A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.206

v2.c19.s6.t4.206

The Suvarṇa-Prabhāsa enjoys a great reputation and is popular in all countries where Mahāyāna Buddhism prevails. In Central Asia, too, fragments of this work have been discovered.² It is said to have been explained in China by Kāśyapa Mātaṅga as early as during the reign of Ming-ti (58-75 A.D.).³ If this statement is not a mere fiction with a view to extolling the work, there must have been a Suvarṇa-Prabhāsa in those days which diverged widely from the present text. The Chinese translation by Dharmakṣema (414-433), Paramārtha and his pupils (552-557) and I-tsing (703) have come down to us.⁴