The first edition of the Ratnameghasutra in Sanskrit

The aim of this project is to produce the first Sanskrit edition of the Ratnameghasutra, the "Jewel Cloud Discourse," and to explore the works intertextual relationships with other Mahayana sutras. Despite being one of the most important sutras of Mahayana Buddhism, until now the Ratnameghasutra has only been known, apart from a short fragment, from translations into Tibetan and Chinese. However, the Sanskrit text has now become accessible through a photocopy of a twelfth-century Sanskrit manuscript recently made available to scholars. With this manuscript as the main witness, a text-critical edition of the Ratnameghasutras Sanskrit text is being prepared. Also other witnesses are being evaluated, including a ninth- century Tibetan translation, four Chinese translations dating from the fifth to eleventh centuries, and the large number of quotations that have been found in other early sutras. Closely connected to this editorial work is also an examination of the manifold textual relations of the Ratnameghasutra to other sutras, as well as its role in the development of Mahayana Buddhism altogether. Moreover, the project is dealing with a number of specific questions regarding textual criticism, and thus it will contribute to current scholarly discussions about methodological issues arising explicitly in the context of editing Mahayana sutras.