Fó wèi Suōjiāluó lóngwáng suǒshuō dàshèng jīng 佛為娑伽羅龍王所說大乘經

Mahāyāna Sūtra Expounded by the Buddha to the Nāga King Sāgara translated by 施護 (Shīhù / Dānapāla, 譯)

About the work

This one-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra (T601) is Dānapāla’s 施護 (施護) Northern Song translation of a late expansion of the Sāgara-nāgarāja-paripṛcchā cycle. Suōjiāluó 娑伽羅 is the standard Song-period transcription of Sāgara.

Prefaces

The text opens with the canonical formula.

Abstract

A short Northern-Song Mahāyāna sūtra — bodhisattva-path doctrine framed as instruction to the Sea-Nāga king Sāgara — datable to Dānapāla’s translation activity at the imperial Yìjīng-yuàn / Chuán-fǎ-yuàn (980–1017 CE). The text supplements the older Dharmarakṣa version KR6i0232 Hǎi-lóngwáng jīng (T598) and the Yìjìng excerpt KR6i0233 Fǎyìn jīng (T599).

Translations and research

  • Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu, 2003.
  • No dedicated study of T601 located.
  • CBETA T15n0601
  • Kanseki DB
  • 施護 DILA
  • Dazangthings date evidence (1000) — 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.