Before the translation proper, the Introduction discusses the source and its editions, provides an overview of the doctrinal content of these two chapters, and discusses the voice and policy of our translation. The English translation is not an attempt to return to its now unknown Sanskrit original, nor by reading it through later Chinese traditions, but as close as we can understand to Kumārajīva’s own understanding and translation technique. The entire English translation is critically annotated, marking significant points of interest both internally within the text, but also externally when compared to the other Chinese translations and later Sanskrit recensions.

This meticulous, English translation of an early Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (T0227) makes it quite obvious (at least to me!) that the Prajñāpāramitā was originally a (somewhat humorous) response to the excesses of the Abhidharma.