Fóshuō biànzhào bānruò bōluómì jīng 佛說遍照般若波羅蜜經
The Buddha-spoken Universally-Illuminating Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra translated by 施護 (譯)
About the work
A one-juan early Northern-Sòng translation of the Sanskrit Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā by Dānapāla 施護 (Shīhù, fl. 980–1017), the prolific Sòng-imperial court Indian translator. The catalog title’s biànzhào 遍照 = “universally illuminating” — translating the Sanskrit Vairocana via biànzhào (the standard Yìjìng-era rendering, distinct from the Amoghavajra-era Dàrì 大日 used in T243 KR6c0120). Title-line attribution: Xītiān yìjīng sānzàng cháosàn dàfū shì Hónglúqīng chuánfǎ dàshī chén Shīhù fèng zhào yì 西天譯經三藏朝散大夫試鴻臚卿傳法大師臣施護奉詔譯 (“Western-Heaven Tripiṭaka-translator, Cháosàn Dàfū test-Hónglúqīng Dharma-Transmission-Master, your servant Shīhù, by imperial decree translates”). notBefore = 980 (Shīhù’s arrival at the Sòng imperial translation bureau); notAfter = 1017 (death). Preserved as T8 no. 242. Catalog dynasty 宋.
Abstract
Shīhù’s translation is a fresh independent rendering of the Adhyardhaśatikā — the third surviving Chinese version after Bodhiruci’s KR6c0117 (Mahāyāna register) and Vajrabodhi’s KR6c0118 (Tantric register). The Sòng-period rendering tends toward terminological standardization characteristic of the Sòng imperial-translation bureau under the Tàizōng / Zhēnzōng emperors, with Shīhù collaborating with Tiānxīzāi 天息災 (Devaśāntika) and Fǎtiān 法天 (Dharmadeva) on the broader translation programme. The opening line — yī shí shìzūn, dé yīqiè rúlái jīngāng sānmèi … 一時世尊，得一切如來金剛三昧 (“at one time the World-Honored, obtaining the vajra-samādhi of all Tathāgatas”) — is more concise than the Bodhiruci or Vajrabodhi versions, characteristic of the Sòng-period editorial preference for compressed translation. The text was less culturally influential than the Amoghavajra rendering (KR6c0120) but is an important witness to the Northern-Sòng phase of Chinese Adhyardhaśatikā reception.
Translations and research
- See KR6c0117 for principal modern studies of the Adhyardhaśatikā family.
- For the Northern-Sòng imperial translation bureau see Tansen Sen, Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400 (Hawaii, 2003); Jan Yün-hua on Sòng Buddhist publishing.
Links
- 施護 DILA
- CBETA online
- Translator: Dānapāla 施護 (Shīhù, fl. 980–1017) — see person note 施護
- Sanskrit: Adhyardhaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā
- Cross-references: T240 (KR6c0117), T241 (KR6c0118), T243 (KR6c0120), T244
- Dazangthings date evidence (1000): [ 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