Gēnběn shuōyīqiēyǒubù bìchúnī pínàiyē 根本說一切有部苾芻尼毘奈耶
The Mūlasarvāstivāda Bhikṣuṇī-Vibhaṅga (苾芻尼 bìchúnī = bhikṣuṇī) by 義淨 (Yìjìng, 譯)
About the work
The Bhikṣuṇī-vibhaṅga of the Mūlasarvāstivāda Vinaya in twenty fascicles, presenting the 354-rule bhikṣuṇī-prātimokṣa with its vibhaṅga exposition. Translated by Yìjìng (義淨) at Cháng’ān in the early 8th century. 苾芻尼 bìchúnī is Yìjìng’s preferred transliteration of bhikṣuṇī, replacing the older 比丘尼 bǐqiūnī — the change reflects Yìjìng’s commitment to recovering the “correct” Sanskrit pronunciation of monastic terms.
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 大唐三藏義淨奉制譯. Yìjìng’s commitment to philological rigour in transliteration is documented in his Nánhǎi jìguī nèifǎ zhuàn 南海寄歸內法傳 (T54n2125).
Abstract
The Mūlasarvāstivāda bhikṣuṇī-vibhaṅga is one of the four extant complete bhikṣuṇī-vibhaṅgas in the Chinese canon (alongside the Mahīśāsaka KR6k0001 sec., Mahāsāṃghika KR6k0006 sec., Dharmaguptaka KR6k0009 sec., and Sarvāstivāda KR6k0016 sec.). The Mūlasarvāstivāda recension is the longest and most narrative-rich of the four. Its bhikṣuṇī-discipline reflects the late-Indian Mūlasarvāstivāda institutional setting at Nālandā in the 7th century, and is the textual basis of the Tibetan bhikṣuṇī-Vinaya (which, however, was never in fact transmitted to Tibet as a living lineage — the Tibetan bhikṣuṇī-saṅgha was never established in pre-modern times).
Translations and research
- Schopen, Gregory. Buddhist Nuns, Monks, and Other Worldly Matters: Recent Papers on Monastic Buddhism in India. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2014.
- Heirman, Ann. Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. Delhi, 2002. — Comparative discussion.
- Wilson, Liz. Charming Cadavers: Horrific Figurations of the Feminine in Indian Buddhist Hagiographic Literature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. — Mines the bhikṣuṇī-vibhaṅga avadānas.
Links
- CBETA T23n1443
- 義淨 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