[T]he Lotus Sūtra was originally written in India, in Sanskrit, the holy language of ancient India. The original is called Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra. “Saddharma” means “correct teaching,” and “pundarika” means “white lotus flower.” The original sūtra was transmitted to China, and translated into ancient Chinese. The following three Chinese translations exist today.

1. Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the True Dharma – 286 CE, translated by Dharmarakṣa, (born in the 230’s CE, died at age 78.), Ten volumes, 27 chapters.
2. Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma – 406 CE, translated by Kumārajīva (344-413 CE or 350-409 CE), Seven volumes, 27 chapters. Later enlarged edition consists of eight volumes, 28 chapters.
3. Appended Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma – 601 CE, translated by Jñānagupta, (523-605 CE) and Dharmagupta (d. 619 CE), Seven volumes, 27 chapters.

The translation with which we are most familiar is the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma. Even in ancient China, if one mentioned the Lotus Sūtra, usually the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma was meant. The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the True Dharma is older, but the translation was difficult to read, and did not spread widely. The Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma was written in a natural style, and was widely accepted as the standard translation. While the original translation by Kumārajīva was seven volumes and 27 chapters, by the beginning of the 7th century CE, the previously omitted Chapter 12, “Devadatta,” and the gāthā of Chapter 25, “The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva,” had been restored, and the text took its present form.

The Appended Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma was an attempt to retranslate the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma from the original Sanskrit text. The translation is almost the same as the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma, but it supplements the parts lacking in it, and the order of the chapters is closer to that of the original text. However, because the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma had already spread so widely, the Appended Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma did not gain popularity.