Amituo Sanyesanfo Sa Lou Fo Tan Guodu Rendao Jing(阿彌 陀三耶三佛薩樓佛檀過度人道經) (T362), translated before the middle of the 3rd century AD, is the oldest Pure Land scripture in the existing Chinese Buddhist canons. For a long time, the meaning of this title has been seldom discussed, and the biggest difficulty in interpreting this title is in the transcription "Sa Lou Fo Tan"(薩樓佛檀)
Firstly, the Chu Sanzang Jiji (出三藏記集), which was published in about 515 AD, recorded "Sa Lou Tan"(薩樓檀). The Wuliangshou Jing Lianyi Shuwen Zan(無量壽經連義述文贊), which was completed in 700 AD, recorded "Sa Lou Fo Tan"(薩樓佛檀）. Therefore, two different situations should be considered when interpreting the title.
Secondly, according to the other cases in the sūtra and in terms of the rules of the evolution of Indian phonetics and the rules of Sanskrit-Chinese transcription,We analyzed the sanskrit word corresponding to “Sa”, “Lou” and “(Fo) Tan” one by one.It can be concluded that the Sanskrit form corresponding to "Sa Lou (Fo) Tan" must be *th/sa...l/r/ṭ/ḍ/d...d/t....
Finally, based on the results, this article suggest that the sanskrit corresponding to “Sa Lou Tan” is Skt. sarvalokadhātu (all the worlds). In this case, Amituo Sanyesanfo Sa Lou Fo Tan Guodu Rendao (阿彌陀三耶三佛薩樓佛檀過度人道) means "the perfectly enlighened Amitābha Buddha who saves human beings in all the worlds", and the Sanskrit title could be presumed as “Amitābha-samyaksaṃbuddha-sarvalokadhātu-manuṣya-parimocaka”.
