Prajñā (Buddhist monk)

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Prajñā
Chinese name
Chinese般若はんにゃ三藏さんぞう
Also known as:
Chinese般若はんにゃ
Sanskrit name
Sanskritप्रज्ञा

Prajñā (Chinese: 般若はんにゃ三藏さんぞう or 般若はんにゃ; pinyin: Bōrě Sāncáng or Bō Rě, 734[1]), was a 9th-century Buddhist monk born in Kapisa, near modern Kabul, Afghanistan.[2]

He visited Tang China and contributed several important retranslations of Sanskrit sutras into Chinese. Some of his main works are:

  • The Avatamsaka Sutra (Chinese: 華嚴經けごんきょう)
  • The Heart Sutra (Chinese: 大乘だいじょう理り趣おもむき六ろく波は羅ら密ひそか多た經けい)
  • The Mahayana Sutra of Mind Meditation from the Jataka tales (Chinese: 大だい乘本のりもと生せい心地ここち觀かん經けい)

Prajñā reportedly befriended the Japanese monk Kūkai, future founder of Shingon Buddhism, during his pilgrimage to China. He is said to have helped Kūkai learn and understand Sanskrit source texts.

According to the Zhenyuan Catalogue, Prajñā translated a work known as the Satparamita Sutra into Chinese with the help of the Christian monk Jingjing. This work does not survive.[3]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "般若はんにゃ". buddhaspace.org. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
  2. ^ Soothill, William (1977). A Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms: With Sanskrit and English Equivalents and a Sanskrit-Pali Index. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 337. ISBN 9788120803190.
  3. ^ David Scott (1985), "Christian Responses To Buddhism in Pre-Medieval Times", Numen 32(1): 88–100. doi:10.1163/156852785x00175

Further reading[edit]

  • Keown, Damian (2003). Dictionary of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860560-9
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