Fóshuō dàshèng bādà mànnáluó jīng 佛說大乘八大曼拏羅經
Sūtra of the Mahāyāna Eight Great Mandalas Spoken by the Buddha by 法賢 (Fǎxián, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Northern Sòng mandala-sūtra translated by Făxián (法賢, d. 1001). 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. Taishō head-note: No. 1168A [No. 1167]. The Sòng counterpart to Amoghavajra’s earlier T1167 (KR6j0390); the two versions of the Aṣṭamaṇḍalaka-sūtra document the long Chinese textual transmission of the Eight-Great-Bodhisattvas mandala. Closely related to KR6j0392 (T1168B, an anonymous parallel).
Abstract
The text opens at Potalaka-mountain (補陀落迦山) in the Holy-Avalokiteśvara-Bodhisattva Palace (聖觀自在菩薩宮), surrounded by a koṭi-nayuta multitude of bodhisattvas in respectful attendance. Ratnagarbha-Candraprabha (寶藏月光) rises from his seat, bares his right shoulder, kneels with right knee, joins his palms, and addresses the Buddha. The narrative-frame is identical to that of T1167 (KR6j0390) — the same Indic-source text underlies both; Făxián’s version exhibits the early-Sòng Imperial-Translation-Bureau diction (somewhat more periphrastic and ornate) while preserving the same ritual content. The principal teaching is the construction-and-empowerment of the Eight Great Bodhisattvas mandala (八大曼拏羅) for ritual practice. Făxián’s translation activity at the Bureau spanned 989–1001; this work falls in that bracket.
Translations and research
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2003.
- Bowring, Richard. “Brief Notes on the Sung Buddhist Translation Project.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 7 (1993): 137–146.
- Howard, Angela F. The Imagery of the Cosmological Buddha. Leiden: Brill, 1986.
Links
- CBETA T20n1168A
- 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.