Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sūtra (Vairocana’s Awakening Sutra, 𑀯𑁃𑀭𑁄𑀘𑀦𑀸𑀪𑀺𑀲𑀁𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀽𑀢𑁆𑀭), also known as the Mahāvairocana Tantra (𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀯𑁃𑀭𑁄𑀘𑀦𑀢𑀦𑁆; ; also known as 大日經 Da Ri Jing) is an important Vajrayana Buddhist text composed before 674 CE. The Indian tantric master Buddhaguhya (fl. c.700 CE) classified the text as a caryātantra, and in Tibetan Buddhism it is still considered to be a member of the carya classification. In Japan where it is known as the Mahāvairocana Sūtra (Daibirushana jōbutsu jinpen kajikyō), it is one of two central texts in the Shingon school, along with the Vajrasekhara Sutra. Both are also part of the Tendai school. The longer title of the scripture is Mahāvairocanābhisaṃbodhivikurvitādhiṣṭhānavaipulyasūtrendrarājanāmadharmaparyāya (Dharma Discourse Called “Mahāvairocana’s Awakening and His Empowerment of Miracles,” King of the Best of the Extensive Scriptures). Though the text is often called a tantra by later figures (including later Indian commentators), the scripture does not call itself a tantra. The Mahāvairocana Tantra is the first true Buddhist tantra, the earliest comprehensive manual of tantric Buddhism. It was probably composed in the middle of the 7th century, in all probability in north-eastern India at Nālandā. Evidence to support the text's composition in Nalanda include the fact that many of the Buddhist scholars involved in the transmission of the text resided in Nalanda including Buddhaguhya and Śubhakarasiṃha. The description of plants and trees in the MVT also matches those found in the region surrounding Nalanda in North-East India. According to Rofl Giebel, "the Chinese translation was produced in seven fascicles by Śubhākarasiṃha (637–735) and his Chinese disciple Yixing (683–727) in 724–5, apparently on the basis of a manuscript sent to China some decades earlier by the Chinese monk Wuxing, who died in India in 674." The Mahāvairocana Tantra was later translated into Tibetan sometime before 812 by Śīlendrabodhi and Kawa Paltsek.