Fó bānníhuán jīng 佛般泥洹經
Sūtra of the Buddha’s Parinirvāṇa by 白法祖 (Bó Fǎzǔ, 譯)
About the work
The Fó bānníhuán jīng is a Western Jìn 西晉 translation, in two fascicles (上下), of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra — the canonical narrative of the Buddha’s last journey, illness, and death between Rājagṛha and Kuśinagara. The Taishō head-note groups it with T1 (the Cháng Āhán’s second sūtra, the Yóuxíng jīng 遊行經), T6 (the Bānníhuán jīng 般泥洹經 ascribed to Faxian’s circle) and T7 (the Dà bānníhuán jīng 大般涅槃經 by Faxian) as its principal Chinese parallels — a four-text cluster that, with the Sanskrit Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra edited by Waldschmidt and the Pāli Mahāparinibbāna-sutta (DN 16), constitutes the comparative core for the early Buddhist parinirvāṇa tradition.
The text opens at Vulture Peak (鷂山, Gṛdhrakūṭa) outside Rājagṛha, where King Ajātaśatru 阿闍世 of Magadha asks his minister Yǔshè 雨舍 (Vassakāra) to consult the Buddha about his planned attack on the Vṛji (越祇) confederation; the Buddha’s reply, the famous “Seven Conditions of the Vṛjis’ Welfare,” sets the scaffolding for an extended discourse on the welfare of the saṅgha (七不退法), and the narrative then follows the Buddha’s progressive northwestward journey through Pātaliputra, Vesālī, Pāvā and Kuśinagara, the announcement of impending parinirvāṇa, the donation of Cunda’s last meal, Mahāparinirvāṇa under the twin śāla-trees, and the cremation and distribution of relics.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface. The only paratext is the standard West-Jìn translator’s signature at the head: 「西晉河內沙門白法祖譯」 — “translated by the śramaṇa Bó Fǎzǔ of Hénèi 河內 (commandery), under the Western Jìn.” The Chū sānzàng jì jí 出三藏記集 (T2145, KR6s0084) registers the work in its catalogue of Bó Fǎzǔ’s translations and provides the principal biographical witness (T55.107a–108a, “Biography of Master Fǎzǔ” 法祖法師傳); a parallel biography is preserved in the Gāosēng zhuàn 高僧傳 (T2059, KR6r0052, 327a–c, “Biography of Bó Yuǎn” 帛遠傳).
Abstract
Bó Fǎzǔ 白法祖 (also written 帛法祖, 帛遠 Bó Yuǎn; lay surname Wàn 萬), a native of Hénèi commandery (河內郡, modern Qìnyáng 沁陽 in Hénán), was one of the most learned Chinese Buddhists of the late third century. The biographies record that he established a monastery in Cháng’ān, where over a thousand monastic and lay students attended his lectures; that he wrote a (now-lost) commentary on the Śūraṃgama-sūtra; and that he was killed in 304–305 CE by Zhāng Fǔ 張輔 (d. 305), the regional inspector of Qínzhōu 秦州, who had attempted unsuccessfully to recall him to lay life and to recruit him as a personal aide. His translation of the Fó bānníhuán jīng must therefore be dated within his Cháng’ān period — conventionally placed at the end of the third century, with a defensible bracket of c. 290–305 CE; that bracket is recorded here.
The Indic source-text underlying T5 has not been securely identified with any extant Sanskrit Vorlage. Comparative work by Waldschmidt and others has shown that T5, T6 and T7 do not derive from a single Indic recension: T5 is closer to the Sarvāstivāda-affiliated Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra preserved in Sanskrit (the so-called Turfan Sanskrit MPS) than is T6, while T7 (Faxian) and T1[2] (the Cháng Āhán Yóuxíng jīng) likely depend on Dharmaguptaka-related recensions. The cluster of four Chinese versions thus crosses several Vinaya-sectarian lines.
The vocabulary of T5 is characteristically Jìn-period: the parinirvāṇa is rendered phonetically as 般泥洹 (the older of the two competing Chinese forms, displaced in the Tang by 涅槃); proper names follow archaic conventions (Vassakāra as 雨舍 (“Rain-house”), Vajjian as 越祇, etc.). T5 is thus, alongside T6, one of the principal early-medieval witnesses to the pre-Kumārajīva translation idiom for the parinirvāṇa tradition.
Translations and research
- Waldschmidt, Ernst. Das Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra: Text in Sanskrit und Tibetisch, verglichen mit dem Pāli nebst einer Übersetzung der chinesischen Entsprechung im Vinaya der Mūlasarvāstivādins. 3 parts. Abhandlungen der Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Klasse für Sprachen, Literatur und Kunst, 1949 nos. 1, 2, 3. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1950–1951. — The classic synoptic edition; foundational for any comparative work on T5/T6/T7 and T1[2].
- Bareau, André. Recherches sur la biographie du Buddha dans les Sūtrapiṭaka et les Vinayapiṭaka anciens, II: Les derniers mois, le parinirvāṇa et les funérailles. 2 vols. Publications de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient 77. Paris: EFEO, 1970–1971. — The standard French study of the Mahāparinirvāṇa tradition; T5 is treated throughout.
- Weller, Friedrich. “Buddhas Letzte Wanderung.” Monumenta Serica 4 (1939–40): 40–84; 5 (1940–41): 141–207. — Early German translation and study, with constant reference to T5 alongside T1[2], T6 and T7.
- An, Yang-gyu, tr. The Buddha’s Last Days: Buddhaghosa’s Commentary on the Mahāparinibbāna Sutta. Oxford: Pali Text Society, 2003. — Useful for the Pāli side of the comparison.
- Tilakaratne, Asanga. “The Mahāparinibbāna-sutta and Its Chinese Counterparts: A Comparative Study.” In Buddhist Studies in Honour of Venerable Kirindigalle Dhammaratana, edited by S. Ratnayaka. Colombo, 2007. — Compact comparative survey.
Other points of interest
- T5 is one of only a handful of texts in the Taishō securely attributable to Bó Fǎzǔ, whose translation activity was cut short by his violent death in 304/305. The other texts attributed to him in the canon are T144 (Dà’àidào bānníhuán jīng 大愛道般泥洹經, on the parinirvāṇa of Mahāprajāpatī), T330 (Púsà xiūxíng jīng 菩薩修行經), T528 (Púsà shì jīng 菩薩逝經) and T777 (Xiánzhě wǔ fúdé jīng 賢者五福德經).
- The transcription 鷂山 (“Hawk Mountain”) for Gṛdhrakūṭa (Vulture Peak) is one of the very rare Chinese variants for this Indic place-name; the standard early form was 耆闍崛山 (Qíshéjué shān, transcription) and later 靈鷲山 / 鷲峰 (semantic). 鷂山 is an old semantic rendering, here testifying to the un-standardized state of West-Jìn translation idiom.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Bó Fǎzǔ / Bó Yuǎn DILA
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (245, 250, 300): Fukushima Kennō 福島謙應, “Yakugo kara mita Butsu hatsunaion kyō to Hatsunaion kyō no yakukyōsha 訳語からみた「佛般泥洹経」と「般泥洹経」の訳経者,” Tōyō bunka kenkyūjo shohō 東洋文化研究所所報 8 (2004): 1–26 — dazangthings.nz