Guǎngyì fǎmén jīng 廣義法門經
Sūtra of the Extensive-Meaning Doctrine-Categories (an extract from the Madhyama-āgama; parallel to Pǔfǎyì jīng 普法義經 (KR6a0098)) by 真諦 (Paramārtha, 譯)
About the work
The Guǎngyì fǎmén jīng, with its full sub-title 出中阿含經一品 (“excerpted from one section of the Madhyama-āgama”), is a single-fascicle Liáng / Chén translation of a doctrinal-summary discourse on the extensive analysis of meaning. The Pāli parallel is AN 4.190 Saṅgīti-sutta fragments, and the Chinese parallel is T98 (the Pǔfǎyì jīng 普法義經 by An Shigao).
The text opens at the Jetavana monastery in Śrāvastī, with Sāriputta (here addressed as 淨命舍利弗 Jìngmìng Shèlìfó “the Pure-Lived Sāriputta”) delivering the discourse to the assembled monks.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the Chén-period translator’s signature at the head: 「陳天竺三藏真諦譯」.
Abstract
Paramārtha 真諦 (Skt. Paramārtha “Highest Truth”; alternates 拘羅那陀 Kulanātha, 波羅末陀; DILA Authority A000962; 499–569) was a great Indian translator of the Liáng-Chén period and one of the principal figures in the transmission of Yogācāra Buddhism to China. He arrived in southern China in 546 from western India. He is best known for his translation of the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha and the Abhidharma-kośa (T1559) — the latter, completed shortly before his death, the foundational text for Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma in East Asia. He died in 569 CE. T97 was produced during his Chén-period activity (546–569), recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost.
Translations and research
- Funayama, Tōru 船山徹. “Paramārtha and Other Translators in the Sixth Century.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 14 (2004): 209–224.
- Paul, Diana Y. Philosophy of Mind in Sixth-Century China: Paramārtha’s “Evolution of Consciousness”. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1984.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Paramārtha DILA
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (565): 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