By Kurtis Schaeffer (University of Virginia, 2009)
A large and varied group of sūtras (D.95-D.361) make up this section, which is also known simply as the “Sūtra Section.” These are organized by several principles, the first of which is tradition-based: Mahāyāna sūtras (D.95-D.287) have pride of first place, followed by Hīnayāna sūtras (D.288-D.361).
Within the two major sections, Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna, individual works are again organized largely by size in descending order – with the two-volume Buddha-biography entitled Fortunate Eon (བསྐལ་པ་བཟང་པོ་, bskal pa bzang po, bhadrakalpika, D.95) beginning the Mahāyāna section and the four-volume Application of Mindfulness in the Good Dharma (དམ་པའི་ཆོས་དྲན་པ་ཉེ་བར་གཞག་པ་, dam pa’i chos dran pa nye bar gzhag pa, saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna, D.288) leading off the Hīnayāna section. Translator and, it seems, notions of importance for the tradition, also serve as organizational factors.