Jùshě Lùn Jì 俱舍論記
Commentary on the Abhidharmakośa by 普光 (述)
About the work
The Jùshě Lùn Jì 俱舍論記 (CBETA T41n1821) is a Tang dynasty 30-juan commentary on Xuanzang’s translation of the Abhidharmakośa (KR6l0023, T1558), composed by the monk Pǔguāng 普光 (普光), also known as Shìguāng 釋光 or Dàchéng Guāng 大乘光. The text opens “沙門釋光述” and is the most comprehensive and authoritative Chinese commentary on the Kośa in the Xuanzang transmission.
Prefaces
The first juan contains a substantial introductory section (xuán tán 玄談) in which 普光 discusses: (1) the circumstance giving rise to the text (jiào qǐ yīnyuán 教起因緣); (2) notes on Paramārtha’s earlier translation (noting specific doctrinal errors); and (3) Xuanzang’s motivations for undertaking a fresh translation. 普光 explicitly records that Paramārtha’s rendering (T1559, KR6l0028) contained difficulties in passages on “present-existence non-attainment” (xiànfǎ fēidé 現法非得) and “constant non-fruit-cause” (cháng fēi guǒyīn 常非果因), issues that Xuanzang’s translation resolves.
Abstract
Pǔguāng 普光 (also called Shìguāng 釋光 or Dàchéng Guāng 大乘光; fl. mid-7th century CE) was one of Xuanzang’s principal disciples and served for approximately twenty years as his bǐshòu 筆受 (brush-receiver, i.e., the scribe who wrote down dictated translations). He is identified as the first to transmit Xuanzang’s oral teaching on the Kośa in the commentary’s preface: “其徒大乘光法師，親承密誨，初傳正釋” (in the preface to KR6l0036 by 賈曾 Jiǎ Céng). He composed two Kośa-related works in the Kanripo corpus: the present comprehensive commentary (T1821) and the brief systematic treatise Jùshě lùn fǎzōngyuán 俱舍論法宗原 (KR6l0038, X53n837).
The Jùshě lùn jì follows the Kośa’s chapter organization across 30 juan, providing line-by-line glosses and doctrinal explanations. Together with 法寶’s Jùshě lùn shū (KR6l0035) and 圓暉’s Jùshě lùn sòng shū (KR6l0036), it forms the core of the Tang Kōsha commentary tradition (倶舍論三疏). The Jùshě lùn jì is the longest and most detailed of the three.
Translations and research
- Willemen, Charles, Bart Dessein, and Collett Cox. Sarvāstivāda Buddhist Scholasticism. Leiden: Brill, 1998. — Contextualizes the Tang commentary tradition.
- No translation of this commentary into Western languages exists.
Links
- CBETA Online
- Taisho Vol. 41, No. 1821
- 普光 DILA
- Kanseki DB