MahÃÂyÃÂna-sà «trÃÂlamkÃÂra-kÃÂrikà(Verses on the Ornament of the MahÃÂyÃÂna Sà «tras) is a major work of Buddhist philosophy attributed to Maitreya-nÃÂtha which is said to have transmitted it to Asanga (ca. 320 to ca. 390 CE). The MahÃÂyÃÂna-sà «trÃÂlamkÃÂra, written in verse, presents the Mahayana path from the Yogacara perspective. It comprises twenty-two chapters with a total of 800 verses and shows considerable similarity in arrangement and content to the Bodhisattvabhà «mià ÂÃÂstra, although the interesting first chapter proving the validity and authenticity of MahÃÂyÃÂna is unique to this work. Associated with it is a prose commentary (bhÃÂá¹£ya) by Vasubandhu and several sub-commentaries by Sthiramati and others; the portions by Maitreya-nÃÂtha and Vasubandhu both survive in Sanskrit as well as Tibetan, Chinese, and Mongolian translations.
According to Richard K. Payne, the MahÃÂyÃÂna-sà «trÃÂlamkÃÂra is structured as follows:<blockquote>The text is organized into five unequal parts, and it is the progress of topics through these five that constitutes the authorâÂÂs discursive intent. The first step is to convince readers of the text that the MahÃÂyÃÂna teachings are valid, that they are buddhadharma (Part One: Chapters 1 and 2). Next, the intent is to convince readers of the superiority of the MahÃÂyÃÂna, so as to instill enthusiasm for it (Part Two: Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6). The authors explain the meaning of the key concepts as part of the intellectual grounding of the MahÃÂyÃÂna (Part Three: chapters 7, 8 and 9). Then the result of practice, the goal of perfected full awakening, is described (Part Four: Chapter 10). And finally, the path of practice is described in full (Part Five: Chapters 11 through 21). </blockquote>
The Mahayanasutralamkara has been translated into English three times.