Due to its culminating achievement in streamlining the structure of the whole exposition of the Abhidharma and due to its comprehensiveness, incorporating all the important Vaibhāṣika doctrines since the Vibhāṣā, as well as due its great value as a brilliant critique and insightful reevaluation of all the fundamental Sarvāstivāda doctrines developed up to its time, the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, since its appearance in the late fourth century C.E., has been used in India as a standard textbook for the understanding not only of the Abhidharma doctrines but of the fundamental Buddhist doctrines in general, and has been hailed as the “Book of Intelligence”. In China, Japan and the Far-East as well, the Kośa has generally been highly treasured as a textbook of fundamental importance for Buddhist studies.

What is new in this annotated translation?

Bhikkhu KL Dhammajoti’s Introduction, Summary and Discussion of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya (69 pages).

Table of contents, extensive section headings (greatly influenced by Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje’s outline) of the autocommentary, charts, drawings.

Many added endnotes which feature summaries, overviews, additional important information and source materials drawn mainly from the work of contemporary leading scholars in the field (including La Vallée Poussin)

The original Sanskrit kārikās and their Tibetan translation.

Cross-references internal to the Kośa and cross-listings with other texts.

New bibliography.

Sanskrit-English Index-Glossary; English-Sanskrit Index-Glossary (205 pages).

Electronic appendix (http://www.gampoabbey.org/kosha-resources.php).

Remarks by the Translator (38 pages).

[Gelong Lodrö Sangpo]