Fóshuō fùzhōng nǚ tīng jīng 佛說腹中女聽經
Sūtra of the Maiden Who Listened from the Womb translated by 曇無讖 (Tánwúchèn / Dharmakṣema, 譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō fùzhōng nǚ tīng jīng (T563) is a one-fascicle short sūtra by the famous Northern Liáng translator Tánwúchèn 曇無讖 (曇無讖; Dharmakṣema, 385–433 CE). The protagonist is a maiden who, while still in the womb, hears and understands the Buddha’s teaching — a miraculous demonstration of pre-natal bodhisattva-development.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
A short Mahāyāna text on a remarkable child-bodhisattva. Tánwúchèn’s translation activity at the Northern Liáng court of Júqú Méngsùn 沮渠蒙遜 is dated 414–433 CE; this text falls within that bracket.
Translations and research
- Chen Jinhua. Philosopher, Practitioner, Politician: The Many Lives of Fazang (643–712). Brill, 2007 — Tánwúchèn translation tradition context.
- Radich, Michael. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra. 2015 — Tánwúchèn’s major translation.
Links
- CBETA T14n0563
- Kanseki DB
- 曇無讖 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (430) — T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014.