འཕགས་པ་དགའ་བ་ཅན་གྱ་མད intro.7

intro.7

The Chinese translation of the Nandikasūtra, The Sūtra on the Conditions for Renouncing Secular Life (Taishō no. 791),¹⁷ was identified by Yukihiro Okada in 1986.¹⁸ This translation was attributed to An Shigao (fl. 148–80 ce), but Okada argues that the actual translator is unknown. This opinion is shared by Kudo (2002).¹⁹ Okada states that one cannot determine the date of the translation for certain, but that it seems to date from the old period of translation from Indic languages into Chinese—in other words, the period of translations starting with Kumārajīva (344–413 ce) and ending before Xuanzang (c. 602–64 ce).²⁰ In Taishō 791, the lists of the negative consequences of breaking the five precepts are very close to those found in The Sūtra of Nandika. However, the Tibetan version appears to have been made from a different and somewhat longer Sanskrit recension, since part of the introductory section and the verses at the end are absent from the Chinese. Notably, the same sections are also missing from the Sanskrit manuscripts and the Dunhuang fragment.