Toh 212The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on Dependent Arising

Summary

While the Buddha is residing in the Realm of the Thirty-Three Gods with a retinue of deities, great hearers, and bodhisattvas,
Avalokiteśvara asks the Buddha how beings can gain merit from building a stūpa. The Buddha responds by stating the Buddhist creed on
dependent arising:

All phenomena that arise from causes,

The Tathāgata has taught their cause,

And that which is their cessation,

Thus has proclaimed the Great Renunciant.

The Buddha then explains that this dependent arising is the dharmakāya, and that whoever sees dependent arising sees the Buddha. He
concludes the sūtra by saying that one should place these verses inside stūpas to attain the merit of Brahmā.

Acknowledgments

Translation by the Buddhavacana Translation Group, Vienna, under the supervision of Khenpo Konchok Tamphel. This sūtra was translated
into English by Rolf Scheuermann and Casey Kemp with the aid of Tom Tillemans.

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

Introduction

The topic of this sūtra, as is evident from its title, is the Buddhist doctrine of the dependent arising of conditioned
phenomena. This concept is considered by many Buddhists to be the essence of the teaching, the Dharma. Dependent arising is often
presented as a series of twelve links (nidāna) of causes and effects that begins with
ignorance and ends with death. This schema is found in many canonical texts, and is the principal topic of the two works that precede
the present sūtra in the Degé Kangyur, the Rice Seedling Sūtra (Śālistambhasūtra, Toh 210), and the Sūtra Teaching the Fundamental Exposition and Detailed Analysis
of Dependent Arising (Pratītyasamutpādādivibhaṅganirdeśasūtra, Toh 211).

The teaching on dependent arising is epitomized by the famous “creed” (dhāraṇī) in
verse-form, stating that the Buddha teaches the causes for the arising of phenomena as well as that which is their cessation. This verse
formula is perhaps best known from a narrative in the Vinaya recounting Śāriputra’s life. The story tells of Upatiṣya (as Śāriputra was
called before he met the Buddha) first hearing about the Buddha from Aśvajit, one of the Buddha’s five erstwhile companions and earliest
disciples. When Upatiṣya asks Aśvajit to summarize the very essence of the Buddha’s teaching, Aśvajit answers him by reciting this
verse. As soon as he hears it, Upatiṣya immediately attains a preliminary state of realization.

In the sūtra translated here, however, these same lines are taught to Avalokiteśvara by the Buddha himself. The Buddha then instructs his followers to insert them into stūpas in order to generate the
merit of Brahmā, an extraordinary type of merit. The practice of
inserting these verses, as well as impressing or inscribing them on religious images, appears to have become popular during the second
half of the first millennium, and was observed by Xuanzang
in the seventh century. The creed can be found inscribed
on, or inserted within, miniature caityas or stūpas at holy sites throughout the Buddhist world such as Sarnath, Bodh Gaya, and
Rājagṛha, as far east as Kedah and Java, and as far west as Afghanistan. This practice was continued by the Tibetans into the second millennium and to this day it is
considered by Buddhists to be a meritorious act.

Xuanzang mentions that these objects were considered relics of the Dharma (dharmaśarīra). Buddhist scripture came to be identified as a type of relic of the Buddha from the time of early Mahāyāna
discourse, according to which worshipping the words of the Buddha was considered to be equivalent, if not superior, to worshipping the
Buddha himself. Canonical sources, such as the
Rice Seedling Sūtra (Toh 210), have furthermore equated dependent arising with the Dharma
itself. Thus, inserting or inscribing the verse of dependent arising empowers an object just
as a fragment of the Buddha’s remains would.
Included in the Tibetan text of this sūtra is the Sanskrit transliteration of the verse, implying that they were used like a mantra or
dhāraṇī; the Sanskrit syllables are considered potent in their own right as a
manifestation of the Dharma and thus of the Buddha himself.

The sūtra is found in three places within the Degé Kangyur: in the General Sūtra section (Toh 212), the Action Tantra section
(Toh 520), and the Dhāraṇīs (Toh 980). In two of those locations, it is followed
by duplicates of a short separate text (Toh 521, Toh 981) containing the verse of
dependent arising, which is also, of course, cited in numerous other texts. To date we do not know of any extant Sanskrit original
version of the sūtra, and although there
appear to be a few minor spelling mistakes and inconsistencies found in some versions, there are no significant variations among the
available Tibetan texts. One modern translation of the sūtra that should be mentioned is that of Peter Skilling, who published it along
with some helpful notes on it in his 2021 collection, Questioning the Buddha: A Selection of Twenty-Five
Sutras.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on

Dependent Arising

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Thus did I hear at one time.
The Blessed One was in the Realm of the Thirty-Three Gods,
seated on the throne of Indra. With him were great hearers such as the venerable Aśvajit; bodhisattva mahāsattvas such as noble
Maitreya, noble Avalokiteśvara, and Vajrapāṇi, who were adorned with immeasurable precious qualities; as well as various gods such as
the great Brahmā, who is the lord of the Sahā world, Nārāyaṇa, the great Īśvara, Śakra, who is the chief of the gods, and Pañcaśikha,
who is the king of the gandharvas.

On that occasion, the bodhisattva mahāsattva Avalokiteśvara rose from his seat and, having draped his upper robe over one
shoulder, knelt down with his right knee on the peak of Mount Meru. His palms together, he then bowed toward the Blessed One and
addressed to him these words:

“Blessed One, these gods all really wish to build a stūpa. Now that they are present in this entourage, please teach them the
Dharma in such a way so that their merit of Brahmā will
increase, and the merit of the monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen will increase much more than that of all types of beings in the world
of gods, māras, and Brahmā, including renunciants and brahmins.”

At this, the Blessed One spoke the verses of dependent arising:

ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat

teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ

“All phenomena that arise from causes,

The Tathāgata has taught their cause,

And that which is their cessation;

Thus has proclaimed the Great Renunciant.

“Avalokiteśvara, it is like this. This dependent arising is the dharmakāya of all the tathāgatas. A person who sees dependent
arising sees the Tathāgata. Avalokiteśvara, if a faithful son or daughter of a noble family, who has built in an uninhabited place a
stūpa—even one no bigger than a gooseberry fruit, with a central pillar the size of a needle and a parasol the size of a flower of the
bakula tree—inserts into it this verse of dependent arising which is the dharmadhātu, he or she will generate the merit of Brahmā. When
such persons pass on from here and die, they will be reborn in the world of Brahmā. When they pass on from there and die, they will be
reborn with fortunes equaling those of the gods of the Pure Abodes.”

After the Blessed One had thus spoken, the hearers, bodhisattvas, the whole assembly, and the universe of gods, humans, asuras,
and gandharvas rejoiced and praised his words.

This concludes the Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on Dependent Arising.

Colophon

Translated and edited by the Indian preceptor Surendrabodhi and the principal editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé.

Notes

Bibliography

Tibetan Texts

Works in English