One of the great treasures of Buddhist literature which have come down to us in Tibetan translation is the Do-dzang-lun (མདོ་མཛངས་བླུན། - mdo mdzangs blun) or the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, known to the Mongols, into whose language it was translated from Tibetan, as the Uliger-un dalai or Ocean of Narratives. The history of this unusual scripture is still uncertain, e.g. we are not sure whether there ever was a Sanskrit or Prakrit original (none has yet been found), though legend telling us that the tales were heard in Khotan by Chinese monks who translated them (but from what language?) into Chinese from which language it was translated into Tibetan, thence into Mongolian and Oirat. Whatever the history of the Sutra may be, it is one of the most interesting, enjoyable and readable of Buddhist scriptures and has for centuries been an inexhaustible source of inspiration, instruction and pleasure for all who have been able to read it. (Source: Stanley Frye, Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, 2006, Forward, vii) (Other Sources)
| Reference | damamūkasūtra [दममूकसूत्र]. mdzangs blun zhes bya ba'i mdo [མཛངས་བླུན་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་མདོ།]. [The Sūtra of the Wise and Foolish (84000)]. Kangyur, RKTSK 341 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=341&typ=1. |
|---|---|
| People | Gö Chödrub |
