Viśeṣastava

The Viśeṣa-stava is a Buddhist stotra by the author Udbhaṭa-sidhi-svāmin and has pride of place as the text that opens the TIbetan bstan 'gyur. Originally written in Sanskrit, the hymns was extensively propagated and most people of the country recited these as songs. It was written to demonstrate the superiority of Buddhism over tirthikas.[1] It is now only known from its Tibetan translation (in the 9th century by the efforts of Sarvajñadeva and the Tibetans Rin-chen-mchog (d. 840) and Dpal-brtseg Rakṣita).[2] At the time of its translation into Tibetan Prajñāvarman wrote a commentary on it which immediately follows it in the Bstan 'gyur.

Part of a series on
Mahāyāna Buddhism
Unique doctrines Bodhisattva Mind of Awakening Buddha-nature Skillful Means Transcendent Wisdom The Transcendent Virtues Emptiness The consciousness doctrine Three bodies of the Buddha Non-abiding Nirvana One Vehicle Bodhisattva Precepts and Vows Pure Lands
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas Shakyamuni Amitabha Akshobhya Bhaiṣajyaguru Vairocana Mañjuśrī Avalokiteśvara Vajrapāṇi Maitreya Kṣitigarbha Ākāśagarbha Samantabhadra Tara
Mahayana sutras Prajñāpāramitā sūtras Lotus Sūtra Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra Mahāratnakūṭa Sūtra Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra Vimalakirtinirdeśa Pure Land Sutras Lalitavistara Sūtra Samādhirāja Sūtra Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra Tathāgatagarbha sūtras Śrīmālādevī Sūtra Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra Śūraṅgama Samādhi Sūtra Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra Ghanavyūha sūtra Golden Light Sutra Tathāgataguhyaka Sūtra Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra
Major schools Mādhyamaka Yogācāra Tiantai Tendai Huayan Zen Shingon Pure Land Nichiren Vajrayāna Tibetan Buddhism Dzogchen
Key historical figures Nāgārjuna Ashvaghosha Āryadeva Lokakṣema Kumārajīva Vasubandhu Asanga Zhiyi Bodhidharma Buddhapālita Bhāvaviveka Dignāga Dharmakīrti Xuanzang Candrakīrti Shāntideva Shāntarakshita Abhayākaragupta Atisha
Regional traditions Han Chinese Japan Korea Vietnam Tibetan Nepal Newar Bhutan Mongolia