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請賓頭盧法

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Text ID
KR6o0144
Date
457–457
Dynasty
劉宋

Qǐng Bīntóulú fǎ 請賓頭盧法

Method for Inviting Piṇḍola by 慧簡 (Huìjiǎn, 譯)

About the work

A one-juǎn Liú-Sòng dynasty translation of an Indian Buddhist liturgical text on the ritual invitation of the arhat Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja (賓頭盧 Bīn-tóu-lú) — one of the sixteen arhats charged by the Buddha with remaining in the world to receive offerings until the coming of Maitreya. Translated by 慧簡 Huìjiǎn at the Lùyě-sì 鹿野寺 in Jiànkāng under Sòng Xiào-Wǔ-dì 孝武帝. Alternative titles: Qǐng Bīn-tóu-lú fǎ jīng 請賓頭盧法經, Qǐng Bīn-tóu-lú jīng 請賓頭盧經.

Structural Division

CANWWW (T32N1689) lists no internal sub-divisions and no related-text pointers; the related work is KR6o0145 (T32n1690, the Bīntóulú tūluóshé sūtra translated by 求那跋陀羅).

Abstract

The Qǐng Bīn-tóu-lú fǎ is a short ritual handbook setting out the proper procedure for inviting the arhat Piṇḍola Bhāradvāja to a meal-offering ceremony — a practice with deep roots in Indian Buddhism, derived from the canonical narrative in the Vinaya in which Piṇḍola is reproached by the Buddha for displaying supernatural powers and is consequently denied entry into Nirvāṇa, charged with remaining in the world to be a “field of merit” for the saṃgha. The ritual described in the text was widely practised in medieval Chinese monasteries during the yú-lán-pén festival and on other occasions when offerings were made to arhats.

The translation is firmly dated by the Lìdài sānbǎo jì 歷代三寶紀 to Dàmíng 大明 1 (457). The Taishō uses 金臧廣勝寺本 as base, collated against 宋, 元, 明, 宮.

Translations and research

  • Strong, John S. The Legend of King Aśoka. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1983. — Background on the Piṇḍola tradition; treats the ritual invitation practice.
  • Lévi, Sylvain, and Édouard Chavannes. “Les seize arhats protecteurs de la loi.” Journal Asiatique 8 (1916): 5–50, 189–304. — The classical Western study of the sixteen-arhat tradition.
  • de Visser, M. W. The Arhats in China and Japan. Berlin: Oesterheld, 1923.
  • Joo, Bongseok. “The Arhat Cult in China.” Ph.D. diss., Princeton, 2007.

Other points of interest

The Piṇḍola-invitation rite remained in active use through the Tang and Sòng periods; references to it occur in monastic regulations and Buddhist biographical literature, and in the Tang it became one of the standard ritual elements of larger merit-offering ceremonies. The compact size of the text reflects its function as a ritual prompt-sheet rather than a scriptural exposition.

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