Shīzǐ zhuāngyán wáng púsà qǐngwèn jīng 師子莊嚴王菩薩請問經
Sūtra of the Bodhisattva Lion-Adornment-King’s Request translated by 那提 Nàtí / Punyodaya (譯)
About the work
The Shīzǐ zhuāngyán wáng púsà qǐngwèn jīng (T486) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra translated by the Tang Indian monk 那提 Nàtí — a transliteration that may render Sanskrit Punyodaya (Puṇyodaya) or Nadī. The bodhisattva Shīzǐ zhuāngyán wáng 師子莊嚴王 (“Lion-Adornment-King”; Sanskrit Siṃhālaṃkāra-rāja) is the principal interlocutor.
Prefaces
The text opens with rúshì wǒwén. The colophon attributes the translation to Nàtí of the Tang.
Abstract
Nàtí (also written 布如烏伐邪 / 福生) was a sixth- to seventh-century Indian monk who arrived in Cháng’ān in 655 CE bringing 1,500 Indic texts. He worked at the Cíēn sì 慈恩寺 alongside 玄奘 Xuánzàng’s translation institute but was sent on a mission to South Asia (663 CE) by the Tang court to gather rare medicinal plants. He translated only a small number of texts before his departure; this one-fascicle bodhisattva-question sūtra is one of his three surviving Chinese translations (with Lígòuhuì púsà suǒwèn lǐfó fǎ jīng KR6i0116 and one other).
The translation date is 663 CE per the Kāiyuán shìjiào lù.
Translations and research
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2003 — Nàtí’s diplomatic mission.
- Forte, Antonino. A Jewel in Indra’s Net. Italian School of East Asian Studies, 2000.