Editing Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (section)

== History and editions ==
According to [[Asanga Tilakaratne]], "it is generally believed that the sutra was compiled during 350-400 CE," although "many who have studied the sutra are of opinion that the introductory chapter and the last two chapters were added to the book at a later period."<ref>Asanga Tilakaratne, ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra''. ''Encyclopedia of Buddhism Vol 6.'' ed. G. P. Malalasekara et al. (Colombo 1999)</ref> Christian Lindtner argues that some early recension of the ''Lankavatara'' influenced the writings of [[Nagarjuna]] and [[Aryadeva]] (3rd century), basing his conclusion on several close or literal allusions to the sutra in early [[madhyamaka]] texts. Thus, the core of the sutra could date to a much earlier time.<ref>Lindtner, Christian (1992). [http://lirs.ru/do/lanka_eng/The_Lankavatarasutra_in_Early_Indian_Madhyamaka_Literature,Lindtner,AS,1992.pdf The Lankavatarasutra in Early Indian Madhyamaka Literature], Copenhagen. Asiatische Studien, XLV, 1, pp. 244–279.</ref><ref>Pāsādika, B. (1988). The Indian Origins of the Lam-rim Literature of Central Asia. The Tibet Journal, 13(1), 3-11.</ref> The ''Lanka'' is quoted four times in the ''Sūtrasamuccaya'' which has been attributed to [[Nagarjuna|Nāgārjuna]] (but this attribution has also been questioned by some scholars).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":12">Schmithausen, Lambert. ''A note on Vasubandhu and the Lankavatarasutra''. Hamburg</ref> [[Lambert Schmithausen]] has argued that the evidence attributing this text to Nagarjuna is insufficient and that furthermore, a passage from the ''Lankavatara'' seems to be a direct quotation from [[Vasubandhu|Vasubandhu's]] [[Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā|''Trimsika'']] (4th to 5th century CE). But the issue of the dating of the Lanka is further complicated by the complex nature of Vasubandhu's authorship of various texts and the fact that his ''Vyākhyāyukti'' also quotes the ''Lankavatara''.<ref name=":12" /> 

Some modern scholars like Gishin Tokiwa also surmise that the sutra may have been compiled in [[Sri Lanka]] between 411 and 435, during a time when Mahayana Buddhism was popular in the island (at sites like [[Abhayagiri vihāra|Abhayagiri vihara]]) and the island also received visits from Chinese pilgrims like [[Faxian]].<ref>Gishin Tokiwa. ''Lankavatara Sutram. A Jewel Scripture of Mahayana Thought and Practice. A study of the Four-Fascicle Lankavatara Ratna Sutram'', p. xlvi. [[Hanazono University]], Kyoto. Printed by the Meibunsha Printing Co. Lts., Kyoto, Japan, 2003.</ref>  

Four translations of the ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' were made from Sanskrit into the Chinese language between roughly 420 CE and 704, the earliest being attributed to [[Dharmarakṣa]] in the 5th century.<ref name="Suzuki">{{cite book
 | last = Suzuki
 | first = D.T.
 | author-link = D.T. Suzuki
 | title = Studies in the Lankavatara Sutra
 | translator = Ethel M. Coomaraswamy
 | publisher = Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 
 | edition = 1998
 | date = 1930
 | location = New Delhi
 | language = en
 | isbn = 81-215-0833-9
}}</ref>{{rp|page=5}} 

Of these, only three are now extant:<ref name=":3" /> 

* The first is [[Taishō Tripiṭaka]] 670 (楞伽阿跋多羅寶經 ''Lengqieabaduoluobaojing''). This is the earliest edition which was translated by [[Guṇabhadra]] in 443 CE, and divided into four fascicles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0159.html|title=The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue|website=www.acmuller.net}}</ref><ref name="Nanjio_pVIII">Nanjio 1923, pp. VIII–IX</ref> This edition by Guṇabhadra is said to be the one handed down from the founder of Chan Buddhism, [[Bodhidharma]], to the Second Patriarch, [[Dazu Huike]].<ref name="Suzuki" />{{rp|page=5}} This version lacks chapter 1, 9 and 10 from the later versions.
* The second is Taishō # 671 (入楞伽經 ''Rulengqiejing''). This second edition was translated by [[Bodhiruci]] in 513 CE,<ref name="Suzuki" />{{rp|page=6}}<ref name="Nanjio_pVIII" /> and divided into ten fascicles.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0160.html|title=The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue|website=www.acmuller.net}}</ref> This edition is criticized in the imperial preface to the later translation, which says that it contains extra words and sentences mixed in that detract from the original meaning.<ref name="Suzuki" />{{rp|page=9}}
* The third is Taishō # 672 (''The Mahāyāna Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra;'' 大乘入楞伽經 ''Dashengrulengqiejing''). This third edition (divided into seven fascicles) was translated by a team headed by Śikṣānanda and it was completed in 704 CE.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue/files/k0161.html|title=The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue|website=www.acmuller.net}}</ref><ref name="Nanjio_pVIII" /> This final translation was made at the behest of Empress [[Wu Zetian]], after Śikṣānanda had completed his 80-fascicle translation of the ''[[Avatamsaka Sutra|{{IAST|Avataṃsaka Sūtra}}]]''.<ref name="Suzuki" />{{rp|page=8}} This translation is said to have employed five separate Sanskrit editions for accuracy.<ref name="Suzuki" />{{rp|page=9}} The Huayan scholar and Sanskritist [[Fazang]] was also involved in this translation effort.<ref name=":20">Chen, Jinhua (2007). ''Philosopher, Practitioner, Politician: The many lives of Fazang (643-712).'' pp. 145-146. Leiden: Brill. {{ISBN|978-90-04-15613-5}}.</ref> Before the final edits to this version had been made, Śikṣānanda returned to India, and another Indian monk called Mitrasena came to China who had studied the Buddhist sutras for 25 years in India, and who knew the ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra''. Fazang and Mitrasena were given the task of revising and completing the translation.<ref name=":20" /><ref name="Suzuki" />{{rp|page=9}}

In addition to these Chinese translations, there are also two [[Tibetic languages|Tibetan]] translations, and a version of the Sanskrit was preserved in Nepal. One Tibetan translation is derived from the Sanskrit original, and the other is likely a translation of Guṇabhadra's Chinese into Tibetan.<ref name=Suzuki/>{{rp|page=13–15}} 

[[Nanjo Bunyu]] prepared a [[critical edition]] of the Sanskrit in 1923 based on four manuscripts from the Nepalese recension, among other sources.<ref>B. Nanjio (ed.): [https://archive.org/details/MN40145ucmf_2/page/n23 ''The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra''], Kyoto, Otani University Press 1923 (in Nāgarī)</ref>{{rp|page=xvii}}<ref name="Suzuki" />{{rp|page=12}}<ref name="Powers">{{cite encyclopedia
 | title = Lankavatara Sutra
 | encyclopedia = MacMillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism
 | last = Powers
 | first = John
 | author-link = John Powers (academic)
 | pages = 456
 | year = 2004
 | publisher = MacMillan Reference USA
 | location = New York
 | isbn = 0-02-865719-5
 | volume = 1
}}</ref> 

According to Gishin Tokiwa, the Sanskrit edition and Sikṣānanda's translation contain various additions and errors. Tokiwa considers that "the Gunabhadra version conveys the earliest, original Sanskrit text-form whereas the two other Chinese versions as well as the extant Sanskrit manuscripts that include the Nanjio-edition did not go through any kind of appropriate text-critique."<ref name=":5">Gishin Tokiwa. ''Lankavatara Sutram. A Jewel Scripture of Mahayana Thought and Practice. A study of the Four-Fascicle Lankavatara Ratna Sutram.'' In a Set of Four Texts: A Sanskrit Restoration, English and Japanese Translations with Introduction, and the Collated Gunabhadra Chinese Version with Japanese Reading, p. xvii. [[Hanazono University]], Kyoto. Printed by the Meibunsha Printing Co. Lts., Kyoto, Japan, 2003.</ref> Takasaki Jikido likewise argued that the Gunabhadra edition was the closest version available to the early Sanskrit edition.<ref>Takasaki, Jikido: ''Ryogakyo'', Butten-koza, vol. 17, Daizo-shuppan, Tokyo 1980.

</ref><ref name=":5" />  

Gishin Tokiwa has also published a reconstructed Sanskrit edition based on the extant Sanskrit manuscript and the Gunabhadra translation.<ref name=":5" /> 

The earliest translations of the ''Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra'' are significantly shorter than later ones, which [[D.T. Suzuki]] interprets as suggesting that additions were made to the text over time.<ref name=Suzuki/>{{rp|page=16}} The first and last chapters (which connect the text with [[Ravana]], the villain of the [[Ramayana]], and adds a [[dharani]]) are missing from the earliest translation, and the prose of the first chapter in later translations does not agree with the verse-form provided alongside it.<ref name=Suzuki/>{{rp|page=20}} Suzuki also suggests that the chapter on meat eating, where the [[Theravada]] 'thrice clean' practice is criticized, may be a later edition based on its different tone and content from the rest of the text.<ref name=Suzuki/>{{rp|page=20}} Based on the text's lack of organization, varying and sometimes irrelevant chapter headings, and expansion over time, Suzuki suggests that it may have originated as a collection of individual passages summarizing essential [[Mahayana]] doctrines, which were later shaped into a narrative.<ref name=Suzuki/>{{rp|page=19–20}}