The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines
Chapter 6
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
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 1.1.13 (2024)
Generated by 84000 Reading Room v2.26.1
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.
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 6
The venerable Subhūti then said to the Blessed One, [F.148.b] “Blessed Lord, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, if they engage unskillfully with physical forms, then they are merely engaging with distinguishing marks and are not practicing the perfection of wisdom. {Dt.139} If they engage in the same manner with feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are permanent, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are permanent, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are impermanent, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are impermanent, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are imbued with happiness, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are imbued with happiness, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are imbued with suffering, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are imbued with suffering, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks.
“If they engage with the notion that physical forms are endowed with self, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are endowed with self, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are without self, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are without self, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are at peace, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are at peace, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are not at peace, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are not at peace, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. [F.149.a] If they engage with the notion that physical forms are void, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are void, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that physical forms are not void, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. If they engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are not void, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks.
“Blessed Lord, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, if they engage unskillfully with the notions that the sense fields, the sensory elements, the links of dependent origination, the perfections, all the aspects of emptiness, the thirty-seven factors conducive to enlightenment, the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the gateways of the meditative stabilities and the dhāraṇīs, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas are permanent, impermanent, imbued with happiness, imbued with suffering, endowed with self, without self, at peace, not at peace, void, or not void, then they are engaging with distinguishing marks.
“Blessed Lord, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, if they engage with the notion ‘I am practicing the perfection of wisdom,’ then they are engaging with distinguishing marks. Those bodhisattva great beings are engaging with distinguishing marks. Blessed Lord, [F.149.b] if bodhisattva great beings engage with the notion, ‘Those who practice in that manner are practicing the perfection of wisdom. They are cultivating the perfection of wisdom,’ then they are also engaging with distinguishing marks. One should know this to be the lack of skillful means that bodhisattva great beings might have.”
Then the venerable Subhūti said, “Venerable Śāradvatīputra, when bodhisattvas practice the perfection of wisdom, if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in physical forms, then they are engaged in the conditioning of physical forms. They will not be released from birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, discomfort, and agitation. I say that they will not be released from great sufferings. If they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, or consciousness, then they are engaged in the conditioning of consciousness [and so forth]. They will not be released from birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, discomfort, and agitation. They are described as not being released from great sufferings. {Dt.140}
“When bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in the eyes; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in the ears, nose, tongue, body, or mental faculty; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in sights; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in sounds, odors, tastes, tangibles, or mental phenomena; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in visual consciousness; [F.150.a] if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in auditory consciousness, olfactory consciousness, gustatory consciousness, tactile consciousness, or mental consciousness; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in visually compounded sensory contact; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in aurally compounded sensory contact, nasally compounded sensory contact, lingually compounded sensory contact, corporeally compounded sensory contact, or mentally compounded sensory contact; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in feelings conditioned by visually compounded sensory contact; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in feelings conditioned by aurally compounded sensory contact, feelings conditioned by nasally compounded sensory contact, feelings conditioned by lingually compounded sensory contact, feelings conditioned by corporeally compounded sensory contact, or feelings conditioned by mentally compounded sensory contact; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in ignorance; if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in formative predispositions, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, sensory contact, sensation, craving, grasping, the rebirth process, actual birth, or aging and death; or if they are intent on, perceive, and find sustenance in the perfections, all the aspects of emptiness, the factors conducive to enlightenment, the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the five eyes, the gateways of the meditative stabilities and the dhāraṇīs, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, or the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas, then they are engaged in the conditioning of the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas [and so forth]. [F.150.b] They will not be released from birth, aging, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, discomfort, and agitation. They are described as not being released from great sufferings.
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra, if bodhisattva great beings lack the good fortune to actualize even the level of the śrāvakas, or the level of the pratyekabuddhas, how could they possibly attain manifest buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment? That would be impossible!
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra, if bodhisattvas practice the perfection of wisdom in that manner, one should know them to be without skill in means.”
“Venerable Subhūti, how may one know, when bodhisattva great beings are practicing the perfection of wisdom, that they do possess skill in means?”
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra,” replied Subhūti, “when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, and do not engage with physical forms; do not engage with feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, or consciousness; do not engage with the distinguishing marks of physical forms; do not engage with the distinguishing marks of feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, or consciousness; do not engage with the notion that physical forms are permanent; do not engage with the notion that physical forms are impermanent, the notion that physical forms are imbued with happiness, the notion that physical forms are imbued with suffering, the notion that physical forms are endowed with self, the notion that physical forms are without self, the notion that physical forms are at peace, the notion that physical forms are not at peace, the notion that physical forms are empty, the notion that physical forms are not empty, the notion that physical forms are with signs, the notion that physical forms are without signs, the notion that physical forms are with aspirations, the notion that physical forms are without aspirations, the notion that physical forms are void, or the notion that physical forms are not void; and do not engage with the notion that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, or consciousness are permanent; [F.151.a] do not engage with the notion that these are impermanent, the notion that they are imbued with happiness, the notion that they are imbued with suffering, the notion that they are endowed with self, the notion that they are without self, the notion that they are at peace, the notion that they are not at peace, the notion that they are empty, the notion that they are not empty, the notion that they are with signs, the notion that they are without signs, {Dt.141} the notion that they are with aspirations, the notion that they are without aspirations, the notion that they are void, or the notion that they are not void, then at that time one should know that those bodhisattva great beings do possess skill in means.
“If you were to ask why, Venerable Śāradvatīputra, it is because the emptiness of physical forms is not physical forms. Physical forms are not other than emptiness, nor is emptiness other than physical forms. Emptiness is indeed physical forms, and the nature of physical forms is indeed emptiness. The emptiness of feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness is not consciousness [and the aforementioned aggregates]. Consciousness [and the other aggregates] are not other than emptiness, nor is emptiness other than consciousness. Emptiness is indeed consciousness, and the nature of consciousness is indeed emptiness. The emptiness of the sense fields, the sensory elements, the links of dependent origination, the perfections, all the aspects of emptiness, the factors conducive to enlightenment, the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the gateways of the meditative stabilities and the dhāraṇīs, 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 is not the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas [and so forth]. The eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas [and so forth] are not other than emptiness, [F.151.b] nor is emptiness other than the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas [and so forth]. Emptiness is indeed the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas [and so forth], and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas [and so forth] are indeed emptiness. Venerable Śāradvatīputra, one should know that bodhisattva great beings who practice the perfection of wisdom in that manner do possess skill in means. [B11]
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra, bodhisattva great beings who practice the perfection of wisdom in that manner will have the good fortune to attain manifest buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. Even when they are practicing the perfection of wisdom, they do not accept that they are practicing it. Even when they are not practicing it, they do not accept that they are not practicing it. Even when they are both practicing and not practicing it, they do not accept that they are [both practicing] and not practicing it. Even when they are neither practicing nor not practicing it, they do not accept that they are [neither practicing nor] not practicing it.”
“Why, Venerable Subhūti, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, do they not accept that they are practicing it even when they are practicing it? Why do they not accept that they are not practicing it even when they are not practicing it? Why do they not accept that they are both practicing and not practicing it, even when they are both practicing and not practicing it? Why do they not accept that they are [neither practicing nor] not practicing it, even when they are neither practicing nor not practicing it?”
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra,” replied Subhūti, “this is because they do not apprehend the intrinsic nature of the perfection of wisdom. If you ask why, it is because the perfection of wisdom has the intrinsic nature of nonentity. That, Venerable Śāradvatīputra, is the formulation explaining how, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they do not accept that they are practicing it; nor indeed do they accept that they are not practicing it; nor do they accept that they are [both practicing and] not practicing it, even when they are both practicing and not practicing it; [F.152.a] nor do they accept that they are [neither practicing nor] not practicing it, even when they are neither practicing nor not practicing it. If one were to ask why, it is because they have understood that all phenomena have the intrinsic nature of nonentity, and have not appropriated them.
“When bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom in this manner, if they are not disheartened, not intimidated, not afraid, not terrified, and will not be terrified, then, Venerable Śāradvatīputra, one should know that these bodhisattva great beings are approaching all-aspect omniscience. {Dt.142}
“This all-aspect omniscience indeed is without duality and cannot be divided into two because all phenomena are without intrinsic nature. It is the meditative stability of bodhisattva great beings called the nonarising of all phenomena.171 It is spacious, supreme, and indeterminate, and it cannot be misappropriated by any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas. Bodhisattva great beings who engage in this meditative stability will swiftly attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment.”
“Venerable Subhūti, do bodhisattva great beings who engage with this meditative stability alone swiftly attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment, or are there also other meditative stabilities similar to it?”
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra,” replied Subhūti, “there are indeed other meditative stabilities, engaging with which bodhisattva great beings swiftly attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment.”
“Venerable Subhūti, engaging with which other meditative stabilities will bodhisattva great beings swiftly attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment?”
Subhūti replied, [F.152.b] “Venerable Śāradvatīputra,172 (1) there is the meditative stability of bodhisattva great beings named heroic valor. Engaging with this meditative stability, bodhisattva great beings will swiftly attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. Similarly, (2) there is the meditative stability named precious seal. (3) There is the meditative stability named lion’s play.173 (4) There is the meditative stability named beautiful moon. (5) There is the meditative stability named crest of the moon’s victory banner. (6) There is the meditative stability named surpassing all phenomena.174 (7) There is the meditative stability named seal of all phenomena. (8) There is the meditative stability named surveying the crown pinnacle.175 (9) There is the meditative stability named certainty in the realm of phenomena. (10) There is the meditative stability named crest of certainty’s victory banner. (11) There is the meditative stability named vajra. (12) There is the meditative stability named seal of entry into all phenomena. (13) There is the meditative stability named consecrated as a king of meditative stabilities.176 (14) There is the meditative stability named diffusion of light rays.177 (15) There is the meditative stability named array of power.178 (16) There is the meditative stability named sublimation [of all phenomena]. (17) There is the meditative stability named engaging with certainty in lexical explanations.179 (18) There is the meditative stability named entry into designations.180 (19) There is the meditative stability named observation of spatial directions.181 (20) There is the meditative stability named receiving the seal.182 (21) There is the meditative stability named unimpaired.183 (22) There is the meditative stability named oceanic seal gathering all phenomena. (23) There is the meditative stability named permeation of space.184 (24) There is the meditative stability named vajra maṇḍala.185 (25) There is the meditative stability named shoulder ornament of the victory banner’s crest.186 [F.153.a] (26) There is the meditative stability named crest of power.187 (27) There is the meditative stability named pursuit of the stream.188 (28) There is the meditative stability named yawning lion.189 (29) There is the meditative stability named out of order.190 (30) There is the meditative stability named repudiation of mental afflictions.191 (31) There is the meditative stability named illumination. (32) There is the meditative stability named unseeking. (33) There is the meditative stability named no fixed abode. (34) There is the meditative stability named free from mentation. (35) There is the meditative stability named taintless lamp.192 (36) There is the meditative stability named boundless light.193 (37) There is the meditative stability named illuminator.194 (38) There is the meditative stability named total illumination. (39) There is the meditative stability named pure sanctuary.195 (40) There is the meditative stability named immaculate light. {Dt.143} (41) There is the meditative stability named bringer of joy.196 (42) There is the meditative stability named lightning lamp.197 (43) There is the meditative stability named inexhaustible.198 (44) There is the meditative stability named unvanquished.199 (45) There is the meditative stability named majestic. (46) There is the meditative stability named free from extinction.200 (47) There is the meditative stability named unmoving. (48) There is the meditative stability named without fear.201 (49) There is the meditative stability named lamp of the sun. (50) There is the meditative stability named immaculate moon. (51) There is the meditative stability named lamp of wisdom.202 (52) There is the meditative stability named pure appearance.203 (53) There is the meditative stability named illuminating. (54) There is the meditative stability named engaging in performance.204 (55) There is the meditative stability named crest of wisdom.205 (56) There is the meditative stability named vajra-like.206 (57) There is the meditative stability named stability of mind. (58) There is the meditative stability named observing everything.207 (59) There is the meditative stability named consecrated. (60) There is the meditative stability named jewel cusp. (61) There is the meditative stability named seal of the Dharma.208 [F.153.b] (62) There is the meditative stability named sameness of all phenomena. (63) There is the meditative stability named renunciation of delight. (64) There is the meditative stability named sublimation of phenomena.209 (65) There is the meditative stability named dispersal. (66) There is the meditative stability named distinguishing the terms associated with all phenomena.210 (67) There is the meditative stability named establishing the sameness of letters.211 (68) There is the meditative stability named devoid of letters.212 (69) There is the meditative stability named eradication of referents.213 (70) There is the meditative stability named unmodified.214 (71) There is the meditative stability named no aspect. (72) There is the meditative stability named ascertainment of names.215 (73) There is the meditative stability named roaming. (74) There is the meditative stability named devoid of darkness.216 (75) There is the meditative stability named engaging in conduct. (76) There is the meditative stability named unwavering. (77) There is the meditative stability named transcendence of the range.217 (78) There is the meditative stability named accumulation of all attributes. (79) There is the meditative stability named abiding without mentation.218 (80) There is the meditative stability named blossoming and vibrance of the flowers of virtue. (81) There is the meditative stability named endowed with the factors conducive to enlightenment. (82) There is the meditative stability named boundless eloquence.219 (83) There is the meditative stability named equal to the unequaled.220 (84) There is the meditative stability named transcending all phenomena.221 (85) There is the meditative stability named utterly devoid of delimitation.222 (86) There is the meditative stability named dispelling of doubt. (87) There is the meditative stability named without settled focus.223 (88) There is the meditative stability named single array.224 (89) There is the meditative stability named manifest attainment of aspects.225 (90) There is the meditative stability named unity.226 (91) There is the meditative stability named nonexclusion. (92) There is the meditative stability named comprehension of all bases of rebirth [through realization].227 [F.154.a] (93) There is the meditative stability named entrance to symbols and sounds. (94) There is the meditative stability named devoid of vocalic syllables.228 (95) There is the meditative stability named burning lamp. (96) There is the meditative stability named purification of defining characteristics.229 (97) There is the meditative stability named nondistinguished.230 (98) There is the meditative stability named endowed with all finest aspects.231 (99) There is the meditative stability named absence of joy with respect to all happiness and suffering. (100) There is the meditative stability named inexhaustible cornucopia.232 (101) There is the meditative stability named dhāraṇī intelligence.233 (102) There is the meditative stability named complete elimination of right and wrong. (103) There is the meditative stability named calming of all deviations and obstacles.234 (104) There is the meditative stability named absence of disharmony.235 (105) There is the meditative stability named taintless light. (106) There is the meditative stability named endowed with the essence. (107) There is the meditative stability named taintless light of the full moon.236 (108) There is the meditative stability named lightning light. {Dt.144} (109) There is the meditative stability named great ornament.237 (110) There is the meditative stability named illuminator of all worlds.238 (111) There is the meditative stability named sameness of meditative stability. (112) There is the meditative stability named taintless principle devoid of impurities.239 (113) There is the meditative stability named convergence in nonaffliction.240 (114) There is the meditative stability named engaging in remaining without an objective support.241 (115) There is the meditative stability named abiding in the real nature without mentation. (116) There is the meditative stability named tamed by dispelling the misery of corporeality.242 (117) There is the meditative stability named obliterating defects of speech, transforming them as if into space.243 And, [F.154.b] Śāradvatīputra, (118) there is the meditative stability named unattached, liberated, and uncovered like space. By engaging with these meditative stabilities, bodhisattva great beings will swiftly attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. And there are also countless and inestimable other gateways of meditative stability and dhāraṇī, like these, through which bodhisattva great beings will swiftly attain consummate buddhahood in unsurpassed, complete enlightenment.”
Then, through the power of the Buddha, the venerable Subhūti said, “Venerable Śāradvatīputra, the tathāgatas, arhats, genuine perfect buddhas of the past have indeed prophesied that any bodhisattva great being who dwells in those meditative stabilities will attain unsurpassed, complete enlightenment. The tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas who are presently alive, residing in the world systems of the ten directions, numerous as the grains of sand of the river Gaṅgā, also prophesied that those bodhisattva great beings will attain unsurpassed, complete enlightenment.
“Bodhisattva great beings do not even observe those meditative stabilities. They will not give rise to conceits on account of those meditative stabilities, thinking, ‘I have been absorbed in meditation. I am absorbed in meditation. I will be absorbed in meditation.’ [F.155.a] All such conceptual imaginations are absent and will not arise.” {Dt.145}
“Venerable Subhūti, are bodhisattva great beings who dwell in these meditative stabilities prophesied by the tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas?”
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra, that is not the case!” replied Subhūti. “If you ask why, Venerable Śāradvatīputra, the perfection of wisdom, the meditative stabilities, and bodhisattva great beings are not distinct from one another. Rather, the perfection of wisdom itself constitutes the meditative stabilities. The meditative stabilities themselves constitute the bodhisattvas. The bodhisattvas themselves constitute the meditative stabilities.”
“Venerable Subhūti, if the meditative stabilities and the bodhisattvas are not distinct from one another, and if the meditative stabilities are themselves the bodhisattvas, and the bodhisattvas are themselves the meditative stabilities owing to the sameness of all phenomena, is it then possible to teach those meditative stabilities?”
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra, it is not!” replied Subhūti.
“Venerable Śāradvatīputra, they do not perceive them!” replied Subhūti.
“Because they are without conceptual thought,” replied Subhūti.
“They are without conceptual thought because all phenomena are nonexistent,” replied Subhūti. “So it is that those noble children have no conceptual thoughts regarding those meditative stabilities. That, Venerable Śāradvatīputra, is the formulation explaining how those noble children are not conscious of those meditative stabilities. They do not perceive them.”
“They are not conscious and do not perceive them because the meditative stabilities are nonexistent, and bodhisattva great beings, also, are nonexistent,” replied Subhūti.
Then the Blessed Lord congratulated the venerable Subhūti with these words: “Well said, Subhūti! Well said! You, whom I have declared to be foremost among śrāvakas practicing free from afflicted mental states, have spoken these words eloquently! So it is that bodhisattva great beings should indeed train in the perfection of wisdom, {Dt.146} and they should train in the perfection of meditative concentration, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of ethical discipline, and the perfection of generosity. They should train in the factors conducive to enlightenment and [in the fruitional attributes], up to and including the eighteen distinct attributes of the buddhas.”
Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord, do bodhisattva great beings train in the perfection of wisdom without apprehending anything, and do they train in the perfection of meditative concentration, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of ethical discipline, and the perfection of generosity without apprehending anything? Do they train in the factors conducive to enlightenment and [in the fruitional attributes], up to and including the eighteen distinct attributes of the buddhas, without apprehending anything?”
“Śāradvatīputra,” replied the Blessed Lord, “when bodhisattva great beings train accordingly, they do train in the perfection of wisdom without apprehending anything, and they do train in the perfection of meditative concentration, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of ethical discipline, and the perfection of generosity without apprehending anything. They do train in the factors conducive to enlightenment and [in the fruitional attributes], up to and including the eighteen distinct attributes of the buddhas, without apprehending anything.” [F.156.a]
Then the venerable Śāradvatīputra asked, “Blessed Lord, what is it that they do not apprehend?”
The Blessed Lord replied, “Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend a self. They do not apprehend sentient beings, life forms, living beings, life, living creatures, individuals, human beings, people, actors, experiencers, knowers, [or viewers]. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend the aggregates, the sense fields, the sensory elements, or the links of dependent origination. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend [the truth of] suffering. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend [the truths of] the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, or the path that leads to it. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend the realm of desire. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend the realm of form. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend the realm of formlessness. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend the perfections. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend the factors conducive to enlightenment, the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the gateways of the meditative stabilities and the dhāraṇīs, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, great loving kindness, great compassion, or the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend those who enter the stream to nirvāṇa. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend those who are destined for only one more rebirth, those who will not be reborn, those who have attained arhatship, or pratyekabuddhas. [F.156.b] Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend bodhisattvas. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend enlightenment. Owing to the utter purity [of all phenomena], they do not apprehend buddhas.”
“Purity indicates that all phenomena are nonarising, unceasing, neither afflicted nor purified, nonemerging, nonapprehensible, and unconditioned,” replied the Blessed One. “Śāradvatīputra, so it is that bodhisattva great beings train with respect to all phenomena, without apprehending anything.”
“Blessed Lord, in what phenomena do bodhisattva great beings who train accordingly then train?”
“Śāradvatīputra,” replied the Blessed One, “bodhisattva great beings who train accordingly, do not train in anything at all. {Dt.147} If you ask why, Śāradvatīputra, it is because these phenomena are nonexistent in the ways that ordinary people are fixated on them.”
“They exist to the extent that they do not exist, and accordingly, since they do not exist, they are said to be nonexistent,” replied the Blessed One.
“Śāradvatīputra,” replied the Blessed One, “it is owing to the emptiness of internal phenomena, and to [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities, that physical forms are nonexistent. It is owing to the emptiness of internal phenomena, and to [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities, that feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness are nonexistent. Similarly, it is owing to the emptiness of internal phenomena, and to [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities, that [the causal attributes], up to and including the factors conducive to enlightenment, are nonexistent. It is owing to the emptiness of internal phenomena, and to [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities, that [the fruitional attributes], up to and including the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas, are nonexistent. [F.157.a]
“However, ordinary people, through their fixations on phenomena that are nonexistent, become fixated on their cravings. By imagining phenomena that are nonexistent, they become fixated on that which is nonexistent, and through their adherence to the two extremes of eternalism and nihilism, they do not know and they do not see. After imagining those phenomena that are nonexistent, they become fixated on the [aggregates that constitute] name and form. They become fixated on the applications of mindfulness, and they become fixated on [all the other causal and fruitional attributes], up to and including the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas. Since, owing to their fixation on these phenomena, they imagine phenomena that are nonexistent, they do not know and they do not see. If you ask what they do not know and do not see, they neither know nor see physical forms. They neither know nor see feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, or consciousness. They neither know nor see the sense fields, the sensory elements, or the links of dependent origination. They neither know nor see the thirty-seven factors conducive to enlightenment, They neither know nor see the [fruitional attributes], up to and including the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas. {Dt.148}
“In such ways, due to which they are counted among ‘ordinary people,’ they will not attain emancipation, and if you ask what it is that they will not be emancipated from, they will not be emancipated from the realm of desire. They will not be emancipated from the realm of form. They will not be emancipated from the realm of formlessness. They will not be emancipated from the levels of the śrāvakas or the pratyekabuddhas. They lack conviction. If you ask how they lack conviction, they lack the conviction that physical forms are empty of physical forms. They lack the conviction that [all phenomena and attainments], up to and including enlightenment, are empty of enlightenment [and so forth]. Also, they are not stable. If you ask what it is in which they are not stable, they are not stable in the perfection of generosity. They are not stable in the perfection of ethical discipline, the perfection of tolerance, [F.157.b] the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of meditative concentration, or the perfection of wisdom. They are not stable in the irreversible [sublime] levels, and they are not stable in [the causal and fruitional attributes], up to and including the eighteen distinct attributes of the buddhas. They are said to be ‘fixated.’244 If you ask how they are fixated, they are fixated on physical forms, and they are fixated on feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness. They are fixated on the eyes, and they are fixated on the ears, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mental faculty. They are fixated on the sense fields, the sensory elements, and the links of dependent origination. They are fixated on desire, hatred, and delusion. They are fixated on opinions. They are fixated on the [attributes and attainments], up to and including enlightenment. That is why they are called ‘ordinary people.’ ”
“Blessed Lord, are bodhisattva great beings who train in such ways not training in the perfection of wisdom, and will they not be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience?”
“Śāradvatīputra,” replied the Blessed One, “bodhisattva great beings who train in such ways are not training in the perfection of wisdom, and they will not be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience.”
“Blessed Lord, why are those bodhisattvas not training in the perfection of wisdom, and why will they not be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience?”
“Śāradvatīputra,” replied the Blessed One, “bodhisattva great beings who are unskillful have conceived of and become fixated on the perfection of wisdom. They have conceived of and become fixated on the perfection of meditative concentration, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of ethical discipline, [F.158.a] and the perfection of generosity. They have conceived of and become fixated on all the aspects of emptiness, the applications of mindfulness, the correct exertions, the supports for miraculous ability, the faculties, the powers, the branches of enlightenment, and the noble eightfold path. They have conceived of and become fixated on the truths of the noble ones, the meditative concentrations, the immeasurable attitudes, the formless absorptions, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, the extrasensory powers, the gateways of the meditative stabilities and the dhāraṇīs, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, and the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas. They have conceived of and become fixated on [the attainments], up to and including all-aspect omniscience. Śāradvatīputra, those are the formulations explaining how bodhisattva great beings do not train in the perfection of wisdom, and how they will not be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience.” {Dt.149}
“Blessed Lord, in that case, by what means do bodhisattva great beings train in the perfection of wisdom, and, by training accordingly, how do they become emancipated in all-aspect omniscience?”
“Śāradvatīputra,” replied the Blessed One, “when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom, they do not apprehend and do not observe the perfection of wisdom, and, Śāradvatīputra, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom in that manner, they do not apprehend and do not observe all-aspect omniscience. [F.158.b] When bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of meditative concentration, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of tolerance, the perfection of ethical discipline, and the perfection of generosity, they do not apprehend and do not observe the perfection of generosity [and so forth]. When they practice [the other attributes and attainments], up to and including all-aspect omniscience, they do not apprehend and do not observe all-aspect omniscience. Śāradvatīputra, bodhisattva great beings who train in the perfection of wisdom in that manner will be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience, without apprehending anything. Śāradvatīputra, bodhisattva great beings who practice the perfection of wisdom in that manner, and train in the perfection of wisdom in that manner, will be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience, without apprehending anything.”
“Blessed Lord,” he asked, “With respect to what will they be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience, without apprehending anything?” {Dt.150}
The Blessed One replied, “You should know that they will be emancipated in all-aspect omniscience without apprehending anything with respect to the emptiness of internal phenomena, and, without apprehending anything with respect to [the other aspects of emptiness], up to and including the emptiness of the essential nature of nonentities.”
This completes the sixth chapter from “The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines.”
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.