Dear Birgit,
Thank you for letting us know about this new publication in the series, Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region. This is very helpful. Having just placed an order for volumes in this important series, I would not have checked again any time soon. The Pañcaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā is of particular interest because it was classified by Jo nang Dol po pa and others as one of the five s
ūtras of definitive meaning, n
īt
ārtha.
As noted in its description, "an influence of the Consciousness-only or Yogācāra school can clearly be seen." For Dol po pa, the doctrine of the Yogācāra school is not Consciousness-only, or Mind-only, but rather is "Great Madhyamaka." This latter is for Jonangpas the definitive meaning of the Yogācāra texts, and that is why this Prajñāpāramitā text that explicitly uses Yogācāra ideas is regarded by them as being of definitive meaning. The other Prajñāpāramitā texts, forming the basis of the common Madhyamaka school, are for the "Great Madhyamaka" school of interpretable meaning, neyārtha.
The above little side note is said by way of possibly attracting more interest to this valuable new publication. Many of us waited decades for access to the Sanskrit Buddhist texts known to be preserved in Tibet, but entirely inaccessible under the Chinese government. I am immensely grateful to Ernst Steinkellner and his colleagues who, after many years of efforts, succeeded in gaining access to some of these texts. This resulted in the series, Sanskrit Texts from the Tibetan Autonomous Region, now 20 volumes!
Best regards,
David Reigle
Colorado, U.S.A.