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勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經

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Text ID
KR6f0045
Date
435–443
Dynasty
劉宋

Shèng mán shī zǐ hǒu yī chéng dà fāng biàn fāng guǎng jīng 勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經

The Lion’s-Roar Sūtra of Queen Śrīmālā on the One-Vehicle Great-Skillful-Means Vaipulya by 求那跋陀羅 (Guṇabhadra, 譯)

About the work

This 1-fascicle text by 求那跋陀羅 Guṇabhadra is the Śrīmālā-siṃha-nāda-sūtra (also known as the Śrīmālādevī-siṃhanāda-sūtra) — one of the most important and influential Mahāyāna sūtras of the tathāgatagarbha doctrinal tradition. Featuring Queen Shèng mán 勝鬘 (Śrīmālā) as the principal female bodhisattva-protagonist who delivers a “lion’s roar” doctrinal sermon, it is one of the central Mahāyāna sources for the doctrine of the tathāgatagarbha and was foundational for the development of mature East Asian Buddha-nature theology. The work was incorporated into the [[KR6f0001|Mahā-ratnakūṭa]] tradition as assembly 48 (Shèng mán fūrén huì 勝鬘夫人會).

Prefaces

No formal preface.

Abstract

求那跋陀羅 Guṇabhadra (394–468) was a Central Indian Buddhist translator-monk who arrived in Liú-Sòng 劉宋 China in 435 and became the principal translator of the southern Liú-Sòng court. The translation is conventionally dated to the period 435 – 443 CE per the Chū sānzàng jì jí (T2145). The bracket adopted here reflects this window. The doctrinal influence of the Śrīmālā-sūtra on East Asian Mahāyāna is profound: it is one of the principal sources for the doctrine of tathāgatagarbha-as-foundation-of-being, and was widely studied in the Northern-Dynasties / Suí-Tang tradition.

The Taishō text (T0353) is established on the standard apparatus.

Translations and research

  • Wayman, Alex, and Hideko Wayman. The Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā: A Buddhist Scripture on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory. New York: Columbia University Press, 1974. — The standard English translation.
  • King, Sallie B. Buddha Nature. SUNY Press, 1991 — substantial discussion.
  • Ruegg, David Seyfort. La théorie du tathāgatagarbha et du gotra. Paris: EFEO, 1969.
  • Paul, Diana Y. The Buddhist Feminine Ideal: Queen Śrīmālā and the Tathāgatagarbha. Missoula: Scholars Press, 1980.

Other points of interest

  • The Śrīmālā-sūtra is one of the very few Mahāyāna sūtras whose principal speaker is a female bodhisattva, and its sustained doctrinal-theological argumentation in Śrīmālā’s voice has made it a key source for modern Buddhist feminist scholarship.

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