Peeling back the layers of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra feels a bit like digging through an old attic — each stratum reveals Mahāyāna elaborations rather than a straightforward chronicle of the Buddha’s last days. Modern scholars tend to agree that its final form dates from around the 3rd to 4th century CE, centuries after Siddhārtha Gautama’s passing. Early Buddhist texts in Pāli and Sanskrit give only terse accounts of the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, while this sutra brims with Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) doctrine, hinting at later doctrinal agendas.

Textual critics point out anachronisms: references to bodhisattvas and metaphors of the eternal Dharma King that simply don’t appear in pre-Mahayāna strata. Frank Edge­ton’s work on Sanskrit manuscripts underscored how much of the sutra reflects a polished Mahāyāna milieu rather than an eyewitness report. Meanwhile, Chinese translations by Dharmakṣema (early 5th century) solidified the version familiar today, further layering Mahāyāna theology onto perhaps slimmer historical kernels.

Archaeological finds continue to inform this picture. A 2024 report on newly studied Gandhāran fragments revealed parallels with passages in the Gāndhārī Mahāparinirvāṇa, suggesting multiple transmission lines but still reinforcing the view of a text in flux. At the 2025 International Association of Buddhist Studies conference, several presenters argued that these fragments illuminate early doctrinal shifts rather than biographical facts.

Ultimately, the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra scores low on straight-history measures yet shines as a theological statement about imperishability and the innate buddha-seed in all beings. Its sweeping vision of an “eternal” Buddha sits more in the realm of faith expressions than journalistic reporting. In that sense, it functions less as a deathbed diary and more as a manifesto of hope — one that has shaped East Asian Buddhism and inspired countless commentaries, even as historians gently remind readers to keep an eye on those later accretions.