Abstract:

This article is one of a series concerning the Shorter Chinese Saṃyukta Āgama / Bieyi za ahan jing 別譯雜阿含經 (BZA) (T.100). The series is in turn part of a larger project conducted at Dharma Drum Buddhist College, Taiwan, and currently hosted at: http://buddhistinformatics.ddbc.edu.tw/BZA/. The present article discusses the arguments that are advanced in favour of attributing the BZA to the Dharmaguptaka and Mahīśāsaka schools, analyses the different names of Śakra/Sakka and their etymologies found in BZA 35, and presents a translation of BZA 33 to BZA 42, the first ten of twenty suttas on Sakka in the BZA.
Regarding the attribution we find that there is only one single passage that links the BZA with the Mahīśāsaka Vinaya. The comparison of Indian and Chinese forms of Sakka’s names clarifies some textual problems in the northern and the southern traditions. In the case of Purindada, this offers us a rare glimpse into how the early Buddhists had to ‘spin’ their texts when they incorporated the warrior god Indra into their pantheon.

Author: Dr Marcus Bingenheimer,