The Vimalakīrti Sūtra (Watson)

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The Vimalakīrti Sūtra: From the Chinese Version by Kumārajīva

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Translations of Sutras (Chi-Eng)

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

The Vimalakirti Sutra, one of the most influential works of the Mahayana Buddhist canon, is of particular importance in the Ch'an or Zen sect. Originally written in Sanskrit, probably in the first century C.E., it claims to record events of more than four hundred years earlier. Noted for its eloquent, orderly exposition of the basic tenets of Mahayana, the text is also remarkable for the liveliness of its episodes and frequent touches of humor, rarities in a religious work of this type. The Vimalakirti Sutra is unusual in that its central figure is not a Buddha or Buddhas, but a wealthy townsman, Vimalakirti, who epitomizes the ideal lay believer. For this reason, and because of the Sutra's enduring literary appeal, it has been particularly popular among lay Buddhists in China, Japan, and the other Asian countries where Mahayana doctrines prevail, and has exercised a marked influence on literature and art. Beautifully translated by Burton Watson from the Chinese version of Kumarajiva, The Vimalakirti Sutra is the first-ever translation into English from the popular Chinese version. Including notes to the translation and a glossary, as well as a brief history of early Buddhism and an introduction to the doctrine of nondualism—a key tenet in Mahayana thought—this translation will delight not only those familiar with the text but also a new generation of readers. (Source: Motilal Banarsidass)

Citation

Watson, Burton, trans. The Vimalakīrti Sūtra: From the Chinese Version by Kumārajīva. 1st Indian ed. Buddhist Tradition Series 42. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1999. First published 1997 by Columbia University Press (New York).

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https://www.mlbd.in/products/the-vimalakirti-sutra-from-the-chinese-version-by-kumarajiva-burton-watson-9788120816725-8120816722

Table of contents

Forewordvii

Translator's Noteix

- INTRODUCTION1

- THE VIMALAKIRTISUTRA15

- 1. BUDDHA LANDS17

- 2. EXPEDIENT MEANS32

- 3. THE DISCIPLES37

- 4. THE BODHISATTVAS52

- 5. INQUIRING ABOUT THE ILLNESS64

- 6. BEYOND COMPREHENSION75

- 7. REGARDING LIVING BEINGS83

- 8. THE BUDDHA WAY93

- 9. ENTERING THE GATE OF NONDUALISM104

- 10. FRAGRANCE ACCUMULATED112

- 11. ACTIONS OF THE BODHISATTVAS121

- 12. SEEING AKSHOBHYA BUDDHA130

- 13. THE OFFERING OF THE LAW136

- 14. ENTRUSTMENT143

Glossary147

Interconnections

Works related to this item

1 Full translation of

Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra [आर्यविमलकीर्तिनिर्देशनाममहायानसूत्र]. 'phags pa dri ma med par grags pas bstan pa zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo [འཕགས་པ་དྲི་མ་མེད་པར་གྲགས་པས་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།]. [The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra "The Teaching of Vimalakīrti" (84000)]. Translated by Chos nyid tshul khrims, Kumārajīva, Zhiqian, Xuanzang, Dharmarakṣa. Kangyur, RKTSK 176 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=176&typ=1.

Classical WorksAbout this item

Vimalakīrtinirdeśa (T. Dri med grags pas bstan pa'i mdo; C. Weimo jing; J. Yuimagyō; K. Yuma kyǒng 維摩經). In Sanskrit, "Vimalakīrti's Instructions"; one of the most beloved Indian Mahāyāna sūtras, renowned especially for having a layman, the eponymous Vimalakīrti, as its protagonist. The text probably dates from around the second century CE. Among the seven translations of the sūtra into Chinese, the most famous is that made by Kumārajīva in 406. His translation seems to have been adapted to appeal to Chinese mores, emphasizing the worldly elements of Vimalakīrti's teachings and introducing the term "filial piety" into the text. The sūtra was also translated by Xuanzang in 650. The sūtra was translated into Tibetan twice, the more famous being that of Chos nyid tshul khrims in the ninth Century. It has also been rendered into Sogdian, Khotanese, and Uighur. The original Sanskrit of the text was lost for over a millennia until a Sanskrit manuscript was discovered in the Po ta la palace in Tibet in 2001. The narrative of the sūtra begins with the Buddha requesting that his leading Śrāvaka disciples visit his lay disciple Vimalakīrti, who is ill. Each demurs, recounting a previous meeting with Vimalakīrti in which the layman had chastised the monk for his limited understanding of the dharma. The Buddha then instructs his leading bodhisattva disciples to visit Vimalakīrti. Each again demurs until MañjuśrI reluctantly agrees. Vimalakīrti explains that his sickness is the sickness of all sentient beings, and goes on to describe how a sick bodhisattva should understand his sickness, emphasizing the necessity of both wisdom (prajñā) and method (upāya). A large audience of monks and bodhisattvas then comes to Vimalakīrti's house, where he delivers a sermon on "inconceivable liberation" (acintyavimokṣa). Among the audience is Śariputra, the wisest of the Buddha's śrāvaka disciples. As in other Mahāyāna sūtras, the eminent śrāvaka is made to play the fool, repeatedly failing to understand how all dichotomies are overcome in emptiness (śūnyatā), most famously when a goddess momentarily transforms him into a female. Later, a series of bodhisattvas take turns describing various forms of duality and how they are overcome in nonduality. Vimalakīrti is the last to be invited to speak. He remains silent and is praised for this teaching of the entrance into nonduality. The sūtra is widely quoted in later literature, especially on the topics of emptiness, method, and nonduality. It became particularly famous in East Asia because the protagonist is a layman, who repeatedly demonstrates that his wisdom is superior to that of monks. Scenes from the sūtra are often depicted in East Asian Buddhist art. (Source: "Vimalakīrtinirdeśa." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 971. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)