Vajra Cutter Sutra

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The goddess Prajñaparamita

The Vajra Cutter Sutra (aka Diamond Sutra) (Skt. Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra, Wyl. ’phags pa shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa rdo rje gcod pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo) is a popular Prajnaparamita sutra.

Famous Quotes

Those who see my body as ordinary form,
And hear my voice as ordinary sound,
Have set out upon a mistaken path.
Such people do not truly see me.[1]
Like a star, hallucination, candle,
Magical illusion, dewdrop, bubble,
Dream, lightning or a cloud—
Know all compounded phenomena to be like this.[2]

Early Translations

  • Chinese translation, ca. AD 400 by Kumārajīva
  • Tibetan translation in the 9th century by Śīlendrabodhi and Yeshé Dé

English Translations

  • Gelong Thubten Tsultrim (George Churinoff), The Exalted Mahayana Sutra on the Wisdom Gone Beyond Called the Vajra Cutter (based on the Tibetan Lhasa Zhol printing), FPMT, 2002 Available online here
  • Paul Harrison, 'Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā: A New English Translation of the Sanskrit Text Based on Two Manuscripts from Greater Gandhāra', contained in Jens Braarvig, Paul Harrison, Jens-Uwe Hartmann, Kazunobu Matsuda & Lore Sander, eds., Buddhist Manuscripts in the Schøyen Collection, Hermes (Oslo 2006)
  • Gregory Schopen, 'The Manuscript of the Vajracchedika Found at Gilgit: An Annotated Transcription and Translation' in Luis O. Gómez and Jonathan A. Silk (ed.s), Studies in the Literature of the Great Vehicle: Three Mahāyāna Buddhist Texts

Notes

  1. gang dag nga la gzugs su mthong/ / gang dag nga la sgrar shes pa/ / log par spong bas zhugs pa ste/ / skye bo de dag nga mi mthong/ /
  2. skar ma rab rib mar me dang/ /sgyu ma zil pa chu bur dang/ /rmi lam glog dang sprin lta bu/ /'dus byas de ltar blta bar bya/ /

Further Reading

  • Thich Nhat Hanh, The Diamond that Cuts Through Illusion: Commentaries on the Prajñaparamita Diamond Sutra (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1992)
  • Edward Conze, The Prajñāpāramitā Literature (1960)

External Links