Vimalapraśnottara Ratnamālā
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Vimalapraśnottara Ratnamālā (T. Dri ma med pa’i dris lan rin po che’i phreng ba).[1] "A Precious Garland of Flawless Questions and Answers".[2]
A treatise on ethics (nītiśāstra) by the Indian scholar Amoghavarṣa.[1][2]
A translation of this text is included in the Tibetan Tengyur.[2]
José Ignacio Cabezón states:
- “Vimalapraśnottara Ratnamālā (Dri ma med pa’i dris lan rin po che phrang ba), Stainless Answers to Questions: A Precious Garland, is the work of Amoghavarṣa (Don yod ’char), a Jain scholar-king who flourished in the middle of the ninth century CE. The Tibetan version of the work (in forty to fifty-six verses, depending on how one parses them), was translated into Tibetan in the eleventh century by Kamalagupta and Rinchen Zangpo (d. 1055). It is unusual among the nīti texts insofar as it is in question-answer format. “Q: Lord, what is to be taken up? A: The meaning-laden words of the guru. Q: What is to be abandoned? A: All evil deeds.”—and so forth. The text was edited in Tibetan with German translation by Anton Schiefner, “Carminis Indici ‘Vimalapraçnottararatnamālam’ Versio Tibetica.” The Sanskrit was found later and edited with French translation by Phillipe E. Foucaux, La guirlande pré “cieuse des demandes et des réponses. See also Albrecht Weber, “Über die Praçnottararatnamālā, Juwelenkranz der Fragen und Antworten.”[3]
Quotations
Verse 41:
“What should you be thinking about both day and night?
That saṃsāra is hollow; and that one should not lose self-control.”[4]
Verse 47:
“How to win over all sentient beings?
By speaking the truth to them and by having patience.”[5]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jamgon Mipham 2017, Appendix 1.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sakya Pandita 2000, Introduction.
- ↑ Jamgon Mipham 2017, Final Verses and Colophon, Note 18.
- ↑ Jamgon Mipham 2017, Chapter 1, Note 7.
- ↑ Jamgon Mipham 2017, Chapter 4, Note 4.
Sources
Jamgon Mipham (2017), The Just King: The Tibetan Buddhist Classic on Leading an Ethical Life, translated by José Ignacio Cabezón, Snow Lion- Sakya Pandita (2000), Ordinary Wisdom: Sakya Pandita's Treasury of Good Advice, translated by John T. Davenport, Boston: Wisdom. Archive version
