The Pratyutpanna-buddha-sammukhavasthita-samadhi-sutra : an annotated English translation of the Tibetan version with several appendices

Abstract

The present work consists of a study of the Pratyutpanna-buddha-sammukhavasthita- samadhi-sutra (hereafter: PraS), a relatively early example of Mahayana Buddhist canonical literature. After a brief Introduction (pp. xxi-xli), which attempts to place the PraS in its historical context, the major portion of the work (pp. 1-186) is devoted to an annotated English translation of the Tibetan version of the sutra, with detailed reference to the three main Chinese translations. Appendix A (pp. 187-252) then attempts a resolution of some of the many problems surrounding the various Chinese versions of the PraS. These are examined both from the point of view of internal evidence and on the basis of bibliographical information furnished by the Chinese Buddhist scripture-catalogues. Some tentative conclusions are advanced concerning the textual history of the PraS in China. Appendix B (pp. 253-279) contains a study of the sole surviving fragment of the 'original’ Sanskrit text of the PraS. This fragment is edited, translated, and compared with the corresponding portions of the Chinese and Tibetan versions. Appendix C (pp. 280-327) consists of a Glossary of selected terms found in the PraS, and contains material drawn from all available translations of the work--the Tibetan, the three Chinese versions, and my own English rendering of the Tibetan--arranged according to Sanskrit equivalents and in Sanskrit alphabetical order. This Glossary is intended partly to act as an index to the text, and partly to facilitate further study of the Chinese translations.