Āpítán Gānlùwèi Lùn 阿毘曇甘露味論
Abhidharma-amṛtarasa-śāstra: Treatise on the Taste of Nectar of the Abhidharma by 尊者瞿沙 (造)
About the work
The Āpítán Gānlùwèi Lùn 阿毘曇甘露味論 (Skt. Abhidharma-amṛtarasa-śāstra, CBETA T28n1553) is a brief Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma manual, 2 juan, attributed to the Venerable Ghoṣa 尊者瞿沙 (尊者瞿沙). The translation is anonymous (shī yì 失譯; the source text reads 曹魏代譯失三藏名, “translator unknown, Cao Wei period”), placing the translation in the Cao Wei dynasty (220–265 CE). The text is one of the earliest known Abhidharma translations into Chinese.
Prefaces
No independent preface survives. The text opens directly with the first category (布施持戒品第一, “Chapter One on Dāna and Śīla”).
Abstract
The Amṛtarasa (“taste of nectar”) is a compact introductory Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma manual structured in chapters covering dāna (generosity), śīla (ethical conduct), and the standard Abhidharma topics (aggregates, elements, sense-bases, dependent origination, the path). It is attributed to the Venerable Ghoṣa 瞿沙 (Ghoṣa), one of the four great masters of the Kaśmīra Vaibhāṣika tradition cited frequently in the Mahāvibhāṣā (KR6l0010). Ghoṣa is particularly associated with the view that past and future dharmas are “different from one another in character” (lakṣaṇa-anyatva), one of the classic positions on the reality of the three times.
The translation appears to be among the earliest Abhidharma texts rendered into Chinese (attributed to the Cao Wei period, 220–265 CE), predating most of the major Sarvāstivāda translations. Its anonymous status in the transmission may indicate textual uncertainty or loss of colophon information during the Wei-Jin transition.
Translations and research
- No substantial secondary literature specifically on this text located.
- Willemen, Dessein, and Cox. Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Scholasticism. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
Links
- CBETA Online
- Taisho Vol. 28, No. 1553
- Kanseki DB