Fó huáyán rù rúlái dé zhì bù sī yì jìngjiè jīng 佛華嚴入如來德智不思議境界經
The Sūtra on Entering the Inconceivable Realm of the Tathāgata’s Virtue and Wisdom of the Buddha-Flower-Garland by 闍那崛多 (Jñānagupta, 譯)
About the work
This 2-fascicle text by 闍那崛多 Jñānagupta (Shénàjuéduō 闍那崛多, 528 – 605, the principal Suí-period Buddhist translator) is the second of three Chinese translations of the same Avataṃsaka-tradition material on the Tathāgata’s virtue, wisdom, and inconceivable Buddha-realm. The Taishō apparatus notes the parallels: T0302 (anonymous Qín-period translation) and T0304 (the later Tang version by Bodhiruci).
The opening reads: “Thus have I heard. At one time…” (the standard sūtra-opening; the source above shows variant apparatus indications for the title-line).
Prefaces
No formal preface; the title-line attributes the translation to “隋天竺三藏闍那崛多譯” — “translated by the Indian Tripiṭaka Jñānagupta of the Suí.” The Taishō apparatus shows variant readings adding “法師” (Dharma-master) in some witnesses.
Abstract
闍那崛多 Jñānagupta (Shénàjuéduō 闍那崛多, 528 – 605) was a Gandhāran Buddhist scholar-monk and the principal translator of the Suí imperial Buddhist establishment. After arriving in Cháng’ān 長安 during the late Northern Zhōu period (early 570s) he survived the persecution of Buddhism under Northern Zhōu Wǔdì 武帝 (574 – 578) and emerged as the senior Buddhist scholar-translator at the Suí imperial bureau under Wéndì 文帝 (r. 581 – 604) and Yángdì 煬帝 (r. 604 – 618). Per the Lìdài sānbǎo jì 歷代三寶紀 (KR6r0011) and the Sòng gāosēng zhuàn 宋高僧傳 (KR6r0054, juan 2), Jñānagupta produced 36 translations totalling 175 fascicles — the most consequential body of Suí-period Buddhist translation work and a major bridge between the Northern-Dynasties translation enterprise and the great Tang flourishing under Xuánzàng 玄奘 and Bodhiruci.
The translation of the present text is conventionally placed in the bracket 587 – 600 CE, the period of his mature Suí-imperial bureau activity. The text contributes to the Avataṃsaka-family corpus by providing a more polished Suí rendering of the Tathāgata’s inconceivable realm material — supplementing the older anonymous Qín version (T0302) with the doctrinal-stylistic refinements characteristic of late-Northern-Dynasties translation work.
The Taishō text (T0303) is established on a rich apparatus.
Translations and research
- No substantial Western-language translation located.
- Hamar, Imre, ed. Reflecting Mirrors (2007).
- Forte, Antonino. The Hostage An Shigao and his Offspring. Kyoto: ISEAS, 1995.
Other points of interest
- Jñānagupta’s translation career is the principal documentary line of continuity between the Northern-Dynasties translation tradition (菩提流支 Bodhiruci I, 勒那摩提 Ratnamati, 佛陀扇多 Buddhaśānta) and the great Tang flourishing; his translations of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka (T0264, his amended version of 鳩摩羅什 Kumārajīva’s Lotus Sūtra) and the Daśabhūmika-related materials directly informed early Tang scholarship.