Zhūfǎ jíyào jīng 諸法集要經
Sūtra Compiling the Essentials of the Various Dharmas (Sarvadharma-saṃgraha?) compiled by 觀無畏尊者 (Guānwúwèi zūnzhě, 集), translated by 日稱 (Rìchēng, 等譯, “and others”)
About the work
T728 in ten fascicles is the longest of 日稱’s mid-eleventh-century Sòng translations of Indian Buddhist doctrinal compilations. The compilation is attributed to 觀無畏尊者 (Skt. likely Avalokita-vrata or similar; lifedates and biographical details unknown), an Indian sthavira (尊者) of uncertain affiliation. The genre — jíyào “compendium of essentials” — is characteristic of late Pāla-period Indian Buddhist scholastic literature, where systematic anthologies of Mahāyāna doctrinal positions were compiled for pedagogical and apologetic purposes.
Abstract
The ten fascicles present a structured compendium of Mahāyāna doctrine across the principal categories: the bodhisattva-mārga, the pāramitā doctrine, the dharmakāya / trikāya, the trisvabhāva, the śūnyatā analysis, the doctrine of dependent-origination, the karma-vipāka framework, and the cosmological architecture. Each topic is presented through a selection of canonical scriptural passages with brief connecting exposition. The format is similar to that of Śāntideva’s Śikṣāsamuccaya — a Mahāyāna compendium organized by topic, drawing on a wide range of scriptural sources, with the compiler’s brief commentary stitching the citations together.
The text is one of the principal Sòng-period imports of late Pāla-period Indian Mahāyāna scholastic compendia. Like the Śikṣāsamuccaya tradition, it represents the late phase of Indian Mahāyāna where systematic doctrinal exposition through canonical anthology had become the dominant scholastic genre. The Sanskrit original is not preserved; the Chinese translation by 日稱 is the principal philological witness.
The eleven-fascicle Sòng Daśabhūmikasūtra-related and similar Pāla-period compendia translated by 日稱 form a coherent translation programme: this work KR6i0422 / T728, paired with the Aśvaghoṣa-attributed KR6i0420 / T726 and KR6i0421 / T727. The cluster suggests that 日稱’s translation programme was specifically focused on compiled-anthology Mahāyāna doctrinal texts rather than primary sūtras.
Translations and research
- Bendall, Cecil, ed., Çikshāsamuccaya: A Compendium of Buddhistic Teaching Compiled by Çāntideva. St. Petersburg: Académie Impériale des Sciences, 1897–1902. (The principal parallel text, useful as a generic comparison.)
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003.
No standalone English translation located.