Fóshuō Liúlí wáng jīng 佛說琉璃王經
Sūtra of King Vaidūrya translated by 竺法護 Zhú Fǎhù / Dharmarakṣa (譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō Liúlí wáng jīng (T513) is a one-fascicle sūtra translated by 竺法護 Dharmarakṣa (Zhú Fǎhù). The protagonist Liúlí wáng 琉璃王 is King Vaidūrya (Sanskrit Virūḍhaka in some traditions, Sinicized as Liúlí) — the king of Kosala who massacred the Śākya clan in vengeance for an old grievance.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
The Vaidūrya massacre narrative is one of the most poignant tragedies in the Buddhist canon — the Buddha’s own kinsmen are slaughtered by an avenging king, and the Buddha himself foresees but cannot prevent the disaster. The narrative is typically read as a teaching on the inexorability of past karma, even for the Buddha. Translation dated to Dharmarakṣa’s productive period (266–308 CE). Pāli parallels exist in the Dhammapada commentary and in the Vinaya.
Translations and research
- Strong, John S. The Buddha: A Short Biography. Oxford, 2001.