Fóshuō Lóngshī púsà běnqǐ jīng 佛說龍施菩薩本起經

Sūtra on the Original Arising of the Bodhisattva Nāga-Donor translated by 竺法護 (Zhú Fǎhù / Dharmarakṣa, 譯)

About the work

The Fóshuō Lóngshī púsà běnqǐ jīng (T558) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra by Dharmarakṣa 竺法護 (竺法護), parallel to KR6i0189 (T557) by Zhī Qiān. Běnqǐ 本起 indicates a text on the bodhisattva’s original aspiration / bodhicittotpāda.

Prefaces

The text opens with the canonical formula.

Abstract

This is a parallel translation of the Nāga-girl narrative (KR6i0189). Dharmarakṣa’s longer title makes explicit the text’s focus on the bodhisattva’s běnqǐ (origin / arising of bodhicitta). Translation dated to Dharmarakṣa’s productive period (266–308 CE).

Translations and research

  • Paul, Diana Y. Women in Buddhism. Berkeley, 1979.
  • Boucher, Daniel. Bodhisattvas of the Forest. Honolulu, 2008.
  • CBETA T14n0558
  • Kanseki DB
  • 竺法護 DILA
  • Dazangthings date evidence (245, 300) — Saitō Takanobu 齊藤隆信. “Kango butten ni okeru ge no kenkyū: Jiku Hōgo yaku Ryūse bosatsu hongi kyō no shiritsu ni tsuite 漢語仏典に おける偈の研究−竺法護訳『龍施菩薩本起経』の詩律をめぐって [A Study of gāthās in the Chinese Buddhist Canon: On the meter in the Longshi nü pusa benqi jing translated by Dharmarakṣa].” Indogaku Bukkyōgaku kenkyū 印度学仏教学研究 52, no. 1 (2003): 215-219.