This paper consists of a critical Sanskrit edition of a Mahayanasutra called Nirvikalpapravesadhiira1Jz (also known as Avikalpapravesadharani) and its Japanese translation. This is a short sutra which describes the order in which to enter the realm of non-discrimination (avikalpadhatu), and is not one of the so-called esoteric Buddhist texts. The term dharal.11 in this case refers to "a short summary sutra." About fifteen years ago I discovered fragments amounting to about half of this sutra among the Gilgit manuscripts, and published a study on it which included the romanized text of the fragments (Buddhist Seminar, vol. 34, 1981, pp. 40-49). This sutra is cited in Sthiramati's commentary to Vasubandhu's Trimsika Vijnaptimatratasiddhi as the scriptural basis of non-discriminating knowledge (nirvikalpajnana) and subsequently acquired knowledge (prsthalabdhajnana). In my opinion, this sutra cannot be dated before Sthiramati's quotation. Probably it is a late sutra, and was created after the age in which Asailga and Vasubandhu lived. This sutra contains passages similar to that found in the Dharmadharmatavibhaga attributed to Maitreyanatha. But this does not show that the sutra is old, but on the contrary shows that the Dharmadharmatavibhaga is a far newer treatise. After the publication of the Gilgit manuscripts in the article cited above, I discovered a Sanskrit manuscript of the same sutra belonging to the Nepalese lineage in the st. Petersburg branch of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Academy of Sciences of Russia. This new manuscript is also incomplete. The text which I publish in my paper is based on this new manuscript, and its missing section is reconstructed on the basis of the Gilgit manuscript fragments, the Tibetan translation and Chinese translation found in Tun-huang. This sutra is an important work which is quoted in numerous texts after Sthiramati. It is my sincere hope that my study will be used by future scholars to increase our understanding of this sutra. |