Fóshuō Shí’èryóu jīng 佛說十二遊經

Sūtra of the Twelve-Year Wanderings of the Buddha by 迦留陀伽 (Kālodaka, 譯)

About the work

A short single-fascicle Buddha-biography text recounting the Buddha’s twelve years of post-awakening travels and ministry. Translated by 迦留陀伽 Kālodaka in the Eastern Jìn. Signature: 「東晉西域沙門迦留陀伽譯」. The opening narrates the Bodhisattva’s renunciation and his early-pilgrim study under the brāhmaṇa of Gautama-gotra (婆羅門, 姓瞿曇).

Prefaces

No preface or postface; only the canonical translator-signature.

Abstract

T195 is one of the more compact Buddha-biographies in Chinese, focused not on the descent and birth (the Lalitavistara-genre concern) but on the post-awakening twelve-year ministry — i.e., a vinaya-narrative-class Buddha-biography. The text bridges Buddha-biography and vinaya-narrative literature: its concern with the Buddha’s ministry and the cāturmāsa travel-cycle is consistent with a Madhyamāgama / vinaya-vibhaṅga type Indic source.

Translations and research

No substantial secondary literature located.