THE SUMMARY OF THE TREATISE W hat is it to uphold the Dharma o f scripture? you ask According to the scrip tures, these, the scriptures, are upheld only by those who, after coming to know them, teach them to others with an unafflicted intention This is also called upholding the baskets, upholding the scriptural Dharma, and upholding the teachings A nd those who uphold realization accomplish them , the dharmas of the factors o f enlightenment, within their being and practice them As there are no upholders o f the teachings or True Dharm a other than these two, the word only is said The upholders o f the scriptures are the supports for those who speak and accomplish The unerring supports for the scriptures are those with accom plishment Only those who have accomplishment are the upholders of real ization because without accomplishing it, one cannot teach the meaning one has realized Therefore the True D harm a will remain as long as there are beings who speak and accomplish the Dharma In particular, as far as the teachings o f the Teacher Shakyamuni, the autocommentary explains, “They will remain for a thousand years.” Some say that this is in terms o f realization, but that the scriptures will remain a thousand years longer than that This latter is also the explanation o f the authors of the tikas The Prince explains: “The scriptures will remain for a long time” means that they will remain another thousand years I view this position only as logical From The Good Aeon?*1 The True Dharm a of the Thus-G one Shakyamuni will remain for a thousand years For another five hundred years, a pseudo True Dharma The M inor Topics also say Dharm a will remain for a thousand years The Sutra Requested by Candragarbha348 explains that it will remain for two thousand years and be destroyed by the strife of Kaushambir Master Kamalaslla says in his commentary on the Vajra Cutter Sutra, “It is renowned among the learned that the teachings will last five times five hundred years.” In the Commentary on the H undred Thousand ,349 it is said that by dividing five thousand into sections, there are ten periods of five hundred years In the first, many arhats will appear; in the second, many nonreturners, and in the third, many stream-enterers, so these are the three chapters o f the period of results In the fourth period, there will be many who abide by the trainings of full knowing In the fifth, by the trainings of mind, and in the sixth, by the 579 YOUTHFUL PLAY * AREA VIII trainings o f discipline, so these are the three chapters o f the period o f accom plishment In the seventh, there will be many who uphold the abhidharma; in the eighth, who uphold the basket o f sutras, and in the ninth, who uphold the vinaya, so these are the three chapters o f the period o f scripture The tenth is called the chapter o f those who hold merely the signs, and it is also labeled the last five hundred After that the True Dharm a will disappear At that time, the lifespan of humans in the Rose-Apple Land will be fifty years Now the lifespan is sixty years and it is the period of the abhidharma, it says According to the calculations in the Glorious Rangjung Dorje s A Clarifi cation o f the Four Times o f the Omniscient Lord?50 the duration the teachings will remain is set at strictly five thousand years Calculating from this Fire Rat year (1576), in the completed year of the Female W ood Pig (1575), 952 years had passed since the completion of the three five-hundred-year periods o f re sults Another 2548 years are thought to remain B The actual summary of the treatise itself This has three topics: How the treatise was composed, Confessing mistakes, and Advice to be care ful How the treatise was composed 40ab I mostly have explained this abhidharma According to the Kashmiri Exposition Is the abhidharma explained in this treatise the abhidharma that the Teacher explained? you ask I, Vasubandhu, have explained this Dharma of the Treasury o f Abhidharma partially according to the tradition o f the Sutra school and the Aparantaka Great Exposition However, I m ostly have explained this abhid harm a according to the school of the Kashmiri Great Exposition, because I explained it in Kashmir strictly according to the Exposition Confessing mistakes 40cd Any mistakes herein are solely ours; The Sages are the authority in Dharma Any mistakes in words or meaning herein, in this treatise, are solely my,351 the authors, own errors and mistakes However, it is not a great wonder that some one like me would confuse the words and meaning in explaining the meaning of the scriptures: the Bhagavan Sages and their children, arhats who have the 580 THE SUMMARY OF THE TREATISE eye of the Dharma, are the authority in the words and meaning of the True Dharm a This completes the eighth area called “Teachings on the Absorptions” from the Verses o f the Treasury ofAbhidharma This completes the explanation of the eighth area called “Teachings on the Absorptions” from The Explanation o f the “Verses o f the Treasury o fA b h id harm a” called The Essence o f the Ocean ofAbhidharma, The Words o f Those who Know and Love, Explaining the Youthful Play, Opening the Eyes o f Dharma, the Chariot o f Easy Practice Advice to be careful This has two points a Teaching the dangers of carelessness 41 The Teacher, the eye of the world, has been closed; The beings who were witness have mostly perished Those who haven’t seen thatness, those who are bad logicians And headstrong have confounded the teachings 42 The one self-born, those who cherish his teachings, Have passed into the supreme peace There’s no refuge O r counsel for beings, and the stains that slay qualities Run rampant in this at their pleasure 43a-c And so, as we know that for the Sage’s teachings, It’s as if the last breaths now rasp in the throat, That this is a time when the stains have great strength: As he taught his disciples the distinction between what is the path that leads to liberation and what is not, the Teacher, the Bhagavan, is like the eye o f the world T hat eye has been closed— he has passed into nirvana— and it is as if worldly folk have been left sightless T he beings other than the Buddha who were witness to the dharma, the noble beings such as Kasyapa, have mostly passed into nirvana and perished Blinded by ignorance, those ordinary indi viduals who have no t seen the thatness o f Dharm a and who are bad logicians and headstrong, following pseudo reasoning w ithout relying on the Teacher’s scriptures, have confounded the teachings of the Teacher through exaggeration and denigration T he one Bhagavan, who is self-born, having found wisdom in his last ex istence without anyone to explain the scriptures, and those who cherish his, 581 YOUTHFUL PLAY # AREA VIII the self-borns, teachings have passed without any remainder of the aggregates into the supreme peace that is superior to samsara W ithout the Buddha or his children, there is no refuge or counsel who can give correct instruction for beings, and the stains of bad views and so forth th at are the cause that slays the previously explained qualities and makes the teachings disappear run ram pant in this world at their pleasure, or indiscriminately And so, as we who are intelligent know th at for the Sage s teachings, the teachings of the Buddha, it is as if, for example, the last breaths at the ap proach o f the time of death now rasp in the throat and will not remain long, and as we know th at this is a tim e w hen the stains of bad views have great strength, follow the forthcoming advice b Advice to rely on carefulness 43d All those who want freedom, be careful! In this manner, all those who fervently w ant the freedom o f nirvana, be care ful in everything! is the heartfelt advice T hat is the root of all virtuous dharmas In the words o f the Bhagavan: Carefulness is a place of deathlessness; Carelessness is a place of death Those who are careful will not die; The careless always die.352 The meaning o f these is explained in Letter to a Friend:™ A place o f nectar, carefulness; but a place O f death is carelessness, the Sage declared Thus to develop virtuous qualities, You always should act with respect and care Also from Individual Liberation:354 Venerable ones, aging and death will truly come, and the teachings o f the Teacher will be destroyed, so the venerable should practice the yogas o f carefulness The enlightenment of the Bhagavan Arhat Complete Perfect Buddha and the virtuous dharmas that are compatible w ith it, the factors o f enlightenm ent, all attained through carefulness 582 THE SUMMARY OF THE TREATISE Thus it is said C The manner of completing the explanation This has two points Teaching the completing words This completes the Verses on the Treasury ofAbhidharma composed by Master Vasubandhu The translator's colophon Translated into Tibetan by the Indian Abbot Jinamitra and the Tibetan translator Bande Kawa Paltsek and then corrected and finalized And now to say a few words about the reason for completing this work: O n Vindhyas lofty slopes o f two accumulations, The kushu stalks of powers and other qualities Flourish with utter brilliance o f youthfulness— Great sage and master of the spring, please grant me refuge Sagaras sons, the beings of degenerate times, Are stained and sullied by their various views At once you cleanse them with the natural Ganges: Master Bhaglratha, grant me protection.355 Upon the Snow Land s eastern m ountain face of merit, The fully waxing light of good and virtue From Konchok Lama, Shakyamuni’s true disciple, Conquers at once all darkness on three levels W hat need have we of tales of how in Magadha The Shakyan prince bestowed three Dharm a Wheels O n the three families? The perfect Buddha is here And truly present as the wish-fulfilling jewel! Additionally, my master, the great scholar Renowned as the victorious over all,356 Is the most venerable in the Snow Land, As rich in peace and tameness as Upali 583 ... “Teachings on the Absorptions” from the Verses o f the Treasury ofAbhidharma This completes the explanation of the eighth area called “Teachings on the Absorptions” from The Explanation o f the “Verses... Bhagavan Sages and their children, arhats who have the 580 THE SUMMARY OF THE TREATISE eye of the Dharma, are the authority in the words and meaning of the True Dharm a This completes the eighth area... discipline, so these are the three chapters o f the period o f accom plishment In the seventh, there will be many who uphold the abhidharma; in the eighth, who uphold the basket o f sutras, and in the