna” texts during the Kuṣāṇa and
Gupta eras in South Asia were aware of each other’s work and that there were shared elements between
authorial communities of different “Mahāyāna” sūtras. The subsuming of the Jayamatiparipṛcchāsūtra into the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra
also provides a rare glimpse of something more. It points toward the editorial practices utilized by the
authors of Mahāyāna sūtras to gain rhetorical advantage over competitors. The shared content demonstrates
that the authorial communities of these sūtras were not only borrowing each other’s ideas, stock phrases,
and literary tropes, but were actively competing to demonstrate that their vision of the bodhisatva way
superseded the practices and motivations outlined by other groups.

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

The Inquiry of Jayamati

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisatvas!

Thus I have heard at one time. The Bhagavān was residing in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Wood, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, together with a great assembly of monks and a great multitude of bodhisatvas. Then, the
Bhagavān addressed the bodhisatva Jayamati as follows.

“Jayamati, a faithful man or woman of a good family (1) who
desires merit should worship the Tathāgata; (2) who desires discernment should be devoted to learning;
(3) who desires heavenly rebirth should uphold moral conduct; (4) who desires wealth should increase
charity; (5) who desires beauty should cultivate patience; (6) who desires eloquence should pay respect to
the guru; (7) who desires memory should not have excessive pride; (8) who desires knowledge should
frequently practice appropriate mindfulness; (9) who desires liberation should
abstain from all evil; (10) who desires to make all beings happy should generate the mind for awakening;
(11) who desires a sweet voice should speak truthfully; (12) who desires virtuous qualities should take
joy in solitude; (13) who desires the Dharma should attend to the spiritual friend; (14) who desires
quiescence should frequently practice no contact with others; (15) who desires insight should frequently
examine things as empty; (16) who desires rebirth in the world of Brahmā should cultivate love,
compassion, joy, and equanimity; (17) who desires the abundant resources of gods and humans should behave
in conformity with the path of ten virtuous actions; (18) who desires complete nirvāṇa should take joy in
empty dharmas; (19) who desires to obtain all virtuous qualities should worship the Three Jewels.”

When the Bhagavān had spoken, the bodhisatva mahāsatva Jayamati, the complete assembly, and the
world with its gods, humans, demigods and gandharvas rejoiced and highly praised what had been proclaimed
by the Bhagavān.

This completes the noble Mahāyāna sūtra, “The Inquiry of Jayamati.”

Notes

Bibliography

Indian Sūtras

Tibetan Indigenous Sources

Modern Sources

Jeta’s Wood, 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།