Bodhisatvapi¿aka

The Bodhisatvapi¿aka ("The Collection of the Bodhisattvas") is a middle-period Mah¿y¿na s¿tra, edited here for the first time in Sanskrit. It probably represents an early attempt to produce a consistent and complete exposition of the Mah¿y¿na as it became popular around the beginning the Common Era. The codex unicus presented here in a diplomatic edition, with corrections in the notes, dates from the 9th century CE and is currently kept in Lhasa. The Bodhisatvapi¿aka explains the main doctrines and concepts of Mah¿y¿na Buddhism. The work contains an unusually large number of frame stories in the form of j¿taka, avad¿na, and vy¿karäa. In contradistinction to other Mah¿y¿na s¿tras, the Bodhisatvapi¿aka extols monastic ideals, with a layman as the main protagonist whose aim is monkhood. As an editio princeps, this publication represents a milestone for the study of Mah¿y¿na Buddhism.