Pure Land Buddhism in India has been studied by many scholars, mainly in the form of reseach on its origin and formation, and most of those studies have been based upon Larger Sukhāvatīvyūha(Sukh). Few studies, however, have been made on its development in India after Sukh had been established. So I focus on karunāpu?darīka(KP), which was composed under the strong influence of Sukh, and I elucidate problems concerning the development of Pure Land Buddhism in India. This paper consists of two parts. In the first part, I report briefly my research philological problems of the KP and survey some previous studies of the KP. In the second part, the essencial phrase of the KP, "buddhak?etram parigrh?āti", is analyzed from the semantic viewpoint. First part: As far as I have researched, the most reliable Skt text of the KP is Karu?āpu?darīka(ed. I. Yamada, Univ of London, London, 1968). However, as Prof. De Jong has pointed out(IIJ 13, 1972), this edition must be examined critically. It is necessary, at least, to consult five manuscripts which were not referred to by Prof. Yamada. In addition, we need to compare the Skt edition more closely with Tibetan translations (especially the Pekin, Narthang, Tog palace, and Kawaguchi ms) and two Chinese translations. In Japan, a few studies concerning the KP have been done. Many scholars have noted to the resemblance between the 48 pra?idhānas of Dharmākara bodhisattva in Sukh and almost all the 48 pra?idhānas of Rājan Ara?emin in the KP. Although such comparisons have been made intensively, studies from other standpoints have not been sufficient. Many problems remain unsolved; for example, a comparison between many pra?idhānas of other bodhisattvas in the KP and those in other Mahāyānasūtras, a study of the content of the pra?idhānas of Samudrare?u, a study of the contents of the stories of Sākyamu?i before he was born in this world, and so on. Second part: In the KP, the phrase "buddhak?etram parig?h?āti" (to take a buddha-land) plays a leading role. But unfortunately, we cannot directly understand the precise meaning of this phrase, and thus we need to examine its meaning from the context. Generally, there is a possibility that the phrase refers to the kind of buddhak?etra one bodhisattva chooses for his birth in the future. However, after investigating several cases in the KP, I have come to know that the meaning of the phrase is that one bodhisattva builds a buddhak?etra by his own pra?idhāna after his birth, regardless of the kind of buddhak?etra.
