Jiětuō jièjīng 解脫戒經
The Sūtra of the Liberation Precepts (Skt. Vimukti-prātimokṣa-sūtra, the Kāśyapīya prātimokṣa) by 般若流支 (Prajñāruci, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Chinese translation of the Kāśyapīya bhikṣu-prātimokṣa — the recitation-text of one of the lesser-known Sthavira-derived schools, the Kāśyapīya (飲光部 Yǐnguāng-bù — “those of the Light-drinker”, Skt. kāśyapīya). 解脫 jiětuō “liberation” translates vimukti; the title reflects the school’s preferred designation of the prātimokṣa as “liberation precepts”. Translated by Prajñāruci 般若流支 (般若流支) at Yè 鄴 of the Northern (Yuán) Wèi 元魏 in the Wǔdìng 武定 reign-period (c. 543 CE).
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 元魏天竺三藏般若流支譯.
Abstract
The Jiětuō jièjīng is the only extant text of the Kāśyapīya school in Chinese, and one of only two extant texts of any kind from this school (the other being the Pāli Kāśyapīya fragments). The Kāśyapīya was traditionally considered an offshoot of the Sarvāstivāda, founded by Kāśyapa (or Suvarṣaka); it was active in the northwestern frontier regions and Central Asia in the early-medieval period. The text gives the prātimokṣa in 246 rules, slightly differing in count from the parallel Sthavira lines. Its translation in mid-6th-century Yè by Prajñāruci is the unique witness to the school’s continued vitality at that date. Comparative philological work (Pachow 1955, Roth 1980) treats this text as the indispensable witness for Kāśyapīya Vinaya tradition.
Translations and research
- Pachow, W. A Comparative Study of the Prātimokṣa. Santiniketan, 1955; reprint Delhi, 2000.
- Roth, Gustav. “A Note on Kāśyapīya School Vinaya.” In Studies in Indian and Buddhist Law (1980).
- Yìnshùn 印順. Yuánshǐ fójiào shèngdiǎn zhī jíchéng 原始佛教聖典之集成. Taipei: Zhèng-wén chūbǎnshè, 1971; revised 1988.
Links
- CBETA T24n1460
- 般若流支 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (520): [ 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