With Explanatory Notes Based on Tibetan Commentaries and a Preface by His Holiness Sakya Trizin
"Nagarjuna's Letter to King Gautamiputra" is a concise and comprehensive explanation of the fundamentals of the Buddha's teaching and of the Buddhist path to liberation. Written by the renowned sage Nagarjuna for his friend and patron Gautamiputra the then King of Andhra in the South of India, the work which contains one hundred and twenty three verses achieved great popularity first in India and then in Tibet. Though the Sanskrit original of the work is lost, the present English translation has been made from the Tibetan version preserved in the Tibetan collection. Explanatory notes based on three authoritative Tibetan commentaries have been added to the text. The Tibetan text of the verses of Nagarjuna's letter is also included to assist students and scholars who wish to consult the Tibetan version.
Nagarjuna's Letter to King Gautamiputra, Nagarjuna, Sakya Trizin (commentary), Jamspal, Chophel, Santina (translators), Motilal Banarsidass, Hardcover, 118 pages, $20.00
A great deal has been written and said about Nagarjuna, the Second century Bodhisattva and author of many famous texts of Buddhist philosophy, in� recent years.� Nagarjuna certainly deserves the attention he has received.� He has been held in the highest esteem by at least two of the major Buddhist traditions of the world.� The Tibetan and Mongolian traditions regard him as the founder of one of the most important philosophical systems of the Mahayana, that is the Madhyamaka and the Ch'an and Zen traditions regard him as one of the earliest of their patriarchs.� There is also much more than mere tradition to attest to Nagarjuna's importance.� There is a vast amount of written material attributed to Nagarjuna.� Even if we exclude the Tantric works which modern scholars� refuse to recognize as authentic, there are still a large number of texts which were undoubtedly written by Nagarjuna.� Among these are his very significant works on philosophy such as the Foundation Stanzas of the Middle Way, Mulamadhyamakakarika, and numerous others.
Naturally modern scholars have been drawn to Nagarjuna's philosophical works because of their very great significance laying out as they do the foundations of the philosophy of Emptiness or Relativity.� Some important and valuable knowledge has been disseminated in this way about the philosophy of Emptiness, and even at this moment many scholars are busy working� on new� translations� of� Nagarjuna's� works� and explanations of his teaching.� It is probably true to say that Nagarjuna in particular and the Madhyamaka in general are the most popular subjects currently being studied by Buddhologists.
The extraordinary interest in Nagarjuna's philosophical works which has been evinced by modern scholars has unfortunately also had a negative side effect as well.� It is that Nagarjuna, for many modern scholars and students, seems a distant and rarefied personality, a logician, a dialectician, and most of all a knower of the highest and most subtle truth, the truth of Emptiness.� Nagarjuna certainly was some of these things, but he was also a very good friend, companion and mentor in the common practical affairs of everyday life.� This is a side of Nagarjuna which has too often been neglected by modern scholars.� Some of them even forget that Nagarjuna was a good Buddhist, and besides Emptiness, taught all the basic Buddhist truths and practices.
The Kh�n family, to which His Holiness Sakya Trizin belongs, has a long history that extends back more than 1400(?????) years to pre-Buddhist Tibet. The Sakya Kh�n family�s ancestors were �The Gods of the Realm of Clear Light� and so the family was known as Lha-Rig or �The Celestial Race�. Later, when they subjugated the Rakshas, they were called The Immaculate �Kh�n Gyi Dhung� or �The Family of Conquerors�.� In the later eleventh century when they established the Sakyapa Order of Tibetan Buddhism, they were called �The Sakyapa Lineage�.
In more recent times they became known as �The Dolma Phodrang� or �The Tara Palace Lineage�, as their palace was next to the Turquoise Tara Shrine at the Sakya monastery in Tibet. From the advent of the Kh�n race until now, many famous masters have appeared without interruption in this illustrious lineage, including the five great founders of the Sakyapa Order.
Vajradhara Ngawang Conga Rinchen, the previous head of the Sakya Dolma Phodrang, and Sonam Drolkar, the sister of a renowned minister of the Tibetan government had four children together. The eldest, a daughter whose name is Jetsun Chime Thrinley was born in 1938 and currently lives and teaches in Canada. The next born were a son and daughter who both passed away in infancy.
Their youngest son, the present Sakya Trizin, was born in the Sixteenth Rabjong* in the year of The Wood Bird on the first day of the eight-month which is September 7th, 1945. He was born at the Sakya Palace of Tsedong.
Immediately after his birth, profound rituals were performed to increase his wisdom, including tracing the letter �Dhih� on his tongue. Many auspicious signs occurred on the day of his birth. A rainbow tent appeared above the palace and milk collected from one hundred different Dris (female yaks) were offered to the palace as well as a statue of Guru Padmasambhava. While he was an infant, his name was Ayu Vajra. Later, when his father gave him his first major initiation of �The Nine Deities of Amitayus�, he was given his present name Ngawang Kunga Thegchen Palber Thrinley Samphel Wangyi Gyalpo.
When the family returned to the main Sakya monastery the next year there was an extensive celebration of the anniversary of his birth. He received the major initiation of Vajrakilaya and many other profound teachings from his father. Both parents died while His Holiness was still young so his maternal aunt, Thrinley Paljor Sangmo, with great kindness, took extremely good care of him. She appointed Jamphel Ponlop Kunga Gyaltsen as his first tutor and from him he learned the fundamental of the Tibetan reading, writing, memorization and the recitation of basic prayers. He learned chanting, music, ritual dancing, mudras and other subjects from his junior tutor Kunga Tsewang.
After completion of these studies, a great celebration was held in which the Sakya Trizin officially entered both the Mahayana and Vajrayana monasteries to perform the traditional Sakya ceremonies. When His Holiness finished his studies at the Sakya Monasteries, he went to receive teachings at the Ngor E-Wam monastery. There, at the age of five, he received �The Common and Uncommon Lamdre� and many other profound teachings, bestowed upon him by his main root guru the great Ngor abbot, Vajradhara Ngawang Lodroe Zhenphen Nyingpo.
In 1951 the Sakya Trizin made a pilgrimage to Lhasa. There, at the age of six, he was designated the throne holder of the Sakya Order by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Accordingly, the next year a preliminary enthronement ceremony was performed in which he accepted the official seals of the office of the Sakya Trizin.
The following year from Ngawang Zhenphen Nyingpo�s regent, Ngawang Tenzin Nyingpo, His Holiness received the initiation and reading transmission of �The collection of Dharanas�. From Lama Ngawang Lodroe Rinpoche, he received the initiations and profound oral instructions of the Three Red Deities, Three Vajra Yoginis and the two main Protectors of the Sakya Order.
At the age of eleven he made another pilgrimage to Lhasa during which he received Dharma instructions in the Potala from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. There, before a large audience, he gave an extensive explanation of the Mandala offering due to which his wisdom came to be proclaimed throughout Tibet. During this period, from Jamyang Khyentse Choekyi Lodroe, he received many tantric initiations and teachings according to the Sakya tradition as well as the teachings and initiations of the Dzogchen Lineage. In 1957, he received the Lamdre again, this time from the great abbot Vajradhara Jamphel Sangpo, according to the tradition of the Kh�n Lineage Transmission.
In 1959, at the age of fourteen, he was formally enthroned as the Sakya Trizin, beginning with a seven day Mahakala ritual followed by an elaborate three day enthronement ceremony during which representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government were in attendance. Later that year, due to change in the political situation of Tibet, His Holiness along with some of his attendants moved to India.
The next year, His Holiness established the Ghoom Monastery in Darjeeling and Sa-Ngor Choetsog in Gangtok and thus began his task of reassembling the Sangha. On many different occasions in Tibet, as well as in India, His Holiness received extensive philosophical teaching in Logic, Abhidharma, Pragna Paramita and The Clarification of the Three Vows from many great scholars like the abbots Dosep Thupten, Tritso Rinchen and Serjong Appey. From the last of them, he also received a thorough and detailed explanation of The Hevajra Root Tantra and many related teachings.
From one of the four Ngor abbots, Phendhe Khen Rinpoche, he received the initiation and explanation of The Yamantaka in the Ra Lotsawa tradition as well as The Collected Writings of Ngorchen Khonchog Lhundrub. In 1964, He undertook the task of reestablishing the main seat of Sakya Order in Rajpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. In 1968 in order to benefit the lay followers of the Sakya Order, he established the Tibetan settlement in Puruwala in Himachal Pradesh, India.
During the years 1971 and 72, he received the initiations from �The Collection of All Tantras�, �The Collected Writing of Ngorchen Kunga Sangpo�, �The Uncommon Lamdre from the Tsarpa Tradition� and �The One Hundred Teachings of the Jonang Tradition� from Chogye Trichen Rinpoche Ngawang Khyenrab Legshey Gyatso.
In 1974, to maintain the unbroken lineage of Kh�n family, His Holiness married Dagmo Kusho Tashi Lhakyi, the daughter of a minister of the king of Dege. That year was highlighted by the auspicious birth of their elder son Ratna Vajra. In 1978, he received the complete reading transmission of �The Collected Works of the Five Great Founders of Sakyapa Tradition� and �The Collected Tantric Works of the Omniscient Teacher Gorampa� from the Lord of Refuge Deschung Rinpoche. In 1979, his younger son Gyana Vajra was born. The following Year, His Holiness performed the opening ceremony of the main Sakya monastery Thupten Namgyal Ling in Puruwala, Himachal Pradesh.
In order to promote higher education and extensive philosophical training and to maintain the living transmission of the Sakyapa teachings and commentaries, His Holiness requested his own tutor, the most venerable Khenpo Appey Rinpoche, to establish the Sakya College and to be the Dean of the college. Through his hard work and vast wisdom, the Sakya College was established in 1972.
Since then, the college has produced monks with exceptional scholastic virtues and caliber who had come from various monasteries. At the college they received high quality and in depth instructions in Tantra, Sutra and other common subjects. After graduation, they have returned to their respective monasteries or, as assigned by His Holiness, to serve in various capacities within the Sakya Order. Thus, they have contributed greatly to the spread of this glorious tradition all over the world and benefited many sentient beings. Through establishment of the Sakya College, His Holiness has revitalized both the sutric and tantric traditions of the Tibetan Buddhism and ensured the continuity of a new generation of well trained teachers and practitioners.
Until now, His Holiness has performed major and minor retreats of twenty deities of the Sakya Lineage. From a very young age he has undertaken many retreats and has given many initiations such as �The Upper and The Lower Initiations of Vajrakilaya�. Since his arrival in India, he has given �The Common Lamdre� on four occasions and �The Uncommon Lamdre� once. In addition, he was bestowed �The Common Lamdre� four times and �The Uncommon Lamdre� twice overseas. Therefore in total he has given �Lamdre� eleven times and �The Collection of Sadhanas� thrice and has bestowed many initiations on �The Collection of Tantras�. For the benefit of those who wish to study Lord Buddha�s doctrine, His Holiness has turned the wheel of Dharma all over the world. So far, he has given teachings in America, Australia, Canada, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Monaco, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Thailand.
To all of his fortunate disciples, he has extended his infinite compassion and wisdom. This is evident in the books he has written. Until the present day, he has written two volumes containing the detailed list of all the teachings he has received from various masters and another volume enumerating the works of the great masters of the Sakyapa Order. He has also written an autobiography of two volumes and another in a brief version. He has written profoundly upon the Birwapa�s �Guru Yoga Puja� and many other ritual texts and composed dedication prayers as well as many other short verses. To preserve an unbroken lineage of teachings and the tradition of the Kh�n family, he has ensured that his two sons are receiving an extensive education of the Buddha Dharma.
In short, His Holiness Sakya Trizin upholds the entire Buddhist doctrines and has spread it far and wide throughout the world. He has been an unfailing source of wisdom and compassion for all of his Dharma students. Most of the time when he is not on a teaching tour and when he is not engaged in other religious commitments, he lives in Rajpur, Dehradun, at the Sakya Dolma Phodrang, and extends his infinite compassion and blessings to a stream of devotee everyday.
CONTENTS
Preface By His Holiness Sakya Trizin vii
List of Illustrations x
Foreword By The Translators xi
Introduction xiii
General Outline Of Nagarjuna's Letter To King Gautamiputra xix
Nagarjuna's Letter to King Gautamiputra with Explanatory Notes 1
Appendix I
� � The Tibetan Text Of Nagarjuna's Letter to King Gautamiputra 69
Appendix II
� � Glossary Of Some English Terms Used In The Text With Tibetan And Sanskrit Equivalents 113
Index 117
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