Móráoluàn jīng 魔嬈亂經
Sūtra of Māra’s Disturbance (the Māratajjanīyasūtra; parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 131, the Xiángmó jīng 降魔經, and to Bìmó shì Mùlián jīng 弊魔試目連經 (KR6a0067)) Anonymous (失譯), conventionally attached to the Later Hàn 後漢 catalogue
About the work
The Móráoluàn jīng is a single-fascicle anonymous Chinese translation of the Māratajjanīyasūtra, the discourse in which Mahāmoggallāna 大目乾連 confronts and rebukes Māra Pāpīyas, who had entered his belly in an attempt to disturb him. The Pāli parallel is MN 50 Māratajjanīya-sutta; the Chinese parallels are T26[131] (the Xiángmó jīng 降魔經 of the Madhyama-āgama) and T67 (the Bìmó shì Mùlián jīng 弊魔試目連經 by Zhī Qiān).
The text opens at the Bhaggā Suṃsumāra Mountain Deer Park (跋祇尸牧摩鼻量鹿野園), where Mahāmoggallāna is constructing a meditation cave for the Buddha. As he paces the open ground giving instructions, Māra in miniature form enters his belly. The body of the discourse is Moggallāna’s recognition of Māra by his divine eye, the rebuke, and the long account that Moggallāna gives Māra of his own past lives — including, remarkably, an episode in which Māra was Moggallāna’s own nephew in a past life.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the catalogue rubric printed at the head: 「失譯人名附後漢錄」.
Abstract
The Later Hàn (25–220) ascription is a catalog-tradition assignment; the defensible bracket is recorded in the frontmatter, with the more secure narrower bracket of c. 150–220 CE for the period of attested Buddhist translation activity at Luòyáng. The Indic source is presumed lost. The text’s archaic diction (use of 婆伽婆 for Bhagavat, the proper-name 跋祇尸 for Bhagga, etc.) is consistent with the conventional dating.
Translations and research
- Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi, tr. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. — MN 50 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): 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