Perfection Of Wisdom

At the heart of Buddhism lies the doctrine of the perfection of wisdom. This philosophy of the essential emptiness of all existence was first set out in India two thousand years ago. Of key importance to this doctrine are two very important Sanskrit palm leaf manuscripts, amongst the many Buddhist works in the collection at Cambridge University Library. Both about a thousand years old, they share one of the most famous titles in world literature The Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 lines.

One of these manuscripts is the oldest dated illustrated Indian manuscript in the world, and the other is dated just a few years later. For the first time, this book reproduces in colour all the illustrations from the oldest manuscript, and many of the illustrations from the other.

Craig Jamieson has translated and commented on the extracts with a view to making them accessible, but remaining faithful to the original Sanskrit. For the first time in the West, this striking and important text is made accessible with these extraordinary images taken from the earliest surviving Indian and Nepalese illustrated manuscripts of The Perfection of Wisdom - most of which have never been reproduced before.