Āpídámó Zàng Xiǎnzōng Lùn 阿毘達磨藏顯宗論
Abhidharmakośa-śāstra-kārikā-vibhāṣya: Commentary Manifesting the Correct Teaching of the Abhidharma Treasury by 眾賢 (造), 玄奘 (譯)
About the work
The Āpídámó Zàng Xiǎnzōng Lùn 阿毘達磨藏顯宗論 (CBETA T29n1563) is a Tang dynasty translation of Saṃghabhadra’s systematic presentation of orthodox Vaibhāṣika Abhidharma, 40 juan, composed by 尊者眾賢 (眾賢) and translated by Xuánzàng 玄奘 (玄奘). The source text reads “尊者眾賢造 / 三藏法師玄奘奉詔譯.” The Taisho cross-reference gives “No. 1563.”
Prefaces
No independent preface survives in the received text. The text opens with a verse of homage to the Buddha and then begins the systematic exposition in 序品第一.
Abstract
The Abhidharmakośa-śāstra-kārikā-vibhāṣya (variously reconstructed; the Chinese title means “Treatise Revealing the Correct Teaching of the Abhidharma Treasury”) is Saṃghabhadra 眾賢’s second major work alongside the Nyāyānusāra (KR6l0031). While the Nyāyānusāra is an exhaustive polemical commentary that follows the Kośa chapter-by-chapter to refute Vasubandhu, the Xiǎnzōng lùn is a condensed systematic exposition of correct (orthodox Vaibhāṣika) Abhidharma teaching organized around the same topics, presented in Saṃghabhadra’s own voice rather than as a critique. At 40 juan it is approximately half the length of the Nyāyānusāra.
Both works were translated by Xuanzang and together represent the most authoritative surviving voice of Kaśmīri Vaibhāṣika Abhidharma in Chinese. The Xiǎnzōng lùn opens with a distinctive verse of homage not used in the Nyāyānusāra, marking it as an independent composition. Modern scholars (Cox 1995; Willemen-Dessein-Cox 1998) treat the two texts together as the fullest expression of Vaibhāṣika scholasticism against the Kośa critique.
Translations and research
- Cox, Collett. Disputed Dharmas. Tokyo: International Institute for Buddhist Studies, 1995.
- Willemen, Charles, Bart Dessein, and Collett Cox. Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Scholasticism. Leiden: Brill, 1998.
Links
- CBETA Online
- Taisho Vol. 29, No. 1563
- Kanseki DB