Fóshuō yīxiàng chūshēng púsà jīng 佛說一向出生菩薩經
Sūtra on the Single-Direction Bodhisattva-Origination (Anantamukha-sādhaka-dhāraṇī) by 闍那崛多 (Jñānagupta, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Suí-period translation of the Anantamukha-sādhaka-dhāraṇī by Jñānagupta (闍那崛多, 523–600), produced as part of his major translation programme at Dàxìngshànsì 大興善寺 in Chángān during the late 580s. The Chinese title 一向出生菩薩 reflects the Indic concept eka-yāna-niryāṇa-bodhisattva — the bodhisattva who proceeds in a single direction toward awakening — and so emphasises the dhāraṇī’s bodhicitta-generating function rather than its protective or apotropaic uses.
Abstract
Jñānagupta, a Gandhāran monk who arrived in China via Khotan in the Northern-Zhōu period and continued his work into the early Suí, was one of the leading translators of the late-sixth-century. The Suí court formally re-established the imperial translation institute and Jñānagupta directed its work alongside 達摩笈多 Dharmagupta. The present sūtra is one of his shorter dhāraṇī-works, made probably during 587–591 at the height of his Suí-period productivity (when he produced 39 texts in 192 fascicles). Listed at Nanjio 359; preserved in the Korean (高麗) and Sòng (大→宋) editions, with a notable witness in the Shōgozō (大→聖) line. For the full Anantamukha translation cycle, see KR6j0202.
Translations and research
- Inagaki, Hisao. The Anantamukha-nirhāra-dhāraṇī Sūtra and Jñānagarbha’s Commentary. Kyoto: Nagata Bunshōdō, 1987.
- Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021.
Links
- CBETA T19n1017
- Kanseki DB
- 闍那崛多 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (590) — 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.