Fó shuō tuólínní bō jīng 佛說陀隣尼鉢經
Sūtra of the Dhāraṇī-Bowl by 曇無蘭 (Tánwúlán, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Eastern-Jìn translation by 曇無蘭 Tánwúlán (also written 竺曇無蘭 Zhú Tánwúlán; fl. 381–395). The colophon “東晉西域沙門竺曇無蘭譯”. The Taishō editors mark this as the second of the four-text chíjùzhòu parallel cluster — “[Nos. 1351, 1353–1355]” — alongside KR6j0581 (支謙 Zhīqiān), KR6j0583 and KR6j0584 (both 闍那崛多 Jñānagupta), and KR6j0585 (施護 Shīhù). The dating bracket follows Tánwúlán’s active span in the Eastern-Jìn capital area.
Abstract
The frame is essentially identical to KR6j0581 but with a richer set of Sanskrit-derived names. The Buddha-of-faraway-world is here named Yīkǎbōtíluóyé 伊迦波提羅耶 (晉言 Zuìshàng tiānwáng, “Most-supreme Heaven-King”) of the world Ānántuó jūcán 阿難陀拘蠶 (晉言 Huájī, “Flower-Heap”); the two messenger-bodhisattvas are Āmítuófǎ 阿彌陀法 (晉言 Wúliàng guāngmíng) and Móhēfǎ 摩訶法 (晉言 Dà guāngmíng) — the gloss-couplet “X 晉言 Y” is characteristic of Tánwúlán’s translation idiom. The dhāraṇī itself (shé-lí mó-hē shé-lí…) is transcriptionally close to Zhīqiān’s version. Maitreya-Ajita and the Buddha each contribute a parallel dhāraṇī.
Together with KR6j0581 this is the most archaic Chinese dhāraṇī-text cluster — its diction is pre-Suí, its narrative frame minimal, its rhetorical economy sharp. The catalog tradition (Chū sānzàng jì jí) records it in Tánwúlán’s list. The Goryeo, Sòng, Yuán, Míng witnesses agree. Nanjio N0345.
Translations and research
- Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: IRIAB, Soka University, 2008. — discussion of Tánwúlán’s profile of short translations.