The Poṣadha in Mingkuang’s 明曠 Tiantai pusajie shu 天台菩薩戒疏

Abstract

The Fanwang jing 梵網經 propounds the poṣadha requiring practitioners to chant the ten grave and forty-eight minor precepts every half-month. From Ŭijŏk’s 義寂 commentary on the Fanwang jing, it is assumed that both monks/nuns and lay people may attend the poṣadha of the bodhisattva precepts together. Mingkuang’s commentary, the Tiantai pusajie shu 天台菩薩戒疏 （T. 1812）, also explains the poṣadha by monks/nuns and lay people. Compared with Daoxuan’s 道宣 Sifenlu shanfan buque xingshi chao 四分律刪繁補闕行事鈔 （T. 1804）, the poṣadha in Mingkuang’s commentary changed the wording so that it was similar to the bodhisattva precepts. In addition, the poṣadha in Mingkuang’s commentary is apparently related to that of S.543V and the Tōdaiji jukai hōki 東大寺授戒方軌. Thus, this type of poṣadha was probably observed in China around the middle of the 8th century. Mingkuang’s commentary, which describes the poṣadha in more detail than the other extant commentaries written before it, is a valuable text showing the poṣadha based on the bodhisattva precepts at that time.