Zhǎngzhě shībào jīng 長者施報經

Sūtra of the Householder’s Reward for Giving (the Velāmasūtra; parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 155, the Xūdáduō jīng 須達哆經, to Sānguī wǔjiè cíxīn yànlí gōngdé jīng 三歸五戒慈心厭離功德經 (KR6a0072) / Xūdá jīng 須達經 (KR6a0073), and to Ekottara-āgama 27.3) by 法天 (Fǎtiān / Dharmadeva, 譯)

About the work

The Zhǎngzhě shībào jīng is a single-fascicle Northern-Sòng translation of the Velāmasūtra, the latest of the four-fold Chinese cluster (T26[155], T72, T73, T74). The Chinese title 長者施報 (“the householder’s reward for giving”) emphasises the discourse’s central concern with the merit-fruit (phala) of householder generosity.

Prefaces

The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the Sòng-court translator’s signature at the head: 「西天譯經三藏朝散大夫試鴻臚卿傳教大師臣法天奉詔譯」.

Abstract

T74 was produced during Fǎtiān’s Sòng-Institute career; the defensible bracket 973–1001 is recorded in the frontmatter (cf. KR6a0002). Together with T26[155], T72 and T73, T74 provides a four-witness diachronic series for the Velāmasūtra in Chinese.

Translations and research

  • See KR6a0072 for the comparative Velāma-sūtra literature.
  • CBETA online text
  • Fǎtiān DILA
  • Kanseki DB
  • Dazangthings date evidence (980): 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