娑婆世界

Chinese

		world of endurance; outside world; this world	world; realm governed by a Buddha
trad. (娑婆世界)		娑婆	世界
simp. ^#(娑婆世界)		娑婆	世界

Etymology

From Sanskrit सहालोकधातु (sahālokadhātu).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): Suōpó shìjiè

(Zhuyin): ㄙㄨㄛㄆㄛˊ ㄕˋ ㄐㄧㄝˋ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: Suōpó shìjiè
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄨㄛㄆㄛˊ ㄕˋ ㄐㄧㄝˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: Suopó shìhjiè
  - Wade–Giles: So¹-pʻo² shih⁴-chieh⁴
  - Yale: Swō-pwó shr̀-jyè
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Suopor shyhjieh
  - Palladius: Сопо шицзе (Sopo šicze)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /su̯ɔ⁵⁵ pʰu̯ɔ³⁵ ʂʐ̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵¹/

Middle Chinese: sa ba syejH keajH

Rime
Character	娑	婆	世	界
Reading #	1/2	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	並 (3)	書 (26)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	歌 (94)	戈 (95)	祭 (35)	皆 (33)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I	III	II
Fanqie	素何切	薄波切	舒制切	古拜切
Baxter	sa	ba	syejH	keajH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/sɑ/	/buɑ/	/ɕiᴇi^H/	/kˠɛi^H/
Pan Wuyun	/sɑ/	/buɑ/	/ɕiɛi^H/	/kᵚæi^H/
Shao Rongfen	/sɑ/	/buɑ/	/ɕjæi^H/	/kɐi^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/sa/	/bwa/	/ɕiaj^H/	/kəɨj^H/
Li Rong	/sɑ/	/buɑ/	/ɕiɛi^H/	/kɛi^H/
Wang Li	/sɑ/	/buɑ/	/ɕĭɛi^H/	/kɐi^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/sɑ/	/bʱuɑ/	/ɕi̯ɛi^H/	/kăi^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	suō	pó	shì	jiè
Expected Cantonese Reflex	so¹	po⁴	sai³	gaai³

Proper noun

娑婆世界

(Buddhism) the Sahā world-system (which includes the present world)
- 時娑婆世界即變清淨，琉璃為地。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  时娑婆世界即变清净，琉璃为地。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Lotus Sūtra, translated by Kumārajīva circa 5^th century CE
  Shí Suōpóshìjiè jí biàn qīngjìng, liúlí wèi dì. [Pinyin]
  Then the Sahā world immediately became pure, with lapis lazuli for its earth.

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (娑婆世界):

→ Japanese: 娑(しゃ)婆(ば)世(せ)界(かい) (shabasekai)
→ Korean: 사바세계(娑婆世界) (sabasegye)
→ Vietnamese: ta bà thế giái (娑婆世界)