The Prophecy Concerning Strivivarta

The Prophecy Concerning Strivivarta (Skt. Strīvivartavyākaraṇa; Tib. བུད་མེད་འགྱུར་བ་ལུང་བསྟན་པ།, Wyl. bud med ’gyur ba lung bstan pa) — in this sutra, Subhuti, one of the Shakyamuni Buddha’s close disciples, enters into a discussion with several individuals in the course of his alms rounds. His primary interlocutor is a laywoman who reveals herself to be a bodhisattva great being named Strivivarta; her teachings are profound and challenging, consistently pointing in the direction of ultimate truth. The sutra culminates in the Buddha prophesying Strivivarta’s future enlightenment.

Text

The original Sanskrit of this sutra no longer seems to be extant, but no less than five Chinese translations are found in the Taisho canon, the earliest of which is datable to the late third century.

Tibetan Translation

The Tibetan translation of this sutra can be found in the General Sutra section of the Tibetan Dergé Kangyur, Toh 190. According to the colophon to the Tibetan translation, the text was translated into Tibetan by the two Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Prajñavarman, along with the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé and others. This locates the Tibetan translation in the late eighth or early ninth century.

• English translation: The Prophecy Concerning Strīvivarta