Xūkōngyùn púsà jīng 虛空孕菩薩經
The Sūtra of the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha (Suí recension) by 闍那崛多 (Jñānagupta, 譯)
About the work
The Xūkōngyùn púsà jīng in 2 fascicles is 闍那崛多 Jñānagupta’s Suí-period translation of the Ākāśagarbha sūtra. The Taishō print signs the entry “隋天竺三藏闍那崛多譯” and explicitly cross-references Nos. 405–407 — the parallel translations by 佛陀耶舍 Buddhayaśas (KR6h0009), the anonymous KR6h0010, and 曇摩蜜多 Dharmamitra (KR6h0011). The Chinese title uses a slightly different lexical choice — Yùn 孕 “to bear/conceive” rather than Zàng 藏 “treasury” — for the garbha element of the bodhisattva’s name; both renderings are attested in the Chinese Ākāśagarbha tradition, with Xūkōngzàng 虛空藏 eventually predominating.
Prefaces
No separate preface is preserved in the canonical print.
Abstract
The opening narrative is essentially the same as that of the parallel translations: the Buddha is in residence at Khalāṭika mountain (佉羅坻迦山) where the saints of antiquity dwelt, the assembly is gathered, and the cintāmaṇi manifests in the western quarter, accompanied by 虛空藏 Ākāśagarbha. Jñānagupta’s rendering is fuller than the parallel single-fascicle translations, expanding to two fascicles, and includes additional doctrinal exposition of the bodhisattva’s vow and dhāraṇī. The dating window 587–600 reflects the bracket of Jñānagupta’s principal Suí-period translation activity at Cháng’ān under 文帝 Wéndì (r. 581–604), where he was the senior figure in the Dàxīngshàn 大興善 monastery’s translation establishment. The Lìdài sānbǎo jì 歷代三寶紀 (T2034, completed 597) records the work among Jñānagupta’s translations.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located beyond Chen Jinhua’s general study of Jñānagupta’s translation enterprise.
- Chen, Jinhua. “The Indian Buddhist Missionary Dharmakṣema (385–433): A New Dating of His Arrival in Guzang and His Translations.” T’oung Pao 90 (2004): 215–263. — Methodologically relevant to the Suí translators including Jñānagupta.
Links
- CBETA online text
- DDB entry
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (590): [ 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. dazangthings.nz/cbc/source/1