The Arapacana Alphabet
Translation by Jayarava, April 2011 (corrected 2018)
1. A the syllable a is an opening because of the primal quality of not arising
(anutpanna) of all mental phenomena.
2. RA the syllable ra is an opening because of absence of impurity (rajas) of all
mental phenomena.
3. PA the syllable ra is an opening because it points to the highest truth (paramartha)
about all mental phenomena.
4. CA the syllable ca is an opening because of the non-perception of the causes of
falling (cavana) of any mental phenomena.
5. NA the syllable na is an opening because of the absence of names (nāma) of any
mental phenomena.
6. LA the syllable la is an opening because the state of having escaped from the
world (lokottīrṇa) of the senses, and the destruction of the causes and
conditions of the creeper of craving (tṛṣṇālatā-hetu-pratyaya) in all mental
phenomena.
7. DA the syllable da is an opening because of the restraint, self-control, and
circumspection (dānta-damatha-paricchinna) of all mental phenomena.
8. BA the syllable ba is an opening because of the bindings (bandha) of all mental
phenomena are undone.
9. ḌA the syllable ḍa is an opening because of the abscence of tumult (ḍama) in all
mental phenomena.
10. [ṢA] the syllable ṣa is an opening because of the absence of clinging (ṣaṃga) in all
mental phenomena.
11. VA the syllable va is an opening because of the eradication of sounds suitable for
speech (vākpatha-ghoṣa) from all mental phenomena.
12. TA the syllable ta is an opening because all mental phenomena don’t deviate
from Suchness (tathatā).
13. YA the syllable ya is an opening because of the non-arising of an essence
(yathāvat) of all mental phenomena.
14. [ṢṬA] the syllable ṣṭa is an opening because no support (stambha) of all mental
phenomena can be perceived
15. KA the syllable ka is an opening because no ‘doing’ (kāraka) is perceived in all
mental phenomena.
16. SA the syllable sa is an opening because of non-apprehension of the sameness
(samatā) of all mental phenomena.
17. MA the syllable ma is an opening because all mental phenomena lack a ‘mine’
maker (mamakāra).
18. GA the syllable ga is an opening because we cannot apprehend the sky (gagana)
of all mental phenomenon.
19. STHA the syllable stha is an opening because we cannot comprehend the continud
existence (sthāna) all mental phenomena.
20. JA the syllable ja is an opening because the birth (jāti) of all mental phenomena
is not recognised.
21. ŚVA the syllable śva is an opening because the ‘breath’ (śvāsa i.e. life) of all mental
phenomena is not understood.
22. DHA the syllable dha is an opening because of the non-apprehension of the
dharmadhātu of all mental phenomena.
23. ŚA the syllable śa is an opening because the serenity (śamatha) of all mental
phenomenon is not cognised.
24. KHA the syllable kha is an opening because of the non-apprehension of the
sameness of space (kha-samata) in all mental phenomena.
25. KṢA the syllable is an opening because the destruction all mental phenomena is not
perceived.
26. STA the syllable sta [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of not
attaining ‘and that’.
27. JÑA the syllable jña [means] all mental phenomena are openings because
omniscience (sarvajña) is unobtainable.
28. HA the syllable ha [means] all mental phenomena are openings because the cause
(hetu) is not perceived.
29. BHA [the syllable bha means all menta phenomena because breakdown (bhaṅga) is
not perceived].
30. [CHA] the syllable cha [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
non-recognition of beauty (chavi).
31. SMA the syllable sma [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
non-recognition of recollection (smaraṇa)
32. HVA the syllable hva [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
non-recognition of the invocation (āhvāna).
33. TSA the syllable sa [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
unattainability of the strength (utsāha).
34. GHA the syllable gha [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
non-recognition of the killer (ghana).
35. ṬHA the syllable ṭha [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
non-recognition of the illusory creations (viṭhapana).
36. ṆA the syllable ṇa [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
cessation of pleasure/conflict (raṇa).
37. PHA the syllable pha [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
nonattaining of fruit (phala).
38. SKA the syllable ska [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
nonrecognition of masses (skandha).
39. [YSA] the syllable ysa [means] all mental phenomena are of the non-recognition of
aging.
40. [ŚCA] the syllable śca [means] all mental phenomena are opensing because of the
non-recognition of moral behaviour.
41. ṬA the syllable ṭa [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
nonrecognition of the syllable ṭa.
42. ḌHA the syllable ḍha [means] all mental phenomena are openings because of the
nonrecognition of the syllable ḍha (ḍhaṃkāra).
Translated from the Sanskrit edition of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (PPS), or The Discourse on Perfect Wisdom in 25,000 lines, produced by Kimura (1986-2009). In creating this translation I have also consulted the Sanskrit edition by Dutt (1934); the Chinese translations by Kumārajīva (T. 223) and Xuánzàng (T. 220)1 as found in CBETA online version of the Taisho Ed. of the Chinese Tripiṭaka2; and Edward Conze’s English translation (1975), particularly his notes on translation and ms. variants. Conze cites Mokshala [sic] which I take to be a reference to T.221, the translation of the PPS by Mokṣa (or Mokṣala); and Yüan-tsang [sic; i.e. Xuánzàng] which I take to be a reference to T.220.
I have also used Brough’s (1977) discussion of the Arapacana in 普曜經 (Pǔ yào jīng = The Lalitavistara Sūtra; T. 186), translated by Dharmarakṣa in 308 CE, to shed light on Chinese translations. Brough himself also refers to Kumārajīva’s translation of the Mahā-prajñāpāramitopadeśa (T. 15093) a commentary on the PPS attributed to Nāgārjuna4 which appears not to coincide with T. 223 in every detail; and Xuánzàng’s various translations of
the large Perfection of Wisdom text contained within T. 220.5 In addition there is a very old Arapacana Alphabet in the Bajaur Collection which is mostly unpublished and I have consulted it where possible.6 Salomon (1990) is invaluable for understanding the alphabet in any script or language. The Sanskrit editions, and presumably the Sanskrit mss., contain several conflicts that are resolved by Conze – and in each case I have followed his example, but only after consulting some of the same sources (particularly the Chinese texts) and the secondary literature.7 The last few lines are very confused and show a great deal of variation in both the syllable and the keyword, not to mention the fact that the number of syllables varies from 41 – 43, while the text itself later refers to 42 letters ‘dvācatvāriṃśad akṣarāṇi’.