Hùguó jīng 護國經
Sūtra of the Protector of the Country (Raṭṭhapāla) (the Raṭṭhapāla-sūtra; parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 132, the Làizhàhéluó jīng 賴吒和羅經, and to Làizhàhéluó jīng 賴吒和羅經 (KR6a0068)) by 法賢 (Fǎxián, 譯)
About the work
The Hùguó jīng is a single-fascicle Northern-Sòng translation of the Raṭṭhapāla-sūtra. The Chinese title 護國 (“Protector-of-the-Country”) is Fǎxián’s interpretive gloss of Raṭṭhapāla (literally “kingdom-protector” — raṭṭha “kingdom” + pāla “protector”), in contrast to the older phonetic transcription 賴吒和羅 used in T68 and T26[132].
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光祿卿明教大師臣法賢奉詔譯」 (cf. KR6a0009).
Abstract
T69 was produced during Fǎxián’s post-987 Sòng-Institute career; the defensible bracket 987–1000 is recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. Together with T26[132] and T68, T69 forms a three-fold cluster of Chinese versions of the Raṭṭhapāla narrative, allowing the diachronic study of how the great renunciation-discourse was rendered into Chinese.
Translations and research
- See KR6a0068 for the comparative Raṭṭhapāla-sūtra literature.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Fǎxián / Tiānxīzāi DILA
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (1001): CBETA, Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經, ed. Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭 (Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai / Daizō shuppan, 1924–1932) — dazangthings.nz