Shòuchí qī fó mínghào suǒshēng gōngdé jīng 受持七佛名號所生功德經
Sūtra on the Merit Generated by Upholding the Names and Titles of the Seven Buddhas by 玄奘 Xuánzàng (譯)
About the work
The Shòuchí qī fó mínghào suǒshēng gōngdé jīng is a brief single-fascicle sūtra enumerating the merit accruing to those who uphold the names of seven named Buddhas. It is related thematically to the Yakushi (Bhaiṣajyaguru / Medicine Buddha) sūtra cycle, in that the seven Buddhas praised here may overlap with the seven Medicine Buddhas of the expanded Yakushi tradition (cf. KR6i0049). The translator colophon reads: 大唐三藏法師玄奘奉詔譯 (“Translated by the Tripiṭaka master 玄奘 of the Great Táng, by imperial command”). 玄奘 (602–664 CE) was the foremost Táng-dynasty translator and the monk responsible for the definitive Chinese translation of the Bhaiṣajyaguru-sūtra (T14n0450 = KR6i0048).
Prefaces
No separate preface survives; the translation was done under imperial commission (fèngzhào 奉詔). The body opens directly.
Abstract
The Shòuchí qī fó mínghào jīng is a compact listing of seven Buddhas with their meritorious qualities, translated by 玄奘 during his active period as court translator (649–664 CE). The text participates in the broader “seven Buddhas” devotional tradition that includes the Ratanasutta (Pāli) and the various iterations of the Bhaiṣajyaguru-sūtra that list seven Medicine Buddhas. The specific seven Buddhas named here may differ from those in the seven-Yakushi tradition; establishing the exact relationship would require a philological comparison of this text with T14n0451 (KR6i0049). The translation’s provenance under imperial commission (fèngzhào) is typical of his later translation work at the court-sponsored translation academy.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located on this specific text.