A Study on the Chinese Manuscript “Eight Gross Transgressions” (Bazhong Cuzhong Fanduo 八種粗重犯墮) from Khara-Khoto

Abstract

The “Heishuicheng Manuscripts Collected in Russia” (俄藏黑水城文獻) Volume6 contains the Chinese manuscript Ф211V Ф288V Ф266V “Dasheng ruzang lu juan shang 大乘入藏錄卷上”, and its verso side preserves a number of Western Xia written manuscripts. The purpose of this paper is to study one of the manuscripts on the verso side, namely “Bazhong Cuzhong Fanduo” (八種粗重犯墮) which means “Eight Gross Transgressions”. Individual tantric classes have their own enumeration of precepts. Anuttara Yoga Tantra tradition abides by precepts such as the twenty-five uncontrived activities, samaya of the five Buddha families, the fourteen root downfalls, and the eight gross transgressions. Among them, the “Eight Gross Transgressions” manuscript, unique to Anuttara Yoga Tantra, is an important tantric material. Analysis of its content suggests that the manuscript “Bazhong Cuzhong Fanduo” belongs to the precepts of the Anuttara Yoga Tantra. The paper contains the manuscript’s full transcription as well as a comparison with the parallel text of ltung ba sbom po [Gross Transgressions] in Derge Tanjur and sDom-gSum rNam-Nges [Perfect Conduct: Ascertaining the Three Vows].