Dà bān nièpán jīng fó wèi Móyé fūrén shuō jì pǐn jīng 大般涅槃經佛為摩耶夫人說偈品經
Chapter on the Verses Spoken by the Buddha to Lady Māyā in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra (recension d) anonymous Chinese composition; critical edition by 李際寧 (整理)
About the work
The fourth and most narratively distinct of four Dūnhuáng recensions of the Fómǔ jīng — see KR6v0018 for full description. This recension’s title puts the jì 偈 (gāthā) — the Buddha’s anitya verses to his mother — at the literary centre, and the dream-list is rearranged: (1) Sumeru collapses, (2) the four oceans dry, (3) frost falls in the fifth month, (4) the jeweled banner-pole shatters, etc. The opening expands the Buddha’s prior speech to the assembly: “My back aches; I am about to attain parinirvāṇa. I do not see Ānanda or Kāśyapa.”
Abstract
See KR6v0018 for the textual-critical and bibliographic discussion. Recension d is the most condensed and the most thematically focused on the jì (gāthā) component, suggesting it was compiled for liturgical recitation rather than narrative reading. The dream-list (“frost in the fifth month”, “shattering of the jeweled banner”) differs significantly from recensions a–c and may reflect independent textual evolution within a particular regional tradition.
Translations and research
- See KR6v0018.