Fóshuō bǎowǎng jīng 佛說寶網經
Sūtra of the Jewel Net by 竺法護 Zhú Fǎhù (Dharmarakṣa, 譯)
About the work
The Bǎowǎng jīng is a single-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra in which the Buddha, residing at Vaiśālī (維耶離獼猴水邊交路), teaches the bodhisattva Precious Net (bǎowǎng 寶網) and a large assembly about a range of Mahāyāna doctrines. The text includes descriptions of distant Buddha-fields, the spiritual qualities of bodhisattvas, and teachings on merit accumulation and pure conduct. The translator colophon identifies 竺法護 of the Western Jìn. The title metaphor of the “jewel net” (bǎowǎng) may evoke Indra’s net (indrajāla), a common Buddhist cosmological image for the interpenetration of phenomena.
Prefaces
No separate preface survives. The body opens: 聞如是，一時佛遊維耶離獼猴水邊交路… The translator colophon reads: 西晉月氏三藏竺法護譯.
Abstract
The Bǎowǎng jīng belongs to the broad category of “single-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtras” that 竺法護 produced in great number during the Western Jìn (265–316 CE). Its Indic original is not preserved in Sanskrit, and no Tibetan translation is known. The text’s theme — a bodhisattva named Precious Net receiving and transmitting Mahāyāna instruction — is consistent with the repertoire of early Mahāyāna scriptures that he translated, many of which feature a named bodhisattva interlocutor and emphasize the cultivation of the six perfections (liù bōluómì 六波羅蜜). The Chū sānzàng jì jí 出三藏記集 (T55.2145) records this text among his translations, though the precise date within his active period (265–313 CE) is not specified.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located on this specific text.