藏文文献库
A catalogue of Tibetan religious texts assembled from several independent sources. Translation projects catalogue what they intend to translate; this is an attempt to record what the tradition actually contains, including whole classes of literature that no translation project currently covers.
25,300texts catalogued 12,686ready to translate (text on disk) 18categories 9sources
Holding a catalogue entry is not the same as holding a text. This library distinguishes three states, and the distinction matters because only the first can actually be sent to a translator:
Assorted Tibetan Buddhist texts that belong to no single lineage or print collection.
A general collection of Tibetan Buddhist texts circulated for study and practice.
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is two large collections. The Kangyur holds works attributed to the Buddha and to Indian masters, in translation; the Tanjur holds the commentaries and treatises that explain them. Different editions — Derge, Pedurma, Narthang, Lithang and many others — contain slightly different selections, so the same text often survives in several recensions. Editions overlap; a volume count is not a text count.
The 'translated word' — scriptures and tantras the tradition holds to be the Buddha's teaching, preserved in Tibetan translation. Traditionally 100 to 108 volumes. It opens with the Vinaya (monastic discipline), then the Perfection of Wisdom, then the great sutras, then the tantras.
The 'translated treatises' — Indian commentaries, philosophical works, grammar, medicine and poetics. Roughly 225 volumes in the Derge edition. This is where the systematic philosophy lives: Madhyamaka, Yogacara, Abhidharma and epistemology.
Tantras of the Nyingma, the 'ancient' school, which the later canons exclude. Includes the Dzogchen (Great Perfection) scriptures. Collected as the Nyingma Gyübum. This material is central to the tradition and largely absent from the Kangyur, so it is easily missed by anyone browsing only the standard canon.
Bon is Tibet's pre-Buddhist religion, which survives as a living tradition with its own canon — a Bon Kangyur and a Bon Tanjur — structured like the Buddhist ones but with distinct scriptures and lineages. Frequently left out of Tibetan Buddhist bibliographies entirely, which is why it has a top-level category here.
Tibetan Buddhist texts translated into Mongolian, printed in editions such as the Peking and Ulaanbaatar Kangyurs. Useful independently: a Mongolian translation sometimes preserves a reading lost from the Tibetan witnesses.
Manuscript collections, regional canons and fragmentary survivals that are not one of the major editions — monastic library holdings and archaeological remains. Often the oldest surviving witnesses to a text, and often the least studied.
Isolated volumes and partial survivals: a single folio, a damaged manuscript, a scattered volume. These matter for textual history because they are sometimes centuries older than the complete editions.
A collected edition of guru-related liturgical and instructional literature, digitised by BDRC.
A Karma Kagyü collection: liturgies, sadhanas and instructional texts of the Karma tradition.
Texts associated with the Drikung Kagyu lineage and its Chetsang holders.
Texts for which at least one English translation is recorded in this database. Sourced from the 84000 catalogue and from evidence found in Harvard Hollis.
Texts with no English translation recorded. Treat this honestly: for many of these the correct statement is 'not established' rather than 'none exists' — no systematic search has been run against them. The distinction is preserved in the database rather than flattened.
| Title | Category | Source | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| An Explanatory Commentary on the Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Levels of Spiritual Practice | 84000 | no translation | |
| From The Levels of Spiritual Practice: The Level of a Śrāvaka | 84000 | no translation | |
| From The Levels of Spiritual Practice: The Level of a Bodhisattva | 84000 | no translation | |
| From The Levels of Spiritual Practice: The Collection of Resolutions | 84000 | no translation | |
| From The Levels of Spiritual Practice: The Collection of Topics | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Mind of Gnosis | 84000 | no translation | |
| From The Levels of Spiritual Practice: The Collection on the Vinaya | 84000 | no translation | |
| From The Levels of Spiritual Practice: The Collection on Canonical Expressions | 84000 | no translation | |
| From The Levels of Spiritual Practice: The Collection on Exegesis | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of The Levels of Spiritual Practice | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on The Level of a Bodhisattva | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the Chapter on Bodhisattva Discipline | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Commentary on the Chapter on Bodhisattva Discipline | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of The Level of a Bodhisattva from The Level of Spiritual Practice | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Summary of the Mahāyāna | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Compendium of Abhidharma | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra, King of Desire | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of A Summary of the Mahāyāna | 84000 | no translation | |
| Explanations Connected to A Summary of the Mahāyāna | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Short Explanation of the Differentiated Hidden Meanings | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of The Compendium of Abhidharma | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Detailed Explanation of The Compendium of Abhidharma | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Thirty Verses | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Twenty Verses | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on The Twenty Verses | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Teaching on the Three Natures | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Short Treatise on the Five Aggregates | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Protection by the Ḍākinīs | 84000 | no translation | |
| One Hundred Extracts from the Sūtras for the Principles of Exegesis | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Principles of Exegesis | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition Proving Karma | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Treatise on the Gateway to the Knowledge on One Hundred Doctrines of the Mahāyāna | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the Thirty Verses | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Commentary on the Treatise of Twenty Verses | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Specific Explanation of the Short Treatise on the Five Aggregates | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition on the Five Aggregates | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the Five Aggregates | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of The Principles of Exegesis | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Garland of Fire | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanatory Commentary of The Thirty Verses | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of The Exposition Proving Karma | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the Ornament of the Middle Way, called “Establishing the Middle Way” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Personal Instructions, “The Lamp of Concentration” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Introduction to Spiritual Practice | 84000 | no translation | |
| Personal Instruction on An Introduction to Spiritual Practice | 84000 | no translation | |
| Personal Instruction on Cultivating the Perfection of Wisdom | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Teaching that Summarizes the Cultivation of Spiritual Practice | 84000 | no translation | |
| Personal Instruction on Cultivating the Perfection of Wisdom | 84000 | no translation | |
| Personal Instruction on the Perfection of Wisdom | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Secret Blaze of the Ḍākinī | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition, “The Trunk of Virtue" | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Twenty Vows of a Bodhisattva | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on The Twenty Vows [of a Bodhisattva] | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Commentary on the Difficult Points of The Twenty Vows of a Bodhisattva | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition Named “The Differentiation of Dharma” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Personal Instruction on the Ornaments of the Middle Way | 84000 | no translation | |
| Concerning the Mundane World | 84000 | no translation | |
| Concerning Causal Actions | 84000 | no translation | |
| Concerning Karmic Effects | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Verse Treatise called “The Treasury of Abhidharma” | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Fearsome Vajra of Destruction | 84000 | translated | |
| Explanation of “The Treasury of Abhidharma” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Explanation of the Verses called “The Treasury of Abhidharma” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanatory Commentary on “The Treasury of Abhidharma” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanatory Commentary on “The Treasury of Abhidharma” called “Following the Defining Characteristics” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanatory Commentary on “The Treasury of Abhidharma” called “The Useful Points” | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on “The Treasury of Abhidharma” called “A Lamp for the Critical Points” | 84000 | no translation | |
| [The Abridged] Explanatory Commentary on “The Treasury of Abhidharma” called “Following the Defining Characteristics” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Extensive Commentary for Entering into [the Subject of] Abhidharma, called “Gathering Together the Essence” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition called “Entering into the Abhidharma” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Chapters of Utterances on Specific Topics | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Sūtra of the Sun | 84000 | translated | |
| The Tantra of the Mighty King of Gnosis | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition of “The Categorical Sayings” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition on the Essence of the Sphere of Reality (Dharmadhātu) | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Collection of Verses from Treatises | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Treastise called “The Concise Meaning of Verses” | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Guide to the “Pratimokṣa Sūtra” | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Summary of the Monastic Disciplines | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Extensive Commentary on the “Pratimokṣa Sūtra,” A Compendium of Monastic Discipline | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “Pratimokṣa Sūtra” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the “Pratimokṣa [Sūtra],” A Composition to Promote Recollection without Forgetfulness | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Memorandum on the Words of the “Pratimokṣa [Sūtra]” | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra, Protection by the Web of Vajra Accomplishments | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the Words of the "Pratimokṣa [Sūtra]" called "Giving Rise to Joy" | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Heap of Actions | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “Pratimokṣa Sūtra of Nuns” in the Noble Mūlasarvāstivāda [Lineage] | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Extensive Commentary on the “Chapters on Monastic Discipline” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the Words of the “Detailed Explanations of Discipline” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the Minor Scriptures | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the Scriptural Points of Dispute in the Supplementary Monastic Discipline Scriptures | 84000 | no translation | |
| Aphorisms on Monastic Discipline | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Hundred and One Actions | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “Aphorisms on Monastic Discipline,” The Author’s Own Explanation of [Technical] Expressions | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Meaning of the Essential Nature of the Mind | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Extensive Commentary on the “Aphorisms on Monastic Discipline” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the “Aphorisms on Monastic Discipline” | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “Aphorisms on Monastic Discipline” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Verses on Monastic Discipline | 84000 | no translation | |
| Verses for Novice Monks in the Noble Mūlasarvāstivāda [Lineage] | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “Verses for Novice Monks in the Noble Mūlasarvāstivāda [Lineage],” called “The Radiant” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the Three Hundred Verses for Novice Monks | 84000 | no translation | |
| Verses for Novice Monks in the Noble Mūlasarvāstivāda [Lineage] | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Memorandum on the Words of the Five Hundred Verses for Monks | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Actions of Novice Monks in the Sarvāstivāda [Lineage] | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Amazing Ornament of the Charnel Ground | 84000 | no translation | |
| Aphorisms on the Training of Monks | 84000 | no translation | |
| Verses Summarizing the Preliminary Section and [Section on] Persons | 84000 | no translation | |
| Questions of First-year Novice Monks | 84000 | no translation | |
| Questions of First-year Monks | 84000 | no translation | |
| Verses on Points of Dispute in the Monastic Disciplines | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Extensive Commentary on the “Points of Dispute in the Monastic Disciplines” | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Praise of Monastic Discipline | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the Words of the “Praise of Monastic Discipline” | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Wheel of Organizing the Different Textual Lineages | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Description and Explanation of the Different Schools | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Unsullied, a Sovereign Tantra | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Concise Teaching on the Different Schools in the Wheel of Organizing the Different Textual Lineages | 84000 | no translation | |
| Eight Verses on the Vows of Laypersons | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Explanation of the “Eight Verses on the Vows of Laypersons” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Teaching on the Practice of the Austerities, from “The Path to Liberation” | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Life-Story of Suvarṇavarṇa | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Life-Story of Kuṇāla | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Life-Story of the Noble Nandamitra | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Life-Stories of the Seven Princesses | 84000 | no translation | |
| Ritual of the Ten Trainings | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Commentary on the “Ye Dharma” | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of Śaṃvara Who is Equal to Space | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Garland of Previous Lives | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Extensive Commentary on “The Garland of Previous Lives” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Haribhaṭṭa’s Garland of Previous Lives | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Dramatic Play called “Lokānanda” | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Dramatic Play called "The Joy of the Nāgas" | 84000 | no translation | |
| Ivy Garland of Limitless Intentions, Tales of Realizations of the Bodhisattvas | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Epic Poem called “The Deeds of the Buddha” | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Gaṇḍi of Previous Lives of the Bodhisattva | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Precious Garland, A Letter to the King | 84000 | no translation | |
| Extensive Commentary on [Nāgārjuna’s] “The Precious Garland” | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Protector, the Arising of Secret Accomplishments | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice called “The Wish-fulfilling Jewel of Dreams” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on Generosity | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on Transmigration | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice Universally Proclaiming the Seven Good Qualities | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on Ethics | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “Advice on Ethics” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on the [Two] Accumulations | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on the Eight Inopportune States | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice Like a Chest of Jewels called “Eloquent Explanations” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on Abandoning the Four Mistakes | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Hevajra Tantra | 84000 | translated | |
| Advice for the Degenerate Era | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on Isolation | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on Being Respectful Toward the True Dharma of the Śrāvakas and Those who Teach the Dharma | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice [in the form] of Categorical Statements | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice on the Meaning of Impermanence | 84000 | no translation | |
| Advice Teaching to Proper Path | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Teaching on the Path of the Ten Virtues | 84000 | no translation | |
| Alleviating Sorrow | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Teaching on the Path of the Ten Non-Virtues | 84000 | no translation | |
| Verses [From the Sūtra] of the Application of Mindfulness of the Sacred Dharma | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Teaching on Observed Objects [endowed] with the Five Qualities of Desire | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Letter Sent to the Monk Prakāśakumāra From Ārya Avalokiteśvara | 84000 | no translation | |
| Letter to a Friend | 84000 | no translation | |
| Letter of a Message to a Student | 84000 | no translation | |
| Letter to the Great King Kaniṣka | 84000 | no translation | |
| Letter called “The Graded Path Toward the Purification of the Precious Mind” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Letter to a Spiritual Teacher | 84000 | no translation | |
| Letter to a Son | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Letter [Like a] Spotless Jewel | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Letter to King Candra | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Vajra Cage | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Extensive Explanation of the “Letter to a Friend” called “Clear Words” | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Commentary on the Difficult Points of the “Letter of a Message to a Student” | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “[Letter of a] Message to a Student” | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Teaching on the Eight Different Kinds of Suffering for the Brāhmaṇi Dakṣiṇāmbāya | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Letter to the Tibetan Ruler, People, and Monastics | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Lamp Producing Faith | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Garland of Examples | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Monograph on Subduing Nāgas From the Perspective of an Absence of Suffering | 84000 | no translation | |
| Inviting the Saṅgha | 84000 | no translation | |
| Inviting the Sthavīra Elders | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Sūtra of the Moon (1) | 84000 | translated | |
| Tantra of the Tilaka (Forehead Mark) of Mahāmudrā | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Hierarchs of the Teachings | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Prophecy of the Arhat Saṅghavardhana | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Prophecy Concerning Khotan | 84000 | no translation | |
| Compendium of Valid Cognition | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “Compendium of Valid Cognition” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Investigation of the Observed Object | 84000 | no translation | |
| A Running Commentary on the “Investigation of the Observed Object” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Investigation of the Three Times | 84000 | no translation | |
| Entering into Reasoning, A Treatise on Valid Cognition | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Final Wheel of Logical Reasons | 84000 | no translation | |
| The Tantra of the Essence of Gnosis | 84000 | no translation | |
| Verses of a Commentary on [Dignāga’s] “Valid Cognition” | 84000 | no translation | |
| Ascertainment of Valid Cognition | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition called “The Drop of Reasoning” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition called “Drop of Logical Reasons” | 84000 | no translation | |
| An Exposition called “Investigation of Logical Connections” | 84000 | no translation |
Page 18 of 127 — showing 200 of 25,300 rows. Searching filters the whole set.
| Source | Texts |
|---|---|
| Buddhist Digital Resource Center — eText collection | 11,997 |
| rKTs — Resources for Kanjur and Tanjur Studies | 8,104 |
| 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha | 4,510 |
| Tibetan Wikipedia | 364 |
| Kangyur (bka' 'gyur) — BDRC eText collection | 103 |
| Shechen collection | 100 |
| Lotsawa House — Tibetan originals (/bo/) | 64 |
| VOA / RFA Tibetan news | 29 |
| OTDO — Old Tibetan Documents Online | 29 |