A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.74

v2.c19.s6.t4.74

Whilst the Mahāyāna-Sūtras which have so far been mentioned, are devoted mainly to the glorification of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, there is a series of other Sūtras which are rather in the nature of philosophical treatises. The earliest of these Sūtras, those which are regarded with the greatest reverence, and which are of the greatest importance from the point of view of the history of religion, are the Prajñā-Pāramitās, "the (Mahāyāna-Sūtras of the) Wisdom-Perfection."³) They treat of the six "perfections" (Pāramitās)⁴) of a Bodhisattva, but especially of Prajñā-Pāramitā, the highest perfection, called "wisdom." This wisdom consists of the knowledge of Śūnyatā, "emptiness,"⁵) *i.e.*, the unsubstantiality of all phenomena, implying the conviction that all Dharmas or objects of thought, are only endowed with a conditional or relative existence.