Míshāsāi jiémó běn 彌沙塞羯磨本
The Mahīśāsaka Karmavācanā Compendium by 愛同 (Ài Tóng, 錄)
About the work
A one-fascicle compendium of karmavācanā (羯磨 jiémó) — the formal motion-and-resolution liturgies that govern Saṃgha legal acts (upasaṃpadā-ordination, uposatha, pravāraṇā, kaṭhina, saṅghādisesa-procedure, saṃghabheda-resolution, etc.) — extracted from the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya (KR6k0001) by the Tang-dynasty Vinaya master Ài Tóng 愛同 (愛同). The text is a practical handbook for the conduct of monastic business, parallel in function to Dàoxuān’s Sìfēn lǜ shānbǔ suíjī jiémó (KR6k0046) for the Dharmaguptaka tradition.
Prefaces
The compiler’s colophon identifies Táng Shì Àitóng lù 唐釋愛同錄 — “Recorded by the Tang śramaṇa Ài Tóng.” The text is documented in the Kāiyuán shìjiào lù (T55n2154) j. 13. No formal preface survives.
Abstract
The Mahīśāsaka jiémó běn is the only Mahīśāsaka karmavācanā compendium in the Chinese canon. Its existence is significant evidence for the late survival of the Mahīśāsaka practical Vinaya tradition in Tang China, even after the Sìfēn lǜ of the Dharmaguptakas had become the dominant practical Vinaya under Dàoxuān’s Nánshān school. The text records the karmavācanā formulae in continuous recitation-format, with the formulaic tatsugātha phrases (saṅgha listen! / evaṃ dhārayāmi equivalents) preserved in the standardized Chinese liturgical Sanskrit-translation register. Comparative work (Wèi 1995, Hirakawa 1960) treats this text as the key practical-Vinaya witness for the transmission of the Mahīśāsaka tradition into late-medieval Chinese Buddhism.
Translations and research
- Hirakawa Akira 平川彰. Ritsuzō no kenkyū 律藏の研究. Tokyo: Sankibō, 1960.
- Wèi Dào-rǔ 魏道儒, Zhōngguó fójiào lǜ-zōng 中國佛教律宗 (Beijing: Zōngjiào wénhuà chūbǎnshè, 1995). — Discusses the Mahīśāsaka tradition in late-medieval China.
Links
- CBETA T22n1424
- 愛同 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (705): [ T ] 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. (source)
- Kanseki DB