This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.

Beyond the question of whether the chapter seeks to help ordinary bodhisattvas, there are only minor differences between H. Kern’s Peaceful Life chapter and the English translations of Kumārajīva’s Peaceful Practices chapter.

For example, at the conclusion of the first section of gāthās, Kern has:

24. Let the sage first, for some time, coerce his thoughts, exercise meditation with complete absorption, and correctly perform all that is required for attaining spiritual insight, and then, after rising (from his pious meditation), preach with unquailing mind.

25. The kings of this earth and the princes who listen to the law protect him. Others also, both laymen (or burghers) and Brahmans, will be found together in his congregation.

Senchu Murano’s translation of Kumārajīva’s Chinese has similar language:

A Bodhisattva will be peaceful,
And free from timidity
If he stays in a quiet room
For some time,
Recollects the Dharma correctly,
Understands the Dharma
According to the meanings of it,
And then emerges
From his dhyāna-concentration,
And leads kings, princes,
Common people and brahmanas
By expounding this sūtra to them.

But Murano concludes this section of gāthās with:

Mañjuśrī, all this is the first set of things
That the Bodhisattva should do
Before he expounds the Sūtra
Of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma
In the world after [my extinction].

All of the English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese offer this summary graph at the conclusion of these gāthās. For example, Gene Reeves offers:

Mañjuśrī, this is called the first teaching
In which bodhisattvas should dwell at peace,
Enabling the, in future generations,
To teach the Dharma Flower Sutra.

In the prose section immediately following these gāthās, Kern has:

Further, Mañjuśrī, the Bodhisattva Mahāsattva who, after the complete extinction of the Tathāgata at the end of time, the last period, the last five hundred years, when the true law is in a state of decay, is going to propound this Dharmaparyāya, must be in a peaceful state (of mind) and then preach the law, whether he knows it by heart or has it in a book. In his sermon he will not be too prone to carping at others, not blame other preaching friars, not speak scandal nor propagate scandal.

All of the English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese skip this point of “whether he knows it by heart or has it in a book.” In Murano’s translation, we get:

“Second, Mañjuśrī! A Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who wishes to expound this sūtra in the age of the decline of the teachings after my extinction should perform the following peaceful practices. When he expounds or reads this sūtra, he should not point out the faults of other persons or sūtras.

In comparing the translations, Kern’s translation often has additional details.

Here’s how Murano’s translation of Kumārajīva’s Chinese begins the second section of gāthās:

The Bodhisattva should wish
To make all living beings peaceful,
And then expound the Dharma to them.
He should make a seat in a pure place,
Apply ointment to his skin,
Wash dirt and dust off himself,
Wear a new and undefiled robe,
Clean himself within and without,
Sit on the seat of the Dharma peacefully,
And then expound the Dharma in answer to questions.

Kern renders this same scene with much more detail:

26. The wise man is always at ease, and in that state he preaches the law, seated on an elevated pulpit which has been prepared for him on a clean and pretty spot.

27. He puts on a clean, nice, red robe, dyed with good colors, and a black woolen garment and a long undergarment;

28. Having duly washed his feet and rubbed his head and face with smooth ointments, he ascends the pulpit, which is provided with a footbank and covered with pieces of fine cloth of various sorts and sits down.

29. When he is thus seated on the preacher’s pulpit and all who have gathered round him are attentive, he proceeds to deliver many discourses, pleasing by variety, before monks and nuns,

Again, as pointed out repeatedly in this comparison of Kern’s translation of an 11th century Sanskrit document and Kumārajīva’s fifth century Chinese version of the Lotus Sutra, the details may be different but the message remains the same.

Next: Ether and the Sky

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.

In the many, many times I’ve read Chapter 14, Peaceful Practices, I’ve begun with the understanding that Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva wants to know how “ordinary” bodhisattvas should accomplish their propagation in the evil world described in the previous chapter. This has made the chapter a message to me, such a very ordinary bodhisattva.

Now I learn that this focus on “ordinary” bodhisattvas is an invention of Senchu Murano.

Murano opens the chapter with:

Thereupon Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva-mahāsattva, the Son of the King of the Dharma, said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! These Bodhisattvas are extraordinarily rare. They made a great vow to protect, keep, read, recite and expound this Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma in the evil world after your extinction because they are following you respectfully. World-Honored One! How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound this sūtra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”

Murano uses square brackets to mark text that doesn’t appear in Kumārajīva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra. In other places these parenthetical insertions add clarity without changing the meaning. Not here. This insertion of “[ordinary]” appears in the first edition of Murano’s translation of the Lotus Sutra, so it’s not something introduced by later editors.

It was only when comparing H. Kern’s English translation of a 11th century Sanskrit Lotus Sutra that I realized what Murano had done.

Kern opens the chapter with:

Mañjuśrī, the prince royal, said to the Lord: It is difficult, Lord, most difficult, what these Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas will attempt out of reverence for the Lord. How are these Bodhisattvas Mahāsattvas to promulgate this Dharmaparyāya at the end of time, at the last period?

When I checked against the other English translations of Kumārajīva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra I discovered they agreed with Kern’s Sanskrit document. We’re talking about the great Bodhisattvas who have vowed to spare nothing in promulgating this sutra in the evil age, not a subset of ordinary bodhisattvas.

The BDK Tripiṭaka translation of the Lotus Sutra begins Chapter 14:

Thereupon the Prince of the Dharma, Bodhisattva Mahāsattva Mañjuśrī addressed the Buddha, saying: “O Bhagavat! These bodhisattvas are very rare. In respectful obedience to the Buddha they have made this great vow: ‘In the troubled world to come, we will preserve, recite, and teach this Lotus Sutra!’

“O Bhagavat! How can these bodhisattva mahāsattvas teach this sutra in the troubled world to come?“

Rissho Kosei-Kai’s 1975 translation begins chapter 14:

At that time the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Mañjuśrī, the Law-king’s son, spoke to the Buddha, saying: “World-honored One! Rare indeed are such bodhisattvas as these! Reverently according with the Buddha, they have made great vows that in the evil age to come they will protect, keep, read, recite, and preach this Law-Flower Sutra. World-honored One! How are these bodhisattva-mahāsattvas to be able to preach this sutra in the evil age to come?“

Only Leon Hurvitz’s translation, which incorporates both Kumārajīva’s Chinese and a 19th century compilation Sanskrit document, offers of hint of why Murano might have felt compelled to insert “[ordinary].”

Hurvitz begins Chapter 14:

At that time, Mañjuśrī the dharma prince, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, addressed the Buddha, saying, “O World-Honored One! Very rarely do there exist such bodhisattvas as these, who out of respectful obedience to the Buddha utter a great vow to keep and hold, to read and recite this Scripture of the Dharma Blossom in the latter evil age! O World-Honored One! How can a bodhisattva-mahāsattva preach this scripture in the latter evil age?“

This is not unlike what I discovered when considering the name of the sutra Śākyamuni taught before the Lotus Sutra. If one assumes Hurvitz’s translation is the gold standard and that there is some ambiguity about which bodhisattvas we’re inquiring about, then one can appreciate why “How can a bodhisattva-mahāsattva preach this scripture in the latter evil age?” could become “How should an [ordinary] Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas expound this sūtra in the evil world after [your extinction]?”

Next: The Message Beyond the Details

This is another in a series of weekly blog posts comparing and contrasting the Sanskrit and Chinese Lotus Sutra translations.

Chapter 13 in the Kumārajīva translation and Chapter 12 in H. Kern’s translation follow the story of Devadatta and the Dragon King’s Daughter. If you assume the chapter title foreshadows the content, then there is a distinction difference in focus between Kumarajiva and the 11th century Sanskrit document Kern translated.

Among the English translators of Kumarajiva, we have titles of:

• “Encouragement for Keeping This Sūtra,” Senchu Murano.
• “Encouragement to Uphold the Sutra,” Gene Reeves.
• “Encouraging Devotion,” Soka Gakkai, (Burton Watson).
• “Exhortation to Hold Firm,” Rissho Kosei-Kai, 1975.
• “Encouragement to Hold Firm,” Rissho Kosei-Kai, 2019.

Kern has simply “Exertion” and Leon Hurvitz, who incorporates both Kumārajīva and a 19th century compilation Sanskrit document, offers “Fortitude.”

The contents of Kumārajīva’s chapter and the Sanskrit document Kern translated clearly offer the same lesson, but Kumārajīva focuses on encouraging future devotees while Kern simply stresses that it will take work to propagate the Lotus Sutra in a world full of “malign beings, having few roots of goodness, conceited, fond of gain and honor, rooted in unholiness, difficult to tame, deprived of good will, and full of unwillingness.”

There is, however, a notable difference between how Kumārajīva handles the concerns of Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī, the Buddha’s stepmother.

Murano sets the stage in this way:

There were Maha-Prajapati Bhikṣunī, the sister of the mother of the Buddha, and six thousand bhikṣunīs, some of whom had something more to learn while others had nothing more to learn. They rose from their seats, joined their hands together with all their hearts, and looked up at the honorable face with unblenching eyes.

Thereupon the World-Honored One said to Gautamī:

“Why do you look at me so anxiously? You do not think that I assured you of your future attainment of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi because I did not mention you by name, do you? Gautamī! I have already said that I assured all the Śrāvakas of their future attainment [of Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi].

Kern, however, offers:

Then the noble matron Gautamī, the sister of the Lord’s mother, along with six hundred nuns, some of them being under training, some being not, rose from her seat, raised the joined hands towards the Lord and remained gazing up to him. Then the Lord addressed the noble matron Gautamī: Why dost thou stand so dejected, gazing up to the Tathāgata? (She replied): I have not been mentioned by the Tathāgata, nor have I received from him a prediction of my destiny to supreme, perfect enlightenment. (He said): But, Gautamī, thou hast received a prediction with the prediction regarding the whole assembly.

Perhaps not a big deal that Kern has Maha-Prajapati voice her concerns – “I have not been mentioned by the Tathāgata, nor have I received from him a prediction of my destiny to supreme, perfect enlightenment” – but notable.

Another minor difference is the number of nuns accompanying Maha-Prajapati. Kumarajiva has 6,000 and Kern only 600. Hurvitz sticks with the 6,000.

Personally, the biggest difference between the translations involves the the Bodhisattvas. I’ve always been moved by Murano’s story.

Thereupon the World-Honored One looked at the eighty billion nayuta Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas. These Bodhisattvas had already reached the stage of avaivartika, turned the irrevocable wheel of the Dharma, and obtained dhārāṇis. They rose from their seats, came to the Buddha, joined their hands together [towards him] with all their hearts, and thought, “If the World-Honored One commands us to keep and expound this sūtra, we will expound the Dharma just as the Buddha teaches.”

They also thought, “The Buddha keeps silence.’ He does not command us. What shall we do?”

The image of the Buddha inviting the Bodhisattvas but sitting silent is not present in Kern’s translation.

Thereafter the Lord looked towards the eighty hundred thousand Bodhisattvas who were gifted with magical spells and capable of moving forward the wheel that never rolls back. No sooner were those Bodhisattvas regarded by the Lord than they rose from their seats, raised their joined hands towards the Lord and reflected thus: The Lord invites us to make known the Dharmaparyāya. Agitated by that thought they asked one another: What shall we do, young men of good family, in order that this Dharmaparyāya may in future be made known as the Lord invites us to do?

All of the English translations of Kumārajīva note the silence of the Buddha. Even Hurvitz mentions it. Given the chapter’s focus on “Encouragement,” this silence is important. The loss of that dimension from Kern’s translation diminishes the significance of the Bodhisattvas’ vow.

Next: The Plight of an Ordinary Bodhisattva