Fó shuō jiùchéng yù jīng 佛說舊城喻經
The Buddha’s Sūtra of the Simile of the Old City (Nagaropamasūtra) translated by 法賢 (Fǎxián, 譯)
About the work
T715 in one fascicle is the Northern Sòng translation of the Nagaropamasūtra by 法賢 (Fǎxián, originally Tiānxīzāi 天息災, d. 1000), the third of the three Chinese versions of the Nidānasūtra tradition. The title — Jiùchéng yù jīng “Sūtra of the Simile of the Old City” — directly translates the Sanskrit title Nagaropamasūtra (“sūtra resembling [the analogy of] a city”). The date bracket reflects 法賢’s active period at the Sòng Yìjīngyuàn 譯經院 from 980 (his arrival in Chang-an / Kaifeng) to 1000 (his death).
Abstract
法賢’s rendering centers the nagara-simile that gives the Nagaropama its Sanskrit title: the Buddha compares his rediscovery of the Dharma to a man wandering in a forest who suddenly comes upon an ancient road, follows it, and finds an ancient city — long abandoned, but built with kingly halls, gardens, and wells. The discoverer reports back to the king, who restores the city. Just so, the Buddha says, the path of dependent-origination is not new but ancient; he has rediscovered it, walked it, and now reports it to the world.
The doctrinal exposition follows: starting with old-age-and-death (老死) and tracing the chain backwards to ignorance (無明), then forwards from ignorance to old-age-and-death — the canonical “this existing → that exists” structure. The Sòng version preserves the simile most fully and is the most direct rendering of the Sanskrit Nagaropama among the three Chinese versions. The earlier Tang version KR6i0408 / T714 (Xuánzàng) gives the simile briefly; the third-century KR6i0407 / T713 (Zhī Qiān) emphasizes the contemplation rather than the simile.
Related canonical Chinese versions of the Nidānasūtra / Nagaropamasūtra: KR6i0407 / T713 (Zhī Qiān, Wú), KR6i0408 / T714 (Xuánzàng, Tang), this work KR6i0409 / T715 (Fǎxián, Sòng).
Translations and research
- Bongard-Levin, G. M., D. Boucher, T. Fukita, and K. Wille. “The Nagaropamasūtra: An Apotropaic Text from the Saṃyuktāgama. A Transliteration, Reconstruction, and Translation of the Central Asian Sanskrit Manuscripts,” in Sanskrit-Texte aus dem buddhistischen Kanon, Folge 3. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1996, 7–131.
- Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2000. (Pāli parallel SN 12.65 Nagara-sutta.)
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003. (Background on the Sòng Yìjīngyuàn translation programme.)