Fó shuō Mǎnyuànzǐ jīng 佛說滿願子經
Sūtra of the Son of Pūrṇa (the Puṇṇovāda-sūtra; parallel to Saṃyukta-āgama sūtra 311) Anonymous (失譯), conventionally attached to the Eastern Jìn 東晉 catalogue
About the work
The Fó shuō Mǎn-yuàn-zǐ jīng is a single-fascicle anonymous Chinese translation of the Puṇṇovāda-sūtra, the discourse in which the disciple Pūrṇa 滿願子 (here “Son-of-Full-Vows” — semantic gloss for Puṇṇa) tells the Buddha he intends to teach the Dharma to the wild Sunāparanta people, and answers the Buddha’s progressive series of questions about the abuses he might face there with progressively higher levels of equanimity. The Pāli parallel is MN 145 Puṇṇovāda-sutta; the Chinese parallel is T99[311].
The text opens at “the Markata-Hṛda Mountain” (摩鳩羅無種山 = Makkāra-pabbata?), with the Buddha and his community.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the catalogue rubric printed at the head: 「附東晉錄」.
Abstract
The Eastern Jìn (317–420) ascription is a catalog-tradition assignment. The defensible bracket is recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. The discourse is one of the canonical sources for the doctrine of equanimity in the face of hostility — Pūrṇa’s progressive responses to the Buddha’s questions on possible mistreatment have remained a model for Buddhist ethical teaching ever since.
Translations and research
- Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi, tr. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. — MN 145 with notes.
Links
- CBETA T02n0108 CBETA online text
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (420): Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014. dazangthings entry