Sānguī wǔjiè cíxīn yànlí gōngdé jīng 三歸五戒慈心厭離功德經
Sūtra of the Merits of the Three Refuges, the Five Precepts, Loving-Kindness and Renunciation (parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 155, the Xūdáduō jīng 須達哆經, to Xūdá jīng 須達經 (KR6a0073) / Zhǎngzhě shībào jīng 長者施報經 (KR6a0074), and to Ekottara-āgama 27.3) Anonymous (失譯), conventionally attached to the Eastern Jìn 東晉 catalogue
About the work
The Sānguī wǔjiè cíxīn yànlí gōngdé jīng is a single-fascicle anonymous Chinese translation of the Velāma-sūtra tradition — the discourse on the descending grades of religious gift, from the gigantic donations of the proto-Buddhist mythological brahmin Velāma down through the gift of food to one arhat, the giving of refuge in the Three Jewels, the keeping of the five precepts, the cultivation of mettā (loving-kindness), and finally the cultivation of insight into impermanence. The Pāli parallel is AN 9.20 Velāma-sutta; the Chinese parallels are T26[155] (the Xūdáduō jīng 須達哆經 of the Madhyama-āgama), T73 (Guṇavṛddhi), T74 (Fǎtiān), and Ekottara-āgama 27.3 (T125).
The unwieldy Chinese title — which lists the principal religious meritorious acts in ascending order — is the cataloguer’s interpretive paraphrase of the discourse’s content rather than a translation of any extant Indic title.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the catalogue rubric printed at the head: 「失譯人名今附東晉錄」.
Abstract
The Eastern Jìn (317–420) ascription is a catalog-tradition assignment. The defensible bracket for the Chinese version is therefore 317–420 CE, recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost.
Translations and research
- Bodhi, Bhikkhu, tr. The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2012. — AN 9.20 Velāma-sutta with notes.
- Heim, Maria. Theories of the Gift in South Asia. London: Routledge, 2004.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (420, 495): 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