The Rokuge gosho 録外御書, regarded as a collection of Nichiren 日蓮 documents, was published in 1662. The Rokuge gosho consists of 25 volumes, and contains 259 items written by Nichiren.
However, there is still no research on the source documents of the Rokuge gosho. I have already published a paper concerning the source text of the Jūō sandanshō 十王讃歎抄 in the Rokuge gosho, which I concluded was an another book of the Jūō sandanshō published by Nakamura Gohei 中村五兵衛 in Kyōto. The Nakamura version has the two items, the Jūō sandanshō and the Urabon shō 盂蘭盆鈔.
In this paper, I examine the Urabon shō as the source text of the Urabon gosho 盂蘭盆御書 in the Rokuge gosho.
I have three arguments, as follows;
Firstly, the Nakamura version was published earlier than the Rokuge gosho.
Secondly, the printing plates of the Urabon gosho were copied from the Nakamura version.
Thirdly, as a result of a comparison between the Urabon gosho and the Nakamura version, it is evident that there are the errors of five characters only. When other versions are compared, we find 130 or 300 instances of differences.
In conclusion, I consider that the Urabon shō in the Nakamura version is the source text of the Urabon gosho in the Rokuge gosho.
