Wǔfēn jièběn 五分戒本
The Five-Part Prātimokṣa (variant recension) by 佛陀什 (Buddhajīva, 等譯)
About the work
The Taishō number T22n1422b, traditionally bound together with T22n1422a (KR6k0002) under the same canonical entry, presents a variant manuscript stream of the Mahīśāsaka bhikṣu-prātimokṣa. The text is a one-fascicle extract giving the same 251-rule structure but with editorial adjustments in some clauses, in the running headings, and in the order of the śaikṣa rules.
Prefaces
The recension carries no separate translator’s preface; the colophon attributes the translation, like 1422a, to Buddhajīva 佛陀什 (佛陀什). The variant status is established by the Kāiyuán shìjiào lù 開元釋教錄 (T55n2154) and the Zhēnyuán xīn dìng shìjiào mù-lù 貞元新定釋教目錄 (T55n2157), which note the transmission of two sub-recensions of the Mahīśāsaka prātimokṣa — the difference appears to reflect a later Sòng/Yuán-dynasty editorial revision over against the older Tang-period transmission.
Abstract
The two-recension transmission of the Mahīśāsaka prātimokṣa is unique among the four Chinese Vinayas in showing visible textual variation between manuscript streams. Comparative work (Hirakawa 1960, Heirman 2002) treats T1422a as closer to the parent Wǔfēn lǜ and T1422b as an editorial revision, possibly post-Tang. The textual difference is small in substance but consistent enough to merit a separate Taishō entry. The text is included in the Sòng 宋, Yuán 元, and Gōng 宮 (Kunaichō) editions but absent from the Korean 麗 and Sēng 聖 lines, suggesting that the divergence developed within the Chinese transmission.
Translations and research
- Hirakawa Akira 平川彰. Ritsuzō no kenkyū 律藏の研究. Tokyo: Sankibō, 1960. — Compares the two recensions in detail.
- Heirman, Ann. “The Discipline in Four Parts”: Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2002. — Brief discussion of the Mahīśāsaka recension as comparison.