聞分館君 Ask BunKanKun

法句譬喻經

2 min read

Text ID
KR6b0068
Date
290–306
Dynasty
西晉

Fǎjù pìyù jīng 法句譬喻經

Dharmapada-avadāna (Dharma-Verses with Parables) by 法炬 (Fǎjù, 譯) and 法立 (Fǎlì, 譯)

About the work

A four-fascicle Western-Jìn translation pairing each of a selection of Dharmapada verses with an avadāna-narrative illustrating its meaning. Translated jointly by 法炬 Fǎjù and 法立 Fǎlì. Signature: 「晉世沙門法炬共法立譯」. The work follows the chapter-structure of T210 (with the Anityā-vagga / 無常品 first), but where T210 gives only the verses, T211 supplies a short avadāna before each verse providing its narrative occasion.

Prefaces

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

Abstract

T211 is structurally analogous to the Pāli Dhammapada-aṭṭhakathā (the Pāli Dharmapada-commentary by Buddhaghosa, much later) — a Dharmapada-with-parables compilation. The Chinese work, however, is independent of the Pāli commentarial tradition and represents a Sanskrit / Sarvāstivādin Udānavarga-with-avadāna recension. The work is dateable to Fǎjù’s documented Western-Jìn period at Luòyáng (290–306).

T211 is one of the principal Chinese sources for the avadāna-narrative occasions of the Dharmapada verses and was widely cited in later medieval Chinese Buddhist popular literature.

Translations and research

  • Willemen, Charles, trans. The Scriptural Text “Dharmapada with Parables” Translated from the Chinese of Fa Chü P’i Yü Ching. Berkeley: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, 1999. (Standard English translation.)
  • Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元. Hokku-kyō no kenkyū. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1981.

Graph View

Backlinks