Fóshuō shèng Duōluó púsà jīng 佛說聖多羅菩薩經
Sūtra of the Holy Bodhisattva Tārā Spoken by the Buddha (ĀryaTārāsūtra) by 法賢 (Fǎxián, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Northern Sòng translation of an Ārya-Tārā-sūtra by Fǎxián (法賢, d. 1001), the principal monk-translator of the Sòng Yìjīngyuàn 譯經院 after 天息災 Tiānxīzāi (KR6j0315 translator). The colophon: 西天譯經三藏朝散大夫試光祿卿明教大師臣法賢奉詔譯 — “Translated by Imperial Decree by Fǎxián, Tripiṭaka-master of Western India, Court-Audience-Officer-Test-Director-of-the-Court-of-Imperial-Entertainments, Míngjiào Master.” The text is one of the cluster of Sòng-period Tārā translations: T1104 (KR6j0313, here), T1105 (KR6j0314, Fǎtiān), T1106 (KR6j0315, Tiānxīzāi), T1107 (KR6j0316, Shīhù).
Abstract
The discourse is set at the Xiāngzuìshān 香醉山 (Gandhamādana, “the Fragrant Intoxicating Mountain”), at the palace of the Wǔjì gāntàpó wáng 五髻乾闥婆王 (Pañcaśikha-Gandharva-rāja, “Gandharva-King with the Five Topknots”), where heavenly drums, lutes, and song produce subtle sounds. The Buddha is seated in the great hall surrounded by bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, śaikṣa and aśaikṣa śrāvakas, and innumerable deva-nāga-yakṣa-gandharva-asura assemblies. The text recounts Tārā’s exposition of her dhāraṇī, her past-life narrative as the daughter of the kingdom of Trailokya-vyūha who vowed to remain in female form throughout her path to Buddhahood (the prātimokṣa-vow of femininity), her siddhi-applications, and the standard Mahāyāna-Esoteric apparatus.
The translation is a relatively faithful Sòng-period rendering of an Indic ĀryaTārāsūtra — most likely the same Indic source-base that would later be translated into Tibetan as the Tāramūla-kalpa-related material. As one of the principal Sòng Tārā witnesses it has historiographical importance for tracing the Sòng-imperial reception of the Indian Tantric goddess-cult.
Translations and research
- Beyer, Stephan. The Cult of Tārā. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973.
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2003 — Sòng imperial translation programme.
- Willson, Martin. In Praise of Tārā: Songs to the Saviouress. London: Wisdom, 1986.
Links
- CBETA T20n1104
- Kanseki DB
- 法賢 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (1001) — 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.