The MahÃÂratnakà «á¹Âa Sà «tra (Sanskrit; , Tib. dam-chos dkon-mchog-brtsegs-pa) is a major ancient collection of Indian MahÃÂyÃÂna Buddhist sà «tras. It is also known simply as Ratnakà «á¹Âa Sà «tra (), literally the Sutra of the Heap of Jewels in Sanskrit (kà «á¹Âa means âÂÂaccumulationâ or âÂÂheapâÂÂ).
The MahÃÂratnakà «á¹Âa contains many important MahÃÂyÃÂna sà «tras, like the à ÂrëmÃÂlÃÂ-devë-siá¹ÂhanÃÂda, the Maitreya-paripá¹ÂcchÃÂ, KÃÂà Âyapa-parivarta, and the SukhÃÂvatëvyà «ha. The Heap of Jewels collection exists in Chinese and Tibetan translations. It also gives its name to one of the main divisions of Mahayana sutras in the Chinese Buddhist canon and in the Tibetan Buddhist canon.
The MahÃÂratnakà «á¹Âa Sà «tra contains 49 texts of varying length, which are termed "assemblies" by tradition. This collection includes the à ÂrëmÃÂlÃÂdevë Siá¹ÂhanÃÂda Sà «tra, the Longer SukhÃÂvatë-vyà «ha Sutra, the Aká¹£obhya-vyà «ha Sà «tra, a long text called the Bodhisattvapiá¹Âaka, and others.
Parts of this collection was brought to China and translated by Bodhiruci in the 8th century. Bodhiruci translated some of the texts, and included others which had been previously translated. This later Bodhiruci (also known as Bodhiruci II) should not be confused with another Bodhiruci who was the translator of the commentary on Ten Stages Sutra.
The Ratnakà «á¹Âa collection totals 49 MahÃÂyÃÂna sà «tras, divided into 120 fascicles in the Chinese translation. Garma Chang, who is listed as General Editor of a volume of select sà «tras from the MahÃÂratnakà «á¹Âa translated from Chinese into English, (see below, Further Reading, Garma C.C. Chang, (1983). A Treasury of MahÃÂyÃÂna Sà «tras: Selections from the MahÃÂratnakà «á¹Âa Sà «tra. Title Page) summarizes the breadth and variety of texts contained in this collection:
In the Taishà  Tripiá¹Âaka in volumes 11 and 12a, the MahÃÂratnakà «á¹Âa is the text numbered 310, and texts numbered 311 through 373 are various other translations of some of the sutras contained in the MahÃÂratnakà «á¹Âa.
According to the NikÃÂyasaá¹ graha (a TheravÃÂdin text), the Ratnakà «á¹Âa Sà «tra was composed by the "Andhakas", meaning the MahÃÂsÃÂá¹Âghika Caitika schools of the ÃÂndhra region. The texts of the sutra seem to have been collected over a number of centuries, and their varying subject matter is suggestive of historical transitions between major eras of Buddhist thought. The collection may have developed from a "Bodhisattva pitaka" attributed to some of the early Mahayana schools.