Wǔyīn pìyù jīng 五陰譬喻經
Sūtra of the Five-Aggregate Similes (the Pheṇa-piṇḍūpama-sūtra; parallel to Saṃyukta-āgama sūtra 265, and to T106) by 安世高 (Ān Shìgāo, 譯)
About the work
The Wǔ-yīn pìyù jīng is a single-fascicle Eastern Hàn 後漢 translation of the famous Pheṇa-piṇḍūpama-sūtra, the discourse on the five similes for the five aggregates: rūpa (form) is like a foam-mass on a river, vedanā (feeling) is like a water-bubble, saññā (perception) is like a mirage, saṃkhārā (formations) is like a banana-plant, viññāṇa (consciousness) is like a magic-show. The Pāli parallel is SN 22.95 Pheṇa-piṇḍūpama-sutta; the Chinese parallels are T99[265] and T106 (Tánwúlán).
The text opens with the Buddha at “the country of Mìshèng” (靡勝國 = Ayojjhā / Ayodhyā), “crossing the ford of a river,” and seeing a great mass of foam floating downstream. The body of the discourse is the systematic articulation of the five similes.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the canonical translator’s signature at the head: 「後漢安息三藏安世高譯」.
Abstract
T105 was produced during Ān Shìgāo’s Luòyáng period (148–170 CE), recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. T105 is one of the most rhetorically powerful early-Buddhist discourses on the impermanence of the five aggregates, and An Shigao’s rendering is one of the foundational early-Chinese versions.
Translations and research
- Bodhi, Bhikkhu, tr. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2000. — SN 22.95 with notes.
- Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: IRIAB, 2008.
Links
- CBETA T02n0105 CBETA online text
- Kanseki DB
- 安世高 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (160): 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, 1924–1932). dazangthings entry