The Bodhisatvapiṭaka (“The Collection of the Bodhisattvas”) is a middle-period Mahāyāna sūtra, edited here for the first time in Sanskrit. It probably represents an early attempt to produce a consistent and complete exposition of the Mahāyāna as it became popular around the beginning the Common Era. The codex unicus presented here in a diplomatic edition, with corrections in the notes, dates from the 9th century CE and is currently kept in Lhasa. The Bodhisatvapiṭaka explains the main doctrines and concepts of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The work contains an unusually large number of frame stories in the form of jātaka, avadāna, and vyākaraṇa. In contradistinction to other Mahāyāna sūtras, the Bodhisatvapiṭaka extols monastic ideals, with a layman as the main protagonist whose aim is monkhood. As an editio princeps, this publication represents a milestone for the study of Mahāyāna Buddhism.
