Fó wèi Shèngguāng tiānzǐ shuō wángfǎ jīng 佛為勝光天子說王法經
Sūtra in which the Buddha Expounds the Royal Dharma to Devaputra Prasenajit translated by 義淨 (Yìjìng, 譯)
About the work
The Fó wèi Shèngguāng tiānzǐ shuō wángfǎ jīng (T593) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra translated by Yìjìng 義淨 (義淨). Shèngguāng 勝光 (“Excellent-Light”) renders Sanskrit Prasenajit, the Kosalan king who is, in the Mahāyāna Devaputra-paripṛcchā tradition, presented as having taken rebirth among the gods.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
A rāja-dharma (statecraft-Dharma) sūtra in which the Buddha lays out the duties of a righteous king for the celestial Prasenajit. Translation datable within Yìjìng’s main Cháng’ān period (700–711 CE). Parallel material on Buddhist rāja-dharma circulates in the Suvarṇaprabhāsa-sūtra and the Ārya-rāja-vārttika. The text is connected to the broader cakravartin / suvarṇa-prabhāsa literature of advice-to-kings.
Translations and research
- Zimmermann, Michael, ed. Buddhism and Violence. Lumbini, 2006 — rāja-dharma literature in Buddhism.
- No dedicated study of T593 located.
Links
- CBETA T15n0593
- Kanseki DB
- 義淨 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (705) — 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.