Brahmajala Sutra (The Sutra of Brahma’s Net), Part 2 of Volume 10

The Brahmajala Sutra (The Sutra of Brahma's Net) is a short name for the Bodhisattva Precepts Sutra of Brahma's Net, a Buddhist scripture whose purpose is to cultivate the Buddha-nature inherent within oneself. This volume is the part of the sutra, translated by Kumarajiva of the Later Qin dynasty, that sets out the precepts concerning the ten grave offences and forty-eight lesser offences that bodhisattvas must bear in mind. Volume 10 was divided into two parts, upper and lower; this is the lower part, bound as a single book measuring 22.6 cm in height and 14.9 cm in width. It was carved onto woodblocks and printed on mulberry paper, with the cover further wrapped in dark blue-black paper. The original woodblocks were carved with twenty-five lines of text per block for use as a scroll, but here the text was printed in sections of twelve and thirteen lines and bound in book form. At the end of the book is a piece of writing by the eminent Yuan-dynasty monk Sogyeong, dated 1306, the thirty-second year of King Chungnyeol of Goryeo. Sogyeong was closely associated with the Goryeo-period eminent monks National Preceptor Hyegam, Manhang, and National Preceptor Bogam, Hon-gu, and numerous records concerning him are preserved in the Goryeosa (History of Goryeo) and its Biographies section. Since the calligraphic style of the main text differs from that of Sogyeong's writing at the end of the book, it appears that the original edition was later re-carved and reprinted in the late Goryeo period. This book is also an important source illustrating Buddhist exchange between Goryeo and the Yuan dynasty.

AI Translation

Where it is

Region

Seongnam, Gyeonggi

Designation

Treasure · 보물