Shíxiāng bānruò bōluómì jīng 實相般若波羅蜜經
The Reality-Mark Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra translated by 菩提流志 (譯)
About the work
A one-juan early-Táng translation of the Sanskrit Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā / Naya-pāramitā by Bodhiruci II 菩提流志 (Pútíliúzhì, d. 727), the great Indian-pilgrim translator of the Wǔ-Zhōu / Kāiyuán court. The work is a Mahāyāna prajñāpāramitā sūtra in the Tantric register — distinct from the Vajracchedikā (KR6c0023ff.) — and stands in close cross-relation to four other Chinese translations of the same Sanskrit text: T241 KR6c0118 (Vajrabodhi, 723), T242 KR6c0119 (Dānapāla, late 10th c.), T243 KR6c0120 (Amoghavajra, 770), and T244 (Dharmagupta), with the canonical Mahāyāna locus being the 10th assembly of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sūtra (T220 fascicle 10). The Bodhiruci translation is the earliest surviving Chinese rendering. The cross-reference field on the source explicitly notes Nos. 220(10), 241-244 — i.e., the five-translation cluster. Preserved as T8 no. 240. notBefore / notAfter set conservatively to 706–713 (Bodhiruci’s mature Chángān translation phase). Catalog dynasty 唐.
Abstract
The text is the Adhyardhaśatikā (= “Verses-and-a-half-Hundred,” approximately 150 gāthā in Sanskrit), a relatively short prajñāpāramitā in dialogue form between the Buddha and Vajrapāṇi (Mìjì jīngāng 密迹金剛), with sustained lyrical exposition of the non-dual identity of prajñā and the awakened mind under sixteen names. The Indian text is the doctrinal heart of the Vajraśekhara / Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha Tantric cycle, providing the prajñāpāramitā foundation for the Yoga-tantra system. The Bodhiruci rendering opens canonically: rú shì wǒ wén: yī shí bājiāpó, yǐ shàn chéngjiù yīqiè rúlái jīngāng zhèngzhì zhī suǒ jiànlì, zhǒngzhǒng shūtè chāo yú sānjiè guàn … 如是我聞：一時婆伽婆，以善成就一切如來金剛正智之所建立，種種殊特超於三界灌 (“Thus have I heard: at one time the Bhagavat, having well-accomplished what is established by the Vajra-true-wisdom of all Tathāgatas, with various extraordinary marks transcending the three realms…”). The translation is more literal-accurate than the later Amoghavajra rendering (KR6c0120), which is more liturgically-stylized.
Translations and research
- The Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā family is treated in modern scholarship by David Snellgrove (Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, 1987), Yukei Matsunaga in detailed comparative-edition work, and Ian Astley for the Japanese Shingon reception of the Amoghavajra recension.
- For the broader Indian Yoga-tantra context see Snellgrove and Christian Wedemeyer’s writings.
Other points of interest
This is the earliest surviving Chinese translation of the Adhyardhaśatikā — predating both Vajrabodhi (723) and Amoghavajra (770) — and a precious witness to the early Táng diffusion of the early Yoga-tantra textual tradition into China before the formal Tángmì lineage was established.
Links
- 菩提流志 DILA
- CBETA online
- Translator: Bodhiruci II 菩提流志 (Pútíliúzhì, d. 727) — see person note 菩提流志
- Sanskrit: Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā / Naya-pāramitā
- Cross-references: T220(10), T241 (KR6c0118), T242 (KR6c0119), T243 (KR6c0120), T244
- Dazangthings date evidence (720): [ T ] T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014. https://dazangthings.nz/cbc/source/1/
- Kanseki DB