Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva Sūtra (Chinese canon)

Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva Sūtra (C. Xukongzang pusa jing 虛空藏菩薩經). A version of the Ākāśagarbha Sūtra included in Chinese canon; this version similar to, but distinct from the Tibetan version of the same name (see Ākāśagarbhasūtra).

In this sutra, Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva, using his great compassion, gives the teaching of how to extinguish the suffering and heavy karma of sentient beings to śrāvakas and newly awakened bodhisattvas.

Distiction from Tibetan version

The Sakya Pandita Translation Group states:

In his work on Ākāśagarbha in China and Japan (unfortunately unfinished), M. W. de Visser gives a comprehensive list of texts related to this bodhisattva. The first among them to appear in Chinese was the Sūtra on the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, translated by Buddhayaśas between 403 and 413 ᴄᴇ. This is the earliest version of the text we have, for the Sanskrit is no longer extant.

The Chinese version of this text differs significantly from the Tibetan translation found in the Kangyur. Although the basic content of both texts is the same, their structures are very different and the Chinese contains numerous passages not found in the Tibetan, and vice versa. It is justifiable, therefore, to speak of two different versions of the Ākāśagarbhasūtra.