Chāmópódì shòujì jīng 差摩婆帝授記經

Prediction (Vyākaraṇa) Sūtra for Queen Kṣemavatī translated by 菩提流支 (Pútíliúzhī / Bodhiruci I, 譯)

About the work

The Chāmópódì shòujì jīng (T573, Kṣemavatī-vyākaraṇa-sūtra) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna prediction sūtra translated by Bodhiruci I 菩提流支 (菩提流支) at the Northern Wèi 元魏 capital Luòyáng. The protagonist Chāmópódì 差摩婆帝 is a transcription of Kṣemavatī, the chief queen of King Bimbisāra, who receives a vyākaraṇa (prophecy) of future buddhahood. CANWWW gives Sanskrit Kṣemavatīvyākaraṇa(sūtra) and alternate title 差摩波帝受記經.

Prefaces

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Abstract

A short vyākaraṇa sūtra centered on a royal woman, transmitted in the Northern Wèi-period translation cluster of Bodhiruci I (active in Luòyáng ca. 508–535). The bracket adopted here matches Bodhiruci’s documented activity span from his arrival in the year of Yǒngpíng 1 (508) until the late Wèi period.

Translations and research

  • Paul, Diana Y. Women in Buddhism. Berkeley, 1979.
  • Lamotte, Étienne. Histoire du bouddhisme indien. Louvain, 1958, on vyākaraṇa literature.