DESCRIPTION
The Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra 大般涅槃經 (Japanese: Daihatsunehan-gyō, Tibetan: མྱང་འདས་ཀྱི་མདོ་) or Nirvana Sutra is Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra in the genre of those on ‘Buddha-Nature’. Its precise date of origin is uncertain, but its early form may have developed in or by the second century CE. The original Sanskrit text is not extant except for a small number of fragments, but it survives in Chinese and Tibetan translation.
The Nirvana sutra was translated into Chinese twice from two apparently substantially different source texts. The 421 CE translation of Dharmakṣema is about four times longer than the 416 CE translation of Faxian (as well as the later Tibetan version). The two versions also differ in their teachings on Buddha-Nautre. Dharmakṣema's indicates all sentient beings have the potential to attain Buddhahood, but Faxian's states some will never attain Buddhahood. Ultimately, Dharmakṣema's version was far more popular in East Asia and his version of the text had a strong impact on East Asian Buddhism.[4]
This sutra should not be confused with the early Buddhist Mahaparinibbana sutta.