Fó shuō chūshēng pútí xīn jīng 佛說出生菩提心經
The Buddha Speaks: The Sūtra of the Birth of the Bodhi-Mind (Skt. Bodhicittotpāda / Bodhi-prasthāna-sūtra) translated by 闍那崛多 (Shénàjuéduō, Jñānagupta, 譯)
About the work
T837 in one fascicle is a Mahāyāna sūtra on the doctrine of the arising of the bodhicitta (出生菩提心 chūshēng pútí xīn; Skt. bodhicittotpāda), translated by the Suí Indian translator 闍那崛多 (Jñānagupta, 523–600) at Cháng’ān during his Suí Wéndì translation career. A parallel translation by 施護 (Dānapāla) of the Sòng survives as [[KR6i0544|Fó shuō fā pútíxīn pò zhū mó jīng 佛說發菩提心破諸魔經 (T838)]]. The doctrine of bodhicittotpāda — the resolve to attain anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi for the salvation of all beings — is the foundational bodhisattva-aspiration, and was widely treated in dedicated Mahāyāna sūtras.
Abstract
The text opens at the Veṇuvana at Rājagṛha. A Brahmin of the Kāśyapa-gotra (婆羅門姓大迦葉) has had a remarkable dream: he saw, on the surface of the jambū-dvīpa (Indian sub-continent), a great thousand-petalled lotus, its radiance illuminating the trichilio-cosmos, made of the seven precious substances; within the lotus a moon-disc; within the moon-disc a great male figure radiating light to all four directions, at sight of which all beings of the world rejoiced.
The Brahmin awakes troubled. Recalling that “the śramaṇa Gautama” — the Buddha — has subdued Māra, attained great enlightenment, and is famous for resolving doubts, he goes to the Veṇuvana to ask the Buddha about his dream. The Buddha tells him there are four auspicious dreams (四種善夢 sì zhǒng shànmèng) that portend the attainment of the supreme dharma: dreams of a lotus, an umbrella-canopy, a moon-disc, and the form of the Buddha. Whoever dreams them should rejoice in their good fortune.
The Brahmin then asks: what is the “great benefit” (大利 dàlì) that beings should seek, and through what cause is it attained? The Buddha responds with an extended gāthā-exposition: the great benefit is the sarvajña-knowledge — the omniscience of a Buddha — and it is attained only through arousing the bodhicitta. Whatever good fruit a being may seek — to become a cakravartin, a Brahmā-king, lord of the kāma-, rūpa-, ārūpya-dhātus, a great merchant-leader, a great teacher, a paṇḍita, a yogācāra — all are only attainable through the prior arousing of the bodhicitta. The body of the sūtra expounds the bodhicitta-arising under multiple aspects: its conditions, its qualities, its progressive development through the bodhisattva-bhūmi, and its irreversible establishment through the anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti.
The Kāśyapa-gotra Brahmin is converted, arouses the bodhicitta, and is given a Buddha-prediction (vyākaraṇa). The text closes with the assembly’s joyful reception.
Translations and research
No standalone Western translation located. On the bodhicittotpāda doctrine see:
- Lamotte, Étienne. Le Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse de Nāgārjuna. Vol. IV. Louvain: Publications de l’Institut Orientaliste de Louvain, 1976.
- Williams, Paul. Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2009, pp. 195–225.
Links
- CBETA online
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (590): [ T ] T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014. https://dazangthings.nz/cbc/source/1/