Structure Of The Kangyur

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Structure of the Kangyur

The Kangyur is further divided into eight sections according to the section titles contained within the volumes themselves:

  1. Monastic Conduct [8 titles; D.0001-D.0008]
  2. Perfection of Wisdom [36 titles, D.0009-D.0044]
  3. Great Array [1 title; D.0045]
  4. Jewel Heap [49 titles; D.0046-D.0094]
  5. Sūtra [267 titles; D.0095-D.0361]
  6. Tantra [472 titles, D.0362-D.0833]
  7. Wheel of Time Commentary [1 title, D.0853]
  8. Collected Spells [263 titles, D.0855-D.1117].

However, this simple structure belies the complex doxographical labors that have gone into organizing the canon, for there are numerous subcategories to which the more than 1100 texts that make up this first half of the Canon have been assigned.

Tibetan scholars also utilized a variety of systems to present Buddhist canonical literature as a coherent whole. For instance, the chief editor of the Degé Kangyur and the author of the principal history and catalog of the collection, Situ Chökyi Jungné (si tu chos kyi ’byung gnas), states that the first half of the Kangyur (the first 361 titles) is organized according to the order in which the Buddha taught the scriptures. Situ evokes a popular system of classifying the Buddha’s teachings into three “Turnings of the Wheel.” The first “Turning” is the Buddha’s teachings on monastic conduct, the second is the Perfection of Wisdom literature, and the third is comprised of the sūtras.

Outline Sections of the Degé Kangyur

D.#### = THL Text Number

Section Title (according to Ui, et al.)# Wks# VolsRunning #s. DOrganizational Schemes and/or Subdivisions
Monastic Conduct (’dul ba, Vinaya)813D.0001-D.0008Size (large narrative collections, shorter lists of rules).
Perfection of Wisdom (shes phyin, Prajñāpāramitā)3621D.0009-D.0044Size (measured in number of verses, then short works).
Great Array Sūtra (phal po che, Avataṃsaka)14D.0045Old narrative anthology: a “mini-canon.”
Jewel Heap Sūtra (dkon brtsegs, Ratnakūṭa)496D.0046-D.0094Old anthology of small sūtras: a “mini-canon.”
Sūtras (mdo sde, Sūtra)26732D.0095-D.03611. Mahāyāna Sūtras (D.0095-D.0287; popularity, then translator, and then size), 2. Hīnayāna (D.0288-D.0361), Narrative Lives (Avadāna, D.0344-D.0350).
Tantras (rgyud ’bum, Tantra)47220D.0362-D.0833Class of Tantra: 4. Supreme Meditation (Anuttarayoga, D.0362-D.480), 3. Yoga Tantra (rnal ’byor, Yoga, D.0481-D.0495), 2. Behavioral Practice (spyod pa, Caryā, D.0496-D.0503); 1. Ritual Action (bya ba, Kriyā, D.0504-D.0779); Difficult to classify (D.0780-D.0814); Prayers of Blessing (D.0815-D.0833) (Note: up to here [along with select comms.] represents early ninth-century catalogs).
Ancient Tantras (rnying rgyud)193D.0834-D.0852The nineteen “Ancient Tantras;” these were not included in Situ’s 1733 catalog of the Degé Kangyur.
Stainless Light [Commentary on the Wheel of Time Tantra] (dus ’khor ’grel bshad, Vimālaprabhā)11D.0853Included in the Kangyur because it is “like the word of the Buddha” despite being a treatise and not strictly a sūtra.
Collected Spells (gzungs ’dus, Dhāraṇī-saṅgraha)2632D.0855-D.1117Loosely grouped by translator; contains many duplicates already found in the Tantra section.
Kangyur Total1117102D.0001-D.1117