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漏分布經

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Text ID
KR6a0057
Date
148–170
Dynasty
後漢

Lòufēnbù jīng 漏分布經

Sūtra on the Distribution of the Outflows (the Nibbedhika-pariyāya-sūtra; parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 111, the Dá fànxíng jīng 達梵行經) by 安世高 (Ān Shìgāo, 譯)

About the work

The Lòufēnbù jīng is a single-fascicle Eastern Hàn 後漢 translation of the Nibbedhika-pariyāya-sūtra, the great discourse on the “penetrative sequence” of doctrinal categories — six categories (sense-pleasures, perception, feeling, āsava-outflows, action, and dukkha) each analysed under the same six-fold rubric: their origin, their differentiation, their consequence, their cessation, the cause of their cessation, and the path to their cessation. The Pāli parallel is AN 6.63 Nibbedhika-sutta; the Chinese parallel is T26[111] (the Dá fànxíng jīng 達梵行經 of the Madhyama-āgama). The Chinese title 漏分布 (“distribution of the outflows”) singles out the āsava / 漏 category as the rubric’s central concern — the discourse is one of the foundational Pāli analyses of āsava.

The text opens at the Jetavana monastery in Śrāvasti, with the Buddha announcing: “Monks, I shall teach you the penetrative sequence.” The body of the discourse follows. The sub-title in the source 出《中阿含》令劫意 (“excerpted from the Madhyama-āgama; in the version 令劫意”) suggests that the source-text was already known in An Shigao’s circle as part of the Madhyama corpus.

Prefaces

The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the canonical translator’s signature at the head: 「後漢三藏安世高譯」.

Abstract

T57 was produced during Ān Shìgāo’s Luòyáng period (148–170 CE), recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. The translation 漏 (“leak / outflow”) for āsava — used in T57 — is the standard form that would later be canonical, in contrast to the 流 (“flow”) form used in T31. T57 may therefore mark the transition-point at which An Shigao’s circle began to use 漏 for āsava alongside the older 流.

Translations and research

  • Bodhi, Bhikkhu, tr. The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2012. — AN 6.63 with notes.
  • Anālayo, Bhikkhu. A Comparative Study of the Majjhima-nikāya, vol. 2. Taipei: Dharma Drum, 2011. — Treats T26[111] in detail.
  • Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: IRIAB, 2008.

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