The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur and the Tengyur. The Kangyur or Kanjur is Buddha's recorded teachings (or the 'Translation of the Word'), and the Tengyur or Tanjur is the commentaries by great masters on Buddha's teachings (or the 'Translation of Treatises').
Tibetan Buddhist canon
In addition to earlier foundational Buddhist texts from early Buddhist schools, mostly the Sarvastivada and Mahayana texts, the Tibetan canon includes Tantric texts. The last category is not always sharply distinguished from the others: the Tantra division sometimes includes material usually not thought of as Tantric in other traditions, such as the Heart SutraConze, The Prajnaparamita Literature and even versions of material found in the Pali Canon.Peter Skilling, Mahasutras, volume I, 1994, Pali Text Society, Lancaster, page xxiv
The Tibetans did not have a formally arranged Mahayana canon, and so devised their own scheme with two broad categories: the "Words of the Buddha" and later the commentaries; the Kangyur and Tengyur respectively. The Tengyur underwent a final compilation in the 14th century by Bu-ston (1290–1364). There is no proof that Bu-ston also took part in the collection and edition of the Tsal pa Kangyur, although he consecrated a copy of this Kangyur 1351 when he visited (Eimer 1992:178).Eimer, Helmut. Ein Jahrzehnt Studien Zur Überlieferung Des Tibetischen Kanjur. Wien: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 1992.
According to sakya mchog ldan (1428–1507), Bu-soon edited a Kanjur; however, it is not known which one. "The Kangyur usually takes up a hundred or a hundred and eight volumes, the Tengyur two hundred and twenty-five, and the two together contain 4,569 works."Stein, R. A. Tibetan Civilization. (1962). First English edition - translated by J. E. Stapleton Driver (1972). Reprint (1972): Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. (cloth); (paper)
Kangyur or "Translated Words" consists of works in about 108 volumes supposed to have been spoken by the Buddha himself. All texts presumably once had a Sanskrit original, although in many cases the Tibetan text was translated from Chinese or some other language. Tengyur or "Translated Treatises" contains commentaries, treatises and abhidharma works (both Mahayana and non-Mahayana), in all, around 3,626 texts in 224 volumes.
The Kangyur is divided into sections on Vinaya, Perfection of Wisdom sutras, other sutras (75% Mahayana, 25% Hinayana), and tantras. It includes texts on the Vinaya, monastic discipline, metaphysics, and the tantras.Tucci, Giuseppe. The Religions of Tibet. (1970). First English edition, translated by Geoffrey Samuel (1980). Reprint: (1988), University of California Press, p. 259, n. 10. (cloth); (pbk). Some describe the prajñāpāramitā philosophy, others extol the virtues of the various bodhisattvas, while others expound the Trikāya and the Ālaya-Vijñāna doctrines.Humphries, Christmas. A Popular Dictionary of Buddhism, p. 104. (1962) Arco Publications, London.
When the term Kangyur was first used is unknown. Collections of canonical Buddhist texts existed already in the time of Trisong Detsen, the sixth king of Tibet, who ruled from 755 until 797 CE, in Spiti.
The exact number of texts in the Kangyur is not fixed. Each editor takes responsibility for removing texts they consider spurious, and adding new translations. Currently there are about 12 available versions of the Kangyur. These include the Derge, Lhasa, Narthang, Cone, Peking, Urga, Phudrak, and Stog Palace versions, each named for the physical location where it was printed. In addition, some canonical texts have been found in Tabo Monastery and Dunhuang which provide earlier exemplars of texts found in the Kangyur. All extant Kangyur appear to stem from the Old Narthang Monastery Kangyur. The stemma of the Kangyur have been well researched, by Helmut Eimer in particular.
Contents of the Kangyur While each canon has a different organisation, the first complete catalogue of a Tibetan canon was the Tōhoku Catalogue based on the Derge Kangyur and Derge Tengyur, published in 1934. This is currently used as a standard for cataloguing and organising various print and digital editions of the Kangyur and takes the following structure:
Vinaya ('dul ba) — all derived from the Sanskrit Mūlasarvastivāda Vinaya. Vinayavastu (Tōh. 1) Seventeen chapters detailing different aspects of monastic conduct. Vinayavibhaṅga (Tōh. 2–5) The codified monastic rules and their commentaries for monks (2 & 3) and nuns (4 & 5). Vinayakṣudrakavastu (Tōh. 6) A set of miscellaneous topics on matters not covered in the Vinayavastu. Vinayottaragrantha (Tōh. 7) Ten originally independent texts that serve to further explain the monastic code. Sūtras (mdo) The Perfection of Wisdom (sher phyin) (Tōh. 8–30) Contains various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras from long to short. The Six Mothers (believed to be the source of all the shorter texts) Śatasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 8) Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 9) Aṣṭādaśasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 10) Daśasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 11) Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 12) Prajñāpāramitā Ratnaguṇa Sañcaya Gāthā (Tōh. 13) The Eleven Children The Questions of Suvikrāntavikrāmin (Tōh. 14) Pañcaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 15) The Vajracchedikā (Tōh. 16) Prajñāpāramitānaya Śatapañcaśatikā (Tōh. 17) Bhagavatī Prajñāpāramitā Pañcāśatikā (Tōh. 18) Kauśika Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 19) Pañcaviṃśatikā Prajñāpāramitā Mukha (Tōh. 20) Bhagavatī Prajñāpāramitā Hṛdaya (Tōh. 21) Svalpākṣara Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 22) Ekākṣarī Mātā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 23) Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 24) Six Short Perfection of Wisdom Texts (Tōh. 25–30) The Thirteen Late-translated sūtras (Tōḥ. 31–43) These are Tibetan translations of Pāḷi suttas, translated at Tharpaling the 14th century in collaboration between a Tibetan and Sinhala monk. They are the last sūtras to enter into the Kangyur, and so are called the "Late-translated" sūtras. One of these texts, the Vimuttimagga, which is not actually sūtra, is included for unknown reasons in the General Sūtra section (Tōh. 306). The longest text of this collection is the Jātakanidāna (Tōh. 32), which is also not considered a sutta in the Pāḷi tradition. The Āṭānāṭiya Sūtra (Tōh. 33) and Mahāsamaya Sūtra (Tōh. 34) are equivalent to two Sanskrit sūtras translated into Tibetan for the Tantra section as "Mahāsūtras" for protection (Tōh. 656 & 653). The Buddhāvataṃsaka (Tōh. 44). Contains the Tibetan recension of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra in 45 chapters translated from Chinese.van der Kuijp, Leonard W. J. “Some Observations on the Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra in Tibet.” In Holly Gayley and Andrew Quintman (eds.), Living Treasure: Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in Honor of Janet Gyatso (Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism). Somerville: Wisdom Publications, 2023. The Ratnakūṭa collection (Tōh. 45–93). Contains the Tibetan recensions of the various sūtras considered to be part of the Mahāratnakūṭa collection, which also circulated as stand-alone sūtras.Silk, Jonathan. “The Origins and Early History of the Mahāratnakūta Tradition: Traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism with a Study of the Ratnarāśisūtra and related Materials” PhD diss., University of Michigan, 1994. Major sūtras in this collection include: (3) The Tathāgatācintya-guhya-nirdeśa (Tōh. 47) (5) The Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha (Tōh. 49) (6) The Akṣobhyavyūha (Tōh. 50) (12) The Bodhisattvapiṭaka (Tōh. 56) (45) The Akṣayamatiparipṛcchā (Tōh. 89) (46) The Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā (Tōh. 90 & cf. Tōh. 24) (47) The Ratnacūḍaparipṛcchā (Tōh. 91) (48) The Śrīmāladevī Siṃhanāda (Tōh. 92) The General Sūtra section (Tōh. 94–359). Contains all other sūtras translated from Sanskrit and Chinese. Mahāyāna Sūtras (Tōh. 94–286) Contains most of the major Mahāyāna sūtras not in the other collections, including among the most well-known: Bhadrakalpika (Tōh. 94) Lalitavistara (Tōh. 95) Saṅghāṭasūtra (Tōh. 102) Sandhinirmocana (Tōh. 106) Laṅkāvatāra (Tōh. 107 (from Skt.) & 108 (from Ch.)) Ghanavyūhasūtra (Tōh. 110) Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka (Tōh. 112) Saddharmapuṇḍarīka (Tōh. 113) Shorter Sukhāvatīvyūha (Tōh. 115) Kāraṇḍavyūha (Tōh. 116) Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra (Tōh. 119 (from Skt.) & 120 (from Ch.)) Samādhirāja (Tōh. 127) Śūraṅgamasamādhisūtra (Tōh. 132) Sūtras of the Mahāsaṃnipāta Collection Ratnaketu Dhāraṇī (Tōh. 138) Tathāgatamahākaruṇānirdeśa (Tōh. 147) Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā (Tōh. 148) Sāgaramatiparipṛcchā (Tōh. 152) Mahāyānopadeśasūtra / Ratnadārikāparipṛcchā (Tōh. 169) Akṣayamatinirdeśa (Tōh. 175) Tathāgataśrīsamayasūtra / Sūryaguhya? (Tōh. 230) Sūryagarbha (Tōh. 257) Vimalakīrtinirdeśa (Tōh. 176) Pañcapāramitānirdeśa (Tōh. 181) = the final five assemblies in Xuanzang's Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śālistamba (Tōh. 210) Aṅgulimālīyasūtra (Tōh. 213) Ajātaśatrukaukṛtyavinodana (Tōh. 216) Mahāmegha (Tōh. 232) Daśacakrakṣitigarbhasūtra (Tōh. 239) Tathāgatagarbhasūtra (Tōh. 258) Ākāśagarbhasūtra (Tōh. 260) Upāyakauśalyasūtra (Tōh. 261) Śrāvakayāna Sūtras (Tōh. 287–359) This includes various longer sūtras considered to not belong to the Mahāyāna, though these attributions are often disputed. Famous texts include: Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna (Tōh. 287) The Mahāsūtras which are derived from the Āgamas of the Mūlasarvāstivāda (Tōh. 288–294) Arthaviniścaya (Tōh. 317) Dharmacakrasūtra (Tōh. 337) Karmaśataka (Tōh. 340) – an avadāna collection Damamūka (Tōh. 341) – an avadāna collection Pūrṇapramukhāvadānaśataka (Tōh. 343) – popularly known as just the Avadānaśataka, an avadāna collection Brahmajālasūtra (Tōh. 352) Śārdūlakarṇāvadāna (Tōh. 358) Bodhimaṇḍasyālaṃkāralakṣadhāraṇī (Tōh. 359a) – popularly known as the Sūtra of the Forty-Two Sections Tantra (rgyud) Tantra Collection (rgyud 'bum) Translations of tantras from the "later spread" as practised by the New Schools (Sarma). Anuttarayoga / Yoganiruttaratantra (Tōh. 360–478) These are the highest class of tantras, considered "inner tantras," often divided into "non-dual," "mother," and "father" tantras, with the latter two divided into six families of principal deities. Their goal is to realise the absolute non-duality of the meditator and the deity, allowing one to realise their innate wisdom. Historically, these were the last tantras to have developed starting from the 8th century. Non-dual Tantras (Tōh. 360–365) Mañjuśrīnāmasaṅgīti (Tōh. 360) Extracts from the Kālacakra Root Tantra (Tōh. 361) Abbreviated Kālacakra Tantra (Tōh. 362) Extracts from the Kālacakra Root Tantra on Empowerment (Tōh. 363–365) 76 Mother Tantras (Tōh. 366–441) The Section where the six families are equal (Tōh. 366–367) – The Two Ḍākinījālaśaṃvara Tantras Heruka Family (Tōh. 368–427) Abbreviated Śaṃvara Tantra (Tōh. 368) Explanatory tantras on the Śaṃvara Tantra (Tōh. 369–382) Explanatory tantras called Rali Tantras (Tōh. 383–415) Mahākāla Tantra (Tōh. 416) Two part Hevajra Root Tantra (Tōh. 417–418) Explanatory tantras on the Hevajra Tantra (Tōh. 419–422) Hevajra Fruition Tantra (Tōh. 423) Buddhakapāla Tantra (Tōh. 424) Mahāmāya Tantra (Tōh. 425) Vajrārali Tantra (Tōh. 426–427) Vairocana Family (Tōh. 428–434) The Vairocana root tantra, the Catuḥpīṭhatantra (Tōh. 428) Explanatory tantras on the Vairocana Root Tantra (Tōh. 429–430) Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa Tantra (Tōh. 431) Acala tantras (Tōh. 432–434) Vajrasūrya Family (Tōh. 435) – the Vajrāmṛta Tantra Padma Lord Family (Tōh. 436–437) Kulalokanāthapañcadaśaka Tantra (Tōh. 436) Kurukullā Tantra (Tōh. 437) Aśvottama Family (Tōh. 438–440) Praise of Tārā in Twenty-One Homages (Tōh. 438) Vajrakīlaya Root Tantra fragment (Tōh. 439) Tantra of Mahākāla (Tōh. 440) Tārāyoginī tantras (Tōh. 448–449) Vajradhara Family (Tōh. 441) – the Khasama Tantra 37 Father Tantras Tōh. 442–478)