The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

1

The Exalted M

ahäyäna Sütra

on the Wisdom

Gone B

eyond called

TH

E VA

JRA C

UT

TER

based on the Tibetan L

hasa Zhol printing

translated into English byG

elong Thubten Tsultrim

(Am

erican Buddhist m

onk George C

hurinoff)

44

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

Care of Dharma Books

Dharm

a books contain the teachings of the Buddha; they have the

power to protect against low

er rebirth and to point the way to libera-

tion. Therefore, they should be treated w

ith respect – kept off the floorand places w

here people sit or walk – and not stepped over. T

hey shouldbe covered or protected for transporting and kept in a high, clean placeseparate from

more m

undane materials. O

ther objects should not beplaced on top of D

harma books and m

aterials. Licking the fingers toturn pages is considered bad form

as well as negative karm

a. If it isnecessary to dispose of w

ritten Dharm

a materials, they should be burned

rather than thrown in the trash. W

hen burning Dharm

a texts, it istaught to first recite a prayer or m

antra, such as OM

, AH

, HU

M. T

hen,you can visualize the letters of the texts (to be burn

ed) absorbing

into the A

H and the A

H absorbing into you, transm

itting their wis-

dom to your m

indstream. A

fter that, as you continue to recite OM

, AH

,H

UM

, you can burn the texts.

Lama Zopa R

inpoche has recomm

ended that photos or images of holy

beings, deities, or other holy objects not be burned. Instead, they shouldbe placed w

ith respect in a stupa, tree, or other high, clean place. It hasbeen suggested to put them

into a small structure like a bird house and

then seal the house. In this way, the holy im

ages do not end up on theground.

2 T

he V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

© G

eorge Ch

urinoff, 2002

All righ

ts reserved.

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ent

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ew M

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ail: materials@

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The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

43

Foundation for thePreservation

of the Mahayana Tradition

The Foundation for the Preservation of the M

ahayana Tradition is an

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ahayana Buddhist tradition

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The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

3

TH

E VA

JRA C

UT

TER S

ÜT

RA

In th

e language of In

dia,Ä

rya Vajracchedikä Näm

a Prajñäpäramitä M

ahäyäna Sütra1

In T

ibetan,

’Phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa rdo rje gcod pa zhes bya batheg pa chen po’i m

do

In E

nglish

,T

he Exalted Mahäyäna Sütra on the W

isdom G

one Beyond called

“The Vajra

2 Cutter”

I prostrate to all the buddh

as and bodh

isattvas.

Th

us did I hear at on

e time. T

he B

hagavän

was dw

elling at

àhrävastï, in

the gro

ve of P

rince Jeta, in

the gard

en o

fA

näth

apiôçada, 3 togeth

er with

a great Sangh

a of bhikêh

us of1,250 bh

ikêhus an

d a great man

y bodhisattva m

ahäsattvas.

Th

en, in

the m

ornin

g, havin

g put on th

e lower an

d upperD

harm

a robes and carried th

e begging bow

l, the B

hagavän

en-

tered the great city of àh

rävastï to request alms. T

hen

, havin

ggon

e to the great city of àh

rävastï to request alms, th

e Bh

agavänafterw

ards enjoyed th

e alms food, an

d havin

g performed th

eactivity of food, 4 sin

ce he h

ad given up alm

s of later food, 5 putaw

ay the beggin

g bowl an

d upper robe. He w

ashed h

is feet, satupon the prepared cushion, and having assum

ed the cross-leggedposture, straigh

tened th

e body upright an

d placed min

dfulness

in fron

t. Th

en, m

any bh

ikêhus approach

ed to the place w

here

the B

hagavän

was an

d, havin

g reached th

ere, bowin

g their h

eads

42

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

FPMT Education

Departm

ent

The aim

of the Education D

epartment at FPM

T International O

ffice is toserve the needs of D

harma centers and individuals in the area of T

ibetanB

uddhist educational and spiritual materials. T

his includes prayers and prac-tice texts, retreat sadhanas and other practice m

aterials, a variety of studytexts and translations, deity im

ages for meditation, and curricular m

aterialsfor study program

s in FPMT

Dharm

a centers.

One of our principal objectives is to serve as a repository for a w

ide variety ofpractice texts prim

arily within the G

elug tradition, especially those authoredor translated by Lam

a Zopa Rinpoche and Lam

a Thubten Yeshe. W

e work

in close collaboration with the Lam

a Yeshe Wisdom

Archive, B

oston, M

as-sachusetts, w

hich serves as a repository for the comm

entaries an

d tran-

scripts of teachings by Lam

a Zopa Rinpoche an

d Lama Yeshe.

If we can be of service to you in any w

ay, please contact us at:

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epartment

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ew M

exico 87571 USA

Tel: (505)737-0550, ext. 1#E

mail: m

aterials@fpm

t.orgw

ww

.fpmt.org/shop

4 T

he V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

to the B

hagavän

’s feet, circumam

bulated three tim

es and sat to

one side.A

lso at that tim

e, the ven

erable Subhüti, join

ing th

at veryassem

bly, sat down

. Th

en, th

e venerable Subh

üti rose from th

eseat, placed th

e upper robe over one sh

oulder, set his righ

t knee

on th

e ground, bow

ed, joinin

g the palm

s, toward th

e Bh

agavän,

and said th

is to the B

hagavän

: “Bh

agavän, th

e extent to w

hich

the Tath

ägata Arh

at Perfectly En

lighten

ed Buddh

a has ben

efitedth

e bodhisattva m

ahäsattvas w

ith h

ighest ben

efit, the exten

t tow

hich

the Tath

ägata has en

trusted the bodh

isattva mah

äsattvasw

ith h

ighest en

trustmen

t – Bh

agavän, it is aston

ishin

g; Sugata, 6

it is astonish

ing. B

hagavän

, how

should on

e wh

o has correctly

entered th

e bodhisattva’s veh

icle abide, how

practice, how

con-

trol the m

ind?”

That w

as said, and the Bhagavän said to the venerable Subhüti,

“Subh

üti, w

ell said, w

ell said. Su

bhü

ti, it is so; it is so. Th

eTath

ägata has ben

efited the bodh

isattva mah

äsattvas with

the

high

est benefit. T

he Tath

ägata has en

trusted the bodh

isattvam

ahäsattvas w

ith th

e high

est entrustm

ent. Subh

üti, therefore,

listen an

d properly retain it in

min

d, and I w

ill explain to you

how

one w

ho h

as correctly entered th

e bodhisattva’s veh

iclesh

ould abide, how

practice, how

control th

e min

d.”H

aving replied, “B

hagavän

, so be it,” the ven

erable Subhüti

listened in

accordance w

ith th

e Bh

agavän, an

d the B

hagavän

said this: “Subh

üti, here, on

e wh

o has correctly en

tered the

bodhisattva’s veh

icle should gen

erate the m

ind [of en

lighten

-m

ent] th

inkin

g this: ‘A

s man

y as are included in

the category of

sentien

t being – born

from egg, born

from th

e wom

b, born from

heat an

d moisture, born

miraculously; w

ith form

, with

out form,

with

discrimin

ation, w

ithout discrim

ination

, with

out discrimi-

nation

but not w

ithout [subtle] discrim

ination

– the realm

ofsen

tient bein

gs, as man

y as are designated by im

putation as sen

-tien

t beings, all th

ose I shall cause to pass com

pletely beyond

sorrow in

to the realm

of nirvan

a with

out remain

der of the ag-

gregates. Alth

ough

limitless sen

tient bein

gs have th

us been

caused to pass completely beyon

d sorrow, no sen

tient bein

gw

hatsoever h

as been caused to pass com

pletely beyond sorrow.’

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

41

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

5

“Wh

y is that? Subh

üti, because if a bodhisattva en

gages ind

iscrimin

ating a sen

tient b

eing, h

e is no

t to b

e called a

‘bodhisattva.’ W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, if an

yone en

gages in dis-

crimin

ating a sen

tient bein

g, or engages in

discrimin

ating a liv-

ing bein

g, or engages in

discrimin

ating a person

, they are n

ot tobe called a ‘bodh

isattva.’“Furth

er, Subhüti, a bodh

isattva gives a gift with

out abiding

in a th

ing; gives a gift w

ithout abidin

g in an

y phen

omen

on w

hat-

soever. A gift sh

ould be given n

ot abiding in

visual form, n

orsh

ould a gift be given abidin

g in soun

d, smell, taste, tactility, or

a phen

omen

on. Subh

üti, with

out abiding in

discrimin

ating an

y-th

ing w

hatsoever as an

y sign, th

us does a bodhisattva give a gift.

Wh

y is that? Su

bh

üti, b

ecause th

e heap

of m

erit of th

atbodh

isattva wh

o gives a gift with

out abiding, Subh

üti, is not easy

to take the m

easure of.“Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this? D

o you thin

k it iseasy to take th

e measure of space in

the east?”

Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, it is not so.”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, similarly, do you th

ink it is easy

to take the m

easure of space in th

e south, w

est, north

, above,below, th

e interm

ediate directions, an

d the ten

directions?”

Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, it is not so.”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, similarly, th

e heap of m

erit ofth

at bodhisattva w

ho gives a gift w

ithout abidin

g is also not easy

to take the m

easure of.“Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this? Is on

e viewed as th

eTath

ägata due to the perfect m

arks?”7

Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, it is not so; on

e is not view

ed asth

e Tathägata due to th

e perfect marks. W

hy is th

at? Because,

that itself w

hich

the Tath

ägata called perfect marks are n

ot per-fect m

arks.”H

e replied thus, an

d the B

hagavän

said this to th

e venerable

Subhüti: “Subh

üti, to the degree th

ere are perfect marks, to th

atdegree th

ere is deception. To th

e degree there are n

o perfectm

arks, 8 to that degree th

ere is no deception

. Th

us, view th

eTath

ägata as marks an

d no m

arks.”9

He said

that an

d th

e venerable Su

bhü

ti replied

to the

40

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

ni kh

a ton du bklags pa’o).

67.“Elder” (Skt: sth

avira; Tib: gn

as brtan)

68.Th

e three oth

er Tibetan

texts have “th

ose bhikêh

us, those

bodhisattvas…

”

69.Upäsakas an

d upäsikas are lay men

and w

omen

wh

o have

taken th

e life-long vow

s of a lay practitioner. N

ovice mon

ksand novice nuns can be included in the categories of bhikêhusan

d bhikêh

unis, th

e fully ordained m

onks an

d fully ordained

nun

s.

70.Th

e colophon

is found in

the catalogue of th

e Lh

asa Zh

oledition

of the collection

of Tibetan

translation

s of Buddha’s

Words (bka’ ’gyur). T

he in

dex of the A

CIP says th

e Lh

asaZ

hol edition

was com

posed in 1934 at th

e request of the

Th

irteenth

Dalai L

ama. T

he actual in

dividual texts in th

eL

hasa Z

hol edition

, how

ever, were tran

slated at various times

before that.

Th

e colophon

says, in full, “From

p. 215 front (till p. 235

back), the “T

hree H

undred W

isdom G

one B

eyond” or “Vajra

Cu

tter.” On

e Section (bam

bo). Com

piled

, revising th

etran

slation of th

e Indian

abbot àilendra B

odhi an

d Yeshe

sDe w

ith th

e new

language stan

dard.”

6 T

he V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

Bh

agavän, “B

hagavän

, in th

e future period, at the en

d of the

five hun

dred, 10 wh

en th

e holy D

harm

a will totally perish

, will

any sen

tient bein

gs produce correct discrimin

ation upon

the

words of sütras

11 such as th

is12 bein

g explained?”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, do not say w

hat you h

ave said,‘…

in th

e future period, at the en

d of the five h

undred, w

hen

the h

oly Dh

arma w

ill totally perish, w

ill any sen

tient bein

gs pro-duce correct discrim

ination

upon th

e words of sütras such

asth

is being explain

ed…’ 13 M

oreover, Subhüti, in

the future pe-

riod, at the en

d of the five h

undred, w

hen

the h

oly Dh

arma w

illtotally perish

, there w

ill be bodhisattva m

ahäsattvas, en

dowed

with

morality, en

dowed w

ith qualities, en

dowed w

ith w

isdom.

Subhüti, th

ose bodhisattva m

ahäsattvas m

oreover will n

ot have

made h

omage to just a sin

gle buddha; th

ey will n

ot have pro-

duced roots of virtue to just a single buddh

a. Subhüti, th

ere will

be bodhisattva m

ahäsattvas w

ho h

ave made h

omage to m

any

hun

dred thousan

ds of buddhas an

d produced roots of virtue tom

any h

undred th

ousands of buddh

as.“Subh

üti, those w

ho w

ill acquire merely a sin

gle min

d of faithupon

the w

ords of such sütras as th

is being explain

ed, Subhüti,

the Tath

ägata know

s. Subhüti, th

ey are seen by th

e Tathägata;

Subh

üti, all th

ose sentien

t beings w

ill prod

uce an

d p

erfectlycollect an

unfath

omable h

eap of merit. W

hy is th

at? Subhüti,

because those bodh

isattva mah

äsattvas will n

ot engage in

dis-crim

inatin

g a self and w

ill not discrim

inate a sen

tient bein

g, will

not discrim

inate a livin

g being, w

ill not en

gage in discrim

inat-

ing a person

.“Subh

üti, those bodh

isattva mah

äsattvas will n

ot engage in

discriminating phenom

ena nor discriminating non-phenom

ena;n

or will th

ey engage in

discrimin

ation or n

on-discrim

ination

. 14

Wh

y is that? Subh

üti, because if those bodh

isattva mah

äsattvasen

gage in discrim

inatin

g phen

omen

a, that itself w

ould be ofth

em15 graspin

g a self and graspin

g a sentien

t being, graspin

g alivin

g being, graspin

g a person. B

ecause even if th

ey engage in

discrimin

ating ph

enom

ena as n

on-existen

t, 16 that w

ould be ofth

em graspin

g a self and graspin

g a sentien

t being, graspin

g alivin

g being, graspin

g a person.

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

39

reason of n

ot seeing (in

the first stan

za) is that it is n

ecessaryto view

the dh

armakäya of th

e buddhas, th

e nature body, as

the body of ultim

ate nature (dh

armatä) – an

d the body of

the guides, th

e buddhas, dh

armatä, ultim

ate truth, is n

ot anobject to be kn

own

by an aw

areness boun

d by true grasping,

because th

e dh

armakäya is u

nable to be kn

own

by that

awaren

ess.” See also th

e discu

ssion

in K

amalaâh

ïla’scom

men

tary (pp. 259a–b).

62.Skt: kasyacid dharm

asya vinäâaë

prajñapta ucch

edo va (veti);T

ib: chos la la zh

ig rnam

par bshig gam

, chad par btags pa.

63.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol text has “selfless an

d unproduced” as does

Con

ze’s Sanskrit edition

(nirätm

akeêv anutpattikeêu). T

he

Gilgit fragm

ent h

as just “selfless” (nirätm

akeêu), leaving out

“unproduced.”T

he sm

all and L

anch

ou texts agree with

the L

hasa Z

hol

edition as to “selfless an

d unproduced” but h

ave (paren-

thetical m

aterial from th

e comm

entary of C

one G

ragspa, p.143) “…

if any bodh

isattva (directly realized the m

eanin

g of)selfless (in

dep

end

ence on

this) D

harm

a discou

rse (the

wisd

om

gon

e beyo

nd

text) and

attained

(the great)

forbearance about (th

e phen

omen

a of) non

-production…

”

64.“Subhüti, acquire, n

ot wron

gly grasp” (Tib: rab ’byor, yon

gssu gzun

g mod kyi, log par m

i gzung ste; Skt: parigrah

ïtavyaësu

bhü

te nograh

ïtavyaë). T

he San

skrit reads, “sh

ould

beacquired, Subh

üti, not sh

ould be grasped.”

65.Th

e small an

d Lan

chou texts h

ave “know

” (Tib: sh

es).

66.Alth

ough th

e small an

d Lan

chou texts h

ave the w

ord written

(Tib: bris), th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and Tog Palace texts h

ave taken(T

ib: blang), w

hich

agrees with

the C

onze’s San

skrit editionan

d th

e Gilgit fragm

ent (Skt: u

dgöh

ya). Furth

ermo

re,K

amalaâh

ïla’s comm

entary (p. 265b) explain

s taken (Tib:

blang) as “readin

g in recitation

” (Tib: blan

gs nas zh

es bya ba

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

7

“Wh

y is that? Furth

er, Subhüti, because a bodh

isattva should

not w

rongly grasp ph

enom

ena, n

or grasp non

-phen

omen

a.”T

herefore, th

inkin

g of that, th

e Tathägata said, “If, by th

osew

ho kn

ow th

is Dh

arma treatise as like a boat, even

dharm

assh

ou

ld b

e given u

p, w

hat n

eed is th

ere to m

entio

n n

on

-dh

armas?”

17

Further, the Bhagavän said to the venerable Subhüti, “Subhüti,

wh

at do you thin

k about this? D

oes that dh

arma th

at was m

ani-

festly and com

pletely realized by the Tath

ägata, unsurpassed

perfect and com

plete enligh

tenm

ent, exist w

hatsoever? H

as any

Dh

arma been

taught by th

e Tathägata?”

18

He said

that, an

d th

e venerable Su

bhü

ti replied

to the

Bh

agavän, “B

hagavän

, as I understan

d this m

eanin

g that w

astaugh

t by the B

hagavän

, that dh

arma th

at was m

anifestly an

dcom

pletely realized by the Tath

ägata, unsurpassed perfect an

dcom

plete enlightenment, does not exist w

hatsoever. That dh

arma

that w

as taught by th

e Tathägata does n

ot exist wh

atsoever. Wh

yis that? B

ecause any dharma m

anifestly and completely realized

ortaught by the Tathägata is not to be grasped, not to be expressed; itis n

ot dh

arma n

or is it non

-dh

arma. W

hy is th

at? Becau

se äryabein

gs are differentiated

19 by the un

compoun

ded.”20

Th

e Bh

agavän said to th

e venerable Subh

üti, “Subhüti, w

hat

do you thin

k about this? If som

e son of th

e lineage or daugh

terof th

e lineage, com

pletely filling th

is billionfold w

orld system21

with

the seven

types of precious thin

gs, were to give gifts, 22 do

you thin

k that son

of the lin

eage or daughter of th

e lineage

would produce an

imm

ense h

eap of merit on

that basis?”

Subhüti replied, “Bhagavän, im

mense. Sugata, im

mense. T

hatson

of the lin

eage or daughter of th

e lineage w

ould produce anim

men

se heap of m

erit on th

at basis. Wh

y is that? B

hagavän

,because th

at very heap of m

erit is not a h

eap; therefore, th

eTath

ägata says, ‘Heap of m

erit, heap of m

erit.’”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, com

pared to any son

of the

lineage or daugh

ter of the lin

eage wh

o, completely fillin

g this

billionfold w

orld system w

ith th

e seven types of precious th

ings,

were to give gifts, if som

eone, h

aving taken

23 even as little as on

estan

za of four lines from

this discourse of D

harm

a, also were to

38

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

“various,” bu

t the T

ibetan tran

slation takes th

e Sanskrit

bhäväæ as “th

oughts” or “in

clination

s” (Tib: bsam

pa).

55.Th

e other th

ree Tibetan

texts have “explan

ation” (T

ib: bshad

pa). In Sch

open’s “Textual N

ote about Folio 9b” (p. 117,n

ote 6), he seem

s to reconstruct th

e Sanskrit of “explan

ation”

[Skt: (bhäêyam

ä)ôäæ

] and cites several edition

s that h

ave aSan

skrit equivalent of “explan

ation.” C

onze leaves th

e verbout.

56.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and Tog Palace texts h

ave simply “it” (T

ib:de) w

hereas th

e small an

d Lan

chou texts h

ave “for it” (or“th

ere”) (Tib: de la). C

onze’s edition

and th

e Gilgit fragm

ent

have th

e Sanskrit tatra (“for it” or “th

ere.”)

57.Th

e small an

d Lan

chou texts h

ave the opposite order, i.e.,

“is not observed an

d does not exist.”

58.Th

e small an

d L

anch

ou texts h

ave “inequ

ivalence an

dequivalen

ce do not exist th

ere,” but Con

ze’s Sanskrit edition

and th

e Gilgit fragm

ent h

ave only “for it, in

equivalence does

not exist w

hatsoever” (Skt: n

a tatra kiæcid viêam

as).

59.Th

e small an

d Lan

chou texts h

ave “have en

gaged in th

ew

rong path

” (Tib: log pa’i lam

du zhugs pa ste) but th

e Lh

asaZ

hol an

d Tog Palace texts read “have w

rongly en

gaged byaban

donin

g” (Tib: log par spon

g bas zhugs pa ste), w

hich

agrees with

the San

skrit in C

onze’s edition

and in

the G

ilgitfragm

ent, “m

ithyä-prah

äôa-prasötä).

60.Th

e Sanskrit w

ord dharmatä (T

ib: chos n

yid) refers to the

nature of dh

armas, th

e nature of ph

enom

ena. H

ere, it refersto

the u

ltimate n

ature o

f ph

eno

men

a, no

t just th

econ

vention

al nature n

or the doctrin

e (as is translated by

Con

ze and Sch

open).

61.Con

e Gragspa’s T

ibetan com

men

tary (p. 141) says, “Th

e

8 T

he V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

explain an

d correctly and th

oroughly teach

it to others, on

that

basis, the h

eap of merit produced w

ould be much

greater, incal-

culable, unfath

omable. W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, because th

e un-

surpassed perfectly completed en

lighten

men

t of the tath

ägataarh

at perfectly completed buddh

as arises from it; th

e buddha

bhagavän

s also are produced from it. W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, be-

cause the buddh

a dharm

as called ‘buddha dh

armas,’ are th

osebuddh

a dharm

as taught by th

e Tathägata as n

on-existen

t; there-

fore, they are called ‘buddh

a dharm

as.’“Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this? D

oes the stream

-en

terer thin

k, ‘I have attain

ed the result of stream

-enterer’?”

Subhüti replied, “Bhagavän, it is not so. W

hy is that? Bhagavän,

because one does n

ot enter in

to anyth

ing w

hatsoever; th

ere-fore, on

e is called ‘stream-en

terer.’ On

e has n

ot entered in

toform

, nor en

tered into soun

d, nor in

to smell, n

or into taste, n

orin

to tactility, nor en

tered into a ph

enom

enon

; 24 therefore, on

eis called ‘stream

-enterer.’ B

hagavän

, if that stream

-enterer w

ereto th

ink ‘I h

ave attained th

e result of stream-en

terer,’ that itself

would be a graspin

g of that as a self, 25 graspin

g as a sentien

tbein

g, grasping as a livin

g being, graspin

g as a person.”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

Does th

e once-return

er thin

k, ‘I have attain

ed the result of on

ce-return

er’?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is n

ot so. Wh

y is that? B

ecauseth

e phen

omen

on of en

try into th

e state of the on

ce-returner

does not exist whatsoever. T

herefore, one says, ‘once-returner.’”26

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

Does th

e non

-returner th

ink, ‘I h

ave attained th

e result of non

-return

er’?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is n

ot so. Wh

y is that? B

ecauseth

e phen

omen

on of en

try into th

e state of the n

on-return

erdoes n

ot exist wh

atsoever. Th

erefore, one says, ‘n

on-return

er.’”27

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

Does th

e arhat th

ink, ‘I h

ave attained th

e result of arhatsh

ip’?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is n

ot so. Wh

y is that? B

ecauseth

e ph

enom

enon

called ‘arh

at’ does n

ot exist wh

atsoever.B

hagavän

, if the arh

at were to th

ink, ‘I h

ave attained th

e result

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

37

119–20) lists “variou

s illnesses an

d q

uarrels, d

ispu

tes,un

earthin

g of faults and bon

dage, beating, an

d so forth.”

Schopen

notes (n

ote 11, p. 137) “that un

meritorious karm

acould be elim

inated as a result of bein

g abused by others for

havin

g adopted a particular practice or position,” but th

egen

eral position seem

s to be that n

on-m

eritorious karma is

purified by undergoin

g man

y types of suffering.

47.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and Tog Palace edition

s have “beyon

d,”w

hich

agrees with

the San

skrit. Th

e small an

d L

anch

ouedition

s have “before.”

48.Lh

asa Zh

ol and Tog Palace edition

s have “m

i pod”; the sm

allan

d Lan

chou edition

s have “n

ye bar mi ’gro.” B

oth ph

rasescan

be translation

s of the San

skrit nopaiti, “to approach.”

49.Tib: yan

g dag pa de zhin

nyid; Skt: bh

üta-tathatäyä.

50.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and Tog Palace edition

s as well as th

e Gilgit

fragmen

t have as h

ere translated. T

he sm

all and L

anch

ouedition

s as well as on

e of the several San

skrit editions C

onze

consulted (th

at of Pargiter) have th

e additional ph

rase “ortaugh

t.”

51.Th

e small an

d Lan

chou edition

s have “a bein

g endow

ed with

a hum

an body.”

52.“Similarly” h

ere mean

s “he sh

ou

ld n

ot b

e called a

‘bodhisattva.’” See Sch

open (n

. 15, p. 138).

53.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and

Tog Palace ed

itions an

d th

e Gilgit

fragmen

t have “bodh

isattva” repeated twice. T

he sm

all and

Lan

cho

u ed

ition

s and

Co

nze’s San

skrit editio

n h

ave“bodh

isattva” followed by “m

ahäsattva.”

54.“Differen

t though

ts” (Skt: nän

äbhäväæ

; Tib: bsam

pa tha dad

pa) is translated by C

onze as “m

anifold” an

d by Schopen

as

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

9

of arhatsh

ip,’ that itself w

ould be a grasping of th

at as a self,graspin

g as a sentien

t being, graspin

g as a living bein

g, grasping

as a person.

“Bh

agavän, I w

as declared by the Tath

ägata Arh

at PerfectlyC

ompleted B

uddha as th

e foremost of th

ose wh

o abide with

outaffliction

s. 28 Bh

agavän, I am

an arh

at, free of attachm

ent; but,

Bh

agavän, I do n

ot thin

k, ‘I am an

arhat.’ B

hagavän

, if I were to

thin

k, ‘I have attain

ed arhatsh

ip,’ the Tath

ägata would n

ot have

made th

e prediction about m

e saying, ‘T

he son

of the lin

eage,Subh

üti, is the forem

ost of those w

ho abide w

ithout affliction

s.Sin

ce not abidin

g in an

ythin

g wh

atsoever, he abides w

ithout af-

fliction, h

e abides with

out affliction.’”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

Does th

at dharm

a that w

as received by the Tath

ägata from th

eTath

ägata Arh

at Perfectly Com

pleted Buddh

a Dïpaô

kara existw

hatsoever?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is n

ot so. Th

at dharm

a that

was received by th

e Tathägata from

the Tath

ägata Arh

at Per-fectly C

ompleted B

uddha D

ïpaôkara does n

ot exist wh

atsoever.”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, if som

e bodhisattva w

ere to say,‘I sh

all actualize arranged fields,’ 29 th

ey would speak un

truly.W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, because arran

ged fields called ‘arranged

fields,’ those arran

gemen

ts are taught by th

e Tathägata as n

on-

existent; th

erefore, they are called ‘arran

ged fields.’ Subhüti,

therefore, th

e bodhisattva m

ahäsattva th

us should gen

erate the

min

d with

out abiding, sh

ould generate th

e min

d not abidin

g inan

ythin

g. Th

ey should gen

erate the m

ind n

ot abiding in

form,

should gen

erate the m

ind n

ot abiding in

sound, sm

ell, taste,tactility, or ph

enom

enon

.“Subh

üti, it is like this: If, for exam

ple, the body of a bein

gw

ere to become th

us, were to becom

e like this, as big as Sum

eru,th

e king of m

ountain

s, Subhüti, w

hat do you th

ink about th

is?W

ould that body

30 be big?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, th

at body would be big. Sugata,

that body w

ould be big. Wh

y is that? B

ecause it is taught by th

eTath

ägata as not bein

g a thin

g; therefore, it is called a ‘body.’

Since it is taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as not bein

g a thin

g; there-

36

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

worth

y to be explained.”

40.Alth

ough

the L

hasa Z

hol an

d Tog P

alace edition

s have

“appreciate” (Tib: m

os pa), the oth

er two T

ibetan edition

s,K

amalaâh

ïla’s comm

entary (p. 237b), as w

ell as the G

ilgitSan

skrit fragmen

t all have “aston

ishin

g” (Tib: n

go mtsh

ar;Skt: äâcaryaæ

), and

Co

nze’s San

skrit editio

n ch

oo

ses“difficult” (Skt: duêkaraæ

).

41.Alth

ough Sch

open n

otes the G

ilgit fragmen

t has “evil kin

g”(Skt: kaliräjaë

), all four Tibetan

editions as w

ell as Con

ze’sSan

skrit have “kaliû

ga.”

42.Skt: öêi.

43.Ten m

illion (Skt: koåi; T

ib: bye ba) and h

undred billion

(Skt:n

iyuta; Tib: kh

rag khrig) are com

mon

ly used in den

oting

large num

bers.

44.Alth

ough m

issing in

the L

hasa Z

hol edition

and C

onze’s

Sanskrit edition

, the Tog Palace, L

anch

ou, and sm

all editions

each h

ave an ad

ditio

nal p

hrase h

ere, “On

e sho

uld

understan

d as just unim

aginable also th

e maturation

of this.”

45.Tib: m

chod rten

; Skt: caitya (caityabhüta). T

he San

skrit word

stupa is also translated as th

e same T

ibetan w

ord mchod rten

but the San

skrit text has caitya. E

arlier in th

e text the ph

rase“m

chod rten

du gyur” was tran

slated “real shrin

e.” Here th

eT

ibetan ph

rase “mch

od rten lta bur ’gyur ro” is tran

slated as“‘w

ill become like a sh

rine.”

46.“Tormen

ted” (Tib: m

nar ba; Skt: paribh

üta). Th

e Sanskrit

paribhüta is translated by Conze as “hum

bled” and by Schopenas “ridiculed.” H

owever, A

pte (p. 982) defines paribhüta as

“1. Overpow

ered, conquered. 2. D

isregarded, slighted.” T

he

Tibetan

mnar ba also refers to torture or excruciatin

g pain in

general. T

he T

ibetan com

men

tary by Con

e Gragspa (pp.

10

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

fore, it is called a ‘big body.’”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, w

hat do you th

ink about th

is?If th

ere were also just as m

any G

anges R

ivers as there are grain

sof san

d in th

e river Gan

ges, would th

eir grains of san

d be man

y?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, if th

ose very Gan

ges Rivers w

erem

any, th

ere is no n

eed to men

tion th

eir grains of san

d.”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, you sh

ould appreciate; yoush

ould understan

d. 31 If some m

an or w

oman

, completely fillin

gw

ith th

e seven kin

ds of precious thin

gs that m

any w

orld systems

as there are grain

s of sand of th

ose rivers Gan

ges, 32 were to offer

that to the tathägata arhat perfectly completed buddhas, Subhüti,

wh

at do you thin

k about this? W

ould that m

an or w

oman

pro-duce m

uch m

erit on th

at basis?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, m

uch. Sugata, m

uch. T

hat m

anor w

oman

would produce m

uch m

erit on th

at basis.”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, com

pared to someon

e wh

o,com

pletely filling th

at man

y world system

s with

the seven

typesof precious th

ings, w

ere to give gifts to the tath

ägata arhat per-

fectly completed buddh

as, if someon

e, havin

g taken even

as littleas a stan

za of four lines from

this discourse of D

harm

a, were to

explain it an

d correctly and th

oroughly teach

it also to others,

on th

at basis the m

erit that itself w

ould produce would be m

uchgreater, in

calculable, unfath

omable.

“Furtherm

ore, Subhüti, if, at w

hatever place on

earth even

astan

za of four lines from

this discourse on

Dh

arma is recited or

taught, th

at place on earth

is a real shrin

e33 of th

e world w

ithdevas, h

uman

s, and asuras, w

hat n

eed to men

tion th

at wh

oevertakes up th

is discourse of Dh

arma, m

emorizes, reads, un

der-stan

ds, and properly takes to m

ind

34 will be m

ost astonish

ing. A

tth

at place on earth

[wh

ere] the Teach

er resides; other levels of

gurus also abide.”35

He said

that an

d th

e venerable Su

bhü

ti replied

to the

Bh

agavän, “B

hagavän

, wh

at is the n

ame of th

is discourse ofD

harm

a? How

should it be rem

embered?”

He said

that an

d th

e Bh

agavän rep

lied to th

e venerable

Subhüti, “Subh

üti, the n

ame of th

is Dh

arma discourse is th

e‘w

isdom gon

e beyond’; it sh

ould be remem

bered like that. W

hy

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

35

disco

urse o

f Dh

arma, w

rites, mem

orizes, h

old

s, reads,

understan

ds, and properly takes to m

ind…

”

35.Th

e wordin

g of the L

hasa Z

hol an

d Tog Palace editions

differs from th

at of the L

anch

ou and sm

all editions. T

he

former is as tran

slated above (sa phyogs de n

a ston pa yan

gbzh

ugs te, bla ma’i gn

as gzhan

dag kyang gn

as so); the later

could be translated as “A

t that place on

earth eith

er the

Teacher or som

e such guru abides (sa ph

yogs de na ston

pa’m, bla m

a lta bu gang yan

g rung bar gn

as so).

36.Th

e Gilgit fragm

ent begin

s from th

is point.

37.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and Tog Palace edition

s both h

ave “thirty-

two m

arks of the Tath

ägata” wh

ere as the L

anch

ou, small,

and San

skrit editions h

ave “thirty-tw

o marks of a great bein

g.”

38.Th

e Lan

chou an

d small edition

s have “If som

eone, takin

geven

as little as a stanza of four lin

es from th

is discourse ofD

harm

a, were to correctly teach

it to others…

” Th

e text ofth

e Gilgit fragm

ent for th

is paragraph accords w

ith th

e Lh

asaZ

hol an

d Tog Palace editions.

Con

ze’s translation

, “Th

e Lord

: An

d again

Subh

uti,

suppose a wom

an or m

an w

ould day by day renoun

ce allth

ey have an

d all they are, as m

any tim

es as there grain

s ofsan

d in th

e river Gan

ges, and if th

ey should ren

ounce all

they h

ave and all th

ey are for as man

y aeons as th

ere aregrains of sand in the river G

anges – but if someone else w

ould,after takin

g from th

is discourse on D

harm

a but one stan

zaof four lin

es, demon

strate and illum

inate it to oth

ers…,”

mixes elem

ents from

other texts.

39.Th

e wordin

g of the L

anch

ou and sm

all editions differs: “T

his

disco

urse o

n D

harm

a taugh

t ho

wever m

uch

by th

eTath

ägata…” K

amalaâh

ïla’s comm

entary (p. 236b) accords

with

that readin

g and explain

s “how

ever much

” as mean

ing

“explain to th

e bodhisattvas w

ith h

owever m

any w

ays as are

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

11

is that? Subh

üti, because the very sam

e wisdom

gone beyon

dth

at is taught by th

e Tathägata is n

ot gone beyon

d; therefore, it

is called ‘wisdom

gone beyon

d.’“Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this? D

oes the dh

arma

that is taugh

t by the Tath

ägata exist wh

atsoever?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, th

e dharm

a that is taugh

t by the

Tathägata does n

ot exist wh

atsoever.”36

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do thin

k about this? A

reth

e quantities of particles of earth

that exist in

a billionfold w

orldsystem

man

y?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, th

e particles of earth are m

any.

Sugata, they are m

any. W

hy is th

at? Bh

agavän, because th

at wh

ichis a particle of earth

was taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as not bein

g aparticle; th

erefore, it is called ‘particle of earth.’ T

hat w

hich

is aw

orld system w

as taught by th

e Tathägata as n

ot being a w

orldsystem

; therefore, it is called a ‘w

orld system.’”

Th

e Tathägata said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

Is one to be view

ed as the Tath

ägata Arh

at Perfectly Com

pletedB

uddha due to th

ose thirty-tw

o marks of a great bein

g?”Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän, it is not so. Why is that? B

hagavän,because th

ose thirty-tw

o marks of a great bein

g that are taugh

tby th

e Tathägata are taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as no m

arks; there-

fore, they are called ‘th

irty-two m

arks of the Tath

ägata.’”37

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Furth

er, Subhüti, com

pared with

some

man

or wom

an com

pletely giving up bodies n

umberin

g the

grains of san

d of the river G

anges, if som

eone, takin

g even as

little as a stanza of four lin

es from th

is discourse of Dh

arma, also

were to teach

it to others, 38 th

ey would produce on

that basis

man

y greater merits, in

calculable, unfath

omable.”

Th

ereupon, th

e venerable Subh

üti, due to the im

pact of the

Dh

arma, sh

ed tears. Havin

g wiped aw

ay the tears, h

e replied toth

e Bh

agavän, “B

hagavän

, this discourse on

Dh

arma taugh

t thus

by the Tath

ägata, 39 Bh

agavän, is aston

ishin

g. Sugata, it is aston-

ishin

g. Bh

agavän, sin

ce my production

of exalted wisdom

, I have

never before h

eard this discourse on

Dh

arma. B

hagavän

, those

sentien

t beings w

ho w

ill produce correct discrimin

ation upon

this sütra bein

g explained w

ill be most aston

ishin

g. Wh

y is that?

34

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

word käya is used at th

e beginn

ing of th

is paragraph (...if,

for example, th

e body of a being w

ere to become th

us, were

to become like th

is, as big as Sumeru…

)

31.Co

nze’s San

skrit editio

n h

as “ärocayäm

i te Sub

hü

tip

rativedayäm

i te,” wh

ich h

e translates as “T

his is w

hat I

ann

ounce to you, Subh

uti; this is w

hat I m

ake know

n to you”

– both sen

tences in

the first person

. How

ever, all four Tibetan

editions used for th

is translation

have “rab ’byor, kh

yod mos

par bya, khyod kyis kh

ong du ch

ud par bya’o,” the secon

dph

rase of wh

ich tran

slates as “you should un

derstand.” T

he

first phrase could be tran

slated as “I shall an

noun

ce to you”if w

e assum

e the T

ibetan w

ord “m

os” (“app

reciate” or“believe”) is actually “sm

os” (“men

tion” or “an

noun

ce”), one

Sanskrit equivalen

t of “smos” bein

g “ärocayati” (see Lokesh

Ch

andra, p. 1,882).

To complicate th

ings furth

er, Kam

alaâhïla’s com

men

tary(p. 233a) h

as “mos par bya zh

es bya ba ni ’dod pa ste, m

os pabskyed par bya’o kh

ong du ch

ud par bya’o zhes bya ba n

irtogs par bya ba ste sh

es rab bskyed do zhes bya ba’i th

a tsiggo / ’di la sn

ga ma n

i phyi m

a’i ’bras bu’o / yang n

a phyi m

an

i snga m

a’i bshed pa’o / bsh

ed ces bya ba ni sgra’o / w

ang

dag par bstan zh

es bya ba ni ’dod pa ste m

os par bskyed pa’idon

to.”

32.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol edition differs from

the oth

er three T

ibetanedition

s and C

onze’s San

skrit edition by sayin

g, “…w

orldsystem

s equal to the grain

s of sand of th

e river Gan

ges.” As

this would seem

to ignore the imm

ediately previous elaborateexam

ple, the version

of the oth

er texts is used here on

the

assumption

of scribal error.

33.“Real sh

rine” (T

ib: mch

od rten du gyur; Skt: caityabh

üta).

34.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol an

d T

og P

alace editio

ns as w

ell asK

amalaâh

ïla’s comm

entary (p. 233b) agree on

this list. T

he

Lan

chou an

d small edition

s have “w

hoever takes up th

is

12

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

Bh

agavän, because th

at wh

ich is correct discrim

ination

is not

discrimin

ation; th

erefore, correct discrimin

ation w

as taught by

the Tath

ägata saying ‘correct discrim

ination

.’ Bh

agavän, upon

this D

harm

a discourse being explain

ed, that I im

agine an

d ap-preciate is n

ot astonish

ing

40 to me. B

hagavän

, in th

e final tim

e,in

the fin

al age, at the en

d of the five h

undred, th

ose sentien

tbein

gs wh

o take up this D

harm

a discourse, mem

orize, read, and

understan

d it will be m

ost astonish

ing. Furth

ermore, B

hagavän

,th

ey will n

ot engage in

discrimin

ating a self; w

ill not en

gage indiscrim

inatin

g a sentien

t being, discrim

inatin

g a living bein

g,discrim

inatin

g a person. W

hy is th

at? Bh

agavän, because th

atitself w

hich

is discrimin

ation as a self, discrim

ination

as a sen-

tient bein

g, discrimin

ation as a livin

g being, an

d discrimin

ationas a p

erson is n

ot discrim

ination

. Wh

y is that? B

ecause th

ebuddh

a bhagavän

s are free of all discrimin

ation.”

He said

that an

d th

e Bh

agavän rep

lied to th

e venerable

Subhüti, “Subh

üti, it is so; it is so. Upon

this sütra bein

g ex-plain

ed, those sen

tient bein

gs wh

o are unafraid, un

terrified, and

will n

ot become terrified w

ill be most aston

ishin

g. Wh

y is that?

Subhüti, because th

is high

est wisdom

gone beyon

d, taught by

the Tath

ägata, the h

ighest w

isdom gon

e beyond th

at is taught

by the Tath

ägata, was also tau

ght by u

nfath

omable bu

dd

ha

bhagavän

s – therefore, it is called ‘h

ighest w

isdom gon

e beyond.’

“Further, Subh

üti, that itself w

hich

is the patien

ce gone be-

yond of the Tathägata has not gone beyond. Why is that? Subhüti,

because wh

en th

e king of K

aliûga

41 cut off my lim

bs and ap-

pendages, at th

at time th

ere did not arise in

me discrim

ination

as a self, discrimin

ation as a sen

tient bein

g, discrimin

ation as a

living bein

g, nor discrim

ination

as a person, an

d in m

e there

was n

o discrimin

ation w

hatsoever, yet th

ere was also n

o non

-discrim

ination

. Wh

y is that? Subh

üti, because, if at that tim

eth

ere had arisen

in m

e discrimin

ation as a self, at th

at time th

erew

ould also have arisen

discrimin

ation of m

alice; if there h

adarisen

discrimin

ation as a sen

tient bein

g, discrimin

ation as a

living bein

g, discrimin

ation as a person

, at that tim

e there w

ouldalso h

ave arisen discrim

ination

of malice.

“Subhüti, I kn

ow w

ith clairvoyan

ce that in

the past period,

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

33

Sanskrit ed

ition u

sed by C

onze, leave ou

t the follow

ing

sentence found in the other two T

ibetan editions: “Bhagavän,

if the on

ce-returner w

ere to thin

k ‘I have attain

ed the result

of once-return

er,’ that itself w

ould be a grasping of th

at as aself, graspin

g as a sentien

t being, graspin

g as a living bein

g,graspin

g as a person.”

27.Again

, the follow

ing sen

tence is left as before: “B

hagavän

, ifa n

on-return

er were to th

ink, ‘I h

ave attained th

e result ofn

on-return

er,’ that itself w

ould be a grasping of th

at as a self,grasping as sentient being, grasping as a living being, graspingas a person

.”

28.Con

ze translates th

is as “the forem

ost of those w

ho dw

ell inpeace” (Skt: araô

ä-vihäriô

äm agryo; T

ib: nyon

mon

gs pa med

par gnas pa rnams kyi m

chog). In the translation of The M

iddleL

ength Discourses of the B

uddha (Majjhim

a Nikäya) (p. 1,345,

n. 1,263), it is m

ention

ed that Subh

üti was recogn

ized asforem

ost in tw

o categories, “those w

ho live w

ithout con

flictan

d those w

ho are w

orthy of gifts.”

Alth

ough

the San

skrit word

“araôa” can

mean

“not

fightin

g” (Apte, p. 213) an

d hen

ce, “with

out conflict” or

“peace,” the T

ibetan tran

slation of “n

yon m

ongs pa m

ed pa”as “w

ithout affliction

s” migh

t reflect the in

tention

of this

epithet, in

that Subh

üti was said to be very an

gry as a youthan

d had to overcom

e this faulty beh

avior in particular to

achieve h

igher realization

s.

29.Arran

ged field

s (Skt: kêetra-vyüh

än; T

ib: zhin

g bkod p

arn

ams) [tran

slated by Con

ze as “harm

onies of B

uddha-fields”

and by Sch

open as “‘w

onderful arran

gemen

ts’ in m

y sphere

of activity”] refers to the bodh

isattva activity of creating th

ecauses of th

eir future buddha-field.

30.Con

ze’s Sanskrit ed

ition h

as “person

al existence” (Skt:

ätmabh

äva) at this poin

t and in

the follow

ing paragraph

forth

e word “body” (Skt: käya; T

ib: lus). How

ever the San

skrit

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

13

during five h

undred lifetim

es, I was th

e rishi 42 called ‘Preach

erof Patien

ce’; even th

en th

ere did not arise in

me th

e discrimin

a-tion

as a self; there did n

ot arise the discrim

ination

as a sentien

tbein

g, discrimin

ation as a livin

g being, discrim

ination

as a per-son

. Subhüti, th

erefore, the bodh

isattva mah

äsattva, completely

abandon

ing all discrim

ination

, should gen

erate the m

ind for

unsurpassed perfectly com

plete enligh

tenm

ent. O

ne sh

ouldgen

erate the m

ind n

ot abiding in

form. O

ne sh

ould generate

the m

ind n

ot abiding in

sound, sm

ell, taste, tactility, or phe-

nom

ena. O

ne sh

ould generate th

e min

d not abidin

g in n

on-

phen

omen

a either. O

ne sh

ould generate th

e min

d not abidin

gin

anyth

ing w

hatsoever. W

hy is th

at? Because th

at itself wh

ich is

abiding does n

ot abide. Th

erefore, the Tath

ägata taught, ‘T

he

bodhisattva sh

ould give gifts not abidin

g.’“Further, Subhüti, the bodhisattva should thus totally give aw

aygifts for th

e welfare of all sen

tient bein

gs. How

ever, that itself

wh

ich is discrim

ination

as a sentien

t being is n

on-discrim

ina-

tion. T

hose th

emselves w

ho w

ere taught by th

e Tathägata sayin

g‘all sen

tient bein

gs’ also do not exist. W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, be-

cause the Tath

ägata teaches reality, teach

es truth, teach

es wh

atis; th

e Tathägata teach

es wh

at is with

out error.“Furth

er, Subhüti, th

e dharm

a that is m

anifestly an

d com-

pletely realized or show

n by th

e Tathägata h

as neith

er truth n

orfalsity. Subh

üti, it is like this, for exam

ple: if a man

with

eyes has

entered darkn

ess, he does n

ot see anyth

ing w

hatsoever; likew

isesh

ould one view

the bodh

isattva wh

o totally gives up a gift byfallin

g into an

ythin

g.“Subh

üti, it is like this, for exam

ple: upon daw

n an

d the sun

rising, a man w

ith eyes sees various kinds of forms; likew

ise shouldon

e view th

e bodhisattva w

ho totally gives up a gift by n

ot falling

into an

ythin

g.“Furth

er, Subhüti, th

ose sons of th

e lineage or daugh

ters ofth

e lineage w

ho take up th

is Dh

arma discourse, m

emorize, read,

understan

d, and correctly an

d thorough

ly teach it to oth

ers indetail are know

n by the Tathägata, they are seen by the Tathägata.A

ll those sen

tient bein

gs will produce an

unfath

omable h

eap ofm

erit.

32

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

world system

s,” thus in

cludes a billion w

orld systems.

22.No recipien

t is specified in an

y of the four T

ibetan edition

sn

or in K

amalaâh

ïla’s comm

entary at th

is poin

t, wh

ereasC

onze’s San

skrit edition

specifies th

e recipien

ts as the

tathägata arh

at perfectly completed buddh

as.

23.Kam

alaâhïla’s com

men

tary (p. 227a) explains “h

aving taken

”as “don

e in recitation

” (bzung n

as ni zh

es bya ba kha ton

dubyas ba’o). T

he T

ibetan com

men

tary says (p. 93–4), “To takeis to take th

e words to m

ind – suitable to apply even

to havin

gth

e text in h

and – an

d to recite.”

24.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and Tog Palace edition

s both h

ave singular.

Th

e Lan

chou an

d small texts both

have plural.

25.Con

ze translates th

e Sanskrit (section

9a) “sa eva tasya-ätma-

gräho bh

avet sattva-gräho jïva-gräh

o pudgala-gräho bh

avediti” as “…

then

that w

ould be in h

im a seizin

g of self, seizing

of a being, seizin

g of a soul, seizing of a person

.” How

ever,th

e Tibetan

comm

entary exp

lains th

e genitive “of th

at”(“de’i” or “de yi”) as follow

s (p. 95): “Saying, ‘th

at itself would

be grasping of th

at as a self’ (de nyid de yi bdag tu ’dzin

par’gyur ro) teach

es (grasping to) th

e person an

d the result as

self-grasping an

d true grasping. T

he first is graspin

g to a selfo

f the p

erson

and

the seco

nd

is graspin

g to a self o

fph

enom

ena.”

On

e migh

t argue that it is better to tran

slate the ph

rase“de n

yid de’i bdag tu ’dzin par ’gyur lags so” as, “th

at itselfw

ould be a grasping to a self of th

at,” rather th

an, “th

at itselfw

ould be a grasping of th

at as a self.” But, accordin

g to the

Präsaûgika M

adhyam

aka school, th

e men

tal action called

“self-grasping” or “graspin

g as a self” (bdag tu ’dzin pa) takes

as its referent object th

e conven

tional self (of a person

oroth

er phen

omen

a) and con

ceives of it as a truly existent self.

Th

e “self” of “self-grasping” is n

ot wh

at is being grasped.

26.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and

Tog Palace ed

itions, as w

ell as the

14

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

“Further, Subh

üti, compared to som

e man

or wom

an, at th

etim

e of dawn

, totally giving up bodies n

umberin

g the grain

s ofsan

d of the river G

anges – also totally givin

g up bodies num

ber-in

g the grain

s of sand of th

e river Gan

ges at the tim

e of midday

and even

ing, in

such n

umber totally givin

g up bodies for man

yh

undred th

ousands of ten

million

, hun

dred billion eon

s43 – if

someon

e, havin

g heard th

is Dh

arma discourse, w

ould not re-

ject it, if they th

emselves w

ould produce much

greater merit on

that basis, in

calculable, unfath

omable, w

hat n

eed to men

tionsom

eone w

ho, h

aving w

ritten it in

letters, takes it up, mem

o-rizes, reads, un

derstands, an

d correctly and th

oroughly teach

esit to oth

ers in detail?

“Further, Subh

üti, this D

harm

a discourse is unim

aginable an

din

comp

arable. 44 Th

is Dh

arma d

iscourse w

as taugh

t by the

Tathägata for th

e benefit of sen

tient bein

gs wh

o have correctly

entered in

to the suprem

e vehicle, th

e welfare of sen

tient bein

gsw

ho h

ave correctly entered in

to the best veh

icle. Th

ose wh

otake up th

is Dh

arma discourse, m

emorize, read, un

derstand,

and correctly an

d thorough

ly teach it to oth

ers in detail are

know

n by th

e Tathägata; th

ey are seen by th

e Tathägata. A

ll those

sentien

t beings w

ill be endow

ed with

an un

fathom

able heap of

merit. B

eing en

dowed w

ith an

unim

aginable h

eap of merit, in

-com

parable, imm

easurable, and lim

itless, all those sen

tient be-

ings w

ill hold m

y enligh

tenm

ent on

the sh

oulder. Wh

y is that?

Subhüti, th

is Dh

arma discourse is un

able to be heard by th

osew

ho appreciate th

e inferior, by th

ose viewin

g a self, by those

viewin

g a sentien

t being, by th

ose viewin

g a living bein

g; those

viewin

g a person are un

able to hear, to take up, to m

emorize, to

read, and to un

derstand because th

at cann

ot be.“Furth

er, Subhüti, at w

hatever place on

earth th

is sütra istaugh

t, that place on

earth w

ill become w

orthy to be paid h

om-

age by the w

orld with

devas, hum

ans, an

d asuras. Th

at place onearth

will becom

e worth

y as an object of prostration

and w

orthy

as an object of circum

ambulation

. Th

at place on earth

will be-

come like a sh

rine. 45

“Subhüti, w

hatever son

of the lin

eage or daughter of th

e lin-

eage takes up the w

ords of a sütra like this, m

emorizes, reads,

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

31

Tathägata as un

surpassed…” an

d “Has th

at Dh

arma been

taught at all…

”

19.Kam

alaâhïla’s com

men

tary (p. 225b) quotes a text (wh

ichh

e calls Com

pendium of B

uddha, (Tib: Sangs rgyas yang dag par

sdud pa), Buddha-saæ

gïti: “Än

anda, th

at wh

ich is th

e non

-production

, the n

on-disin

tegration, th

e non

-abiding, an

d the

non

-alteration of ph

enom

ena is ‘th

e ärya truth.’ Ä

nan

da,th

e Tathägata h

aving con

sidered this, said, ‘T

he ärya h

earers(ârävaka) are distin

guished by th

e uncom

pounded.’ T

his

(mean

s) wh

ether th

e tathägatas arise or do n

ot arise, becauseof perm

anen

tly existing like th

at and un

chan

geable, (they

are) uncom

pounded. B

ecause of realizing th

at, the ärya

beings are d

istingu

ished

by that becau

se the äryas are

distinguish

ed by realizing th

e uniquen

ess of phen

omen

a(ch

os kyi de kh

o na). B

ecause an

other u

niqu

e entity is

unsuitable.”

20.Read

“’du

s ma b

yas” for “’d

us m

a bgyis.” P

erhap

s the

inten

tion of th

e editor of the L

hasa Z

hol text h

ere is to make

“uncom

pounded” m

ore hon

orific, as it refers to that w

hich

distinguish

es the ärya bein

gs.

21.Literally, “th

e great thou

sand

of three th

ousan

d w

orldsystem

s” (Skt: trisähasram

ahäsäh

asram lokadh

ätu; Tib: ston

ggsum

gyi stong ch

en po’i ’jig rten

gyi kham

s), wh

ich is w

ellkn

own

in B

uddhist literature. H

ere, the basic w

orld referredto includes four continents, the sun and m

oon, Sumeru (king

of moun

tains), th

e desire realm gods, an

d the first of th

eform

realms of B

rahm

a.T

he “w

orld systems of th

ree thousan

d” refers to the th

reecategories of such

worlds – a th

ousand basic w

orld systems

(with

the four con

tinen

ts, etc.) called “the sm

all thousan

d,”a th

ousand of th

ose (or a million

such w

orld systems) called

“the m

iddling th

ousand,” an

d a thousan

d of those (or a

billion w

orld systems) called “th

e great thousan

d.” Th

e lastof the three categories, “the great thousand of three thousand

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

15

and un

derstands, th

ey will be torm

ented; w

ill be inten

sely tor-m

ented. 46 W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, because w

hatever n

on-virtuous

actions of form

er lifetimes th

at were com

mitted by th

ose sen-

tient bein

gs that w

ould bring rebirth

in th

e lower realm

s, due totorm

ent in

this very life, th

ose non

-virtuous actions of form

erlifetim

es will be purified, an

d they w

ill also attain th

e enligh

ten-

men

t of a buddha.

“Subhüti, I kn

ow w

ith clairvoyan

ce that in

the past period, in

even more countless of countless eons, m

uch beyond even beyond

47

the Tath

ägata Arh

at Perfectly Com

pleted Buddh

a Dïpaô

kara,th

ere were eigh

ty-four hun

dred thousan

ds of ten m

illion, h

un-

dred billion buddh

as wh

om I pleased, an

d havin

g pleased, didn

ot upset. Subhüti, from

wh

atever I did, havin

g pleased and n

oth

aving upset th

ose buddha bh

agaväns an

d in th

e future period,at th

e end of th

e five hun

dred, from som

eone takin

g up this

sütra, mem

orizing, readin

g, and un

derstandin

g, Subhüti, com

-pared to th

is heap of m

erit, the form

er heap of m

erit does not

approach48 even

a hun

dredth part, a th

ousandth

part, a hun

-dred-th

ousandth

part; does not w

ithstan

d enum

eration, m

ea-sure, calculation

, similarity, equivalen

ce, or comparison

.“Subh

üti, at that tim

e, the son

s of the lin

eage or daughters of

the lin

eage will receive a quan

tity of heap of m

erit that, if I w

ereto express the heap of m

erit of those sons of the lineage or daugh-ters of th

e lineage, sen

tient bein

gs would go m

ad, would be dis-

turbed.“Furth

er, Subhüti, th

is Dh

arma discourse bein

g unim

agin-

able, its maturation

indeed sh

ould also be know

n as un

imagin

-able.”

Th

en, th

e venerab

le Sub

hü

ti replied

to th

e Bh

agavän,

“Bh

agavän, h

ow sh

ould

one w

ho h

as correctly entered

the

bodhisattva’s vehicle abide, how practice, how

control the mind?”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, here, on

e wh

o has correctly

entered th

e bodhisattva’s veh

icle should gen

erate the m

ind

thin

king th

is: ‘I shall cause all sen

tient bein

gs to pass completely

beyond sorrow

into th

e realm of n

irvana w

ithout rem

ainder of

the aggregates. A

lthough

sentien

t beings w

ere caused to passcom

pletely beyond sorrow like that, no sentient being w

hatsoever

30

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

can be read, as C

onze does, to h

ave the B

hagavän

say, “Do

not speak th

us Subhüti!” an

d then

to say, “Yes, there w

ill bein

the future period…

” Th

is seems to be m

ore in accord

with

the follow

ing w

ord “moreover” in

the L

hasa Z

hol an

dTog Palace edition

s.

14.Since th

e Tog Palace and L

anch

ou editions accord w

ith th

eSan

skrit as well as w

ith K

amalaâh

ïla’s comm

entary (p. 223a),

we h

ave translated th

at here. T

he L

hasa Z

hol edition

has:

“…n

or will th

ey engage in

discrimin

ating as discrim

ination

or non

-discrimin

ation”; th

e small text h

as: “…n

or will th

eyen

gage in n

on-discrim

ination

.”

15.Th

e small text h

as “by them

”; the oth

er three h

ave “of them

.”C

onze tran

slates the San

skrit “tesäm” as “w

ith th

em” – th

us,“…

that w

ould be with

them

a seizing on

a self…”

16.Th

is entire sen

tence is lackin

g in th

e Sanskrit. H

owever, it

occurs in on

e of three variation

s in th

e Tibetan

editions. T

he

Lh

asa Zh

ol edition h

as “…even

if they en

gage phen

omen

aas n

on-existen

t…”; th

e Tog Palace edition h

as “…even

if they

engage in

discrimin

ating ph

enom

ena as n

on-existen

t…”; th

eL

anch

ou and sm

all texts have “…

even if th

ey engage in

discrim

inatin

g ph

enom

ena as selfless…

” Kam

alaâhïla’s

comm

entary does n

ot men

tion it, leavin

g one to assum

e itm

ay not h

ave appeared in th

e version h

e was usin

g.

17.As th

e next sen

tence b

egins b

y again in

trod

ucin

g the

Bh

agavän as th

e speaker, it is unclear w

heth

er the B

hagavän

mad

e this statem

ent o

n th

is occasio

n. K

amalaâh

ïla’scom

men

tary (p. 224b) quotes the Ärya R

atna Karaôçaka Sütra

(’Phags pa dkon mchog za m

a tog gi mdo): “R

everend Subh

üti,if, by th

ose wh

o know

the D

harm

a treatise as like a boat,even

dharm

atä should be given

up, wh

at need is th

ere tom

ention non-dharmas? N

or is the abandoning of any dharma

even n

on-dh

arma.”

18.Th

e Lan

chou an

d small texts both

have “…

realized by the

16

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

was caused to passed beyond sorrow.’ W

hy is that? Subhüti, becauseif a bodhisattva engages in discrim

inating a sentient being, he isnot to be called a ‘bodhisattva.’ A

lso, if he engages in discrimin

at-in

g a person, h

e is not to be called a ‘bodh

isattva.’ Wh

y is that?

Subhüti, because th

e dharm

a called ‘one w

ho h

as correctly en-

tered the bodh

isattva’s vehicle’ does n

ot exist wh

atsoever.“Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this? D

oes that dh

arma

that w

as man

ifestly and com

pletely realized by the Tath

ägatafrom

the Tath

ägata Dïpaô

kara, unsurpassed perfect an

d com-

plete enligh

tenm

ent, exist w

hatsoever?”

He said

that an

d th

e venerable Su

bhü

ti replied

to the

Bh

agavän, “B

hagavän

, that dh

arma th

at was m

anifestly an

d com-

pletely realized by the Tath

ägata from th

e Tathägata D

ïpaôkara,

unsurpassed perfect and complete enlightenm

ent, does not existw

hatsoever.”H

e said th

at and

the B

hagavän

replied

to the ven

erableSubh

üti, “Subhüti, it is so. It is so, th

at dharm

a that w

as man

i-festly an

d co

mp

letely realized b

y the T

athägata fro

m th

eTathägata D

ïpaôkara, unsurpassed perfect and complete enlight-

enm

ent, does n

ot exist wh

atsoever. Subhüti, if th

at dharm

a that

was m

anifestly an

d completely realized by th

e Tathägata w

ere toexist at all, th

e Tathägata D

ïpaôkara w

ould not h

ave made th

eprediction

to me, sayin

g, ‘Young brah

min

, in a future period

you will becom

e the Tath

ägata Arh

at Perfectly Com

pleted Bud-

dha called àäkyam

uni.’ Subh

üti, thus, sin

ce that dh

arma th

atw

as man

ifestly and com

pletely realized by the Tath

ägata, unsur-

passed perfect and com

plete enligh

tenm

ent, does n

ot exist wh

at-soever, th

erefore, the Tath

ägata Dïpaô

kara made th

e predictionto m

e, saying, ‘Youn

g brahm

in, in

a future period you will be-

come th

e Tathägata A

rhat Perfectly C

ompleted B

uddha called

àäkyamun

i.’ Wh

y is that? B

ecause, Subhüti, ‘Tath

ägata’ is anepith

et of the such

ness of reality. 49

“Subhüti, if someone w

ere to say, ‘The Tathägata A

rhat PerfectlyC

ompleted B

uddha m

anifestly an

d completely realized un

sur-passed perfect an

d complete en

lighten

men

t,’ they w

ould speakw

rongly. Why is that? Subhüti, because that dharm

a that was m

ani-

festly and com

pletely realized by the Tath

ägata, unsurpassed

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

29

“lakêaôälakêaô

atvataë.”) H

owever, th

e Tibetan

translation

sh

ave: “de bzhin

gshegs pa la m

tsan dan

g mtsan

ma m

ed parblta’o” (readin

g our text’s “mtsan

dang m

tsan m

ed” as the

other texts read “m

tsan dan

g mtsan

ma m

ed”), wh

ich takes

the com

pound “lakêaô

a-alakêaôa” as “m

arks and n

o marks”

instead of “n

o-marks as m

arks.”T

he T

ibetan tran

slation accord

s with

Kam

alaâhïla’s

comm

entary (p. 221a): “‘…

To the degree th

ere are perfectm

arks’ mean

s ‘ultimately, to th

e degree there is adh

erence

to th

e perfect m

arks, to th

at degree th

ere is wro

ng

adheren

ce.’ ‘To the degree th

ere are no perfect m

arks’ is tobe un

derstood as explained oppositely. T

his in

dicates here

how

one sh

ould practice – by equipoise in yoga. H

ere isin

dicated how

to guard the m

ind – th

rough aban

donin

g the

two extrem

es. ‘Th

us’ one sh

ould view th

e Tathägata due to

marks, like th

e magically created B

uddha. T

his dispels th

eextrem

e of deprecation, because of n

ot deprecating th

en

irmäô

akäya of the B

hagavän

conven

tionally. N

o marks are

to be viewed ultim

ately, because marks are n

ot established at

all. Th

is dispels the extrem

e of superimposition

.”

10.Kam

alaâhïla’s com

men

tary explains th

is (on p. 220a): “Sin

ceth

e doctrine of th

e Bh

agavän is fam

ed “to remain

until five

sets of five hun

dred…,’ th

erefore, ‘the en

d’ is treated inparticular because of th

e preponderan

ce of the five dregs at

that tim

e.”

11.Th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol and Tog Palace edition

s have “bsh

ad pa ’dila,” w

hich

I find h

ard to understan

d, wh

ereas our other tw

oedition

s have “bsh

ad pa dag la,” or “upon explan

ations,”

wh

ich accords w

ith K

amalaâh

ïla (p. 221b) and th

e Sanskrit.

12.Kam

alaâhïla (p. 221b) “…

‘such as th

is’ mean

s profound an

dexten

sive mean

ing…

”

13.All four T

ibetan edition

s have th

e Bh

agavän tellin

g Subhüti

not to make the statem

ent that is quoted, whereas the Sanskrit

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

17

perfect and com

plete enligh

tenm

ent, does n

ot exist wh

atsoever.Subh

üti, that dh

arma th

at was m

anifestly an

d completely real-

ized50 by th

e Tathägata h

as neith

er truth n

or falsity. Th

erefore,‘all dh

armas are buddh

a dharm

as’ was taugh

t by the Tath

ägata.Subh

üti, ‘all dharm

as’, all those are n

on-dh

armas. T

herefore, it

is said that ‘all dh

armas are buddh

a dharm

as.’ Subhüti, it is like

this, for exam

ple: like a hum

an en

dowed w

ith a body

51 and th

ebody becam

e large.”T

he ven

erable Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, that taugh

t by the

Tathägata, ‘a h

uman

endow

ed with

a body and a large body,’ is

taught by th

e Tathägata as n

ot being a body. T

herefore, ‘en

-dow

ed with

a body and a large body’ is said.”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, it is so; if some bodh

isattva were

to say, ‘I shall cause sen

tient bein

gs to completely pass beyon

dsorrow,’ h

e should n

ot be called ‘bodhisattva.’ W

hy is th

at?Subh

üti, does the dh

arma th

at is called ‘bodhisattva’ exist w

hat-

soever?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it does n

ot.”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, th

erefore, it was taugh

t by the

Tathägata th

at ‘all dharm

as are with

out a sentien

t being, w

ith-

out a living bein

g, with

out a person.’

“Subhüti, if som

e bodhisattva w

ere to say, ‘I shall actualize

arranged fields,’ h

e too should be expressed sim

ilarly. 52 Wh

y isthat? Subhüti, because the arranged fields called ‘arranged fields’are th

ose taught by th

e Tathägata as n

on-arran

ged. Th

erefore,th

ey are called ‘arranged fields.’ Subh

üti, wh

atever bodhisattva

appreciates that dh

armas are selfless, sayin

g ‘dharm

as are self-less,’ h

e is expressed by the Tath

ägata Arh

at Perfectly Com

pletedB

uddha as a bodh

isattva called a ‘bodhisattva.’ 53

“Subhüti, W

hat do you th

ink about th

is? Does th

e Tathägata

possess the flesh

eye?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is so; th

e Tathägata possesses

the flesh

eye.”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, w

hat do you th

ink about th

is?D

oes the Tath

ägata possess the divin

e eye?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is so; th

e Tathägata possesses

the divin

e eye.”

28

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

and th

e buddha groun

d. Th

e thin

middle in

dicates the pure

grounds of superior in

tention

. Hen

ce, it is like the aspect of

a vajra, and th

is indicates th

ree grounds as its subject m

atter.”

3.T

he n

ame of on

e of Buddh

a’s principal lay spon

sors oftenappears in

Pali as An

äthapiô

çika.

4.K

amalaâh

ïla’s comm

entary (pp. 6b–7) explain

s that “th

eactivity of food” in

cludes man

y aspects of the activity, all don

eto ben

efit sentien

t beings in

some w

ay.

5.K

amalaâh

ïla’s comm

entary (p. 7b) explain

s this as referrin

gto th

e special ascetic virtues prescribed by Buddh

a (Sanskrit:düta-guô

gäë; T

ibetan: sbyangs pa’i yon

tan), w

hich

include

eating on

ly once durin

g the day.

6.L

iterally, “On

e wh

o has G

one to B

liss” (Skt: sugata; Tib: bde

bar gsheg pa), w

hich

is a comm

on epith

et of the B

uddha.

7.“D

ue to perfect marks” (Skt: lakêan

a-sampadä; T

ib: mtsan

phun

sum tsogs pas) can

be translated from

Sanskrit as “due

to

po

ssessing

marks”;

the

wo

rd

sampad

mean

ing

“achievem

ent,” “possession

,” etc. Hen

ce, Con

ze’s choice of

“possession

of his m

arks.” How

ever, sampad also m

eans

“perfection,” “excellen

ce,” etc. (Apte, p. 1,644), an

d it is this

meaning used in K

amalaâhïla’s com

mentary (p. 220b): “Since

situated

in p

osition, clear an

d com

plete, th

ey are alsoperfect…

” (Tib: de dag kyan

g yul na gn

as pa dang, gsal ba

dang, rdzogs pas ph

un sum

tsogs pa’o).

8.R

ead “‘di ji snyam

du sems, m

tsam ph

un sum

tsogs pa” as “jitsam

du mtsan

phun

sum tsogs pa,” in

accordance w

ith th

eTog Palace, sm

all and L

anch

ou editions.

9 .C

on

ze and

oth

ers take “lakêaôa-alakêaô

atas tathägato

draêåavyaë” as “th

e Tathägata is to be seen

from n

o-marks as

marks.” (T

he Sacred B

ooks of the East edition h

as on p. 115:

18

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

Does th

e Tathägata possess th

e wisdom

eye?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is so; th

e Tathägata possesses

the w

isdom eye.”

Th

e Tathägata said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

Does th

e Tathägata possess th

e dharm

a eye?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is so; th

e Tathägata possesses

the dh

arma eye.”

Th

e Tathägata said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

Does th

e Tathägata possess th

e buddha eye?”

Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, it is so; the Tath

ägata possessesth

e buddha eye.”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

If, there bein

g also just as man

y Gan

ges Rivers as th

ere are grains

of sand in

the river G

anges, th

ere were just as m

any w

orld sys-tem

s as there are grain

s of sand of th

ose, would th

ose world

systems be m

any?”

Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, it is so; those w

orld systems w

ouldbe m

any.”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, as man

y sentien

t beings as ex-

ist in th

ose world system

s, I totally know

their con

tinua of con

-sciousn

ess of different th

oughts. 54 W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, because

a so-called ‘contin

uum of con

sciousness’ is th

at taught by th

eTath

ägata as a non

-contin

uum. T

herefore, it is called a ‘con

-tin

uum of con

sciousness.’ W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, because past

consciousn

ess does not exist as an

observable, nor does future

consciousn

ess exist as an observable, n

or does present con

scious-n

ess exist as an observable.

“Subhüti, w

hat do you th

ink about th

is? If someon

e, com-

pletely filling th

is billionfold w

orld system w

ith th

e seven types

of precious thin

gs, were to give gifts, do you th

ink th

at son of

the lin

eage or daughter of th

e lineage w

ould produce an en

or-m

ous heap of m

erit on th

at basis?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, en

ormous. Sugata, en

ormous.”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, it is so. It is so; that son

of the

lineage or daugh

ter of the lin

eage would produce an

enorm

oush

eap of merit on

that basis. Subh

üti, if a heap of m

erit were a

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

27

NO

TE

S

1.T

he w

ords of the title of th

e sütra have a sligh

tly different

order in th

e various editions.

2.O

ften tran

slated as Diam

ond Sütra or Diam

ond Cutter Sütra.

How

ever, the w

ord “vajra” used in th

e title is not explain

edas m

eanin

g “diamon

d” in eith

er the sütra itself or th

e Indian

comm

entaries w

e have access to (th

ose of Asaû

ga, Vasu-

bandh

u, and K

amalaâh

ïla). In fact, th

e Buddh

a does not even

men

tion th

e word “vajra” in

the discourse itself (at least n

otin

the T

ibetan or San

skrit edition

s), nam

ing it m

erely“P

rajñäp

aramitä”: “Su

bh

üti, th

e nam

e of th

is Dh

arma

disco

urse is ‘th

e wisd

om

gon

e beyo

nd

’; it sho

uld

be

remem

bered like that.”

In h

is introduction

to his edition

and tran

slation, th

eB

ud

dh

ist scholar E

dw

ard C

onze said

(p. 7): “It is u

sual,

followin

g Max M

ueller, to render Vajracch

edikä Sütra as<<D

iamon

d Sutra>>. Th

ere is no reason

to discontin

ue this

popular usage, but strictly speaking, it is m

ore than

unlikely

that th

e Buddh

ists here un

derstand vajra as th

e material

substance w

hich

we call ‘diam

ond.’”

Kam

alaâhïla’s comm

entary (p. 204a) takes “vajra” to mean

the adam

antin

e implem

ent: “L

ike this, it is th

e ‘vajra cutter’in

two w

ays. Because it cuts off th

e afflicted obstructions an

dth

e subtle obstructions to om

niscien

ce, wh

ich are as difficult

to destroy as the vajra – this indicates the necessity to abandonth

e two obstruction

s. Altern

atively, the cuttin

g is ‘vajra-like’sin

ce it is similar to th

e shape of th

e vajra: the vajra is m

adebulbous on

the en

ds and th

in in

the cen

ter. Similarly, th

isw

isdom

gone beyon

d is also tau

ght as exten

sive in th

ebegin

nin

g and th

e end – th

e ground of aspiration

al activity

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

19

heap of m

erit, the Tath

ägata would n

ot have taugh

t a heap of

merit called a ‘h

eap of merit.’

“Subhüti, w

hat do you th

ink about th

is? Should on

e be viewed

as the Tath

ägata due to total achievem

ent of th

e form body?”

Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, it is not so; on

e should n

ot beview

ed as the Tathägata due to total achievement of the form

body.W

hy is that? Bhagavän, because ‘total achievem

ent of the formbody’ is th

at taught by th

e Tathägata as n

ot being total ach

ieve-m

ent; therefore, it is called ‘total achievement of the form

body.’”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, w

hat do you th

ink about th

is?Is on

e to be viewed as th

e Tathägata due to perfect m

arks?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is n

ot so; one is n

ot to be viewed

as the Tath

ägata due to perfect marks. W

hy is th

at? Because th

atw

hich

was taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as perfect marks w

as taught

by the Tath

ägata as not bein

g perfect marks; th

erefore, they are

called ‘perfect marks.’”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this?

If it is though

t that th

e Tathägata con

siders, ‘the dh

arma is dem

-on

strated by me,’ Subh

üti, do not view

it like that, because th

edh

arma th

at is demon

strated by the Tath

ägata does not exist

wh

atsoever. Subhüti, if som

eone w

ere to say ‘the dh

arma is dem

-on

strated by the Tath

ägata,’ Subhüti, h

e would deprecate m

esin

ce non

existent an

d wron

gly seized. Wh

y is that? Subh

üti, be-cause th

at demon

strated dharm

a called ‘demon

strated dharm

a,’w

hich

is referred to saying ‘dem

onstrated dh

arma,’ does n

otexist w

hatsoever.”

Then, the venerable Subhüti said to the B

hagavän, “Bhagavän,

in the future period, will th

ere be any sentien

t beings w

ho, h

av-in

g heard th

is demon

stration55 of such

a dharm

a as this, w

illclearly believe?”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, they are n

ot sentien

t beings

nor n

on–sen

tient bein

gs. Wh

y is that? Subh

üti, so-called ‘sen-

tient bein

gs,’ because they w

ere taught by th

e Tathägata as n

on–

sentien

t beings, th

erefore are called ‘sentien

t beings.’

“Subhüti, what do you think about this? D

oes that dharma th

atw

as man

ifestly and com

pletely realized by the Tath

ägata, unsur-

passed perfect and com

plete enligh

tenm

ent, exist w

hatsoever?”

26

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

Materials for a D

ictionary of the Prajñäpäramitä L

iterature, Edw

ardC

onze, Suzuki R

esearch Foun

dation, Tokyo, 1973.

The Practical Sanskrit-English D

ictionary, Vaman

Shivaram

Apte,

Rin

sen B

ook Co., K

yoto, 1992.

Tibetan-Sanskrit D

ictionary, Lokesh

Ch

andra, R

insen

Book C

o.,K

yoto, 1982.

20

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

Th

e venerable Su

bhü

ti replied

, “Bh

agavän, th

at dh

arma

that w

as man

ifestly and

comp

letely realized by th

e Tath

ägata,u

nsu

rpassed

perfect an

d com

plete en

lighten

men

t, does n

otexist w

hatsoever.”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, it is so; it is so. For it, 56 even th

eleast dh

arma does n

ot exist and is n

ot observed; 57 therefore, it is

called ‘unsurpassed perfect an

d complete en

lighten

men

t.’“Furth

er, Subhüti, th

at dharm

a is equivalent sin

ce, for it,in

equivalence

58 does not exist w

hatsoever; th

erefore, it is called‘un

surpassed perfect and com

plete enligh

tenm

ent.’ T

hat un

-surpassed perfect an

d complete en

lighten

men

t – equivalent as

selfless, with

out sentien

t being, w

ithout livin

g being, w

ithout

person – is m

anifestly an

d completely realized th

rough all virtu-

ou

s dh

armas. Su

bh

üti, virtu

ou

s dh

armas called

‘virtuo

us

dharm

as,’ they, taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as just non

-dharm

as,are th

erefore called ‘virtuous dharm

as.’“Further, Subhüti, com

pared to any son of the lineage or daugh-ter of the lineage collecting a heap of the seven types of preciousthings about equaling w

hatever Sumeru, king of m

ountains, existin a billion w

orld systems, and giving gifts, if som

eone, h

aving taken

up even as little as a stan

za of four lines from

this w

isdom gon

ebeyon

d, were to teach

it to others, Subh

üti, compared to th

ish

eap of merit, th

e former h

eap of merit h

aving n

ot approached

even a h

undredth

part, does not w

ithstan

d comparison

.“Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this? If it is th

ought th

atth

e Tathägata con

siders, ‘Sentien

t beings are liberated by m

e,’Subh

üti, do not view

it like that. W

hy is th

at? Subhüti, because

those sen

tient bein

gs wh

o are liberated by the Tath

ägata do not

exist wh

atsoever. Subhüti, if som

e sentien

t being w

ere to be lib-erated by th

e Tathägata, th

at itself would be, of th

e Tathägata,

grasping a self, graspin

g a sentien

t being, graspin

g a living be-

ing, graspin

g a person. Subh

üti, so-called ‘grasping a self,’ th

atis taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as non

-grasping, yet th

at is grasped bych

ildish ordin

ary beings. Subh

üti, so-called ‘childish

ordinary

beings,’ th

ey were taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as just non

-beings;

therefore, th

ey are called ‘childish

ordinary bein

gs.’“Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k about this? Is on

e to be viewed

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

25

BIB

LIO

GR

APH

Y

The Vajra C

utter Sütra, from th

e Lh

asa Zh

ol bKa’-’gyur, sh

es phyin

sna tsh

ogs, vol. ka, folios 215a–235b, originally prin

ted in 1934.

The Vajra C

utter Sütra, from th

e Tog Palace Man

uscript of the

Tibetan

Kan

jur, vol. 51, Leh

, 1979.

The Vajra C

utter Sütra, small edition

republished by FPM

T (details

unkn

own

)

Lan

chou edition

of the Vajra C

utter and Its Com

mentary (rD

o rjegcod pa dang de’i ’grel ba bzhugs so) con

tainin

g the Vajra C

utterSütra w

ith th

e comm

entary of C

one G

ragspa.

Vajracchedikä Prajñäpäramitä, edited an

d translated by E

dward

Con

ze, Serie Orien

tale Rom

a, Istituto Italiano per il M

edio edE

stremo O

riente, vol. 13, 1957.

“Th

e Man

uscrip

t of the V

ajracched

ikä Foun

d at G

ilgit, An

An

notated Tran

scription an

d Translation

by Gregory Sch

open,

1989.” In Studies in the L

iterature of the Great Vehicle: T

hree Mahäyäna

Buddhist Texts, edited by L

. O. G

ómez an

d J. A. Silk. A

nn

Arbor:

Th

e Un

iversity of Mich

igan, pp. 89–139.

Extensive Com

mentary of the Exalted Vajra C

utter Wisdom

Gone B

eyond(’Phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa rdo rje gcod pa’i rgya cher’grel pa), by K

amalaâh

ïla, translated

by the team

Mañ

juârï,

Jinam

itra, and Yesh

e sDe, from

volume m

Do ’grel m

a of the sD

edge bstan ’gyur, T

OH

3818, mD

o ’grel ma 204a–67a.

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

21

as the Tath

ägata due to perfect marks?”

Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, it is not so; on

e is not view

ed asth

e Tathägata due to perfect m

arks.”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, it is so; it is so. O

ne is n

ot viewed

as the Tath

ägata due to perfect marks. Subh

üti, if one w

ereview

ed as the Tathägata due to perfect marks, even a chakravartin

king w

ould be the Tath

ägata; therefore, on

e is not view

ed as the

Tathägata due to perfect m

arks.”T

hen, the venerable Subhüti said to the Bhagavän, “B

hagavän,as I un

derstand th

e mean

ing of w

hat th

e Bh

agavän h

as said,on

e is not view

ed as the Tath

ägata due to perfect marks.”

Th

en, th

ese verses were spoken

by the B

hagavän

at that tim

e:

“Wh

oever sees me as form

, wh

oever know

s me as soun

d,h

as wron

gly engaged by aban

donin

g, 59 those bein

gs don

ot see me.

Th

e buddhas are dh

armatä

60 viewed; th

e guides are the

dharm

akäya.Sin

ce dharm

atä is not to be kn

own

, it is unable to be

know

n.”

61

“Subhüti, w

hat do you th

ink about th

is? If one grasps th

at ‘the

Tathägata A

rhat Perfectly C

ompleted B

uddha is due to perfect

marks,’ Su

bhü

ti, you sh

ould

not view

so for, Subh

üti, th

eTath

ägata Arh

at Perfectly Com

pleted Buddh

a does not m

ani-

festly and com

pletely realize unsurpassed perfect an

d complete

enligh

tenm

ent due to perfect m

arks.“Subh

üti, if one grasps th

at ‘some dh

arma h

as been desig-

nated as destroyed or an

nih

ilated62 by th

ose wh

o have correctly

entered th

e bodhisattva’s veh

icle,’ Subhüti, it sh

ould not be

viewed so; th

ose wh

o have correctly en

tered the bodh

isattva’sveh

icle have n

ot designated an

y dharm

a wh

atsoever as destroyedor an

nih

ilated.“Furth

er, Subhüti, com

pared to any son

of the lin

eage ordaugh

ter of the lin

eage wh

o, completely fillin

g with

the seven

kinds of precious th

ings as m

any w

orld systems as th

ere are grains

of sand of th

e rivers Gan

ges, were to give gifts, if an

y bodhisattva

24

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

Colophon to the L

hasa Zhol text: 70

Com

piled, revising th

e translation

of the In

dian abbot àilen

dra Bodh

i and

Yeshe sD

e with

the n

ew lan

guage standard.

Colophon to the English translation:

Th

is translation

of the Vajra C

utter Sütra is based on th

e Tibetan

Lh

asa Zh

oltext, h

aving com

pared it with

various other T

ibetan prin

tings as w

ell as with

Sanskrit version

s, and h

aving view

ed several excellent earlier E

nglish

trans-

lations. It w

as completed on

22 March

2002 at the C

han

drakirti Tibetan

Buddh

ist Meditation

Cen

tre, near N

elson, N

ew Z

ealand, by G

elong T

hubten

Tsultrim (th

e Am

erican B

uddhist m

onk G

eorge Ch

urinoff).

22

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

attained forbearance that dharmas are selfless and unproduced, 63

on th

at basis the h

eap of merit th

ey them

selves would produce

would be m

uch greater. Furth

er, Subhüti, a h

eap of merit sh

ouldn

ot be acquired by the bodh

isattva.”T

he ven

erable Subhüti replied, “B

hagavän

, should n

ot a heap

of merit be acquired by th

e bodhisattva?”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, acquire, not w

rongly grasp; 64

therefore, it is called ‘acquire.’“Subh

üti, if someon

e says, ‘Th

e Tathägata goes or com

es orstan

ds or sits or lies down

,’ he does n

ot understan

d the m

ean-

ing exp

lained

by m

e. Wh

y is that? Su

bh

üti, b

ecause ‘th

eTath

ägata’ (‘the O

ne G

one T

hus’) does n

ot go anyw

here n

orh

as come from

anyw

here; th

erefore, one says, ‘th

e Tathägata

Arh

at Perfectly Com

pleted Buddh

a.’“Furth

er, Subhüti, if som

e son of th

e lineage or daugh

ter ofth

e lineage w

ere to render as m

any atom

s of earth as exist in

abillion

fold world system

, like this for exam

ple, into pow

der likea collection

of subtlest atoms, Subh

üti, wh

at do you thin

k aboutth

is? Would th

at collection of subtlest atom

s be man

y?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it is so. T

hat collection

of sub-tlest atom

s would be m

any. W

hy is th

at? Bh

agavän, because if

there w

ere a collection, th

e Bh

agavän w

ould not h

ave said ‘col-lection

of subtlest atoms.’ W

hy is th

at? Because th

at ‘collectionof subtlest atom

s’ that w

as taught by th

e Bh

agavän w

as taught by

the Tath

ägata as no collection

; therefore, on

e says ‘collection of

subtlest atoms.’ T

hat ‘billion

fold world system

’ that w

as taught

by the Tath

ägata was taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as no system

; there-

fore, one says ‘billion

fold world system

.’ Wh

y is that? B

hagavän

,because if th

ere were to be a w

orld system, th

at itself would be

grasping a solid th

ing. T

hat taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as grasping

a solid thin

g was taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as no graspin

g; there-

fore, one says ‘graspin

g a solid thin

g.’”T

he B

hagavän

said, “Subhüti, graspin

g a solid thin

g is itself aconvention; that dharm

a does not exist as expressed, yet it is graspedby ordin

ary childish

beings. Subh

üti, if someon

e were to say,

‘View

ing as a self w

as taught by th

e Tathägata an

d viewin

g as asen

tient bein

g, viewin

g as a living bein

g, viewin

g as a person w

as

The V

ajra

Cu

tter Sütra

23

taught by th

e Tathägata,’ Subh

üti, would th

at be spoken by righ

tspeech

?”Subh

üti replied, “Bh

agavän, it w

ould not. Sugata, it w

ouldn

ot. Wh

y is that? B

hagavän

, because that w

hich

was taugh

t byth

e Tathägata as view

ing as a self, w

as taught by th

e Tathägata as

no view

ing; th

erefore, one says, ‘view

ing as a self.’”

Th

e Bh

agavän said, “Subh

üti, those w

ho h

ave correctly en-

tered the bodh

isattva’s vehicle sh

ould know, sh

ould view, should

appreciate all dharm

as like this; th

ey should appreciate

65 liketh

is, not abidin

g wh

atsoever in an

y discrimin

ation as a dh

arma.

Wh

y is that? Subh

üti, because discrimin

ation as a dh

arma, called

‘discrimin

ation as a dh

arma,’ is taugh

t by the Tath

ägata as non

-discrim

ination

; therefore, on

e says ‘discrimin

ation as a dh

arma.’

“Further, Subhüti, compared to any bodhisattva m

ahäsattva who,

completely fillin

g unfath

omable an

d incalculable w

orld systems

with

the seven

kinds of precious th

ings, w

ere to give gifts, if any

son of the lineage or daughter of the lineage w

ho, having taken66

as little as a stanza of four lines from this perfection of w

isdom,

were to m

emorize or read or understand or correctly and thor-

oughly teach it to others in detail, on that basis the merit he him

-self w

ould produce would be m

ore, incalculable, unfathomable.

“How

should on

e correctly and th

oroughly teach

? Just how

one w

ould not correctly an

d thorough

ly teach; th

erefore, one

says, ‘correctly and th

oroughly teach

.’“A

s a star, a visual aberration, a lamp, an illusion, dew, a bubble,

a dream, lightning, and a cloud – view

all the compounded like

that.”T

hat h

aving been

said by the B

hagavän

, the elder

67 Subhüti,

tho

se bo

dh

isattvas, 68 the fo

urfo

ld d

isciples – b

hikêh

us,

bhikêh

unis, upäsakas an

d upäsikas69 – an

d the w

orld with

devas,h

uman

s, asuras, and gan

dharvas, overjoyed, h

ighly praised th

attaugh

t by the B

hagavän

.

The Exalted M

ahäyäna Sütra on the Wisdom

Gone B

eyond called ‘The

Vajra Cutter’ is con

cluded.