Texts/Bodhicaryāvatāra/Verses/1.4

Bodhicaryāvatāra · Verse 1.4

Bodhicaryāvatāra Verses | Chapter 1

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Dūnhuáng §This version is extracted from the book [[Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra: Entering the Way of the Bodhisattvas (2022, Khenpo Gawang and Wiener)]], a translation of an edition of the text created from three Dūnhuáng manuscripts. A description and sample pages of these can be found on the [https://earlytibet.com/2014/02/04/the-original-bodhicaryavatara/ Early Tibet Blog]. Scans of the actual manuscripts themselves can be found at http://idp.bl.uk

Sanskrit §No information about the source used.

Standard Tibetan §Padmakara used the 1990 edition printed by si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang: [[Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa (1990)]]. Also found in Derge Tengyur D3871, dbu ma, vol. 105, la 1b1–40a7.

Tsadra Critical Edition §This text was created by comparing four versions of the text from Derge, Cone, Narthang, and Peking Tengyurs from BDRC scans, along with Dunhuang manuscripts IOL Tib J 628, 629, and 630. When Tibetan readings were problematic, the Sanskrit texts from GRETIL and LTB (Oslo) were consulted.

Sanskrit §No information about the source used.

source

translation

क्षणसंपदियं सुदुर्लभा

प्रतिलब्धा पुरुषार्थसाधनी। यदि नात्र विचिन्त्यते हितं

पुनरप्येष समागमः कुतः॥

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Chanted Verse

Recitation by Professor Kashinath Nyaupane

4

This unique opportunity, so difficult to obtain, once it has been obtained can bring to realization all human aspirations. If then one does not set the mind on what is beneficial, how will this opportunity come again?

Gomez 2017

How to Be a Bodhisattva: Introduction to the Practice of the Bodhisattva Path (The Bodhicaryāvatāra)

Standard Tibetan §Padmakara used the 1990 edition printed by si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang: Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa (1990). Also found in Derge Tengyur D3871, dbu ma, vol. 105, la 1b1–40a7.

source

translation

དལ་འབྱོར་འདི་ནི་རྙེད་པར་ཤིན་ཏུ་དཀའ། །

སྐྱེས་བུའི་དོན་སྒྲུབ་ཐོབ་པར་གྱུར་པ་ལ། ། གལ་ཏེ་འདི་ལ་ཕན་པ་མ་བསྒྲུབས་ན། །

ཕྱིས་འདི་ཡང་[p.4]Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa (1990)
Slob dpon zhi ba lha and Mkhan po kun dpal. Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa. Khreng tu'u: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1990.

དག་འབྱོར་བར་ག་ལ་འགྱུར། །

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Chanted Verse

Recitation by Lopen Karma Phuntsho

4

So hard to find the ease and wealth28In order to progress toward enlightenment, it is necessary to possess eight forms of ease or freedom, and ten forms of wealth or endowment. The former are the freedoms of not being born (1) in one of the hells; (2) as a preta or hungry ghost; (3) as an animal; (4) in the realms of the gods; (5) among barbarians who are ignorant of the teachings and practices of the Buddhadharma; (6) as one with wrong views concerning karma and so forth; (7) in a time and place where a Buddha has not appeared; and (8) as mentally or physically handicapped. The ten forms of wealth or endowment are subdivided into five considered intrinsic and five considered extrinsic to the personality. The five intrinsic endowments are (1) to be born a human being; (2) to inhabit a ‟central land,”i.e., where the Dharma is proclaimed; (3) to be in possession of normal faculties; (4) to be one who is not karmically inclined to great negativity; and (5) to have faith in the Dharma. The five extrinsic endowments are the facts that (1) a Buddha has appeared in the universe in which one is living, and at an accessible time; (2) that he has expounded the Doctrine; (3) that his Doctrine still persists; (4) that it is practiced; and (5) that one has been accepted as a disciple by a spiritual master.

Whereby the aims of beings may be gained. If now I fail to turn it to my profit,

How could such a chance be mine again?[p.32]The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)
Blankleder, Helena, and Wulstan Fletcher (Padmakara Translation Group), trans. The Way of the Bodhisattva: A Translation of the Bodhicharyāvatāra. By Śāntideva. Rev. ed. Shambhala Classics. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2006.

Padmakara 2006

The Way of the Bodhisattva (2006)

Browse other translations

Standard Tibetan §Padmakara used the 1990 edition printed by si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang: Byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa rtsa ba dang 'grel pa (1990). Also found in Derge Tengyur D3871, dbu ma, vol. 105, la 1b1–40a7. - Other translations

Qu’il est difficile de trouver ces libertés et ces richesses

Qui permettent l’homme de donner un sens à sa vie ! Si je ne parviens pas à en tirer profit maintenant,

Comment en trouverai-je à nouveau d’authentiques ?

Padmakara France 2007

Bodhicaryâvatâra: La marche vers l'éveil (2007)

Estas libertades y condiciones favorables21Para poder progresar hacia la Iluminación, es necesario poseer ocho libertades y diez condiciones favorables. Las primeras son: la libertad de no haber nacido (1) en alguno de los infiernos, (2) como un preta o espíritu hambriento, (3) como un animal, (4) en los reinos de los dioses, (5) entre los bárbaros que ignoran las enseñanzas y las prácticas del darma, (6) teniendo puntos de vista erróneos respecto al karma y demás, (7) en una época y lugar en el que un buda no ha aparecido, y (8) siendo física o mentalmente discapacitado. Las diez condiciones favorables se subdividen en las cinco condiciones favorables personales y las cinco condiciones favorables circunstanciales. Las cinco condiciones favorables personales son: (1) nacer como un ser humano,(2) habitar en un “lugar central”, es decir donde el darma ha sido enseñado, (3) poseer todas las facultades, (4) no ser alguien inclinado kármicamente a un modo de vida erróneo (muy negativo), y (5) tener fe en el darma. Las cinco condiciones favorables circunstanciales son: (1) un buda ha aparecido en el universo en el que uno habita y en un periodo asequible, (2) ese buda ha enseñado el darma, (3) sus enseñanzas todavía existen, (4) pueden ser practicadas y (5) uno ha sido acogido por un maestro espiritual., tan difíciles de encontrar,

permiten con este nacimiento humano alcanzar nuestro objetivo. Si no me beneficio ahora de ellas,

¿cómo voy a poder conseguirlas de nuevo?[p.54]La Práctica del Bodisatva
Hervás, María Jesús (Padmakara Translation Group, Spain), trans. La Práctica del Bodisatva: Una Traducción del Bodicharyavatara de Shantideva. Translated from the 2006 English translation of Helena Blankleder and Wulstan Fletcher. Novelda, Alicante, Spain: Ediciones Dharma, 2008.

Padmakara Spain 2008

La Práctica del Bodisatva

To find such freedoms and endowments is extremely rare.

If I do not do anything beneficial now To achieve the purpose of sentient beings

How shall I subsequently attain it perfectly?

Stracke 2016

The Entrance for the Children of the Conquerors

This leisure and endowment are very hard to find.

Since their attainment accomplishes the purpose of being human. If one fails to accomplish this benefit now,

How will such a perfect opportunity come about again?[p.40]A Commentary on Shantideva's Engaging in the Conduct of the Bodhisattvas
Gyaltsen, Lama Kalsang, and Ani Kunga Chodron, trans. A Commentary on Shantideva's Engaging in the Conduct of the Bodhisattvas Written by Sazang Mati Panchen: Known as An Extremely Clear Illumination of the Meaning of the Text. Walden, NY: Tsechen Kunchab Ling, 2019. First edition published by The Yeshe Dorje Foundation in 2006.

Chodron & Gyaltsen 2019

A Commentary on Shantideva's Engaging in the Conduct of the Bodhisattvas

It is extremely difficult to acquire the freedoms and endowments

Which make this human birth meaningful. If I fail to benefit from it now,

How will I get a chance like this again?

Sönam Tsemo & O'Sullivan 2019

Bodhicaryāvatāra with Commentary (O'Sullivan)

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Dūnhuáng §This version is extracted from the book Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra: Entering the Way of the Bodhisattvas (2022, Khenpo Gawang and Wiener), a translation of an edition of the text created from three Dūnhuáng manuscripts. A description and sample pages of these can be found on the Early Tibet Blog. Scans of the actual manuscripts themselves can be found at http://idp.bl.uk

source

translation

དལ་འབྱོར་འདི་ནི་རྙེད་པར་ཤིན་ཏུ་དཀའ། །

སྐྱེས་བུའི་དོན་སྒྲུབ་ཐོབ་པར་གྱུར་པ་ལ། ། གལ་ཏེ་འདི་ལ་ཕན་པ་མ་བསྒྲུབས་ན། །

ཕྱིས་འདི་ཡང་དག་འབྱོར་པར་ག་ལ་འགྱུར། །

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This version differs from it's counterparts.

It is extremely difficult to obtain this free and well-favored [birth].

At this time, we are able to accomplish the goal of human beings. If we do not make our lives beneficial,

How will we later obtain such an excellent opportunity?

Gawang & Wiener 2022

Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra: Entering the Way of the Bodhisattvas (2022, Khenpo Gawang and Wiener)

Tsadra Critical Edition §This text was created by comparing four versions of the text from Derge, Cone, Narthang, and Peking Tengyurs from BDRC scans, along with Dunhuang manuscripts IOL Tib J 628, 629, and 630. When Tibetan readings were problematic, the Sanskrit texts from GRETIL and LTB (Oslo) were consulted.

དལ་འབྱོར་འདི་ནི་རྙེད་པར་ཤིན་ཏུ་དཀའ། །

སྐྱེས་བུའི་དོན་སྒྲུབ་ཐོབ་པར་གྱུར་པ་ལ། ། གལ་ཏེ་འདི་ལ་ཕན་པ་[p.105-1-1b]མ་བསྒྲུབས་ན། །

ཕྱིས་འདི་ཡང་དག་འབྱོར་པར་ག་ལ་འགྱུར། །

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Tsadra Critical Edition

The Written Works of Śāntideva (Phuntsho 2025)

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