Xiāngxù jiětuō rúlái suǒzuò suíshùnchù liǎoyì jīng 相續解脫如來所作隨順處了義經
The Definitive-Meaning Sūtra on the Continuum, Liberation, and the Place where the Tathāgata Accomplishes his Conforming Activity (Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, partial: tathāgata-kṛtya chapter) translated by 求那跋陀羅 (Guṇabhadra, 譯)
About the work
T679 in one fascicle is 求那跋陀羅’s rendering of chapter 8 of the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra — the Rúlái chéngsuǒzuò shì pǐn 如來成所作事品 (CANWWW T16N0676-8 / T16N0675-11) on the Tathāgata’s accomplishment of his conforming activity. Companion piece to KR6i0356 (T678), translated at the Liú-Sòng capital Jiànkāng between 求那跋陀羅’s arrival in 435 and the Yuánjiā 元嘉 20 (443) translation peak.
Abstract
This text and its companion KR6i0356 (T678) together form the earliest Chinese transmission of any portion of the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, pre-dating the complete versions of 菩提流支 (514) and 玄奘 (647). The chapter-title 如來所作隨順處 (“the place where the Tathāgata accomplishes his conforming activity”) corresponds to chapter 8 of [[KR6i0353|玄奘’s Jiě shēnmì jīng 解深密經]]. Together with T678, the pair seems to have been translated as a small exegetical excerpt — possibly because these two chapters were the most directly relevant to bodhisattva practice and Buddha-activity, the doctrinal centre of 求那跋陀羅’s own translation programme (which also produced [[KR6i0327|Léngqié ābáduōluó bǎo jīng 楞伽阿跋多羅寶經]] / T670, [[KR6h0064|Yāngjuémóluó jīng 央掘魔羅經]] / T120, and the Zá āhán jīng / T99). The terminology in T679 is in many places looser and less technical than that of the later Bodhiruci and Xuánzàng versions; for that reason it is an important witness for the early-fifth-century transitional Chinese Yogācāra vocabulary.
Related canonical recensions: complete versions KR6i0352 (T675), KR6i0353 (T676); paired extract KR6i0356 (T678); 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.
No standalone Western-language translation of the partial Chinese version located.