Shíèr yuánshēng xiángruì jīng 十二緣生祥瑞經
Sūtra on the Auspicious Signs of the Twelve Links of Dependent-Origination translated by 施護 (Dānapāla, 譯)
About the work
T719 in two fascicles is 施護’s Northern Sòng translation of an Indian Mahāyāna sūtra on the twelve nidānas, framed in terms of the auspicious signs (xiángruì 祥瑞 = Skt. maṅgala / śubha-lakṣaṇa) that accompany correct understanding of dependent-origination. 施護’s active translation period 980–1017 at the Sòng Yìjīngyuàn gives the date bracket.
Abstract
The text presents the twelve-link chain not in the bare doctrinal-philosophical mode but in a devotional / apotropaic register: each link of dependent-origination, when correctly contemplated, produces an auspicious sign or merit. The genre — xiángruì jīng “auspicious-signs sūtra” — is characteristic of late Indian Mahāyāna devotional literature where doctrinal exposition is paired with promised merit and protective efficacy. The two fascicles allow for a fuller exposition than the typical one-fascicle short sūtra and include doctrinal exposition, contemplative instruction, and anuśaṃsā (benefit-list) passages.
The text complements the bare-doctrine sūtras KR6i0412 / T718 (法天) and shorter parallels by treating dependent-origination as both philosophical doctrine and devotional object. This pairing of philosophy and devotion is characteristic of late Pāla-period Indian Buddhism and reflects the religious culture from which the Sòng translation programme drew its source manuscripts.
The cluster of late tenth-century Sòng dependent-origination sūtras includes KR6i0412 / T718 (法天), this work KR6i0413 / T719 (施護), KR6i0419 / T725, etc. — together they document the Sòng Yìjīngyuàn’s systematic engagement with the pratītyasamutpāda corpus.
Translations and research
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003.
- Jan Yün-hua, “Buddhist Relations between India and Sung China,” History of Religions 6 (1966), 24–42, 135–168.
No standalone English translation located.