Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c5.s3.t2: The Time of Composition of the Prajñāpāramitā
Aspects of Mahāyāna Buddhism and its Relation to Hīnayāna c5.s3.t2
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The Time of Composition of the Prajñāpāramitā
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The new Mahāyānic conception of *Śūnyatā* was for the first time propounded in the *Prajñāpāramitās* and therefore we should try to ascertain when the *Prajñāpāramitā* first came into existence. There is the Tibetan tradition that the Pūrvaśailas and Aparaśailas had a *Prajñāpāramitā* in the Prākṛt dialect;² unfortunately no other information about it is forthcoming. Tāranātha tells us that shortly after the time of King Mahāpadma Nanda, a king called Candragupta lived in Oḍivisa (Orissa).³ Mañjuśrī came to his house in the form of a bhikṣu and delivered the Mahāyāna teaching. The Sautrāntikas maintain that this teaching was the *Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā*, while the Tantra school asserts that it was the *Tattvasaṅgraha*.⁴ We may safely dismiss the Tantric tradition in view of the materials that are contained in the *Tattvasaṅgraha*,⁵ and attach importance to the Sautrāntika tradition that the *Aṣṭasāhasrikā* was the earliest text to contain the Mahāyāna teaching. If the contents of the *Aṣṭasāhasrikā*, the *Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā*, and the *Śatasāhasrikā* be compared, it will be seen that the *Aṣṭasāhasrikā* is
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² Wassiljew, *Buddhismus*, p. 291 quoting the Tibetan *Siddhānta*.
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³ Tāra., p. 58; *Pag Sam Jon Zang*., p. 82 also says that Mahāyāna Buddhism had its beginning in Oḍivisa shortly after the reign of Mahāpadma Nanda.
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⁴ Recently published in the Gaekwad Oriental Series.
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⁵ For a survey of its contents see my review in *I.H.Q.*, Dec., 1929.
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les resolutions (praṇidhāna), la grande compassion, etc., mais encore l'application du merite à illumination, les deux equipments de mérite et de savoir et la nature incomprehensible du dharma (acintya-dharma-matā).
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the earliest of the three and that it can be dated as early as the first century B.C.¹
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¹ For details see Intro. to the *Pañca.* (published in C.O.S.).
Linked texts (5)
- Śatasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā — Sanskrit
- Tattvasaṃgraha — Śāntarakṣita, Sanskrit
- Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā — Sanskrit
- Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā — Sanskrit
- Prajñāpāramitā — Sanskrit