Brahma Net Sutra

There are two sutras by this title: a) a Southern School text that explains the moral precepts and then lists the sixty-two deviant views, and b) a Mahayana text, which explains the ten major and forty-eight minor precepts of the Bodhisattva.

(Source: Epstein, 2003: p. 30)

1) Chinese Mandarin: fan wang jing , a) T. 21, b) T. 1484.

2) Sanskrit: brahmajala-sutra (not extant).

3) Pali: brahmajala-sutta.

4) Alternate Translations: net of purity, perfect net.

See also: moral precepts, Bodhisattva, Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra, Vajracchedika Prajna Paramita Diamond, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra, et al. Schools: Hwa-Yen School, Tyan-tai School

BTTS Translation: b) BNS 2 vols. (Note: Text "a" is translated into English as follows: "The Brahma-Gala Suttanta (The Perfect Net)," Dialogues of the Buddha, I, pp. 1-55. Sacred Books of the Buddhists. 1899; rpt. London: Pali Text Society, 1977.)

Hui Seng, Elder Venerable Tripitaka Master, The Buddha Speaks the Brahma Net Sutra – The Ten Major and Fourty-Eight Minor Boddhisattva Precepts, Part I, translated from Sanskrit in Chinese by Yao Ch’in Dynasty Tripitaka Master Kumarajiva. Translated from Chinese into English by the Buddhist Text Translation Society: Burlingame, CA: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 1981. Tel. 650-692-5912. FAX: 650-692-5056. Home page: http://www.drba.org, www.BTTSonline.org

Brahmajāla-sūtra 梵網經

Brahmajālasūtra 梵網六十二見經

梵網經

[Pronunciations]

Meanings

[Basic Meaning:] Sūtra of Brahma's Net

Senses:

The Fanwang jing (Brahmajāla-sūtra; Tib. chos kyi rgya mo sangs rgyas rnam par snang mdsad kyis byang chub sems dpa`i sems kyi gnas bshad pa le`u bcu pa, Tsangs pa'i dra ba'i mdo). 2 fasc. T 1484.24.997a-1010a. (To be distinguished from Brahmajāla Sūtra equivalent to that found in the Dīgha Nikāya 梵網六十二見經), trans. attributed to Kumārajīva 鳩摩 in 406, but it is considered by scholars to be an apocryphal text. It is allegedly of a translation of the tenth chapter of a much larger Sanskrit text (120 fasc.) called the Bodhisattva-śīla-sūtra 菩薩戒經. Also known by the titles 梵網經菩薩心地品 and 梵網戒品. It consists of two fascicles: the first deals with topics such as the stages of the Bodhisattva path and the second fascicle lists the ten major precepts and forty-eight minor precepts. Regarding the significance of the Fanwang jing among the apocryphal texts on Buddhist precepts, those texts compiled shortly after the Fanwang jing, such as the Pusa ying-luo benye jing (菩薩瓔珞本業經, T 1485), included better organized and more comprehensive discussions of this topic. As a result, the first fascicle of the Fanwang jing has not played a major role in subsequent Buddhist history and was often omitted in commentaries on the text. By the end of the fifth century, the second fascicle of the Fanwang jing was circulating in China as an independent text on the precepts (Groner 1990, p. 253). This second fascicle, which standing alone has been called the 'Chapter' or "The Book of the Bodhisattva Precepts" has been highly regarded in the East Asian Buddhist tradition as laying a foundation for the so-called Mahāyāna precepts tradition, and has become a basic canonical work for defining the vinaya in Mahāyāna. Cf. (T) 279, 1811-1815, 2246, 2797. [es.cho, cmuller]

Major commentaries include:

The 菩薩戒義疏 (T 1811, by Zhiyi 智顗 and Zhanding 灌頂)
The 梵網經菩薩戒本私記 (HBJ 1.586-604, by Wonhyo 元曉)
The 天台菩薩戒疏 (T 1812, by Zhiyi 智顗)
The 梵網經菩薩戒本疏 (T 1813, by Fazang 法藏)
The 菩薩戒本疏 (T 1814, by 義寂)
The 梵網經古迹記 (T 1815, by Taehyeon 太賢)

[cmuller]

(Skt. Mahāyāna-brahma-jāla-sūtra; Pali Brahma-jāla-sutta) [cmuller ; source(s): hirakawa]

〔倶舍論 T 1559.29.208a28, 瑜伽論 T 1579.30.655a16 〕

[Dictionary References]

Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 1169a
Iwanami Bukkyō jiten 754
A Glossary of Zen Terms (Inagaki) 19
Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Daitō shuppansha) 19b/20
Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 30
Zen Dust (Sasaki) 177
Fo Guang Dictionary 4642
Ding Fubao
Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 657
Bussho kaisetsu daijiten (Ono) ⑩228a/⑩228b/⑩228b*/⑩229b
Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)4711c
Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1641-1
Sanskrit-Tibetan Index for the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra (Yokoyama and Hirosawa)

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See also: Tripitaka (1. Sutras, 2. Vinaya, 3. Shastras or Abhidharma, or Tantra), Taisho Catalog Numbering System, Dharma, and names of individual sutras (such as Shurangama Sutra, Avatamsaka Sutra [Flower Adornment Sutra], Lotus Sutra [Wonderful Dharma Flower Sutra], Earth Store Sutra, Dharani Sutra, Brahma Net Sutra, Medicine Master Buddha Sutra, Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, Sutra in 42 Sections, Sutra on the Buddha's Bequeathed Teaching, et al.

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Compilation Sources for the Above Material on the Teachings of the Buddha:

Primary Compilation Source: Epstein, Ronald B., Ph.D, compiler, Buddhist Text Translation Society's Buddhism A to Z, Burlingame, California: Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003. ISBN: 0881393533 Paperback: 284 pages. www.BTTSOnline.org www.Amazon.com
http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=118 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0881393533/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20

Secondary Compilation Source: The Seeker’s Glossary of Buddhism, 2nd ed., San Francisco, California: Sutra Translation Committee of the United States and Canada, 1998: www.budaedu.org.tw

Secondary Compilation Source: Muller, Charles, editor, Digital Dictionary of Buddhism [DDB], Toyo Gakuen University, Japan, 2007: Username is "guest", with no password.
http://buddhism-dict.net/ddb - Based in large part on the Dictionary of Chinese Buddhist Terms with Sanskrit and English Equivalents (by Soothill and Hodous) Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass, 1997.

Secondary Compilation Source: Ehrhard, Diener, Fischer, et al, The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications, 1991. 296 pages. ISBN 978-0-87773-520-5 www.Shambhala.com, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0877735204/ref=ase_medicinebuddh-20,
http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-0-87773-520-5.cfm

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Updated July 17, 2008