The Summary of the Great Vehicle
Mahāyānasaṃgraha · Asaṅga · Yogācāra śāstra
John P. Keenan’s revised translation of Asaṅga’s Summary of the Great Vehicle is available through BDK.
Translations & sourcesEditions & translators
John P. Keenan translates Paramārtha’s Chinese version of Asaṅga’s work. BDK offers the revised second edition as a free PDF and a paid printed book.
Edition & attribution
An introduction. The linked BDK edition provides the complete English translation.
Introductions, reflection questions and added section headings are editorial material, separate from the attributed translation.
The opening image is AI-generated nature artwork created for Buddhist Atlas. It is an evocative companion, not a depiction of the text’s historical setting.
translation · free PDF
Source link checked October 13, 2026. The linked publisher provides the text and its usage terms.
Connections
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People & teachers1
- Asaṅga
Author of this Yogācāra treatise.
Source
Traditions & history2
Books1
- Living Yogācāra
A modern introduction to the broader Yogācāra tradition, useful as background rather than a commentary on this particular text.
Source
Topics2
- Mindfulness & awareness
Explore Mindfulness & awareness across the Atlas.
- Emptiness & not-self
Explore Emptiness & not-self across the Atlas.
Make yourself comfortable
About this textContext & reading guide
Asaṅga’s Mahāyānasaṃgraha, also called the Compendium of the Mahāyāna, organizes a Yogācāra account of Buddhist teaching and practice. Its ten chapters connect consciousness and the three natures with meditation, the bodhisattva path and awakening.
Read the translator’s introduction and survey the contents before working through the chapters. This is one influential philosophical account of Mahāyāna; other traditions interpret some of these questions differently. The study guide below places Asaṅga alongside Vasubandhu and offers a separate Madhyamaka route.