Sìfēn bǐqiūnī jièběn 四分比丘尼戒本
The Four-Part Bhikṣuṇī-Prātimokṣa (Dharmaguptaka) by 佛陀耶舍 (Buddhayaśas, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle extract of the Dharmaguptaka bhikṣuṇī-prātimokṣa (348 rules) from the parent Sìfēn lǜ (KR6k0009) by Buddhayaśas (佛陀耶舍) and his team at Cháng’ān, 410–412 CE. After the canonisation of the Sìfēn lǜ as the official East Asian ordination Vinaya in 709 CE, this text became the prātimokṣa recitation-text for nuns throughout China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam — and remains so today.
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 姚秦罽賓三藏佛陀耶舍譯. The 348-rule structure is: 8 pārājika + 17 saṃghāvaśeṣa + 30 naiḥsargika + 178 pāyantika + 8 pratideśanīya + 100 śaikṣa + 7 adhikaraṇa-śamatha.
Abstract
The Dharmaguptaka bhikṣuṇī-prātimokṣa in this Chinese rendering is the single most influential nuns’ rule-set in the world: the contemporary bhikṣuṇī-saṅghas of China, Korea, Vietnam, and the recently re-established lineages in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Tibetan tradition (where Dharmaguptaka ordination has been admitted to bridge gaps in the Mūlasarvāstivāda bhikṣuṇī-lineage that died out) all use rule-sets descended from this text. Heirman’s three-volume study (2002) is the standard scholarly treatment. Comparative work (Heirman 2002, Hirakawa 1982) shows the Dharmaguptaka bhikṣuṇī-prātimokṣa to share substantive content with the parallel Mahāsāṃghika (KR6k0008), Mahīśāsaka (KR6k0004), and Sarvāstivāda (KR6k0018) lines, but with a higher rule-count and distinctive formulations in several pāyantika and śaikṣa rules.
Translations and research
- Heirman, Ann. Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. 3 vols. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 2002. — Standard scholarly translation/study.
- Tsomo, Karma Lekshe. Sisters in Solitude: Two Traditions of Buddhist Monastic Ethics for Women (Albany: SUNY Press, 1996). — Comparison of the Dharmaguptaka and Mūlasarvāstivāda bhikṣuṇī-prātimokṣas.
- Pachow, W. A Comparative Study of the Prātimokṣa. Santiniketan, 1955.
Links
- CBETA T22n1431
- 佛陀耶舍 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (410, 690): [ Ono and Maruyama 1933-1936 ] Ono Genmyō 小野玄妙, Maruyama Takao 丸山孝雄, eds. Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 佛書解說大辭典. Tokyo: Daitō shuppan, 1933-1936 [縮刷版 1999]. s.v., Vol.4, 219 (Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋) (source)
- Kanseki DB