Ānán qī mèng jīng 阿難七夢經
Sūtra of Ānanda’s Seven Dreams translated by 竺曇無蘭 Zhú Tánwúlán / Dharmaratna (譯)
About the work
The Ānán qī mèng jīng (T494) is a one-fascicle short sūtra translated by the Eastern Jìn monk 竺曇無蘭 Zhú Tánwúlán (fl. 381–395 CE), an Indian monk active at Yángzhōu in the late Eastern Jìn.
Prefaces
The text opens directly with the canonical jīngshǒu formula. The colophon attributes the translation to “東晉天竺三藏竺曇無蘭譯” (Zhú Tánwúlán, Tripiṭaka master from India, of the Eastern Jìn).
Abstract
The text relates seven prophetic dreams that Ānanda had, which the Buddha interprets as foretelling the future decline of the Dharma. The seven dreams symbolize specific stages of the mòfǎ 末法 (degenerate-Dharma age) — monks becoming greedy, donations decreasing, monasteries falling into ruin, etc. The text is a key locus for Chinese conceptions of the mòfǎ and was particularly influential on Pure Land and Tiantai mòfǎ-discourse.
Zhú Tánwúlán’s translations are dated to 381–395 CE. He produced about 110 short sūtra translations during his career; this is one of the more famous.
Translations and research
- Nattier, Jan. Once upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1991 — uses T494 as a key source.
Other points of interest
The Ānán qī mèng jīng is one of the most important canonical sources for Chinese conceptions of the mòfǎ (end-Dharma age), influential in Pure Land prophetic discourse and in modern apocalyptic Buddhist movements.