My first attempt at translating the Chinese version of the Confessional Prayers to the 88 Buddhas into Sanskrit was in 2018. I readily admit that I am not a Sanskrit scholar. The project was inspired purely by a personal desire to explore how these sacred names might have sounded in the ancient Sanskrit language.

It was a joyful and enriching experience. I immersed myself in Sanskrit dictionaries and grammatical references, discovering that a single word in English or Chinese could often be represented by an entire range of Sanskrit terms, each with its own nuance and shade of meaning. Working on this project felt like a spiritual blessing in itself.

About eight years have passed since then, and today we have remarkable AI tools at our disposal. Revisiting this project has been a very different experience. Instead of spending countless hours searching the internet and consulting online dictionaries, I could simply provide ChatGPT or Gemini with the list of Chinese Buddha names, and the AI generated Sanskrit translations almost instantly.

Interestingly, both AI models produced slightly different translations.

Some of the names were rendered as long strings of Sanskrit words that did not seem particularly practical for chanting or liturgical use.

For example, Name 45 is:

南無 優曇鉢羅華 殊勝王佛
Namo Udumbara-Flower Excellent King Buddha

The character 華 translates as puṣpa (“flower”). However, Udumbara already refers to a specific, mystical flower that is said to bloom only once every thousand years. In Sanskrit, the word Udumbara is already self-explanatory, whereas the Chinese translation needs to add the character 華 to clarify that it is a type of flower. The Sanskrit, therefore, may not require this additional word.

When I specified to the AI that these translated names were intended for ritual chanting rather than academic translation, the results improved significantly. The AI began referencing liturgical conventions and introduced me to concepts such as the Sanskrit dative form.

I learned that when invoking a Buddha or deity in Sanskrit, the name is often placed in the dative case and ends with -āya, expressing reverence and dedication. Without this grammatical form, one may simply be reciting a list of names rather than making a proper devotional invocation. This was something entirely new to me.

For the longest time, I had always wondered why the Pure Land mantra says:

Namo Amitābhāya Tathāgatāya

rather than:

Namo Amitābha Tathāgata

I always felt that the former sounded better, but only now do I understand the grammatical reason behind it.

I have inserted ChatGPT’s translations into my original post. Just for fun, I compared them with my translations from eight years ago. Those that are similar are highlighted in green, while those that differ are marked in red.

A word of caution, however: what AI produces should not be regarded as completely authoritative.

In translating the second half of the 88 Buddha names, I learned from the AI that the extant Sanskrit versions do not always correspond exactly to the Chinese versions. This discrepancy has been known within Buddhist academic circles for quite some time, so it is by no means a new discovery.

Furthermore, the same Buddha name may appear more than once within the list of eighty-eight names.

For some people, discoveries like these may lead to doubt or a reduction in their confidence in the practice. Yet for the vast majority of practitioners who never undertake such detailed research, these same prayers have proven deeply meaningful and, according to their experience, highly efficacious in transforming their lives for the better.

When someone asked a Lama about such discrepancies, he nonchalantly replied: “Oh, different Buddhas with the same name – just like there are many Peter and John in this world”

All of these reinforce my personal belief that spiritual and religious practices ultimately operate through the power of the mind. If our faith is grounded in compassion, kindness, joy, and equanimity, then wholesome and beneficial results will naturally follow over time.

When we practise the 88 Buddha Repentance Prayer, it is important to have faith that our past unwholesome karma can be purified and transformed. This faith gives us the confidence that whatever challenges we are facing in the present need not remain as they are and that our circumstances can change for the better.

This is the passive or receptive aspect of the practice. The active aspect, however, requires our personal commitment to refrain from harmful actions and to consciously cultivate wholesome and skilful deeds. Through this transformation of conduct and character, we create the conditions for positive change in our lives.

I am currently experimenting with using AI to create a musical rendition of this prayer and am also exploring ways to adapt it for performance in the English language. When completed, it will be made available as a free download for anyone who wishes to use it in their practice.

May all be well and happy.

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