Website of the Arya Sanghata Sutra


English Translation 

Download the English translation (pdf)

This translation into English was prepared by Ven. Lhundup Damcho and completed in January, 2006. Translating from Tibetan, she consulted the Sanskrit to clarify the many places where the Tibetan was ambiguous. The Sanskrit was also at times ambiguous or multivalent, and in those same places you may find the English to be open to multiple interpretations. 

The translation is also available in numerous other formats - 5x7 book format, on paper of other sizes, with smaller and larger fonts - and even as an edition designed to be traced over, for those wanting to copy the text by hand - click here. If you would like to see the text in other formats, please let us know. Our aim is to offer the text in whatever shape and size is needed to support your constructive engagement with the Sanghata.

Wondering why you are unable to cut and paste the pdf file? Here's why.

To aid in the pronunciation of the many Sanskrit names and terms in the text, most versions provide a phonetic transliteration of the Sanskrit. For those familiar with the standard scholarly conventions for rendering Sanskrit in the Roman alphabet, a version with diacritic marks is also available for download,  For more on pronouncing the Sanskrit names, click here or to listen to correct pronunciation of all the names in Sanskrit by clicking next to each name (pdf).

The version available here replaces an earlier translation. For a fuller discussion of what is 'new' about this translation, click here.

Also new to this website is a list of the meanings of the Sanskrit names. Do check back here next month for an edition of this translation that includes notes on some of the more difficult passages, explanations of technical terms as well as numerous comments made by Geshe Lhundub Sopa during the course of reading the text with its translator.
 

Pronouncing Sanskrit Names

For ease of pronunciation during recitation, you will note that for longer Sanskrit names, an accent mark was placed on the syllable that should be stressed and words have been broken up with hyphens (in accordance with the rules of Sanskrit grammar, or sandhi). For ease of recitation, rather than use the Sanskrit diacritics (accent marks) that are standard in scholarly works, this translation follows the Clay Sanskrit Library (CSL) conventions.

Please note: Audio files are now available so you can listen to all of the Sanskrit names and terms in the Sanghata, pronounced by a traditionally trained Indian pandit. This page also contains links to tools for pronouncing Sanskrit.

You can also listen to (or download for your own use) a recitation in English of this final and complete translation.

Download in Other Formats

Download English translation formatted to print on 5 x 7 paper. This version has a wider margin in the center, and is thus suitable for binding in a three-ring 5x7 binder.
 
Download to print on A4 paper (pdf).
 
Download to print on A3 paper (pdf).

Download to print on B5 paper (pdf).

Download to print on 11 x 17 paper (pdf).

Download in 11 point font  (pdf).

Download in 10 point font  (pdf).

Download in large print (14 point)  (pdf).

Download a larger-font version that can be copied out by hand - 148 pages (pdf).

Download a smaller-font version that can be copied out by hand - 85 pages (pdf).

Download a version with diacritic marks - for those familiar with Sanskrit (pdf)

Download a version with diacritic marks - for those familiar with Sanskrit to print on A4 paper (pdf)

You may notice that the cut and paste feature of the pdf file is unavailable for this text. The English translation of the Sanghata Sutra is distributed as a protected pdf file to safeguard the sutra against distortion. These are the words of Buddha and while reproducing of the Sanghata is very much encouraged, modifying it is not; The earlier translation had been copied and posted on some websites in an altered and, in one case, highly truncated form.) To protect the text while ensuring that readers are able to print it in a form that suits their needs, we have formatted the translation for printing on several different size papers, with smaller fonts for those wanting to conserve paper and a larger font for those who find that easier to read. If there are other formats you would find useful but do not see here, please let us know and we will do our best make it available in that format.


Book Edition - Thanks to the generosity of a sponsor from Singapore, the sutra was also available at no charge in a book edition, spiral-bound for ease of use while reciting. These books have all been distributed, and until another sponsor steps forward, will remain unavailable. 

Those who wish to produce book editions of the Sanghata and therefore require the text in other formats should contact us. We can provide the sutra in other file formats, but will ask to review your edition before you go to press. For reasons that are probably best explained by karma, virtually all the book editions  that have been produced earlier by people independently reformatting the Word file of the English translation included major errors, beginning with the title page itself. Keeping the file as a protected pdf only ensures that the any edition produced from now on is completely reliable.

Other English Editions

This is the only complete translation into English from Tibetan. An earlier incomplete draft of this translation was published in book format and had been downloadable from this site and from the website of the FPMT. That draft should be taken out of circulation, as it has been replaced by the version available through this site.

Translations of the Sanghāta in English have been produced from the Sanskrit and Khotanese versions. The Sanghāta was also translated from Sanskrit into English in 1967 by the late Sri Lankan scholar, R.A. Gunatilaka. This translation was submitted by Gunatilaka to Cambridge University as his PhD dissertation, but was never published. 

The Khotanese manuscripts of the Sanghāta have been edited, and an English translation of the Khotanese Sanghāta was prepared by  Giotto Canevascini, a scholar working in Switzerland. This translation of the Khotanese was published under the title The Khotanese Sanghātasūtra: A Critical Edition, and can usually be obtained from a German bookseller online, or through a rare books dealer. or from Amazon in the UK.

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