Takanobu Saito

Jiumoluoshi's (Kumrrajiva) Poems and Gathas in the Da Zhidu lun

Jiumoluoshi (Kumarajiva) (350-409) of the YaoQin. Dynasty, who is one of the three major translators in Chinese Buddhism, has been actively researched by many researchers. I myself have previously researched the gathas in many sutras which he translated. (A Study of Gathas in Chinese Buddhist Canon: Gathas and their Meter in Indigenous Chinese Scriptures, Bukkyo shigaku kenkyu, 43-1, 2000.) Many scholars have distinguished Jiumoluoshi as translator and as supplementer of the Da Zhidu lun due to certain perceptible contradictions. Some propose another Nagarjuna as editor of the MadhyamakasastraI study some rhymed gathas of the Da Zhidu lun here. I argue that the possibility that Jiumoluoshi composed part of the gathas in the Da Zhidu lun is high, based on my evaluation of the metre.