Diamond Crown Sutra
Diamond Crown Sutra
金剛頂経 (Skt Sarvatathagata-tattvasamgraha; Chin Chin-kang-ting-ching; Jpn Kongocho-kyo )
Also known as the Vajrashekhara Sutra. One of the three basic scriptures of Esoteric Buddhism, the other two being the Mahavairochana and Susiddhikara sutras. There are three Chinese versions translated by Indian monks:
(1) A three-volume sutra, translated in 743 by Pu-k'ung (Skt Amoghavajra), which is the most popular and the one usually referred to by the title "Diamond Crown Sutra";
(2) a four-volume sutra, translated by Chin-kang-chih (Vajrabodhi) in the early eighth century; and
(3) a thirty-volume sutra, translated by Danapala in 1015.
The content of Danapala's version is closest to that of the extant Sanskrit manuscript. In contrast with the Mahavairochana Sutra, which reveals the teaching of the Womb Realm— the basis for the Womb Realm mandala—this sutra explains the teaching of the Diamond Realm, on which the Diamond Realm mandala is based.
