Abstract:

This is the third article in a series concerning the Shorter Chinese Saṃyukta Āgama, the Bieyi za ahan jing 別譯雜阿含經 (T.100) (BZA). The articles are part of a larger project that constructs a digital parallel edition of the 364 suttas of the BZA and their various versions. Starting from the fact that we are dealing with text-clusters, i.e. groups of texts, which share relevant narrative elements, the idea behind this edition is to present the texts of each cluster in a convenient and reliable fashion and to improve on previous editions in various ways. The online interface to the database is currently hosted at: http://buddhistinformatics.chibs.edu.tw/BZA/.
This article first discusses some comparative issues regarding the different versions of the Bhikkhunī Saṃyutta/Bhikṣuṇī Saṃyukta, especially concerning the names of the nuns. The evidence from the Chinese suggests that the name Vajirā in the Pāli Saṃyutta Nikāya is a mistake for Vīrā. The article concludes with the first translation of the BZA Bhikṣuṇī Saṃyukta, into a western language.

Author: Marcus Bingenheimer