At 07:13 05.01.2005 +0000, you wrote:

>Hello Kare
>
>
>The Sanskrit version of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra (reconstructed by
>Waldschmidt from fragments found in Chinese Turkestan and published
>in 1950) belongs to the Sarvastivada school. It includes a version
>of the Mahasudassana Sutta; this extends from 34.1-34.169 according
>to Waldschmidt's numbering; in other words, in between the place
>where Ananda questions why the Buddha wants to pass away in such an
>indsignificant wattle-and-daub town like Kusinara, and the place
>where the Buddha tells Upavana (Upamana in Skt) to move out of the
>way so that Devas can see. I have an English translation of this
>important text, done as a Uni thesis by Mark Allon; unfortunately he
>is a bit reluctant to let it see wider distribution in its current
>form, but i still hope that somehow the translation will see the
>light of day.
>
>Translations of this text also exist in Chinese and Tibetan (these
>were used by Waldschmidt to help in the reconstruction). I am not
>100% sure that these also include the Mahasudassana Sutta, although
>it is likely. The Chinese in fact has several translations of the
>Mahaparinirvana Sutra. Many of these are independent translations,
>so their doctrinal affiliation is unsure. Please let me know if you
>would like some more specific details as to references, etc., and
>i'll see what i can do.
>
>Waldschmidt was of the opinion that the Mahasudassana Sutta was
>originally part of the Mahaparinirvana narrative, and was later
>removed in the Pali version. This seems to be part of a theory that
>was popular in the time among the scholars such as Frauwallner that
>there was earlier a long narrative of the important events in the
>Buddha's life that was later broken up. I don't think this theory is
>accepted by many these days, so Waldschmidt's claim might be
>questioned. In other words, we might consider it likely that the
>Mahasudassana Sutta was originally a separate text (as in the Pali)
>that was later included in the long narrative. However i have not
>looked into the matter in detail.
>
>in Dhamma
>
>Bhante Sujato

Thank you very much, Bhante!

This is sufficient information, and I need no further details. I am
translating vol. 2 of the Digha Nikaya into Norwegian (vol. 1 was published
some years ago), and I wanted to include some information about this in the
introduction to the Mahasudassanasutta, so for such an introduction this is
even more than I needed. But I am glad to have my vague memory confirmed.

Yours in the Dhamma

Kåre A. Lie
http://www.lienet.no/