Bā dà língtǎ fàn zàn 八大靈塔梵讚
Sanskrit Hymn on the Eight Great Reliquary Stūpas by 西天戒日王 (Xī-tiān Jiè-rì wáng / Harṣavardhana, 製) and 法賢 (Fǎxián / Tiānxīzāi, 譯)
About the work
A one-juǎn Northern-Sòng translation of the Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra (or Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityavandanāstava) — a hymn in praise of the eight great reliquary stūpas of the Buddha — composed by the Indian emperor Harṣavardhana (戒日王). Translated by 法賢 Fǎxián at the Sòng Institute.
Structural Division
CANWWW (T32N1684) lists no internal sub-divisions and no related-text pointers.
Abstract
The “eight great reliquary stūpas” (aṣṭamahāsthāna / aṣṭa-mahā-caitya) commemorate the eight pilgrimage sites of the historical Buddha’s life: Lumbinī (birth), Bodh Gayā (enlightenment), Sārnāth (first sermon), Kuśīnagara (parinirvāṇa), and four secondary sites where major events of his teaching career took place (Śrāvastī, Saṃkāśya, Rājagṛha, Vaiśālī). The Indian Buddhist devotional tradition of recollecting them is ancient.
The attribution of the stotra to Harṣa (590–648), the early-seventh-century Indian emperor and patron of 玄奘 Xuánzàng, places the work among Harṣa’s surviving Buddhist devotional compositions — alongside his more famous Sanskrit dramas (Ratnāvalī, Priyadarśikā, Nāgānanda). The Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra is preserved in Sanskrit fragments and a Tibetan translation, in addition to the present Chinese version.
The Sòng translation is bracketed by Fǎxián’s Institute career, 982–1000. The Taishō uses 高麗 as base.
Translations and research
- Devahuti, D. Harsha: A Political Study. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1970. — Background on the author.
- Schopen, Gregory. Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1997. — Background on Buddhist stūpa-veneration.
- Trainor, Kevin. Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997.
- No further substantial dedicated study of this specific text located.
Other points of interest
The companion text KR6o0140 Fó shuō bā dà língtǎ mínghào jīng 佛說八大靈塔名號經 (T32n1685), also translated by 法賢, gives the names of the eight great stūpas in canonical sūtra format; the two texts together preserve a complete traditional account of the eight pilgrimage sites.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Harṣa): A000508
- 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/