Textual and philosophical problems in the translation and transmission of tathāgatagarbha texts

This article examines philological problems relating to descriptions defining the tathāgatagarbha, or “buddha-nature”, in Sanskrit sūtras and exegetical literature, together with the variant Tibetan translations of these descriptions in the bKa’ ’gyur and bsTan ’gyur. Attention is called also to some possible philosophical implications of these variant descriptions.