On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India, 629–645 A.D. v2.c18.s2.4

v2.c18.s2.4

The treatise here mentioned is that called by Mr. Bunyio Nanjio "Vimalakīrtti-nirdeśa-sūtra", "the sūtra of Vimalakīrtti's exposition", which corresponds to the meaning of the full Chinese title as given by Kumārajīva. But the proper title is probably "Ārya-Vimalakīrtinirdeśa", without the word *sūtra*. The work cannot be said to have been uttered by the Buddha, but it is rather a collection of the utterances or teachings of Vimalakīrti. According to the treatise Buddha is in the Mango Orchard at Vesāli, and Vimalakīrti is in his own house, supposed to be ill and confined to his bed, while the expositions are given. There are extant three translations of the work into Chinese, the first by a monk of the Yue-ti country in the middle of the third century A. D.,¹ the second by Kumārajīva,² and the third by our pilgrim.³ A learned Chinese monk, who was a disciple of Kumārajīva, edited his master's translation and enriched it with a commentary.⁴ There are also several other editions of Kumārajīva's version with commentaries, and it has long been a favourite work with Chinese students Buddhist and non-Buddhist. The incidents in this so-called sūtra are purely fictitious, and it must have been composed long after the death of the Buddha. It is, however, an interesting well-composed and ingenious exposition and discussion of the distinctive metaphysical tenets of the expansive developed Buddhism known as the Mahāyāna or "Great Vehicle" system.