Rù dà shèng lùn 入大乘論
Treatise on Entering the Great Vehicle (Mahāyānāvatāra-śāstra) by 堅意菩薩 (Jiānyì púsà / Sāramati, 造) and 道泰 (Dàotài, 等譯)
About the work
A two-juǎn introductory śāstra on the philosophical foundations of Mahāyāna, attributed to the Indian master Sāramati (堅意菩薩, possibly 4th c.) and translated under the Northern Liáng 北涼 by 道泰 (Dàotài) at Liáng-zhōu 涼州 in c. 426–437. The work argues for the legitimacy of the Mahāyāna against Hīnayāna critique, explains the meaning of the bodhisattva path, and treats the basic doctrines of śūnyatā (空) and vijñaptimātra (識) — making it one of the earliest systematic Mahāyāna śāstras to enter the Chinese canon.
Structural Division
CANWWW (T32N1634) records three sections:
- Yì pǐn 義品 — Section on the Doctrine
- Shì lùn kōng pǐn 識論空品 — Section on Consciousness-Theory and Emptiness
- Shùn xiū zhū xíng pǐn 順修諸行品 — Section on Practising the Various Conducts in Sequence
CANWWW lists no related-text cross-references for this title.
Abstract
The Taishō text opens “入大乘論卷上(本無闕第一品名目)，堅意菩薩造，北涼三藏法師道泰等譯” — “Treatise on Entering the Great Vehicle, upper juǎn (the original lacked the title of the first chapter), composed by the bodhisattva Sāramati, translated by Dàotài Tripiṭaka master of Northern Liáng and others”. The original Sanskrit does not survive; the work is one of several śāstras attributed to “Sāramati” (a name also associated with the Ratnagotra-vibhāga in some Tibetan sources). Dàotài’s translation team at Liáng-zhōu was active during the brief flourishing of the Northern Liáng under Jǔ-qú Méng-xùn 沮渠蒙遜; the Lìdài sānbǎo jì 歷代三寶記 (T2034) and Kāiyuán shìjiào lù 開元釋教錄 (T2154) place Dàotài’s translation activity in 426–437, before the Northern Liáng was overrun by the Tuòbá Wèi. The text contains a vigorous defence of the bodhisattvayāna against the śrāvakayāna and is one of the earliest texts in Chinese to articulate the Mahāyāna view of buddhahood as universal. The placement in KR6o (the yīnmíng division) reflects the fact that this work is primarily a śāstra of kalpana / vāda rather than a sūtra commentary; modern editors place it among the “Yogācāra and dialectical” treatises.
Translations and research
- Lamotte, Étienne. “Rù dà shèng lùn: Quelques notes.” Mélanges chinois et bouddhiques (1948).
- Takasaki Jikidō 高崎直道. Nyoraizō shisō no keisei 如来蔵思想の形成. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1974. — Treats the Rù dà shèng lùn in the context of the Tathāgatagarbha literature.
- Ono Genmyō 小野玄妙, ed. Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 仏書解説大辞典. Tokyo, 1933. — Standard Japanese reference; entry on Nyū daijō ron.
Links
- CBETA
- 堅意菩薩 Jiānyì púsà (Sāramati) DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (438): Ono Genmyō 小野玄妙 and Maruyama Takao 丸山孝雄, eds., Bussho kaisetsu daijiten 佛書解說大辭典 (Tokyo: Daitō shuppan, 1933–1936; 縮刷版 1999), vol. 8, pp. 352–353. Dazangthings source
- Kanseki DB