Within the Chinese Buddhist world, the translation that has come to embody the Lotus Sutra in both practice and doctrine is Kumārajīva’s *Miàofǎ Liánhuá Jīng* (妙法蓮華經). Esteemed for its literary elegance and doctrinal clarity, it became the standard text for traditions such as Tiantai and Nichiren, shaping how the universality of Buddhahood is understood and lived. Other Chinese translations, such as Dharmarakṣa’s earlier *Zhèngfǎ Huá Jīng* (正法華經), retain importance for historical and comparative study, yet they do not occupy the same normative place in East Asian devotion and commentary. In this sense, Kumārajīva’s work functions not merely as a translation, but as the primary scriptural voice through which the Lotus Sutra has spoken to generations of practitioners.

Regarding the Sanskrit tradition, there is no single manuscript that holds an authority parallel to Kumārajīva’s Chinese version. Instead, what is treated as most reliable are critical editions that draw on surviving Sanskrit manuscripts, especially those from Central Asia and Nepal. The editions prepared by H. Kern and B. Nanjio, and later by P. L. Vaidya, have become standard reference points in scholarly study of the *Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra*. These editions do not claim to restore a single, fixed “original,” but rather to reflect as faithfully as possible the textual stream preserved in the manuscript record. For those seeking to contemplate the Lotus Sutra in its Sanskrit form, these critical editions serve as the most authoritative guides currently available.

Seen together, the Chinese and Sanskrit witnesses reveal two complementary faces of the same scripture. Kumārajīva’s Chinese Lotus Sutra offers a spiritually resonant and widely embraced articulation of the text, while the Sanskrit critical editions anchor reflection in the broader historical and philological tradition. Turning to both can deepen appreciation of how the teaching of universal Buddhahood has been transmitted, interpreted, and embodied across cultures, allowing the sutra’s voice to be heard with greater nuance and depth.