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Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1§17- THE SMALLER SUKHAVATi-VvOHA. lOI the Tathagata Salendrara^a, the Tathagata Ratiiotpalam, the Tathagata Sarvarthadar^a, the Tathagata Siimerukalpa, equal in number to the sand, &c. ^ ^17. Now what do you think, O .S'ariputra, for what reason is that repetition (treatise) of the Law called the Favour of all Buddhas ? Every son or daughter of a family who shall hear the name of that repetition of the Law and retain in their memory the names of those blessed Buddhas, will be favoured by the Buddhas, and will never return again, being once in possession of the transcendent true knowledge. Therefore, then, O KS'ariputra, believe ^, accept, and do not doubt of me and those blessed Buddhas ! 'Whatever sons or daughters of a family shall make mental prayer for the Buddha country of that blessed Amitayus, the Tathagata, or are making it now or have made it formerly, all these will never return again, being once in possession of the transcendent true knowledge. They will be born in that Buddha country, have been born, or are being born ^ It should be remarked that the Tathagatas here assigned to the ten quarters differ entirely from those assigned to them in the Lalita-vistara, Book XX. Not even Amitabha is mentioned there. ^ Pratiyatha. The texts give again and again pattiyatha, evidently the Pali form, instead of pratiyata. I have left tha, the Pali termination of the 2 p. pi. in the imperative, instead of ta, because that form was clearly intended, while pa for pra may be an accident. Yet I have little doubt that patiyatha was in the original text. That it is meant for the imperative, we see from j-raddadhadhvam, &c., further on. Other traces of the influence of Pali or Prakrit on the Sanskrit of our Sutra appear in arhantaij^, the various reading for arhadbhi/z, which I preferred; sambahula for bahula; dhriyate yapayati; purobhaktena; anyatra; sahkhyam gaki'/innti; avaramatraka; ve//^ana instead of vesh/ana, in nirveMana; dharmaparydya (Corp. Inscript. plate xv), &c.
2I02 THE SMALLER SUKHAVATt-VYtjHA. § i8. now. Therefore, then, O 5^riputra, mental prayer is to be made for that Buddha country by faithful sons and daughters of a family. § 18. 'And as I at present magnify here the inconceivable excellences of those blessed Buddhas, thus, O ^'ariputra, do those blessed Buddhas magnify my own inconceivable excellences. 'A very difficult work has been done by ^'akyamuni, the sovereign of the ^'akyas. Having obtained the transcendent true knowledge in this world Saha, he tauofht the Law which all the world is reluctant to accept, during this corruption of the present kalpa, during this corruption of mankind, during this corruption of belief, during this corruption of life, during this corruption of passions. § 19. 'This is even for me,0 6'ariputra,an extremely difficult work that, having obtained the transcendent true knowledge in this world Saha, I taught the Law which all the world is reluctant to accept, during this corruption of mankind, of belief, of passion, of life, and of this present kalpa.' § 20. Thus spoke Bhagavat joyful in his mind. And the honourable 6'ariputra, and the Bhikshus and Bodhisattvas, and the whole world with the gods, men, evil spirits and genii, applauded the speech of Bhagfavat. This is the Mahay^nasiitra ' called Sukhavati-vyOha. * The Sukhavali-vyflha, even in its shortest text, is called a Mahayana-sOtra, nor is there any reason why a Mahayana-sQtra should not be short. The meaning of Mahavana-sfltra is simply a SCitra belonging to the Mahayana school, the school of the Great Boat. It was Burnouf who, in his Introduction to the History of Buddhism, tried very hard to establish a distinction between the
3§ 20. THE SMALLER SUKIIAVATI-VvOnA. IO3 Vaipulya or developed Sutras, and what he calls the simple Sutras. Now, the Vaipulya Sutras may all belong to the INIahayana school, but that would not prove that all the Sutras of the INIahayana school are Vaipulya or developed Sutras. The name of simple Sutra, in opposition to the Vaipulya or developed Sutras, is not recognised by the Buddhists themselves ; at least, I know no name for simple Sutras. No doubt there is a great difference between a Vaipulya Sfltra, such as the Lotus of the Good Law, translated by Burnouf, and the Sutras which Burnouf translated, for instance, from the Divyavadana. But what Burnouf considers as the distinguishing mark of a Vaipulya Sutra, viz. the occurrence of Bodhisattvas, as followers of the Buddha 6'akyamuni, would no longer seem to be tenable *, unless we classed our short Sukhavati-vyuha as a Vaipulya or developed Siatra. For this there is no authority. Our Sutra is a Mahayana Sutra, but never called a Vaipulya SQtra, and yet in this Sutra the Bodhisattvas constitute a very considerable portion among the followers of Buddha. But more than that, Amitabha, the Buddha of Sukhavati, another personage whom Burnouf looks upon as peculiar to the Vaipulya Sutras, who is, in fact, one of the Dhyani-buddhas, though not called by that name in our Sutra, forms the chief object of its teaching, and is represented as known to Buddha ^"akyamuni, nay, as having become a Buddha long before the Buddha vSakyamuni t- The larger text of the Sukhavati-vyuha would certainly, according to Burnouf's definition, seem to fall into the category of the Vaipulya Sutras. But it is not so called in the MSS. which I have seen, and Burnouf himself gives an analysis of that Stitra (Introduction, p. 99) as a specimen of a Mahayana, but not of a Vaipulya Sutra. * ' La presence des Bodhisattvas ou leur absence interesse done le fonds meme des livres ou on la remarque, et il est bien evident que ce soul point trace une ligne de demarcation profonde entre les Sutras ordinaires et les Sutras developpes.' — Burnouf, Introduction, p. 112. t ' L'idee d'un ou de plusieurs Buddhas surhumains, celle de Bodhisattvas crees par eux, sont des conceptions aussi etrangeres a ces hvrcs (les Sutras simples) que celle d'un Adibuddha ou d'un Dieu.' — Burnouf, Introduction, p. 120.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1§17- THE SMALLER SUKHAVATi-VvOHA. lOI the Tathagata Salendrara^a, the Tathagata Ratiiotpalam, the Tathagata Sarvarthadar^a, the Tathagata Siimerukalpa, equal in number to the sand, &c. ^ ^17. Now what do you think, O .S'ariputra, for what reason is that repetition (treatise) of the Law called the Favour of all Buddhas ? Every son or daughter of a family who shall hear the name of that repetition of the Law and retain in their memory the names of those blessed Buddhas, will be favoured by the Buddhas, and will never return again, being once in possession of the transcendent true knowledge. Therefore, then, O KS'ariputra, believe ^, accept, and do not doubt of me and those blessed Buddhas ! 'Whatever sons or daughters of a family shall make mental prayer for the Buddha country of that blessed Amitayus, the Tathagata, or are making it now or have made it formerly, all these will never return again, being once in possession of the transcendent true knowledge. They will be born in that Buddha country, have been born, or are being born ^ It should be remarked that the Tathagatas here assigned to the ten quarters differ entirely from those assigned to them in the Lalita-vistara, Book XX. Not even Amitabha is mentioned there. ^ Pratiyatha. The texts give again and again pattiyatha, evidently the Pali form, instead of pratiyata. I have left tha, the Pali termination of the 2 p. pi. in the imperative, instead of ta, because that form was clearly intended, while pa for pra may be an accident. Yet I have little doubt that patiyatha was in the original text. That it is meant for the imperative, we see from j-raddadhadhvam, &c., further on. Other traces of the influence of Pali or Prakrit on the Sanskrit of our Sutra appear in arhantaij^, the various reading for arhadbhi/z, which I preferred; sambahula for bahula; dhriyate yapayati; purobhaktena; anyatra; sahkhyam gaki'/innti; avaramatraka; ve//^ana instead of vesh/ana, in nirveMana; dharmaparydya (Corp. Inscript. plate xv), &c.
2I02 THE SMALLER SUKHAVATt-VYtjHA. § i8. now. Therefore, then, O 5^riputra, mental prayer is to be made for that Buddha country by faithful sons and daughters of a family. § 18. 'And as I at present magnify here the inconceivable excellences of those blessed Buddhas, thus, O ^'ariputra, do those blessed Buddhas magnify my own inconceivable excellences. 'A very difficult work has been done by ^'akyamuni, the sovereign of the ^'akyas. Having obtained the transcendent true knowledge in this world Saha, he tauofht the Law which all the world is reluctant to accept, during this corruption of the present kalpa, during this corruption of mankind, during this corruption of belief, during this corruption of life, during this corruption of passions. § 19. 'This is even for me,0 6'ariputra,an extremely difficult work that, having obtained the transcendent true knowledge in this world Saha, I taught the Law which all the world is reluctant to accept, during this corruption of mankind, of belief, of passion, of life, and of this present kalpa.' § 20. Thus spoke Bhagavat joyful in his mind. And the honourable 6'ariputra, and the Bhikshus and Bodhisattvas, and the whole world with the gods, men, evil spirits and genii, applauded the speech of Bhagfavat. This is the Mahay^nasiitra ' called Sukhavati-vyOha. * The Sukhavali-vyflha, even in its shortest text, is called a Mahayana-sOtra, nor is there any reason why a Mahayana-sQtra should not be short. The meaning of Mahavana-sfltra is simply a SCitra belonging to the Mahayana school, the school of the Great Boat. It was Burnouf who, in his Introduction to the History of Buddhism, tried very hard to establish a distinction between the
3§ 20. THE SMALLER SUKIIAVATI-VvOnA. IO3 Vaipulya or developed Sutras, and what he calls the simple Sutras. Now, the Vaipulya Sutras may all belong to the INIahayana school, but that would not prove that all the Sutras of the INIahayana school are Vaipulya or developed Sutras. The name of simple Sutra, in opposition to the Vaipulya or developed Sutras, is not recognised by the Buddhists themselves ; at least, I know no name for simple Sutras. No doubt there is a great difference between a Vaipulya Sfltra, such as the Lotus of the Good Law, translated by Burnouf, and the Sutras which Burnouf translated, for instance, from the Divyavadana. But what Burnouf considers as the distinguishing mark of a Vaipulya Sutra, viz. the occurrence of Bodhisattvas, as followers of the Buddha 6'akyamuni, would no longer seem to be tenable *, unless we classed our short Sukhavati-vyuha as a Vaipulya or developed Siatra. For this there is no authority. Our Sutra is a Mahayana Sutra, but never called a Vaipulya SQtra, and yet in this Sutra the Bodhisattvas constitute a very considerable portion among the followers of Buddha. But more than that, Amitabha, the Buddha of Sukhavati, another personage whom Burnouf looks upon as peculiar to the Vaipulya Sutras, who is, in fact, one of the Dhyani-buddhas, though not called by that name in our Sutra, forms the chief object of its teaching, and is represented as known to Buddha ^"akyamuni, nay, as having become a Buddha long before the Buddha vSakyamuni t- The larger text of the Sukhavati-vyuha would certainly, according to Burnouf's definition, seem to fall into the category of the Vaipulya Sutras. But it is not so called in the MSS. which I have seen, and Burnouf himself gives an analysis of that Stitra (Introduction, p. 99) as a specimen of a Mahayana, but not of a Vaipulya Sutra. * ' La presence des Bodhisattvas ou leur absence interesse done le fonds meme des livres ou on la remarque, et il est bien evident que ce soul point trace une ligne de demarcation profonde entre les Sutras ordinaires et les Sutras developpes.' — Burnouf, Introduction, p. 112. t ' L'idee d'un ou de plusieurs Buddhas surhumains, celle de Bodhisattvas crees par eux, sont des conceptions aussi etrangeres a ces hvrcs (les Sutras simples) que celle d'un Adibuddha ou d'un Dieu.' — Burnouf, Introduction, p. 120.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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