दशभूमिकसूत्रम्- Dasabhumikasutram in Sanskrit Only (An Old and Rare Book)

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The Dasabhumikasutra occupies a position of paramount importance in the Mahayana system of thought. It also goes under the name of Dakabhumikasastra, Dababhumisvara and the like. Acarya Asanga in his Dababhumi has referred to it by the name of Dasabhumaka. It is remarkable evidence of its supreme authority and immense popularity that it has been translated into the Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, Mangolian and other languages. A detailed account of the different manuscripts and versions of the Dasabhumikasutra has been furnished by Dr Johannes Rahder in his illuminating preface to it. The gathas occurring in the last chapter are conspicuous by their absence in the earlier manuscripts of it. And this fact has induced a section of scholars of Mahayana Buddhism to dub them as Inter addenda. The two celebrated biographies of the Buddha, viz. the Mahavastu and the Lalitavistara have referred to the different stages in the spiritual career of the Bodhisattava and the means of their realization. Besides there are innumerable Mahayana texts that have made a comprehensive treatment of them in their own independent way. The lack of their concurrence concerning the conception of the different Bodhisattva-stages is too obvious to require an elaboration. A few eminent scholars have made a sedulous attempt to discover correspondence among the different stages expounded by different Mahayanist theologians. It merits mention that the Hinayanist differs from the Mahayanist on the underlying symbolism and mysticism of the Bodhisattva-bhumis.
The present text of the Dasabhumika-sutra has been prepared by Dr. P. L. Vaidya, former Director of the Mithila Research Institute, on the basis of Johannes Rahder's edition. And since the editio princeps is out of print, a fresh publication of this important classic is expected to meet a genuine desideratum in the study of Mahayana cultus.