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弟子死復生經

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Text ID
KR6i0532
Date
439–464
Dynasty
劉宋

Dìzǐ sǐ fù shēng jīng 弟子死復生經

The Sūtra of the Disciple Who Died and Returned to Life translated by 沮渠京聲 (Jūqú Jīngshēng, 譯)

About the work

T826 in one fascicle is a Mahāyāna avadāna-style narrative sūtra on a layman’s near-death experience and his return to life with a vision of the post-mortem realms, translated by the Liú-Sòng layman-translator 沮渠京聲 (Jūqú Jīngshēng) at Jiànkāng during his post-439 translation career. The genre is the “near-death-vision” avadāna, with parallels in the pan-Buddhist literature on antarābhava (the intermediate state) and post-mortem judgment.

Abstract

The text opens at the Jetavana, where the Buddha is seated with 1,250 bhikṣus, 12,000 bodhisattvas, and 500 abhijñā-disciples. A pious upāsaka who had previously followed the ninety-six heterodox paths (九十六種道 jiǔshíliù zhǒng dào; the standard rubric for non-Buddhist Indian religion) abandoned them in disgust at their futility and took refuge in the Buddha’s teaching, observing the precepts strictly, reading the sūtras, giving alms, and cultivating kṣānti and maitrī. He suddenly contracts a violent illness and dies.

Before dying he had given clear instructions to his family: under no circumstances should his body be cremated or buried for at least seven days. The family obeys; on the seventh day they are about to proceed with the rites when the parents demur — the body has not bloated or smelt — and propose to wait until the tenth day. As they speak, the corpse opens its eyes. The family rejoices but cannot rouse him. By the tenth day he sits up and speaks.

He recounts his post-mortem journey: he was conducted by celestial messengers through the courts of the King of the Dead (閻羅王 Yánluówáng = Yama), where his life-deeds were examined; he saw the various hells and the various heavens; he met the Buddha in a celestial assembly and received teaching directly; he saw the karmic consequences of various sins and merits; and was finally returned to life on account of unfinished good karma. The disciple’s vision is then expounded in detail with doctrinal explanations of the various realms, the mechanism of post-mortem judgment, the connections between specific sins and specific torments, and the necessity of upāsaka discipline for those returning to lay life.

The doctrinal-narrative tradition of the near-death vision has parallels across Indian, Central Asian, and Chinese Buddhist literature; the Chinese form developed considerably in the medieval míngbào (冥報, “underworld-report”) narrative genre. The sūtra is one of the earliest Chinese-language exemplars of the near-death-vision avadāna style.

Translations and research

No standalone Western translation located. On the near-death-vision tradition in Chinese Buddhism see:

  • Teiser, Stephen F. The Scripture on the Ten Kings and the Making of Purgatory in Medieval Chinese Buddhism. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994.
  • Campany, Robert Ford. The Chinese History of a Buddhist Concept of the Other World. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2009.

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