The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines
Chapter 68
Toh 9
Degé Kangyur, vol. 26 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ka), folios 1.b–382.a; vol. 27 (shes phyin, nyi khri, kha), folios 1.b–393.a; and vol. 28 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ga), folios 1.b–381.a
Imprint
![84000 logo](https://cached-fe.84000.co/imgs/logo.png)
Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2023
Current version v 1.1.12 (2024)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.23.4
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha is a global non-profit initiative to translate all the Buddha’s words into modern languages, and to make them available to everyone.
![Logo for the license](https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/2.0/88x31.png)
This work is provided under the protection of a Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution - Non-commercial - No-derivatives) 3.0 copyright. It may be copied or printed for fair use, but only with full attribution, and not for commercial advantage or personal compensation. For full details, see the Creative Commons license.
Table of Contents
Summary
The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines is among the most important scriptures underlying both the “vast” and the “profound” approaches to Buddhist thought and practice. Known as the “middle-length” version, being the second longest of the three long Perfection of Wisdom sūtras, it fills three volumes of the Kangyur. Like the two other long sūtras, it records the major teaching on the perfection of wisdom given by the Buddha Śākyamuni on Vulture Peak, detailing all aspects of the path to enlightenment while at the same time emphasizing how bodhisattvas must put them into practice without taking them—or any aspects of enlightenment itself—as having even the slightest true existence.
Acknowledgements
Translation by the Padmakara Translation Group. A complete draft by Gyurme Dorje was first edited by Charles Hastings, then revised and further edited by John Canti. The introduction was written by John Canti. We are grateful for the advice and help received from Gareth Sparham, Greg Seton, and Nathaniel Rich.
This translation is dedicated to the memory of our late colleague, long-time friend, and vajra brother Gyurme Dorje (1950–2020), who worked assiduously on this translation in his final years and into the very last months of his life. We would also like to express our gratitude to his wife, Xiaohong, for the extraordinary support she gave him on so many levels.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of Kris Yao and Xiang-Jen Yao, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Text Body
Chapter 68
Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, if these attributes are the attributes of a bodhisattva, what are the attributes of a buddha?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “you ask, ‘If these attributes are the attributes of a bodhisattva, what are the attributes of a buddha?’ Subhūti, the attributes of a buddha {Ki.VIII: 141} are the very same attributes once consummate buddhahood has been attained in all respects. They then attain all-aspect omniscience and abandon all the connecting propensities. With regard to this [distinction], bodhisattva great beings will attain consummate buddhahood. The tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas have attained consummate buddhahood with respect to all phenomena through the wisdom of a single instant, for which reason they are styled tathāgatas. That is the distinction between bodhisattva great beings and the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas.
“Subhūti, just as those entering [the fruits] are of one type and those established in the fruits are of another type, and yet these two types are not said to denote ‘unholy individuals,’ in the same way, Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings are those entering the unimpeded path and the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas are those who have acquired wisdom that is unobscured with respect to all phenomena. [F.316.a] That, Subhūti, is the distinction between bodhisattva great beings and the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas.”
Subhūti then asked, “Blessed Lord, if all phenomena are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, how can one make distinctions and differentiate between these phenomena that are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, saying, ‘This is a denizen of the hells. This one belongs to the animal realm. This one is a being of the world of Yama. This one is a god. This one is a human being. This one is on the level of the spiritual family. This one is on the eighth-lowest level. This one has entered the stream to nirvāṇa. This one is destined for only one more rebirth. This one is no longer subject to rebirth. This one is an arhat. This one is a pratyekabuddha. This one is a bodhisattva. This one is a tathāgata, arhat, completely awakened buddha.’ Blessed Lord, just as individual persons cannot be apprehended, in the same way their karma also cannot be apprehended. Just as their karma cannot be apprehended, in the same way the maturation of their karma also cannot be apprehended.”
“Subhūti, it is so! It is so,” replied the Blessed One. “It is as you have said. No karma or maturation of karma can be apprehended with respect to all phenomena that are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics. On the other hand, Subhūti, those who do not know that all phenomena are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics do condition karma, whether based on negative conduct or positive conduct, or whether it is neutral. Through karma based on negative conduct they regress into the three inferior realms. Through karma based on positive conduct they are born as gods and as human beings. [F.316.b] Through karma that is without degeneration, they are born in the realm of form or the realm of formlessness.
“In this regard, bodhisattva great beings develop the path of enlightenment through conduct that is without degeneration while practicing the perfection of generosity; while practicing the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom; while practicing the emptiness of internal phenomena; {Ki.VIII: 142} while practicing [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentity; while practicing the applications of mindfulness; while practicing the correct exertions, the supports for miraculous ability, the faculties, the powers, the branches of enlightenment, and the noble eightfold path; while practicing the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the aspects of liberation, the serial steps of meditative absorption, the gateways of liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness—the extrasensory powers, the meditative stabilities, and the dhāraṇī gateways; and while practicing the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, great loving kindness, great compassion, and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas. They then become absorbed in the vajra-like meditative stability, attended by the retinue of the branches of enlightenment, and they attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. Having attained consummate buddhahood, they act for the benefit of beings. Having acted for their benefit, they in no way neglect them in the future. [F.317.a] Acting in that manner they do not regress into cyclic existence with its five classes of living beings.”
“Blessed Lord, does the Blessed Lord see cyclic existence with its five classes of living beings, having attained consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment?”
“No, Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One.
“Blessed Lord, do the tathāgatas apprehend phenomena that are negative, phenomena that are positive, phenomena that may be negative or positive, and phenomena that are neither negative nor positive?”
“No, Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One.
“Blessed Lord, if these are not apprehended, how do beings conceive of the hells, the animal realm, or the world of Yama? How do they conceive of gods and human beings? How do they conceive of individuals entering the stream to nirvāṇa, individuals destined for only one more rebirth, individuals no longer subject to rebirth, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas? How do they conceive of bodhisattvas and tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas?”
“Subhūti, do these beings know that phenomena are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics?” asked the Blessed One.
“No, they do not!”
“Subhūti,” continued the Blessed One, “if those beings knew that phenomena are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, bodhisattva great beings would indeed not set out for unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. If they did not set out for unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, [F.317.b] they would not liberate beings from the three inferior realms and from the other classes of beings within cyclic existence. Subhūti, it is because {Ki.VIII: 143} beings do not know that phenomena are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics that they are not liberated from cyclic existence with its five classes of beings. For this reason, bodhisattva great beings hear from those lord buddhas that all phenomena are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, and set out for unsurpassed, complete enlightenment for the sake of beings. These phenomena do not exist in the manner in which ordinary, simple persons are fixated on them. So it is that they imagine nonexistent and inauthentic phenomena to exist, and they perceive nonexistent beings as beings. They perceive nonexistent physical forms as physical forms. They perceive nonexistent feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness as consciousness [and so forth]. They perceive nonexistent sense fields as sense fields. They perceive nonexistent sensory elements as sensory elements. They perceive nonexistent links of dependent origination as links of dependent origination. They perceive nonexistent mundane phenomena as mundane phenomena. They perceive nonexistent supramundane phenomena as supramundane phenomena. They perceive nonexistent contaminated phenomena as contaminated phenomena. They perceive nonexistent uncontaminated phenomena as uncontaminated phenomena. They perceive nonexistent conditioned phenomena as conditioned phenomena, and they perceive nonexistent unconditioned phenomena as unconditioned phenomena. With minds that are mistaken due to misconception concerning nonexistents, [F.318.a] they effect the conditioning of body, speech, and mind. Since these persons are not liberated from cyclic existence with its five classes of beings, bodhisattva great beings engage in the conduct of a bodhisattva, integrating all virtuous attributes in the perfection of wisdom, and they will attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. Having attained consummate buddhahood, they will then liberate beings from cyclic existence with its five classes of beings.”
Subhūti then asked, “If all phenomena are empty of intrinsic defining characteristics, how do bodhisattva great beings, having attained consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, liberate beings from cyclic existence with its five classes of beings?”
“In this regard, Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “having attained consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, bodhisattva great beings teach to beings the [nature of] suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path that leads to the cessation of suffering, explaining, determining, establishing, interpreting, commenting upon, elucidating, and correctly describing these [four truths of the noble ones]. In these four truths of the noble ones are included all the virtuous attributes and factors conducive to enlightenment through which the Three Precious Jewels are established. That is to say, through the appearance in the world of the precious jewel of the Buddha, the precious jewel of the Dharma, and the precious jewel of the Saṅgha, beings are liberated from cyclic existence with its five classes of beings.” [F.318.b]
“Blessed Lord, do they pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of suffering or do they pass into final nirvāṇa through suffering? Do they pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the origin of suffering or do they pass into final nirvāṇa through the origin of suffering? {Ki.VIII: 144} Do they pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the cessation of suffering or do they pass into final nirvāṇa through the cessation of suffering? Do they pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the path or do they pass into final nirvāṇa through the path?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “they do not pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of suffering, nor do they through suffering. They do not pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the origin of suffering, nor do they through the origin of suffering. They do not pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the cessation of suffering, nor do they through the cessation of suffering. They do not pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the path, nor do they through the path. Subhūti, I have said that the sameness of these four truths of the noble ones is nirvāṇa. That is to say, they do not pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of suffering, nor do they through suffering. They do not pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the origin of suffering, nor do they through the origin of suffering. They do not pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the cessation of suffering, nor do they through the cessation of suffering. They do not pass into final nirvāṇa through the cognition of the path, nor do they through the path.”
“Blessed Lord, what then is the sameness of the four truths of the noble ones, [F.319.a] in which there is neither suffering nor the cognition of suffering, neither the origin of suffering nor the cognition of the origin of suffering, neither the cessation of suffering nor the cognition of the cessation of suffering, and neither the path nor the cognition of the path?”
“That is the real nature of these four truths of the noble ones,” replied the Blessed One. “It is their unmistaken real nature, their one and only real nature, their reality, the realm of phenomena, the abiding nature of reality, the maturity of all phenomena, and the very limit of reality. Whether the tathātagas have appeared or whether the tathāgatas have not appeared, the expanse that dwells in that manner—the realm of phenomena—is present without degeneration and without diminution. Therefore, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom in that manner, they act so that the truths might be understood in the way that the truths should be understood.”
Subhūti then asked, “Blessed Lord, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, how do they practice so as to realize the truths? When they practice, how do they realize and know the truths, so that, having comprehended them, they do not regress into the level of the śrāvakas or the level of the pratyekabuddhas, but set out for the maturation of the bodhisattvas?”
“In this regard, Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One, “when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they see these phenomena without apprehending anything at all. By not apprehending anything, {Ki.VIII: 145} [F.319.b] they see that all phenomena are empty, whether they are included in the truths or not included in the truths. Seeing in that manner, bodhisattva great beings who embark on the maturation [of the bodhisattvas] will be established on the level of the spiritual family, and when those bodhisattvas have been established on the level of the spiritual family, they will not fall from the summit. That is to say, they will not fall from the summit, regressing into the level of the śrāvakas or the level of the pratyekabuddhas. Abiding on the level of the spiritual family of which bodhisattvas partake, they achieve the four meditative concentrations, and they achieve the four immeasurable attitudes and the four formless absorptions. By seeing in that manner, they dwell in them and cognize all phenomena. They understand the four truths. Although they comprehend suffering, they do not produce thoughts that have suffering as their objective referent. Although they have renounced the origin of suffering, they do not produce thoughts that have the origin of suffering as their objective referent. Although they actualize the cessation of suffering, they do not produce thoughts that have the cessation of suffering as their objective referent. Although they cultivate the path, they do not produce thoughts that have the path as their objective referent. Rather, they see all phenomena definitively, just as they are, with a mind that is inclined toward enlightenment.”
“Blessed Lord, what is the definitive nature of all phenomena, just as they are?”
“It is emptiness,” replied the Blessed One.
“The emptiness of intrinsic defining characteristics,” replied the Blessed One. “Through such higher insight, they see that all phenomena are empty. That is to say, they do not see inherent existence in anything at all, on which they might settle or through which they might attain consummate buddhahood in enlightenment. [F.320.a] Indeed, enlightenment is a nonentity. It has not been created by the buddhas. It has not been created by pratyekabuddhas. Nor has it been created by arhats, those no longer subject to rebirth, those destined for only one more rebirth, or those entering the stream to nirvāṇa. This enlightenment has not been created even by bodhisattva great beings who practice it. On the contrary, it is because beings do not know and do not see [phenomena] definitively that bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom and teach the Dharma to beings through skill in means.”
This completes the sixty-eighth chapter from “The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines.” {Ki.VIII: 158}566
Colophon
It is said in the original Jangpa manuscript:
This [Tibetan translation of] The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines has been edited twice on the basis of the original “gold manuscript,” which had been [commissioned as] a commitment of the spiritual mentor Nyanggom Chobar, and it has also been edited on the basis of the manuscript kept at Yerpa. Since it is extant, scribes of posterity should copy [the text] according to this version alone.
In the [recast] version of The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines [Toh 3790] that was edited by master Haribhadra, and in some [other] manuscripts, the text ends with the seventy-first chapter entitled “Unchanging Reality.” In certain [other] manuscripts, including the original (phyi mo) [Toh 9], there are seventy-six chapters, with [F.380.b] the addition of the [seventy-second] chapter entitled “Distinctions in the Training of a Bodhisattva,” the [seventy-third] chapter entitled “The Attainment of the Manifold Gateways of Meditative Stability by the Bodhisattva Sadāprarudita,” the [seventy-fourth] chapter entitled “Sadāprarudita,” the [seventy-fifth] chapter entitled “Dharmodgata,” and the [seventy-sixth] chapter entitled “Entrustment.” This accords with earlier accounts and the authentic records of teachings received. Insofar as there are distinctions in the translation of these five later chapters, I have seen a few manuscripts where the terminology is slightly dissimilar, although there are no differences in meaning.
In general, throughout the present text there are all sorts of unique allusions and variations in the elaboration of the points that are expressed. In particular, in the chapter entitled “The Introductory Narrative,” there are some passages where the text corresponds to The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines.
At the time when the carving of the xylographs of this very text, along with those of the Multitude of the Buddhas (Buddhāvataṃsaka), was completed, in the presence of King Tenpa Tsering, the ruler of Degé, the beggar monk Tashi Wangchuk composed these verses at Sharkha Dzongsar Palace, where the wood-carving workshop was based. May they be victorious!
ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetun teṣāṃ tathāgato bhavat āha teṣāṃ ca yo nirodho evaṃ vādī mahāśramaṇaḥ [ye svāhā]
“Whatever events arise from causes, the Tathāgata has told of their causes, and the great ascetic has also taught their cessation.”
Bibliography
Primary Sources in Tibetan and Sanskrit
shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Toh 9, Degé Kangyur vols. 26–28 (shes phyin, nyi khri, ka–a), folios ka.1.b–ga.381.a.
shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines, Toh 9]. bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009, vols. 26–28.
Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Sanskrit text based on the edition by Takayasu Kimura. Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin 2007–9 (1–1, 1–2), 1986 (2–3), 1990 (4), 1992 (5), 2006 (6–8). Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL). Page references: {Ki.}
Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Dutt, Nalinaksha. Calcutta Oriental Series 28. London: Luzac, 1934. Reprint edition, Sri Satguru Publications, 1986. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL). Page references: {Dt.nn}
Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā [The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines]. Sanskrit text based on the edition by P. L. Vaidya, in Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, vol. 4. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute, 1960. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL). Page references (for chapters 73–75): {Va.nn}
Secondary References in Tibetan and Sanskrit
shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag nyi shu lnga pa (Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines, the “eight-chapter” (le’u brgyad ma) Tengyur version]. Toh 3790, Degé Tengyur vols. 82–84 (shes phyin, ga–ca), folios ga.1.b–ca.342.a.
shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa stong phrag brgya pa (Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā) [The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines]. Toh 8, Degé Kangyur vols. 14–25 (shes phyin, ’bum, ka–a).
Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā [The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines]. Sanskrit text of the Anurādhapura fragment, based on the edition by Oskar von Hinüber, “Sieben Goldblätter einer Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā aus Anurādhapura,” in Nachrichten der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Phil.-Hist.Kl. 1983, pp. 189–207. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).
Śatasāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā [The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines]. Sanskrit texts based on Ghoṣa, Pratāpacandra, Çatasāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā: A Theological and Philosophical Discourse of Buddha With His Disciples in A Hundred Thousand Stanzas. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1902–14 (chapters 1–12); and on Kimura, Takayasu, Śatasāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā, II/1–4, 4 vols. Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin, 2009–14. Available as e-texts, Part I and Part II, on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).
The Larger Prajñāpāramitā. Sanskrit edition (mostly according to the Gilgit manuscript GBM 175–675, fols. 1–27) from Zacchetti, Stefano (2005). In Praise of the Light: A Critical Synoptic Edition with an Annotated Translation of Chapters 1-3 of Dharmarakṣa’s Guang zan jing, Being the Earliest Chinese Translation of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā. Bibliotheca Philologica et Philosophica Buddhica, Vol. 8. The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology. Tokyo: Soka University, 2005. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).
The Larger Prajñāpāramitā. Sanskrit edition (Gilgit manuscript fols. 202.a.5-205.a.12, GBM 571.5–577.12) from Yoke Meei Choong, Zum Problem der Leerheit (śūnyatā) in der Prajñāpāramitā, Frankfurt: Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihe 27, Bd. 97, 2006, pp. 109–33. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).
Daṃṣṭrasena. shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa ’bum pa rgya cher ’grel pa (Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitābṛhaṭṭīkā) [“An Extensive Commentary on The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines”], Toh 3807, Degé Tengyur vols. 91–92. Also in Tengyur Pedurma (TPD) (bstan ’gyur [dpe bsdur ma]), [Comparative Edition of the Tengyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 120 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 1994–2008, vol. 54 (TPD 54) pp. 627–1439 and vol. 55 pp. 2–550.
Denkarma (ldan dkar ma; pho brang stod thang ldan dkar gyi chos ’gyur ro cog gi dkar chag). Toh 4364, Degé Tengyur vol. 206 (sna tshogs, jo), folios 294.b–310.a.
Phangthangma (dkar chag ’phang thang ma). Beijing: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003.
Butön (bu ston rin chen grub). bde bar gshegs pa’i bstan pa’i gsal byed chos kyi ’byung gnas gsung rab rin po che’i mdzod. In gsung ’bum/_rin chen grub/ zhol par ma/ ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa/ [The Collected Works of Bu-ston: Edited by Lokesh Chandra from the Collections of Raghu Vira], vol. 24, pp. 633–1056. New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1965–71.
Jamgön Kongtrül (’jam mgon kong sprul). shes bya kun khyab mdzod [“The Treasury of Knowledge”]. Root verses contained in three-volume publication. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1982; Boudhnath: Padma Karpo Translation Committee edition, 2000 (photographic reproduction of the original four-volume Palpung xylograph, 1844). Translated, along with the auto-commentary, by the Kalu Rinpoche Translation Group in The Treasury of Knowledge series (TOK). Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1995 to 2012. Mentioned here are Ngawang Zangpo 2010 (Books 2, 3, and 4) and Dorje 2012 (Book 6, Parts 1–2).
Nordrang Orgyan (nor brang o rgyan). chos rnam kun btus. 3 vols. Beijing: Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2008.
Tsongkhapa (tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa). byang chub sems dpa’ sems dpa’ chen po rtagtu ngu’i rtogs pa brjod pa’i snyan dngags dpag bsam gyi ljong pa [“An Avadāna of the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Sadāprarudita”], in Lhasa (zhol) Kangyur vol. 34, folios 523.b–555.b (pp. 1046–1110). The same text is also to be found in Tsongkhapa’s Collected Works: gsung ’bum tsong kha pa (bkras lhun par rnying ldi lir bskyar par brgyab pa), vol. 3, Ngawang Gelek Demo, 1975, pp. 242–96.
Zhang Yisun et al. bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo. 3 vols. Subsequently reprinted in 2 vols. and 1 vol. Beijing: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1985. Translated in Nyima and Dorje 2001 (vol. 1).
Secondary References in English and Other Languages
Bhattacharya, B. [Illustrations of the Indikutasaya Copper Plaques], in Bulletin of the Baroda State Museum and Picture Gallery, I 1. Baroda: 1943-4.
Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. The Sūtra on the All-Embracing Net of Views. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1978.
Bongard-Levin, G.M., and Shin’ichirō Hori. “A Fragment of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā from Central Asia.” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 19, no. 1 (1996): 19-60.
Boucher, Daniel. “Dharmarakṣa and the Transmission of Buddhism to China.” Asia Major (Academia Sinica) no. 1/2, (2006): 13–37. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41649912.
Burchardi, Anne, trans. The Teaching on the Great Compassion of the Tathāgata (Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśa, Toh 147). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2020.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. Gone Beyond: The Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, The Ornament of Clear Realization, and its Commentaries in the Tibetan Kagyü Tradition. 2 vols. Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2010 and 2011.
Chimpa, Lama and Alaka Chattopadhyaya, trans. Tāranātha’s History of Buddhism in India. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press, 1980.
Choong, Yoke Meei. Zum Problem der Leerheit (śūnyatā) in der Prajñāpāramitā. Frankfurt: Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihe 27, Bd. 97, 2006, pp. 109–33.
Conze, Edward (1962). The Gilgit Manuscript of the Aṣṭādaśasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā: Chapters 50 to 55 corresponding to the 5th Abhisamaya. SOR 26. Rome: ISMEO, 1962.
———, trans. (1973). The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines and Its Verse Summary. Bolinas, CA: Four Seasons Foundation, 1973.
——— (1974). The Gilgit Manuscript of the Aṣṭādaśasāhasrikā-prajñāpāramitā: Chapters 70 to 82 corresponding to the 6th, 7th, and 8th Abhisamayas. SOR 46. Rome: ISMEO, 1974.
——— (1975). The Large Sūtra on Perfect Wisdom: With the Divisions of the Abhisamayālaṅkāra. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1975.
——— (1978). The Prajñāpāramitā Literature (Second edition). Tokyo: The Reiyukai, 1978.
Davidson, Ronald. “Studies in Dhāraṇī Literature I: Revisiting the Meaning of the Term Dhāraṇī.” Journal of Indian Philosophy 37, no. 2 (April 2009): 97–147.
Dayal, Har. The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist Sanskrit Literature. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1932. Reprinted Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970.
Dharmachakra Translation Committee, trans. (2013). The Play in Full (Lalitavistara, Toh 95). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2013.
——— (2019a). The Jewel Cloud (Ratnamegha, Toh 231). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2019.
——— (2019b). The Precious Discourse on the Blessed One’s Extensive Wisdom That Leads to Infinite Certainty (Niṣṭhāgatabhagavajjñānavaipulyasūtraratnānanta, Toh 99). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2019.
——— (2022). The Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom, the Blessed Mother (Bhagavatīprajñāpāramitāhṛdaya, Toh 21). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
Dorje, Gyurme, trans., (1987). “The Guhyagarbhatantra and its XIVth Century Tibetan Commentary Phyogs bcu mun sel.” 3 vols. PhD diss. University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, 1987.
———, trans. (2012). Indo-Tibetan Classical Learning and Buddhist Phenomenology. Book 6, Parts 1–2 of Jamgön Kongtrul, The Treasury of Knowledge. Boston: Snow Lion, 2012.
Dudjom Rinpoche. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History. 2 vols. Translated by Gyurme Dorje with Matthew Kapstein. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1991.
Dutt, Nalinaksha. Pañcaviṃśati-sāhasrikā Prajñā-pāramitā. Calcutta Oriental Series 28. London: Luzac, 1934. Reprinted Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1986.
Edgerton, Franklin. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary. 2 vols. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1953.
Falk, Harry. “The ‘Split’ Collection of Kharoṣṭhī texts.” ARIRIAB 14 (2011): 13–23.
Falk, Harry, and Seishi Karashima (2012). “A first‐century Prajñāpāramitā manuscript from Gandhāra – parivarta 1 (Texts from the Split Collection 1).” ARIRIAB 15 (2012): 19–61.
——— (2013). “A first‐century Prajñāpāramitā manuscript from Gandhāra – parivarta 5 (Texts from the Split Collection 2).” ARIRIAB 16 (2013): 97–169.
Ghoṣa, Pratāpacandra, ed. Çatasāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā: A Theological and Philosophical Discourse of Buddha With His Disciples in A Hundred Thousand Stanzas. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1902–14. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).
Herrmann-Pfandt, Adelheid. Die Lhan Kar Ma: Ein früher Katalog der ins Tibetische übersetzten buddhistischen Texte, Kritische Neuausgabe mit Einleitung und Materialien. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2008.
Hikata, Ryusho. Suvikrāntavikrāmi-paripṛcchā-Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra: Edited with an Introductory Essay. Fukuoka, 1958.
Hinüber, O. von. (1983) “Sieben Goldblätter einer Pañca-viṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā aus Anurādhapura.” NAWG 7 (1983): 189–207.
——— (2014). “The Gilgit Manuscripts: An Ancient Library in Modern Research.” In From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances in Buddhist Manuscript Research, edited by P. Harrison & J. Hartmann, 79–135. Vienna: 2014.
Kimura, Takayasu, ed. Śatasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā, II/1–4, 4 vols. Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin, 2009 (II-1), 2010 (II-2, II-3), 2014 (II-4). Available as e-text (see links) on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).
———, ed. Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñā-pāramitā, I–VIII, 6 vols. Tokyo: Sankibo Busshorin, 2007–9 (1-1, 1-2), 1986 (2-3), 1990 (4), 1992 (5), 2006 (6-8). Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).
Kloetzli, Randy. Buddhist Cosmology. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983.
Konow, Sten. The First Two Chapters of the Daśasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā: Restoration of the Sanskrit Text, Analysis and Index. Oslo: I Kommisjon Hos Jacob Dybwad, 1941.
Lamotte, Etienne (1998). Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra: The Concentration of Heroic Progress, An Early Mahāyāna Buddhist Scripture. English translation by Sara Boin-Webb. London: Curzon Press.
——— (2001). The Treatise on the Great Virtue of Wisdom of Nāgārjuna (Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra). English translation by Gelongma Karma Migme Chodron. Unpublished electronic text, 2001.
Lethcoe, Nancy R., “Some Notes on the Relationship between the Abhisamayālaṅkāra, the Revised Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā and the Chinese Translations of the Unrevised Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā.” JAOS 96/4 (1976): 499–511.
Lopez, Donald S. The Heart Sūtra Explained: Indian and Tibetan Commentaries. Albany: SUNY, 1988.
Martini, Giuliana (a.k.a. Dhammadinnā). “Bodhisattva Texts, Ideologies and Rituals in Khotan in the Fifth and Sixth Centuries.” In Buddhism Among the Iranian Peoples of Central Asia, vol. 1 of Multilingualism and History of Knowledge, edited by Matteo de Chiara, Matteo, Mauro Maggi, and Giuliana Martini. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2013.
Ñāṇamoli, Bhikkhu, trans. The Path of Purification by Buddhaghosa. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society, 1979.
Negi, J.S., ed. Tibetan Sanskrit Dictionary (bod skad dang legs sbyar gyi tshig mdzod chen mo). 16 vols. Sarnath: Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, 1993–2005.
Ngawang Zangpo, trans. Jamgön Kongtrul, The Treasury of Knowledge (Books Two, Three, and Four): Buddhism’s Journey to Tibet. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2010.
Nyima, Tudeng and Gyurme Dorje, trans. An Encyclopaedic Tibetan-English Dictionary. Vol. 1. Beijing and London: Nationalities Publishing House and SOAS, 2001.
Obermiller, E. Prajñapāramitā in Tibetan Buddhism. Delhi: Book Faith India (reprint), 1999.
Padmakara Translation Group, trans. The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in Ten Thousand Lines (Daśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā, Toh 11). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2018.
Pagel, Ulrich “The Dhāraṇīs of Mahāvyutpatti # 748: Origins and Formation,” in Buddhist Studies Review 24 no. 2 (2007), 151–91.
Patrul Rinpoche. Kunzang Lama’i Shelung: The Words of My Perfect Teacher. Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. Revised second edition, 1998. London: International Sacred Literature Trust and Sage Altamira, 1994–98.
Paranavitana, S. “Indikaṭusāya Copper Plaques.” EZ 3 (1933): 199–212.
Rhys Davids, Caroline A.F. Psalms of the Early Buddhists: II Psalms of the Brethren. London: Pali Text Society, 1913. See Internet Archive.
Sakya Pandita Translation Group, trans. The Sūtra on Reliance upon a Virtuous Spiritual Friend (Kalyāṇamitrasevanasūtra, Toh 300). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2011.
Salomon, Richard (2014). “Gāndhārī Manuscripts in the British Library, Schøyen and Other Collections.” In From Birch Bark to Digital Data: Recent Advances In Buddhist Manuscript Research, Edited by Paul Harrison and Jens-Uwe Hartmann. Vienna: Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
——— (2018). The Buddhist Literature of Ancient Gandhāra: An Introduction with Selected Translations. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Skilling, Peter, Prapod Assavavirulhakarn, Saerji: “Schøyen MS 2381/241 + 2382/uf18/2d + 2381/186: A (possible) Sanskrit parallel to the Pali Uruvela-sutta.” In Buddhist Manuscripts in the Schoyen Collection, Vol. IV, edited by Jens Braarvig and Jens-Uwe Hartmann. Oslo: Hermes Academic Publishing, 2013.
Sparham, Gareth, trans. (2006–2012). Abhisamayālaṃkāra with vṛtti and ālokā / vṛtti by Ārya Vimuktisena; ālokā by Haribhadra. 4 vols. Fremont, CA: Jain Publishing.
———, trans. (2022a). The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines (Aṣṭādaśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā, Toh 10). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
———, trans. (2022b). The Long Explanation of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand, Twenty-Five Thousand, and Eighteen Thousand Lines (*Āryaśatasāhasrikāpañcaviṃśatisāhasrikāṣṭādaśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitābṛhaṭṭīkā, Toh 3808). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2022.
———, trans. (2024). The Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines (Śatasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā, Toh 8). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha, 2024.
Stein, Lisa, and Ngawang Zangpo, trans. Butön’s History of Buddhism: In India and its Spread to Tibet, A Treasury of Priceless Scripture. Boston: Snow Lion, 2013.
Suzuki Kenta & Nagashima Jundo. “The Dunhuang Manuscript of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā.” In Buddhist Manuscripts from Central Asia: The British Library Sanskrit Fragments, vol. III/2, edited by S. Karashima, J. Nagashima & K. Wille: 593–821. Tokyo, 2015.
Vaidya, P.L. “Aṣṭasāhasrikā prajñāpāramitā.” In Buddhist Sanskrit Texts, vol. 4. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1960. Available as e-text on Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL).
Watanabe Shōgo, “A Comparative Study of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā.” JAOS 114/3 (1994): 386–96.
Zacchetti, Stefano (2005). In Praise of the Light: A Critical Synoptic Edition with an Annotated Translation of Chapters 1-3 of Dharmarakṣa’s Guang zan jing, Being the Earliest Chinese Translation of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā. Bibliotheca Philologica et Philosophica Buddhica, Vol. 8. The International Research Institute for Advanced Buddhology. Tokyo: Soka University.
——— (2015). “Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras.” In Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. 1, edited by Jonathan Silk. Leiden: Brill.
——— (2021). The Da zhidu lun 大智度論 (*Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa) and the History of the Larger Prajñāpāramitā: Patterns of Textual Variation in Mahāyāna Sūtra Literature. Numata Center for Buddhist Studies: Hamburg Buddhist Studies 14, edited by Michael Radich and Jonathan Silk. Bochum / Freiburg: Projekt Verlag, 2021.
Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Medieval China, 3rd ed. [1st ed. 1959] with a foreword by S. F. Teiser. Leiden: Brill (Sinica Leidensia 11), 2007.