The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2648 page)

see
BODHISATTVA
.

 
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(Teachings of the
Bodhisattva
Unstained-Glory). Major
Mah
y
na
text. A measure of its popularity is the number of translations: into Chinese (eight times), Tibetan (three times), Sogdian, and Khotanese. The Skt. original has not survived.
The S
tra, which was composed not later than 2nd cent. CE, has been especially popular with the laity, since the protagonist is himself a lay householder. Thus the world-renouncing monastic ethos of the H
nay
na is rejected, and the status of the laity legitimized as part of the broad re-evaluation of religious ideals undertaken by the Mah
y
na.

 
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