Shīzǐyuè Fó běnshēng jīng 師子月佛本生經
Sūtra of the Past-Life Birth of Buddha Lion-Moon by 失譯 (anonymous translator, 譯; appended to the Three-Qín register)
About the work
A single-fascicle past-life sūtra concerning the Buddha Siṃhacandra (師子月 — “Lion-Moon”), framed as a Buddha-discourse at the Veṇuvana in Rājagṛha. Signature: 「新為失譯人名附三秦錄」 (“newly entered as a lost-translator text; appended to the Three-Qín register”). The 三秦 (“Three Qín”) register-bracket comprises the Former Qín 前秦 (351–394), Latter Qín 後秦 (384–417), and Western Qín 西秦 (385–431), giving an effective bracket of c. 350–431 for the catalog register-attribution.
Prefaces
No preface or postface; only the canonical signature.
Abstract
T176 is one of the more obscure of the Buddha-vaṃśa narratives in the Chinese canon, with no clearly identified Indic parallel. The Chinese translation may correspond to a now-lost Indic Siṃhacandra-buddha episode from a Buddhavaṃśa-class genealogical work, or to a stand-alone Indic jātaka. The catalog register-attribution to the Three-Qín period is conventional rather than documented.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (417): Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經 (CBETA reference index) — dazangthings.nz