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'''Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra''' (Skt. ''Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra''; Tib. [[དྲི་མེད་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པའི་མདོ་]], [[Wyl.]] ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>dri med grags pas bstan pa'i mdo'') ([[Toh.]] 176) — a popular [[Mahayana]] [[sutra]] featuring the lay [[bodhisattva]] [[Vimalakirti]].
'''Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra''' (Skt. ''Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra''; Tib. [[དྲི་མེད་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པའི་མདོ་]], [[Wyl.]] ''dri med grags pas bstan pa'i mdo'') — a popular [[Mahayana]] [[sutra]], especially in the Chinese Chan tradition. It is set in the city of [[Vaishali]], both in the garden of Amrapali where the [[Buddha]] resided and in the home of the lay [[bodhisattva]] [[Vimalakirti]].


==Sanskrit Text==
==Sanskrit Text==
Line 5: Line 5:


In more recent times, it was thought that all Sanskrit texts of the work had been lost, except for some fragments quoted in Mahayana philosophical works. In 1998, however, a Sanskrit manuscript was found in the [[Potala Palace]] in Lhasa, of which edited versions have been published in 2004 and 2006 by the Taishō University Study Group on Sanskrit Buddhist Literature.<ref>Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.</ref>
In more recent times, it was thought that all Sanskrit texts of the work had been lost, except for some fragments quoted in Mahayana philosophical works. In 1998, however, a Sanskrit manuscript was found in the [[Potala Palace]] in Lhasa, of which edited versions have been published in 2004 and 2006 by the Taishō University Study Group on Sanskrit Buddhist Literature.<ref>Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.</ref>
==Chinese Translation==
This text was translated into Chinese several times over the centuries. It was supposedly first translated in the second century with Yan Fodiao (A.D. 188) but is not available today. The three existing versions are from:
*Zhi Qian (A.D. 222-229),
*Kumārajīva (A.D. 406), which is the most popular, and
*[[Xuanzang]] (A.D. 650), which is the most technically accurate.<ref>Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha & Philippe Cornu, ''Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme'' (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2001), page 698.</ref>
===Contents===
The Chinese edition is divided into 14 chapters:
#The Pure [[buddha realm|Buddha Realm]]s
#The Inconceivable Skillful Means
#The Shravakas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
#The Bodhisattvas' Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
#Manjushri Enquires about Vimalakirti's Health
#The Inconceivable
#The Vision of Beings
#The Family of the [[Tathagata]]s
#The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
#The Tathagata Sugandhakuta
#The Practice of the Bodhisattvas
#Vision of the Tathagata [[Akshobhya]]
#The Offerings of Dharma
#Transmission of the Sutra


==Tibetan Translation==
==Tibetan Translation==
The Sanskrit text was translated into Tibetan by the monk Chönyi Tsultrim (Wyl. ''chos-nyid tshul-khrims''), one of the compilers of the [[Mahavyutpatti]], at the beginning of the 9th century. It can be found in:
The Sanskrit text was translated into Tibetan by the monk Chönyi Tsultrim (Wyl. ''chos-nyid tshul-khrims''), one of the compilers of the [[Mahavyutpatti]], at the beginning of the 9th century. It can be found in:
*[[Dergé Kangyur]] vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 175.a–239.a.<br/>{{TBRC|https://www.tbrc.org/#library_work_ViewByOutline-O1GS129804CZ209613%7CW22084| འཕགས་པ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།, Derge Kangyur, Volume 60, folios 175b–239a, (pp.349-478)}}
*The [[General Sutra]] section of the [[Kangyur]], [[Toh]] 176: {{TBRC|https://www.tbrc.org/#library_work_ViewByOutline-O1GS129804CZ209613%7CW22084|འཕགས་པ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།, Derge Kangyur}}
===Contents===
===Contents===
The Tibetan edition is divided into 12 chapters:
The Tibetan edition is divided into 12 chapters:
Line 25: Line 47:


==Modern Translations==
==Modern Translations==
===In English===
===In English from Kumarajiva's Chinese Version===
*Sara Boin, ''The Teaching of Vimalakirti'' (London: Pali Text Society, 1976, reprinted 1994). English version of Étienne Lamotte's French translation (see below)
*Luk, Charles. ''Ordinary Enlightenment: A Translation of the Vimalakirti Nirdesa'' (Shambhala Publications, 1975)
*[[Robert Thurman]], ''The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture''  
*McRae, John. ''The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion's Roar and the Vimalakīrti Sutra'' (Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2004)
===In English from the Tibetan Version===
*Boin, Sara. ''The Teaching of Vimalakirti'' (London: Pali Text Society, 1976, reprinted 1994). Based on Étienne Lamotte's French translation (see below)
*[[Robert Thurman|Thurman, Robert]]. ''The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture''  
**First published by Pennsylvania State University Press in 1976
**First published by Pennsylvania State University Press in 1976
**Abridged introduction and notes, and lightly edited under the supervision of Professor Thurman for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha (in 2017), available here: {{84000|http://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-060-005.html|The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśasūtra)}}
**Abridged introduction and notes, and lightly edited under the supervision of Professor Thurman for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha (in 2017), available here: {{84000|http://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-060-005.html|The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśasūtra)}}
*Burton Watson, ''The Vimalakirti Sutra'' (Columbia University Press, 1996)
*Watson, Burton. ''The Vimalakirti Sutra'' (Columbia University Press, 1996)
 
===In French===
===In French===
*Carré, Patrick, ''Soûtra de la Liberté inconcevable : Les enseignements de Vimalakirti'' (Fayard, 2000). Translated from Chinese.
*Lamotte, Étienne, ''L’Enseignement de Vimalakīrti'', Louvain, 1962. Translated from Tibetan.
*Lamotte, Étienne, ''L’Enseignement de Vimalakīrti'', Louvain, 1962. Translated from Tibetan.
*Carré, Patrick, ''Soûtra de la Liberté inconcevable : Les enseignements de Vimalakirti'' (Fayard, 2000). Translated from Chinese.
 
==Commentaries==
*Sengzhao, in Chinese
**French translation: ''Introduction aux pratiques de la non-dualité - Commentaire du Soûtra de la Liberté inconcevable'', translated by Patrick Carré (Fayard, 2004)
 
==References==
<small><references/></small>
 
==Further Reading==
*Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, ''A Celebrity Falls Sick''. Available at [https://khyentsefoundation.org/vimalakirti Khyentse Foundation] in English and Chinese.


==External Links==
==External Links==
Line 40: Line 74:
*[http://soundcloud.com/bodhisattva-lions-roar/sets/the-vimalakirti-sutra-1 Audio recording of the Vimalakirti Sutra (Burton Watson's translation)]
*[http://soundcloud.com/bodhisattva-lions-roar/sets/the-vimalakirti-sutra-1 Audio recording of the Vimalakirti Sutra (Burton Watson's translation)]
*[https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=volume&library=TLB&vid=13 Vimalakīrtinirdeśa at Thesaurus Literaturae Buddhicae]
*[https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=volume&library=TLB&vid=13 Vimalakīrtinirdeśa at Thesaurus Literaturae Buddhicae]
*[http://khenposodargye.org/teachings/khenpos-teachings/the-vimalakirti-sutra/ Khenpo Sodargye's teachings on the Vimalakirti Sutra]
*[http://khenposodargye.org/teachings/khenpos-teachings/the-vimalakirti-sutra/ Teachings on the Vimalakirti Sutra by Khenpo Sodargye, 2018]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-WyCURsbyU&list=PL6-wArQbu9GBqG5wrBt94qtBiXEz7GLBu&index=1&t=139s|Teachings on the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Brazil, 2014]
*[https://www.siddharthasintent.org/resources/recordings/a-darshan-in-vimalakirti-sutra-2015 Teachings on the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Bir, India, 2015]  
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj-NWx52II3V3w0z_-8ZuaJQzZr-jqdOq Teachings on the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, New Delhi 2018]
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj-NWx52II3V3w0z_-8ZuaJQzZr-jqdOq Teachings on the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, New Delhi 2018]
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6-wArQbu9GA5hsMsqeknS5sFNy_cjCVZ Teachings on the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Bodhgaya 2018]
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6-wArQbu9GA5hsMsqeknS5sFNy_cjCVZ Teachings on the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Bodhgaya 2018]


[[Category:Texts]]
[[Category:Sutras]]
[[Category:Sutras]]
[[Category:General Sutra Section]]
[[Category:Mahayana Sutras]]

Latest revision as of 09:10, 29 August 2023

Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra (Skt. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra; Tib. དྲི་མེད་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པའི་མདོ་, Wyl. dri med grags pas bstan pa'i mdo) — a popular Mahayana sutra, especially in the Chinese Chan tradition. It is set in the city of Vaishali, both in the garden of Amrapali where the Buddha resided and in the home of the lay bodhisattva Vimalakirti.

Sanskrit Text

No text was apparent in India until after Nagarjuna (c. first century B.C. to first century A.D.) had revived the Mahayana traditions, discovering the Mahayana Sanskrit sutras, the Vimalakirti text among them.

In more recent times, it was thought that all Sanskrit texts of the work had been lost, except for some fragments quoted in Mahayana philosophical works. In 1998, however, a Sanskrit manuscript was found in the Potala Palace in Lhasa, of which edited versions have been published in 2004 and 2006 by the Taishō University Study Group on Sanskrit Buddhist Literature.[1]

Chinese Translation

This text was translated into Chinese several times over the centuries. It was supposedly first translated in the second century with Yan Fodiao (A.D. 188) but is not available today. The three existing versions are from:

  • Zhi Qian (A.D. 222-229),
  • Kumārajīva (A.D. 406), which is the most popular, and
  • Xuanzang (A.D. 650), which is the most technically accurate.[2]

Contents

The Chinese edition is divided into 14 chapters:

  1. The Pure Buddha Realms
  2. The Inconceivable Skillful Means
  3. The Shravakas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
  4. The Bodhisattvas' Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
  5. Manjushri Enquires about Vimalakirti's Health
  6. The Inconceivable
  7. The Vision of Beings
  8. The Family of the Tathagatas
  9. The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
  10. The Tathagata Sugandhakuta
  11. The Practice of the Bodhisattvas
  12. Vision of the Tathagata Akshobhya
  13. The Offerings of Dharma
  14. Transmission of the Sutra

Tibetan Translation

The Sanskrit text was translated into Tibetan by the monk Chönyi Tsultrim (Wyl. chos-nyid tshul-khrims), one of the compilers of the Mahavyutpatti, at the beginning of the 9th century. It can be found in:

Contents

The Tibetan edition is divided into 12 chapters:

  1. Purification of the Buddhafield
  2. Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art
  3. The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
  4. The Consolation of the Invalid
  5. The Inconceivable Liberation
  6. The Goddess
  7. The Family of the Tathagatas
  8. The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
  9. The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation
  10. Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible
  11. Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathagata Akshobhya
  12. Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma

Modern Translations

In English from Kumarajiva's Chinese Version

  • Luk, Charles. Ordinary Enlightenment: A Translation of the Vimalakirti Nirdesa (Shambhala Publications, 1975)
  • McRae, John. The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion's Roar and the Vimalakīrti Sutra (Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2004)

In English from the Tibetan Version

  • Boin, Sara. The Teaching of Vimalakirti (London: Pali Text Society, 1976, reprinted 1994). Based on Étienne Lamotte's French translation (see below)
  • Thurman, Robert. The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture
  • Watson, Burton. The Vimalakirti Sutra (Columbia University Press, 1996)

In French

  • Carré, Patrick, Soûtra de la Liberté inconcevable : Les enseignements de Vimalakirti (Fayard, 2000). Translated from Chinese.
  • Lamotte, Étienne, L’Enseignement de Vimalakīrti, Louvain, 1962. Translated from Tibetan.

Commentaries

  • Sengzhao, in Chinese
    • French translation: Introduction aux pratiques de la non-dualité - Commentaire du Soûtra de la Liberté inconcevable, translated by Patrick Carré (Fayard, 2004)

References

  1. ↑ Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
  2. ↑ Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha & Philippe Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2001), page 698.

Further Reading

  • Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, A Celebrity Falls Sick. Available at Khyentse Foundation in English and Chinese.

External Links

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