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Shri Mahavir Jain Aradhana Kendra
www.kobatirth.org
Acharya Shri Kailassagarsuri Gyanmandir
BHAIṢAJYA-GURU-SŪTRA
About the Chinese translation of this chapter, Prof. Pelliot furnishes us with the following information: "The 12th or the last, and undoubtedly, the oldest chapter of Fo-chouo-ta-kouan-ting-chentcheou-king' was translated by Śrīmitra between 317 and 322 A.D.; it should, however be observed that certain catalogues speak only nine chapters in the translation of Śrīmitra; in any case, it comprised 12 chapters at the time of the compilation of the K'ai yuan che kiao lou in 730 A.D. Among the independent translations, it appears that the first is that of Houci-kien entitled Yao-che-lieou-li-kouangking and dated 457 A.D. It was mentioned in A.D. 597 in the Litai-san-pao-ki" and about A.D. 664 in the Ta-t'ang-nei-tien-lou1 but it disappeared at the time of the compilation of K'ai yuan che kiao lou. The translation of Dharmagupta executed in 615 still exists (Nanjio, 170); it is called Fo chouo yao che jou lai pen yuan king (Bhaiṣajyaguru-tathāgata-pūrva-praṇidhana). It is to this that reference has been made in the preface entitled Yao che jou lai pen yuan kong to king siu, which preface in the Japanese Tripitaka has been placed by mistake at the beginning of the translation of the sutra of Bhaiṣajyaguru made later on by Yi-tsing. The author of this preface was one of the collaborators of Dharmagupta. It is curious that he does not mention Fo-chouo-kouan-ting-king (Nanjio, 167) or the translation of Śrīmitra. He speaks only about the many inaccuracies in the translation of Kien-houei. The text adopted by Dharmagupta, on the contrary, was based on three mss. and the translation was accepted after three revisions. But this translation of Dharmagupta, although it is still extant, has been eclipsed by that of Hiuan-tsang, entitled Yao-che-lieou-li-kouang-jou-lai
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I Nanjio (167) remarks under this book that it is in 12 fasciculi, "each fasc. contains a sutra with its own title, so that this is a collection of 12 sutras."
2 "Catalogue of books on the teaching of Sakyamuni."
3 "Records concerning the Triratna, under successive dynastics."
4 "Catalogue of Buddhist books collected under the great Than dynasty."
