Xiāngxù jiětuō dìbōluómì liǎoyì jīng 相續解脫地波羅蜜了義經
The Definitive-Meaning Sūtra on the Continuum, Liberation, the Stages, and the Pāramitās (Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, partial: bhūmi-pāramitā chapter) translated by 求那跋陀羅 (Guṇabhadra, 譯)
About the work
T678 in one fascicle is the earliest Chinese rendering of any portion of the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra — covering the seventh chapter (Stages and Pāramitās), corresponding to Dìbōluómì-duō pǐn 地波羅蜜多品 of 玄奘’s full version (T16N0676-7 / T16N0675-10). Translated by the Madhyamaka-and-Yogācāra-bridge translator 求那跋陀羅 / Guṇabhadra (394–468) at the Liú-Sòng 劉宋 capital Jiànkāng 建康 between his arrival in 435 and the Yuánjiā 元嘉 20 (443) period in which he carried out his major translations.
Abstract
This is one of two Saṃdhinirmocana extracts translated by 求那跋陀羅 under the Liú-Sòng (the other is the next-numbered KR6i0357 / T679, covering chapter 8). The pair (T678 + T679) constitutes the earliest Chinese transmission of any Saṃdhinirmocana material — pre-dating the complete versions of Bodhiruci (514 / KR6i0352) and 玄奘 (647 / KR6i0353) by a generation or more. The Chinese title 相續解脫 (literally “Continuum-and-Liberation”) plausibly represents Saṃdhinirmocana itself, with 相續 standing for saṃdhi (continuum, junction, hidden meaning) and 解脫 for nirmocana (release, untying); 地波羅蜜了義 (“definitive teaching on the stages and the pāramitās”) then specifies the chapter content. The Lìdài sānbǎo jì 歷代三寶紀 (KR6r0011, T2034) lists 求那跋陀羅 as translator and the Chū sānzàng jì jí 出三藏記集 (KR6s0084, T2145) corroborates. The text is brief and terminologically still in formation — both 菩提流支 and 玄奘 would later substantially revise the Chinese rendering.
Related canonical recensions: complete versions KR6i0352 (T675), KR6i0353 (T676); paired extract KR6i0357 (T679); other partial KR6i0355 (T677). Commentary on parent: KR6i0354 (X369 by Wǒnch’ǔk).
Translations and research
- Lamotte, Étienne. Saṃdhinirmocana sūtra. Louvain, 1935 (collates this version).
- Powers, John. Hermeneutics and Tradition in the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra. Leiden: Brill, 1993.
- Powers, John. Two Commentaries on the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra by Asaṅga and Jñānagarbha. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 1992.
No standalone Western-language translation of the partial Chinese version located.