Early Mahāyāna in Gandhāra: New Evidence from the Bajaur Mahāyāna Sūtra

The chapter investigates some aspects of the so-called ‘Bajaur Mahāyāna sūtra’. This text is part of the growing corpus of Mahāyāna literature from ancient Gandhāra. According to its palaeographical and linguistic features the manuscript can be dated to the first or second century CE and therefore represents one of the oldest preserved remains of early Mahāyāna literature. Although the edition and translation of this text are still ongoing, the chapter highlights some aspects of this hitherto unknown text that can help to establish its doctrinal position in comparison with other witnesses of early Mahāyāna, in particular those of the Prajñāpāramitā literature.