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婆羅門子命終愛念不離經

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Text ID
KR6a0091
Date
148–170
Dynasty
後漢

Póluóménzǐ mìngzhōng àiniàn bùlí jīng 婆羅門子命終愛念不離經

Sūtra on the Brahmin’s Inability to Let Go of His Beloved Son’s Death (the Piyajātikasūtra; parallel to Madhyama-āgama sūtra 216, the Àishēng jīng 愛生經, and to Ekottara-āgama 13.5) by 安世高 (Ān Shìgāo, 譯)

About the work

The Póluóménzǐ mìngzhōng àiniàn bùlí jīng is a single-fascicle Eastern Hàn 後漢 translation of a discourse on the Buddha’s instruction to a brahmin who is paralysed by grief at the death of his only son: the Buddha teaches that “from love arises sorrow, from love arises fear” — a doctrine that is misunderstood by the brahmin and rebuffs the Buddha’s teaching, but that is championed by King Pasenadi when his queen Mallikā recognizes its truth. The Pāli parallel is MN 87 Piyajātika-sutta; the Chinese parallel is T26[216].

Prefaces

The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the canonical translator’s signature at the head: 「後漢安息沙門安世高譯」.

Abstract

T91 was produced during Ān Shìgāo’s Luòyáng period (148–170 CE), recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. The discourse is one of the most rhetorically powerful of the Pāli canon, and T91 is the earliest Chinese version.

Translations and research

  • Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi, tr. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. — MN 87 with notes.
  • Anālayo, Bhikkhu. A Comparative Study of the Majjhima-nikāya, vol. 2. Taipei: Dharma Drum, 2011.

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