Fóshuō Jiēwànǎngfǎ tiānzǐ shòu sānguīyī huòmiǎn èdào jīng 佛說嗟韈曩法天子受三歸依獲免惡道經
Sūtra of the Devaputra Jvalanāntaka-dharma Avoiding the Evil Destinies by Taking the Three Refuges translated by 法天 (Fǎtiān / Dharmadeva, 譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō Jiēwànǎngfǎ tiānzǐ … (T595) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna avadāna translated by Dharmadeva 法天 (法天). Jiēwànǎngfǎ 嗟韈曩法 transcribes Sanskrit *Jvalanāntaka-dharma or similar — the name of a devaputra who, on the verge of falling from the heavens into an evil destiny, takes refuge in the Three Jewels and is saved.
Prefaces
The text opens with the canonical formula.
Abstract
A short avadāna-narrative sūtra promoting refuge-taking as a soteriological act, datable to Dharmadeva’s translation activity at the Northern Song imperial translation bureau (973–1001). Dharmadeva (Fǎtiān; later renamed Fǎxián 法賢) was the principal translator at the bureau under Sòng Tàizōng. The “deva falling from heaven” trope is well-known from the Pāli Devatā-saṃyutta / Sakka-saṃyutta and Devadūta-sutta (MN 130) traditions and entered Mahāyāna refuge-piety literature in this form.
Translations and research
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu, 2003.
- No dedicated study of T595 located.
Links
- CBETA T15n0595
- Kanseki DB
- 法天 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (980) — 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.