Sìfēn lǜ bǐqiū jièběn 四分律比丘戒本
The Four-Part Vinaya Bhikṣu-Prātimokṣa (Dharmaguptaka) by 佛陀耶舍 (Buddhayaśas, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle extract of the Dharmaguptaka bhikṣu-prātimokṣa (250 rules) from the parent Sìfēn lǜ (KR6k0009). Together with the parallel KR6k0011 (Sìfēn sēngjièběn), this is the practical recitation-text used at the bi-monthly uposatha assembly. After the imperial decree of 709 CE made the Sìfēn lǜ the canonical East Asian ordination Vinaya, this prātimokṣa — together with Dàoxuān’s Sìfēn lǜ bǐqiū hánzhù jièběn (KR6k0131) — became the monastic recitation-text of all Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese Buddhism.
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 姚秦罽賓三藏佛陀耶舍譯. The text opens with the standard uposatha invocation. The 250-rule structure is: 4 pārājika + 13 saṃghāvaśeṣa + 2 aniyata + 30 naiḥsargika-pāyantika + 90 pāyantika + 4 pratideśanīya + 100 śaikṣa + 7 adhikaraṇa-śamatha.
Abstract
The Dharmaguptaka bhikṣu-prātimokṣa in the Sìfēn lǜ bǐqiū jièběn is the most-recited Buddhist text in the history of East Asian Buddhism: every monastic uposatha assembly held in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam since the 8th century has used some version of this rule-set. Variant editions, all derived from this Tang translation, exist in Korean (Tripiṭaka Koreana), Japanese (the Risshū tradition), and Vietnamese transmissions. The text is therefore not just a philological object but the central liturgical document of East Asian monastic Buddhism. Comparative work (Pachow 1955) shows the Dharmaguptaka prātimokṣa to be substantively close to the Mahīśāsaka and Theravāda lines but with school-specific divergences in the formulation of certain naiḥsargika and pāyantika rules.
Translations and research
- Pachow, W. A Comparative Study of the Prātimokṣa. Santiniketan, 1955; reprint Delhi, 2000.
- Heirman, Ann. Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2002.
- Beal, Samuel. A Catena of Buddhist Scriptures from the Chinese. London: Trübner, 1871, pp. 204–239. — Old but pioneering English summary.
- Wieger, Léon. Bouddhisme chinois: Vinaya — Monachisme et discipline (Hīnayāna, Véhicule inférieur). Hokien Fu: Imprimerie de la Mission Catholique, 1910. — Classic French translation.
Links
- CBETA T22n1429
- 佛陀耶舍 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (390, 410, 690, 697): [ Sakaino 1935 ] Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋. Shina Bukkyō seishi 支那佛教精史. Tokyo: Sakaino Kōyō Hakushi Ikō Kankōkai, 1935. 401 (source)
- Kanseki DB