Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in Eight Thousand Lines
Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in Eight Thousand Lines (Skt. Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā; Tib. ཤེར་ཕྱིན་བརྒྱད་སྟོང་པ་, Wyl. sher phyin brgyad stong pa), consisting of 32 chapters, is, according to scholars, the earliest of the Prajnaparamita sutras. Its popular verse summary is known as the Verse Summary of the Prajnaparamita.
This sutra takes the form of a series of dialogues between the Buddha Shakyamuni, Subhuti, Shariputra, and others such as Indra, the king of gods, and a Goddess of the Ganges, and as well as setting out the teachings on emptiness as such it describes the path and practices that a bodhisattva should take to integrate this understanding of phenomena and finally realize it. A special feature of this particular sutra are the inspirational narratives of Sadaprarudita and his quest for the teachings on the Perfection of Wisdom from the Bodhisattva Dharmodgata, contained in the final three chapters.[1]
Early Translations
Modern Translations
In English
- Edward Conze, Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines and its Verse Summary, (1958)
In French
- Georges Driessens, Noble perfection de sagesse en huit mille versets Broché (Éditions Vajra Yogini, 2007), translated from Tibetan
Commentaries
Indian
- Haribhadra, Light Ornament: A Great Commentary on the 8,000 Verses
- Ratnakarashanti, Supreme Essence (Sarottama)
- Abhayakaragupta, Moonlight of Points (Marmakaumudi)
Famous Quotations
The mind is devoid of mind,
For the nature of mind is clear light.
References
Further Reading
- Edward Conze, The Prajñāpāramitā Literature (1960)