Caturdharmaka

Caturdharmaka (T. chos bzhi pa ཆོས་བཞི་པ།), "The Four Factors", a short sutra in which the Buddha explains that throughout one’s life there are four beliefs one should not hold: (1) that there is pleasure to be found among women, (2) or at the royal court; (3) that happiness can be ensured by depending on health and attractiveness, (4) or on wealth and material possessions.

Adam Pearcey states:

The Sūtra of the Four Factors (Caturdharmakasūtra, Toh 250) is the second of three short sūtras with similar titles, all referring to sets of four factors (Skt. dharma), that contribute to accomplishing the goal of the path. In many Kangyurs (predominantly those of Tshalpa origin, including the Degé Kangyur) these sūtras are found grouped together.

Of the other sūtras in this set, The Sūtra Teaching the Four Factors (Toh 249)1 is concerned with the four factors necessary for the practice of confession, while The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Four Factors (Toh 251) identifies four factors of the path that bodhisattvas must not abandon under any circumstance. Two further works, The Accomplishment of the Sets of Four Qualities: The Bodhisattvas’ Prātimokṣa (Toh 248)3 and The Fourfold Accomplishment (Toh 252) also concern themselves with “sets of four” (catuṣka, bzhi pa), thereby forming a larger group of five sūtras in the Degé Kangyur that lay out key elements of the practice of the path in discrete sets of four factors.

Text

The Tibetan translation of this sutra can be found in the General Sutra section of the Tibetan Dergé Kangyur, Toh 250

• English translation: The Four Factors, 84000 Collection

See also

• Āryacaturdharmakanāmamahāyānasūtra