The Skill in Means (Upāyakauśalya) Sūtra

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

This rare sutra, ancient but timely, has long been treated with circumspection because of its liberal attitude toward sexuality and other ethical concerns. One of the original statements of the early Mahayana School, it is here collated from Chinese and Tibetan translations, and from passages that remain in the original Sanskrit. Originally part of a larger sutra on the six perfections that included the well-known perfection of Wisdom sutra, the Skill-in-Means sutra explicates the other five perfections of the bodhisattva. The translator has traced its source to verses of the Ratnagunasamcaya-gatha that have no counterpart in the Perfection of Wisdom. The Skill in Means is also found as part of the Ratnakuta collection of sutras, under the title "The Question of Jnanottara."
In Part One, this Sutra establishes the liberal, even anti-monastic observance of Bodhisattva ethics, especially in matters of sexual involvement, introducing 'skill in means' into the fabric of Buddhist ethical life. Parts Two and Three constitute a reinterpretation of the life of the Buddha, demonstrating his motivation by 'skill in means'; this is a primary source for the Buddhology of the Mahayana. The older and newer versions are translated side by side; extant Sanskrit passages are included. An introduction places the text in historical and literary prospective. There are copious notes, indexes and a bibliography. (Source: Motilal Banarsidass)

Citation

Tatz, Mark, trans. The Skill in Means (Upāyakauśalya) Sūtra. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2001.

Publisher Link

https://www.mlbd.in/products/the-skill-in-means-upayakausalya-sutra-mark-tatz-9788120809154-8120809157

Table of contents

Introduction1

PART ONE

The Skill in Means of Bodhisattvas23

PART TWO

The Skill in Means of Śākyamuni51

PART THREE

The Ten Karmic Connections71
Notes to the Translation91

Bibliography and Abbreviations113
Index of Proper Names123
Index of Technical Terms125

Interconnections

Works related to this item

1 Full translation of

Upāyakauśalyasūtra [आर्योपायकौशल्यनाममहायानसूत्र]. 'phags pa thabs mkhas pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo [འཕགས་པ་ཐབས་མཁས་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།]. [The Sūtra on Skill in Means (84000)]. Translated by 'gos chos grub, Nandi, Dharmarakṣa, Dānapāla. Kangyur, RKTSK 261 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=261&typ=1.

Classical WorksAbout this item

Upāyakauśalyasūtra. (T. Thabs la mkhas pa'i mdo; C. Dasheng fangbian hui; J. Daijō hōben'e; K. Taesǔng pangp'yǒn hoe 大乘方便會). In Sanskrit, "Skillful Means Sūtra," an early Mahāyāna sūtra included in the Ratnakūṭasūtra collection, where it is also known as the Jñānottarabodhisattvaparipṛcchā. (In addition to the recension embedded in the 410 CE Chinese translation of the Ratnakūṭa, as transcribed above, there are also two other Chinese translations, one made in 285 CE, the other c. 980.) The first part of the sūtra extols the virtues of the practice of "skillful means" (upāyakauśalya), generally understood in this context to refer to the dedication of the merit from a virtuous deed, such as offerings made for the welfare and ultimate enlightenment of all beings. The sūtra goes on to explain how apparently nonvirtuous acts, such as sexual misconduct, become virtues when performed by a bodhisattva with skillful means, noting, "Something that sends other sentient beings to hell sends the bodhisattva who is skilled in means to rebirth in the world of Brahmā." Also recounted is the famous story of the Buddha's previous life as a ship captain, when he kills a potential murderer in order to save others' lives. In the second part of the sūtra, the Buddha recounts the events of his life (see Baxiang), from his entry into his mother's womb to his decision to teach the dharma as instances of his skillful means; none of these events are presented as the consequences of his own past nonvirtuous actions or indeed of any fault whatsoever on his part. For example, after his enlightenment, the Buddha has no hesitation to teach the dharma; nonetheless, he compels the god Brahmā to descend from his heaven to implore the Buddha to teach. He forces this act so that beings who worship Brahmā will have faith in the Buddha and so that the myriad forms of the god Brahmā will generate bodhicitta. The sūtra concludes with a discussion of ten cases in the life of the Buddha in which he apparently undergoes suffering (such as a headache, backache, and being pierced by a thorn) that had previously been ascribed to his nonvirtuous deeds in a past life; in each case, these are instead explained as being examples of the Buddha's skillful means. (Source: "Upāyakauśalyasūtra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 943. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)