Dharmarakṣa

From Buddha-Nature


Dharmarakṣa(233 - 310) 
竺法護

Dharmarakṣa. (C. Zhu Fahu; J. Jiku Hōgo; K. Ch’uk Pǒpho 竺法護) (c. 233-310). One of the most prolific translators in early Chinese Buddhism, who played an important role in transmitting the Indian scriptural tradition to China. Presumed to be of Yuezhi heritage, Dharmarakṣa was born in the Chinese outpost of Dunhuang and grew up speaking multiple languages. He became a monk at the age of eight and in his thirties traveled extensively throughout the oasis kingdoms of Central Asia, collecting manuscripts of Mahāyāna scriptures in a multitude of Indic and Middle Indic languages, which he eventually brought back with him to China. Because of his multilingual ability, Dharmarakṣa was able to supervise a large team in rendering these texts into Chinese; the team included scholars of Indian and Central Asian origin, as well as such Chinese laymen as the father-and-son team Nie Chengyuan and Nie Daozhen. Some 150 translations in over three hundred rolls are attributed to Dharmarakṣa, including the first translation of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, the Lalitavistara, the Bhadrakalpikasūtra, and some of the prajñāpāramitā literature. Although many of Dharmarakṣa's pioneering renderings were later superseded by the fourth-century retranslations of Kumārajīva, Dharmarakṣa is generally considered the most important translator of the early Chinese Buddhist saṃgha. (Source: "Dharmarakṣa." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 251. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)

Library Items

Text
RKTSK 95
The Play in Full tells the story of how the Buddha manifested in this world and attained awakening, as perceived from the perspective of the Great Vehicle. The sūtra, which is structured in twenty-seven chapters, first presents the events surrounding the Buddha’s birth, childhood, and adolescence in the royal palace of his father, king of the Śākya nation. It then recounts his escape from the palace and the years of hardship he faced in his quest for spiritual awakening. Finally the sūtra reveals his complete victory over the demon Māra, his attainment of awakening under the Bodhi tree, his first turning of the wheel of Dharma, and the formation of the very early saṅgha. (Source: 84000)
Text
Aṅgulimālīyasūtra
One of the tathāgatagarbha sūtras, this is the the Mahāyāna version of an earlier Pali sutta of the same name.
Text
Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra
Also known as Questions of Dhāraṇīśvararāja Sūtras (Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra), this lengthy sūtra is stated to be the primary source for the Ratnagotravibhāga since it touches upon all seven vajra topics discussed in the treatise.
Text
Sāgaramatiparipṛcchāsūtra
This sūtra details the story of the bodhisattva Sāgaramati and his questioning of the Buddha. A couple of the Buddha's responses to the bodhisattva are quoted at length in the Ratnagotravibhāga, which explain how bodhisattvas utilize the afflictions to anchor them to saṃsāra in order to benefit sentient beings. However, since the afflictions are merely adventitious, these bodhisattvas are not affected by them and they are, likewise, able to mature sentient beings who can also be cleansed of these adventitious afflictions to reveal the innate purity of the mind.
Text
Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra
Commonly referred to as the Lotus Sūtra, this text is extremely popular in East Asia, where it is considered to be the "final" teaching of the Buddha. Especially in Japan, reverence for this text has put it at the center of numerous Buddhist movements, including many modern, so-called new religions. The esteemed status of this scripture is epitomized in the Nichiren school's sole practice of merely paying homage to its title with the prayer "Namu myōhō renge kyō".
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