Lecture No. 0274

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Global Lamrim II

Lecture No. 0274

Lamrim Volume 1:  P36 L6 to LL12

Date: 6 Jul 2022

Topic: Master Atisha’s past life and the significance of his name, “Atisha”

Today, we will continue to study about the life of Master Atisha from the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, Chinese text. Please turn to page 96, the 2nd paragraph. What follows is the introduction to the life of Master Atisha, starting with the annotation from Master Nga-wang Rab-te (we translated as Venerable Yu in the past). It says, “When the Buddha was born, Atisha manifested himself as an elder at the Rajagrha, by the name of Bhadrapala Bodhisattva. Because Do-lung-ba said, “In Buddha’s time, the Elder was named Bhadrapala, the son of Buddha.” It means when our guiding teacher, Buddha came to this world, Master Atisha manifested himself as the Elder Bhadrapala Bodhisattva. This was one of the many lifetimes of Master Atisha. This was mentioned not only by Kadampa great teacher, Do-lung-ba, but also by translator, Trophu. The above is based on the annotation from Master Nga-wang Rab-te. [01:09]

Next, the text says, “The other name by which the great Master Dipamkarasrijnana is widely renowned is the glorious Atisha”. This is the respectful name after Jowo Je passed away. So what does Dipam mean? It means “lamp”; kara signifies “action”; sri suggests “propitious”, and jnana “wisdom”; thus, that is Dipam-kara-sri-jnana, also known as Atisha. What does the name “Atisha” mean? There were several versions: some said Atisha was a name given by the King Jang-chupo, because in India he was not referred to as “Atisha”. After Tibetan King Jan-chup-o invited Master Atisha to Tibet, he addressed him respectfully as Atisha, conferring him an honorific title, “Glorious” [as in Glorious Atisha]. However, Master Nga-wang Rab-te’s mentioned in his annotation: “This name denotes the guru is endowed with surpassing aspiration; thus he is known as Atis-a.” Because he was endowed with the purest aspiration, he was given the name Atisha. This is another way of interpreting. [02:26]

There is another account, says, “Many commentators of the science of language considered the meaning of the name to be the utmost tranquil;” that is, the scholars on the science of language considered the person who goes by this name is very serene in terms of his mental continuum; hence, that’s how the name Atisha was given. But how did Je Rinpoche interpret it? Lama Tsong-kha-pa did not consider it this way. Based on the annotation, it says, “’As Je Rinpoche says, Atisha has been widely praised for three hundred and ten years ’”; hence the meaning of Atisha that Je Rinpoche acknowledged is being superior or exalted.” Therefore, Master Ngawang Rab-te believed we should base on what Lama Tsong-kha-pa’s interpretation, namely “the name of Atisha should mean being superior or exalted”. This section is to introduce the respectful name of Master Atisha. [03:18]

Let’s continue to read the Chinese text of Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations page 97, it says:

The greatness of Master Atisha is divided into three parts:
1. How he took rebirth in an excellent lineage
2. How upon that basis he gained good qualities
3. Having gained those good qualities, what Atisha did to further the teachings

As it is set forth in the Eighty Verses of Praise, composed by the great translator, Nag-tso: “To the east of the Bodhimanda, there was a vast region known as Bengal; within this region there was the part known to Indians as Za-hor, and Tibetan named it the sacred  Za-hor region. This description is different from what was stated in the Voyages of the Drom-don-ba; ‘In the Za-hor region to the East of India, there was the city named Bengal’ with ‘about one hundred thousand households’. However, the former description [of Nag-tso] was adopted in the History of Buddha Dharma by Luo-Zha-BaWo; Sang-Guo-Ma’s Travel Notes kept similar account as well. Also in the Biographhy Prayers which Drom-don-ba composed for [Master Atisha] mentioned: ‘Bengal, the affluent area, was reigned by the emperor of the Za-hor descendants,’ which matches with the aforementioned records. This is the inquiry raised in the annotation. There were many great cities in the Bengal region, and among them [was the dignified city, Vikramanipura.] It was as prominent as the city, Ka-che-tsi-dun of Kashmir, with two million and four hundred thousand or two million seven hundred thousand households. In this annotation, it states two million seven hundred thousand households. There was the splendid residence for the royal family called the ‘Golden Banner’. It was the golden crown in the legend that we know of now. It says in the Voyages of the Drom-don-ba: ‘In the land of Za-hor, east of India was the great city Bengal’ so on and so forth; this requires further investigation. Its resources, power, and wealth were comparable to those of the eastern emperors. The affluence of the kingdom can be drawn with an analogy: some said that an elephant with stones inside its body was called “the leader”; [such calculus or stone can be used as special medicine;] there would be only one “leader” out of a thousand elephants. And this emperor had one thousand such elephant leaders, which represented the kingdom was affluent in wealth. There were thousand golden spokes on a golden wheel, and each spoke was garnished with sumptuous dishes to offer to the emperor; by turning the wheel, the emperor was able to enjoy the food to his heart’s content; thus entitled the emperor. Although there were different accounts, Master Ba’s teacher said, ‘By drawing the emperor of China as an analogy to the king of the east, it was just a means; there was no other reason; it is like naming the king of light or the nature of burning something as fire – there is no other specific reasoning either.’ The king of that country was Kalyanasri, and the queen was Sriprabha. They had three sons: the first son is Padmagarbha, the second son is Candragarbha, and the youngest son is Srigarbha. Prince Padmagarbha had five queens and nine sons. His eldest son, Punyasri, is a great scholar of their time, known as Dha-na-shri. He was an erudite lay practitioner who had mastered all Paramita teachings of Sutrayana. The youngest, Srigarbha, is the monk Viryacandra, meaning moon of joyful perseverance. There was a saying that he was skilled in Tantra practice and able to manifest an original altar which is not visible to the naked eyes. He had been to Tibet and performed the magic power of the dropping of hailstones at Dui-long-tso-mei, then he went to Ya-long, and later passed away in a monastery in Tibet. King Kalyanasri’s second son, Chandragarbha, is our present Venerable guru Jowo Je.” [07:04]

Now let’s take a look, I have just read the long passage on Rinpoche’s introduction. Whenever I pick up the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, I always feel that the books are beautifully printed. I remember once I went to Hong Kong to look for some scriptures; I couldn’t recall which bookstore it was in Hong Kong. I saw the scriptures published by He-yu Publishing Company. Wow! They were truly exquisite! I made a vow at that time, “I will print the scriptures as exquisite as these ones in future.” When we were ready to print the Four Interwoven Annotations and the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, we needed to figure out which paper to pick from the paper stock, the colours of  the font etc... And also the portrait of Lama Tsong-kha-pa and Rinpoche at the beginning of the  book. This picture of Rinpoche was taken while he was giving me the transmission of the Four Interwoven Annotations. The portrait and the photo are of great memorial significance, they have blessing power. Hence, everyone please cherish this publication of the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations. We should study it, read it with great veneration, and then follow the teachings and practice accordingly. [08:13]

 [*Font color in annotations: red: Master Ba-so/Venerable Ba, blue: Master Jam-yang Shay-pa/Venerable Miao, green: Master Nga-wang Rab-ten/Venerable Yu]

Eng

【全球广论 II 讲次: 0274】

讲次 | 0274 (2020-11-12 ~ 2020-11-15)

标题 | 尊者前世、“阿底峡”名号之意涵

《广论》段落 | P2-L13 ~ P3-L4 其殊胜分三……即现至尊师。”

入门段落 | 第1册 P96-L10 ~ P98-L14 接下来是介绍尊者......即现至尊觉窝师。”

(更新日期: 2022年7月6日)

00:00

今天我们继续学习阿底峡尊者的传，我们要看《四家合注入门》。请大家把书翻到 96 页，看第 2 段。

接下来是介绍尊者的传记，是语王尊者的笺注。“往昔胜者降世之时，于王舍城中示现长者相，名曰贤护菩萨。以卓垄巴云：‘于胜者前名佛子贤护。’”说阿底峡尊者在过去导师佛薄伽梵降世的时候，于印度王舍城受生为示现长者的贤护菩萨，这是尊者多生以前的一世。这个说法不仅仅是噶当派的卓垄巴大师这样说，绰普译师也这么说。这上面就是语王尊者的注释。01:09

接下来，正文说：“即是大阿阇黎迪邦嘎惹师利迦那，别讳共称胜阿底峡。”这就是觉窝杰的名讳。那么迪邦是什么意思呢？就是“为灯”，嘎惹就是“为作”，师利就是“为吉祥”，迦那就是“为智”，即为吉祥燃灯智，另外的名号就是阿底峡。阿底峡是什么意思？有几种说法：有人说阿底峡是天尊菩提光王取的名号，印度是没有人称“阿底峡”的。西藏国王天尊菩提光迎请尊者至西藏后，尊称为阿底峡，于是奉上“超胜”的名讳。可是语王尊者的笺注里说到：“此中有上师谓由具增上意乐，故名曰阿德雅峡”，因为具有清净的增上意乐的缘故，所以称为阿底峡。这又是一种说法。02:26

下面还有一种，说：“众声明论师谓为至极寂静之义”，就是声明学者们认为是指相续非常地寂静，所以称为阿底峡。但是宗大师怎么样认为？宗大师不是这样说的，笺注说：“然如杰仁波切云：‘传称最胜三百十’”，宗喀巴大师的承许是“超胜”的意思。因此语王尊者认为应该依宗喀巴大师的说法，所以“阿底峡应为超胜或殊胜之义”。这是介绍阿底峡尊者的名讳的意思。03:18

那么接下来我们就看 97 页的下面，说：

其殊胜，分三：一、圆满种中受生事理；二、其身获得功德事理；三、得已于教所作事业。今初：如那措大译师所造《八十赞》云：“ 金刚座之东， 有广大境域名邦伽罗，其境域之支分中，有诸印度人称为萨贺，藏语中称为撒贺之胜境， 此说与《种敦巴游记》所云：‘印度东方撒贺境，有城名为邦伽罗’及‘周有十万户’不同。然《洛札巴窝教法史》中亦作前说，《桑郭玛游记》等似与彼同。此复，种敦巴所造〈传记祈请文〉有‘富饶之地邦伽罗，贵冑撒贺王种姓’之说，亦与前同。此为笺注探疑。其境域间有诸多大城， 其中最大者乃〔比为俨然，札玛尼为次第，布惹为城。〕传称其与卡切次顿相当，其中有两百四十或两百七十万户，此赞下文即云： 廿七十万户。其中有称为王都之宫殿极广博， 此宫殿名为有金幢。传说当今名金顶者即此。游记中有谓：‘印度东方萨贺境，有城名为邦伽罗’云云，故应观择。受用位饶盛，等支那东君。 此义或谓有象黄之象名为君，千象之中方得其一。彼王有此象千头，故为至极富饶之义。有谓于千辐金轮之一一辐上，各置一馔，来奉王前，转动其轮，王但能噉其前之食，不堪更食，故名为君。虽见众说，然余胜上师云：‘支那国王名曰东君者，实命名者随意立号，更无余因；如称光王及烧热性为火，亦别无他由也。’其国王善胜，妃名吉祥光。父母有三子， 太子名莲藏， 次子月藏，并其幼子吉祥藏。王太子莲华藏，有五妃九子。长子福吉祥，现时大善巧，称为陀那喜吉祥米札，为近事班智达，通晓一切波罗蜜乘教授。三子中幼子吉祥藏，苾刍比惹赞札精进月， 有说此师善巧密咒教授，能化出真实坛城。曾赴藏地，于堆隆措昧施降冰雹，后至雅隆。于昂雪之龙寺示寂。 善胜次子月藏者，即现至尊觉窝师。”07:04

接下来我们看，我上面念这一大段的仁波切的讲记。每次拿起《四家合注入门》的时候，我都会觉得我们的书是印得非常好的。我很早的时候去香港请经典，在香港哪一家书店我忘记了，看到了和裕出版社出的经典，哇，实在是太精美了！当时我就发愿说：以后我要印经印成那么精美的。等到《四家合注》和《四家合注入门》开始印的时候，比如说字纸有好几号颜色的选择，然后字体确定为什么颜色......。还有我们这本书一开始有宗大师的像，还有仁波切的像。仁波切的这个像，就是在为我讲《四家合注》的时候拍的，都非常地有纪念意义、有加持力。所以大家要好好地珍惜这本《四家合注入门》这个解释的问世，要拿来看、拿来拜读，依教修行。08:13