Wújí bǎo sānmèi jīng 無極寶三昧經
Sūtra on the Boundless-Treasure Samādhi translated by 竺法護 (Zhú Fǎhù / Dharmarakṣa, 譯)
About the work
T636 (two fascicles, alt. title 無極寶經) is 竺法護’s Western Jin translation of a Mahāyāna samādhi-sūtra extolling the wújíbǎo sānmèi — the “Boundless-Treasure Samādhi” — as a meditative concentration in which the bodhisattva acquires inexhaustible spiritual wealth. The text is the underlying Indic source for the Eastern Jin parallel T637 (Bǎorúlái sānmèi jīng) by Gītamitra.
Abstract
T636 is unanimously ascribed to 竺法護 in the canonical bibliographies; the [[KR6s0084|Chū sānzàng jì jí]] (T2145) lists it among his works. Date bracket follows Dharmarakṣa’s productive period (266–308). The text develops the metaphor of the bǎo (treasure / wish-fulfilling jewel) as a figure for the prajñāpāramitā-mind: just as a jewel reflects all colours without itself having colour, so the bodhisattva’s mind in samādhi reflects all dharmas without grasping. The text is closely paralleled by T637 but is more concise; both are independent Chinese versions of the same Indic source. Boucher (2008) discusses Dharmarakṣa’s stylistic profile in such samādhi-sūtras.
Translations and research
- Boucher, Daniel. Bodhisattvas of the Forest and the Formation of the Mahāyāna. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2008.
- Nattier, Jan. A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path according to The Inquiry of Ugra. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003. — for general orientation on early Mahāyāna samādhi sūtras.
No book-length Western translation located.
Links
- CBETA T15n0636
- Kanseki DB
- 竺法護 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (300, 307) — Bielu 別錄 as reported by CSZJJ 出三藏記集. T2145 (LV) 8a9, c7–9, c11.