འཕགས་པ་དཀན་མཆག་སྤྲན་ཅས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.3

intro.3

The Jewel Cloud is a very rich and closely packed Mahāyāna sūtra. Evidence of its authority in India can be found in many philosophical commentaries; for example, it is cited three times in the Sūtrasamuccaya (Toh 3934), which is attributed to Nāgārjuna, and repeatedly throughout Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya (Toh 3940). Citations and references, sometimes at central junctures, are also found in the works of authors such as Bhāviveka (circa 500–78), Candrakīrti (seventh century), Śāntarakṣita (725–88), and Kamalaśīla (eighth century).¹ It is no surprise, therefore, that throughout the centuries The Jewel Cloud has remained an important scriptural source for authors from all schools of view and meditation found in Tibet. Although the Sanskrit of many passages is preserved in the excerpts cited in the Indian śāstra literature, The Jewel Cloud as a whole is unfortunately no longer extant in Sanskrit. Four versions of the sūtra are, however, available in Chinese translation: Taishō 658, translated by Mandrasena in 503 ce; Taishō 659, translated by Maṇḍalasena and Saṅghabhara in the sixth century;² Taishō 660, translated by Dharmaruci in 693 ce; and Taishō 489, translated by Dharmarakṣa and Weijing in 1019–23 ce.