Mangala Rasmi
(Source, Courtesy of [1])
Here is a list of the ensuing treatises in their historical sequence of composition:
The Six Mother texts:
- 302 gathas - Ratnaguna-samucaya-gatha
- 8,000 slokas - Astasahasrika
- 10,000 slokas - Dasasahasrika
- 18,000 slokas - Astadasasahasrika
- 25,000 slokas - Pancavrimsatisahasrika
- 100,000 slokas - Satasahasrika
The Ten Sibling texts:
- 2,500 slokas - Suvikrantavikramipariprccha
- 700 slokas - Saptasatika
- 500 slokas - Pancasatika
- 300 slokas - Trisatika (= Vajracchedika)
- 150 slokas - Naya-sata-pancasatika
- 25 slokas - Prajnahrdaya (Heart Sutra)
- 1 syllable - Ekaksari
- 50 slokas - Ardhasatika Kausika-prajnaparamita-tantra Svalpaksara-prajnaparamita-tantra.
The general consensus amongst scholars at the present time is that the initial 41 verses of the first Mother text, the Samucayagatha (Tib: sdud pa), constitutes the substance of the original Prajnaparamita-mulasutra; the root text from which all the 'expanded' (vaipulya) versions have sprung. However, as Conze explains,
"Unfortunately our present version of the Samcaya-gatha is not the original one. It has been tampered with in the eighth century when, under the Buddhist Pala dynasty, which then ruled Bihar, the great expert on Prajnaparamita, Haribhadra, either rearranged the verses or, perhaps, only divided them into chapters."