Fóshuō zàotǎ yánmìng gōngdé jīng 佛說造塔延命功德經
Sūtra on the Merit of Constructing Stūpas to Prolong Life by 般若 (Prajña, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle late-Tang translation by Prajña (般若 / Bōrě, 734–after 810) — the Kashmīri trepiṭaka who translated the 40-fascicle Avataṃsaka (KR6c0008 = T293). The present short text presents the doctrinal foundation for the merit-cycle of stūpa-construction: that erecting a stūpa, particularly with a dhāraṇī-deposit, prolongs the lifespan of the donor and benefits future generations. Together with the Bǎoqièyìn and Wúgòu jìngguāng sūtras (KR6j0215, KR6j0218), it provides the canonical authority for the East Asian relic-stūpa cult.
Abstract
Prajña arrived in Chángān in 781 and was active under emperors 唐德宗 Dézōng and 唐憲宗 Xiànzōng. His best-known work is the 40-fascicle expanded Gaṇḍavyūha (T293), but he also produced a number of shorter Esoteric and bodhicitta texts. The present short yánmìng (“life-prolonging”) sūtra fits into the Tang-period stūpa-cult that fused merit-doctrine with a quasi-medical concept of yánmìng (life-extension). The text is short and ritually programmatic; it underwrites a particular form of meritorious lay practice — the donor-funded construction of small stūpa or pagoda for the explicit benefit of life-extension — which became extremely popular in late-Tang and Sòng-Yuán East Asia, especially in Japan where it grounded the Heian-period stūpa-construction movement.
Translations and research
- Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021.
- Schopen, Gregory. Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1997. — broader context on the Indic backdrop of the stūpa-merit cycle.
Links
- CBETA T19n1026
- Kanseki DB
- 般若 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (800) — 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.