Fó shuō shīdēng gōngdé jīng 佛說施燈功德經
The Buddha’s Sūtra on the Merit of Offering Lamps (Pradīpadānasūtra) translated by 那連提耶舍 (Narendrayaśas, 譯)
About the work
T702 in one fascicle is the principal Mahāyāna scriptural authority for the meritorious practice of lamp-offering (shīdēng 施燈) at Buddha-stūpas, images, and altars — translated by Narendrayaśas (517–589), the Northern-Indian Yogācāra-bridge translator who arrived in northern China in the 550s and worked under the Northern Qí 北齊 (“Gāoqí” 高齊) and the Suí. The Taishō witness reads “高齊天竺三藏那連提耶舍譯” (“translated by the Tianzhú-state Tripiṭaka Narendrayaśas of the Gāoqí”), placing the translation in the Northern Qí period (550–577).
Abstract
The setting is Jetavana at Śrāvastī. The Buddha addresses Śāriputra, declaring that there are four superior wholesome dharmas (四種勝妙善法) capable of producing immeasurable fruits, immeasurable light, immeasurable beauty, immeasurable stores of merit, immeasurable stores of joy, and the fullness of śīla, samādhi, and prajñā. The first and primary of these four is the offering of lamps in the presence of stūpas, images, and Buddha-altars. The text expounds the doctrine of shīdēng shēngfú 施燈生福 — the principle that offering lamps generates merit precisely through the symbolic association of light with wisdom and of darkness with ignorance. The text was a foundational scriptural authority for the fàngdēng 放燈 / Lantern-Festival 燈節 practice in East-Asian Buddhism (later integrated, in the Tang, with the broader yuánxiāo 元宵 first-full-moon-of-the-year lantern-festival).
那連提耶舍’s active translation period under the Northern Qí runs from 558 (his arrival at the Yè 鄴 capital) to 577 (the Northern Zhōu conquest of the Northern Qí). Composition window: 558–577.
Translations and research
- Hsu, Tien-yi (許天怡). “Buddhist Lamp Offering and the Lantern Festival in Tang China”. Journal of Chinese Religions 47.2 (2019).
- Chen Jinhua. Monks and Monarchs. Kyoto, 2002 (background on Northern Qí Buddhism).
No standalone English translation located.