Fó shuō Yāngjuémó jīng 佛說鴦掘摩經
Sūtra of Aṅgulimāla (the Aṅgulimāla-sūtra; parallel to Saṃyukta-āgama sūtra 1077, T100 sūtra 16, and to T119 / T120 / Ekottara-āgama 38.6) by 竺法護 (Zhú Fǎhù / Dharmarakṣa, 譯)
About the work
The Fó shuō Yāngjuémó jīng is a single-fascicle Western Jìn 西晉 translation of the Aṅgulimāla-sūtra, the celebrated narrative of the conversion of the brigand Aṅgulimāla 鴦掘摩 (“Finger-Garland”) — who had murdered 999 victims and made a garland of their finger-bones, and was prevented by the Buddha from killing his own mother as the thousandth victim. The Pāli parallel is MN 86 Aṅgulimāla-sutta; the Chinese parallels are T99[1077], T100[16], T119 (Fǎjù), T120 (Guṇabhadra, the long Mahāyāna Aṅgulimāla), and Ekottara-āgama 38.6 (T125).
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the Western-Jìn translator’s signature at the head: 「西晉月氏國三藏竺法護譯」.
Abstract
T118 was produced during Dharmarakṣa’s Western Jìn career (266–313 CE), recorded in the frontmatter. The Indic source is presumed lost. The narrative is one of the most rhetorically powerful in the early canon, and T118 is the principal pre-Saṃghadeva Chinese version.
Translations and research
- Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi, tr. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. — MN 86 with notes.
Links
- CBETA T02n0118 CBETA online text
- Kanseki DB
- 竺法護 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (300): 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