Nirvana Sutra

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Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Sui Dynasty

The Nirvana Sutra (also: Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra ; 大 般 涅槃 経 or trad. 大 般 涅槃經; Chinese: Dà Bān Nièpán Jīng ; Japanese: Dai Hatsunehan Gyō , usually abbreviated 涅槃 経, Nehangyō ; Tibetan: myangido 'das kyō ; ) is one of the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtras of Mahāyāna Buddhism . It is not to be confused with the Mahāparinibbāna Suttam known from the Pali canon . To distinguish the former is referred to with its Sanskrit title, the latter in Pali .

The Mahaparinirvana Sutra is an extensive text that is said to contain "Buddha's overall summary" of his teaching. The main emphasis is on the explanation of the eternal presence of Buddha as well as the eternal, pure " Buddha-nature " (Buddha-dhatu, also Tathagatagarbha , i.e. "Buddha embryon" / "Buddha essence"), which is common to all living beings. Recognition of the same leads to liberation from all suffering and to final entry into the joyful state of nirvana. Recognition of Buddha-nature is prevented by the kleshas (desire [greed], hatred, pride, delusion).

Versions

The different traditional versions interpret the Buddha-nature and the possibilities of recognizing it differently. The sutra was particularly popular in China between the 5th and 7th centuries. The "Nirvana School", Nieh-p'an-tsung (jp .: Nehanshū ), is a group of exegetes of the Nirvana Sutra, the most famous representative of which was Daosheng (355-434). At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty , this tradition became part of the Tien-tai , when the Mahaparinirvana Sutra became one of the basic texts of this school, along with the Lotus Sutra and the Daiichidoron . It later influenced the development of Zen.

The following (differing) Mahāyāna versions [fragments] of the sutra have been handed down:

  1. From Buddhabhadra and Fa-hsien ( Faxian ) between 416 and 418 (6 fascicles; Taishō 376, 12, Nos. 853–899; NJ 120), is a fragment of 2 and 3, respectively.
  2. "Northern Nirvana Sutra" (about a third of 3): Practicing Dharmakśema [Chinese: T'an-mu-ch'an San-t'Sang; = Dharmaraksha d. J.], the "northern text" (40 fascicles, 13 chapters), originated between 416 and 423 in the northern kingdom of Liang under Kaiser Schau (Taishō 374, 12 No. 365c-603c; NJ 113). The basic explanation of this text, including older commentaries, comes from Hwui-Yuen ( Sui dynasty 581–618).
  3. "Southern Nirvana Sutra" (greatly expanded version of 2): Compiled by the monks Huiguan (from 道場 寺) and Huiyan (from 鳥 衣 寺; = Hwui-yen) with the writer Hsiä Liang Yün in Nanking under Emperor Wen (early Song Dynasty ), (36 fascicles, 25 chapters) around 453 (Taishō 375, 12, no. 605–852; NJ 114). This version was never really popular in Japan.
    Vasubandhu's commentary on this was transmitted from Dharmabodhi under Southern Wei 534-50 [NJ 1206]. Emperor Wu Ti (of Liang) ordered in 509 that the monk Pao-liang had to compile the existing comments. The text compiled from it, to which the emperor himself wrote a preface, is known in Japanese as Nehangyō shūge . There are also comments from Kwan-ting, the 5th Patriarch of Tien-tai (NJ 1544, 1545), which were revised by his successor Chan-jan (9th Patriarch, 711-82). Chi-yuen further commented on the former comment (NJ 1544) in 1044 (NJ 1546).
  4. Ubs (Tibetan) from: Jinamitra , Jñanagarbha and Devacandra in the 8th century.

The texts of two Chinese translations that were created shortly before 1 have not survived. 1 and 4 roughly correspond to the first quarter of 2; it is assumed that this text is of Indian origin. Hinayana versions No. 552 are found in NJ. 290-306 by Poh Fah-tsu. The Caturdāraka-samādhi-sūtra , which is similar in content , was used. 266-316 by Dharmarakśa d. Ä. and again from Jñānagupta 585-92.

[ Taishō denotes the Sino-Japanese canon catalog of the same name , NJ the older directory of Nanjio.]

Japanese tradition

In Japan, the sutra, beginning with a mention of the northern text (2) 722, [(3) only from 804], can be traced in the annals. However, the Hossō monk Gomyō is said to have already given a lecture on this in a 788 in the Kasuga-dera (part of the Kōfuku-ji in Nara). Since the 8th century, as in China, on the day of the final extinction of the enlightened one (15th day of the 2nd month; a day of abstinence) , the sutra has been recited when observing Nehan-e .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rhys Davids, TW and CAF trans. (1899-1921). Dialogues of the Buddha , Pali Text Society , Vol. 2 , pp. 78-191.
  2. ↑ Buswell, Robert Jr; Lopez, Donald S. Jr., eds. (2013). "Mahāparinibbānasuttanta," in Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 502-504. ISBN 978-0-691-15786-3 .
  3. ↑ Buswell, Robert Jr; Lopez, Donald S. Jr., eds. (2013). "Niepan zong", in Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, p. 584. ISBN 9780691157863
  4. ↑ Hodge, Stephen (2012), The Mahayana Mahaparinirvana Sutra. The text & its Transmission, corrected and revised version of a paper presented in July 2010 at the Second International Workshop on the Mahaparinirvana Sutra held at Munich University. Digitized version ( Memento from September 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 3.6 MB)

literature

Web links