Fóshuō Mónì jīng 佛說魔逆經

Sūtra of the Subjugation of Māra (Mañjuśrī-vikrīḍita) translated by 竺法護 (Zhú Fǎhù / Dharmarakṣa, 譯)

About the work

The Fóshuō Mónì jīng (T589) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra translated by Dharmarakṣa 竺法護 (竺法護). The Sanskrit original is the Mañjuśrī-vikurvāṇa-parivarta / Mañjuśrī-vikrīḍita-sūtra — “the sport (vikrīḍita) of Mañjuśrī” — preserved also in Tibetan (‘Jam dpal rnam par ‘phrul pa’i le’u).

Prefaces

The text opens with the canonical formula. The Chū sānzàng jì jí (T2145) gives a colophon dating the translation to Tàikāng 太康 10 (289 CE) at Luòyáng.

Abstract

A short Mañjuśrī-cycle sūtra in which Mañjuśrī, by his bodhisattva power, subdues a māra-spirit, and instructs assembled gods on the equality (samatā) of all phenomena. Datable to 289 CE by the Chū sānzàng jì jí colophon. The text is also represented in Tibetan and (partially) in a later Chinese translation as the Dà-jìng-fǎmén jīng 大淨法門經 (T818). Together with T589, KR6i0264 Wénshū-zhīlì pǔchāo sānmèi jīng 文殊支利普超三昧經 (also Dharmarakṣa) constitutes a major part of the Western-Jìn Mañjuśrī corpus.

Translations and research

  • Boucher, Daniel. Bodhisattvas of the Forest and the Formation of the Mahāyāna. Honolulu, 2008.
  • Lamotte, Étienne. Mañjuśrī. T’oung Pao 48 (1960): 1–96.