Fóshuō yuèshàngnǚ jīng 佛說月上女經
Sūtra of the Lady Moon-Above translated by 闍那崛多 Jñānagupta (譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō yuèshàngnǚ jīng (T480) is a two-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra translated by 闍那崛多 Jñānagupta at the Sui imperial translation institute. The protagonist Yuèshàngnǚ 月上女 (“Lady Moon-Above”; Sanskrit Candrottarā-dārikā) is one of the most distinctive female bodhisattva-figures in the Chinese canon — a young woman who debates and outwits male śrāvakas, demonstrating the equality of women’s bodhisattva potential.
Prefaces
The text opens with rúshì wǒwén. The colophon attributes the translation to Jñānagupta of the Sui.
Abstract
The Candrottarā sūtra is structured as a series of dialogues between the precocious girl Candrottarā and the Buddha’s male disciples (Śāriputra, Pūrṇa, Mahākātyāyana, etc.) and bodhisattvas (Mañjuśrī). In each dialogue Candrottarā out-argues the male interlocutor, demonstrating wisdom characteristic of advanced bodhisattvas. The sūtra is one of several “wise woman” texts in the Mahāyāna tradition that challenge gender hierarchies (others include the Nāga-girl in the Lotus Sūtra, the Goddess in the Vimalakīrti, Vimaladattā in the Mahāratnakūṭa).
The translation is dated to Jñānagupta’s Sui productive period (591–600 CE).
Translations and research
- Paul, Diana Y. Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in Mahāyāna Tradition. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979 — discusses the Candrottarā sūtra.
- Gross, Rita M. Buddhism after Patriarchy. SUNY Press, 1993.
Other points of interest
The Candrottarā sūtra is one of the canonical Mahāyāna sources for arguments that women have equal bodhisattva-capacity to men, and is frequently cited in modern Buddhist feminist scholarship.