Text: T0376; 佛說大般泥洹經

Summary

Identifier T0376 [T]
Title 佛說大般泥洹經 [T]
Date 417-418 [T376 Colophon]
Unspecified Faxian, 法顯 [Sakaino 1935]
Translator 譯 Faxian, 法顯 [T]
Amanuensis 筆受 Baoyun, 寶雲 [Ōno 1954]

There may be translations for this text listed in the Bibliography of Translations from the Chinese Buddhist Canon into Western Languages. If translations are listed, this link will take you directly to them. However, if no translations are listed, the link will lead only to the head of the page.

There are resources for the study of this text in the SAT Daizōkyō Text Dabatase (Saṃgaṇikīkṛtaṃ Taiśotripiṭakaṃ).

Assertions

Preferred? Source Pertains to Argument Details

No

[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.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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  • Title: 佛說大般泥洹經
  • People: Faxian, 法顯 (translator 譯)
  • Identifier: T0376

No

[T376 Colophon]  六卷泥洹記. Colophon to "Faxian's" MPNMS T376.

Text was obtained by Faxian from a layman in Pāṭaliputra. Translation took place from 417-418, with Buddhabhadra "holding the Indic text", and Baoyun interpreting. Translated in Tsukamoto (1985/1979): 1: 454-455.
摩竭提國。巴連弗邑。阿育王塔。天王精舍。優婆塞伽羅。先見晉土道人釋法顯遠遊此土。為求法故。深感其人。即為寫此大般泥洹經如來祕藏。願令此經流布晉土。一切眾生悉成平等如來法身。義熙十三年十月一日。於謝司空石所立道場寺。出此方等大般泥洹經。至十四年正月二[var. 一]日挍定盡訖。禪[var. 神]師佛大跋陀。手執胡[var. 梵]本。寶雲傳譯。于時坐有二百五十人

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Fujita 1981]  Fujita Kōtatsu 藤田宏達. "Muryōju kyō no yakusha mondai hosetsu 『無量寿経』の訳者問題補説." In Daijō Bukkyō kara mikkyō e: Katsumata Shinkyō hakase kokikinenronshū 大乗仏教から密教へ:勝又俊教博士古稀記念論集, edited by the Katsumata Shinkyō hakase kokikinenronshū kankōkai 勝又俊教博士古稀記念論文集刊行会, 691-700[R]. Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1981. — 692, 698 n. 6

Cites a postface to T376 六卷泥洹記, preserved in CSZJJ T2145:55.60b2-11, which states that Baoyun was the one who actually did the work of translation: 禪師佛大跋陀。手執胡本。寶雲傳譯。于時坐有二百五十人.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[CSZJJ]  Sengyou 僧祐. Chu sanzang ji ji (CSZJJ) 出三藏記集 T2145. — CSZJJ T2145:55.60b2-11

A postface to T376 六卷泥洹記 states that Baoyun was the one who actually did the work of translation: 禪師佛大跋陀。手執胡本。寶雲傳譯。于時坐有二百五十人.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Sakaino 1928]  Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋. “Butsu yuikyō gyō to Butsu shogyō san ni tsuite 『仏遺教経』と『仏所行讃』について.” Shisō 思想 79 (1928): 189-204. — 191

Sakaino states that he regards the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra 大般泥洹經 T376 as actually by Guṇabhadra.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Sakaino 1935]  Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋. Shina Bukkyō seishi 支那佛教精史. Tokyo: Sakaino Kōyō Hakushi Ikō Kankōkai, 1935. — 514

Sakaino suggests that the although the *Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra 大般泥洹經 T376 (6 juan) is commonly regarded as the work of Faxian 法顯, it is more appropriate to regard it as translated by Buddhabhadra.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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No

[Sakaino 1935]  Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋. Shina Bukkyō seishi 支那佛教精史. Tokyo: Sakaino Kōyō Hakushi Ikō Kankōkai, 1935. — 534-535

The last part of the Fo guo ji 佛國記 contains a sentence reading 夏坐訖法顯離諸師久欲趣長安。但所營事重。遂便南下向都。就禪師出經律藏; T2085 (LI) 866b15-17. Sakaino reads this sentence to mean that after arriving in Qingzhou 青州, Faxian wanted to go to Chang'an 長安 to see his teachers and friends again, but decided to go to Jiankang 建康 instead because Buddhabhadra, a prominent translator of scriptures, was there, and it was more important to contribute to the diffusion of the Dharma. Sakaino infers that the translation work of the texts ascribed to Faxian was actually done by Buddhabhadra, and Faxian’s role in translating was rather small. Those texts were ascribed/co-ascribed to Faxian out of respect to him as the one who brought the original to China. Sakaino claims that this background explains why catalogues often differ regarding the ascription of texts related to Faxian. For example, T1425 (ascribed today to Buddhabhadra and Faxian) is classified as Faxian’s work in CSZJJ (following CSZJJ’s general policy to list all the scriptures brought to China by Faxian as Faxian’s work). On the other hand, LDSBJ and other catalogues following it, such as KYL, ascribe the scripture to Buddhabhadra, although LDSBJ adds a note reading 共法顯譯.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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No

[Ōno 1954]  Ōno Hōdō 大野法道. Daijō kai kyō no kenkyū 大乗戒経の研究. Tokyo: Risōsha 理想社, 1954. — 230-231

Ōno states that the postface to T376 records that Faxian 法顯 obtained the original Indic text of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra, which was then translated as the Da bannihuan jing 大般泥洹經 T376, from a certain Jialuo 伽羅 in Pātaliputra 巴連弗邑, Magadha, India, and that Faxian translated the text together with Buddhabhadra 佛大跋陀 [sic] (覺賢) in 417-418 CE . Baoyun 寶雲 worked as amanuensis 筆受. The Fo guo ji 佛國記 by Faxian himself (Gaoseng Faxian zhuan 高僧法顯傳, T2085) does not mention Jialuo 伽羅, while recording that there resided a certain *Rajasvarman 羅沃婆述 [sic], who was highly respected nationwide 擧國瞻仰, at the “Mahāyāna saṅghārama 摩訶衍伽藍 in Pātaliputra, from whom Faxian obtained the Indic text in one roll 一巻方等般泥洹經.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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No

[Sakaino 1935]  Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋. Shina Bukkyō seishi 支那佛教精史. Tokyo: Sakaino Kōyō Hakushi Ikō Kankōkai, 1935. — 534-535

Sakaino reads a sentence in the last part of the Foguo ji 佛國記 (夏坐訖法顯離諸師久欲趣長安。但所營事重。遂便南下向都。就禪師出經律藏 (T2085 [LI] 866b15-17) as describing the situation that, after arriving in Qingzhou 青州, Faxian wanted to go to Chang'an 長安 to see his teachers and friends, but decided to go to Jiankang 建康 instead, because Buddhabhadra, a prominent translator of scriptures, was there, and it was more important to contribute to the diffusion of the Dharma than to go to Chang'an. From this understanding, Sakaino infers that the translation work of the texts ascribed to Faxian was actually done by Buddhabhadra, and Faxian’s role in translating was rather small. Those texts were ascribed/co-ascribed to Faxian out of respect to him as the one who brought the original to China. Then Sakaino claims that this background explains why catalogues often differ regarding the ascription of those texts related to Faxian. For example, the 僧祇律 (摩訶僧祇律 T1425 ascribed to Buddhabhadra and Faxian) is classified as Faxian’s work in CSZJJ (as it is CSZJJ’s policy to list all the scriptures brought to China by Faxian as Faxian’s work), while LDSBJ and other catalogues following it, such as KYL, ascribe the scripture to Buddhabhadra (although LDSBJ adds a note reading 共法顯譯).

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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No

[Sakaino 1935]  Sakaino Kōyō 境野黄洋. Shina Bukkyō seishi 支那佛教精史. Tokyo: Sakaino Kōyō Hakushi Ikō Kankōkai, 1935. — 535-536

Sakaino states that CSZJJ and KYL ascribe the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra in six juan (T376) to Faxian and Buddhabhadra 覺堅, and that LSDBJ (citing 舊錄), and KYL following it, mention a view that the translation of T376 was done by Buddhabhadra with Baoyun 寶雲 serving as amanuensis 筆受. Sakaino then quotes a passage in the colophon to the Nihuan jing in six fascicles 六巻泥洹記 that records Buddhabhadra 覺堅 as the person who handled the text 執本 and Baoyun as the oral translator/interpreter 傳語. [Sakaino does not say which of those ascriptions are likely to be correct --- AI.] According to Sakaino, the ascription of T376 to Faxian was given out of respect to him for bringing the original text to China, while in fact he did not play actual roles such as the text holder or oral translator/interpreter in the translation process.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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