Shāngzhǔ tiānzǐ suǒwèn jīng 商主天子所問經
Sūtra of the Questions of Devaputra Sārthavāha translated by 闍那崛多 (Shénàjuéduō / Jñānagupta, 譯)
About the work
The Shāngzhǔ tiānzǐ suǒwèn jīng (T591) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna devaputra-paripṛcchā sūtra translated by Jñānagupta 闍那崛多 (闍那崛多). Shāngzhǔ 商主 (“caravan-leader”) renders Sanskrit Sārthavāha, a stock bodhisattva-epithet for the Buddha as guide of beings.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
A short Mahāyāna sūtra in question form on the bodhisattva path, datable to Jñānagupta’s main translation period at Cháng’ān (591–600 CE) under the Suí Wéndì 隋文帝, when he served as leader of the imperial translation bureau at the Dà-xīngshàn 大興善 temple.
Translations and research
- Chen Jinhua. Monks and Monarchs, Kinship and Kingship: Tanqian in Sui Buddhism and Politics. Kyoto, 2002 — Jñānagupta and the Suí translation bureau.
- No further dedicated study located.
Links
- CBETA T15n0591
- Kanseki DB
- 闍那崛多 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (590) — 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.