Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra

The Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra contains 49 texts of varying length, which are termed "assemblies" by tradition. This collection includes the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra, the Longer Sukhāvatī-vyūha Sutra, the Akṣobhya-vyūha Sūtra, a long text called the Bodhisattvapiṭaka, and others.[1] Part of this texts was brought to China and translated by Bodhiruci in the 8th century.[2] Bodhiruci translated some of the texts, and included others which had been previously translated. This later Bodhiruci should not be confused with another Bodhiruci who was the translator of the commentary on Ten Stages Sutra.

The Ratnakūṭa collection totals 49 Mahāyāna sūtras, divided into 120 fascicles in the Chinese translation.[3] Garma Chang, who is listed as General Editor of a volume of select sūtras from the Mahāratnakūṭa translated from Chinese into English, (see below, Further Reading, Garma C.C. Chang, (1983). A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras: Selections from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra. Title Page) summarizes the breadth and variety of texts contained in this collection:[1]

We have found this work to contain a broad coverage of various subjects. The topics discussed range from the monastic precepts (Vinaya) to intuitive wisdom (prajñā), from good deportment to the manifestation of the Tathāgata's light, from illusion (māyā) to ingenuity (upāya) to the nature of consciousness and the Pure Land practice. It can perhaps be called a small encyclopedia of Mahāyāna Buddhism, which should be useful to general readers as well as to scholars.

In the Taishō Tripiṭaka in volumes 11 and 12a, the Mahāratnakūṭa is the text numbered 310, and texts numbered 311 through 373 are various other translations of some of the sutras contained in the Mahāratnakūṭa.

The 49 sutras found in this collection are as follows:[4]

1. Trisaṁvara-nirdeśa
2. Anantamukha-pariśodhana-nirdeśa
3. Tathāgatācintya-guhya-nirdeśa
4. Svapna-nirdeśa
5. Sukhāvatī-vyūha
6. Akṣobhya-tathāgatasya-vyūha
7. Varma-vyūha-nirdeśa
8. Dharmadhātu-prakṛty-asambheda-nirdeśa
9. Daśadharmaka
10. Samantamukha-parivarta
11. Raśmisamantamukta-nirdeśa
12. Bodhisattva-piṭaka
13. Āyuṣman-nanda-garbhāvakrānti-nirdeśa
14. Nanda-garbhāvakrānti-nirdeśa
15. Mañjuśrī-buddhakṣetra-guṇa-vyūha
16. Pitāputrasamāgamana
17. Pūrṇa-paripṛcchā
18. Rāṣṭrapāla-paripṛcchā
19. Gṛhapaty-Ugra-paripṛcchā
20. Vidyutprāpta-paripṛcchā
21. Bhadramāyākāra-vyākaraṇa
22. Mahā-prātihārya-nirdeśa
23. Maitreya-mahāsiṁhanāda
24. Upāli-paripṛcchā
25. Adhyāśaya-saṁcodana
26. Subāhu-paripṛcchā
27. Surata-paripṛcchā
28. Vīradatta-gṛhapati-paripṛcchā
29. Udayanavatsarāja-paripṛcchā
30. Sumatidārikā-paripṛcchā
31. Gaṅgottarā-paripṛcchā
32. Aśokadatta-vyākaraṇa
33. Vimaladattā-paripṛcchā
34. Guṇaratnasaṁkusumita-paripṛcchā
35. Acintyabuddhaviṣaya-nirdeśa
36. Susthitamati-devaputra-paripṛcchā
37. Siṁha-paripṛcchā
38. Upāyakauśalya-jñānottara-bodhisattva-paripṛcchā
39. Bhadrapāla-śreṣṭhi-paripṛcchā
40. Dārikā-vimalaśuddha-paripṛcchā
41. Maitreya-paripṛcchā-dharmāṣṭaka
42. Maitreya-paripṛcchā
43. Kāśyapa-parivarta
44. Ratnarāśi
45. Akṣayamati-paripṛcchā
46. Saptaśatikā-nāma-prajñāpāramitā
47. Ratnacūḍa-paripṛcchā
48. Śrīmālā-devī-siṁhanāda
49. Ṛṣivyāsa-paripṛcchā

According to the Nikāyasaṅgraha (a Theravādin text), the Ratnakūṭa Sūtra was composed by the "Andhakas", meaning the Mahāsāṃghika Caitika schools of the Āndhra region.[5][6] The texts of the sutra seem to have been collected over a number of centuries, and their varying subject matter is suggestive of historical transitions between major eras of Buddhist thought.[1] The collection may have developed from a "Bodhisattva pitaka" attributed to some of the early Mahayana schools.[1]

• Garma C.C. Chang, trans. (1983). A Treasury of Mahāyāna Sūtras: Selections from the Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra. ISBN 978-0-271-03428-7
• Pederson, K. Priscilla (1980). "Notes on the Ratnakūṭa Collection" in Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 3 (2), 60-66

• "Taishō Tripiṭaka: Ratnakūṭa division (English translations)". Lapis Lazuli Texts. Retrieved 2014-06-29.