Fó shuō wǔ kǒngbù shì jīng 佛說五恐怖世經
The Sūtra on the Five Fearful Conditions of the World by 沮渠京聲 (Jǔqú Jīngshēng, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Liú-Sòng-period translation by the prince-translator Jǔqú Jīngshēng 沮渠京聲 (沮渠京聲) of an Indian sūtra on the five fearful conditions that beset the late Dharma — the decline of monastic discipline, of doctrinal teaching, of meditative practice, etc.
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 宋安陽侯沮渠京聲譯.
Abstract
The text belongs to the Buddhist Dharma-decline (末法 mòfǎ) genre — sūtras that prophesy the decline of Buddhism through a sequence of stages of moral and disciplinary deterioration. The “five fearful conditions” specifically address the ways in which monastic discipline will collapse in the late Dharma. The genre is significant for the Buddhist understanding of historical time and was influential on Chinese Buddhist eschatology, especially in the 6th-century Sānjiē 三階 movement and later Pure Land thought.
Translations and research
- Nattier, Jan. Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline. Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1991.