Bodhisattvagocarapariśuddhisūtrārthasaṃgraha
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बोधिसत्त्वगोचरपरिशुद्धिसूत्रार्थसंग्रह
Bodhisattvagocarapariśuddhisūtrārthasaṃgraha
བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་ཡུལ་ཡོངས་སུ་དག་པའི་མདོའི་དོན་མདོར་བསྡུས་པ།
byang chub sems dpa'i spyod yul yongs su dag pa'i mdo'i don mdor bsdus pa
A Concise Summary of the Meaning of the Sūtra on Purifying the Field of Activity of a Bodhisattva (84000)
Text
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Description
(The) Bodhisattvagocarapariśuddhi ("Purification of the Bodhisattva’s Sphere of Activities"), is attributed to a certain Rāhulabhadra whose precise identity remains uncertain. Depending on the sources and traditions, Rāhulabhadra is regarded either as the master of Nāgārjuna, the founder of the Madhyamaka School, or as a contemporary and follower of Nāgārjuna, or again as a successor of Āryadeva. In addition to this, Saraha, the renowned Vajrayāna master, is also known as Rāhulabhadra.[1] Since the Bodhisattvagocarapariśuddhi is based on the Mahāyāna sūtras, and since it is included in the Madhyamaka section of the Tibetan Tenjur (bsTan ’gyur), one would be inclined to attribute it to Rāhulabhadra associated with Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva. However, such attribution cannot be made with any certainty because this work is not ascribed to him in any other sources except for this one single entry in the Tibetan Tenjur.
. . . The text composed by Rāhulabhadra provides instructions on the mental attitude that a Bodhisattva should assume during his daily activities. According to this text, the principal goal of all such daily exercises is to purify the Bodhisattva's mental dispositions (saṃtāna) and actions, as well as the mental dispositions of all other living beings. . . . As the full title of this text indicates, it is based on the teachings of
the Mahāyāna sūtras. The daily practices described in this text do not appertain to the Bodhisattva's standard or major practices, but rather constitute an isolated and less known group of practices. (Skorupski, The Buddhist Forum, Vol. 6, 25–26)
Notes
1. D. Seyfort Ruegg, The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India, Wiesbaden,
Reference
Rāhulabhadra. Bodhisattvagocarapariśuddhisūtrārthasaṃgraha [बोधिसत्त्वगोचरपरिशुद्धिसूत्रार्थसंग्रह]. byang chub sems dpa'i spyod yul yongs su dag pa'i mdo'i don mdor bsdus pa [བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་ཡུལ་ཡོངས་སུ་དག་པའི་མདོའི་དོན་མདོར་བསྡུས་པ།]. [A Concise Summary of the Meaning of the Sūtra on Purifying the Field of Activity of a Bodhisattva (84000)]. Translated by Śākyaśrībhadra, Khro phu lo tsA ba byams pa dpal. Tengyur, RKTST 3306 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3306&typ=2.
Interconnections
1 Full translations
The Buddhist Forum, Volume VI, authored by Tadeusz Skorupski, brings together original scholarship and primary texts in translation tracing the Bodhisattva ideal from its earliest formulations in Indian Buddhism through its Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna elaborations. The volume opens with a wide-ranging historical survey of the Bodhisattva concept, examining its development across early Buddhist schools, the divergent positions of the Sthaviras and Mahāsāṅghikas, and its eventual reformulation as a universal path in Mahāyāna and Tantric Buddhism. This is followed by primary texts in Skorupski's translation that give practical expression to the ideals surveyed: Bodhibhadra's Bodhisattva Vow, Śākyaśrībhadra's Sevenfold Practice of the Dharma, and a series of liturgical and ritual texts encompassing eulogies of the Buddha's twelve deeds, hymns to the thirty-five confession Buddhas, devotional offerings to the Ḍākinīs, and sādhana literature covering self-generation, maṇḍala visualization, and the victorious vase. The volume further includes rites for the dying and deceased — transference of consciousness, liberation through hearing in the intermediate state, cremation ceremony, and the byang chog effigy ritual — alongside two substantial contributions: Abhayākaragupta's Jyotirmañjarī and a critical edition and study of Chapter Two of the Saṃpuṭa-tantra in Sanskrit and Tibetan. Together, these contributions illuminate the doctrinal history, devotional life, and ritual practice that constitute the living tradition of the Bodhisattva ideal across Buddhist India and Tibet.
1 Scholarship
The Buddhist Forum, Volume VI, authored by Tadeusz Skorupski, brings together original scholarship and primary texts in translation tracing the Bodhisattva ideal from its earliest formulations in Indian Buddhism through its Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna elaborations. The volume opens with a wide-ranging historical survey of the Bodhisattva concept, examining its development across early Buddhist schools, the divergent positions of the Sthaviras and Mahāsāṅghikas, and its eventual reformulation as a universal path in Mahāyāna and Tantric Buddhism. This is followed by primary texts in Skorupski's translation that give practical expression to the ideals surveyed: Bodhibhadra's Bodhisattva Vow, Śākyaśrībhadra's Sevenfold Practice of the Dharma, and a series of liturgical and ritual texts encompassing eulogies of the Buddha's twelve deeds, hymns to the thirty-five confession Buddhas, devotional offerings to the Ḍākinīs, and sādhana literature covering self-generation, maṇḍala visualization, and the victorious vase. The volume further includes rites for the dying and deceased — transference of consciousness, liberation through hearing in the intermediate state, cremation ceremony, and the byang chog effigy ritual — alongside two substantial contributions: Abhayākaragupta's Jyotirmañjarī and a critical edition and study of Chapter Two of the Saṃpuṭa-tantra in Sanskrit and Tibetan. Together, these contributions illuminate the doctrinal history, devotional life, and ritual practice that constitute the living tradition of the Bodhisattva ideal across Buddhist India and Tibet.
1 Related
The Gocarapariśuddhisūtra ("Sūtra on Purifying the Domain") is cited by Śāntideva in chapter 19 of the Śikṣāsamuccaya, "Enhancing Goodness," in his commentary on the first line of kārikā 26—"In all postures, for the benefit of sentient beings." After illustrating this line with quotations from the Ratnameghasūtra and the Prajñāpāramitā, Śāntideva directs the reader to the Gocarapariśuddhisūtra for its detailed explanation, without quoting from it directly.
The Gocarapariśuddhisūtra does not appear as an independently titled text in the Tibetan Kangyur. It corresponds to the "Pure Practice" chapter of the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra. The title it is also cited by Vasubandhu in his Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārabhāṣya and by Asvabhāva in his Mahāyānasaṃgrahopanibandhana. This pattern—an Avataṃsaka chapter circulating and being cited independently under its own Sanskrit title—parallels other chapter-sūtras of the Avataṃsaka cited by Śāntideva, such as the Vajradhvajasūtra and the Ratnolkādhāraṇī.
1 Related
The Gocarapariśuddhisūtra ("Sūtra on Purifying the Domain") is cited by Śāntideva in chapter 19 of the Śikṣāsamuccaya, "Enhancing Goodness," in his commentary on the first line of kārikā 26—"In all postures, for the benefit of sentient beings." After illustrating this line with quotations from the Ratnameghasūtra and the Prajñāpāramitā, Śāntideva directs the reader to the Gocarapariśuddhisūtra for its detailed explanation, without quoting from it directly.
The Gocarapariśuddhisūtra does not appear as an independently titled text in the Tibetan Kangyur. It corresponds to the "Pure Practice" chapter of the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra. The title it is also cited by Vasubandhu in his Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārabhāṣya and by Asvabhāva in his Mahāyānasaṃgrahopanibandhana. This pattern—an Avataṃsaka chapter circulating and being cited independently under its own Sanskrit title—parallels other chapter-sūtras of the Avataṃsaka cited by Śāntideva, such as the Vajradhvajasūtra and the Ratnolkādhāraṇī.
