Early Monastic Buddhism v2.c42.s2.t4.4

v2.c42.s2.t4.4

The earliest mention of the six pāramitās is found in the Mahāvastu (iii, p. 226), Lalitavistara (p. 340), and Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (p. 194) while that of ten in the Mahāyāna Sūtrālaṅkāra, Daśabhūmikasūtra, Bodhisattvabhūmi, and Samādhirājasūtra.¹ In the Mahāvastu again, mention of the six pāramitās is few and far between² while the word pāramitā has been used in the ordinary sense (viz. perfection) in compounds like garbhāvakrāntipāramitā³ (the last entrance of the Bodhisattva into the womb), sarvakuśaladharmavaśibhāvapāramitā⁴ (perfect attainment of domain over all good actions) and prajñāpāramitā, (i.e. perfection in Śrāvaka's knowledge).⁵ This shows that