Fó shuō Mùlián wèn jièlǜ zhōng wǔbǎi qīngzhòng shì 佛說目連問戒律中五百輕重事
The Sūtra of Maudgalyāyana’s Five-Hundred Inquiries on the Light and Heavy Matters of the Vinaya (recension a) (translator unknown)
About the work
A one-fascicle Q&A sūtra — Maudgalyāyana 目連 inquires of the Buddha on five hundred (五百 = “many”) casuistic Vinaya questions, the Buddha replies. Translator and date unknown; the catalog assigns it to “lost translation”. Variant recension to T1483b (KR6k0073).
Prefaces
No translator-attribution survives.
Abstract
The Mùlián wǔbǎiwèn is the most extensive Buddhist Vinaya casuistic catechism in the Chinese canon. The format — a series of borderline cases posed by Maudgalyāyana with the Buddha’s adjudication — extends the Vinaya-paripṛcchā genre (cf. KR6k0054 for the Upāli equivalent) into a comprehensive practical handbook for the resolution of difficult Vinaya questions. The casuistic content — addressing exactly the kinds of borderline cases that arise in actual monastic practice — made the text exceptionally important for monastic instruction. The late-Míng commentaries by 性祇 Xìng Qí (Mùlián wǔbǎiwèn jīng lüèjiě 佛說目連五百問經略解, KR6k0074) and 永海 Yǒng Hǎi (Mùlián wǔbǎiwèn jièlǜzhōng qīngzhòngshì jīngshì 佛說目連五百問戒律中輕重事經釋, KR6k0075) testify to its continued use throughout the imperial period.
Translations and research
- Hirakawa Akira 平川彰. Ritsuzō no kenkyū. Tokyo: Sankibō, 1960.