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'''Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra''' (Skt. ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra''; [[Wyl.]] ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>phags pa dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa'i theg pa chen po'i mdo'') - a popular [[Mahayana]] [[sutra]] featuring the lay [[bodhisattva]] [[Vimalakirti]].
'''Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra''' (Skt. ''Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra''; Tib. [[དྲི་མེད་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པའི་མདོ་]], [[Wyl.]] ''<nowiki>'</nowiki>dri med grags pas bstan pa'i mdo'') ([[Toh.]] 176) — a popular [[Mahayana]] [[sutra]], especially in the Chinese Chan tradition. It is set in the city of [[Vaishali]], both in the garden of Amrapali where the [[Buddha]] resided and in the home of the lay [[bodhisattva]] [[Vimalakirti]].


==Translations==
==Sanskrit Text==
===In English===
No text was apparent in India until after [[Nagarjuna]] (c. first century B.C. to first century A.D.) had revived the Mahayana traditions, discovering the Mahayana Sanskrit sutras, the Vimalakirti text among them.
*[[Robert Thurman]], ''The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture'', Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000
 
In more recent times, it was thought that all Sanskrit texts of the work had been lost, except for some fragments quoted in Mahayana philosophical works. In 1998, however, a Sanskrit manuscript was found in the [[Potala Palace]] in Lhasa, of which edited versions have been published in 2004 and 2006 by the Taishō University Study Group on Sanskrit Buddhist Literature.<ref>Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.</ref>
 
==Chinese Translation==
This text was translated into Chinese several times over the centuries. It was supposedly first translated in the second century with Yan Fodiao (A.D. 188) but is not available today. The three existing versions are from:
*Zhi Qian (A.D. 222-229),
*Kumārajīva (A.D. 406), which is the most popular, and
*Xuanzang (A.D. 650), which is the most technically accurate.<ref>Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha & Philippe Cornu, ''Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme'' (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2001), page 698.</ref>
===Contents===
The Chinese edition is divided into 14 chapters:
#The Pure [[buddha realm|Buddha Realm]]s
#The Inconceivable Skillful Means
#The Shravakas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
#The Bodhisattvas' Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
#Manjushri Enquires about Vimalakirti's Health
#The Inconceivable
#The Vision of Beings
#The Family of the [[Tathagata]]s
#The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
#The Tathagata Sugandhakuta
#The Practice of the Bodhisattvas
#Vision of the Tathagata [[Akshobhya]]
#The Offerings of Dharma
#Transmission of the Sutra
 
==Tibetan Translation==
The Sanskrit text was translated into Tibetan by the monk Chönyi Tsultrim (Wyl. ''chos-nyid tshul-khrims''), one of the compilers of the [[Mahavyutpatti]], at the beginning of the 9th century. It can be found in:
*[[Dergé Kangyur]] vol. 60 (mdo sde, ma), folios 175.a–239.a.<br/>{{TBRC|https://www.tbrc.org/#library_work_ViewByOutline-O1GS129804CZ209613%7CW22084| འཕགས་པ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།, Derge Kangyur, Volume 60, folios 175b–239a, (pp.349-478)}}
===Contents===
The Tibetan edition is divided into 12 chapters:
#Purification of the [[Buddhafield]]
#Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art
#The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
#The Consolation of the Invalid
#The Inconceivable Liberation
#The Goddess
#The Family of the [[Tathagata]]s
#The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
#The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation
#Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible
#Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathagata [[Akshobhya]]
#Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma
 
==Modern Translations==
===In English from Kumarajiva's Chinese Version===
*Luk, Charles. ''Ordinary Enlightenment: A Translation of the Vimalakirti Nirdesa'' (Shambhala Publications, 1975)
*McRae, John. ''The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion's Roar and the Vimalakīrti Sutra'' (Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2004)
===In English from the Tibetan Version===
*Boin, Sara. ''The Teaching of Vimalakirti'' (London: Pali Text Society, 1976, reprinted 1994). Based on Étienne Lamotte's French translation (see below)
*[[Robert Thurman|Thurman, Robert]]. ''The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture''  
**First published by Pennsylvania State University Press in 1976
**Abridged introduction and notes, and lightly edited under the supervision of Professor Thurman for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha (in 2017), available here: {{84000|http://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-060-005.html|The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimala­kīrti­nirdeśasūtra)}}
*Watson, Burton. ''The Vimalakirti Sutra'' (Columbia University Press, 1996)
===In French===
*Carré, Patrick, ''Soûtra de la Liberté inconcevable : Les enseignements de Vimalakirti'' (Fayard, 2000). Translated from Chinese.
*Lamotte, Étienne, ''L’Enseignement de Vimalakīrti'', Louvain, 1962. Translated from Tibetan.
 
==References==
<small><references/></small>
 
==Further Reading==
*Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, ''A Celebrity Falls Sick''. Available at [https://khyentsefoundation.org/vimalakirti Khyentse Foundation] in English and Chinese.


==External Links==
==External Links==
*[http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/vimalakirti/ Multimedia Study Environment of The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti]
*[http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/vimalakirti/ Multimedia Study Environment of The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti] - requires Columbia University access
*[http://soundcloud.com/bodhisattva-lions-roar/sets/the-vimalakirti-sutra-1 Audio recording of the Vimalakirti Sutra (Burton Watson's translation)]
*[https://www2.hf.uio.no/polyglotta/index.php?page=volume&library=TLB&vid=13 Vimalakīrtinirdeśa at Thesaurus Literaturae Buddhicae]
*[http://khenposodargye.org/teachings/khenpos-teachings/the-vimalakirti-sutra/ Khenpo Sodargye's teachings on the Vimalakirti Sutra]
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj-NWx52II3V3w0z_-8ZuaJQzZr-jqdOq Teachings on the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, New Delhi 2018]
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6-wArQbu9GA5hsMsqeknS5sFNy_cjCVZ Teachings on the ''Vimalakirti Sutra'' by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Bodhgaya 2018]




[[Category:Sutras]]
[[Category:Sutras]]

Revision as of 22:06, 11 January 2020

Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra (Skt. Vimalakīrti-nirdeśa-sūtra; Tib. དྲི་མེད་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པའི་མདོ་, Wyl. 'dri med grags pas bstan pa'i mdo) (Toh. 176) — a popular Mahayana sutra, especially in the Chinese Chan tradition. It is set in the city of Vaishali, both in the garden of Amrapali where the Buddha resided and in the home of the lay bodhisattva Vimalakirti.

Sanskrit Text

No text was apparent in India until after Nagarjuna (c. first century B.C. to first century A.D.) had revived the Mahayana traditions, discovering the Mahayana Sanskrit sutras, the Vimalakirti text among them.

In more recent times, it was thought that all Sanskrit texts of the work had been lost, except for some fragments quoted in Mahayana philosophical works. In 1998, however, a Sanskrit manuscript was found in the Potala Palace in Lhasa, of which edited versions have been published in 2004 and 2006 by the Taishō University Study Group on Sanskrit Buddhist Literature.[1]

Chinese Translation

This text was translated into Chinese several times over the centuries. It was supposedly first translated in the second century with Yan Fodiao (A.D. 188) but is not available today. The three existing versions are from:

  • Zhi Qian (A.D. 222-229),
  • Kumārajīva (A.D. 406), which is the most popular, and
  • Xuanzang (A.D. 650), which is the most technically accurate.[2]

Contents

The Chinese edition is divided into 14 chapters:

  1. The Pure Buddha Realms
  2. The Inconceivable Skillful Means
  3. The Shravakas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
  4. The Bodhisattvas' Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
  5. Manjushri Enquires about Vimalakirti's Health
  6. The Inconceivable
  7. The Vision of Beings
  8. The Family of the Tathagatas
  9. The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
  10. The Tathagata Sugandhakuta
  11. The Practice of the Bodhisattvas
  12. Vision of the Tathagata Akshobhya
  13. The Offerings of Dharma
  14. Transmission of the Sutra

Tibetan Translation

The Sanskrit text was translated into Tibetan by the monk Chönyi Tsultrim (Wyl. chos-nyid tshul-khrims), one of the compilers of the Mahavyutpatti, at the beginning of the 9th century. It can be found in:

Contents

The Tibetan edition is divided into 12 chapters:

  1. Purification of the Buddhafield
  2. Inconceivable Skill in Liberative Art
  3. The Disciples’ and the Bodhisattvas’ Reluctance to Visit Vimalakirti
  4. The Consolation of the Invalid
  5. The Inconceivable Liberation
  6. The Goddess
  7. The Family of the Tathagatas
  8. The Dharma-Door of Nonduality
  9. The Feast Brought by the Emanated Incarnation
  10. Lesson of the Destructible and the Indestructible
  11. Vision of the Universe Abhirati and the Tathagata Akshobhya
  12. Antecedents and Transmission of the Holy Dharma

Modern Translations

In English from Kumarajiva's Chinese Version

  • Luk, Charles. Ordinary Enlightenment: A Translation of the Vimalakirti Nirdesa (Shambhala Publications, 1975)
  • McRae, John. The Sutra of Queen Śrīmālā of the Lion's Roar and the Vimalakīrti Sutra (Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 2004)

In English from the Tibetan Version

  • Boin, Sara. The Teaching of Vimalakirti (London: Pali Text Society, 1976, reprinted 1994). Based on Étienne Lamotte's French translation (see below)
  • Thurman, Robert. The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture
  • Watson, Burton. The Vimalakirti Sutra (Columbia University Press, 1996)

In French

  • Carré, Patrick, Soûtra de la Liberté inconcevable : Les enseignements de Vimalakirti (Fayard, 2000). Translated from Chinese.
  • Lamotte, Étienne, L’Enseignement de Vimalakīrti, Louvain, 1962. Translated from Tibetan.

References

  1. Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
  2. Professor Thurman in his 'Introduction' to his translation for 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha & Philippe Cornu, Dictionnaire encyclopédique du bouddhisme (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2001), page 698.

Further Reading

  • Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, A Celebrity Falls Sick. Available at Khyentse Foundation in English and Chinese.

External Links