Fóshuō dàshèng bùsīyì shéntōng jìngjiè jīng 佛說大乘不思議神通境界經
Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on the Mahāyāna Inconceivable Sphere of Supernatural Powers by 施護 (Shīhù / Dānapāla, 譯)
About the work
The Fóshuō dàshèng bùsīyì shéntōng jìngjiè jīng in 3 fascicles (T17 no. 843, alt. title Bùsīyì shéntōng jìngjiè jīng 不思議神通境界經, also Shènxīyǒu jīng 甚希有經) is a Mahāyāna sūtra translated by 施護 Shīhù (Skt. Dānapāla) at the Sòng Institute for the Translation of Sūtras (譯經院) in Kāifēng during the late tenth century. The signature line gives Shīhù’s full court title at the time of translation: 西天譯經三藏朝奉大夫試光祿卿傳法大師賜紫臣施護奉詔譯 (“The Indian trepiṭaka of the translation-of-sūtras [bureau], cháo-fèng dà-fū, shì guāng-lù qīng, Master Who Transmits the Dharma, recipient of the purple [robe], your subject Shīhù, translated by imperial command”). The setting of the sūtra is the fǎjiè guāngmíng púsà gōng 法界光明菩薩宮 (“Bodhisattva Palace of the Dharma-Realm Radiance”), with the Buddha addressing five hundred thousand bhikṣus, a Mahāyāna scenography characteristic of Sòng-era prajñāpāramitā-related translations.
Abstract
Shīhù arrived in the Sòng capital in TàipíngXīngguó 太平興國 5 (980) and was installed as one of the three principal translators of the Sòng Institute when it opened in TàipíngXīngguó 7 (982). He died in late 1017. The composition window for any of his translations therefore falls between 980 and 1017; for the present sūtra a tighter dating cannot be established from internal evidence, but the Dàzhōngxiángfú fǎbǎo lù 大中祥符法寶錄 records the work as part of his sustained translation output across the late tenth and early eleventh centuries.
The sūtra belongs to the broad late-Mahāyāna category of bùsīyì jìngjiè 不思議境界 (“inconceivable sphere”) scriptures, which thematise the supernatural powers (shén-tōng 神通) and bodhisattva-stage manifestations of the great bodhisattvas. Three fascicles is a moderate length for the genre. The Sanskrit original is not extant, and no Tibetan translation has been identified; the sūtra is preserved exclusively through Shīhù’s Chinese translation. Bibliographic data: Korean Tripiṭaka K1425; Zhōnghuá H067; Nanjio 936.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Other points of interest
The Sòng Institute for the Translation of Sūtras under Tàizōng and Zhēnzōng produced the largest single body of Buddhist translations into Chinese after the Táng-period peak; Shīhù’s contribution constitutes a major portion of this Sòng-era addition to the canon, but most of his translations — including the present sūtra — have not been the subject of substantial modern scholarly study. The text is one of many Sòng-Institute translations that survive in Chinese without parallel in Indic or Tibetan transmission.