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By far the most important Sutra associated with the studies of Huayen Buddhism
is the Avatamsaka Sutra.
According to Buddhist mythology, "the Avatamsaka Sutra was expounded by Shakyamuni Buddha 21 days after
his Enlightenment. The Sutra was compiled by Bodhisattva Manjushri and his disciple Ananda, and was said to be kept in the
dragon palace in the heaven.
"It was said that later on, the Sutra was found and read by Nagarjuna. It
was said that there were three volumes, including billions of verses in many, many chapters in the first volume, 498,800 verses
in 1,200 chapters in the second, 100,000 verses in 38 chapters in the last. Since the first two volumes were so huge
and difficult for ordinary people to study and understand, Nagarjuna brought the last volume and circulated it in this world.
"When this
Sutra was propagated to China in three versions, each being translated by one of the three following great masters :
- Buddhabhadra in 420 AD - It has 36,000 verses in 60 chapters
(fascicles). As it is the first one translated in the Jin Dynasty, it is called the old Sutra, or the Jin Sutra
- Siksananda - It has 45,000 verses in 80 chapters. It is also known as the new Sutra, or the Tang Sutra since
it was translated in the Tang Dynasty, and
- Prajna - It has 40 chapters and was also translated
in the Tang Dynasty later on and is thus called the later Sutra.1
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