Shengmanjing 勝鬘經

Shengmanjing 勝鬘經, the "Shrimala Sutra", full title Shengman Shizi hou yisheng da fangbian fangguang jing 勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經, also known as Shengman shizi hou jing 勝鬘師子吼經, Shizi hou jing 獅子吼經, Shengman Shizi hou fangguang jing 勝鬘師子吼方廣經, Shengman da fangbian fangguang jing 勝鬘大方便方廣經, Shengman shizi hou yisheng da fangbian jing 勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便經 or Shizi hou fangguang jing 師子吼方廣經, is a scripture belonging to the corpus of Buddhist Tathāgatagarbha (Rulai zang 如來藏) scriptures, which hold that all sentient beings (yiqie zhongsheng 一切眾生) originally, from their existence in the mother's womb onwards (the "storehouse", Sanskr. garbha, Ch. zang 藏), possess an "intrinsically pure mind" (zixing qingjing xin 自性清淨心).

Śrīmālā (Ch. Shengman 勝鬘) is said to have been a princess of the ancient Indian kingdom of Kosala (Ch. Gousaluo 拘薩羅), the daughter of King Prasenajit (Ch. Bosini 波斯匿), and later the queen of the king of Ayodhyā (Ch. Ayushe 阿踰闍). Her mother was Queen Mallikā (Ch. Moli Furen 末利夫人), the adoptive daughter of Mahānāman (Ch. Mohenan 摩訶男), a cousin of the Buddha. This sutra records the teachings in which Queen Śrīmālā exhorts others to place faith in the Buddha's Dharma (teachings).

The text was first translated by Guṇabhadra (Ch. Qiunabatuoluo 求那跋陀羅, 394-468; T0353), who lived in the Liu-Song empire 劉宋 (420-479). Alternative translations once existed. According to the book catalogue Lidai sanbao ji 歷代三寶記, Dharmakṣema (Ch. Tanwuchan 曇無讖, 385-433 or 439) of the Northern Liang empire 北涼 (398-439/460) translated it, but the translation was lost early. During the Tang period, Bodhiruci (Ch. Putiliuzhi 菩提流志, 571-727) translated "The assembly of Queen Shrimala" (Śrīmālādevī-paripṛcchā, Ch. Shengman Furen hui 勝鬘夫人會), which is preserved as a chapter of the Mahā-ratnakūṭa-sūtra (Ch. Da baoji jing 大寶積經, T0310). The original Sanskrit text has been lost, but fragmentary quotations survive in other Sanskrit treatises.

The sutra is divided into fifteen chapters. The first three chapters describe how Queen Shrimala, after receiving a letter delivered by her parents' messengers, goes to see the Buddha, hears the Dharma, and develops faith. She praises the merits of the Tathāgata (Rulai 如來, i.e., the Buddha), establishes the ten inconceivable great acceptances (shi da shou 十大受, the ten vows, shi shi 十誓), and makes three great vows (san da yuan 三大愿), thereby taking refuge and receiving the necessary precepts. Chapter four explains the virtues that arise when one embraces and upholds the True Dharma (zhengfa 正法). Chapter five teaches that the śrāvakas' (Ch. shengwen 聲聞, i.e., disciples and listeners) and pratyekabuddhas' (yuanjue 緣覺, "silent Buddhas [who do not teach]") vehicles both enter the Great Vehicle (dasheng 大乘); that the Great Vehicle is precisely the Buddha Vehicle (Fosheng 佛乘); that the three vehicles (sansheng 三乘) are in fact the one vehicle; and that one thereby attains the Tathāgata's Dharma-body (fashen 法身). Parts six through thirteen expound major Mahāyāna doctrines, including the noble truths (shengdi 聖諦), the Dharma-body, the Tathāgatagarbha, and the intrinsically pure mind. Chapter fourteen states that those who practise the faith and conduct described above can truly enter the path of the Great Vehicle. The final part summarises the fourteen doctrines taught in this sūtra, dispels all doubts, and leads one into the path of the One Vehicle.

The most significant commentaries are Huiyuan's 慧遠 (334-416) Shengmanjing yiji 勝鬘經義記 (only half survives), Jizang's 吉藏 (549-623) Shengmanjing baoku 勝鬘經寶窟 (T1744), and Kuiji's 窺基 (632-682) Shengmanjing shuji 勝鬘經述記. Anonymous commentaries called yiji 義記 and jiazhu 挾注 (T2763), as well as Zhaofa’s 昭法 shifu 師疏, have been discovered among the Dunhuang 敦煌 manuscripts. Japanese commentaries are Shengmanjing shuyi sichao (Japanese reading Shōman-kyō sogi shishō) 勝鬘經疏義私鈔 by Prince Shotoku 聖徳太子 (574-622) and the Chinese monk Mingkong 明空, and Fuji's 普寂 (1700–1782) Xianzongchao (Kenshū-shō) 顯宗鈔.