The Stem Array · Gaṇḍavyūha

The title of the sūtra in which the Gaṇḍa­vyūha is the final chapter has also been interpreted variously. The word avataṃsaka is a substantiate of avataṃsa. In Classical Sanskrit, avataṃsa describes a garland or any circular ornamentation. For example, karṇāvataṃsa (ear avataṃsa) means “earring.” One peculiar Tibetan translation of buddhāvataṃsaka is “Buddha’s earring” (snyan gyi gong rgyan). A kusumāvataṃsa (flower avataṃsa) is a flower garland that is worn by a person, hence another Tibetan translation of buddhāvataṃsaka is “Buddha’s garland,” using an obscure archaic word for garland that has various spellings (rmad ga chad, rma ga chad, or rmag chad). Thomas Cleary, translating into English from the Chinese Huayan, calls it Flower Ornament. However, in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit (BHS), avataṃsaka means “a great number,” “a multitude,” or “a collection.” Therefore, we have the Tibetan version of the title as A Multitude of Buddhas (sangs rgyas phal po che). phal po che is used elsewhere in the Kangyur to translate Sanskrit words meaning “multitude,” such as nicaya, for “a great assembly of beings” (skye bo phal po che for mahat janakāya). Although this is the title given in all Kangyurs, some, such as the Urga and Degé have the title Flower Garland (rma ga chad) at the conclusion of each chapter, a possible indication that this was the earlier translation of the title, which has been left unchanged within the body of the text. However, the Mahāvyutpatti dictionary has phal po che for avataṃsaka, and neither rma ga chad nor its variant forms appear anywhere in the dictionary. This contradiction between the chapter colophons and the main title is absent in the Lhasa, Stok Palace, Narthang, Lithang, and Shelkar Kangyurs. This translation follows the example of those latter versions so as to avoid such an evident contradiction.

Whatever the intended meaning of the title, the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra does depict a multitude of buddhas, among which are multitudes of the Buddha Śākyamuni, all of whom are emanated by the Buddha Vairocana.

During the course of the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra we find that the Buddha Śākyamuni is but one of countless manifestations of the Buddha Vairocana. Śākyamuni is even referred to as the Buddha Vairocana. The Buddha Śākyamuni is depicted as being simultaneously present in various locations in our world realm: at the Bodhi tree, in the Trāyastriṃśa paradise of Indra, which is on the summit of Sumeru, in the Yāma and Tuṣita paradises high above Sumeru, and in the highest paradise in the realm of desire‍—the Para­nirmita­vaśa­vartin paradise. Śākyamuni is also depicted as being present in these same locations not only in our world realm but in countless other world realms. The Buddha Vairocana prayed to manifest in this way and to have vast assemblies that his manifestations would teach to, and these buddhas are the result of his prayer. According to the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra, not only is Vairocana the source of all buddhas everywhere, but all the bodhisattvas whom those buddhas teach were previously pupils of Buddha Vairocana.

This depiction of Śākyamuni as a Vairocana emanation has its precedent in a sūtra that was never translated into Tibetan, the Brahma­jāla­sūtra, which introduces the Buddha Vairocana as the buddha who is the source of ten billion Śākyamunis simultaneously existing in various worlds. This sūtra should not be confused with the early Buddhist Brahma­jāla­sūtra, which has an identical title but entirely different content. That Brahma­jāla­sūtra was translated into Tibetan³⁵ and is included within the Pali canon.

The Buddha Vairocana is therefore portrayed in the Buddhāvataṃsaka as the fundamental buddha who is the source of countless manifestations of the Buddha Śākyamuni. The Buddha Vairocana would also later become the central buddha in tantric traditions such as the Shingon tradition of Japan, which is based particularly on the Mahā­vairocanābhisambodhi Tantra (Toh 494).³⁶ Even in the higher tantras Vairocana still retains his position as the central buddha in the five-buddha-family system.