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Bhadrakalpikasutra

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Bhadrakalpikasutra

Bhadrakalpikasūtra (Sanskrit; Wyl. bskal pa bzang po’i mdo) is a Mahayana sutra with 24 chapters written in c. 200-250 CE, said to have been taught by Buddha Shakyamuni in Vaishali. It includes the names of the 1002 Buddhas of this "Fortunate Aeon." The title of this text means the Fortunate Aeon Sūtra.

The thousand buddhas

The 1002 (or 1004) names start with:

  • Krakucchanda
  • Kanakamuni
  • Kashyapa
  • Shakyamuni
  • Maitreya
  • ... and end with...

  • Harivaktra
  • Chuda and
  • Rocha
  • It is included in the first volume of the sutra section of the Tibetan Kangyur. It is available in Chinese, Tibetan, Mongolian, etc. in variants that differ slightly as to the number of Tathāgatas enumerated. For example, the Khotanese version is the proponent of a 1005-Tathāgata system.

    Dharmaraksha, a native of Dunhuang, between third and fourth century A.D. had translated the Bhadra-Kalpika-sutra in Chinese. Note that A cave of the Thousand-Buddha is the name of the world-renowned grottoes at Tun-huang (or Dunhuang, China). Vidyakarasimha and Dpal-dbyans translated the text into Tibetan.

    The original Sanskrit text is now lost.

    References

    Bhadrakalpikasutra Wikipedia