Source: Yamada 1955

Yamada Ryūjō 山田龍城. "Rengemen gyō ni tsuite: Guputa makki no Indo Bukkyō jijō 蓮華面経について―グプタ末期のインド仏教事情." In Indogaku Bukkyōgaku ronsō: Yamaguchi hakase kanreki kinen 印度学仏教学論叢：山口博士還暦記念, edited by the Yamaguchi hakase kanreki kinenkai 山口博士還暦記念会, 110-123[R].Kyoto: Hōzōkan, 1955.

Assertions

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The 蓮華面経 T386 is said to have been translated by Narendrayaśas in 584. The protagonist, 蓮華面, is said to have been a disciple of the tīrthaka Pūrṇa in a previous life, and to have made a vow at that time to destroy Buddhism. He is reborn as Mihirakula 寐吱曷羅俱邏 (r. 502-542), in which capacity he destroys the relic of the Buddha's begging bowl, which leads to the destruction of the Dharma; but the bowl is subsequently restored by the miraculous power of the Buddha, and the Dharma is then restored as well. Yamada sketches considerable historical background about the exploits of the Hephthalite Huns (the successors of Attila, d. 453) as they ranged over large parts of Eurasia, including their attacks on parts of Europe and the Sasanian Empire. Within this frame, he argues that Mihirakula (whose name he says also appears as Mihiragula) represented the high point of Hephthalite Hun pressure on India; his father, Toramāna (r. 500-502), first took the central plains of India, subsequent to which the reign of Mihirakula is attested, for example, in an inscription of 517 on the banks of the Yamuna. Although a little-known Indian king called Yaśodharma (attested only from inscriptions, not found in chronicles) repelled the Huns, this episode more or less spelt the end of the Guptas. A record of an Song Yun's 宋雲 audience with Mihirakula is preserved in the Luoyan qielan ji 洛陽伽藍記 T2092 (dating to 547; Song Yun returned to the Wei in 523). The audience was reportedly a flop, in the sense that Mihirakula was distinctly unimpressed with Song Yun and his Buddhist message. Song Yun reported that Mihirakula was a cruel unbeliever, and universally hated by his subjects.

Yamada reports that a king with a similar name 彌羅掘 also appears in the Fu fazang yinyuan zhuan 付法藏因緣傳 T2058:50.321c15. This latter text is traditionally regarded as having been translated in 472, which would have been well before the audience with Song Yun and even the dates given by Yamada for Mihirakula's reign (502-542); the appearance of this name is therefore another piece of evidence which problematises the attribution and provenance of T2058 [cf. Maspero, etc.---MR].

Edit

 The 蓮華面経 T386 is said to have been translated by Narendrayasas in 584. The protagonist, 蓮華面, is said to have been a disciple of the tirthaka Purna in a previous life, and to have made a vow at that time to destroy Buddhism. He is reborn as Mihirakula 寐吱曷羅俱邏 (r. 502-542), in which capacity he destroys the relic of the Buddha's begging bowl, which leads to the destruction of the Dharma; but the bowl is subsequently restored by the miraculous power of the Buddha, and the Dharma is then restored as well. Yamada sketches considerable historical background about the exploits of the Hephthalite Huns (the successors of Attila, d. 453) as they ranged over large parts of Eurasia, including their attacks on parts of Europe and the Sasanian Empire. Within this frame, he argues that Mihirakula (whose name he says also appears as Mihiragula) represented the high point of Hephthalite Hun pressure on India; his father, Toramana (r. 500-502), first took the central plains of India, subsequent to which the reign of Mihirakula is attested, for example, in an inscription of 517 on the banks of the Yamuna. Although a little-known Indian king called Yasodharma (attested only from inscriptions, not found in chronicles) repelled the Huns, this episode more or less spelt the end of the Guptas. A record of an Song Yun's 宋雲 audience with Mihirakula is preserved in the Luoyan qielan ji 洛陽伽藍記 T2092 (dating to 547; Song Yun returned to the Wei in 523). The audience was reportedly a flop, in the sense that Mihirakula was distinctly unimpressed with Song Yun and his Buddhist message. Song Yun reported that Mihirakula was a cruel unbeliever, and universally hated by his subjects. Yamada reports that a king with a similar name 彌羅掘 also appears in the Fu fazang yinyuan zhuan 付法藏因緣傳 T2058:50.321c15. This latter text is traditionally regarded as having been translated in 472, which would have been well before the audience with Song Yun and even the dates given by Yamada for Mihirakula's reign (502-542); the appearance of this name is therefore another piece of evidence which problematises the attribution and provenance of T2058 [cf. Maspero, etc.---MR]. T0386; 蓮華面經

Yamada reports that a king with a name probably equating to that of the Hephthalite Hun Mihirakula, i.e. 彌羅掘, appears in the Fu fazang yinyuan zhuan 付法藏因緣傳 T2058:50.321c15. This text is traditionally regarded as having been translated in 472, which would have been well before Mihirakula's audience with Song Yun and even the dates given by Yamada for Mihirakula's reign (r. 502-542); the appearance of this name is therefore another piece of evidence which problematises the attribution and provenance of T2058 [cf. Maspero, etc.---MR].

Edit

 Yamada reports that a king with a name probably equating to that of the Hephthalite Hun Mihirakula, i.e. 彌羅掘, appears in the Fu fazang yinyuan zhuan 付法藏因緣傳 T2058:50.321c15. This text is traditionally regarded as having been translated in 472, which would have been well before Mihirakula's audience with Song Yun and even the dates given by Yamada for Mihirakula's reign (r. 502-542); the appearance of this name is therefore another piece of evidence which problematises the attribution and provenance of T2058 [cf. Maspero, etc.---MR]. T2058; 付法藏因緣傳