Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra

275px, A decorative page of a Korean copy of the Heap of Jewels Sutra

The ''Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , Tib. ''dam-chos dkon-mchog-brtsegs-pa'') is a major ancient collection of Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtras. It is also known simply as ''Ratnakūṭa Sūtra'' (), literally the ''Sutra of the Heap of Jewels'' in Sanskrit (''kūṭa'' means ‘accumulation’ or ‘heap’).

The ''Mahāratnakūṭa'' contains many important Mahāyāna sūtras, like the ''Śrīmālā-devī-siṁhanāda'', the ''Maitreya-paripṛcchā'', ''Kāśyapa-parivarta,'' and the ''Sukhāvatīvyūha''. The ''Heap of Jewels'' collection exists in Chinese and Tibetan translations. It also gives its name to one of the main divisions of Mahayana sutras in the Chinese Buddhist canon and in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.

Overview

The ''Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra'' contains 49 texts of varying length, which are termed "assemblies" by tradition. This collection includes the '' Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra'', the '' Longer Sukhāvatī-vyūha Sutra'', the ''Akṣobhya-vyūha Sūtra'', a long text called the ''Bodhisattvapiṭaka'', and others.Sangharakshita. ''The Eternal Legacy: An Introduction to the Canonical Literature of Buddhism.'' 2006. p. 168-169

Parts of this collection was brought to China and translated by Bodhiruci in the 8th century. Bodhiruci translated some of the texts, and included others which had been previously translated. This later Bodhiruci (also known as Bodhiruci II) should not be confused with another Bodhiruci who was the translator of the commentary on '' Ten Stages Sutra.''

The ''Ratnakūṭa'' collection totals 49 Mahāyāna sūtras, divided into 120 fascicles in the Chinese translation. Garma Chang, who is listed as General Editor of a volume of select sūtras from the ''Mahāratnakūṭa'' translated from Chinese into English, (see below, Further Reading, Garma C.C. Chang, (1983). ''A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras: Selections from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra.'' Title Page) summarizes the breadth and variety of texts contained in this collection:

In the Taishō Tripiṭaka in volumes 11 and 12a, the Mahāratnakūṭa is the text numbered 310, and texts numbered 311 through 373 are various other translations of some of the sutras contained in the Mahāratnakūṭa.

According to the ''Nikāyasaṅgraha'' (a Theravādin text), the ''Ratnakūṭa Sūtra'' was composed by the "Andhakas", meaning the Mahāsāṃghika Caitika schools of the Āndhra region.Paul, Diana. ''The Buddhist Feminine Ideal.'' 1980. p. 12 The texts of the sutra seem to have been collected over a number of centuries, and their varying subject matter is suggestive of historical transitions between major eras of Buddhist thought. The collection may have developed from a "Bodhisattva pitaka" attributed to some of the early Mahayana schools.

List of sutras

References

Further reading

* Garma C.C. Chang, trans. (1983). ''A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras: Selections from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra.''
*Pederson, K. Priscilla (1980). "Notes on the Ratnakūṭa Collection" in Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 3 (2), 60-66

External links

* {{cite web, url=http://www.lapislazulitexts.com/tripitaka#ratnakuta, title=Taishō Tripiṭaka: Ratnakūṭa division (English translations), publisher=Lapis Lazuli Texts, accessdate=2014-06-29

Mahayana sutras
Vaipulya sutras