Āpídámó Jùshě Shìlùn 阿毘達磨俱舍釋論
Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya: Commentary on the Treasury of Higher Doctrine by 婆藪槃豆菩薩 (造), 真諦 (譯)
About the work
The Āpídámó Jùshě Shìlùn 阿毘達磨俱舍釋論 (CBETA T29n1559) is the Chen dynasty (陳) translation of Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, in 22 juan, composed by Vasubandhu 婆藪盤豆 (婆藪槃豆菩薩) and translated by Paramārtha 真諦 (真諦). It is the older of the two surviving Chinese translations of the Kośa, predating Xuanzang’s version (KR6l0023, T1558) by approximately a century. The title Shì-lùn 釋論 emphasizes the “commentary” (bhāṣya) character of the text.
Prefaces
The opening of the text contains a translator’s preface (xù 序) by Paramārtha, which discusses the history of Abhidharma transmission in China, notes the inadequacies of the earlier partial translations (Vibhāṣā and Saṃyuktābhidharma-hṛdaya), and outlines Vasubandhu’s achievement:
“佛滅度後千一百餘年，有出家菩薩，名婆藪盤豆。器度宏曠，神才壯逸……先於薩婆多部出家，仍學彼部所立三藏。後見彼法多有乖違，故造此論，具述彼執，隨其謬處，以經部破之。”
“More than eleven hundred years after the Nirvāṇa of the Buddha, there appeared a renunciant Bodhisattva named Vasubandhu. Of vast capacity and brilliant talent…. He first renounced the world in the Sarvāstivāda school and studied the three baskets as established by that school. Later, seeing many contradictions in their dharma, he composed this treatise, setting forth their positions and refuting their errors using Sautrāntika arguments.”
Abstract
Paramārtha 真諦 (499–569 CE) translated the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya sometime in the mid-6th century, most likely in the period 563–567 CE during his stay in Guǎngzhōu 廣州. His translation, in 22 juan (shorter than Xuanzang’s 30-juan rendering), became the first complete Chinese translation of the Kośa and was widely studied in southern China. Paramārtha’s rendering was criticized by later scholars — notably 普光 普光 in his commentary (KR6l0034) — for occasional errors and archaic terminology. Xuanzang undertook his fresh translation (KR6l0023) partly in response to these perceived shortcomings.
The text belongs to the same stratum of Sarvāstivāda scholasticism as its pair-text (KR6l0023): both translate the same Sanskrit source, but the two renderings reflect different translation methodologies (Paramārtha’s more fluid, Xuanzang’s more literalistic). Vasubandhu’s dates and the relationship between the “Sarvāstivāda Vasubandhu” (author of the Kośa) and the “Yogācāra Vasubandhu” (author of the Triṃśikā etc.) remain debated in modern scholarship.
Translations and research
- de La Vallée Poussin, Louis. L’Abhidharmakośa de Vasubandhu. 6 vols. Paris: Geuthner, 1923–1931. — Primarily based on Xuanzang’s version (T1558) but collates T1559.
- Frauwallner, Erich. “On the Date of the Buddhist Master of the Law Vasubandhu.” Serie Orientale Roma III. Rome: IsMEO, 1951.
- Obermiller, Eugene. Analysis of the Abhisamayālaṃkāra. Calcutta, 1936 (for context on the dual-Vasubandhu question).
Links
- CBETA Online
- Taisho Vol. 29, No. 1559
- 真諦 DILA
- Kanseki DB