Ratnagotravibhāga (text)

The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (Sanskrit, abbreviated as RGV, meaning: ''Analysis of the Jeweled Lineage, Investigating the Jewel Disposition'') and its ''vyākhyā'' commentary (abbreviated RGVV to refer to the RGV verses along with the embedded commentary), is an influential Mahāyāna Buddhist treatise on buddha-nature (a.k.a. tathāgatagarbha). The text is also known as the ''Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra (The Ultimate Teaching of the Mahāyāna).''Gardner, Alex. "On the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''." ''Buddha-Nature: A Tsadra Foundation Initiative'', September 12, 2018. https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/Articles/On_the_Ratnagotravibh%C4%81ga.

The RGVV was originally composed in Sanskrit, likely between the middle of the third century and no later than 433 CE.Takasaki (1966), The text and its commentary are also preserved in Tibetan and Chinese translations''.''

The ''Ratnagotra'' focuses on the buddha nature present in all sentient beings, which is eternal, blissful, unconditioned and originally pure. This buddha nature is obscured by defilements, but when they are removed, the buddha nature is termed dharmakaya, the ultimate Buddha body. The buddha nature is what is referred to as the "jewel disposition" or "jeweled lineage" (''ratnagotra'') of the Buddhas. The RGVV often quotes from various tathāgatagarbha sutras and comments on them. The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' is an important and influential text in Tibetan Buddhism and was also important for the Huayan school.Takasaki (1966), pp. 8-9.

The authorship is of the text is uncertain. The Tibetan tradition (as well as the later Indian sources) state that it was taught by the bodhisattva Maitreya and transmitted via Asanga, while earlier Chinese sources state it was written by a certain Indian named Jianyi (賢慧, Sanskrit reconstruction: *Sāramati or *Sthiramati)''.'' Modern scholarship favors the Chinese attribution.Hookham, S. K. (1991). The Buddha within: Tathagatagarbha doctrine according to the Shentong interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga. SUNY Press.
. Source

(accessed: Tuesday May 5, 2009), pp.165-166.

Titles

''Ratnagotravibhāga''

The Sanskrit ''gotra'' is a figurative term for family or lineage, while ratna means jewel or precious stone. In Yogacara Buddhism, gotra has the meaning of certain "dispositions" or "innate potential for spiritual achievement" that sentient beings have and which place them in five "families" corresponding to the three vehicles, undefined and icchantikas (deluded hedonists). The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' focuses on the family lineage and inner disposition (gotra) which allows all beings to become Buddhas, and thus is compared to a precious jewel (ratna). This is the unchanging buddha-nature that is present in all beings.

''Uttaratantraśāstra''

A secondary title for this work is ''Uttaratantraśāstra'' (''The Treatise on the Ultimate Teaching'') or ''Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra (The Treatise on the Ultimate Teaching of the Mahāyāna),'' indicating how it considers itself to be the highest and ultimate teaching of Mahayana Buddhism''.''Brunnhölzl (2015), p. 98.

This title has also been translated as ''Treatise on the Supreme Continuum''. Tantra can mean both "doctrine" or "teaching" as well as "continuum". The second way of interpreting the title refers to the fact that buddha-nature is an "everlasting continuum of the mind" (as noted by The 14th Dalai Lama) or a "continuous flow" (as Rongtön Sheja Kunrig and Go Lotsawa gloss the title). This pure continuum may be covered over by fleeting stains, but nevertheless remains as a continuity through many lives and into Buddhahood.

History

A Sanskrit RGVV was brought to China by Ratnamati (勒那摩提) in 508 CE where he translated the text to Chinese. This shows the whole text was available in India in the early 6th century. According to Kazuo Kano, no Indian texts quote the RGVV from the 7th to the 10th century, but it is cited in a significant number of Indian texts from the 11th to the 13th century.

Structure and textual layers

According to Brunnhölzl, "the text known as RGVV consists of three parts: (1) basic verses, (2) commentarial verses, and (3) prose commentary."Brunnhölzl (2015), p. 93. Brunnhölzl also notes that most scholars agree that the text is "a compilation of different elements" and they have "made attempts to identify the “original” core verses of the text".

In certain textual transmissions, the ''Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā'' (RGVV) commentary has become integrated with the RGV verses through the passage of time, even though there are also distinct standalone editions of the RGV and RGVV. Takasaki provided a valuable textual analysis of the Sanskrit critical edition edited by Johnston with those versions preserved in certain editions of the Chinese and Tibetan canon. Takasaki identified a textual core of the RGV with the most ancient verses of this core being extant in the Chinese. Extensive analysis of the critical Sanskrit text edited by Johnston (1950) with the Tibetan and Chinese versions, identified that the verses actually comprise two separate groups: a core set of 27 ślokas and 405 additional or supplementary verses of explication (Skt. ''kārikā''). The work of Takasaki and Johnston has been critiqued by the extensive reviews of such scholars as De Jong Jong, Jan W. de (1979). 'Review of Takasaki 1966'. ''Buddhist Studies by J. W. de Jong'', 563-82. Ed. by Gregory Schopen. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press. and Lambert Schmithausen.Schmithausen, Lambert (1971). 'Philologische Bemerkungen zum Ratnagotravibhaga.' ''Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde Südasiens'' 15, 123-77. Schmithausen disagrees with Takasaki's opinion that the earliest core of the RGV consists of 27 verses and instead opines that "the original RGV is constituted by the totality of basic verses. But this original RGV seems to have made use of several (perhaps only partly remodelIed) older materials."

Authorship

The text is attributed to the Indian Jianyi (賢慧, Sanskrit reconstruction: *Sāramati or *Sthiramati) in the earlier Chinese tradition, a claim first found in the work of the sixth century scholar Zhiyi''.''

The Tibetan tradition considers the verse portion to have been composed by the bodhisattva Maitreya and the prose commentary by Asanga''.'' The attribution of both the root verses and commentary to bodhisattva Maitreya is found in some late Indian sources (post 11th century)''.'' The discovery of a Sanskrit fragment of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' in Saka script (dated to the 9th century by Kazuo Kano) which mentions Maitreya bodhisattva as the author of the 'root' (mūla) verses also shows that Central Asian Buddhists also attributed the work to bodhisattva Maitreya. Meanwhile, the Sanskrit manuscript found in Tibet contains no attribution.Brunnhölzl (2015), p. 94.

Several scholars have suggested that the Chinese and Tibetan traditions may be reconciled if perhaps Sāramati was also given the epithet of "Maitreya" (or if, vice versa, Sāramati was an epithet of the bodhisattva Maitreya), but Kazuo Kano notes that there is no evidence to support this''.''

According to Karl Brunnhölzl, modern scholars have varying opinions on the authorship of the RGV: "the main positions include a total denial of a historic person named Maitreya, the author of these texts being someone called Maitreya but not the great bodhisattva Maitreya, and these works being com posed by Asanga or other persons"Brunnhölzl (2015), p. 81. The Japanese scholar Takasaki Jikido is certain that the author of the commentary is Sāramati through his comparison of the RGVV with the Chinese translation of the '' Dharmadhātvaviśeṣaśāstra'' (''Dasheng fajie wuchabie lun'' 大乘法界無差別論) which is also said to have been authored by the same figure. Jonathan Silk also argues that both texts were by the same author.

Peter Harvey also finds the attribution to Maitreya / Asanga less plausible than the Chinese attribution.Harvey, Peter (2012), ''An Introduction to Buddhism'', pp. 138-139. Cambridge University Press. According to Shenpen Hookam, most modern scholars favor Sāramati (c. 3rd-4th century CE) as the author.

Versions and transmission

Sanskrit

The critical edition of the RGVV in Sanskrit was first published by Johnston, ''et al.'' (1950). This critical edition of Johnston is founded on two manuscripts discovered by Rev. Rāhula Sāñkṛtyāyana (1893–1963) in Tibet.Takasaki, Jikido (1966). ''A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra) Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism'' (Rome Oriental Series 33). Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, p.6

Of the complete extant Sanskrit [Johnston, ''et al.'' (1950)Johnston, E. H. (ed.) & Chowdhury, T. (indexation)(1950). ''The Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānanottaratantraśāstra''. Patna. (NB: seen through the press and furnished with indexes by T. Chowdhury).], Tibetan and Chinese manuscript versions, recension or interpolations of the text (according to perspective), Takasaki (1966) considered the Chinese translation of a no longer extant Sanskrit text to be the oldest manuscript in existence, though it may not represent the original Sanskrit perfectly.Takasaki, Jikido (1966). ''A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra) Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism'' (Rome Oriental Series 33). Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, p.7

Chinese

According to Takasaki (1966: p. 7), the Chinese Canon retains one translation of the RGVV, which is titled ''Jiūjìng yìchéng bǎoxìng lùn'' (究竟一乘寶性論, which can be back-translated into Sanskrit as: ''Uttara-ekayāna-ratnagotra-śāstra''). Its Taisho Daizokyo location is No. 1611, Vol.31. The work was translated by Ratnamati at Luoyang in 511 AD.

Tibetan

Takasaki holds the Tibetan Tanjur to retain two versions of the RGV:
*''Theg-pa-chen-po rgyud-bla ma'i bstan-bcos'' (''Mahāyāna-uttaratantra-śāstra''), Tohoku Catalogue No. 4024;
*''Theg-pa-chen-po rgyud-bla-ma'i bstan-bcos rnam-par-bsad-pa'' (''Mahāyāna-uttaratantra-śāstra-vyākhyā''), Tohoku Catalogue No. 4025.

Both of these versions were translated in Srinagar ( Kashmir) by Matiprajña (Sanskrit, 1059–1109, also known as Ngok Loden Sherab) under the guidance of Kashmiri Pandits 'Ratnavajra' (Wylie: ''Rin-chen rdo-rje'') and Sajjana, towards the close of the 11th century CE.

Shenpen Hookham affirms that there are precious few records of the RGV or RGVV in India and that their traditional recorded history commences with their 'rediscovery' by the 11th century yogin Maitripa (who was also named Maitreyanātha). According to Hookam, there is no evidence that the work was associated with the bodhisattva Maitreya before the time of Maitripa. However, Klaus-Dieter Mathes has shown that Maitripa's teachers, Jñanasrimitra (980-1040) and Ratnākaraśānti, must have had access to the RGV, RGVV and/or their extracts, since it is quoted and paraphrased in Jñanasrimitra's ''Sākārasiddhiśāstra'' and ''Sākārasamgraha'', as well as in Ratnākaraśānti's ''Sūtrasamuccayabhāṣya''.

Tsering Wangchuk has examined the intellectual history of the RGV in Tibet from the 12th century to the early 15th century.

English Translations

Eugène Obermiller (1901–1935) pioneered the research into the ''Ratnagotra'' literature through his translation of the Tibetan RGVV under the name of the ''Uttara-tantra-shastra'' in 1931. Obermiller interpreted the text as an example of monism. The verse portion of the RGV has been translated several times into English, including by E. Obermiller (1931) and Rosemary Fuchs (2000).

The English translations by Takasaki Jikido (1966) and Karl Brunnhölzl (2015, from Tibetan) are the only English translations of the complete RGVV, which includes the commentary.

Doctrinal content

A ritual vajra, a symbol of indestructibility, which is used in the RGV as an image of the adamantine-like permanence of buddha nature.
The text consists of about 430 Sanskrit verses with a prose commentary (''vyākhyā'') that includes substantial quotations from tathāgatagarbha oriented sutras (amounting to up to one third of the RGVV).

The seven vajra topics

The RGV structures its doctrinal content through seven main topics, which it calls the seven "vajra points" or " adamantine topics".

These seven topics are:Brunnhölzl (2015), p. 125

* Vajra topic one is the Buddha, here described as without beginning, middle and end. Buddha is also described as peace and as the uncompounded (''asamskrta''), and spontaneous (''anabhoga'') ''dharmakāya.'' The Buddha is further described as self-enlightened and as self-arisen wisdom ( jñana) which is "not awakened by a condition other than itself" (''aparapratyayabhisambodhi''). Buddha is further described as wisdom, compassion and power for the benefit of others.
* Vajra topic two is the Dharma, which is described as cessation