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輪王七寶經

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Text ID
KR6a0038
Date
982–1017
Dynasty
宋

Lúnwáng qībǎo jīng 輪王七寶經

Sūtra of the Seven Treasures of the Wheel-Turning King (parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 58, the Qī-bǎo jīng 七寶經, to Saṃyukta-āgama sūtra 721, and to Ekottara-āgama 39.7) by 施護 (Shīhù / Dānapāla, 譯)

About the work

The Lúnwáng qībǎo jīng is a single-fascicle Northern-Sòng translation of the canonical discourse on the seven treasures (sapta-ratna) that arise as the marks of a cakravartin — the Wheel-turning King. The seven are: the Wheel-treasure (輪寶), the Elephant-treasure (象寶), the Horse-treasure (馬寶), the Jewel-treasure (珠寶), the Woman-treasure (女寶), the Householder-treasure (居士寶), and the General-treasure (主兵臣寶). The Pāli parallel is AN 7.62 (or SN 16.8 / SN 46.42); the Chinese parallels are T26[58] (the Qībǎo jīng 七寶經 of the Madhyama-āgama), the Zázhèngyìjīng 雜阿含經 sūtra 721 (T99), and Ekottara-āgama 39.7 (T125).

The text opens with the Buddha addressing the monks at a non-specified location. The body is the systematic exposition of the seven treasures, each described in detail; the rhetorical purpose of the discourse is to compare the seven outward treasures of the wheel-turning king with the seven inward treasures of the Buddhist saint (faith, conduct, learning, generosity, wisdom, modesty, and shame).

Prefaces

The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the Sòng-court translator’s signature at the head: 「西天譯經三藏朝奉大夫試鴻臚卿傳法大師臣施護奉詔譯」 — the standard Shīhù byline (cf. KR6a0008).

Abstract

T38 is one of Shīhù’s series of Sòng-Institute renderings of Madhyama-āgama discourses; the defensible bracket 982–1017 is recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. The principal interest of T38 lies in its straightforward Sòng-Institute Chinese rendering of the canonical cakravartin tradition — material that, in its Mahāyāna receptions, would underpin the iconographic and political-theological vocabulary of East Asian Buddhist kingship.

Translations and research

  • Bodhi, Bhikkhu, tr. The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2012.
  • Strong, John S. The Legend and Cult of Upagupta: Sanskrit Buddhism in North India and Southeast Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. — Background on the cakravartin tradition.
  • No dedicated study of T38 specifically has been located.

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