Sānshēn fàn zàn 三身梵讚
Sanskrit Hymn on the Three Bodies [of the Buddha] by 法賢 (Fǎxián / Tiānxīzāi, 譯)
About the work
A one-juǎn Northern-Sòng translation of an Indian stotra praising the trikāya (the three bodies of the Buddha — dharmakāya, saṃbhogakāya, nirmāṇakāya). The Sanskrit title is Kāyatrayastotra. Translated by 法賢 Fǎxián (originally 天息災 Tiānxīzāi, renamed by Sòng Tàizōng in 987), one of the three principal translators of the early Sòng Institute.
Structural Division
CANWWW (T32N1677) lists no internal sub-divisions and no related-text pointers.
Abstract
The Kāyatrayastotra is a short stotra in praise of the Buddha’s three bodies — the conventional Mahāyāna doctrine first systematized in the Yogācāra tradition. Often (though not in this Taishō witness) attributed to Nāgārjuna or to his early Mādhyamika successors. The Sanskrit original is preserved in fragmentary form, and a Tibetan translation also survives.
The Sòng translation is bracketed by Fǎxián’s career as senior translator at the Institute, 982–1000. He held the rank of 明教大師 (“Master of Bright Teaching”) under Sòng Tàizōng, and his translations were typically polished products of the Institute’s collaborative method, with multiple monks involved in different roles.
The Taishō uses 高麗 as base.
Translations and research
- Lindtner, Christian. Nagarjuniana. Copenhagen, 1982. — Treats the related stotras.
- Tucci, Giuseppe. “Two Hymns of the Catuḥ-stava of Nāgārjuna.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1932): 309–325.
- No further substantial secondary literature located on this specific Chinese version.
Other points of interest
The text is grouped together in the Taishō with KR6o0133 (the Fó sānshēn zàn, also a hymn on the trikāya) — the two represent partial Chinese reception of the Indian Kāyatrayastotra tradition, which circulated in multiple recensions in late-Indian Mahāyāna.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Fǎxián): A000146
- Dazangthings date evidence (1001): [ 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/