Therefore the True D harm a will remain as long as there are beings who speak and accomplish the Dharma.. In particular, as far as the teachings o f the Teacher Shakyamuni, the autocom m
Trang 1W hat is it to uphold the D harm a o f scripture? you ask According to the scrip tures, these, the scriptures, are upheld only by those w ho, after com ing to know them, teach them to others with an unafflicted intention This is also called upholding the baskets, upholding the scriptural Dharma, and upholding the teachings A nd those who uphold realization accomplish them , the dhar- mas o f the factors o f enlightenm ent, within their being and practice them As there are no upholders o f the teachings or True D harm a other than these two,
the word only is said.
T he upholders o f the scriptures are the supports for those who speak and accomplish T he unerring supports for the scriptures are those with accom plishment Only those who have accomplishment are the upholders o f real ization because w ithout accomplishing it, one cannot teach the meaning one has realized
Therefore the True D harm a will remain as long as there are beings who speak and accomplish the Dharma In particular, as far as the teachings o f the Teacher Shakyamuni, the autocom m entary explains, “They will remain for a thousand years.” Some say that this is in terms o f realization, but that the scriptures will remain a thousand years longer than that This latter is also the
explanation o f the authors o f the tikas T he Prince explains:
“T he scriptures will remain for a long tim e” means
that they will remain another thousand years I view
this position only as logical
From The Good Aeon?*1
The True D harm a of the Thus-G one Shakyamuni will
remain for a thousand years For another five hundred
years, a pseudo True Dharma
The M inor Topics also say Dharm a will remain for a thousand years T he Sutra Requested by Candragarbha348 explains that it will remain for two thousand
years and be destroyed by the strife of Kaushambir Master Kamalaslla says in
his com m entary on the Vajra Cutter Sutra, “It is renowned am ong the learned
that the teachings will last five times five hundred years.”
In the Commentary on the H undred Thousand,349 it is said that by dividing five thousand into sections, there are ten periods o f five hundred years In the first, many arhats will appear; in the second, m any nonreturners, and in the third, m any stream-enterers, so these are the three chapters o f the period o f results In the fourth period, there will be many who abide by the trainings o f full knowing In the fifth, by the trainings o f mind, and in the sixth, by the
Trang 2trainings o f discipline, so these are the three chapters o f the period o f accom plishment In the seventh, there will be many who uphold the abhidharma;
in the eighth, who uphold the basket o f sutras, and in the ninth, who uphold the vinaya, so these are the three chapters o f the period o f scripture The tenth
is called the chapter o f those who hold merely the signs, and it is also labeled the last five hundred After that the True D harm a will disappear At that time, the lifespan o f hum ans in the Rose-Apple Land will be fifty years Now the lifespan is sixty years and it is the period o f the abhidharma, it says
According to the calculations in the Glorious Rangjung Dorje s A Clarifi cation o f the Four Times o f the Omniscient Lord?50 the duration the teachings
will remain is set at strictly five thousand years Calculating from this Fire Rat year (1576), in the completed year o f the Female W ood Pig (1575), 952 years had passed since the completion o f the three five-hundred-year periods o f re sults A nother 2548 years are thought to remain
B The actual summary of the treatise itself This has three topics: 1 How the treatise was composed, 2 Confessing mistakes, and 3 Advice to be care ful
1 How the treatise was composed
40ab I mostly have explained this abhidharm a
According to the Kashmiri Exposition
Is the abhidharm a explained in this treatise the abhidharm a that the Teacher
explained? you ask I, Vasubandhu, have explained this Dharm a o f the Treasury
o f Abhidharma partially according to the tradition o f the Sutra school and the
Aparantaka Great Exposition However, I m ostly have explained this abhid harm a according to the school of the Kashmiri Great Exposition, because I explained it in Kashmir strictly according to the Exposition
2 Confessing mistakes
40cd Any mistakes herein are solely ours;
The Sages are the authority in Dharma
Any mistakes in words or meaning herein, in this treatise, are solely my,351 the authors, own errors and mistakes However, it is not a great wonder that some one like me would confuse the words and meaning in explaining the meaning
o f the scriptures: the Bhagavan Sages and their children, arhats who have the
Trang 3eye o f the Dharma, are the authority in the words and meaning o f the True
D harm a
This completes the eighth area called “Teachings on the Absorptions”
from the Verses o f the Treasury ofAbhidharm a.
This completes the explanation of the eighth area called “Teachings on the
A bsorptions” from The Explanation o f the “Verses o f the Treasury o fA b h id - harm a” called The Essence o f the Ocean ofAbhidharm a, The Words o f Those who Know and Love, Explaining the Youthful Play, Opening the Eyes o f Dharma, the Chariot o f Easy Practice.
3 Advice to be careful This has two points
a Teaching the dangers of carelessness
41 The Teacher, the eye o f the world, has been closed;
The beings who were witness have mostly perished
Those who haven’t seen thatness, those who are bad logicians And headstrong have confounded the teachings
42 The one self-born, those who cherish his teachings,
Have passed into the supreme peace There’s no refuge
O r counsel for beings, and the stains that slay qualities
Run ram pant in this at their pleasure
4 3 a-c And so, as we know that for the Sage’s teachings,
It’s as if the last breaths now rasp in the throat,
That this is a time when the stains have great strength:
As he taught his disciples the distinction between what is the path that leads
to liberation and what is not, the Teacher, the Bhagavan, is like the eye o f the world T h at eye has been closed— he has passed into nirvana— and it is as if worldly folk have been left sightless T he beings other than the Buddha who were witness to the dharma, the noble beings such as Kasyapa, have m ostly passed into nirvana and perished Blinded by ignorance, those ordinary indi viduals who have n o t seen the thatness o f D harm a and who are bad logicians and headstrong, following pseudo reasoning w ithout relying on the Teacher’s scriptures, have confounded the teachings of the Teacher through exaggeration and denigration
T h e one Bhagavan, who is self-born, having found wisdom in his last ex istence w ithout anyone to explain the scriptures, and those w ho cherish his,
Trang 4the self-borns, teachings have passed w ithout any remainder of the aggregates into the suprem e peace that is superior to samsara W ithout the Buddha or his children, there is no refuge or counsel who can give correct instruction for beings, and the stains o f bad views and so forth th a t are the cause that slays the previously explained qualities and makes the teachings disappear ru n ram pant in this world at their pleasure, or indiscriminately
A nd so, as we who are intelligent know th at for the Sage s teachings, the teachings o f the Buddha, it is as if, for example, the last breaths at the ap proach o f the time o f death now rasp in the th ro at and will not remain long, and as we know th a t this is a tim e w hen the stains o f bad views have great strength, follow the forthcom ing advice
b Advice to rely on carefulness.
43d All those who want freedom, be careful!
In this manner, all those w ho fervently w ant the freedom o f nirvana, be care ful in everything! is the heartfelt advice T h at is the root of all virtuous dhar- mas In the words o f the Bhagavan:
Carefulness is a place o f deathlessness;
Carelessness is a place o f death
Those who are careful will not die;
T he careless always die.352
T he m eaning o f these is explained in Letter to a Friend:™
A place o f nectar, carefulness; but a place
O f death is carelessness, the Sage declared
T hus to develop virtuous qualities,
You always should act with respect and care
Also from Individual Liberation:354
Venerable ones, aging and death will truly come, and
the teachings o f the Teacher will be destroyed, so the
venerable should practice the yogas o f carefulness The
enlightenment o f the Bhagavan Arhat Complete Perfect
B uddha and the virtuous dharmas that are compatible
w ith it, the factors o f enlightenm ent, all attained
through carefulness
Trang 5Thus it is said.
C The manner of completing the explanation This has two points
1 Teaching the completing words
This completes the Verses on the Treasury ofAbhidharma
composed by Master Vasubandhu
2 The translator's colophon
Translated into Tibetan by the Indian Abbot Jinam itra
and the Tibetan translator Bande Kawa Paltsek and
then corrected and finalized
A nd now to say a few words about the reason for completing this work:
O n Vindhyas lofty slopes o f two accumulations,
T he kushu stalks o f powers and other qualities
Flourish with utter brilliance o f youthfulness—
Great sage and master of the spring, please grant me refuge Sagaras sons, the beings of degenerate times,
Are stained and sullied by their various views
At once you cleanse them with the natural Ganges:
Master Bhaglratha, grant me protection.355
U pon the Snow Land s eastern m ountain face o f merit,
T he fully waxing light of good and virtue
From Konchok Lama, Shakyamuni’s true disciple,
Conquers at once all darkness on three levels
W hat need have we o f tales of how in M agadha
T he Shakyan prince bestowed three D harm a Wheels
O n the three families? T he perfect Buddha is here
A nd truly present as the wish-fulfilling jewel!
Additionally, my master, the great scholar
Renowned as the victorious over all,356
Is the most venerable in the Snow Land,
As rich in peace and tameness as Upali