Why This Treatise Was Composed
Before any doctrine is stated, the treatise opens by defending its own right to exist: composed by a disciple rather than a buddha, it asks to be judged by its meaning rather than its authorship, and catalogues nine specific ways the true Dharma gets slandered by those who should know better.
Translation Method
The Chinese source is Ratnamati's translation (勒那摩提), an Indian monk active at the Northern Wei capital of Luoyang in the early sixth century. The Sanskrit original survives complete, recovered in Tibet and published in a critical edition by E. H. Johnston in 1950; a Tibetan translation survives as well. No premodern Chinese commentary on this treatise survives, but the treatise's own prose sections already serve as its self-commentary — this collection translates verse and prose together as one continuous text, the same convention this site's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā pages use for Nāgārjuna's verses and Piṅgala's commentary. See this collection's full translation notes for an explanation of how this translation handles the Chinese source's unusual fourfold-fascicle structure, and also this site's note on translation method.
Homage, and a Disciple's Right to Compose
我今悉歸命， 一切無上尊，
為開法王藏， 廣利諸群生。
諸佛勝妙法， 謗以為非法，
愚癡無智慧， 迷於邪正故。
具足智慧人， 善分別邪正，
如是作論者， 不違於正法。
順三乘菩提， 對三界煩惱，
雖是弟子造， 正取邪則捨。
善說名句義， 初中後功德，
智者聞是義， 不取於餘法。
如我知佛意， 堅住深正義，
如實修行者， 取同於佛語。
雖無善巧言， 但有真實義，
彼法應受持， 如取金捨石。
妙義如真金， 巧語如瓦石，
依名不依義， 彼人無明盲。
I now pay homage entirely to every unsurpassed, honored one,
in order to open the treasury of the Dharma-king,
and broadly benefit every being.
The buddhas' supreme, wondrous Dharma
is slandered as not being the Dharma,
by the foolish who lack wisdom,
confused between what is false and what is true.
One complete in wisdom
skillfully distinguishes the false from the true;
one who composes a treatise in this way
does not go against the true Dharma.
According with the awakening of the three vehicles,
and confronting the afflictions of the three realms —
though this treatise is composed by a disciple,
what is right should be accepted and what is false set aside.
One who explains well the terms, phrases, and meaning,
whose virtue is complete in the beginning, middle, and end —
a wise person, hearing this meaning,
will not take up any other teaching instead.
As I understand the Buddha's own intent,
firmly abiding in its deep, true meaning —
one who practices exactly as it is
will take it as identical with the Buddha's own word.
Even if the words are without skillful elegance,
so long as the true meaning is present,
that teaching should be upheld —
like taking the gold and discarding the stone.
The wondrous meaning is like genuine gold;
clever words are like tile and stone.
One who relies on the words rather than the meaning
is a person blinded by ignorance.
Before stating a single doctrine, the treatise spends its opening verses defending its own right to exist. The anxiety is explicit: this is a treatise "composed by a disciple" (弟子造), not spoken by a buddha, and the text meets that fact head-on rather than hiding it — asking to be judged by whether its meaning matches the Buddha's own intent, not by the authority of who wrote it down. The gold-and-stone image that closes this section states the treatise's own reading instructions in miniature: judge every claim in what follows by its meaning, not by how elegantly it is phrased, and be willing to discard eloquent words that carry no real substance rather than mistaking polish for truth.
Nine Ways the True Dharma Gets Slandered
依自罪業障， 謗諸佛妙法，
如是諸人等， 則為諸佛呵。
或有取他心， 謗諸佛妙法，
如是諸人等， 則為諸佛呵。
為種種供養， 謗諸佛妙法，
如是諸人等， 則為諸佛呵。
愚癡及我慢， 樂行於小法，
謗法及法師， 則為諸佛呵。
外現威儀相， 不識如來教，
謗法及法師， 則為諸佛呵。
為求名聞故， 起種種異說，
謗法及法師， 則為諸佛呵。
說乖修多羅， 言是真實義，
謗法及法師， 則為諸佛呵。
求利養攝眾， 誑惑無智者，
謗法及法師， 則為諸佛呵。
佛觀如是等， 極惡罪眾生，
慈悲心自在， 為說法除苦。
深智大慈悲， 能如是利益，
我說不求利， 為正法久住。」
Relying on their own obstruction of sinful karma,
they slander the buddhas' wondrous Dharma —
such people as these
are condemned by every buddha.
Or there are those who, seeking to win over others' minds,
slander the buddhas' wondrous Dharma —
such people as these
are condemned by every buddha.
For the sake of every kind of offering,
they slander the buddhas' wondrous Dharma —
such people as these
are condemned by every buddha.
Out of foolishness and pride, delighting instead in the lesser teaching,
they slander the Dharma and its teachers —
they are condemned by every buddha.
Outwardly displaying a dignified demeanor, yet not recognizing the Tathāgata's own teaching,
they slander the Dharma and its teachers —
they are condemned by every buddha.
Seeking fame and renown, they raise up every kind of divergent teaching,
and slander the Dharma and its teachers —
they are condemned by every buddha.
Speaking what contradicts the sūtras, yet calling it the true meaning,
they slander the Dharma and its teachers —
they are condemned by every buddha.
Seeking gain to gather a following, deceiving those without wisdom,
they slander the Dharma and its teachers —
they are condemned by every buddha.
The Buddha, observing beings such as these, of such extreme evil and sin,
with a mind of sovereign compassion,
teaches the Dharma for their sake, to remove their suffering.
Profound wisdom and great compassion are able to benefit in just this way;
what I set forth here seeks no gain of my own,
but only that the true Dharma may abide long.
The nine ways of slandering the Dharma catalogued here — sinful obstruction, currying favor, seeking offerings, foolish pride preferring the lesser vehicle, outward piety masking real ignorance of the teaching, inventing novel doctrine for fame, misreading sūtras while claiming fidelity to them, and deceiving the unwise for profit — read as a companion piece to two sūtras already translated on this site. The Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśa Sūtra warns of future monks who wear the robe without a śramaṇa's real virtue, and the Kāśyapaparivarta names four kinds of śramaṇa, only the last of which is genuine, built around the identical gap between outward appearance and inward substance this treatise names in its fifth item here ("outwardly displaying a dignified demeanor, yet not recognizing the Tathāgata's own teaching"). All three texts converge on treating this gap — not heresy from outside, but hollowed-out orthodoxy from within — as the more urgent danger to the Dharma's own survival. The treatise's own closing couplet then states its stakes plainly: not personal gain, but "that the true Dharma may abide long" (正法久住), the same phrase this site's earlier translations use for exactly this recurring concern.
Part 1 Complete
This closes the treatise's introductory chapter. Part 2 opens the treatise's systematic argument proper, with the first of the Three Jewels: the Jewel of Buddha, its eight qualities drawn out verse by verse and supported by citation from the Sūtra Entering the Domain of All Buddhas.
Continue to Part 2 — The Jewel of Buddha →