sections. The Ratnakuta
is clearly a collection of sutras equivalent to a small Nikaya.[996]
This is probably also true of the voluminous Prajna-paramita in its
various editions, but the divisions are not commonly treated as
separate works except the Vajracchedika. The imperfectly known
Avatamsaka Sutra appears to be a similar collection, since it is
described as discourses of the Buddha pronounced at eight
assemblies. The Mahaparinirvana Sutra though not nominally a
collection of sutras (at least in its Pali form) is unique both in
subject and structure, and it is easy to understand why it was put in
a class by itself.

The translation of all this literature falls into three periods, (i)
from the seventh century until the reign of Ralpachan in the ninth,
(ii) the reign of Ralpachan, and (in) some decades following the
arrival of Atisa in 1038. In the first period work was sporadic and
the translations made were not always those preserved in the Kanjur.
Thonmi Sanbhota, the envoy sent to India in 616 is said to have made
renderings of the Karanda Vyuha and other works (but not those
now extant) and three items in the Tanjur are attributed to him.[997]
The existence of early translations has been confirmed by Stein who
discovered at Endere a Tibetan manuscript of the Salistambhasutra
which is said not to be later than about 740 A.D.[998] The version now
found in the Kanjur appears to be a revision and expansion of this
earlier text.

A few translations from Chinese texts are attributed to the reign of
Khri-gtsug-lde-btsan (705-755) and Rockhill calls attention to the
interesting statement that he sent envoys to India who learned
Sanskrit books by heart and on their return reproduced them in
Tibetan. If this was a common habit, it may be one of the reasons why
Tibetan translations sometimes show differences in length,
arrangement and even subject matter when compared with Sanskrit and
Chinese versions bearing the same name. During the reign of
Khri-sron-lde-btsan and the visit of Padma-Sambhava (which began in
A.D. 747 according to the traditional chronology) the number of
translations began to increase. Two works ascribed to the king and one
to the saint are included in the canon, but the most prolific writer
and translator of this period was Kamalasila. Seventeen of his
original works are preserved in the Tanjur and he translated part of
the Ratnakuta. The great period of translation--the Augustan age of
Tibet as i