DESCRIPTION
The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra is a Buddhist text which tells the story of a lay buddhist teacher named Vimalakīrti ('Flawless Reputation'). It was extremely influential throughout East Asia during the medieval period (circa 400-1000). It is considerably less important in Indian and Tibetan Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions.
TRANSLATIONS
The Vimalakirti Sutra (LUSB Standardized Ed.)Vimalakirti ExperienceCHINESE
There are three canonical translations of the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra from Sanskrit into Chinese:
1. An earlier version ascribed to Zhi Qian 支謙, entitled 維摩詰經 Weimojie jing (T. 474) 2. By Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅什 in 406 C.E. 維摩詰所說經 Weimojie suoshuo jing (T. 475) 3. By Xuanzang in 650 玄奘 titled 說無垢稱經 Shuo Wogoucheng jing (T. 476)
An additional version was found at Dunhuang in the early 20th century.
ENGLISH
From Chinese
In modern English there are at least five translations of the Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra, two from Kumārajīva's Chinese version, two from Tibetan, and one from a recently rediscovered Sanskrit text. Étienne Lamotte made a French translation from the Tibetan. Lamotte's French version was then re-translated into English by Sara Boin-Webb
The English translations are:
The Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra (Wei Mo Chieh So Shuo Ching), translated by Charles Luk (1972)
The Vimalakirti Sutra, translated by Burton Watson (1997)
The Vimalakīrti Sutra, translated by John McRae (2004)
Vimalakirti's Advice, translated by Thomas Cleary (2013)
From Tibetan
The principal Tibetan version is found in the Kanjur, by Chos nyid tshul khrims (Dharmatāśila), Dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa D176/Q843.'
The Teaching of Vimalakirti, translated by Etienne Lamotte (1962)
The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti , translated by Robert Thurman (1976)
Other Languages
There also exist or existed various translations of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra into the Japanese, Korean, Khotanese, Mongolian, Sogdian and Manchurian languages. Most Japanese versions are based on the Kumārajīva version, but two translations directly from a rediscovered Sanskrit text into vernacular Japanese have also now been published, one by Takahashi Hisao 高橋尚夫 and Nishino Midori 西野翠.