Buddhist texts

Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the

Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed
to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama
Buddha.[1] The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts are the
Gandhāran Buddhist texts, found in Afghanistan and written in
Gāndhārī, they date from the first century BCE to the third century
CE.[2] The first Buddhist texts were initially passed on orally by
Buddhist monastics, but were later written down and composed as
Illustrated Sinhalese covers and
manuscripts in various Indo-Aryan languages (such as Pāli,
palm-leaf pages, depicting the
Gāndhārī, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit) and collected into various
events between the Bodhisattva's
Buddhist Canons.[3] These were then translated into other
languages such as Buddhist Chinese (fójiào hànyǔ 佛教漢語
[3]
) and
renunciation and the request by
Brahmā Sahampati that he teach the
Classical Tibetan as Buddhism spread outside of India.
Dharma after the Buddha's
awakening.
Buddhist texts can be categorized in a number of ways. The
Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism
in inconsistent ways by Western scholars: for example, one
authority refers to "scriptures and other canonical texts", while
another says that scriptures can be categorized into canonical,
commentarial, and pseudo-canonical. Buddhist traditions have
generally divided these texts with their own categories and
divisions, such as that between buddhavacana "word of the
Buddha," many of which are known as "sutras", and other texts,
such as "shastras" (treatises) or "Abhidharma".[3][4][5] Illustrated Lotus Sūtra from Korea;
circa 1340, Accordion-format book;
These religious texts were written in different languages, methods gold and silver on indigo-dyed
and writing systems. Memorizing, reciting and copying the texts mulberry paper.
was seen as spiritually valuable. Even after the development and
adoption of printing by Buddhist institutions, Buddhists continued
to copy them by hand as a spiritual practice.[6]

In an effort to preserve these scriptures, Asian Buddhist institutions

were at the forefront of the adoption of Chinese technologies
related to bookmaking, including paper, and block printing which
were often deployed on a large scale. Because of this, the first
surviving example of a printed text is a Buddhist charm, the first
full printed book is the Buddhist Diamond Sutra (c. 868) and the
first hand colored print is an illustration of Guanyin dated to 947.[7]
Folio from a manuscript of the
Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra
depicting Shadakshari Lokesvara,
Contents early 12th century, Opaque
watercolor on palm leaf.
Buddhavacana
The texts of the early Buddhist schools
Early Buddhist texts
 Abhidharma texts
Other texts
Theravāda texts
Mahāyāna texts
Mahāyāna sūtras
Major Mahāyāna sūtras
Indian treatises
East Asian works
Vajrayana texts
Buddhist tantras
Other products of the Vajrayana literature
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

Buddhavacana
The concept of buddhavacana (word of the Buddha) is important in understanding how Buddhists classify
and see their texts. Buddhavacana texts have special status as sacred scripture and are generally seen as in
accord with the teachings of the historical Buddha, which is termed "the Dharma". According to Donald
Lopez, the criteria for determining what should be considered buddhavacana were developed at an early
stage, and that the early formulations do not suggest that Dharma is limited to what was spoken by the
historical Buddha.[8]

The Mahāsāṃghika and the Mūlasarvāstivāda considered both the Buddha's discourses and those of his
disciples to be buddhavacana.[8] A number of different beings such as Buddhas, disciples of the Buddha,
ṛṣis, and devas were considered capable to transmitting buddhavacana.[8] The content of such a discourse
was then to be collated with the sūtras, compared with the Vinaya, and evaluated against the nature of the
Dharma.[9][10] These texts may then be certified as true buddhavacana by a buddha, a sangha, a small
group of elders, or one knowledgeable elder.[9][10]

In Theravāda Buddhism, the standard collection of buddhavacana is the Pāli Canon, also known as the
Tripiṭaka ("three baskets"). Generally speaking, the Theravāda school rejects the Mahāyāna sūtras as
buddhavacana (word of the Buddha), and do not study or see these texts as reliable sources.[11] In East
Asian Buddhism, what is considered buddhavacana is collected in the Chinese Buddhist canon; the most
common edition of this is the Taishō Tripiṭaka, itself based on the Tripiṭaka Koreana. This collection,
unlike the Pāli Tripiṭaka, contains Mahāyāna sūtras, Śāstras (scholastic treatises), and Esoteric Buddhist
literature.

According to Venerable Hsuan Hua from the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, there are five types of beings
who may speak the sutras of Buddhism: a Buddha, a disciple of a Buddha, a deva, a ṛṣi, or an emanation
of one of these beings; however, they must first receive certification from a buddha that its contents are true
Dharma.[12] Then these sutras may be properly regarded as buddhavacana.[12] Sometimes texts that are
considered commentaries by some are regarded by others as buddhavacana.[13]
In Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, what is considered buddhavacana is collected in the Kangyur ('The Translation
of the Word'). The East Asian and Tibetan Buddhist Canons always combined buddhavacana with other
literature in their standard collected editions. However, the general view of what is and is not
buddhavacana is broadly similar between East Asian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetan
Kangyur, which belongs to the various schools of Tibetan Vajrayāna Buddhism, in addition to containing
sutras and Vinaya, also contains Buddhist tantras and other related Tantric literature.

The texts of the early Buddhist schools

Early Buddhist texts

The earliest Buddhist texts were passed down orally in Middle

Indo-Aryan languages called Prakrits, including Gāndhārī
language, the early Magadhan language and Pāli through the use of
repetition, communal recitation and mnemonic devices.[3][14] These
texts were later compiled into canons and written down in Samyutagama Sūtra, Medieval
manuscripts. For example, the Pāli Canon was preserved in Sri China, 11th century
Lanka where it was first written down in the first century BCE.[15]

There are early texts from various Buddhist schools, the largest
collections are from the Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda schools, but
there are also full texts and fragments from the Dharmaguptaka,
Mahāsāṅghika, Mahīśāsaka, Mūlasarvāstivāda, and others.[16] The
most widely studied early Buddhist material are the first four Pāli
Nikayas, as well as the corresponding Chinese Āgamas.[17] The
modern study of early pre-sectarian Buddhism often relies on
comparative scholarship using these various early Buddhist
sources.[18]
Burmese Pāli manuscript
Various scholars of Buddhist studies such as Richard Gombrich,
Akira Hirakawa, Alexander Wynne, and A. K. Warder hold that
early Buddhist texts contain material that could possibly be traced to the historical Buddha himself or at
least to the early years of pre-sectarian Buddhism.[19][20][21] In Mahāyāna Buddhism, these texts are
sometimes referred to as "Hinayana" or "Śrāvakayāna".

Although many versions of the texts of the early Buddhist schools exist, the only complete collection of
texts to survive in a Middle Indo-Aryan language is the Tipiṭaka (triple basket) of the Theravāda school.[22]
The other (parts of) extant versions of the Tripitakas of early schools include the Chinese Āgamas, which
includes collections by the Sarvāstivāda and the Dharmaguptaka. The Chinese Buddhist canon contains a
complete collection of early sutras in Chinese translation, their content is very similar to the Pali, differing in
detail but not in the core doctrinal content.[23] The Tibetan canon contains some of these early texts as well,
but not as complete collections. The earliest known Buddhist manuscripts containing early Buddhist texts
are the Gandharan Buddhist Texts, dated to the 1st century BCE and constitute the Buddhist textual
tradition of Gandharan Buddhism which was an important link between Indian and East Asian
Buddhism.[24] Parts of what is likely to be the canon of the Dharmaguptaka can be found among these
Gandharan Buddhist Texts.

There are different genres of early Buddhist texts, including prose "suttas" (Sanskrit: sūtra, discourses),
disciplinary works (Vinaya), various forms of verse compositions (such as gāthā and udāna), mixed prose
and verse works (geya), and also lists (matika) of monastic rules or doctrinal topics. A large portion of
Early Buddhist literature is part of the "sutta" or "sutra" genre. The Sūtras (Sanskrit; Pāli: Sutta) are mostly
discourses attributed to the Buddha or one of his close disciples. They are considered to be buddhavacana
by all schools. The Buddha's discourses were perhaps originally organised according to the style in which
they were delivered. They were later organized into collections called Nikāyas ('volumes') or Āgamas
('scriptures'), which were further collected into the Sūtra Piṭaka ("Basket of Discourses") of the canons of
the early Buddhist schools.

Most of the early sutras that have survived are from Sthavira nikaya schools, no complete collection has
survived from the other early branch of Buddhism, the Mahāsāṃghika. However, some individual texts
have survived, such as the Śālistamba Sūtra (rice stalk sūtra). This sūtra contains many parallel passages to
the Pali suttas. As noted by N. Ross Reat, this text is in general agreement with the basic doctrines of the
early sutras of the Sthavira schools such as dependent origination, the "middle way" between eternalism
and annihilationism, the "five aggregates", the "three unwholesome roots", the Four Noble Truths and the
Noble Eightfold Path.[25] Another important source for Mahāsāṃghika sutras is the Mahāvastu ("Great
Event"), which is a collection of various texts compiled into a biography of the Buddha. Within it can be
found quotations and whole sutras, such as the Mahāsāṃghika version of the
Dharmacakrapravartana.[26][27]

The other major type of text aside from the sutras are the Vinayas. Vinaya literature is primarily concerned
with aspects of the monastic discipline and the rules and procedures that govern the Buddhist monastic
community (sangha). However, Vinaya as a term is also contrasted with Dharma, where the pair (Dhamma-
Vinaya) mean something like 'doctrine and discipline'. The Vinaya literature in fact contains a considerable
range of texts. There are, of course, those that discuss the monastic rules, how they came about, how they
developed, and how they were applied. But the vinaya also contains some doctrinal expositions, ritual and
liturgical texts, biographical stories, and some elements of the "Jatakas", or birth stories. Various Vinaya
collections survive in full, including those of the following schools: Theravāda (in Pali), Mula-Sarvāstivāda
(in Tibetan translation) and the Mahāsānghika, Sarvāstivāda, Mahīshāsika, and Dharmaguptaka (in Chinese
translations). In addition, portions survive of a number of Vinayas in various languages.

Aside from the Sutras and the Vinayas, some schools also had collections of "minor" or miscellaneous
texts. The Theravāda Khuddaka Nikāya (‘Minor Collection’) is one example of such a collection, while
there is evidence that the Dharmaguptaka school had a similar collection, known as the Kṣudraka Āgama.
Fragments of the Dharmaguptaka minor collection have been found in Gandhari.[28] The Sarvāstivāda
school also seems to have had a Kṣudraka collection of texts, but they did not see it as an "Āgama".[29]
These "minor" collections seem to have been a category for miscellaneous texts, and was perhaps never
definitively established among many early Buddhist schools.

Early Buddhist texts which appear in such "minor" collections include:

The Dharmapadas. These texts are collections of sayings and aphorisms, the most well
known of which is the Pali Dhammapada, but there are various versions in different
languages, such as the Patna Dharmapada and the Gāndhārī Dharmapada.
The Pali Udana and the Sarvāstivāda Udānavarga. These are other collections of "inspired
sayings."
The Pali Itivuttaka ("as it was said") and the Chinese translation of the Itivṛttaka (
[30]
) by本事經
Xuanzang.
The Pali Sutta Nipata, including texts such as the Aṭṭhakavagga and Pārāyanavagga. There
is also a parallel in the Chinese translation of the Arthavargīya.
Theragāthā and Therīgāthā two collections of verses related to the elder disciples of the
Buddha. A Sanskrit Sthaviragāthā is also known to have existed.[30]
Abhidharma texts

Abhidharma (in Pāli, Abhidhamma) texts which contain "an abstract and highly technical systematization"
of doctrinal material appearing in the Buddhist sutras.[31] It is an attempt to best express the Buddhist view
of "ultimate reality" (paramartha-satya) without using the conventional language and narrative stories
found in the sutras.[32] The prominent modern scholar of Abhidharma, Erich Frauwallner has said that
these Buddhist systems are "among the major achievements of the classical period of Indian philosophy."
Modern scholars generally believe that the canonical Abhidharma texts emerged after the time of the
Buddha, in around the 3rd century BCE. Therefore, the canonical Abhidharma works are generally
claimed by scholars not to represent the words of the Buddha himself, but those of later Buddhists.[33]

There are different types and historical layers of Abhidharma literature. The early canonical Abhidharma
works (like the Abhidhamma Pitaka) are not philosophical treatises, but mainly summaries and expositions
of early doctrinal lists with their accompanying explanations.[33][34] These texts developed out of early
Buddhist lists or matrices (mātṛkās) of key teachings, such as the 37 factors leading to Awakening.[35]
Scholars like Erich Frauwallner have argued that there is an "ancient core" of early pre-sectarian material in
the earliest Abhidharma works, such as in the Theravada Vibhanga, the Dharmaskandha of the
Sarvastivada, and the Śāriputrābhidharma of the Dharmaguptaka school.[36]

Only two full canonical Abhidharma collections have survived both containing seven texts, the Theravāda
Abhidhamma and the Sarvastivada Abhidharma, which survives in Chinese translation. However, texts of
other tradition have survived, such as the Śāriputrābhidharma of the Dharmaguptaka school, the
Tattvasiddhi Śāstra (Chéngshílun) and various Abhidharma type works from the Pudgalavada school.

Later post-canonical Abhidharma works were written as either large treatises (śāstra), as commentaries
(aṭṭhakathā) or as smaller introductory manuals. They are more developed philosophical works which
include many innovations and doctrines not found in the canonical Abhidharma.

Other texts

The early Buddhist schools also preserved other types of texts

which developed in later periods, which were variously seen as
canonical or not, depending on the tradition.

One of the largest category of texts that were neither Sutra, Vinaya
nor Abhidharma includes various collections of stories such as the
Jātaka tales and the Avadānas (Pali: Apadāna). These are moral
fables and legends dealing with the previous births of Gautama
Buddha in both human and animal form.[37] The different Buddhist
schools had their own collections of these tales and often disagreed
on which stories were canonical.[38]
Illuminated manuscript of a Jataka,
Another genre that developed over time in the various early schools the Story of Phra Malai's Visit to
were biographies of the Buddha. Buddha biographies include the Heaven and Hell, Thailand, Bangkok
style, 1813, ink, color and gold on
Mahāvastu of the Lokottaravadin school, the northern tradition's
paper, Honolulu Museum of Art
Lalitavistara Sūtra, the Theravada Nidānakathā and the
Dharmaguptaka Abhiniṣkramaṇa Sūtra.[39][40]

One of the most famous of biographies is the Buddhacarita, an epic poem in Classical Sanskrit by
Aśvaghoṣa. Aśvaghoṣa also wrote other poems, as well as Sanskrit dramas. Another Sanskrit Buddhist
poet was Mātṛceṭa, who composed various pious hymns in slokas.[41] Buddhist poetry is a broad genre
with numerous forms and has been composed in many languages, including Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese and
Japanese. Aside from the work of Aśvaghoṣa, another important Sanskrit poet was Mātr̥ceṭa, known for
his One Hundred and Fifty Verses. Buddhist poetry was also written in popular Indian languages, such as
Tamil and Apabhramsa. One well known poem is the Tamil epic Manimekalai, which is one of the Five
Great Epics of Tamil literature.

Other later hagiographical texts include the Buddhavaṃsa, the Cariyāpiṭaka and the Vimanavatthu (as
well as its Chinese parallel, the Vimānāvadāna).[42]

There are also some unique individual texts like the Milinda pañha (literally The Questions of Milinda) and
its parallel in Chinese, the Nāgasena Bhikśu Sūtra ( 那先比丘經 ).[43] These texts depict a dialogue
between the monk Nagasena, and the Indo-Greek King Menander (Pali: Milinda). It is a compendium of
doctrine, and covers a range of subjects.

Theravāda texts
The Theravāda tradition has an extensive commentarial literature,
much of which is still untranslated. These are attributed to scholars
working in Sri Lanka such as Buddhaghosa (5th century CE) and
Dhammapala. There are also sub-commentaries (ṭīkā) or
commentaries on the commentaries. Buddhaghosa was also the
author of the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, which is a
manual of doctrine and practice according to the Mahavihara
tradition of Sri Lanka. According to Nanamoli Bhikkhu, this text is
regarded as "the principal non-canonical authority of the Burmese-Pali manuscript copy of the
Theravada."[44] A similar albeit shorter work is the Vimuttimagga. Buddhist text Mahaniddesa, showing
Another highly influential Pali Theravada work is the three different types of Burmese
Abhidhammattha-sangaha (11th or 12th century), a short 50 page script, (top) medium square, (centre)
introductory summary to the Abhidhamma, which is widely used to round and (bottom) outline round in
teach Abhidhamma. red lacquer from the inside of one of
the gilded covers
Buddhaghosa is known to have worked from Buddhist
commentaries in the Sri Lankan Sinhala language, which are now
lost. Sri Lankan literature in the vernacular contains many Buddhist works, including as classical Sinhala
poems such as the Muvadevāvata (The Story of the Bodhisattva's Birth as King Mukhadeva, 12th century)
and the Sasadāvata (The Story of the Bodhisattva's Birth as a Hare, 12th century) as well as prose works
like the Dhampiyātuvā gätapadaya (Commentary on the Blessed Doctrine), a commentary on words and
phrases in the Pāli Dhammapada.

The Theravāda textual tradition spread into Burma and Thailand where Pali scholarship continued to
flourish with such works as the Aggavamsa of Saddaniti and the Jinakalamali of Ratanapañña.[45] Pali
literature continued to be composed into the modern era, especially in Burma, and writers such as Mahasi
Sayadaw translated some of their texts into Pali.

There are also numerous Esoteric Theravada texts, mostly from Southeast Asia.[46] This tradition flourished
in Cambodia and Thailand before the 19th century reformist movement of Rama IV. One of these texts has
been published in English by the Pali Text Society as "Manual of a Mystic".[47]

Burmese Buddhist literature developed unique poetic forms form the 1450s onwards, a major type of
poetry is the pyui' which are long and embellished translations of Pali Buddhist works, mainly jatakas. A
famous example of pyui' poetry is the Kui khan pyui' (the pyui' in nine sections, 1523). There is also a genre
of Burmese commentaries or nissayas which were used to teach Pali.[48] The nineteenth century saw a
flowering of Burmese Buddhist literature in various genres including religious biography, Abhidharma,
legal literature and meditation literature.

An influential text of Thai literature is the "Three Worlds According to King Ruang" (1345) by Phya
Lithai, which is an extensive Cosmological and visionary survey of the Thai Buddhist universe.

Mahāyāna texts

Mahāyāna sūtras

See Mahāyāna sūtras for historical background and a list of some sutras categorised by source.

Around the beginning of the common era, a new genre of sutra

literature began to be written with a focus on the Bodhisattva ideal,
commonly known as Mahāyāna ("Great Vehicle") or
Bodhisattvayāna ("Bodhisattva Vehicle").[49] The earliest of these
sutras do not call themselves ‘Mahāyāna,’ but use the terms
Vaipulya (extensive, expansive) sutras, or Gambhira (deep,
profound) sutras.[50]

There are various theories of how Mahāyāna emerged. According

to David Drewes, it seems to have been "primarily a textual Frontispiece of the Chinese Diamond
movement, focused on the revelation, preaching, and dissemination Sūtra, the oldest known dated printed
book in the world
of Mahāyāna sutras, that developed within, and never really
departed from, traditional Buddhist social and institutional
structures."[50] Early dharmabhanakas (preachers, reciters of these
sutras) were influential figures, and promoted these new texts
throughout the Buddhist communities.[50]

Many of these Mahāyāna sūtras were written in Sanskrit (in hybrid

forms and in classical Sanskrit) and then later translated into the
Tibetan and Chinese Buddhist canons (the Kangyur and the Taishō
Tripiṭaka respectively) which then developed their own textual
histories. Sanskrit had been adopted by Buddhists in north India
during the Kushan era and Sanskrit Buddhist literature became the
dominant tradition in Buddhist India until the decline of Buddhism
there.[51] Sanskrit manuscript of the Heart
Sūtra, written in the Siddhaṃ script.
Mahāyāna sūtras are also generally regarded by the Mahāyāna Bibliothèque nationale de France
tradition as being more profound than the śrāvaka texts as well as
generating more spiritual merit and benefit. Thus, they are seen as
superior and more virtuous to non-Mahāyāna sutras.[52][53] The Mahāyāna sūtras are traditionally
considered by Mahāyāna Buddhists to be the word of the Buddha. Mahāyāna Buddhists explained the
emergence of these new texts by arguing that they had been transmitted in secret, via lineages of
supernatural beings (such as the nagas) until people were ready to hear them, or by stating that they had
been revealed directly through visions and meditative experiences to a select few.[54]

According to David McMahan, the literary style of the Mahāyāna sūtras reveals how these texts were
mainly composed as written works and how they also needed to legitimate themselves to other Buddhists.
They used different literary and narrative ways to defend the legitimacy of these texts as Buddha word.[55]
Mahāyāna sūtras such as the Gaṇḍavyūha also often criticize early
Buddhist figures, such as Sariputra for lacking knowledge and
goodness, and thus, these elders or śrāvaka are seen as not
intelligent enough to receive the Mahāyāna teachings, while more
the advanced elite, the bodhisattvas, are depicted as those who can
see the highest teachings.[56]

These sūtras were not recognized as being Buddha word by

various early Buddhist schools and there was lively debate over
their authenticity throughout the Buddhist world. Various A section from the Illustrated Sutra
Mahāyāna sūtras warn against the charge that they are not word of of Past and Present Karma (Kako
the Buddha, showing that they are aware of this claim.[54] Buddhist genzai inga kyō emaki), mid-8th
communities such as the Mahāsāṃghika school were divided century, Japan
along these doctrinal lines into sub-schools which accepted or did
not accept these texts.[57] The Theravāda school of Sri Lanka also
was split on the issue during the medieval period. The Mahavihara sub-sect rejected these texts and the
(now extinct) Abhayagiri sect accepted them. Theravāda commentaries mention these texts (which they call
Vedalla/Vetulla) as not being the Buddha word and being counterfeit scriptures.[58] Modern Theravāda
generally does not accept these texts as buddhavacana (word of the Buddha).[11]

The Mahāyāna movement remained quite small until the fifth century, with very few manuscripts having
been found before then (the exceptions are from Bamiyan). However, according to Walser, the fifth and
sixth centuries saw a great increase in the production of these texts.[59] By this time, Chinese pilgrims, such
as Faxian, Yijing, and Xuanzang were traveling to India, and their writings do describe monasteries which
they label 'Mahāyāna' as well as monasteries where both Mahāyāna monks and non-Mahāyāna monks
lived together.[60]

Mahāyāna sūtras contain several elements besides the promotion of the bodhisattva ideal, including
"expanded cosmologies and mythical histories, ideas of purelands and great, ‘celestial’ Buddhas and
bodhisattvas, descriptions of powerful new religious practices, new ideas on the nature of the Buddha, and
a range of new philosophical perspectives."[50] These texts present stories of revelation in which the
Buddha teaches Mahāyāna sutras to certain bodhisattvas who vow to teach and spread these sutras.[50]
These texts also promoted new religious practices that were supposed to make Buddhahood easy to
achieve, such as "hearing the names of certain Buddhas or bodhisattvas, maintaining Buddhist precepts,
and listening to, memorizing, and copying sutras." Some Mahāyāna sūtras claim that these practices lead to
rebirth in Pure lands such as Abhirati and Sukhavati, where becoming a Buddha is much easier to
achieve.[50]

Several Mahāyāna sūtras also depict important Buddhas or Bodhisattvas not found in earlier texts, such as
the Buddhas Amitabha, Akshobhya and Vairocana, and the bodhisattvas Maitreya, Mañjusri, Ksitigarbha,
and Avalokiteshvara. An important feature of Mahāyāna is the way that it understands the nature of
Buddhahood. Mahāyāna texts see Buddhas (and to a lesser extent, certain bodhisattvas as well) as
transcendental or supramundane (lokuttara) beings, who live for eons constantly helping others through
their activity.[61]

According to Paul Williams, in Mahāyāna, a Buddha is often seen as "a spiritual king, relating to and caring
for the world", rather than simply a teacher who after his death "has completely ‘gone beyond’ the world
and its cares".[62] Buddha Sakyamuni's life and death on earth is then usually understood as a "mere
appearance", his death is an unreal show, in reality he continues to live in a transcendent reality.[62] Thus
the Buddha in the Lotus sutra says that he is "the father of the world", "the self existent
(svayambhu)...protector of all creatures", who has "never ceased to exist" and only "pretends to have
passed away."[63]
Hundreds of Mahāyāna sūtras have survived in Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan translation. There many
different genres or classes of Mahāyāna sutras, such as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras, the Tathāgatagarbha
sūtras and the Pure Land sūtras. The different Mahāyāna schools have many varied classification schemas
for organizing them and they see different texts as having higher authority than others.

Some Mahāyāna sūtras are also thought to display a distinctly tantric character, like some of the shorter
Perfection of Wisdom sutras and the Mahavairocana Sutra. At least some editions of the Kangyur include
the Heart Sutra in the tantra division.[64] Such overlap is not confined to "neighbouring" yanas: at least
nine "Sravakayana" texts can be found in the tantra divisions of some editions of the Kangyur.[65] One of
them, the Atanatiya Sutra, is also included in the Mikkyo (esoteric) division of the standard modern
collected edition of Sino-Japanese Buddhist literature.[66] Some Mahāyāna texts also contain dhāraṇī,
which are chants that are believed to have magical and spiritual power.

Major Mahāyāna sūtras

The following is a list of some well known Mahāyāna sutras which have been studied by modern
scholarship:

Ajitasena Sutra – a "proto-Mahāyāna" text, possibly one of the earliest texts with Mahāyāna
elements
Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra – An early Mahāyāna text focused on bodhisattva monasticism.
Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra – Possibly the earliest Prajñāpāramitā text.
Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā – Another possibly early Prajñāpāramitā text, very popular.
Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra (Infinite Life Sutra) – An influential text in Pure Land
Buddhism.
Amitabha Sutra – Another Pure land text
Contemplation Sutra – Another Pure land text
Pratyutpanna Sutra
Shurangama Samadhi Sutra
Saddharmapundarīka-sūtra (Lotus Sutra) – One of the most influential texts in East Asian
Buddhism.
Mahāratnakūta Sūtra – Actually a collection of various sūtras
Suvarnaprabhasa Sutra (or Golden Light Sutra)
Avataṃsaka Sūtra – A compilation of numerous texts, such as the Gaṇḍavyūha Sutra and
the Daśabhūmika Sūtra
Sandhinirmocana Sutra (c. 2nd century CE), the main sutra of Yogacara Buddhism,
introduces the doctrine of the "three turnings".
Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra – One of the key "Buddha nature" (Tathāgatagarbha) sūtras
Shrīmālādevi-simhanāda Sūtra – A "Buddha nature" text
Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra – A "Buddha nature" text, very influential in East Asian
Buddhism
Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra – Includes Yogacara and Tathāgatagarbha elements, influential in Zen
Buddhism.
Samādhirāja Sūtra (or Candrapradīpa Sūtra), influential in the Madhyamaka scholasticism of
Tibet.
Vimalakīrti Sūtra – A sutra which depicts the teachings of a layman on non-dualism.
Brahmajāla Sūtra – A text which contains an influential listing of bodhisattva precepts.
Kāraṇḍavyūhasūtra, which introduces the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra.
 Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra

Indian treatises

The Mahāyāna commentarial and exegetical literature is vast. Many of these exegetical and scholastic
works are called Śāstras, which can refer to a scholastic treatise, exposition or commentary.

Central to much of Mahāyāna philosophy are the works of the Indian scholar Nagarjuna. Especially
important is his magnum opus, the Mūlamadhyamika-karikā, or Root Verses on the Middle Way, a seminal
text on the Madhyamika philosophy. Various other authors of the Madhyamaka school followed him and
wrote commentaries to his texts or their own treatises.

Another very influential work which traditionally attributed to Nagarjuna In East Asia is the Dà zhìdù lùn
(*Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa, The Great Discourse on Prajñāpāramitā). This is a massive Mahayana
Buddhist treatise and commentary on the Prajñāpāramitā sutra in Twenty-five Thousand Lines, and it has
been extremely important in the development of the major Chinese Buddhist traditions.[67] Its authorship to
Nagarjuna however has been questioned by modern scholars and it only survives in the Chinese translation
by Kumārajīva (344–413 CE).[68]

The Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (fourth century CE) is another very large treatise which focuses on yogic
praxis and the doctrines of the Indian Yogacara school. Unlike the Dà zhìdù lùn, it was studied and
transmitted in both the East Asian Buddhist and the Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

The works of Asanga, a great scholar and systematizer of the Yogacara, are also very influential in both
traditions, including his magnum opus, the Mahāyāna-samgraha, and the Abhidharma-samuccaya (a
compendium of Abhidharma thought that became the standard text for many Mahayana schools especially
in Tibet). Various texts are also said to have received by Asanga from the Bodhisattva Maitreya in the
Tushita god realm, including works such as Madhyāntavibhāga, the Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra, and the
Abhisamayālamkara. Their authorship remains disputed by modern scholars however.[69] Asanga's brother
Vasubandhu wrote a large number of texts associated with the Yogacara including: Trisvabhāva-nirdesa,
Vimsatika, Trimsika, and the Abhidharmakośa-bhāsya. Numerous commentaries were written by later
Yogacara exegetes on the works of these two brothers.

The 9th Century Indian Buddhist Shantideva produced two texts: the Bodhicaryāvatāra has been a strong
influence in many schools of the Mahayana. It is notably a favorite text of the 14th Dalai Lama.

Dignāga is associated with a school of Buddhist logic that tried to establish which texts were valid sources
of knowledge (see also Epistemology). He produced the Pramāna-samuccaya, and later Dharmakirti wrote
the Pramāna-vārttikā, which was a commentary and reworking of the Dignaga text.

East Asian works

The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Dàshéng Qǐxìn Lùn) is an influential text in East Asian
Buddhism, especially in the Hua-yen school of China, and its Japanese equivalent, Kegon. While it is
traditionally attributed to Ashvaghosha, most scholars now hold it is a Chinese composition.[70]

The Dhyāna sutras (Chan-jing) are a group of early Buddhist meditation texts which contain meditation
teachings from the Sarvastivada school along with some early proto-Mahayana meditations. They were
mostly the work of Buddhist Yoga teachers from Kashmir and were translated into Chinese early on.
The early period of the development of Chinese Buddhism was
concerned with the collection and translation of texts into Chinese
and the creation of the Chinese Buddhist canon. This was often
done by traveling overland to India, as recorded in the Great Tang
Records on the Western Regions, by the monk Xuanzang (c. 602–
664), who also wrote a commentary on Yogacara which remained
influential, the Discourse on the Perfection of Consciousness-only.

East Asian Buddhism began to develop its own unique doctrinal

literature with the rise of the Tiantai School and its major The Tripiṭaka Koreana, an early
representative, Zhiyi (538–597 CE) who wrote important edition of the Chinese Buddhist
commentaries on the Lotus sutra as well as the first major canon
comprehensive work on meditation composed in China, the Mohe
Zhiguan ( 摩訶止観 ). Another important school of Chinese
Buddhism is Huayan, which focused on developing their philosophical texts from the Avatamsaka. An
important patriarch of this school is Fazang who wrote many commentaries and treatises.

The Tripitaka Koreana, which was crafted in two versions (the first one was destroyed by fire during the
Mongol invasions of Korea), is a Korean collection of the Tripitaka carved onto 81,258 wooden printing
blocks during the 13th century. Still intact in good condition after some 750 years, it has been described by
the UNESCO committee as "one of the most important and most complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal
texts in the world".[71]

Zen Buddhism developed a large literary tradition based on the teachings and sayings of Chinese Zen
masters. One of the key texts in this genre is the Platform Sutra attributed to Zen patriarch Huineng, it gives
an autobiographical account of his succession as Ch'an Patriarch, as well as teachings about Ch'an theory
and practice. Other texts are Koan collections, which are compilations of the sayings of Chinese masters
such as the Blue Cliff Record and The Gateless Gate. Another key genre is that of compilations of Zen
master biographies, such as the Transmission of the Lamp. Buddhist poetry was also an important
contribution to the literature of the tradition.

After the arrival of Chinese Buddhism in Japan, Korea and Vietnam; they developed their own traditions
and literature in the local language.

Vajrayana texts

Buddhist tantras

The late Seventh century saw the rise of another new class of Buddhist texts, the Tantras, which focused on
ritual practices and yogic techniques such as the use of Mantras, Dharanis, Mandalas, Mudras and Fire
offerings.[72]

Many early Buddhist Tantric texts, later termed “action Tantras” (kriyā tantra), are mostly collections of
magical mantras or phrases for mostly worldly ends called mantrakalpas (mantra manuals) and they do not
call themselves Tantras.[73]

Later Tantric texts from the eighth century onward (termed variously Yogatantra, Mahayoga, and Yogini
Tantras) advocated union with a deity (deity yoga), sacred sounds (mantras), techniques for manipulation of
the subtle body and other secret methods with which to achieve swift Buddhahood.[74] Some Tantras
contain antinomian and transgressive practices such as ingesting alcohol and other forbidden substances as
well as sexual rituals.[75]
Some scholars such as Alexis Sanderson have argued that these
later tantras, mainly the Yogini tantras, can be shown to have been
influenced by non-Buddhist religious texts, mainly Tantric Śaivism
and the Śaiva tantras.[76]

In East Asian Esoteric Buddhism and its Japanese offshoot, the

Shingon school, the most influential tantras are those which focus
on Vairocana Buddha, mainly, the Mahavairocana Tantra and the
Vajrasekhara Sutra.
Image of leaves and the upper book
Buddhist Tantras are key texts in Vajrayana Buddhism, which is the
cover of Thar pa chen po’i mod (The
dominant form of Buddhism in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. They
Sūtra of Great Liberation), showing
can be found in the Chinese canon, but even more so in the Tibetan
Tibetan writings on black paper with
Kangyur which contains translations of almost 500 tantras. In the
an ink that contain gold, silver,
Tibetan tradition, there are various categories of tantra. The Sarma
copper, coral, lazurite, malachite,
or New Translation schools of Tibetan Buddhism divide the Tantras
and mother of pearl. The unbound
into four main categories:
sheets are kept between two wooden
boards covered with green brocade.
Kriyayogatantra
The upper book cover shows the
Charyayogatantra images of four of the Eight Medicine
Yogatantra Buddhas.
Anuttarayogatantra

Anuttarayogatantra (Higher Yoga Tantra) is known in the

Nyingma school as Mahayoga. Some of the most influential Higher
Tantras in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism are the Guhyasamāja Tantra,
the Hevajra Tantra, the Cakrasamvara Tantra, and the Kalacakra
Tantra. The Nyingma school also has unique tantras of its own, not
found in the other Tibetan schools, the most important of these are
the Dzogchen tantras.

Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche of

Other products of the Vajrayana literature Samye Ling Temple reads from
prayer text.
Tibetan Buddhism has a unique and special class of texts called
terma (Tibetan: gTer-ma). These are texts (or ritual objects, etc.)
believed either composed or hidden by tantric masters and/or
elementally secreted or encoded in the elements and retrieved,
accessed or rediscovered by other tantric masters when appropriate.
Termas are discovered by tertöns (Tibetan: gTer-stons), whose
special function is to reveal these texts. Some termas are hidden in
caves or similar places, but a few are said to be 'mind termas,'
which are 'discovered' in the mind of the tertön. The Nyingma
school (and Bön tradition) has a large terma literature. Many of the
terma texts are said to have been written by Padmasambhava, who Tibetan Buddhist manuscripts
is particularly important to the Nyingmas. Probably the best known handmade with woodblock printing
terma text is the so-called Tibetan book of the dead, the Bardo method by Tibetan buddhist monks
Thodol. of Tashilhunpo, Shigatse, Tibet in
1938
A sadhana is a tantric spiritual practice text used by practitioners,
primarily to practice the mandala or a particular yidam, or
meditation deity. The Sādhanamālā is a collection of sadhanas.
Vajrayana adepts, known as mahasiddha, often expounded their teachings in the form of songs of
realization. Collections of these songs such as the Caryāgīti, or the Charyapada are still in existence. The
Dohakosha is a collection of doha songs by the yogi Saraha from the 9th century. A collection known in
English as The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa was composed by Tibetan Buddhist yogi Milarepa
and is especially popular amongst members of the Kagyu school.

The Blue Annals (Standard Tibetan: deb ther sngon po) completed in 1476CE , authored by Gölo
Zhönnupel (Tibetan: gos lo gzhon nu dpal, 1392–1481), is a historical survey of Tibetan Buddhism with a
marked ecumenical view, focusing upon the dissemination of various sectarian traditions throughout
Tibet.[77]

Namtar, or spiritual biographies, are another popular form of Tibetan Buddhist texts, whereby the teachings
and spiritual path of a practitioner are explained through a review of their life story.

Kūkai wrote a number of treatises on Vajrayana Buddhism, and these are influential in Japanese Shingon
Buddhism.

See also
Abhidhamma Piṭaka
Atthakatha
Āgama (Buddhism)
Buddhavacana
Buddhist Publication Society
Chinese Buddhist canon
Dhammapada, one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures
Dhamma Society Fund
Early Buddhist Texts
Gandharan Buddhist Texts, the oldest Buddhist manuscripts yet discovered
Index of Buddhism-related articles
List of historic Indian texts
List of suttas
Mahayana sutras
Pali Canon
Pali Literature
Pali Text Society
Palm-leaf manuscript
Pariyatti (bookstore)
Sanskrit Buddhist literature
Sutta Piṭaka
Taishō Tripiṭaka
Tibetan Buddhist canon
Timeline of Buddhism
Tripiṭaka Koreana
Vinaya Piṭaka
Yana, Buddhist schools into "yanas" or "vehicles"
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External links
 Media related to Buddhist texts at Wikimedia Commons
The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts - Buddhism (https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/the
mes/buddhism)
Online Dharma Libraries (https://web.archive.org/web/20080419001336/http://www.dharman
et.org/learning.htm)
The Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.cttbusa.org/cttb/btts.asp)
SuttaCentral (https://suttacentral.net/) Public domain translations in multiple languages from
the Pali Tipitaka as well as other collections, focusing on Early Buddhist Texts.
Pali Canon (http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.html) in English translation
(incomplete).
Bibliography of Translations from the Chinese Buddhist Canon (http://mbingenheimer.net/too
ls/bibls/transbibl.html)
Buddhist Canonical Text Titles and Translations in English (http://thecompassionnetwork.or
g/tripitaka-lists/)
Beyond the Tipitaka: A Field Guide to Post-canonical Pali Literature (https://web.archive.org/
web/20040406214720/http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/postcanon.html)
Bibliography of Indian Philosophy (http://faculty.washington.edu/kpotter/ckeyt/home.htm),
Karl Potter; includes lists of available translations and known or estimated dates of
composition of many Buddhist sutras.
How old is the Suttapiṭaka? The relative value of textual and epigraphical sources for the
study of early Indian Buddhism (http://www.budsas.org/ebud/ebsut055.htm) by Alexander
Wynne, St John's College, Oxford University, 2003.
History of early Buddhism in Sri Lanka, The Mahawansa (http://mahavamsa.org)

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