Fóshuō Déhù zhǎngzhě jīng 佛說德護長者經
Sūtra of the Elder Virtue-Protector translated by 那連提耶舍 (Narendrayaśas, 譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō Déhù zhǎngzhě jīng (T545) is a two-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra translated by the Sui Indian monk Narendrayaśas 那連提耶舍 (那連提耶舍; 517–589 CE). The protagonist Déhù 德護 (“Virtue-Protector”; Sanskrit Guṇapāla / Śrīgupta) is an elder.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
The text contains the famous prophecy that the elder’s son will be reborn as a great Buddhist king in the East — a prophecy that, like that of Yuèguāng tóngzǐ (KR6i0164), was used in Chinese imperial Buddhist ideology to legitimize East Asian rulers. Translation dated to Narendrayaśas’s late Sui productive period (583–589 CE).
Translations and research
- Forte, Antonino. Political Propaganda and Ideology. Naples, 1976.
Links
- CBETA T14n0545
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (580) — Eltschinger, Vincent. “Apocalypticism, Heresy and Philosophy: Towards a Sociohistorically Grounded Account of Sixth Century Indian Philosophy.” In Indo shūkyō shisō no tagenteki kyōzon to kan’yō shisō no kaimei インド宗教思想の多元的共存と寛容思想の解明 [Investigation of Religious Pluralism and the Concept of Tolerance in India], edited by Shaku Goshin 釈悟震 et al., 425-480. Heisei 19-21 nendo Kagaku kenkyūhi hojokin kiban kenkyū (A) (kadai bangō 19202003) kenkyū seika hōkokusho 平成19－21年度科学研究費補助金基盤研究(A) (課題番号19202003)研究成果報告書. Tokyo: Zaidan Hōjin Tōhō Kenkyūkai, 2010. 465.