Lecture No. 0321
Global Lamrim II
Lecture No. 0321
Lamrim Volume 1: P43-L17~ LL1
Date: 04 Apr 2022
Topic: The Excellent Disciples’ Good Qualities (1)
Everyone, please turn to page 150 of the Introduction to the Four Interwoven Annotations, the Chinese text, we will continue to learn Master Atisha’s good qualities. Please look at the blue print section in the first paragraph on page 150. [00:15]
5. Regarding his disciples endowed with excellent qualities, there are two parts: [V.1 P. 43]
a. The disciples in India, Nga-ri, and Tibet:
This master who had such qualities had an inconceivable number of students in [five] India, Kashmir [Kasmira], [Oḍḍiyāna, transliterated into Chinese as Wuchang, meaning the Land of Soaring - Oḍḍiyāna Kingdom], Nepal, and Tibet. However, to mention the chief of these, in India, there were the four great scholars, one of whom, [a Mahapandita, meaning a scholar who has mastered the five topics of knowledge,] was equal in knowledge to the Elder; his name was Bi-do-ba; the other three are Dharmakaramati – the wisdom arising from the teaching, Madhyasinha, and Ksitigarbha. Some accounts also include Mitraguhya as a fifth. From Nga-ri, there were Rin-chen-sang-bo [a translator; Lo-chen, meaning “the eyes of the world,” or Lotsawa in short], the translator Nag-tso, and royal renunciate Jang-chup-o. From Tsang, there were Gar-gay-wa and Go-kuk-ba-hlay-dzay. From Hlo-drak, there were Chak-ba-tri-chok and Gay-wa-gyong. From Khams, there were Nal-jor-ba-chen-bo, Gon-ba-wa, Shay-rapdor-jay, and Chak-dar-don-ba. From central Tibet, there were the three, [known as] Ku, Ngok, Dzon; [Ku refers to Ku-don Dzon-dr-yung-drung, Ngok refers to Ngok Lek-bayshay-rap, and Dzone to Drom-don-ba Gyel-way-jung-nay, respectively].
b. The most outstanding student:
From among these, the great holder of the lineage who furthered the activities of the guru [Atisha] himself was Drom-don-ba Gyel-way-jung-nay, who was prophesied by Tara. This, in brief, is the greatness of the author. It can be known in detail from the great biographical literature. [01:54]
Next, let’s look at the Introduction from Rinpoche; [regarding what Master Atisha did in Tibet, we move on to] the 5th subtopic annotated by Jam-yang Shay-pa [Master Miao Yin Xiao]. “5. Regarding his disciples endowed with excellent qualities”; how many excellent disciples did Master Atisha have? By geographic regions, they are introduced: “The disciples in India, Nga-ri, and Tibet”; here Tibet refers to Lhasa, U-Tsang areas etc. Have you noticed that Nga-ri and Tibet are two separate areas? So, Tibet here refers to the Lhasa, and U-Tsang areas. “This master who had such qualities had an inconceivable number of students in [five] India, Kashmir [Kasmira], Wuchang;” in the Tibetan text, there isn’t the word “five” in “[five] India”, [but in the Chinese Lamrim text, there is the word “five”]. “Oḍḍiyāna, transliterated into Chinese as Wuchang”, is also known as “the Land of Soaring - Oḍḍiyāna Kingdom”. The text says, “Had an inconceivable number of students in Nepal, and Tibet”, Master Atisha had inconceivable number of students with such excellent qualities. [02:46]
While listening to Rinpoche’s instructions, I asked a question: “Master, should ‘inconceivable’ be interpreted as incredible, or ‘the number is inconceivable’?” And Rinpoche replied: “In Tibetan text, the word ‘number’ is not there. Nevertheless, in this context, it could be interpreted as ‘inconceivable number’.” [03:02]
Rinpoche continued, “Here is the word ‘however’ in ‘However, to mention the chief of these, in India, there were the four great scholars, Mahapanditas, all were equal in knowledge to the Elder , [a Mahapandita, a learned man who had mastered the five topics of knowledge,]’“ Mahapandita refers to a scholar mastering the five topics of knowledge – that is Mahapandita, “Bi-do-ba” [or Bi-do-pa]. “Dharmakaramati” literally means “the wisdom arising from the teaching”. In addition to the two mentioned above, the other two are “Madhyasinha, and Ksitigarbha,” four great scholars in total; they were the main disciples of Master Atisha in India. “Some accounts also include Mitraguhya as a fifth.” “From Nga-ri, there was Rin-chen-sang-bo [a translator, Lo-chen, meaning “the eyes of the world”, or Lotsawa in short].” “Lo” means worldly, and “tsawa” means the eyes. “The translator Nag-tso, and royal renunciate Jangchup-o. From Tsang, there were Gar-gay-wa and Go-kuk-ba-hlay-dzay.” “Hlo-drak” is also a place name; from Hlo-drak “there were Chak-ba-tri-chok and Gay-wagyong. From Khams, there were Nal-jor-ba-chen-bo, Gon-ba-wa, Shay-rap-dor-jay, and Chak-dar-don-ba. From central Tibet, there were the three, [known as] Ku, Dzon, Ngok. “Ku” is short for Ku-don Dzon-dr-yung-drung, “Ngok” is short for the translator Lek-bay-shayrap, and “Drom” is the name of Drom-don-ba respectively. [In sum,] according to the geographic areas, Master Atisha had many disciples from the three regions: India, Nga-ri, and Tibet. [04:24]
“Kasmira” was an ancient kingdom in North India, it is present-day Kashmir. In the ancient time, Vaibhāṣika School was once thriving there. Later, due to the invasion of Muslim force, Buddhism gradually declined; now Islam is the prominent religion in this region. [04:43]
Then here comes [the Mahapandita] Bi-do-ba, he was one of the principal disciples of Master Atisha in India around the 11th century. According to Master Hui-hai’s explanation, in Sanskrit, the name means a scholar who “mastered the five topics of knowledge”; this virtuous teacher earned this esteem because he was well versed in the five topics of knowledge. As to what kind of good qualities was this disciple of Master Atisha from India endowed with, maybe further research is needed, so I will not elaborate on it today. [05:09]
What follows is “Dharmakaramati”, another accomplished disciple of Master Atisha in India. He lived around 11th century. He was known as “the wisdom arising from the teaching”. Besides, there was “Ksitigarbha”, living also in the 11th century, one of the great Pandita disciples of Master Atisha as well. Before he met Master Atisha, he was proficient in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist tenets. After completing the learning, he considered there was no difference between the Buddhists and non-Buddhists. Thus, sometimes he was into the non-Buddhist study, but at other times he claimed he was a Buddhist. This showed that what he manifested was well versed in both Buddhists and non-Buddhists teachings. It was not until Master Atisha skillfully guided him to distinguish the difference between the two that he gradually developed faith in Master Atisha and venerated Master Atisha as his teacher. He was one of the four masters in India who was able to distinguish the difference between the Buddhist and the non-Buddhist teachings. Later , he followed Master Atisha and embarked on the journey to Sumatra; that is, they went to Sumatra where Master Ser-ling-ba resided and beseeched the teachings, under the guidance of Ser-ling-ba. Everyone may think that taking refuge in the Buddha automatically makes one a Buddhist disciple. However, to have the capability to distinguish the difference between the teachings of Buddhist and the non-Buddhist is not a matter of triviality. Everyone can contemplate and slowly try to understand why that is so. [06:16]
【全球广论 II 讲次: 0321】
讲次 | 0321 (2021-04-26 ~ 2021-04-28)
标题 | 殊胜弟子之功德（一）
《广论》段落 | P7-LL1 ~ P8-L6 此阿阇黎于五印度……广则应知出广传文。
入门段落 | 第1册 P150-L1 ~ P151-LL4 第五、殊胜弟子......“种”是种敦巴胜者生源。
备注 | 四家合注《白话校注集》第1册 P153-L6注释① ~ P153-LL1注释⑤完 迦湿弥罗 北印度古国名......拜见金洲大师学法。
(更新日期: 2022年4月4日)
00:00
请大家翻开《四家合注入门》150页，我们继续学习阿底峡尊者的功德。请看150页第一段蓝字的部分。00:15
在听的时候，我问了一个问题说：“师父，‘不可思数’要解释成‘不可思议’吗？还是‘不可思议的数目’？”然后仁波切说：“藏文中并没有‘数’这个字，但此处可以理解为‘数量不可思议。’”03:02
“迦湿弥罗”就是北印度的古国，现今的喀什米尔，古时候的毗婆沙宗大兴此地，后来因为回教徒入侵，佛教逐渐衰微，现今盛行伊斯兰教，就是在这个地方。04:43”
然后这里边出现了“毘柁跋”，他是阿底峡尊者在印度的大弟子之一，约11世纪。依慧海大师的解释，这个梵语义为“五明者”，因这位善知识他通晓五明而得名。尊者在印度的大弟子有什么样的功德呢？可能要再去看一看，今天就不广讲。05:09
接着是“达摩阿嘎惹玛帝”，这位也是阿底峡尊者在印度的大弟子之一，约11世纪，他叫“法生慧”。还有“地藏”，也是阿底峡尊者门徒中的大班智达，都是在约11世纪。他没有遇到尊者之前通学内外道教义，通学完了之后，认为内外道一样的，所以有时候入外道，有时候又自称自己为内道徒，就是他示现为通学；直到尊者为他善巧地分辨内外道的差别，遂对尊者生起了信心，并拜尊者为师，成为印度能辨别内外道四大师之一。之后曾追随尊者赴金洲，就是去金洲那个地方，拜见金洲大师学法。大家可能会觉得我已经皈依佛门了，我当然是内道弟子。但是能辨别内外道不是一个小的本事，大家可以慢慢好好去了解一下。06:16