Xuanzang （602–664） averred that the *Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra was regarded as a “treasure of national protection” 鎮国重宝 in the Western Regions. Previous studies have focused on the importance of prajñā thought as the reason why belief in this sūtra became popular. The popularity of prajñā thought can be traced back to Chinese translations of several versions of the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra that preceded the *Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra, but none of them were seen as national protection scriptures. This paper focuses on the relevant passages in the larger “Prajñāpāramitā Dhāraṇī” in the *Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra, and argues that the theme of “sentient beings of the land （国土有情）” as the subjects of benefit is a characteristic found only in the *Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra among the Prajñāpāramitā corpus. This characteristic is also common to the other “national protection” scriptures. Therefore, it can be said that one of the reasons the *Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra came to be recognized as “a treasure of national protection” is because it was believed that “sentient beings of the land” were the primary beneficiaries of worldly benefits obtained through faith in the *Mahāprajñāpāramitāsūtra.
