Ugraparipṛcchā

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Ugraparipṛcchā (T. drag shul can gyis zhus pa; C. Yuqie zhangzhe hui; J. Ikuga chōjae; K. Ukka changja hoe 郁伽長者會).[1] Literally, "The Inquiry of Ugra". An early Mahayana sutra that takes the form of a dialogue between the Buddha and a lay bodhisattva named Ugra, in which the Buddha describes the path of the bodhisattva for both lay and monastic practitioners.[1] According the this text, the renunciate way of life is superior to that of a lay householder for the purpose of achieving the final goal of the bodhisattva path.[1]

According to the Princeton Dictionary:

The Ugraparipṛcchā was a highly influential sūtra in both India and East Asia, where it was widely quoted and commented upon and is regarded by scholars as an important and influential work in the formative period of Mahāyāna Buddhism.[1]

Text and translations

This text is considered to be one of the earliest Mahayana sutras. "The text has not survived in any Indic-language version, but has been preserved in five translated versions: three in Chinese, one in Tibetan, and one in Mongolian."[1]

Early history in India

According to Jan Nattier, the text was widely known in India, being one of the most quoted texts in both the Daśabhūmikā Vibhāṣā (The Great Commentary on the "Ten Stages Sutra") and Shantideva's Śikṣāsamuccaya (8th century).[2]

Nattier has suggested that it is likely the text circulated in Dharmaguptaka circles early in its history.[3]

Chinese translations

According to Nattier (2003), the Ugraparipṛcchā was one of the first Buddhist texts to be brought to China and it was apparently very popular as it was translated into Chinese six times between the second and fifth centuries. Of these translations, only three are extant.

The extant translations are:[4]

  • Fajing jing (C. 法鏡經) (Skt. Ugra(datta)paripṛcchā(sūtra), T. Khyim-bdag-drag-śul-can-gyis shus-pa). Literally Sutra of the Dharma Mirror.[4]
    The earliest translation of the text, completed by An Xuan and Yan Fotiao in Luoyang during the Later Han dynasty.[2][5]
  • Yuqie changzhe hui (郁伽長者會). Literally The Inquiry of Ugra.[6]
    Completed by Dharmarakṣa during the Jin Dynasty.[7] [check] This translation is included in the Chinese version of the Ratnakuta.[4]
  • Yuqie luoyue wen pusaxing jing (郁伽羅越問菩薩行經).

The three Chinese translations are found in Taishō Tripiṭaka 322, 12.15a-23a; T 323 12.23a-30c; T 310[10], 11.472b-480b.

Tibetan and Mongolian translations

The Tibetan translation is included in the Tibetan version of the Ratnakuta (Toh 63).

The Mongolian translation based on the Tibetan version.[8]

English translation

  • Nattier, Jan (2003), A Few Good Men: The Bodhisattva Path According to the Inquiry of Ugra (Ugraparipṛcchā): A Study and Translation, University of Hawaii Press 

Content

Theme

The central themes of the Ugraparipṛcchā Sūtra are the practices of the householder (gṛhin) and those of the bhikṣu (pravrajita) and bhikṣuṇī (pravrajitā),[9] stressing the importance and superiority of the latter group. The sutra promotes the bodhisattva ideal as a difficult, strictly monastic path, taking thousands of lifetimes to complete and suited only for the few. It also does not mention any other central Mahayana doctrines or place its teachings in opposition to what would later be classified as "Śrāvakayāna" teachings. Because of this, scholars such as Jan Nattier believe it dates to an early period in the development of Mahayana Buddhism.[10]

Outline

Practices of the Lay Bodhisattva

  1. Opening Salutation
  2. The Setting
  3. Ugra's Inquiry
  4. Going for Refuge
  5. The Refuges, Repeated
  6. Good Deeds
  7. The Bodhisattva's Perspective
  8. The Eleven Precepts
  9. The Bodhisattva in Society
  10. The Faults of the Household Life
  11. The Benefits of Giving
  12. Thoughts When Encountering Beggars
  13. Detachment from People and Things
  14. Cultivating Aversion for One's Wife
  15. Cultivating Detachment from One's Son
  16. How to Interact with Beggars
  17. The Triskandhaka Ritual
  18. When Monks Violate the Precepts
  19. When Visiting a Monastery
  20. Contrasts between Household and Renunciant Life
  21. When Visiting a Monastery, Cont'd
  22. The Ordination of Ugra and His Friends (version 1)

Practices of the Monastic Bodhisattva

  1. The Renunciant Bodhisattva's Practices
  2. The Four Noble Traditions
  3. The Noble Traditions and Other Ascetic Practices
  4. The Virtues of Wilderness-Dwelling
  5. Interacting with Other Monks and Teachers
  6. The Pure Morality of the Renunciant Bodhisattva
  7. The Pure Meditation of the Renunciant Bodhisattva
  8. The Pure Insight of the Renunciant Bodhisattva
  9. The Ordination of Ugra and His Friends (version 2)
  10. How the Householder Can Live as a Renunciant
  11. Dialogue with Ananda
  12. The Title of the Text
  13. The Final Reaction of the Audience

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Ugraparipṛcchā.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Nattier 2003, p. 3.
  3. ↑ Nattier 2003, p. 47.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 法鏡經, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (to sign in, see DDB sign-in)
  5. ↑ Nattier 2003, p. 33.
  6. ↑ 郁伽長者會, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (to sign in, see DDB sign-in)
  7. ↑ Nattier 2003, p. 17.
  8. ↑ Nattier 2003, pp. 16-21.
  9. ↑ Nattier 2002, p. 34.
  10. ↑ Nattier 2003, p. 192.

Sources

Further reading

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