Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1676. It is in 12 chapters and 27 sections. The headings of these chapters have been given elsewhere (Catalogue, pp. 18, 19). The contents of the Chinese version agree in the main with the Tibetan. It is named (10) Fang-kwang-tai-Awang-yan-king. 7 Be A HE he There is a life of Buddha translated by an Indian priest of Cophene, about A.D. 445, which is called (11) Sang-kia-lo-c’ha-sho-tsih-fo-hing-king. fe tin He A) BT Se OR TT RE This appears to have been written by a priest called Sangharaksha, who was born in the kingdom of Su-lai, and came to Gandhdra when Kanishka flourished. This monarch is called in the text Kien-to-ki-ni-wang. The INTRODUCTION. XXIX symbols Kien-to correspond with the family title given elsewhere to Kanishka, viz. Xan-tan, i.e. Xandana or sandalwood (see the work Tsah-pao-tsang-king in the Indian Office Collection of Buddhist Books, kiouen vi, fol. 12 [Catalogue, case Ixvi]). This Chinese title may probably correspond with the tribal name of Gushan, or perhaps (according to Oldenberg) with the title Koiranos, of the coins. But in any case Sangharaksha is said to have lived during the time of this monarch, and to have written the life of Buddha, which was afterwards translated into Chinese by Sanghabhadanta (?). This work is in 5 kiouen; it comprises the usual stories from the birth of Buddha to the distribution of his relics after his death. There is at the end a curious story about Asoka, who reigned 100 years after the Nirvana. He is said to have had a dream which induced him to assemble the Bhikshus in a convocation. He was told by them that there was in Ragagrtha a casket on which there was a record enshrined, or a gold plate, which had been delivered by Buddha. On opening the casket a prophecy was found stating that in Magadha, in the city of R4égagriha, there were two householders whose two sons were called Vigayamitra and Vasudatta ; of these the former, in consequence of his merit in giving a ball of earth to Buddha, should be born 100 years after as Asoka raga of the Maurya family. In consequence of this prophecy Asoka built 84,000 shrines for the relics of Buddha, obeying in this the direction of his dream, that he should cause the satiras of the holy one to be everywhere diffused. Another life of Buddha is one I have partly translated in the Romantic History of Buddha. It is called (12) Fo-pen-hing-tsih-king Hi AS 4t SRO and was translated by G#anagupta or G#anakita of the Tsui dynasty (circ. A.D. 588). It is said to be the same as the Abhinishkramaza Siatra, but of this there is no positive evidence. It is in 60 kiouen, and embraces Buddha’s history from the beginning to the time of the conversion of the Kasyapas and others. XXX FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. The following is the title of a life of Buddha, translated by Fa-khin of the Sung dynasty (began 960 A.D.), and named (13) Fo-shwo-kung-hu-mo-ho-ti-king Ob Gt SR BF EB ad ie
2XXX FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. The following is the title of a life of Buddha, translated by Fa-khin of the Sung dynasty (began 960 A.D.), and named (13) Fo-shwo-kung-hu-mo-ho-ti-king Ob Gt SR BF EB ad ie which is, as it appears, a work of the Sammatiya school of Buddhism, corresponding with the Mahavastu. The phrase SR af is used in the introductory chapter to denote Sammata, who was ‘chosen by all’ to be the first king; and i =f rs is the Chinese form of Mah4vastu, ‘the great (thing). This memoir is in 2 vols. and 13 kiouen; it is very complete, agreeing in its details with the notices found in the Manual of Buddhism, and in Bigandet’s Life of Godama. It was probably in the original a Pali work. The last version of the Lalita Vistara, known as the (14) Shin-t’ung-yaou-hi-king, ih Bt SHE BR aE has not come under my notice. ASVAGHOSHA. The most reliable of the lives of Buddha known in China is that translated in the present volume, the Buddhakarita-kavya. It was no’ doubt written by the Bodhisattva Asvaghosha, who was the twelfth Buddhist patriarch, and a contemporary of Kanishka!. Translators in China attribute both this book and the work which I have called the ‘Sermons of Asvaghosha’ (ta kwang yan king lun) to him, and there is no reason to question it. Kuméaragiva, who _ translated the latter work, was too familiar with Indian subjects to be mistaken in this particular, and Dharmaraksha (we will employ this restoration of his name) was also a native of Mid-India, and deeply versed in Buddhist 1 There is no absolute certainty about the date of Kanishka; it may probably be referred to the beginning of the latter half of the first century a, D. (see next page). INTRODUCTION. XXxi literature (he became a disciple at six years of age). Both these translators lived about A.D. 400.
3(see next page). INTRODUCTION. XXxi literature (he became a disciple at six years of age). Both these translators lived about A.D. 400. I am told, however, by Mr. Rockhill, that TArAndtha, the Tibetan author, mentions three writers of the name of Asvaghosha, the ‘great one,’ the younger, and one who lived in the eighth century A.D. This latter, who was also called Cura, could not be the Asvaghosha of our text, as the translation of the work dates from the fifth century. And as of the other two, one was called ‘the great’ and the other ‘the younger, it admits of little question that the Bodhisattva would be the former. But in the Chinese Catalogues, so far as I have searched, there is no mention made of more than one writer called by this name, and he is ever affirmed to have been a contemporary of Kanishka. In the book Tsah-pao-tsang-king, for instance (kiouen vi), there are several tales told of the Kandan ‘Kanika’ or ‘Kanishka,’ in one of which (fol. 13) Asvaghosha is distinctly named as his religious adviser, and he is there called ‘the Bodhisattva ;’ so that, according to evidence derived from Chinese sources, there seems no reason to doubt that the author of the book I have here translated was living at and before the time of the Scythian invasion of Magadha under the Kandan king Kanishka. With respect to the date of this monarch we have no positive evidence ; the weight of authority sides with those who place him at the beginning of the Saka period, i.e. A.D. 78. It is therefore possible that the emissaries who left China A.D. 64 and returned A.D. 67 may have brought back with them some knowledge of the work of Asvaghosha called Fo-pen-hing, or of the original then circulating in India, on which Asvaghosha founded his poem. It is singular at least that the work of Asvaghosha is in five chapters as well as that translated by Au-fa-lan. In any case we may conclude that as early as about A.D. 70, if not before, there was in India a work known as Buddhaéfarita (Fo-pen-hing). As to the origin of such a work, it seems likely to have sprung from an enlargement of the Mahaparinirvaza Sdtra. We know that the record of the history of Buddha’s last XXxli FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1676. It is in 12 chapters and 27 sections. The headings of these chapters have been given elsewhere (Catalogue, pp. 18, 19). The contents of the Chinese version agree in the main with the Tibetan. It is named (10) Fang-kwang-tai-Awang-yan-king. 7 Be A HE he There is a life of Buddha translated by an Indian priest of Cophene, about A.D. 445, which is called (11) Sang-kia-lo-c’ha-sho-tsih-fo-hing-king. fe tin He A) BT Se OR TT RE This appears to have been written by a priest called Sangharaksha, who was born in the kingdom of Su-lai, and came to Gandhdra when Kanishka flourished. This monarch is called in the text Kien-to-ki-ni-wang. The INTRODUCTION. XXIX symbols Kien-to correspond with the family title given elsewhere to Kanishka, viz. Xan-tan, i.e. Xandana or sandalwood (see the work Tsah-pao-tsang-king in the Indian Office Collection of Buddhist Books, kiouen vi, fol. 12 [Catalogue, case Ixvi]). This Chinese title may probably correspond with the tribal name of Gushan, or perhaps (according to Oldenberg) with the title Koiranos, of the coins. But in any case Sangharaksha is said to have lived during the time of this monarch, and to have written the life of Buddha, which was afterwards translated into Chinese by Sanghabhadanta (?). This work is in 5 kiouen; it comprises the usual stories from the birth of Buddha to the distribution of his relics after his death. There is at the end a curious story about Asoka, who reigned 100 years after the Nirvana. He is said to have had a dream which induced him to assemble the Bhikshus in a convocation. He was told by them that there was in Ragagrtha a casket on which there was a record enshrined, or a gold plate, which had been delivered by Buddha. On opening the casket a prophecy was found stating that in Magadha, in the city of R4égagriha, there were two householders whose two sons were called Vigayamitra and Vasudatta ; of these the former, in consequence of his merit in giving a ball of earth to Buddha, should be born 100 years after as Asoka raga of the Maurya family. In consequence of this prophecy Asoka built 84,000 shrines for the relics of Buddha, obeying in this the direction of his dream, that he should cause the satiras of the holy one to be everywhere diffused. Another life of Buddha is one I have partly translated in the Romantic History of Buddha. It is called (12) Fo-pen-hing-tsih-king Hi AS 4t SRO and was translated by G#anagupta or G#anakita of the Tsui dynasty (circ. A.D. 588). It is said to be the same as the Abhinishkramaza Siatra, but of this there is no positive evidence. It is in 60 kiouen, and embraces Buddha’s history from the beginning to the time of the conversion of the Kasyapas and others. XXX FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. The following is the title of a life of Buddha, translated by Fa-khin of the Sung dynasty (began 960 A.D.), and named (13) Fo-shwo-kung-hu-mo-ho-ti-king Ob Gt SR BF EB ad ie
2XXX FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING. The following is the title of a life of Buddha, translated by Fa-khin of the Sung dynasty (began 960 A.D.), and named (13) Fo-shwo-kung-hu-mo-ho-ti-king Ob Gt SR BF EB ad ie which is, as it appears, a work of the Sammatiya school of Buddhism, corresponding with the Mahavastu. The phrase SR af is used in the introductory chapter to denote Sammata, who was ‘chosen by all’ to be the first king; and i =f rs is the Chinese form of Mah4vastu, ‘the great (thing). This memoir is in 2 vols. and 13 kiouen; it is very complete, agreeing in its details with the notices found in the Manual of Buddhism, and in Bigandet’s Life of Godama. It was probably in the original a Pali work. The last version of the Lalita Vistara, known as the (14) Shin-t’ung-yaou-hi-king, ih Bt SHE BR aE has not come under my notice. ASVAGHOSHA. The most reliable of the lives of Buddha known in China is that translated in the present volume, the Buddhakarita-kavya. It was no’ doubt written by the Bodhisattva Asvaghosha, who was the twelfth Buddhist patriarch, and a contemporary of Kanishka!. Translators in China attribute both this book and the work which I have called the ‘Sermons of Asvaghosha’ (ta kwang yan king lun) to him, and there is no reason to question it. Kuméaragiva, who _ translated the latter work, was too familiar with Indian subjects to be mistaken in this particular, and Dharmaraksha (we will employ this restoration of his name) was also a native of Mid-India, and deeply versed in Buddhist 1 There is no absolute certainty about the date of Kanishka; it may probably be referred to the beginning of the latter half of the first century a, D. (see next page). INTRODUCTION. XXxi literature (he became a disciple at six years of age). Both these translators lived about A.D. 400.
3(see next page). INTRODUCTION. XXxi literature (he became a disciple at six years of age). Both these translators lived about A.D. 400. I am told, however, by Mr. Rockhill, that TArAndtha, the Tibetan author, mentions three writers of the name of Asvaghosha, the ‘great one,’ the younger, and one who lived in the eighth century A.D. This latter, who was also called Cura, could not be the Asvaghosha of our text, as the translation of the work dates from the fifth century. And as of the other two, one was called ‘the great’ and the other ‘the younger, it admits of little question that the Bodhisattva would be the former. But in the Chinese Catalogues, so far as I have searched, there is no mention made of more than one writer called by this name, and he is ever affirmed to have been a contemporary of Kanishka. In the book Tsah-pao-tsang-king, for instance (kiouen vi), there are several tales told of the Kandan ‘Kanika’ or ‘Kanishka,’ in one of which (fol. 13) Asvaghosha is distinctly named as his religious adviser, and he is there called ‘the Bodhisattva ;’ so that, according to evidence derived from Chinese sources, there seems no reason to doubt that the author of the book I have here translated was living at and before the time of the Scythian invasion of Magadha under the Kandan king Kanishka. With respect to the date of this monarch we have no positive evidence ; the weight of authority sides with those who place him at the beginning of the Saka period, i.e. A.D. 78. It is therefore possible that the emissaries who left China A.D. 64 and returned A.D. 67 may have brought back with them some knowledge of the work of Asvaghosha called Fo-pen-hing, or of the original then circulating in India, on which Asvaghosha founded his poem. It is singular at least that the work of Asvaghosha is in five chapters as well as that translated by Au-fa-lan. In any case we may conclude that as early as about A.D. 70, if not before, there was in India a work known as Buddhaéfarita (Fo-pen-hing). As to the origin of such a work, it seems likely to have sprung from an enlargement of the Mahaparinirvaza Sdtra. We know that the record of the history of Buddha’s last XXxli FO-SHO-HING-TSAN-KING.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
No commentary for this page.