Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish
The Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish (Skt. Damamūka-nidāna-sūtra; Tib. མདོ་མཛངས་བླུན་, mdo mdzangs blun; C. hsien-yü ching) is a collection of Jataka tales found in the Chinese and Tibetan canons. The text was translated into Chinese from Central Asian sources circa 445 CE, and was later translated into the Tibetan language from the Chinese source text.[1]
Text
The history of this unusual scripture is still uncertain. Legend has it that the tales were heard in Khotan by Chinese monks, who translated them into Chinese. In the caves of Dunhuang there are many wall paintings illustrating stories from the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, as well as painted scrolls on the same theme.[2]
The Tibetan translation was made by Go Chodrub.[3] It can be found in the Derge Kangyur, General Sutra Section, Toh 341.
The text was translated into Mongolian from Tibetan.
English translations
- Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, translated from the Mongolian by Dr. Stanley Frye, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
Notes
Sources
- Mair, Victor H. (1993). "The Linguistic and Textual Antecedents of The Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish", Sino-Platonic Papers 38.
Further reading
- Takakusu, Junjirō (1901) "Tales of the Wise Man and the Fool, in Tibetan and Chinese." Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (New Series) 33.3: 447-460.
- Terjék, József (1969). "Fragments of the Tibetan Sutra of «The Wise and the Fool» from Tun-huang." Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 22.3: 289-334.
External links
- Read the Tibetan text online at Tibetan Buddhist Resource Centre
mdzangs_blun_zhes_bya_ba'i_mdo, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki- mdzangs_blun_mdo, Rangjung Yeshe Wiki
