Two new English translations of the Daśabhūmikasūtra have just been published (see below). Surprisingly, they refer to a 1923 Sanskrit edition of this sūtra by Johannes Rahder, as well as his 1926 edition. Upon checking, I found an edition of his with the 1923 date from the Digital Library of India at Archive.org. Other than the date (and the absence of the first two A and B section headings at the very beginning), it is identical with the 1926 edition. It appears to me that some copies were printed with the 1923 date as a typographical error, and then soon corrected. I assume this because the 1923 copy, like the 1926 copy, has at the bottom of page I: “Le Muséon, t. XXXIX.” Tome 39 of Le Muséon is the 1926 volume. Also, Rahder in the Introduction to his 1928 Glossary of the Daśabhūmikasūtra refers to his edition as 1926. Does anyone know any more about this apparently erroneous 1923 edition? Did someone back then call attention to this apparent mistake?

 

Regarding Rahder’s Sanskrit edition of the Daśabhūmikasūtra, as far as I know, it was published in three forms in 1926:

1. “Daśabhūmika-Sūtram,” Le Muséon, vol. 39, 1926, pp. 125-252.

2. Daśabhūmikasūtra: Academisch Proefschrift . . . Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht. Leuven: J.-B. Istas, 1926.

3. Daśabhūmikasūtra et Bodhisattvabhūmi, Chapitres Vihāra et Bhūmi. Paris: Paul Geuthner, 1926.

WorldCat lists only 1926 editions, no 1923. Number 3 above has been posted by me at: http://www.downloads.prajnaquest.fr/BookofDzyan/Sanskrit%20Buddhist%20Texts/dasabhumika_sutra_1926_prose.pdf.

 

The two new English translations were made by Bhikshu Dharmamitra from the Chinese translations:

1. from the Chinese translation by Kumārajīva: The Ten Grounds Sutra: The Daśabhūmika Sūtra. Seattle: Kalavinka Press, 2019.

2. from the Chinese translation by Śikṣānanda as chapter 26 of the Avataṃsaka-sūtra: The Ten Bodhisattva Grounds: The Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Chapter 26. Seattle: Kalavinka Press, 2019.

Best regards,

David Reigle

Colorado, U.S.A.