Rùdìng bùdìng yìn jīng 入定不定印經
Sūtra on the Seal of Entering Concentration or Not translated by 義淨 (Yìjìng, 譯)
About the work
T646 (one fascicle; Sanskrit Niyatāniyatāvatāramudrā-sūtra) is 義淨’s (Yìjìng, 635–713) Tang retranslation of the same Indic sūtra underlying T645 by Gautama Prajñāruci. Yìjìng’s version follows his characteristic translation style — concise, technically precise, and informed by his long residence in India and Śrīvijaya.
Abstract
T646 is dated to Yìjìng’s productive period in Cháng’ān after his return from India (700–711). Yìjìng (635–713) returned to China in 695 after spending some 25 years in India and Southeast Asia studying Sarvāstivāda vinaya and Mahāyāna doctrine; he subsequently led one of the most prolific Tang translation bureaus, second only to 玄奘 Xuánzàng’s. The Sanskrit title Niyatāniyatāvatāramudrā is preserved in the Tibetan canon. T646 expounds the same niyata / aniyata (determined / undetermined) doctrine of bodhisattva entry into concentration that we find in T645, but with the technical vinaya-precision characteristic of Yìjìng’s circle. Together with T645 it is the principal Chinese textual basis for the East Asian gotra discussions about which bodhisattvas are guaranteed to reach buddhahood.
Translations and research
- Sakuma, Hidenori. Studies on niyata/aniyata doctrine in Mahāyāna sūtra literature. (Various.)
- Wang, Bangwei. Yìjìng’s Travel Records and the Indian Origins of Buddhist Translations. (Various studies.)
No book-length English translation located.
Links
- CBETA T15n0646
- Kanseki DB
- 義淨 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (705) — T = CBETA. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924–1932.