གླང་པའ་རྩལ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.12

intro.12

There are a number of references to the Hasti­kakṣya­sūtra in Buddhist canonical literature. The Hasti­kakṣya­sūtra is referred to in chapter six of the Sikṣasamuccaya and it is cited by Kamalaśīla in his Sarva­dharmāsvabhāva­siddhi (Toh 3889) as well as in the tantric work Mahā­yāna­melāyana­pradīpa (Toh 3720). A verse ascribed to the Hasti­kakṣya­sūtra is cited by Candrakīrti in his Mūla­madhyamaka­vṛtti­prasanna­padā (Toh 3860) and Bodhi­sattva­yogācāra­catuḥśataka­ṭīkā (Toh 3865) commentaries, but, notably, the verse is not found in any versions of the sūtra contained in the Kangyur.⁷ This “missing” citation, as well as numerous other passages that are found in the Kangyur versions of this sūtra, have been widely quoted by indigenous Tibetan scholars. The Hasti­kakṣya­sūtra is also cited a number of times in the Chinese Buddhist canon, which suggests that it may have once been an important Mahāyāna text that circulated throughout regions of Central and East Asia.⁸