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佛說賢者五福德經

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Text ID
KR6i0474
Date
290–306
Dynasty
西晉

Fó shuō xiánzhě wǔ fúdé jīng 佛說賢者五福德經

The Buddha Speaks: The Sūtra of the Worthy Person’s Five Merits translated by 白法祖 (Bái Fǎzǔ, 譯)

About the work

T777 in one fascicle is a brief sūtra-translation by 白法祖 (Bái Fǎzǔ, fl. ca. 290–306), a Western Jìn translator of Kuchean / Kuchá-Indian descent active at Cháng’ān at the very end of the third century. The title 賢者五福德 (xiánzhě wǔ fúdé) — “the worthy person’s five merits / five rewards of merit” — names a mātṛkā of five rewards earned through the practice of giving and the upholding of moral śīla.

Abstract

The text expounds a fivefold mātṛkā of rewards associated with the practice of dāna (giving) and the cultivation of moral conduct. The standard list comprises the five-fold fú-dé (puṇya-rewards) for the lay practitioner: (1) long life, (2) good appearance / pleasing form, (3) strength and health, (4) eloquence / verbal skill, and (5) rebirth in heaven. The Buddha addresses the doctrine to a household audience and emphasises that the five merits are the karmic fruit of generous giving, observance of the precepts, and the development of virtuous mental dispositions.

The fivefold mātṛkā is a popular doctrine of late-period mainstream Buddhism, well-attested in the Pāli Aṅguttara-nikāya and in Saṃyukta-āgama-class parallels. Its brief sūtra-form rendering is one of several didactic short sūtras Bái Fǎzǔ translated to provide Chinese-language Buddhist audiences with stand-alone treatments of upāsaka-oriented merit-doctrines. The dating window 290–306 reflects the standard catalogue placement of his activity at the end of the third century.

Translations and research

No standalone English translation located. Bái Fǎzǔ is briefly treated in:

  • Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China. Leiden: Brill, 1959 (rev. ed. 2007). (For the Western Jìn translation milieu.)

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