Dàjí pìyùwáng jīng 大集譬喻王經
The Sūtra of King Dṛṣṭānta of the Mahāsaṃnipāta (Mahāsaṃnipāta-dṛṣṭānta-rāja-sūtra) by 闍那崛多 (Jñānagupta, 譯)
About the work
The Dàjí pìyùwáng jīng in 2 fascicles is 闍那崛多 Jñānagupta’s Suí-period translation of the Mahāsaṃnipāta-dṛṣṭānta-rāja-sūtra — the Pìyùwáng 譬喻王 “King of Parables” being the protagonist who, in dialogue with the Buddha and his arhat disciples, expounds an extended sequence of parables (dṛṣṭānta) illustrating the bodhisattva path. The Taishō print signs the entry “隋天竺三藏闍那崛多譯”.
Prefaces
No separate preface is preserved in the canonical print, only the standard signature.
Abstract
The text opens with the elder 舍利弗 Śāriputra rising from his seat, baring one shoulder, kneeling and asking the Buddha a small question — beginning the parabolic exchange that gives the sūtra its title. The questions and answers proceed by parable: when, in what region of Jambudvīpa, may rain be called “good rain”? — the Buddha’s reply being the body of the sūtra. The work is a relatively short Mahāyāna treatise organised around the dṛṣṭānta genre, which provided one of the principal devices of early Mahāyāna scriptural pedagogy.
The dating window 587–600 reflects the bracket of 闍那崛多’s principal Suí-period translation activity at Cháng’ān under 文帝 Wéndì, 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.
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