Bhadrakalpikasūtra (Gandhārī)
The Bhadrakalpikasūtra — "The Sūtra of the Fortunate Aeon" — presents, in dialogue between the bodhisattva Prāmodyarāja and the Buddha Śākyamuni, a comprehensive treatment of the six perfections under 350 aspects, and the biographical details of the 1,004 Buddhas of the Bhadrakalpa (our present "Fortunate Aeon"), from Krakucchanda through the future Buddha Roca.
Forty-nine palm-leaf fragments survive from the Schøyen Collection (also incorporating Hayashidera, Hirayama, and Neelis/Naka photographs), all in the hand of a single Bamiyan scribe. Radiocarbon dating yields a range of 210–417 CE. The complete manuscript would have comprised an estimated 390–400 folios with five lines per folio and approximately 81 characters per line. The preserved fragments come from at least eleven different folios.
This is the only known Gandhāri version of the Bhadrakalpikasūtra. Until recently, the text was not preserved in any Indian language; parallels survive in Tibetan (Derge Kangyur) and Chinese (Dharmarakṣa's translation, 300 CE, and the later translation T. 425). The possibility that Dharmarakṣa translated from a Gandhāri source is supported by evidence that his source manuscript came from a monk from Gandhāra.
This is a Good Works Translation from Gandhāri Prakrit. Translated from the critical edition published by Stefan Baums, Andrew Glass, and Kazunobu Matsuda (2016). No prior freely available English translation from Gandhāri existed.
The Perfections Section — Selected Fragments
Fragment 1 — The Eighty-Second Group of Six Perfections
... this is energy. Which ... this is the perfection. The eighty-second ...
... they sacrifice their bodies for the sake of protecting the true dharma. This is patience ...
... the eighty-four ...
Fragment 2 — Two Groups of Six Perfections (Folio 61)
... in the realm of Brahmā ... like the great ocean, the self ...
... all beings. This is patience ... to be known. This is energy. Which meditation ...
... for a thousand years ... of the perfection. Which absorption ...
... this is understanding.
... this is meditation. Which understanding ...
... to be known. Which virtue ...
... his lifespan. Travelling onward ...
... which time ... of the perfection. Samādhi for three thousand years ...
Fragment 3 (Folio 62)
... this is giving. Which virtue — undamaged ...
... standing on the eighth stage, the maturation of all faculties ...
... giving — hunger, thirst, resignation. Which virtue — at the point of death ...
... may it be! May they enjoy. This is patience. Which energy ...
... this is giving. Of the five senses, the sustaining of treasures ...
... the perfection. Which giving — of the hearers and solitary buddhas ...
... of vigour. This is energy. Which meditation — the lord of lightning ...
... like the path of the Buddha. This is giving ...
Fragment 5 — Two More Groups
... mastery of unobstructed utterance. This is understanding ...
... which — the giving of dharma without weariness. This is patience ...
... the perfection of avoidance ...
... of sight. This is energy ...
... this is energy. Which — "tongue of truth." This is meditation ...
... this is the giving of. Which — pleasing to many beings ...
The Buddhas Section — Biographies of the Buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon
Buddha 89 — The Tathāgata Aṅgaja
The native country of the tathāgata Aṅgaja is called ... His radiance extends three yojanas. He is a kṣatriya by birth. His father is called ... His mother is called ... His son is called ... His attendant is called Prañacuḍa. The foremost in understanding is called ... The foremost in supernatural power is called ... His lifespan is a thousand years. Nine hundred million listeners are in his first assembly; eight hundred million in the second; seven hundred million in the third. The duration of the good dharma is twelve thousand years. His relics are dispersed.
Buddha 90 — The Tathāgata Dṛḍhabala
... of the tathāgata. Durable is his attendant. A city called Citaruda is his seat of preaching.
... dispersed relics. Ninety thousand years ...
Buddhas 91/92 — The Tathāgata Ñāṇi (with possible conflation of Suruva)
... a single stūpa.
Buddha 93 — The Tathāgata Raśmi
The native country of the tathāgata Raśmi is called Vaiḍūryaprabha. His radiance extends eighty-three yojanas. He is a kṣatriya by birth. His father is called ... His mother is called ... His son is called ... His attendant is called ... The foremost in understanding is called ... The foremost in supernatural power is called Dattamitra. His lifespan is eighty thousand years. Eight hundred and twenty million listeners are in his first assembly; eight hundred and seventy million in the second; eight hundred and sixty million in the third. The duration of the good dharma is thirty thousand years. His relics are dispersed.
Buddha 95 — The Tathāgata Maṅgalin
... of the tathāgata Maṅgalin. His native country is called Priya— ... His relics are dispersed.
Fragment 17 — Biographies of Eight Buddhas in Prose (Folio ~100)
Dharmaghoṣa — his attendant is called ... Dispersed relics. Sixty thousand years ...
Sudarśana — his son is called ... Eighty years ...
... eighty thousand years of the duration of the good dharma.
Śrutasaṃcaya — his attendant is called ... Knowledge-accumulation ...
... eighty-four thousand years of the duration of the good dharma ...
Ukadhari — his attendant is called ... Quality-accumulation ...
... thirty-eight thousand years ...
Āryamardana — his attendant is called ... Sixty thousand years ...
... sixty thousand years of the duration of the good dharma ...
Siṃha — his attendant is called ... Radiance ...
Fragment 18 — Five Buddhas in Verse
Of the tathāgata Nakṣatrarāja ��� a single stūpa of the Conqueror.
Of the tathāgata Yaśapuṇyita — a stūpa of the Conqueror.
Fragment 19 — Two Buddhas in Prose
Ugama — the tathāgata Ugama. His native country is called ... A single stūpa.
Padmottara — his native country is called ... Forty-two yojanas of radiance ... the duration of the good dharma is ten million years ... a single stūpa.
Fragment 20 — Prophecies of Past Buddhas
... under a previous Buddha, a resolution to attain enlightenment was first made ... beings ...
Colophon
Translated from Gandhāri Prakrit by the New Tianmu Anglican Church with Claude (Good Works Translation, 2026). Source text: Stefan Baums, Andrew Glass, and Kazunobu Matsuda, "Fragments of a Gāndhārī Version of the Bhadrakalpikasūtra," in Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra (2016). Forty-nine palm-leaf fragments, Kharoṣṭhī script, Bamiyan, 2nd–4th century CE (radiocarbon calibrated range 210–417 CE). Schøyen Collection, Hayashidera Collection, Hirayama Collection, and Neelis/Naka photographs. Reconstructions aided by Tibetan (Derge Kangyur) and Chinese (T. 425) parallels. All English is independently derived from the Gandhāri Prakrit. Fragment numbering follows the edition.
🌲
Source Text
Selected Gandhāri Prakrit Transliterations (Kharoṣṭhī Script)
Fragment 15 — Buddhas 89–93 (MS 2179/29a)
Recto:
1. ///tro ◦ prañacuḍo ṇama vaṭ́haya ◦ + + + + ṇama prañamaṃtaṇa agro ◦ + + + + ṇama irdhimaṃtaṇa agro ◦ varṣasahasro ayupramaṇo ◦ ṇavadi koḍi śravagaṇa prathame saṃṇipade ◦ aśiti koḍi dudiye ◦ satadi koḍi tridiye ◦ duva-
2. rṣasahasra sadharmavasthiti ◦ vestariga śarira 4 4 1///
Verso:
2. agro ◦ datamitro ṇama irdhimaṃtaṇa agro ◦ aśiti varṣasahasra ayupramaṇo ◦ duvaśiti koḍi śravagaṇa prathame saṃṇipade ◦ sataaśiti koḍi dudiye ◦ ���aaśiti koḍi tridiye ◦ triṃśa varṣasahasra sadharmavaṭ́hidi ◦ vestariga///
3. śarira 3 driḍhbradasya tathagadasya///
4. ṇa agro ◦ masura ṇama irdhimaṃta///
5. maṃgalisya tathagadasya priya///
Fragment 17 — Eight Buddhas (HI 4, 7, MS 2179/36, 130t)
Recto:
1. ///rmaghoṣo ṇama vaṭ́hayo ◦ akhali///
2. ///riga śarira ◦ ṣaṭhi varṣasahasra + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + śa yoviṇa///
3. ///putro sudarśaṇa ṇama vaṭ́haya + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ◦ aśiti varṣa///
4. ///śiti varṣasahasra sadharmavaṭ́h. .i 4 4 giriṇaṃ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + yoviṇasahasa///
5. ///utro ◦ śrudasaṃcayo ṇamo vaṭ́hayo ◦ ña���asaṃca + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + taṇa agro ◦ cadura///
Verso:
1. ///o ◦ caturaśiti varṣasahasra sadharmavaṭ́hiti + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + dabhumi ◦ ṇava yo///
2. ///putro ◦ ukadhari ṇama vaṭ́hayo ◦ guṇasacayo ṇama + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + gro ◦ aṭhatriśa va///
3. ///ra aṭhatriśa varṣasahasra + + + vaṭ́hi .i + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + cadudaśa yovi///
4. ///putro ◦ aryamardaṇa ṇama vaṭ́haya + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + ṣaṭhivarṣasa///
5. ///rira ◦ ṣaṭhivarṣasahasra sadharma + + + + + + + + + + + + +///
Source Colophon
Source text: Stefan Baums, Andrew Glass, and Kazunobu Matsuda, "Fragments of a Gāndhārī Version of the Bhadrakalpikasūtra," in Buddhist Manuscripts from Gandhāra (2016). 49 fragments, palm-leaf folios, Kharoṣṭhī script, 2nd–4th century CE (Bamiyan). Transliteration follows the Dictionary of Gāndhārī system (Baums & Glass 2002–).
🌲