Bǎo xíng wáng zhèng lùn 寶行王正論
Treatise on the Right Conduct of the Jewelled King (Ratnāvalī) by 真諦 (Zhēndì / Paramārtha, 譯)
About the work
A one-juǎn verse-and-prose translation of Nāgārjuna’s Ratnāvalī (“Garland of Jewels”), a classic Indian Mahāyāna treatise on royal counsel that combines doctrinal exposition with practical advice for the conduct of a Buddhist monarch. The translation is by 真諦 (Paramārtha, 499–569) during his Chén-period activity in the south. The Chinese title literally renders the text as “Treatise on the Right [Conduct] of the Jewel-King” (寶行王正論). Although the title-line of the Taishō text gives only the translator and not the author, modern scholarship (and the Tibetan tradition, where the work is preserved) firmly identifies the author as 龍樹菩薩 (Nāgārjuna) — a fact confirmed by extensive Sanskrit fragments and the complete Tibetan version (D 4158).
Structural Division
CANWWW (T32N1656) records six chapters:
- Ān-lè jiětuō pǐn 安樂解脫品 — Chapter on Bliss and Liberation (Sanskrit Sukha-mokṣa)
- Zá pǐn 雜品 — Miscellaneous Chapter (Miśraka)
- Pútí zī liáng pǐn 菩提資糧品 — Chapter on the Provisions for Enlightenment (Bodhisaṃbhāra)
- Wáng xíng zhèng pǐn 王行正品 — Chapter on the Right Conduct of the King (Rāja-vṛtti)
- Cūfán pǐn 出家正行品 — Chapter on the Right Conduct of the Renunciant
- (chūfán and final benediction sections)
(Note: the Taishō chapter divisions differ slightly from the Sanskrit/Tibetan five-chapter scheme.)
Abstract
The Taishō text opens “《寶行王正論》一卷 / 陳天竺三藏真諦譯”, with a verse of homage to “the One who is liberated from all obstacles, adorned with rounded virtue, the Sovereign of all knowledge, the true friend of beings, the determined good of the right Dharma.” The Sanskrit Ratnāvalī survives in substantial fragments (Hahn 1982, with Tibetan support); the Tibetan translation is in the bsTan-‘gyur (D 4158, dated to the early ninth century). Comparison shows Paramārtha’s Chinese is a faithful but somewhat compressed rendering. The translation date is fixed by the Lìdài sānbǎo jì 歷代三寶記 (T2034) within Paramārtha’s Chén-period activity at Guǎngzhōu (557–569). The work is a foundational text in the Indian Buddhist tradition of rājanīti (royal counsel) and is the principal model for Tibetan kāvya-style ethical-political treatises.
The text is doctrinally a Madhyamaka treatise: it expounds śūnyatā alongside the standard practical advice on the duties of a Buddhist king. The “King” addressed (often identified with King Sātavāhana or Yajñaśrī) is a generic ruler-figure rather than a specific historical monarch; the prose preface in the Tibetan version is more explicit on this point.
Translations and research
- Hahn, Michael. Nāgārjuna’s Ratnāvalī, Volume 1: The Basic Texts (Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese). Bonn: Indica et Tibetica, 1982. — Critical edition with all three textual traditions.
- Hopkins, Jeffrey, Lati Rinpoche, and Anne Klein. The Precious Garland and the Song of the Four Mindfulnesses. London: Allen & Unwin, 1975. — English translation with a Tibetan commentary.
- Lindtner, Christian. Nagarjuniana: Studies in the Writings and Philosophy of Nāgārjuna. Copenhagen, 1982. — Treats authenticity issues.
- Tucci, Giuseppe. “The Ratnāvalī of Nāgārjuna.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1934, 1936). — Foundational study; pioneering Sanskrit recovery work.
- Walser, Joseph. Nāgārjuna in Context: Mahāyāna Buddhism and Early Indian Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. — Treats the Ratnāvalī extensively for the historical context.
Other points of interest
The Taishō title-line omits the author Nāgārjuna (whom the Sanskrit and Tibetan tradition firmly identify); this is unusual and reflects the relative brevity of the Chén-period preface. The work is one of Paramārtha’s smaller translations but doctrinally significant: alongside his renderings of Vasubandhu, it gave the early Chén-period exegetical tradition direct access to Madhyamaka rājanīti literature, and is one of the few Sanskrit Madhyamaka kāvya-style works ever transmitted to East Asia.
Links
- CBETA
- Wikipedia
- Dazangthings date evidence (565): [ 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/