འཕགས་པ་ལགས་ཉས་ཀྱ་རྒྱ་དང་འབྲས་བ་བསྟན་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.5

intro.5

The translator of Toh 354 was the prolific translator Chödrup (Tib. chos grub, alias Facheng 法成, c. 755–849), who was active in Dunhuang during the early ninth century. Given that Chödrup is known for his use of Indian vocabulary, it is likely that he did not also translate Toh 355. The colophon of Toh 354 states that it was translated with reference to both Indian and Chinese manuscripts. However, given that we have no extant Sanskrit manuscripts of the sūtra, no mention of the text in Indian sources, and not even a Sanskrit title at the head of the sūtra, it seems uncertain whether this statement can be trusted. It could possibly be a later addition made with the aim of conferring greater canonical authenticity upon a translation from Chinese in a climate in which India was seen as the principal source of authentic transmission.