Púsàjiè jiémówén 菩薩戒羯磨文
The Karmavācanā for the Bodhisattva Precepts by 彌勒菩薩 (Maitreya, 說) and 玄奘 (Xuánzàng, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle karmavācanā (procedural-formula) text for the conferral of the bodhisattva-precepts, attributed to Maitreya Bodhisattva 彌勒菩薩 (彌勒菩薩) and translated by Xuánzàng 玄奘 (玄奘) at Chángān 645–664 CE. Excerpted from the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra (T30n1579) bodhisattva-bhūmi section.
Prefaces
Translator’s colophon: 大唐三藏法師玄奘奉詔譯.
Abstract
The Púsàjiè jiémówén is the procedural-formula handbook for the Yogācāra tradition’s conferral of the bodhisattva-precepts. Where the Fànwǎng jīng tradition presents the bodhisattva-precepts in narrative-cosmological form, the Yogācārabhūmi-derived tradition presents them as a systematic procedural rite parallel to the Vinaya karmavācanā. The text is foundational for the Yogācāra-Cí’ēn 慈恩 reading of the bodhisattva-precepts and is a key counterpart to the Fànwǎng tradition. The Sanskrit original is preserved in Asaṅga’s Yogācārabhūmi.
Translations and research
- Tatz, Mark. Asaṅga’s Chapter on Ethics with the Commentary of Tsong-Kha-pa: The Basic Path to Awakening. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 1986.