Tathāgataguhya Sūtra (Secrets of the Tathāgata) translation now published

[Zhen Li]

Hello everyone. My translation of the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra (The Secrets of the Tathāgata) is now published. It can be read online for free from my website, and hard copies are available for purchase on Lulu. Please feel free to share your thoughts. I look forward to discussing this sūtra in the days to come.

[Javierfv1212]

Amazing! Thanks for all you do!

I've noticed that this sutra is cited by numerous sources, so its definitely an important Mahayana sutra. I am surprised it took so long for it to be translated.

David Seyfort Ruegg, in his The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India, states that this was one of the sutras most widely cited by Madhyamaka authors, along with the Prajñāpāramitā, Ratnakūṭa and Avataṃsaka texts, and also the Vimalakīrtinirdeṣa, the Śuraṃgamasamādhi, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, the Daśabhūmika, the Akṣayamatinirdeśa, and the Kāśyapaparivarta.

So it is great that now we have this important sutra available!

[Zhen Li]

Amazing! Thanks for all you do!

I've noticed that this sutra is cited by numerous sources, so its definitely an important Mahayana sutra. I am surprised it took so long for it to be translated.

David Seyfort Ruegg, in his The Literature of the Madhyamaka School of Philosophy in India, states that this was one of the sutras most widely cited by Madhyamaka authors, along with the Prajñāpāramitā, Ratnakūṭa and Avataṃsaka texts, and also the Vimalakīrtinirdeṣa, the Śuraṃgamasamādhi, the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka, the Daśabhūmika, the Akṣayamatinirdeśa, and the Kāśyapaparivarta.

So it is great that now we have this important sutra available!

Thank you! Yes, I was surprised it had not been translated before. I got tired of waiting so went ahead and did it myself.

[Svalaksana]

Great news, Zhen Li. Thank you sincerely for your effort.

[Zhen Li]

Great news, Zhen Li. Thank you sincerely for your effort.

Thank you Svalaksana.

[Malcolm]

Hello everyone. My translation of the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra (The Secrets of the Tathāgata) is now published. It can be read online for free from my website, and hard copies are available for purchase on Lulu. Please feel free to share your thoughts. I look forward to discussing this sūtra in the days to come.

Good job. I've purchased a copy because I believe independent translators who demonstrate good scholarship should be supported.

[Zhen Li]

Thank you Malcolm, that's very much appreciated.

[Zhen Li]

I just finished and posted a second edition of this translation. It can be found here. For those who purchased the first edition, you will not find much difference besides a name changes (from backtranslated names) so I don't recommend repurchasing.

The second edition primarily has the addition of some comments based on the now available Sanskrit edition as well as folio numbers for corresponding pages. A full explanation of changes is in the preface to the second edition.

Overall, Dharmarakṣa's Chinese translation is surprisingly close to the extant Sanskrit. Unfortunately the Sanskrit manuscript is fragmentary and the chapters are confused, so any translation of it needs to also be based mainly on the Chinese or Tibetan. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

[Soma999]

Thank you very much. I bought it and am glad to discover it. Thank you for your generosity.

[Zhen Li]

Thank you very much. I bought it and am glad to discover it. Thank you for your generosity.

Thanks Soma, please let me know how it is if you get a chance.