The Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra, the great sūtra on the parinirvāna of the Buddha, narrates the legends of the last time of the Buddha’s life in a particular way, which differs from other versions from the Mahāparinirvāna literature, for example, the version of the Theravādins or of the Sarvāstivādins. In the history of Buddhist thought, the sūtra is known as one of the earliest sources for the Tathāgatagarbha theory. In the Buddhist practice, the sūtra played an important role for the development of vegetarianism. The Chinese translation of the sūtra has exerted a great influence on Eastern Buddhism. The Sanskrit text of the sūtra is transmitted only in fragments. Therefore, the Tibetan translation from Sanskrit is of great importance to understand the sūtra. The critical edition is based on nine versions of the Tibetan Kanjur. The introduction provides an overview of the Tibetan sources, text critical analysis, and orthographical variations.