Yìchū púsà běnqǐ jīng 異出菩薩本起經
Variant Bodhisattva Origin-Sūtra by 聶道真 (Niè Dàozhēn, 譯)
About the work
A short single-fascicle Buddha-biography sūtra recounting the previous lives of Śākyamuni in compressed narrative. The title’s 異出 (“variant version”) signals that this is an alternative Buddha-biography presentation, complementing the translations of T184, T185, and T186. Translated by 聶道真 Niè Dàozhēn in the Western Jìn. Signature: 「西晉居士聶道真譯」.
Prefaces
No preface or postface; only the canonical translator-signature.
Abstract
T188 is one of 聶道真 Niè Dàozhēn’s documented Western-Jìn translations, dated to his post-Dharmarakṣa active period in the late third / early fourth century. The Indic source is unidentified; the yìchū (“variant version”) title-element suggests the work was issued explicitly as an alternative recension of Buddha-biography material already available in earlier Chinese translation. The brief single-fascicle format places T188 in the avadāna-summary category of Buddha-biography rather than the full-length Lalitavistara-class genre.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- CBETA online text
- Niè Dàozhēn (聶道真) DILA
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (300): Fei Changfang 費長房. Lidai sanbao ji (LDSBJ) 歷代三寶紀 (KR6r0011) T2034 (XLIX) 66a20 — dazangthings.nz