Yuèmíng púsà jīng 月明菩薩經

Sūtra of the Moon-Light Bodhisattva by 支謙 (Zhī Qiān, 譯)

About the work

A short single-fascicle Wú-period jātaka recounting a previous life of the Buddha as the Bodhisattva Candraprabha (月明菩薩 — “Moon-Light”; here translated 月明 rather than the later standard 月光). Translated by 支謙 Zhī Qiān. Signature: 「南吳月支國居士支謙譯」. The narrative is a doublet of [[KR6b0018|Yuèguāng púsà jīng (T166)]] translated by 法賢 Fǎxián in the Northern Sòng — the same Indic Candraprabha-jātaka in different Chinese recensions across some 750 years.

Prefaces

The text bears no preface or postface; only the canonical translator-signature.

Abstract

T169 is one of Zhī Qiān’s documented Wú-period translations, dated to his active period 222–253 CE. The Indic source is the Candraprabha-rāja-jātaka tradition; for the doublet relationship with T166 see the entry on that text.

Translations and research

  • Nakamura Hajime 中村元 (ed.). Jātaka zenshū. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1982–1991.