Míshāsāi wǔfēn jièběn 彌沙塞五分戒本
The Mahīśāsaka Five-Part Prātimokṣa for Monks by 佛陀什 (Buddhajīva, 等譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle extract of the bhikṣu-prātimokṣa — the 251 (in this recension 251) training rules recited at the bi-monthly uposatha assembly — drawn from the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (KR6k0001). Translated at Jiànkāng in 423–424 CE by Buddhajīva 佛陀什 (佛陀什) as the practical recitation-text for the uposatha assembly. The structure follows the standard Vinaya pattern: 4 pārājika + 13 saṃghāvaśeṣa + 2 aniyata + 30 naiḥsargika-pāyantika + 91 pāyantika + 4 pratideśanīya + 100 śaikṣa + 7 adhikaraṇa-śamatha dharmas, totalling 251 rules.
Prefaces
The Taishō text opens with the chapter-heading and the standard uposatha formula. The translator’s colophon reads: 宋罽賓三藏佛陀什等譯 — “Translated by the Tripiṭaka-master Buddhajīva of Kashmir under the [Liú] Sòng, and others.” The prātimokṣa extract is conventionally bound with the parent Vinaya in the manuscript tradition.
Abstract
The Míshāsāi wǔfēn jièběn is the Mahīśāsaka monastic Pātimokkha in its Chinese recension, and one of the four extant Chinese bhikṣu-prātimokṣas alongside the Dharmaguptaka Sìfēn jièběn (KR6k0010), the Sarvāstivāda Shísòng prātimokṣa (KR6k0017), and the Mahāsāṃghika Dàbǐqiū jièběn (KR6k0007). Its placement in volume 22 of the Taishō reflects the canonical sub-division: T22 contains the Mahīśāsaka, Mahāsāṃghika, and Dharmaguptaka complete Vinayas + their derivatives. The Taishō entry is split into an “a” version (the standard transmission, 1422a) and a “b” version (a variant). The “a” recension is the principal text; the “b” variant is regarded by Hirakawa as a later editorial revision, possibly reflecting a different manuscript stream. Comparative philological work (Pachow 1955, Yifa 2002) treats this prātimokṣa as the most archaic in feel of the four Chinese versions, with rule-formulations close to those of the Pāli Pātimokkha and to the Sanskrit fragments at Gilgit.
Translations and research
- Pachow, W. A Comparative Study of the Prātimokṣa, on the Basis of its Chinese, Tibetan, Sanskrit, and Pāli Versions. Santiniketan: Sino-Indian Cultural Society, 1955; reprint Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.
- Prebish, Charles S. Buddhist Monastic Discipline: The Sanskrit Prātimokṣa Sūtras of the Mahāsāṃghikas and Mūlasarvāstivādins. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975. — Comparative apparatus uses the Mahīśāsaka recension.
- Hirakawa Akira 平川彰. Ritsuzō no kenkyū 律藏の研究. Tokyo: Sankibō, 1960.
- Yifa, Bhikṣuṇī. The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Chanyuan qinggui. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2002. — Comparative discussion of the four Chinese prātimokṣas.