He is also known for his French translation of the Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa (Chinese: 大智度論, English: Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom), a text attributed to Nāgārjuna. Lamotte felt that the text was most likely composed by an Indian bhikkhu from the Sarvāstivāda tradition, who later became a convert to Mahāyāna Buddhism. Lamotte's translation was published in five volumes but unfortunately remains incomplete, since his death put an end to his efforts.
In addition to the Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa, Lamotte also composed several other important translations from Mahāyāna sūtras, including the Śūraṃgamasamādhisūtra, and the Vimalakīrtisūtra. (Source Accessed Sep 30, 2022)
Library Items
The earliest extant translation of part of the text into Chinese was by Guṇabhadra between A.D. 435 and 443. But, as the text was a source for Asaṅga whose works are known in Chinese in 413–421, a date second to third centuries A.D. is reasonably proposed (p. 24–5)
In his preface M. Lamotte has discussed the texts and commentaries, the title, the importance of the text by reason of its early date and position between the Prajñāpāramitā texts and those of the Vijñānavāda, and has given a detailed analysis of the contents. The author has p. 7 himself rightly recognized how little satisfactory literal renderings of Buddhish technical terms are. (H. W. Bailey, Review of Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra. L'Explication des Mystères. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 8 , no. 4 (1937): 1157.)
