Text: T0508; 阿闍世王問五逆經; Mizuno's "alternate *Ekottarikāgama"

Summary

Identifier T0508 [T]
Title 阿闍世王問五逆經 [T]
Date [None]
Unspecified Anonymous (China), 失譯, 闕譯, 未詳撰者, 未詳作者, 不載譯人 [Sakaino 1935]
Translator 譯 Faju 法炬 [T]

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: 阿闍世王問五逆經
  • People: Faju 法炬 (translator 譯)
  • Identifier: T0508

No

[Mizuno 1989]  Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元. "Kan'yaku Chū agon kyō to Zōichi agon kyō 漢訳『中阿含経』と『増一阿含経』." Bukkyō kenkyū 仏教研究 18 (1989): 1-42[L]. Chinese translation: "Hanyi Zhong ahan jing yu Zengyi ahan jing 漢譯《中阿含經》與《増一阿含經》," in Shuiye Hongyuan [=Mizuno Kōgen ], Fojiao wenxian yanjiu: Shuiye Hongyuan zhuzuo xuanji (1) 佛教文獻研究‧水 野 弘 元 著 作 選 集( 一), translated by Xu Yangzhu 許洋主, 509-579. Taipei: Fagu wenhua, 2003. — passim

Mizuno studies external evidence suggesting that both EĀ and MĀ were translated twice each, once by “Dharmanandi” [= Zhu Fonian --- SC] and once by Saṅghadeva, and attempts to identify vestiges of the lost second translation of each text in the transmitted canon. This entry covers Mizuno's arguments for the (largely) lost EĀ (arguments for the lost MĀ are treated in a separate entry).

Records attesting to a possible second EĀ translation (hereafter "EĀ-alt") are quite messy. In CSZJJ and Fajing’s ZJML, only “Dharmanandi’s” [Zhu Fonian's] version is attested. LDSBJ is the first extant record we have that mentions the second translation by Saṅghadeva. In the next two catalogues, DTNDL and DYKYM, both versions are recorded, while in KYL, Zhisheng identified the version he had access to as Saṅghadeva’s. Thereafter, the Korean edition inherits the attribution of T125 to Saṅghadeva, while the SYM editions attribute it to “Dharmanandi” [Zhu Fonian]. However, the two lines of transmission in fact preserve the same text.

Mizuno asserts that the extant T26 and T125 should both be considered as Saṅghadeva’s second translations. This judgement is based upon the contrast with another set of sūtras. Mizuno surveys the single sūtras in the MĀ section and EĀ section of the Taishō (T27-98 for MĀ and T126-151 for EĀ), and proposes that the following texts all share a uniform style that he regards as characteristic of "Dharmanandi" [Zhu Fonian]:

EĀ-alt: T29, T39, T89, T106, T119, T122, T123, T127, T131, T133, T134, T136, T138, T139, T140, T149, T215, T216, T508, T684.

(Mizuno also regards the following texts as comprising "MĀ-alt", and evincing the same style: T47, T49, T50, T51, T53, T55, T56, T58, T60, T64, T65, T66, T70, T73, T75, T77, T79, T82, T83, T90, T91, T92, T93, T94.)

Mizuno bases his judgment of style largely on opening and ending formulas. [However, his own quotations sometimes bear discrepancies with all editions recorded in CBETA --- SC.]

Among the 20 EĀ-alt sūtras, 19 are recorded as anonymous in Sengyou’s own „Shiyi zajing lu” 失譯雜經錄in CSZJJ, while 1 was recorded in Dao’an’s “Angong guyijing lu” 安公古異經錄. Mizuno rejects all of the current ascriptions in the Taishō for these works as false information inherited from LDSBJ.

Next, Mizuno also examines the excerpts in the Jinglü yixiang 經律異相 T2121 that are attributed to MĀ and EĀ by Baochang. Mizuno lists 15 from EĀ. However, only one of them has correspondence in the extant canon, specifically T119, which is one of the EĀ-alt sūtras Mizuno ascribes to “Dharmanandi” [Zhu Fonian]. In Mizuno’s opinion, Baochang was quite faithful in his practice of quotation (based on comparison of his SĀ excerpts with T99); therefore, Mizuno argues that the rest of the EĀ entries in T2121 must also represent the now lost first EĀ translation by “Dharmanandi” [Zhu Fonian].

[A big pitfall in Mizuno’s method is that he mis-ascribes T125 to Saṅghadeva. Thus, his observation that the EĀ-alt and MĀ-alt sūtras share one uniform style warrants further investigation, and it is questionable how it fits back into the larger picture --- MR, SC.]

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Wu 2012]  Wu Juan. “From Perdition to Awakening: A Study of Legends of the Salvation of the Patricide Ajātaśatru in Indian Buddhism.” PhD dissertation, Cardiff University, 2012. — 38-39, 157, 161-169

"[In T508...] we find a prophecy that Ajātaśatru will fall into hell in the next life in [a] way similar to the bouncing of a ball (Ch. paiju 拍毱 [var. 拍鞠]), after which he will be continuously reborn in the six heavens of the world of gods (devaloka) and then attain pratyekabuddha-hood as a human. While the prophecy of one's continuous rebirths in the six heavens followed by attainment of pratyekabuddha-hood is a genuine Indian motif which occurs more than once in the Divyāvadāna, the comparison of one's descent into hell to the bouncing of a ball, so far as I know, seems only to be found in Chinese sources, not attested in Indian-language texts....The lack of relevant Indian evidence suggests that the afore-mentioned metaphor of bouncing of a ball may not necessarily reflect an Indian idea, but is possibly a local (Sinitic) trope, or the translator's (or transmitter's) own interpretation of the original Indian text (if it ever existed)" [38-39].

Wu shows that the metaphor of the "bouncing ball" also occurs in SĀ T100(129); and in the Za baozang jing T203. She says she cannot find any Skt or Pali equivalent to this phrase, but notes that Miyazaki Tenshō has suggested a connection to the Skt rājā ajātaśatruḥ tataḥ piṇḍorīye mahānarakād udgamya. Harrison and Hartmann discuss problems with the word piṇḍorīye, and provisionally read it as an ablative of the name of a hell, but Miyazaki suggests that it might be related to piṇḍa "ball", and be a corrupted form of a word meaning "like a ball". Wu in her turn discusses problems with this hypothesis, primarily the fact that it does not seem to have been read in this sense by other translators; but concludes that it might have been read in this meaning by Chinese translators who did not know it as the name of a hell [161-169].

"This ascription [to Faju] may be unreliable..." [157]. Wu makes this statement primarily on the basis of the study by Mizuno (1989/1996), who suggests that twenty sūtras, including T508, may be the vestiges of the supposed "alternate" EĀ that Mizuno thinks was translated by Dharmanandin [and others, including Zhu Fonian].

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[CSZJJ]  Sengyou 僧祐. Chu sanzang ji ji (CSZJJ) 出三藏記集 T2145. — T2145 (LV) 25a17

In Sengyou's Chu sanzang ji ji, T508 is regarded as an anonymous translation, that is to say, it is listed in the "Newly Compiled Continuation of the Assorted List of Anonymous Translations" 新集續撰失譯雜經錄 (juan 4), and is further identified as an excerpt 抄 from some other text:

阿闍世王問五逆經一卷(抄).

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Zürcher 1959/2007]  Zürcher, Erik. The Buddhist Conquest of China: The Spread and Adaptation of Buddhism in Early Medieval China. Third Edition. Leiden: Brill, 1959 (2007 reprint). — 70, 345 n. 254

"Dao’an only speaks about four works translated in the period 290-360 by Faju 法炬, a monk of unknown origin, and about two others translated by Faju together with the śramaṇa Fali 法立.... Later bibliographies have made Faju...the target of...wild attributions: no less than 132 works figure under his name in the late sixth century [LDSBJ], which number is reduced to 40 in the somewhat more critical [KYL]" (70).

[MR: In fact, the passage in CSZJJ referred to in Zürcher's note (345 n. 254) shows that Zürcher has made an error here; the two texts supposedly translated with Faju were *among* the four translated by Fali (右四部。凡十二卷。晉惠懷時。沙門法炬譯出。其法句喻福田二經。炬與沙門法立共譯出; T2145:55.9c19-10a3), reducing the total number of ascriptions supported by this evidence even further. The four texts listed are:

樓炭經 (prob. = *Lokasthāna[?] 大樓炭經 T23)
大方等如來藏經 (lost: cf. Zimmermann, Buddha Within [2002]: 69)
法句本末經/法句喻經/法句譬經 (= T211)
福田經/諸德福田經 (T683)

The main significance of Zürcher's remark is negative---the remaining ascriptions to Faju and Fali in the modern (Taishō) canon should be regarded as weaker and more open to suspicion. This record lists all such texts: T33, T34, T39, T49, T55, T64, T65, T70, T111, T113, T119, T122, T133, T178, T215, T332, T500, T501, T502, T503, T508, T509, T695, T739. However, we should also note that Zürcher adds:]

"Sengyou states that Fali made a great number of translations which were lost during the troubles of the yongjia era (307-313) before they had been copied and put into circulation, a remark which is repeated by Huijiao in his Gaoseng zhuan....It may...have happened that some works were rediscovered at a rather later date, but Sengyou's silence about Faju remains puzzling. Dao'an's catalouge, our invaluable guide for the early period, gives out around 300 AD; although Dao'an compiled it at Xiangyang in 374 and probably added new entries until his death in 385, he did not include any works translated after the end of the Western Jin."

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Fajing 594]  Fajing 法經. Zhongjing mulu 眾經目錄 T2146. — T2146 (LV) 128c6

This same title is given as an alternate title for the 阿闍世王經, and ascribed to *Lokakṣema(!), in an interlinear note in Fajing: 阿闍世王問五逆經一卷(一名阿闍世王經)(後漢世沙門支讖譯).

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Fei 597]  Fei Changfang 費長房. Lidai sanbao ji (LDSBJ) 歷代三寶紀 T2034. — T2034 (XLIX) 53a8, 67a24

In LDSBJ, a title matching T508 is listed among the texts ascribed to *Lokakṣema, without any particular source; but also listed among the texts ascribed to Faju. This means that the ascription of T508 to Faju probably derives from LDSBJ.

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. — 152-159

Sakaino presents a list of 132 texts that LDSBJ newly ascribed to Faju, and points out that almost all of them (129 titles) were taken from the Sengyou’s “continuation of the catalogue of anonymous scriptures” 續 失譯錄 in CSZJJ (one was taken from Dao’ans catalogue of anonymous scriptures 安公失譯錄). Sakaino also demonstrates that in assigning these new ascriptions, Fei arbitrarily took titles in groups, holus-bolus, from certain concentrated sections of Sengyou’s list. This is part of a broader pattern that Sakaino studies at several points in his book (see esp. 80-86), in which he identifies such group-wise reassignment of texts from Sengyou’s anonymous lists to single translators as characteristic of Fei Changfang’s working pattern. He points out that Sengyou’s list was organised by topic, as it could be inferred from the titles of texts, and not by translator (as it could not be, since Sengyou was explicitly stating that he did not know who the translator was); this makes it all the more improbable that texts due to single translators would be clustered in the list in the manner required by Fei’s re-ascriptions. In Faju’s case, for instance, this has the absurd consequence of making him appear to be a specialist in translations of texts that happen to have the word bhikṣu 比丘 in the title.

Entry author: Atsushi Iseki

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No

[Radich 2019]  Radich, Michael. “Fei Changfang’s Treatment of Sengyou’s Anonymous Texts.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 139.4 (2019): 819-841.

According to the abstract, Radich argues:

"Fei Changfang/Zhangfang’s 費長房 Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寶紀 T2034 (completed in 598) is a source of numerous problematic ascriptions and dates for texts in the received Chinese Buddhist canon. This paper presents new evidence of troubling patterns in the assignment of new ascriptions in Lidai sanbao ji, and aims thereby to shed new light on Fei’s working method. I show that Lidai sanbao ji consistently gives new attributions to the same translators for whole groups of texts clustering closely together in a long list of texts treated as anonymous in the earlier Chu sanzang ji ji 出三藏記集 T2145 of Sengyou 僧祐 (completed ca. 515). It is impossible that Sengyou grouped these texts together on the basis of attribution, since he did not know them. The most economical explanation for the assignment of each individual group to the same translator in Lidai sanbao ji, therefore, is that someone added the same attributions in batches to restricted chunks of Sengyou’s list. This and other evidence shows that Lidai sanbao ji is even more unreliable than previously thought, and urges even greater critical awareness in the use of received ascriptions for many of our texts."

Radich argues that the patterns of unreliable information he has here uncovered cast doubt upon the ascriptions of all the texts affected. Extant texts affected are the following (from Radich's Appendix 1; listed in order of Taishō numbering; listing gives title, Taishō number, Taishō ascription, and locus in LDSBJ):

七佛父母姓字經 T4, Anon., former Wei 前魏, 60b19.
尸迦羅越六方禮經 T16, An Shigao 安世高, 52a15.
善生子經 T17, Zhi Fadu 支法度, 68a17-18.
開解梵志阿颰經 T20, Zhi Qian 支謙, 57c22.
寂志果經 T22, Tanwulan 曇無蘭, 69c5.
頂生王故事經 T39, Faju 法炬, 67a19.
鐵城泥犁經 T42, Tanwulan, 70a14.
閻羅王五天使者經 T43, Huijian 慧簡, 93b10.
離睡經 T47, Dharmarakṣa 竺法護, 64b21.
求欲經 T49, Faju, 67a2.
受歲經 T50, Dharmarakṣa, 64a23.
苦陰經 T53, Anon., E. Han 東漢, 55a25.
苦陰因事經 T55, Faju, 67c18.
樂想經 T56, Dharmarakṣa, 64b25.
阿耨風經 T58, Tanwulan, 69c9.
瞿曇彌記果經 T60, Huijian, 93b19.
瞻婆比丘經 T64, Faju, 67b16.
伏婬經 T65, Faju, 66c26.
魔嬈亂經 T66, Anon., E. Han, 55a2.
弊魔試目連經/魔嬈亂經 T67, Zhi Qian, 58b23.
數經 T70, Faju, 66c20.
尊上經 T77, Dharmarakṣa, 64b25.
鸚鵡經 T79, Guṇabhadra 求那跋陀羅, 91c13.
意經 T82, Dharmarakṣa, 64a21.
應法經 T83, Dharmarakṣa, 64a22.
泥犁經 T86, Tanwulan, 70a15.
八關齋經 T89, Juqu Jingsheng 沮渠京聲, 92c23.
鞞摩肅經 T90, Guṇabhadra, 91c13.
婆羅門子命終愛念不離經 T91, An Shigao, 51b19.
十支居士八城人經 T92, An Shigao, 50c19.
相應相可經 T111, Faju, 67c15.
難提釋經 T113, Faju, 67c3.
波斯匿王太后崩塵土坌身經 T122, Faju, 67b2.
放牛經 = T123, Kumārajīva 鳩摩羅什, 78c5.
四人出現世間經 T127, Guṇabhadra, 91c7.
婆羅門避死經 T131, An Shigao, 51b24.
頻毘[v.l. 婆 SY]娑羅王詣佛供養經 T133, Faju, 67a26.
長者子六過出家經 T134, Huijian, 93b23.
四未曾有法經 T136, Dharmarakṣa, 64b3.
四泥犁經 T139, Tanwulan, 70a8.
阿那邠邸化七子經 T140, An Shigao, 50c18.
佛母般泥洹經 T145, Huijian, 93b22.
阿難同學經 T149, An Shigao, 52a12.
阿含正行經 T151, An Shigao, 52a24.
大方便佛報恩經 T156, Anon., E. Han, 54b18.
大意經 T177, Guṇabhadra, 91c18.
前世三轉經 T178, Faju, 67c16.
異出菩薩本起經 T188, Nie Daozhen 聶道真, 66a20.
十二遊經 T195, *Kālodaka 迦留陀伽, 70b27-c2.
興起行經 T197, Kang Mengxiang 康孟詳, 54b2.
雜譬喻經 T205, Anon., E. Han, 54b25.
猘狗經 T214, Zhi Qian, 58c7.
群牛譬經 T215, Faju, 67a6.
大魚事經 T216, Tanwulan, 69c5.
仁王般若波羅蜜經 T245, Kumārajīva, 78a23-24.
法華三昧經 T269, Zhiyan 智嚴, 112c27.
諸菩薩求佛本業經 T282, Nie Daozhen, 65c19.
無垢施菩薩應辯會 T310(33), Nie Daozhen, 66a2.
菩薩修行經 T330, Bo Fazu 白法祖, 66b4.
優填王經 T332, Faju, 67b3.
大乘方等要慧經 T348, An Shigao, 52b17.
寶積三昧文殊師利菩薩問法身經 T356, An Shigao, 52b10-11.
出阿彌陀佛偈 T373, Anon., E. Han, 55b24-25.
般泥洹後灌臘經 T391, Dharmarakṣa, 64a24.
迦葉赴佛般涅槃經 T393, Tanwulan, 70a19.
八吉祥神呪經 T427, Zhi Qian, 58b8.
八陽神呪經 T428, Dharmarakṣa, 64b4.
文殊師利般涅槃經 T463, Nie Daozhen, 65c7.
三曼陀跋陀羅菩薩經 T483, Nie Daozhen, 66a1.
六菩薩亦當誦持經 T491, Anon., E. Han, 54c19.
阿難問事佛吉凶經 T492, An Shigao, 51c22.
摩訶迦葉度貧母經 T497, Guṇabhadra, 91c26.
羅云忍辱經 T500, Faju, 66c22.
沙曷比丘功德經 T501, Faju, 67c13.
佛為年少比丘說正事經 T502, Faju, 67b24.
比丘避女惡名欲自殺經 T503, Faju, 67c10.
犍陀國王經 T506, An Shigao, 52b5.
阿闍世王問五逆經 T508, Faju, 67a24.
阿闍世王授決經 T509, Faju, 67a2.
採花違王上佛授決號妙花經 T510, Tanwulan, 69c12.
長者子懊惱三處經 T525, An Shigao, 50c13.
越難經 T537, Nie Chengyuan 聶承遠, 65b21.
樹提伽經 T540a/b, Guṇabhadra, 91c17.
摩鄧女經 T551, An Shigao, 52a6.
內身觀章句經 T610, Anon., E. Han, 55b4.
法觀經 T611, Dharmarakṣa, 64a21.
身觀經 T612, Dharmarakṣa, 64a20.
佛印三昧經 T621, An Shigao, 52b15.
自誓三昧經 T622, An Shigao, 51b5.
父母恩難報經 T684, An Shigao, 51a13.
盂蘭盆經 T685, Dharmarakṣa, 64a27.
未曾有經 T688, Anon., E. Han, 55a28.
作佛形像經 T692, Anon., E. Han, 54c2.
摩訶剎頭經 T696, Shengjian 聖堅, 83c9.
罪業應報教化地獄經 T724, An Shigao, 51c18.
分別善惡所起經 T729, An Shigao, 51a23.
處處經 T730, An Shigao, 51b9.
十八泥犁經 T731, An Shigao, 51c16.
罵意經 T732, An Shigao, 51b8.
堅意經 T733, An Shigao, 52a2.
鬼問目連經 T734, An Shigao, 51c15.
分別經 T738, Dharmarakṣa, 64a28.
慢法經 T739, Faju, 66c20.
忠心經 T743, Tanwulan, 70a6.
罪福報應經 T747b, Guṇabhadra, 91c5.
十二品生死經 T753, Guṇabhadra, 91c4.
四輩經 T769, Dharmarakṣa, 64a24.
四品學法經 T771, Guṇabhadra, 91c8.
賢者五福德經 T777, Bo Fazu, 66b14.
十二頭陀經 T783, Guṇabhadra, 91b25.
出家緣經 T791, An Shigao, 51a8.
貧窮老公經 T797a/b, Huijian, 93b14.
弟子死復生經 T826, Juqu Jingsheng, 93a3.
懈怠耕者經 T827, Huijian, 93b12.
阿難陀目佉尼呵離陀經 T1013, Guṇabhadra, 92a8.
呪齒經 T1327, Tanwulan, 70b11.
華積陀羅尼神呪經 T1356, Zhi Qian, 58b7.
玄師颰陀所說神呪經 T1378b, Tanwulan, 70b9.
檀特羅麻油述經 T1391, Tanwulan, 70b3-70b4.
摩尼羅亶經 T1393, Tanwulan, 70a24, 70b1.
犯戒罪報輕重經 T1467, An Shigao, 51b1.
大比丘三千威儀 T1470, An Shigao, 50a23-24.
沙彌尼戒經 T1474, Anon., E. Han, 54c27.
戒消災經 T1477, Zhi Qian, 58a11.
菩薩受齋經 T1502, Nie Daozhen, 65c18.
分別功德論 T1507, Anon., E. Han, 54b19.
阿毘曇甘露味論 T1553, Anon., Cao Wei 曹魏, 60b18.
請賓頭盧法 T1689, Huijian, 93b17.
迦葉結經 T2027, An Shigao, 52b16.

This CBC@ entry is associated with all of affected extant texts.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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No

[Mizuno 1989]  Mizuno Kōgen 水野弘元. "Kan'yaku Chū agon kyō to Zōichi agon kyō 漢訳『中阿含経』と『増一阿含経』." Bukkyō kenkyū 仏教研究 18 (1989): 1-42[L]. Chinese translation: "Hanyi Zhong ahan jing yu Zengyi ahan jing 漢譯《中阿含經》與《増一阿含經》," in Shuiye Hongyuan [=Mizuno Kōgen ], Fojiao wenxian yanjiu: Shuiye Hongyuan zhuzuo xuanji (1) 佛教文獻研究‧水 野 弘 元 著 作 選 集( 一), translated by Xu Yangzhu 許洋主, 509-579. Taipei: Fagu wenhua, 2003.

Mizuno studies external evidence suggesting that EĀ ws translated twice (see separate CBC@ entry), and proposes that vestiges of the lost, second translation (which he ascribes to *Dharmanandin/Zhu Fonian) survive as a group of individual sūtras in the Taishō: T29, T39, T89, T106, T119, T122, T123, T127, T131, T133, T134, T136, T138, T139, T140, T149, T215, T216, T508, T684. This entry lists those texts as a group.

Entry author: Michael Radich

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  • Title: Mizuno's "alternate *Ekottarikāgama"