According to scholars the Sanskrit Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra-kārikā (MSA) appeared between the third and fifth century CE, yet there is disagreement as to the identity of its author, with Maitreya, Asaṅga and Vasubandhu as the three main candidates. This treatise is one of the Yogācāra school's central texts which discusses the spirit of the Mahāyāna's bodhisattva's path and Mind-Only philosophy, one of the two doctrinal branches of the Great Vehicle. The Sthiramati Commentary (Anhuishi 安慧釋) is in India, Tibet or China, without a doubt the most detailed extent exposition of the Mahāyānasūtrālamkāra-kārikā. In addition to providing us with a systematic commentary of the text's twenty-one chapters, Sthiramati also presents the connection and causal relationships between said chapters. With a well-knit structure, a clear train of thought and a commentary of impressive length, Sthiramati gives repeated expositions on the text's most arduous passages. While the Chinese tradition subsumes the Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkārakārikā under the collection of the Five Treatises of Maitreya (bYamschos sde lnga), the Tibetan tradition classifies this treatise as part of the Lineage of Extensive Deeds (Udāracārya parampara) where it had far reaching influence on the development of Tibetan Buddhist thought. Its importance can be seen in its inclusion to the Collection of Thirteen Great Treatises (gZhung chen bcu gsum) as well as its use as common teaching material. This study and annotations of the seventeenth chapter of Sthiramati's commentary on offering (gongyang 供養 / mChod pa) and refuge (Yizhi 依止 / bsTen pa) will offer a discussion of the extant sources on Sthiramati's biography with a special emphasis on the unique features of the Sthiramati Commentary. A number of versions are used to compare, collate, annotate and translate the text into Chinese, using the Sanskrit text as well as the Tibetan and Chinese (Tang) translations of the Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra-kārikā to present and analyze the similarities and differences between the various sources for the text's verse and commentary sections. Additionally, I contrast and discuss some of the more difficult terminology found the Sthiramati Commentary and the Tibetan and Chinese translations of the Mahāyāna-sūtrālamkāra-kārikā, as well as collect the various terms used in Chinese translated texts.
