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佛說興起行經

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Text ID
KR6b0054
Date
197–220
Dynasty
後漢

Fóshuō Xīngqǐxíng jīng 佛說興起行經

Sūtra of the Buddha’s Karmic Aetiologies by 康孟詳 (Kāng Mèngxiáng, 譯)

About the work

A two-fascicle Eastern-Hàn avadāna-style sūtra in which the Buddha gives the karmic aitiology (興起 xīngqǐ) for ten incidents in his current life that appear inconsistent with full Buddha-status — episodes such as receiving a thorn in the foot, the king of Kosala’s persecution, and so on. The Buddha explains each as the karmic fruit of a specific past-life action. Translated by 康孟詳 Kāng Mèngxiáng in the Hàn. The Taishō shows a programmatic preface, opening “On the so-called Mount Kūnlún (崑崙山): it is the centre-point of Jambudvīpa, with treasure-stones throughout, encircled by 500 caves all of yellow gold, where 500 Arhats permanently dwell…” — a sino-cosmographic introduction to the sūtra.

Prefaces

The fascicle bears a programmatic introductory preface (《佛說興起行經》序), opening with a Sino-Buddhist cosmographic frame placing Mount Kūnlún (崑崙山) at the centre of Jambudvīpa. The preface is anonymous; it presents itself as preliminary scene-setting for the sūtra rather than as a translator’s introduction.

Abstract

T197 belongs to Kāng Mèngxiáng’s documented late-Hàn translation period. The text’s aitiology genre — the Buddha’s narrative explanation of why a fully-awakened being still experiences negative karma — is a distinctive Buddhist-philosophical concern given canonical-narrative form. The Indic source corresponds to an avadāna-anthology of Buddha-pūrva-karman type, paralleled in the Pāli Apadāna (the Pubbakammavipāka section) and in various Indic Buddhist sources. The Sino-Buddhist Mount-Kūnlún cosmographic frame in the preface is one of the earliest Chinese attempts at integrating Buddhist cosmography with native Chinese sacred geography.

Translations and research

  • Walters, Jonathan S. “Suttas as History: Four Approaches to the Sermon on the Noble Quest (Ariyapariyesanasutta).” History of Religions 38 (1999). (Methodological frame applicable to aitiology-narratives.)

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