Bábēi púsà jīng 拔陂菩薩經
The Sūtra of the Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla (anonymous Hàn-period recension of the Pratyutpanna-samādhi-sūtra) by 失譯 (anonymous translator) — appended to the Old-Canon register of 道安 Dào’ān
About the work
The Bábēi púsà jīng in 1 fascicle is an anonymous early Chinese translation of the Pratyutpanna-buddha-saṃmukhāvasthita-samādhi-sūtra — sometimes regarded as a third early Chinese version of the same sūtra translated independently of Lokakṣema’s two (KR6h0026, KR6h0027). The Taishō print signs the entry with the cataloguer’s note “僧祐錄云安公古典是般舟三昧經初異譯” — “the Sēngyòu Catalogue says: by 道安 Dào’ān’s register of old classics, this is an early variant translation of the Pratyutpanna-samādhi”. The Taishō header cross-references Nos. 416–418 — the parallel translations KR6h0025 (Jñānagupta), KR6h0026, KR6h0027 (both Lokakṣema).
Prefaces
No preface is preserved in the canonical print; only the cataloguer’s note.
Abstract
The text opens, like the parallel translations, at Rājagṛha in the Bamboo Grove monastery. The Buddha is preaching to five hundred bhikṣus — all arhats, with the exception of 阿難 Ānanda — and Bábēi (拔陂, alternative transliteration of Bhadrapāla) is introduced as the lay bodhisattva who poses the questions about the pratyutpanna-samādhi. The sūtra’s content substantially overlaps with KR6h0026 (T0417), and the two have sometimes been regarded as variant transmissions of a single Chinese rendering rather than independent translations.
Per the Chū sānzàng jì jí (T2145), 道安 Dào’ān (312–385) classified the work as belonging to the Gǔdiǎn 古典 “old classics” register — i.e., translations from before the early-fifth-century systematisations — and his judgement is preserved in 僧祐 Sēngyòu’s catalogue. The dating window 179–200 reflects the bracket of the late-Hàn Lokakṣema Cháng’ān workshop and immediately following decades, this being the period during which the Old Canon (according to Dào’ān’s classification) translations of the Pratyutpanna-samādhi are attributed.
Translations and research
- Harrison, Paul. The Samādhi of Direct Encounter with the Buddhas of the Present. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 1990. — Standard reference; comparison of the early Chinese versions.
- Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: Soka University, 2008. — Methodologically careful treatment of the ascription of Old Canon translations.