The translation of Buddhist texts has contributed greatly to the spread and development of Chinese Buddhism. There were many translators from Central Asia, India, and China who took part in the daunting task during the few hundred years of development of Buddhism in China. The four well-known translators include Kumarajiva, Xuanzhuang (玄奘), Yijing (義淨) and Amoghavajra (不空). After Amoghavajra, the number of texts to translate began to decrease. Although there were translation centers and monks from in and outside China translating texts,however, the number of translations done was incomparable to the amount done before.Near the end of the Tang dynasty during Emperor Dezong’s reign, Prajnā (9th century),an Indian monk who traveled to China and translated The Mahāyāna Sutra on the Way to Six Pāramitās (大乘理趣六波羅蜜多經). As a result, the Emperor Dezong recognized the importance of his translation work and had it placed in the Buddhist catalogues. Also,he decreed that Prajnā be taken to Xi Ming Temple (西明寺), in which Xuanzhuang had previously conducted his translations. He wth a team of monks completed the translation of a small number of texts. As small as they may be, some of the texts such as Avatamsaka Sutra in 40 fascicles and the Mahāyāna Sutra of Mind Ground (本生心地觀經) are significant today. This paper is a brief survey of the life and translations of Tripitaka Master Prajnā.
