DESCRIPTION
The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra 摩訶般若波羅蜜多經 is an encyclopedic collection of Prajñāpāramitā texts, usually attributed to Nāgārjuna’s ‘discovery’ of Mahayana sutras from the Nāga King, Muchalinda. It was translated into Chinese by Xuanzang and his assistants in 660 AD, totaling six hundred scrolls (three entire Taishō volumes!), and it is one of the most complete collections of Prajñāpāramitā sutras available in any language.
This collection consists of sixteen assemblies, each presenting a different version of the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra [Conze, Prajñāpāramitā Literature numbers]:
- [1.] Śatasāhasrika Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (100,000 Lines) / Scroll 1-400
- [2.] Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (25,000 Lines) / Scroll 401-478
- [3.] Aṣṭadaśasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (18,000 Lines) / Scroll 479-537
- [5.] Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (8,000 Lines, ‘old version’) / Scroll 538-555
- [5.] Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (8,000 Lines, ‘new version’) / Scroll 556-565
- [12a.] Devarāja Pravara Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra / Scroll 566-573
- [7.] Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (700 Lines) / Scroll 574-575
- [12.] Nāgaśrīparipṛcchā Sūtra (Questions of Nāgaśrī) / Scroll 576
- [8.] Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (Vajra Cutter Sutra) / Scroll 577
- [17.] Prajñāpāramitā Nayaśatapañcāśatikā (150 Lines) / Scroll 578
- [14.] Dānapāramitā Sūtra / Scroll 579-583
- [14.] Śīlapāramitā Sūtra / Scroll 584-588
- [14.] Kṣāntipāramitā Sūtra / Scroll 589
- [14.] Vīryapāramitā Sūtra / Scroll 590
- [14.] Dhyānapāramitā Sūtra / Scroll 591-592
- [6.] SuvikrāntavikrāmiparipṛcchāSūtra (Questions of Suvikrāntavikrāmi) / Scroll 593-600