THE VAJRACHEDIKA PRAJNAPARAMITA

The Vajrachedika Prajnaparamita or The Diamond Sutra is one of the most valued and widely read philosophical works in Buddhist literature. The text was originally written in Sanskrit and in the process of time translated into Ti etan! "hinese! #ongol and #anchu languages. The test represents the #ahayana school of Buddhist thought. The Vajrachedika Prajnaparamita was first translated into "hinese y $umarjiva! a $ashmirian Buddhist monk in %&' (D. The )nglish translation of this sutra was first done y #ax #uller in *++* followed y )dward "on,e in *-.-. The sutra is very popular and one of the reasons for this is ecause the readers can identify with the compassionate odhisattva ideal to li erate sentient eings from suffering through a dialogue etween the Buddha as a teacher and Su huti as his prot/g/. Content: The meaning of 0prajnaparamita1 is perfection of wisdom and 0vajrachedika1 means diamond cutter. Thus the sutra means that our prajna 2wisdom3 like a sharp! diamond delusional thoughts that lade cuts away at the distracting! ind our minds. The sutra descri es four key

points 4 giving without attachment! li erating without a notion of self! living without attachment and cultivation without attainment. The sutra egins with a description of the assem ly and Su huti posing a 5uestion to the Buddha that how can the son or daughter of good family! who want to ecome Bodhisattva! should control their thoughts. The eings are there in the Buddha answers that any person who has set on the Bodhisattva vehicle should produce his thought thus 4 6as many

universe! 7 must lead them to nirvana and though innumera le eings have thus eing led to nirvana! no eing at all has een led to nirvana8. The statement means that a odhisattva should lead all sentient eings to nirvana and do this without attachment. The model for a son or daughter of good family. The Buddha further ela orates on non attachment in the immediate text 4 0(nd why! if in a odhisattva the notion of a eing should take place! he could not e called a 6 odhi eing8 or not e called a 6 odhi eing8 in whom a notion of a self or a eing should take place1 7n other words! a odhisattva does not dwell on the act of helping sentient eings The Buddha further asks! 099.if a odhisattva gives without a iding in any notion! then his merit will enefit. The sutra concludes with a gatha: 0all conditioned phenomenon are like dreams! illusions! u les and shadows. ;ike a dew and lightning! one should contemplate them in this way1 7n order to fully appreciate the philosophy of The Diamond Sutra! it is necessary to interpret the meaning of Buddhist terminology rightly. <or eg. Dharma would e defined in various ways= however in the Buddhist context! ithas all together a different meaning. #ax #uller stated that Dharma 6in ordinary Buddhist phraseology! may e correctly rendered as ;aw and thus the whole teaching of Buddha is named as Saddharma 4 The >ood ;aw. e immeasura le1. This means that the odhisattva should give without expecting any honor! wealth or other odhisattva acts as a role

The Diamond sutra wishes to teach that all o jects! differing from each other y their Dharmas! are illusive! phenomenal and su jective! that they are in fact! of our own making! the products of our mind1. 7n the #ahayana School of Buddhism! o jects and their respective names are alike unreal and illusory. ? jects and names! in the a stract! represent merely the products of untutored and unenlightened minds. )verything appears to e su ject of irrevoca le law of change and decay. (s the things which we see are temporal! it is essential for our intellectual development that we focus our thoughts upon the things which are unseen and eternal. Conclusion: @owever interesting and fascinating distinction we make etween mind and essence of mind! the distinction may e implied ut is never precisely stated in the Vajrachedika Prajnaparamita Sutra. Aevertheless! we may readily accept the su tle intellectual movement which clearly distinguishes etween the phenomenon of mind and an unchanging principle underlying it! usually defined a essence of mind.

(tul Bhosekar #.( 477 2Buddhist Studies3