Yúqié lùn jiézhāng sòng 瑜伽論劫章頌
Verses on the Kalpa-Sections of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra by 窺基 (Kuījī, 撰)
About the work
A short single-fascicle versified summary by 窺基 (632–682) of the cosmological kalpa (劫) sections of the Yúqié shī dì lùn (KR6n0001, T30n1579) — specifically the discussions of the eras of cosmic dissolution and reconstitution scattered through the Běndì fēn 本地分. The text condenses the relevant prose of the master treatise into mnemonic verse for memorisation by Cí’ēnzōng / Fǎxiàng students. Preserved only in the Xuzangjing (X47n0794).
Structural Division
CANWWW does not assign a TOC to X47n0794. The single fascicle consists of a continuous verse-text (sòng 頌) without subdivisions.
Abstract
The jiézhāng 劫章 (“kalpa sections”) are the cosmological background to the path-discussions of the Yogācārabhūmi: the treatise’s accounts of the Saṃvarta- and Vivarta-kalpas, of the levels of the desire-form-formless realms, and of the bodhisattva-careers extended over multiple aeons. Kuījī condensed this cosmological apparatus into versified form for ease of memorisation, complementing his much longer prose commentaries KR6n0008 Yúqié shī dì lùn lüèzuǎn and the lost Yúqié shī dì lùn shū. The text is one of his three principal works on the Yogācārabhūmi.
The composition window adopted (660–682) covers Kuījī’s mature teaching period at the Dà Cí’ēnsì 大慈恩寺 in Cháng’ān. The text was transmitted to Sillan Korea and to Heian Japan, where it became a standard introductory verse-text for Hossō novices and is referenced in early Japanese Hossō works such as Zenju 善珠’s Yuga-ron-jichō-ke 瑜伽論時頌科 (now lost).
Translations and research
- Sponberg, Alan. Meditation in Fa-hsiang Buddhism. PhD diss., Princeton, 1979.
- Yoshimura Makoto 吉村誠. Chūgoku Yuishiki shisōshi kenkyū. Tokyo: Daizō shuppan, 2013.