Description

The Mahaparinirvana-mahasutra, the great sutra on the parinirvana of the Buddha, narrates the legends of the last time of the Buddha's life in a particular way, which differs from other versions from the Mahaparinirvana literature, for example, the version of the Theravadins or of the Sarvastivadins. In the history of Buddhist thought, the sutra is known as one of the earliest sources for the Tathagatagarbha theory. In the Buddhist practice, the sutra played an important role for the development of vegetarianism. The Chinese translation of the sutra has exerted a great influence on Eastern Buddhism. The Sanskrit text of the satra is transmitted only in fragments. Therefore, the Tibetan translation from Sanskrit is of great importance to understand the satra. The critical edition is based on nine versions of the Tibetan Kanjur. The introduction provides an overview of the Tibetan sources, text critical analysis, and orthographical variations.