Nirvana Sutra: Encyclopedia II - Nirvana Sutra - Versions

Nirvana Sutra - Versions

The text of the Nirvana Sutra in the original Sanskrit has survived only in a number of fragments, which were discovered in Central Asia, Afghanistan and Japan. It does exist in Chinese and Tibetan versions of varying lengths. Faxian, the monk who initially brought the text to China from India, prepared a brief translation containing six fascicles, but Dharmakṣema's slightly later translation had forty fascicles. Still later, Huiguan, Huiyan, Xie Lingyun, and others during the Liu Song dynasty integrated and amended the translations of Faxian and Dharmakṣema into a single edition of thirty-six fascicles. That version is called the "southern text" of the Nirvana Sutra, while Dharmakṣema's version is called the "northern text." There is also a Tibetan translation, compiled in about 790 by Jinamitra, Jnanagarbha, and Devacandra, which is comparable in length to Faxian's translation. Thus, there are four extant versions:

• The "six fascicle text", translated during the Eastern Jin Dynasty by Buddhabhadra and Faxian between 416 and 418, T 376.12.853-899.
• The "northern text", with 40 fascicles, translated in the Northern Liang kingdom by Dharmakṣema between 416 and 423, T 374.12.365c-603c.
• The "southern text" with 36 fascicles, complied in the Liu Song Dynasty by Huiguan and Huiyan, in approximately 453, T 375.12.605-852.
• The "Tibetan text", translated in 8th century Tibet by Jinamitra, Jnanagarbha, and Devacandra.

It is also known from Chinese catalogues of translations that at least two other Chinese translations were done, slightly earlier than Faxian, but these are no longer extant.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Versions", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki