Karandavyuha Sutra
by Mithun Howladar | 2018 | 73,554 words
This page relates “Avadana Literature in Sanskrit” of the Karandavyuha Sutra (analytical study): an important 4th century Sutra extolling the virtues and powers of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The Karandavyuhasutra also introduces the mantra “Om mani padme hum” into the Buddhist Sutra tradition.
Part 6 - The Avadāna Literature in Sanskrit
The word "Avadāna" means "a heroic deed" or "a noteworthy deed" or "a feat and also” a story of a noteworthy moral feat. These stories are intended to show the good and evil results of good and evil deeds and are belived by the Buddhists to be the words of the Buddha. A regular Avadāna consists of story of the present, a story of the past and moral.
Following Avadānas are most popular ones:
1) Avadāna-śataka or the hundred Avadānas. It consists of ten decades and presumed to be oldest among all Avadāns.
2) Karma-śataka or "A hundred stories about karman". It is available in Tibetan translation only.
3) Divyavadāna or a heavenly Avadāna is a later work, although it also includes some very texts. Aśokavadāna Kalpadrumavadānamālā Ratnavadānamālā, Bhadrakalpavadāna and Avadāna-kalpalatā are some of the most significant writings under this head.