Zen. The sutra is believed by many Buddhists, not without reason, to
be the exposition of that Mahayana doctrine which Acvaghosa restated
in his Craddhotpada-castra. The sutra was translated, first, into
Chinese by Gunabbadra, in A.D. 443; secondly, by Bodhiruci in A.D.
513; and, thirdly, by Ciksanada in A.D. 700-704. The book is famous
for its prophecy about Nagdrajuna, which (according to Dr. Nanjo's
translation) is as follows:

"After the Nirvana of the Tathagata,
There will be a man in the future,
Listen to me carefully, O Mahatma,
A man who will hold my law.
In the great country of South,
There will be a venerable Bhiksu
The Bodhisattva Nagarjuna by name,
Who will destroy the views of Astikas and Nastikas,
Who will preach unto men my Yana,
The highest Law of the Mahayana,
And will attain to the Pramudita-bhumi."


It is said that then he awoke to the perfect truth and declared: "All
animated and inanimate beings are Enlightened at the same time."
According to the tradition[FN#17] of this sect Shakya Muni
transmitted his mysterious doctrine from mind to mind to his oldest
disciple Mahakacyapa at the assembly hold on the Mount of Holy
Vulture, and the latter was acknowledged as the first patriarch, who,
in turn, transmitted the doctrine to Ananda, the second patriarch,
and so till Bodhidharma, the twenty-eighth[FN#18] patriarch. We have
little to say about the historical value of this tradition, but it is