The titles of chapters and the sequence of both chapters and verses in the Faji yaosong jing (T213), which was translated by Tienxizai (天息災) of the Northern Song dynasty, are similar to that of the Sanskrit Udānavarga with some differences. There are quite a few verses that are ‘new’ translations, while there are verses adopted directly from the Chuyao jing (出曜經, T212). The Chuyao jing carries another set of verses inherited from the Faju jing (T210). This scenario would offer a chance to trace the position of each recension along the genealogical tree of the Dharmapada. On account of the transmission process over hundreds of years, the Faju jing (T210), the Faju piyu jing (T211) and the Chuyao jing (出曜經, T212), were inevitably induced with errors such as missing words or wrong spelling. On the contrary, the translation of the Faji yaosong jing (T213) was instructed by the Emperor to be incorporated into the Kaibao zang ( 開寶藏 ) right after its completion. It is quite obvious that the Faji yaosong jing would not carry the aforementioned errors. As a matter of fact, the Faji yaosong jing did carry errors such as missing stanzas, translation errors, scribe’s error and modifications. This article will explore and demonstrate the Faji yaosong jing’s errors in order to improve modern explanation and presentation of this translation.
