Bǐqiūnī jiémó jīng 比丘尼羯磨經
The Bhikṣuṇī Karmavācanā Sūtra by 求那跋摩 (Guṇavarman, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle bhikṣuṇī-procedural compendium translated by Guṇavarman (求那跋摩) at Jiànkāng in 431 CE. Companion text to KR6k0015 (Sìfēn bǐqiūnī jiémó-fǎ); transmission preserved in the Fáng-shān shíjīng 房山石經 stone-canon at Yúnjū-sì 雲居寺 near Beijing.
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 宋罽賓沙門求那跋摩譯.
Abstract
The text is one of two parallel bhikṣuṇī-karmavācanā compendia translated by Guṇavarman just before his death in 431. Its preservation only in the Fángshān stone-canon (the imperial Sòng-period stone engraving project at Yúnjū-sì begun under Jīngwǎn 靜琬 in the early 7th c.) attests to its valuation as a key procedural text for the Chinese bhikṣuṇī-saṅgha in the Sòng. The transmission stream is independent of the Taishō text KR6k0015, suggesting a parallel manuscript line preserved only in the stone-canon.
Translations and research
- Heirman, Ann. Rules for Nuns according to the Dharmaguptakavinaya. Delhi, 2002.
- Heirman, Ann. “Chinese Nuns and Their Ordination in Fifth Century China.” JIABS 24.2 (2001): 275–304.