Fúlì tàizǐ yīnyuán jīng 福力太子因緣經
Sūtra of the Past-Life Causes of Prince Puṇyabala by 施護 (Dānapāla, 譯)
About the work
A four-fascicle avadāna recounting the past-life narrative of the Buddha as Prince Puṇyabala 福力 (“Power-of-Merit”), framed as a discourse delivered after the Buddha’s afternoon retreat in the Andhavana — a debate-narrative on the relative powers of beauty, wisdom, learning, and merit, won by Prince Puṇyabala on the merit-side. Translated by 施護 Dānapāla in the Northern-Sòng Yìjīngyuàn. Signature: 「西天譯經三藏朝奉大夫試光祿卿傳法大師賜紫沙門臣施護等奉詔譯」.
Prefaces
The text bears no preface or postface; only the canonical translator-signature.
Abstract
T173 belongs to Dānapāla’s documented translation period at the Northern-Sòng Bureau (980–1018 CE), with most of his major translations completed in the period 980–1000. The Indic source corresponds to the Puṇyabala-avadāna attested in the Avadāna-śataka tradition. The four-fold debate-frame (between bāla “strength”, rūpa “beauty”, prajñā “wisdom”, and puṇya “merit”) is one of the more distinctive avadāna schemata, and the sūtra’s ethical conclusion — that puṇya outranks all the others — is foundational for East-Asian Buddhist devotional ethics.
Translations and research
- Vaidya, P. L. (ed.). Avadāna-śataka. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts no. 19. Darbhanga: Mithila Institute, 1958.
- Feer, Léon, trans. Avadâna-Çataka. Paris: Leroux, 1891.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Dānapāla (施護) DILA
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (1000): Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經 (CBETA reference index) — dazangthings.nz