[Translated originally from the Sanskrit Sarvāstivāda Madhyamāgama to Classical Chinese by a team led by Sarvāstivāda scholar Gautama Saṃghadeva of Kāśmīra in 398CE.
Translated from the Chinese Taisho Tripiṭaka back to Sanskrit by Ramakrishnan Suryanarayanan in 2024-26.]
madhyamāgame'dbhutadharmavarge bakulasūtraṃ tṛtīyam.
evaṃ mayā śrutam. ekasmin samaye bhagavati parinirvṛte nāticireṇāyuṣmān bakulo rājagṛhe viharati sma veṇuvane kalandakanivāpe.
tasmin samaye kaścidanyatīrthiko yo'pravrajitasyāyuṣmato bakulasya pūrvamitramāsīt, sa paścādbhaktaṃ piṇḍapātapratikrānto jaṅghāvihāramanucaṅkramamāno'nuvicaranyenāyuṣmān bakulastenopajagāma. upetyāyuṣmatā bakulena sārdhaṃ sammodanīṃ saṃrañjanīṃ kathāṃ vyatisāryaikānte nyaṣīdat. ekānte niṣaṇṇaḥ so'nyatīrthika āyuṣmantaṃ bakulametadavocat—ākaṅkṣāmyahamāyuṣmantaṃ bakulaṃ kiñcitpraṣṭum, sacedbhavānanujānīyātpraśnavyākaraṇāyeti.
āyuṣmān bakulastamanyatīrthikametadavocat—pṛcchāyuṣman, śrutvā jñāsyāmīti.
so'nyatīrthiko'pṛcchat—kiyacciraṃ pravrajitasyāyuṣmato bakulasyāsmindharmavinaya iti.
āyuṣmān bakulaḥ pratyavocat—aśītirvarṣāṇi me āyuṣmannasmindharmavinaye pravrajitasyeti.
so'nyatīrthikaḥ punarapṛcchat—eṣvaśītiṣu varṣeṣvāsmindharmavinaye pravrajitenāyuṣmatā bakulena kaccitsmaryate maithuno dharmo niṣevita iti.
āyuṣmān bakulo'nyatīrthikametadavocat—mā tvamevamprākṣīḥ—anyamarthaṃ pṛccha. eṣvaśītiṣu varṣeṣvāsmindharmavinaye pravrajitenāyuṣmatā bakulena kaccitsmaryate kāmasaṃjñotpāditeti—evamāyuṣmaṃstvayā praṣṭavyamiti.
athāsāvanyatīrthikastametadavocat—ahaṃ tvāmidānīṃ pṛcchāmi—eṣvaśītiṣu varṣeṣvāsmindharmavinaye pravrajitenāyuṣmatā bakulena kaccitsmaryate kāmasaṃjñotpāditeti.
atha khalvāyuṣmān bakulo'nenānyatīrthikapraśnena bhikṣūnāmantrayata—eṣvaśītiṣu varṣeṣvāyuṣmanto mayāsmindharmavinaye pravrajitena yā tatonidānaṃ mānasaṃjñotpadyate, na me sā saṃvidyateti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—eṣvaśītiṣu varṣeṣvāyuṣmanto mayāsmindharmavinaye pravrajitena na smaryate kāmasaṃjñotpāditeti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—aśītivarṣāṇyāyuṣmanto mayā pāṃśukūlaṃ dhāritaṃ, yā tatonidānaṃ mānasaṃjñotpadyate, na me sā saṃvidyateti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—aśītivarṣāṇyāyuṣmanto mayā pāṃśukūlaṃ dhāritam—na smaryate gṛhapatikaṃ cīvaraṃ pratigṛhītam—na smaryate cīvaramavakartya kṛtam—na smaryate'nyo bhikṣuścīvarakarmaṇyadhyeṣitaḥ—na smaryate sūcyā cīvaraṃ syūtam—na smaryate sūcyā thavikā syūtā—antata ekasūtramapi na smaryateti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—aśītivarṣāṇyāyuṣmanto mayā piṇḍapātaścarito, yā tatonidānaṃ mānasaṃjñotpadyate, na me sā saṃvidyateti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—aśītivarṣāṇyāyuṣmanto mayā piṇḍapātaścaritaḥ—na smaryate gṛhapatinimantraṇā pratigṛhītā—na smaryate vyatikramya piṇḍapātaścaritaḥ—na smaryate mahākulānyupasaṅkramya piṇḍapātaścarito yatra śucipraṇītaṃ prabhūtaṃ khādanīyaṃ bhojanīyaṃ lehyaṃ peyaṃ ca labheyeti—na smaryate mātṛgrāmasya mukhaṃ vyavalokitam—na smaryate bhikṣuṇyupāśrayaḥ praviṣṭaḥ—na smaryate bhikṣuṇyā sārdhaṃ sammodanī saṃrañjanī kathā vyatisāritā—antato mārge gacchatāpyālāpaḥ kṛta iti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—eṣvaśītiṣu varṣeṣvāyuṣmanto mayāsmindharmavinaye pravrajitena na smaryate śrāmaṇera upasthāpitaḥ—na smaryate'vadātavasanāya dharmo deśitaḥ—antataścatuṣpadikā gāthāpi deśitā na smaryateti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—eṣvaśītiṣu varṣeṣvāyuṣmanto mayāsmindharmavinaye pravrajitena na smaryate ābādha utpannaḥ—antato'cchaṭāsaṅghātamātramapi śiraḥśūlaṃ samutpannamiti na smaryate—na smaryate bhaiṣajyamupayuktam—antata ekā harītakīpeśyapyupayuktā na smaryateti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—eṣvaśītiṣu varṣeṣvāyuṣmantaḥ paryaṅkamābhujya niṣaṇṇena mayā na smaryate kuḍyamupāśritaṃ vṛkṣamūlaṃ vopāśritamiti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—āyuṣmanto mayā tribhirahorātraistisro vidyāḥ sākṣātkṛtā iti. yadāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
punaraparamāyuṣmān bakula evaṃ bhāṣate—āyuṣmantaḥ paryaṅkamābhujya parinirvāsyāmīti. atha khalvāyuṣmān bakulaḥ paryaṅkamābhujya parinirvṛtaḥ. yadāyuṣmān bakulaḥ paryaṅkamābhujya parinirvṛtaḥ, ayamucyata āyuṣmato bakulasyādbhutadharmaḥ.
idamavocadāyuṣmān bakulaḥ. āttamanāḥ so'nyatīrthikaste ca bhikṣava āyuṣmato bakulasya bhāṣitamabhyanandan.
bakulasūtraṃ tṛtīyaṃ samāptam.