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菩薩瓔珞經

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Text ID
KR6i0294
Date
376–378
Dynasty
姚秦

Púsà yīngluò jīng 菩薩瓔珞經

Sūtra of the Bodhisattva’s Necklace of Jewels translated by 竺佛念 (Zhú Fóniàn, 譯)

About the work

T656 (fourteen fascicles, alt. titles 瓔珞經 and 現在報經) is a major Mahāyāna text on the bodhisattva path translated by 竺佛念 (Zhú Fóniàn) under the YáoQín. The “necklace of jewels” (yīngluò = Skt. muktāhāra / keyūra) is a metaphor for the bodhisattva’s accumulated virtues, which adorn him as a jewelled garland. This text must be carefully distinguished from the much-cited but separate apocryphal Chinese composition 菩薩瓔珞本業經 (T1485, by Zhú Fóniàn-ascription, but considered to be a Chinese composition by modern scholarship).

Structural Division

T656 is divided into 45 chapters, of which the principal divisions are:

  1. 普稱品 (Pǔchēng pǐn) — Chapter on Universal Praise
  2. 識定品 (Shìdìng pǐn) — Chapter on Concentration of Cognition
  3. 莊嚴道樹品 (Zhuāngyán dàoshù pǐn) — Chapter on Adorning the Bodhi Tree
  4. 龍王欲太子品 (Lóngwáng yù tàizǐ pǐn) — Chapter of the Naga King’s Beloved Prince
  5. 法門品 — Chapter on the Dharma-Gate
  6. 識界品 — Chapter on the Realm of Cognition
  7. 諸佛勸助品 — Chapter on the Encouragement of the Buddhas
  8. 如來品 — Chapter on the Tathāgata
  9. 音響品 — Chapter on Sound and Echo
  10. 因緣品 — Chapter on Dependent Origination …and 35 further chapters covering the bodhisattva path through the three vehicles, the contemplation of mind, the four noble truths, the bodhi tree, the awakening, the prediction of Maitreya’s coming, and the entrustment of the Dharma.

The full chapter list is preserved in the CANWWW database (T16N0656-1 through T16N0656-45).

Abstract

竺佛念 (Zhú Fóniàn) was the principal Chinese-born translation assistant of the late fourth century, working with 僧伽跋澄 Saṅghabhadra and other Western masters at Cháng’ān; the [[KR6s0084|Chū sānzàng jì jí]] (T2145, juan 13) gives his biography. He worked under both the Fú-Qín and the early Yáo-Qín. Date bracket follows the [[KR6r0011|Lìdài sānbǎo jì]]‘s placement of T656 in the late Fú-Qín period (376–378), shortly before the Fú-Qín collapse; some catalogs place it slightly later in the early Yáo-Qín. The dating is not entirely secure: modern scholarship (Hayashiya 1945) treats the placement as best-attested but provisional.

The text is a substantial Mahāyāna composition on the bodhisattva’s accumulated merit, reflecting the influence of avadāna and paripṛcchā traditions. The “現在報經” (alternate title) emphasizes the karma-as-present-result theme: the bodhisattva’s adornment is not a deferred reward but a present manifestation of accumulated practice.

Translations and research

  • Hayashiya, Tomojirō 林屋友次郎. Iyaku kyōrui no kenkyū 異訳経類の研究. Tokyo, 1945. — analysis of T656 in relation to other versions.
  • Boucher, Daniel. Bodhisattvas of the Forest and the Formation of the Mahāyāna. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2008.

No book-length English translation located.

Other points of interest

The 菩薩瓔珞本業經 (T1485) is a separate, much shorter Chinese composition that is often confused with T656 in popular literature. T1485 is an apocryphal Chinese vinaya-style work; T656 is the genuine Mahāyāna translation by Zhú Fóniàn.

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