Gaṇḍavyūhasūtra

A Buddhist Mahāyāna sūtra dated to c. 200 to 300 CE. It chronicles the journey of Sudhana, who encounters various teachings and Bodhisattvas called Kalyāṇamitras. These Kalyāṇamitras belong to different age groups, places, economic backgrounds, social strata, and occupations. Sudhana's journey continues until he completes the cycle and awakens to the teachings of the Buddha. It was brought to China in the 7th century and translated into Chinese by Amoghavajra during the reign of the Tang dynasty. Its Chinese name is Ta-shing-mi-yen-king. (Mitra, 1882, p. 90). This sūtra forms last section of Buddhāvataṁsakasūtra, according to S. Levi, JA. 203, pp. 6 and at the end of the Gaṇḍavyūha is found the lyric Bhadracarīpraṇidhānagāthā, or Samantabhadracaryāpraṇidhānagāthā. (NCC, Vol. 5, p. 289).