Fó shuō fàngniú jīng 佛說放牛經
Sūtra of the Cowherd (the Mahāgopālaka-sūtra; parallel to Saṃyukta-āgama sūtra 1248, Ekottara-āgama 49.1, and to T124) by 鳩摩羅什 (Kumārajīva, 譯)
About the work
The Fó shuō fàng-niú jīng is a single-fascicle Yáo-Qín 後秦 translation by Kumārajīva of the Mahāgopālaka-sūtra, the discourse comparing the eleven qualities of a good cowherd with the eleven qualities of a good monk. The Pāli parallel is MN 33 Mahāgopālaka-sutta; the Chinese parallels are T99[1248] (Saṃyukta-āgama), T124 (Xuánzàng), and Ekottara-āgama 49.1 (T125).
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface. The only paratext is the YáoQín translator’s signature at the head: 「後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯」.
Abstract
T123 was produced during Kumārajīva’s Cháng’ān period (401–413 CE), recorded in the frontmatter. Like T35, T123 is one of the relatively few Āgama-extracts in Kumārajīva’s principally Mahāyāna corpus. The Indic source is presumed lost.
Translations and research
- Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi, tr. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995. — MN 33 with notes.
Links
- CBETA T02n0123 CBETA online text
- Kanseki DB
- 鳩摩羅什 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (390, 405): Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元. “Kan’yaku Chū agon kyō to Zōichi agon kyō 漢訳『中阿含経』と『増一阿含経』.” Bukkyō kenkyū 仏教研究 18 (1989): 1-42[L]. Chinese translation: “Hanyi Zhong ahan jing yu Zengyi ahan jing 漢譯《中阿含經》與《増一阿含經》,” in Shuiye Hongyuan [=Mizuno Kōgen ], Fojiao wenxian yanjiu: Shuiye Hongyuan zhuzuo xuanji (1) 佛教文獻研究‧水 野 弘 元 著 作 選 集( 一), translated by Xu Yangzhu 許洋主, 509-579. Taipei: Fagu wenhua, 2003. passim dazangthings entry