Sutra on the Sacred Alms Bowls (Fo Shuo Fang Bo Jing) 佛說放鉢經

Translated by Unknown

Colophon

第 15 冊　No. 629 佛說放鉢經 闕譯 共 1 卷 Volume 15, No. 629; Sutra on the Sacred Alms Bowl (Fo Shuo Fang Bo Jing); Translated by Unknown in 1 scroll

Notes

Date 265-317 from Lancaster (Lancaster 2004, 'K 180')

English Translations

None

Summary

This text recounts a profound teaching given by the Buddha at Jetavana Monastery, where countless beings — including bodhisattvas, monks, gods, and other celestial and non-human beings — had gathered. The Buddha discussed the immense hardships bodhisattvas endure, including self-sacrifice and detachment from all possessions, to help liberate all sentient beings. When some celestial beings became discouraged by the difficulty of the bodhisattva path and considered pursuing the lesser paths of Arhatship or Pratyekabuddhahood, the Buddha manifested a miraculous event involving a sacred alms bowl. Manjusri Bodhisattva, through extraordinary spiritual powers, retrieved the bowl from a distant Buddha land, demonstrating his deep wisdom and past-life connection with the Buddha — revealing he was once the Buddha’s teacher and benefactor.

Primary Source

Unknown, 《佛說放鉢經》 'Ajātaśatrukaukṛtyavinodana (Fo Shuo Fang Bo Jing),' in Taishō shinshū Daizōkyō 《大正新脩大藏經》, in Takakusu Junjiro, ed., (Tokyo: Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō Kankōkai, 1988), Vol. 15, No. 629, Accessed 2016-09-24, http://tripitaka.cbeta.org/T15n0629.

References

  1. Lancaster, L.R. 2004, The Korean Buddhist Canon: A Descriptive Catalogue, http://www.acmuller.net/descriptive_catalogue.

Collection vocabulary analysis