Fànzhì jì shuǐjìng jīng 梵志計水淨經
Sūtra of the Brahmin Who Reckoned Purity by Water (the Vatthūpama-sūtra; parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 93, Saṃyukta-āgama sūtra 1185, T100 sūtra 99, and Ekottara-āgama 13.5) Anonymous (失譯), conventionally attached to the Eastern Jìn 東晉 catalogue
About the work
The Fànzhì jì shuǐjìng jīng is a single-fascicle anonymous Chinese translation of the canonical discourse refuting the brahmanical doctrine of ritual purification by bathing in sacred rivers — the Buddha refutes a brahmin who has propounded that bathing in the Bāhukā 縛呵 or other sacred rivers can wash away sin. The Buddha replies that no river-bathing can wash away the inner stains of moral wrongdoing, and that what truly purifies is right conduct, right view, and the cultivation of the noble path. The Pāli parallel is MN 7 Vatthūpama-sutta; the Chinese parallels are T26[93], T99[1185] (Saṃyukta-āgama), T100[99], and T125[13.5].
The text opens at “Uruvelā by the Magadha river-bank” (欝鞞羅 = Uruvelā, with the gloss 摩竭附邊 = “by the Magadha river-bank”). The brahmin Sundarika 孫陀羅 (“the One-of-Beautiful”) approaches with his ritual-purification teaching; the Buddha refutes him.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the catalogue rubric printed at the head: 「失譯人名附東晉錄」.
Abstract
The Eastern Jìn (317–420) ascription is a catalog-tradition assignment; the defensible bracket for the Chinese version is recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost.
The text is one of the canonical loci for the Buddhist refutation of brahmanical purification-rituals; the discourse closes with the famous declaration that the dharma-tradition has its own true bath — the cultivation of the eightfold path — that washes away all moral stain. The translation idiom is consistent with the late Eastern Jìn pre-Saṃghadeva register (use of 婆伽婆 Pó-jiā-pó for Bhagavat, etc.).
Translations and research
- Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi, tr. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. — MN 7 Vatthūpama-sutta with notes.
- Anālayo, Bhikkhu. A Comparative Study of the Majjhima-nikāya, vol. 1. Taipei: Dharma Drum, 2011.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (390, 420): Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元, “Chū agon kyō kaidai 中阿含経解題,” in Kokuyaku issaikyō 国訳一切経, Agon bu 阿含部 6, revised edition (1969): 403–411 — dazangthings.nz