Shíliù dà luóhàn yīnguǒ shíjiàn sòng 十六大羅漢因果識見頌
Verses on the Causes-and-Effects and Discerning Vision of the Sixteen Great Arhats
translated by 闍那多迦 (Jñānatāra, 譯)
About the work
A short verse text in one juan, transmitted in the Manji Xuzangjing (X02 no. 207). The text consists of one set of verses for each of the sixteen great arhats listed in the Fǎzhù jì of 玄奘 (KR6r0005), together with a short prefatory note. It was clearly composed as a liturgical or contemplative companion to the cult of the sixteen arhats, providing chanted verses for use before each arhat’s image.
Abstract
The colophon credits the translation to a foreign monk named 闍那多迦 (Jñānatāra), of whom essentially nothing is known beyond this attribution. The work has not been demonstrated to correspond to any extant Indic original, and several modern scholars (notably the entry in the Bukkyō daijiten of Mochizuki) suspect that it is a Chinese composition disguised as a translation, perhaps from the Táng. The dating is therefore uncertain: a window from the late seventh to the ninth century is the safest bracket, with composition either in Táng China or in Indic milieus accessible to Chinese pilgrims.
The structure of the work follows the Fǎzhù jì exactly: each of the sixteen arhats is named in the canonical Xuánzàng order, and a short verse describes the karmic causes of his arhatship and the contemplative insight (shíjiàn 識見) he embodies. The combined effect is a brief devotional handbook for the cult.
Translations and research
- Sylvain Lévi & Édouard Chavannes, “Les seize arhat protecteurs de la loi,” Journal Asiatique 8 (1916): 5–50, 189–304 — discusses the work as a supplement to KR6r0005 in the Sino-Tibetan arhat cult.
- No further substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- CBETA: X02n0207