The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra

A Mahāyāna Text


Translated for the first time from
the original Sanskrit by

Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki


CONTENTS

 Preface xi
 Introduction xiii
CHAPTER ONE. RAVANA, LORD OF LANKA, ASKS FOR INSTRUCTION 3(1)*
CHAPTER TWO. COLLECTION OF ALL THE DHARMAS 22(22)
 § I. Mahāmati Praises the Buddha with Verses22(22)
§ II. Mahāmati's "One Hundred and Eight Questions" 23(23)
§ III."The One Hundred and Eight Negations" 31(34)
§ IV. Concerning the Vijñānas 33(37)
§ V. Seven Kinds of Self-nature (svabhāva) 35(39)
§ VI. Seven Kinds of First Principle (paramārtha), and the Philosophers' Wrong Views regarding the Mind Rejected 35(39)
§ VII. Erroneous Views held by Some Brahmans and Śramanas Concerning Causation, Continuation, etc.; The Buddhist Views Concerning Such Subjects as Alayavijñāna, Nirvana, Mind-only, etc.; Attainments of the Bodhisattva 36(40)
§ VIII. The Bodhisattva's Discipling himself in Self-realisation 39(43)
§ IX. The Evolution and Function of the Vijñānas; The Spiritual Discipline of the Bodhisattva; Verses on the Alaya-ocean and Vijñāna-waves 39(43)
§ X. The Bodhisattva is to Understand the Signification of Mind-only 44(49)
§ XI(a). The Three Aspects of Noble Wisdom (āryajñāna) 44(49)
§ XI(b). The Attainment of the Tathāgatakāya 45(50)
§ XII. Logic on the Hare's Horns 46(51)
§ XIII. Verses on the Alayavijñāna and Mind-only 49(54)
§ XIV. Purification of the Outflows, Instantaneous and Gradual 49(55)
§ XV. Nishyanda-Buddha, Dharmatā-Buddha, and Nirmāṇa-Buddha 51(56)
§ XVI. The Śrāvaka's Realisation and Attachment to the Notion of Self-nature 52(58)
§ XVII. The Eternal-Unthinkable 53(59)
§ XVIII. Nirvana and Alayavijñāna 55(61)
§ XIX. All Things are Unborn 55(62)
§ XX. The Five Classes of Spiritual Insight 56(63)
§ XXI. Verses on the Triple Vehicle 58(65)
§ XXII. Two Classes of the Icchantika 58(65)
§ XXIII. The Three Forms of Svabhāva 59(67)
§ XXIV. The Twofold Egolessness (nairātmyadvaya-lakshaṇa) 60(68)
§ XXV. Assertion and Refutation (samāropāpavāda) 62(70)
§ XXVI. The Bodhisattva Assumes Various Personalities 64(72)
§ XXVII. On Emptiness (śūnyatā), No-birth, and Non-duality 65(73)
§ XXVIII. The Tathagata-Garbha and the Ego-soul 68(77)
§ XXIX. A Verse on the Philosophers' Discriminations 70(79)
§ XXX. The Four Things Needed for the Constitution of Bodhisattvahood 70(79)
§ XXXI. On Causation (Six Kinds), and the Rise of Existence 72(82)
§ XXXII. Four Forms of Word-discrimination 75(85)
§ XXXIII. On Word and Discrimination and the Highest Reality 76(86)
§ XXXIV. Verses on Reality and its Representations 77(88)
§ XXXV. Mind-only, Multitudinousness, and Analogies, with an Interpolation on the Dualistic Notion of Existence 78(88)
§ XXXVI. The Teaching (dharmadeśanā) of the Tathagatas 84(96)
§ XXXVII. Four Kinds of Dhyāna 85(97)
§ XXXVIII. On Nirvana 86(98)
§ XXXIX. Two Characteristics of Self-nature 87(99)
§ XL. Two Kinds of the Buddha's Sustaining Power (adhishṭhāna) 87(100)
§ XLI. On the Chain of Causation (pratityasamutpāda) 90(103)
§ XLII. Words (abhilāpa) and Realities (bhāva) 91(104)
§ XLIII. On Eternality of Sound (nityaśabda), the Nature of Error (bhrānta), and Perversion (viparyāsa) 92(106)
§ XLIV. On the Nature of Māyā 95(109)
§ XLV. That All Things are Unborn 96(110)
§ XLVI. On Name, Sentence, Syllable, and Their Meaning 97(112)
§ XLVII. On Inexplicable Statements (vyakṛitānī) 98(114)
§ XLVIII. All Things are and are not (Verses on Four Forms of Explanation) 99(115)
§ XLIX. On the Śrāvakas, Srotaāpanna, Sakṛidāgāmin, Anāgāmin, and Arhat; on the Three Knots (saṁyojāni) 100(116)
§ L. The Intellect (buddhi), Examining and Discrimnating 105(122)
§ LI. The Elements, Primary and Secondary 106(123)
§ LII. The Five Skandhas 107(124)
§ LIII. Four Kinds of Nirvana and the Eight Vijñānas 108(126)
§ LIV. The False Imagination Regarding Twelve Subjects 110(127)
§ LV. Verses on the Citta, Parikalpita, Paratantra, and Parinishpanna 112(130)
§ LVI. The One Vehicle and the Triple Vehicle 114(133)
CHAPTER THREE. ON IMPERMANENCY 118(136)
§ LVII. Three Forms of the Will-body (manomayakāya) 118(136)
§ LVIII. The Five Immediacies (pañcānantaryāṇi); Desire as Mother and Ignorance as Father 120(138)
§ LIX. The Buddha-nature (buddhatā) 122(140)
§ LX. The Identity (samatā) of Buddhahood and its Four Aspects 122(141)
§ LXI. Not a Word Uttered by the Buddha; Self-realisation and an Eternally-abiding Reality 123(142)
§ LXII. On Being and Non-Being; Realism and Nihilism 125(144)
§ LXIII. Realisation and Word-teaching 127(147)
§ LXIV. Discrimination, an External World, Dualism, and Attachment 129(149)
§ LXV. The Relation between Words (ruta) and Meaning (artha) 133(154)
§ LXVI. On Knowledge, Absolute (jñāna) and Relative (vijñāna) 135(156)
§ LXVII. Nine Transformations (pariṇāma) 137(158)
§ LXVIII. The Deep-seated Attachment to Existence 138(160)
§ LXIX. Self-nature, Reality, Imagination, Truth of Solitude, etc 141(163)
§ LXX. The Thesis of No-birth 144(166)
§ LXXI. True Knowledge and Ignorance 146(169)
§ LXXII. Self-realisation and the Discoursing on it 148(171)
§ LXXIII. On the Lokāyatika 149(173)
§ LXXIV. Various Views of Nirvana 157(182)
§ LXXV. Is Tathagatahood Something Made? Its Relation to the Skandhas, to Emancipation, to Knowledge 161(187)
§ LXXVI. The Tathagata Variously Designated; Relation Between Words and Meaning; Not a Word Uttered by the Buddha 164(191)
§ LXXVII. Causation, No-birth, Self-mind, Nirvana 170(197)
§ LXXVIII. Verses on No-birth and Causation 172(200)
§ LXXIX. Various Views of Impermanency 176(204)
CHAPTER FOUR. ON INTUITIVE UNDERSTANDING 182(211)
§ LXXX. Perfect Tranquillisation Attained by Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas; Stages of Bodhisattvahood 182(211)
CHAPTER FIVE. ON THE DEDUCTION OF THE PERMANENCY OF TATHAGATAHOOD 187(217)
§ LXXXI. Permanency of Tathagatahood 187(217)
CHAPTER SIX. ON MOMENTARINESS 190(220)
§ LXXXII. The Tathāgata-garbha and the Alayavijñāna 190(220)
§ LXXXIII. The Five Dharmas, and Their Relation to the Three Svabhāvas 193(224)
§ LXXXIV. The Five Dharmas 197(228)
§ LXXXV. Tathagata and Sands of the Gangā 198(229)
§ LXXXVI. Momentariness; the Eight Vijñānas 202(234)
§ LXXXVII. Three Kinds of the Pāramitās 204(236)
§ LXXXVIII. Views on Momentariness; Discrimination 206(238)
CHAPTER SEVEN. ON TRANSFORMATION 207(240)
§ LXXXIX. On Transformation 207(240)
CHAPTER EIGHT. ON MEAT-EATING 211(244)
CHAPTER NINE. THE DHĀRANĪS 223(260)
SAGĀTHAKAM 226(264)
APPENDIX 297


Original Edition Published in London in 1932.
Based upon the Sanskrit edition of Bunyu Nanjo (1923).

Published in Internet by © do1@yandex.ru, May 2004. (Rev. 2) For free distribution only.

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Revision Log:
 Rev. 1: May 2004: First OCR, proof-reading and HTML make-up.
 Rev. 2: Apr 2005: Minor spelling corrections. Non-diacritical version.
 Rev. 2a: Sep 2005: Minor corrections, thanks to yukan@daolao.ru. (in progress) (Last correction 16 Jun 2008)