Fóshuō Jìngfàn wáng bān nièpán jīng 佛說淨飯王般涅槃經
Sūtra of King Śuddhodana’s Parinirvāṇa translated by 沮渠京聲 Jǔqú Jīngshēng (譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō Jìngfàn wáng bān nièpán jīng (T512) is a one-fascicle short sūtra translated by the Liú-Sòng monk 沮渠京聲 Jǔqú Jīngshēng. Jìngfàn wáng 淨飯王 is the Chinese semantic translation of King Śuddhodana, the Buddha’s father. The sūtra narrates the death of Śuddhodana and the Buddha’s filial response — washing the body, leading the funeral procession, and giving the eulogistic discourse.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
The Śuddhodana parinirvāṇa narrative is foundational for Buddhist conceptions of filial piety, often invoked in Chinese Confucian-Buddhist debates as evidence that the Buddha himself honored his father. Jǔqú Jīngshēng was a member of the Northern Liáng royal house (the Jǔqú clan) who fled to Liú-Sòng territory after the fall of his dynasty in 439 CE; he became a translator at Jiànkāng. His translation activity is dated 455–464 CE.
Translations and research
- Strong, John S. The Buddha: A Short Biography. Oxford: Oneworld, 2001 — Śuddhodana context.
Other points of interest
The text has been a major source for Buddhist arguments that Buddhism teaches filial piety, used in Chinese inter-religious polemics from the Tang through the Qīng.