Text: T154(55); Piyu jing 譬喩經; Shouda jing 首達經

No

• T0606; 偷迦遮復彌經 *Yogācārabhūmi-sūtra; 修行經; 修行道地經
• T0768; 三慧經
• T0793; 佛說佛醫經
• T152(10); [no title given in source]
• T152(89); Jingmian wang jing 鏡面王經
• T154(55); Piyu jing 譬喩經; Shouda jing 首達經
• T204(12); [title not given in source]
• T204(2); [title not given in source]

The San hui jing 三慧經 T768 was recorded in Dao’an’s catalogue of “alternative translations of sūtras in the Liang region” 新集安公涼土異經錄. Sengyou included it in his catalogue of “anonymous miscellaneous sūtras” 新集續撰失譯雜經錄, and stated that it is a compilation 抄. This sūtra was popular during the Liang period. Yuan identifies the following Chinese sources for T768:

1. The Za piyu jing 雜譬喻經 T204 ascribed to Lokakṣema, stories nos. 2 and 12. The T768 version is textually better in quality, and more reasonable in wording. Yuan concludes that T768 copied from T204 and made some modifications.

2. Dharmarakṣa’s Sheng jing 生經 T154: an almost verbatim copy of a story about a man and a wish-fulfilling bottle from heaven; T154(55) (III) 108b13-c1.

3. The story of the blind men and the elephant from the Liu du ji jing 六度集經 T152(89). The two versions have very different wording, but some identical key terms. Thus, Yuan states that the T768 version it is paraphrase of the story from T152. Similarly, the 長壽王 story is also from T152(10).

4. A passage from the Fo yi jing 佛醫經 T793. The beginning of the passage is copied word by word from T793 but the remaining part is paraphrased.

5. A story about a man who loses a pearl in the sea, from Dharmarakṣa’s Xiuxing dao di jing 修行道地經 T606 (Yogācārabhūmi of Saṅgharakṣa), which is similar in content but different in wording.

The latest among these sources is Dharmarakṣa’s Sheng jing 生經 T154, translated in 285. According to Yuan, Dao’an composed his catalogue of Liang translations between 380-385 in Chang’an, and thus, T768 must have been compiled before 385. So T768 should fall in the period 285-385.

Yuan further investigates the terms (or collocations) 貪護, 極美, 疑悔, 浴佛, and 自藏, and traces them in Dharmarakṣa’s translations. [Note: All of these items are rare in the Dharmarakṣa corpus, and each appears a maximum of two or three times --- MR.] The latest that one of these items appears for the first time in a dated Dharmarakṣa text is 浴佛, in the Pu yao jing 普曜經 (Lalitavistara) T186, translated in 308. Thus Yuan concludes that T768 is a Chinese composition, and was produced between 308-385.

Entry author: Lin Qian

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No

• T154(55); Piyu jing 譬喩經; Shouda jing 首達經

Hayashiya's summary of the content of the catalogues on the Shouda jing 首達經 and related titles is as follows:

Sengyou's recompilation of Dao'an's catalogue of anonymous scriptures 新集安公失譯經録:
A Shouda jing 首達經 is listed as extant in Sengyou's recompilation of Dao'an's catalogue of anonymous scriptures 新集安公失譯經録.

Fajing, Yancong, and Jingtai:
This text is an extract 抄 from the "Za piyu jing" 雜譬喩經, and Fajing’s Zhongjing mulu listed it as such. Yancong’s Zhongjing mulu and Jingtai 靜泰錄 adopted Fajing’s classification. Probably the text was extant down to the Sui 隋 period, while no catalogues down to Jingtai could specify the translator.

LDSBJ 三寶記:
LDSBJ attributed the Shouda jing 首達經 to Ba Fazu 白法祖, claiming that it was based on the "old catalogue" 舊錄, but Hayashiya rejects this attribution, because the "old catalogue" 舊錄 did not give such attributions.

KYL 開元錄:
KYL does not regard the Shouda jing 首達經 as an independent text, stating that it is an extract 抄 from the Shengjing 生經 T154. Thus, the Shouda jing 首達經 is classified as an extract either of the Za piyu jing or of the Sheng jing 生經 T154, as asserted by Fajing and KYL respectively.

Hayashiya argues that the attributions of both Fajing and KYL are not wrong, for the following reasons: In the Taishō, the Sheng jing 生經 T154, ascribed to Dharmarakṣa 竺法護, contains a Foshuo piyu jing 佛説譬喩経. This Fo shuo piyu jing 佛説譬喩経 has a text that contains the words Shouda 首達 and Weixian 維先 (the Shouda jing 首達經 is also called the Weixian Shouda jing 維先首達經). On the other hand, Fajing classified the Shouda jing 首達經 as an extract from the Za piyu jing 雜譬喩經, and the category of the Za piyu jing 雜譬喩集 in Fajing does not mean extracts from a single text entitled "Za piyu jing" 雜譬喩經, but rather, extracts from various Piyu jing (plural). This being the case, the category of "za piyu jing" 雜譬喩經 could also unproblematically include the Fo shuo piyu jing of T154. Thus, there is no contradiction in saying that the Shouda jing 首達經 is an extract from both the "za piyu jing" 雜譬喩經 and from the Sheng jing 生經.

Hayashiya points out that T154 contains quite a few texts whose vocabulary and tone are different from the majority group, which share the same style. The Fo shuo piyu jing 佛説譬喩経 is one of those stylistically discrepant texts. Hayashiya suggests that the Fo shuo piyu jing was not yet part of the Sheng jing at the time of Fajing, which explains why Fajing did not mention the Sheng jing in his entry on the Shouda jing. Thus, the Fo shuo piyu jing, at least, should not be considered as translated by Dharmarakṣa 竺法護, because its vocabulary and tone are different form the major part of the Sheng jing T154 生經. Thus, Hayashiya concludes that although the Shouda jing 首達經 and the Fo shuo piyu jing 佛説譬喩經 that contains it are now in turn part of the Shengjing 生經, which is shown in the Taishō as by Dharmarakṣa 竺法護, they should be recorded separately as an anonymous scripture of the W. Jin 西晋 period or earlier.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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• Title: Shouda jing 首達經; Piyu jing 譬喩經
• People: Anonymous (China), 失譯, 闕譯, 未詳撰者, 未詳作者, 不載譯人 (translator 譯)
• Identifier: T154(55)