Dàodì jīng 道地經

Sūtra on the Stages of the Path (partial Saṅgharakṣa Yogācārabhūmi) composed by 僧伽羅剎 (Sēngqié Luóchà / Saṅgharakṣa, 造); translated by 安世高 (Ān Shìgāo, 譯)

About the work

The Dàodì jīng (T607) is Ān Shìgāo’s 安世高 (安世高) one-fascicle partial Hàn-period translation of Saṅgharakṣa’s 僧伽羅剎 (僧伽羅剎) Sarvāstivāda Yogācārabhūmi — the same Indic original of which Dharmarakṣa later produced the much fuller seven-fascicle KR6i0243 Xiūxíng dàodì jīng 修行道地經 (T606).

Prefaces

The Chū sānzàng jì jí preserves a preface by 道安 Dào’ān. The text opens with the canonical formula.

Abstract

A small early-Hàn rendering of selected sections of Saṅgharakṣa’s Yogācārabhūmi, of capital importance both for the early study of Buddhist meditation theory in China and for the historical-philological reconstruction of the Indic original. Datable to Ān Shìgāo’s Luòyáng activity (148–170 CE), making it among the earliest Chinese Buddhist translations of a śāstra form.

Translations and research

  • Demiéville, Paul. “La Yogācārabhūmi de Saṅgharakṣa.” Bulletin de l’École française d’Extrême-Orient 44 (1954): 339–436.
  • Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: IRIAB, 2008.