Biàn zhōngbiān lùn sòng 辯中邊論頌
Verses of the Treatise Discriminating the Middle from the Extremes (Maitreya, Madhyāntavibhāga-kārikā) by 彌勒菩薩 (Mílè púsà = Maitreya, 說) and 玄奘 (Xuánzàng, 譯)
About the work
玄奘’s separate single-fascicle translation of the Madhyāntavibhāga-kārikā alone — the verse-base by Maitreya, traditionally received via Asaṅga, that underlies Vasubandhu’s bhāṣya in KR6n0072 Biàn zhōngbiān lùn (T31n1600). Translated at the Yùhuágōng 玉華宮 alongside the bhāṣya in 661 CE.
Structural Division
CANWWW (T31N1601) does not assign internal structure. The single fascicle contains the c. 113 kārikā of the Madhyāntavibhāga in seven chapters, mirrored in KR6n0072.
Abstract
The Madhyāntavibhāga-kārikā is one of the five “Maitreya treatises” (Císhì wǔ lùn 慈氏五論) of Indian Yogācāra: (1) Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, (2) Madhyāntavibhāga (this work, the verse base), (3) Dharmadharmatāvibhāga, (4) Abhisamayālaṃkāra, (5) Ratnagotravibhāga. In the Chinese tradition, the first three were transmitted but only this one and the Sūtrālaṃkāra received complete Chinese translation; the Ratnagotra and Abhisamaya were known but never fully rendered into Chinese.
Xuánzàng’s translation of the verses alone (T1601) is paired with his translation of the bhāṣya (T1600 = KR6n0072) — the standard Indian commentarial pattern preserved in Chinese. The text is short and densely versified; without commentary, it is virtually unintelligible, and the bhāṣya is the indispensable companion.
The translation is firmly dated 661, the same year as the bhāṣya and the Viṃśatikā.
Translations and research
- Stcherbatsky, Theodor. Madhyāntavibhāga. Leningrad, 1936.
- Anacker, Stefan. Seven Works of Vasubandhu. Delhi: Motilal, 1984.
- Pandeya, Ramchandra. Madhyānta-vibhāga-śāstra. Delhi: Motilal, 1971.
- Nagao Gadjin 長尾雅人. Chūhen funbetsuron 中辺分別論. Tokyo: Iwanami, 1978.
Links
- CBETA
- 彌勒菩薩 Mílè Púsà (Maitreya Bodhisattva) DILA
- 玄奘 Xuánzàng DILA
- Kanseki DB
- Dazangthings date evidence (655): [ T ] T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014. https://dazangthings.nz/cbc/source/1/