Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism
A study by J. K. Nariman of Sanskrit Buddhism from the Early Buddhist Tradition up to the Mahayana texts proper.
A study by J. K. Nariman of Sanskrit Buddhism from the Early Buddhist Tradition up to the Mahayana texts proper.
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Mahāyānasūtras – 92<br />
precious stones, with statues <strong>of</strong> the Buddha carved in wood or metal<br />
and with reliefs and frescoes.<br />
See especially chapter ii, Gāthās 77 ff., Sacred Books <strong>of</strong> the East. In<br />
Japan the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka is the sacred book <strong>of</strong> the Nichiren<br />
sect, Buniyu Nanjio, Short <strong>History</strong> <strong>of</strong> the Twelve Buddhist Sects,<br />
Tokyo, 1886, p. 132 ff.<br />
Kāraṇḍavyūha: its Theistic tendency<br />
To the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara who has been eulogised in<br />
Chapter XXIV <strong>of</strong> the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka is also dedicated an<br />
entire Mahāyānasūtra <strong>of</strong> great compass, the full title <strong>of</strong> which is<br />
Avalokiteśvara-guṇakāraṇḍavyūha, – “The exhaustive description <strong>of</strong><br />
the basket <strong>of</strong> the merits <strong>of</strong> the Avalokiteśvara.” The title is usually<br />
mentioned in its abbreviated shape <strong>of</strong> Kāraṇḍavyūha. We have two<br />
versions <strong>of</strong> this book, the more ancient one being in prose and the<br />
younger in ślokas. The prose text was edited by Satyavrata<br />
Shamashrami in 1873. The catalogue <strong>of</strong> the India Office library<br />
registers an edition which seems to have appeared in 1872 at<br />
Serampore.<br />
Burnouf, Introduction pp. 196-206, Raj. Mitra, Nepalese Buddhist<br />
Literature, p, 95 ff. Bendall, Catalogue p. 9ff; La Vallée-Poussin,<br />
Encyclopaedia <strong>of</strong> Religion and Ethics II, p.259 f.<br />
The metrical recension occupies theistic ground. For it is related how<br />
at the beginning <strong>of</strong> things appeared the Ādibuddha or the primitive<br />
Buddha, also called Svayambhū, or Self-Being and Ādinātha or the<br />
First Lord, and created the world by his meditation. Avalokiteśvara<br />
is derived from this spirit and he co-operated in the creation <strong>of</strong> the