Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī

In Buddhism , a bodhisattva ( English: / ˌ b oʊ d iː ˈ s ʌ t v ə / BOH -dee- SUT -və ; Sanskrit : बोधिसत्त्व , romanized : bodhisattva ; Pali : बोधिसत्त , romanized: bodhisatta ) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood .

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175-468: The Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī ( Sanskrit IAST ; English : Dhāraṇī of the Victorious Uṣṇīṣa, Chinese : 佛頂尊勝陀羅尼經; Pinyin : Fódǐng Zūnshèng Tuóluóní Jīng; Rōmaji : Butsuchō Sonshō Darani Kyō; Vietnamese : Kinh Phật Đảnh Tôn Thắng Đà La Ni) is a Dhāraṇī (a Buddhist mantric chant, incantation or magical spell) which is popular throughout Mahayana Buddhism . The Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī is considered

350-411: A Buddha after his resolution ( praṇidhāna ) in front of a past Buddha. During the first incalculable aeon he is said to have encountered and served 75,000 Buddhas, and 76,000 in the second, after which he received his first prediction ( vyākaraṇa ) of future Buddhahood from Dīpankara , meaning that he could no longer fall back from the path to Buddhahood. For Sarvāstivāda, the first two incalculable aeons

525-581: A being has entered the path by giving rise to bodhicitta, they must make effort in the practice or conduct ( caryā ) of the bodhisattvas, which includes all the duties, virtues and practices that bodhisattvas must accomplish to attain Buddhahood. An important early Mahayana source for the practice of the bodhisattva is the Bodhisattvapiṭaka sūtra, a major sutra found in the Mahāratnakūṭa collection which

700-513: A bodhisattva, as one edict states that he "set out for sambodhi." By the time that the Buddhist tradition had developed into various competing sects, the idea of the bodhisattva vehicle (Sanskrit: bodhisattvayana ) as a distinct (and superior) path from that of the arhat and solitary buddha was widespread among all the major non-Mahayana Buddhist traditions or Nikaya schools , including Theravāda , Sarvāstivāda and Mahāsāṃghika . The doctrine

875-451: A bodhisattva- mahāsattva is so called." Mahayana sutras also depict the bodhisattva as a being which, because they want to reach Buddhahood for the sake of all beings, is more loving and compassionate than the sravaka (who only wishes to end their own suffering). Thus, another major difference between the bodhisattva and the arhat is that the bodhisattva practices the path for the good of others ( par-ārtha ), due to their bodhicitta , while

1050-604: A collection of texts on bodhisattvas alongside the Tripitaka , which they termed "Bodhisattva Piṭaka" or "Vaipulya (Extensive) Piṭaka". None of these have survived. Dar Hayal attributes the historical development of the bodhisattva ideal to "the growth of bhakti (devotion, faith, love) and the idealisation and spiritualisation of the Buddha." The North Indian Sarvāstivāda school held it took Gautama three "incalculable aeons" ( asaṃkhyeyas ) and ninety one aeons ( kalpas ) to become

1225-482: A commentary on the Cariyāpiṭaka , a text which focuses on the bodhisattva path and on the ten perfections of a bodhisatta. Dhammapāla 's commentary notes that to become a bodhisattva one must make a valid resolution in front of a living Buddha. The Buddha then must provide a prediction ( vyākaraṇa ) which confirms that one is irreversible ( anivattana ) from the attainment of Buddhahood. The Nidānakathā , as well as

1400-534: A dead language in the most common usage of the term. Pollock's notion of the "death of Sanskrit" remains in this unclear realm between academia and public opinion when he says that "most observers would agree that, in some crucial way, Sanskrit is dead." The Sanskrit language scholar Moriz Winternitz states, Sanskrit was never a dead language and it is still alive though its prevalence is lesser than ancient and medieval times. Sanskrit remains an integral part of Hindu journals, festivals, Ramlila plays, drama, rituals and

1575-479: A discourse on this great Dhāraṇī. The Buddha, aware of Lord Śakra's intention and his eagerness to hear His discourse of this Dhāraṇī, immediately proclaimed the Mantra . Then the Buddha told Lord Śakra, “The Mantra is known as the ‘Purifying All Evil Path Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī’. It can eliminate all evil karmic hindrances and eradicate the suffering of all evil paths.” Again the Buddha told Lord Śakra that this great Dhāraṇī

1750-543: A goddess called Uṣṇīṣavijaya , a female Buddhist deity associated with the Buddha's Uṣṇīṣa (a magical topknot or supernatural dome on top of the Buddha's head). The sūtra was translated a total of eight times from Sanskrit to Chinese between 679 and 988 CE. According to one scholar of Esoteric Buddhism (Sorensen), it was the most important esoteric sutra translated in China in the seventh century. The sutra gained wide circulation in China, and its practices have been utilized since

1925-582: A hundred thousand, shorter kalpas (aeons) to reach Buddhahood. Several sources in the Pali Canon depict the idea that there are multiple Buddhas and that there will be many future Buddhas, all of which must train as bodhisattas. Non-canonical Theravada Jataka literature also teaches about bodhisattvas and the bodhisattva path. The worship of bodhisattvas like Metteya , Saman and Natha ( Avalokiteśvara ) can also be found in Theravada Buddhism. By

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2100-581: A language competed with numerous, less exact vernacular Indian languages called Prakritic languages ( prākṛta - ). The term prakrta literally means "original, natural, normal, artless", states Franklin Southworth . The relationship between Prakrit and Sanskrit is found in Indian texts dated to the 1st millennium CE. Patañjali acknowledged that Prakrit is the first language, one instinctively adopted by every child with all its imperfections and later leads to

2275-419: A level of dispassion at the time of Buddha Dīpaṃkara many aeons ago and he is also said to have attained the perfection of wisdom countless aeons ago. The Mahāvastu also presents four stages or courses ( caryās) of the bodhisattva path without giving specific time frames (though it's said to take various incalculable aeons ). This set of four phases of the path is also found in other sources, including

2450-529: A magical incantation in Mahayana Buddhism, seen having the power to destroying delusions, prevent lower rebirths, promoting long life, and promoting rebirth in the pure land of Sukhavati . The dhāraṇī is found in various translations and sources, including in the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra , an Indian Mahāyāna Sūtra , specifically a Dhāraṇī Sūtra . The Dhāraṇī is also personified as

2625-522: A means for a community of speakers, separated by geography or time, to share and understand profound ideas from each other. These speculations became particularly important to the Mīmāṃsā and the Nyaya schools of Hindu philosophy, and later to Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism, states Frits Staal —a scholar of Linguistics with a focus on Indian philosophies and Sanskrit. Though written in a number of different scripts,

2800-454: A natural part of the earliest Vedic language, and that these developed in the centuries after the composition had been completed, and as a gradual unconscious process during the oral transmission by generations of reciters. The primary source for this argument is internal evidence of the text which betrays an instability of the phenomenon of retroflexion, with the same phrases having sandhi-induced retroflexion in some parts but not other. This

2975-479: A negative evidence to Pollock's hypothesis, but it is not positive evidence. A closer look at Sanskrit in the Indian history after the 12th century suggests that Sanskrit survived despite the odds. According to Hanneder, On a more public level the statement that Sanskrit is a dead language is misleading, for Sanskrit is quite obviously not as dead as other dead languages and the fact that it is spoken, written and read will probably convince most people that it cannot be

3150-596: A pan-Indo-Aryan accessibility to information and knowledge in the ancient and medieval times, in contrast to the Prakrit languages which were understood just regionally. It created a cultural bond across the subcontinent. As local languages and dialects evolved and diversified, Sanskrit served as the common language. It connected scholars from distant parts of South Asia such as Tamil Nadu and Kashmir, states Deshpande, as well as those from different fields of studies, though there must have been differences in its pronunciation given

3325-573: A refined and standardized grammatical form that emerged in the mid-1st millennium BCE and was codified in the most comprehensive of ancient grammars, the Aṣṭādhyāyī ('Eight chapters') of Pāṇini . The greatest dramatist in Sanskrit, Kālidāsa , wrote in classical Sanskrit, and the foundations of modern arithmetic were first described in classical Sanskrit. The two major Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and

3500-534: A restrained language from which archaisms and unnecessary formal alternatives were excluded". The Classical form of the language simplified the sandhi rules but retained various aspects of the Vedic language, while adding rigor and flexibilities, so that it had sufficient means to express thoughts as well as being "capable of responding to the future increasing demands of an infinitely diversified literature", according to Renou. Pāṇini included numerous "optional rules" beyond

3675-439: A similar phonetic structure to Tamil. Hock et al. quoting George Hart state that there was influence of Old Tamil on Sanskrit. Hart compared Old Tamil and Classical Sanskrit to arrive at a conclusion that there was a common language from which these features both derived – "that both Tamil and Sanskrit derived their shared conventions, metres, and techniques from a common source, for it is clear that neither borrowed directly from

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3850-692: Is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages . It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age . Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism , the language of classical Hindu philosophy , and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism . It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in

4025-478: Is a period of time in which a bodhisattva may still fall away and regress from the path. At the end of the second incalculable aeon, they encounter a buddha and receive their prediction, at which point they are certain to achieve Buddhahood. Thus, the presence of a living Buddha is also necessary for Sarvāstivāda . The Mahāvibhāṣā explains that its discussion of the bodhisattva path is partly meant "to stop those who are in fact not bodhisattvas from giving rise to

4200-543: Is a prominent goddess in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Her name, "Uṣṇīṣavijayā," translates to "Victorious One of the Uṣṇīṣa," referring to the topknot or cranial protuberance (uṣṇīṣa) that symbolizes spiritual attainment in Buddhist iconography. She is considered a manifestation of the Buddha's wisdom and an emanation of the uṣṇīṣa as a source of protective power. This goddess is associated with long life, purification of karma, and

4375-508: Is akin to that of Latin and Ancient Greek in Europe. Sanskrit has significantly influenced most modern languages of the Indian subcontinent , particularly the languages of the northern, western, central and eastern Indian subcontinent. Sanskrit declined starting about and after the 13th century. This coincides with the beginning of Islamic invasions of South Asia to create, and thereafter expand

4550-475: Is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva. This path was seen as higher and nobler than becoming an arhat or a solitary Buddha . Hayal notes that Sanskrit sources generally depict the bodhisattva path as reaching a higher goal (i.e. anuttara-samyak-sambodhi ) than the goal of the path of the "disciples" ( śrāvakas ), which is the nirvana attained by arhats. For example, the Lotus Sutra states: "To

4725-452: Is found in the writing of Bharata Muni , the author of the ancient Natya Shastra text. The early Jain scholar Namisādhu acknowledged the difference, but disagreed that the Prakrit language was a corruption of Sanskrit. Namisādhu stated that the Prakrit language was the pūrvam ('came before, origin') and that it came naturally to children, while Sanskrit was a refinement of Prakrit through "purification by grammar". Sanskrit belongs to

4900-688: Is found, for example, in 2nd century CE sources like the Avadānaśataka and the Divyāvadāna. The bodhisattvayana was referred by other names such as "vehicle of the perfections" ( pāramitāyāna ), "bodhisatva dharma", "bodhisatva training", and "vehicle of perfect Buddhahood". According to various sources, some of the Nikaya schools (such as the Dharmaguptaka and some of the Mahasamghika sects) transmitted

5075-483: Is frequently recited in ceremonies aimed at healing, protection, and exorcism. In Japan, she is known as Butchō Sonshō (仏頂尊勝), she is revered as a deity of protection and long life. The practice of her dhāraṇī was propagated by Japanese esoteric traditions such as Shingon Buddhism . Since 1571, Namgyälma has been the namesake for Namgyal Monastery , the personal monastery of all the Dalai Lamas since its establishment by

5250-2867: Is often attributed to a legend where he met the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī disguised as an old man on Mt. Wutai , who urged him to bring the Sanskrit text to China. This narrative, depicted in Dunhuang murals, contributed to the widespread use of Buddhapālita’s version on dhāraṇī-pillars across China. The Chinese phonetic transcription of the dhāraṇī is: 曩謨 (一) 婆誐嚩帝 (二) 怛喇 (二合) 路枳也 (三二合) 鉢囉底 (四) 尾始瑟吒 (二合) 野 (五) 沒馱野 (六) 婆誐縛帝 (七) 怛儞也 (二合) 他 (八) 唵 (九) 尾戌馱野 (十) 娑麼娑麼三滿哆 (十一) 嚩婆娑 (十二) 娑頗 (二合) 囉拏 (十三) 蘖帝誐賀曩 (十四) 娑嚩 (二合) 婆嚩尾秫弟 (十五) 阿鼻詵左覩 [牟*含] (十六) 素蘖哆 (十七) 嚩囉嚩左曩 (十八) 阿蜜㗚 (二合) 哆 (十九) 鼻矖罽 (二十) 摩賀曼怛囉 (二合) 橎乃 (二十一) 阿賀囉阿賀囉 (二十二) 阿庾散馱囉柅 (二十三) 戌馱野戌馱野 (二十四) 誐誐曩尾秫弟 (二十五) 鄔瑟膩灑 (二十六) 尾惹野尾秫弟 (二十七) 娑賀娑囉 (二十八二合) 囉濕銘 (二十九二合) 散 [口*祖] 儞帝 (三十) 薩嚩怛他蘖哆 (三十一) 嚩路迦 [寧*頁] (三十二) 殺橎 (引) 囉弭哆 (三十三) 跛哩布囉抳 (三十四) 薩嚩怛他 (引) 蘖哆 (三十五) 紇哩 (二合) 娜野 (三十六) 地瑟姹 (二合) 曩 (三十七) 地瑟耻 (二合) 跢 (三十八) 摩賀母捺哩 (三十九二合) 嚩日囉 (二合) 迦野 (四十) 僧賀跢曩尾秫弟 (四十一) 薩嚩嚩囉拏 (四十二) 跛野訥蘖帝 (四十三) 跛哩尾秫弟 (四十四) 鉢囉 (二合) 底 (四十五) [寧*頁] 襪跢野 (四十六) 阿欲秫弟 (四十七) 三摩野 (四十八) 地瑟耻 (二合) 帝 (四十九) 麼柅麼柅 (五十) 摩賀麼柅 (五十一) 怛闥哆 (五十二) 部跢句致 (五十三) 跛哩秫弟 (五十四) 尾窣普 (二合) 吒 (五十五) 沒地秫弟 (五十六) 惹野惹野 (五十七) 尾惹野尾惹野 (五十八) 娑麼囉 (五十九) 薩嚩沒馱 (六十) 地瑟耻 (二合) 哆秫弟 (六十一) 嚩日哩 (二合) 嚩日囉 (二合) 蘖陛 (六十二) 嚩日囕 (六十三二合) 婆嚩覩麼麼 (六十四稱名) 舍哩囕 (六十五) 薩嚩薩怛嚩 (六十六二合) 難 (上) 左迦野 (六十七) 尾秫弟 (六十八) 薩嚩誐帝 (六十九) 跛哩秫弟 (七十) 薩嚩怛他蘖哆 (七十一) 三麼濕嚩 (二合) 娑演覩 (七十二) 薩嚩怛他蘖哆 (七十三) 三麼濕嚩 (二合) 娑 (七十四) 地瑟耻 (二合) 帝 (七十五) 沒地野沒地野 (七十六) 尾沒地野 (七十七) 冒馱野冒馱野 (七十八) 尾冒馱野尾冒馱野 (七十九) 三滿哆 (八十) 跛哩秫弟 (八十一) 薩嚩怛他蘖哆 (八十二) 紇哩 (二合) 娜野 (八十三) 地瑟姹 (二合) 曩 (八十四) 地瑟耻 (二合) 哆 (八十五) 摩賀母捺 [口*(隸-木+士)] (二合) 娑嚩 (二合) 賀 The Sanskrit version in IAST is: namo bhagavate trailokya prativiśiṣṭāya buddhāya bhagavate tadyathā oṃ viśodhaya viśodhaya asamasama samanta avabhāsa spharaṇa gati gahana svabhāva viśuddhe abhiṣiñcatu māṃ sugata vara vacana amṛta abhiṣeke mahāmantra pāne āhara āhara āyuḥ sandhāraṇi śodhaya śodhaya gagana viśuddhe uṣṇīṣa vijaya viśuddhe sahasraraśmi sañcodite sarva tathāgata avalokana ṣaṭpāramitā paripūraṇi sarva tathāgata mati daśa-bhūmi prati-ṣṭhite sarva tathāgata hṛdaya adhiṣṭhāna adhiṣṭhita mahāmudre vajrakāya saharaṇa viśuddhe sarva āvaraṇa apāya durgati pariviśuddhe pratinirvartaya āyuḥ śuddhe samaya adhiṣṭhite maṇi maṇi mahāmaṇi tathātā bhūta koṭi pariśuddhe visphuṭa buddhi śuddhe jaya jaya vijaya vijaya smara smara sarva buddha adhiṣṭhita śuddhe vajre vajra garbhe vajraṃ bhavatu mama śarīraṁ sarva sattvānāṁ ca kāya pariviśuddhe sarva gati pariśuddhe sarva tathāgatāśca me sama āśvāsayantu sarva tathāgata sama āśvāsa adhiṣṭhite budhya budhya vibudhya vibudhya bodhaya bodhaya vibodhaya vibodhaya samanta pariśuddhe sarva tathāgata hṛdaya adhiṣṭhāna adhiṣṭhita mahāmudre svāhā English: Homage to

5425-463: Is only one vehicle, the ekayana , which ends in Buddhahood. Classical Indian mahayanists held that the only sutras which teach the bodhisattva vehicle are the Mahayana sutras . Thus, Nagarjuna writes "the subjects based on the deeds of Bodhisattvas were not mentioned in [non-Mahāyāna] sūtras." They also held that the bodhisattva path was superior to the śrāvaka vehicle and so the bodhisattva vehicle

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5600-517: Is over, he will be reborn in the Buddhalands, together with all the Buddhas and Ekajati-pratibaddha Bodhisattvas , or in a distinguished Brahmin or Ksatriya family, or in some other wealthy and reputable family. Lord of Heaven, this man can be reborn in one of the above-mentioned prosperous and reputable families simply because he has heard this Dharani, and hence be reborn in a pure place. According to

5775-589: Is proclaimed together by Buddhas as numerous as grains of sand in eighty-eight koṭis (hundred million) Ganges Rivers . All Buddhas rejoice and uphold this Dhāraṇī that is verified by the wisdom seal of Vairocana Tathāgata. Again the Buddha reminded Lord Śakra to transmit it to Devaputra Suṣṭhita and that he himself should receive and uphold it, recite, contemplate and treasure it, memorize and preserve it. He preached that this Dhāraṇī should be widely proclaimed to all beings in Jambudvīpa and entrusted him to this task for

5950-524: Is rare in the later version of the language. The Homerian Greek, like Ṛg-vedic Sanskrit, deploys simile extensively, but they are structurally very different. The early Vedic form of the Sanskrit language was far less homogenous compared to the Classical Sanskrit as defined by grammarians by about the mid-1st millennium BCE. According to Richard Gombrich—an Indologist and a scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli and Buddhist Studies—the archaic Vedic Sanskrit found in

6125-403: Is said to be to help sentient beings in a troubled and tumultuous world. According to this sūtra, beings will leave suffering and obtain happiness, increase in prosperity and longevity, remove karmic obstacles, eliminate disasters and calamities, remove enmity and hatred, fulfill all wishes, and quickly be led onto the Buddha's way. It is held by some that when the dhāraṇī is heard, it can imbue

6300-479: Is taken along with evidence of controversy, for example, in passages of the Aitareya-Āraṇyaka (700 BCE), which features a discussion on whether retroflexion is valid in particular cases. The Ṛg-veda is a collection of books, created by multiple authors. These authors represented different generations, and the mandalas 2 to 7 are the oldest while the mandalas 1 and 10 are relatively the youngest. Yet,

6475-516: Is termed bodhicitta (the mind set on awakening). The bodhisattva doctrine went through a significant transformation during the development of Buddhist tantra, also known as Vajrayana . This movement developed new ideas and texts which introduced new bodhisattvas and re-interpreted old ones in new forms, developed in elaborate mandalas for them and introduced new practices which made use of mantras , mudras and other tantric elements. According to David Drewes, "Mahayana sutras unanimously depict

6650-446: Is the "great vehicle" (mahayana) due to its greater aspiration to save others, while the śrāvaka vehicle is the "small" or "inferior" vehicle ( hinayana ). Thus, Asanga argues in his Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra that the two vehicles differ in numerous ways, such as intention, teaching, employment (i.e., means), support, and the time that it takes to reach the goal. Over time, Mahayana Buddhists developed mature systematized doctrines about

6825-602: Is the cause and result of bodhicitta) eventually developed into the idea that bodhisattvas take certain formulaic " bodhisattva vows ." One of the earliest of these formulas is found in the Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra and states: We having crossed (the stream of samsara), may we help living beings to cross! We being liberated, may we liberate others! We being comforted, may we comfort others! We being finally released, may we release others! Other sutras contain longer and more complex formulas, such as

7000-437: Is the relationship between words and their meanings in the context of a community of speakers, whether this relationship is objective or subjective, discovered or is created, how individuals learn and relate to the world around them through language, and about the limits of language? They speculated on the role of language, the ontological status of painting word-images through sound, and the need for rules so that it can serve as

7175-637: Is used in the early texts to refer to Gautama Buddha in his previous lives and as a young man in his last life, when he was working towards liberation . In the early Buddhist discourses , the Buddha regularly uses the phrase "when I was an unawakened Bodhisatta" to describe his experiences before his attainment of awakening. The early texts which discuss the period before the Buddha's awakening mainly focus on his spiritual development. According to Bhikkhu Analayo , most of these passages focus on three main themes: "the bodhisattva's overcoming of unwholesome states of mind, his development of mental tranquillity, and

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7350-503: Is very difficult to maintain the necessary conduct and views during periods when the Dharma has disappeared from the world. One will easily fall back during such periods and this is why one is not truly a full bodhisattva until one receives recognition from a living Buddha. Because of this, it was and remains a common practice in Theravada to attempt to establish the necessary conditions to meet

7525-526: The Bhagavata Purana , the Panchatantra and many other texts are all in the Sanskrit language. The Classical Sanskrit with its exacting grammar was thus the language of the Indian scholars and the educated classes, while others communicated with approximate or ungrammatical variants of it as well as other natural Indian languages. Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside

7700-475: The Buddhavaṃsa and Cariyāpiṭaka commentaries makes this explicit by stating that one cannot use a substitute (such as a Bodhi tree , Buddha statue or Stupa ) for the presence of a living Buddha, since only a Buddha has the knowledge for making a reliable prediction. This is the generally accepted view maintained in orthodox Theravada today. According to Theravāda commentators like Dhammapāla as well as

7875-464: The Suttanipāta commentary, there are three types of bodhisattvas: According to modern Theravada authors, meeting a Buddha is needed to truly make someone a bodhisattva because any other resolution to attain Buddhahood may easily be forgotten or abandoned during the aeons ahead. The Burmese monk Ledi Sayadaw (1846–1923) explains that though it is easy to make vows for future Buddhahood by oneself, it

8050-568: The Dalai Lama , the Sanskrit language is a parent language that is at the foundation of many modern languages of India and the one that promoted Indian thought to other distant countries. In Tibetan Buddhism, states the Dalai Lama, Sanskrit language has been a revered one and called legjar lhai-ka or "elegant language of the gods". It has been the means of transmitting the "profound wisdom of Buddhist philosophy" to Tibet. The Sanskrit language created

8225-555: The Discourse on an Explanation about the Past (MĀ 66). In this discourse, a monk named Maitreya aspires to become a Buddha in the future and the Buddha then predicts that Maitreya will become a Buddha in the future. Other discourses found in the Ekottarika-āgama present the "bodhisattva Maitreya" as an example figure (EĀ 20.6 and EĀ 42.6) and one sutra in this collection also discuss how

8400-471: The Early Buddhist schools , as well as modern Theravāda Buddhism , bodhisattva (or bodhisatta) refers to someone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will be so. In Mahāyāna Buddhism , a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated bodhicitta , a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for

8575-765: The Gandhari “ Many-Buddhas Sūtra ” (* Bahubudha gasutra ) and the Chinese Fó běnxíng jí jīng (佛本行集經, Taisho vol. 3, no. 190, pp. 669a1–672a11). The four caryās (Gandhari: caria ) are the following: The bodhisattva ideal is also found in southern Buddhist sources, like the Theravāda school's Buddhavaṃsa (1st-2nd century BCE), which explains how Gautama, after making a resolution ( abhinīhāra ) and receiving his prediction ( vyākaraṇa ) of future Buddhahood from past Buddha Dīpaṃkara, he became certain ( dhuva ) to attain Buddhahood. Gautama then took four incalculable aeons and

8750-613: The Indo-European family of languages . It is one of the three earliest ancient documented languages that arose from a common root language now referred to as Proto-Indo-European : Other Indo-European languages distantly related to Sanskrit include archaic and Classical Latin ( c. 600 BCE–100 CE, Italic languages ), Gothic (archaic Germanic language , c. 350 CE ), Old Norse ( c. 200 CE and after), Old Avestan ( c. late 2nd millennium BCE ) and Younger Avestan ( c. 900 BCE). The closest ancient relatives of Vedic Sanskrit in

8925-744: The Rigveda had already evolved in the Vedic period, as evidenced in the later Vedic literature. Gombrich posits that the language in the early Upanishads of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit, while the archaic Vedic Sanskrit had by the Buddha 's time become unintelligible to all except ancient Indian sages. The formalization of the Saṃskṛta language is credited to Pāṇini , along with Patañjali's Mahābhāṣya and Katyayana's commentary that preceded Patañjali's work. Panini composed Aṣṭādhyāyī ('Eight-Chapter Grammar'), which became

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9100-532: The Rigveda , a collection of 1,028 hymns composed between 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE by Indo-Aryan tribes migrating east from the mountains of what is today northern Afghanistan across northern Pakistan and into northwestern India. Vedic Sanskrit interacted with the preexisting ancient languages of the subcontinent, absorbing names of newly encountered plants and animals; in addition, the ancient Dravidian languages influenced Sanskrit's phonology and syntax. Sanskrit can also more narrowly refer to Classical Sanskrit ,

9275-526: The Rāmāyaṇa , however, were composed in a range of oral storytelling registers called Epic Sanskrit which was used in northern India between 400 BCE and 300 CE, and roughly contemporary with classical Sanskrit. In the following centuries, Sanskrit became tradition-bound, stopped being learned as a first language, and ultimately stopped developing as a living language. The hymns of the Rigveda are notably similar to

9450-658: The Tang dynasty , from which it then spread to the rest of East Asia. It was also popular in Dunhuang and Tibetan Buddhism . In Chinese Buddhism , the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya dhāraṇī is associated with Mount Wutai , which in the Chinese Buddhist tradition is considered the bodhimaṇḍa of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī . Sacred stone tablets with the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī carved into them have been distributed widely in some regions of

9625-568: The Theravāda monk Bhikkhu Bodhi , while all the Buddhist traditions agree that to attain Buddhahood, one must "make a deliberate resolution" and fulfill the spiritual perfections ( pāramīs or pāramitās) as a bodhisattva, the actual bodhisattva path is not taught in the earliest strata of Buddhist texts such as the Pali Nikayas (and their counterparts such as the Chinese Āgamas ) which instead focus on

9800-577: The Third Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso . Namgyälma is a female yidam , or meditational deity, and a long-life deity of the Kriya Tantra class in Tibetan Buddhism. She is typically depicted with a white frontal face, a yellow face on the right, and a blue face on the left. She is seated in a lotus posture, and has eight arms holding various symbolic ritual items in each of her hands. According to

9975-735: The Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī was translated numerous times. The most popular and widespread edition was the one found in the Sūtra on the Superlative Dhāraṇī of the Buddha’s Crown ( Foding zunsheng tuoluoni jing 佛頂尊勝陀羅尼經, T 967), translated by *Buddhapālita (Fotuoboli 佛陁波利, fl. late seventh century) a learned scholar monk from Kashmir. This edition of the dhāraṇī became highly influential, with a significant number of stone and mortuary pillars in China engraved with its text. The Uṣṇīṣavijayā-dhāraṇī

10150-488: The alaya consciousness with pure seeds that will help lead one to buddhahood . This mantra is also associated with Green Tara . According to the text, major applications of this dhāraṇī include: Some quotes from the sutra text include: Lord of Heaven, if someone hears this Dharani even for just a moment, he will not undergo karmic retribution from the evil karma and severe hindrances accumulated from thousands of kalpas ago, that would otherwise cause him to revolve in

10325-406: The sandhi rules, both internal and external. Quite many words found in the early Vedic Sanskrit language are never found in late Vedic Sanskrit or Classical Sanskrit literature, while some words have different and new meanings in Classical Sanskrit when contextually compared to the early Vedic Sanskrit literature. Arthur Macdonell was among the early colonial era scholars who summarized some of

10500-500: The verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- is a compound word consisting of sáṃ ('together, good, well, perfected') and kṛta - ('made, formed, work'). It connotes a work that has been "well prepared, pure and perfect, polished, sacred". According to Biderman, the perfection contextually being referred to in the etymological origins of the word is its tonal—rather than semantic—qualities. Sound and oral transmission were highly valued qualities in ancient India, and its sages refined

10675-414: The 13th century, a premier center of Sanskrit literary creativity, Sanskrit literature there disappeared, perhaps in the "fires that periodically engulfed the capital of Kashmir" or the "Mongol invasion of 1320" states Pollock. The Sanskrit literature which was once widely disseminated out of the northwest regions of the subcontinent, stopped after the 12th century. As Hindu kingdoms fell in the eastern and

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10850-560: The 1st century BCE, such as the Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana and Ghosundi-Hathibada (Chittorgarh) . Though developed and nurtured by scholars of orthodox schools of Hinduism, Sanskrit has been the language for some of the key literary works and theology of heterodox schools of Indian philosophies such as Buddhism and Jainism. The structure and capabilities of the Classical Sanskrit language launched ancient Indian speculations about "the nature and function of language", what

11025-521: The 7th century where he established a major center of learning and language translation under the patronage of Emperor Taizong. By the early 1st millennium CE, Sanskrit had spread Buddhist and Hindu ideas to Southeast Asia, parts of the East Asia and the Central Asia. It was accepted as a language of high culture and the preferred language by some of the local ruling elites in these regions. According to

11200-548: The Blessed One, the Buddha, who is exalted above the three worlds. Thus it is: Oṃ Purify, purify. The unequalled, the all-pervading, the illuminating, the pervading, the profound, the nature, the purified. Consecrate me with the nectar of the excellent words of the Sugata (Well-Gone One), in the ceremony of the immortal anointment. Bring forth, bring forth the elixir of the great mantra , sustaining life. Purify, purify, O one pure like

11375-461: The Buddha and presented their grand offerings. Once they had respectfully circumambulated the Buddha a hundred thousand times and paid homage, then happily took their seats and listened to the Buddha preach the Dharma . The World Honoured One then extended his golden arm and touched Devaputra Suṣṭhita on the head to bestow a prediction of Devaputra Suṣṭhita's attainment of Bodhi . In Chinese Buddhism ,

11550-498: The Buddha taught the bodhisattva path of the six perfections to Maitreya (EĀ 27.5). 'Bodhisatta' may also connote a being who is "bound for enlightenment", in other words, a person whose aim is to become fully enlightened. In the Pāli canon , the Bodhisatta (bodhisattva) is also described as someone who is still subject to birth, illness, death, sorrow, defilement, and delusion. According to

11725-451: The Buddha's feet, and circumambulated the Buddha seven times clockwise in worship, before laying out his great Pūjā (offerings/obeisances). Kneeling in front of the Buddha, Lord Śakra described the future destiny of Devaputra Suṣṭhita. Instantly, the uṣṇīṣa (crown of the head) of the Tathāgata radiated multiple rays of light, illuminating the world in all ten directions before returning to

11900-521: The Dravidian languages borrowed from Sanskrit vocabulary, but they have also affected Sanskrit on deeper levels of structure, "for instance in the domain of phonology where Indo-Aryan retroflexes have been attributed to Dravidian influence". Similarly, Ferenc Ruzca states that all the major shifts in Indo-Aryan phonetics over two millennia can be attributed to the constant influence of a Dravidian language with

12075-513: The Dravidian words and forms, without modifying the word order; but the same thing is not possible in rendering a Persian or English sentence into a non-Indo-Aryan language. Shulman mentions that "Dravidian nonfinite verbal forms (called vinaiyeccam in Tamil) shaped the usage of the Sanskrit nonfinite verbs (originally derived from inflected forms of action nouns in Vedic). This particularly salient case of

12250-647: The Far East. An alternate longer Sanskrit title is the Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra . In Tibetan Buddhism, the dhāraṇī , often alternatively entitled the Namgyälma mantra, is considered to be one of the five powerful purifying mantras and is sometimes used in rituals for the deceased. In Nepalese Newar Buddhism , Uṣṇīṣavijayā dhāraṇī rites are still important and are widely performed. The purpose of this sūtra

12425-480: The Hinayana) but the Prakrit works that have survived are of doubtful authenticity. Some of the canonical fragments of the early Buddhist traditions, discovered in the 20th century, suggest the early Buddhist traditions used an imperfect and reasonably good Sanskrit, sometimes with a Pali syntax, states Renou. The Mahāsāṃghika and Mahavastu, in their late Hinayana forms, used hybrid Sanskrit for their literature. Sanskrit

12600-469: The Indo-Aryan language underwent rapid linguistic change and morphed into the Vedic Sanskrit language. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit . The earliest attested Sanskrit text is the Rigveda , a Hindu scripture from the mid- to late-second millennium BCE. No written records from such an early period survive, if any ever existed, but scholars are generally confident that

12775-507: The Indo-European languages are the Nuristani languages found in the remote Hindu Kush region of northeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Himalayas, as well as the extinct Avestan and Old Persian – both are Iranian languages . Sanskrit belongs to the satem group of the Indo-European languages. Colonial era scholars familiar with Latin and Greek were struck by the resemblance of

12950-521: The Muslim rule in the form of Sultanates, and later the Mughal Empire . Sheldon Pollock characterises the decline of Sanskrit as a long-term "cultural, social, and political change". He dismisses the idea that Sanskrit declined due to "struggle with barbarous invaders", and emphasises factors such as the increasing attractiveness of vernacular language for literary expression. With the fall of Kashmir around

13125-489: The Muslim rulers. Hindu rulers such as Shivaji of the Maratha Empire , reversed the process, by re-adopting Sanskrit and re-asserting their socio-linguistic identity. After Islamic rule disintegrated in South Asia and the colonial rule era began, Sanskrit re-emerged but in the form of a "ghostly existence" in regions such as Bengal. This decline was the result of "political institutions and civic ethos" that did not support

13300-517: The Omniscient One after the attainment of the supreme and perfect bodhi." According to Peter Skilling, the Mahayana movement began when "at an uncertain point, let us say in the first century BCE, groups of monks, nuns, and lay-followers began to devote themselves exclusively to the Bodhisatva vehicle." These Mahayanists universalized the bodhisattvayana as a path which was open to everyone and which

13475-569: The One Empowered by the Empowerment of all Buddhas, oṁ O Pure One, O Pure One, O Awakened One, O Awakened One, O Vajra, O Vajra, O Great Vajra, O Vajra-essence, O Victory-essence, O Triumph-essence, O Vajra-flame-essence, O Vajra-born, O Vajra-produced, O Vajra, O the One with a Vajra, let my body become a vajra and that of all beings, let there be body-purification for me and purification of all destinies, O

13650-568: The One Empowered by the Empowerment of the Heart of all Tathāgatas, let all Tathāgatas provide encouragement, oṁ awake awake, succeed succeed, awaken awaken, wake up, wake up, liberate liberate, release release, purge purge, purify purify, liberate completely, O the One Purified by an Enveloping Ray, O the One Empowered by the Empowerment of the Heart of all Tathāgatas, oṁ O Seal O Seal, O Great Seal, O Great Seal and Mantrapada svāhā D.T. Suzuki translated

13825-747: The One Purified by the Firmness of the Vajra Body, O the One Purged of all Obscurations Resulting from Actions, turn back for me O Life-purged One, O the One Empowered by the Empowerment of the Vow of all Tathāgatas, oṁ muni muni, mahāmuni, vimuni vimuni, mahāvimuni, mati mati, mahāmati, mamati, sumati, O the One Purified by Truth and the True Goal, O the One Purged by a Burst Open Mind, oṁ he he, triumph triumph, succeed succeed, recollect recollect, manifest manifest, expand expand, O

14000-819: The One who Nourishes Life, purge, purge, purify, purify, O the One Purified by Sky Nature, O the One Purified by the Topknot Victory, O the One Impelled by Thousand Rays, O the One Beholding all Tathāgatas, O the One Fulfilling the Six Perfections, O Mother of all Tathāgatas, O the One Established in the Ten Stages, O the One Empowered by the Empowerment of the Heart of all Tathāgatas, oṁ O Seal, O Seal, O Great Seal, O

14175-682: The Records of the Teaching of Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī Sūtra by Great Dharma Master Fa Chong (法崇, of the Tang dynasty), the great and unsurpassed merits of this Dharani can be categorised into ten doors as follows: The beginning of this Dhāraṇī is chanted in the movie Fistful of Vengeance (about 46:20-47:30 min). Sanskrit Sanskrit ( / ˈ s æ n s k r ɪ t / ; attributively 𑀲𑀁𑀲𑁆𑀓𑀾𑀢𑀁 , संस्कृत- , saṃskṛta- ; nominally संस्कृतम् , saṃskṛtam , IPA: [ˈsɐ̃skr̩tɐm] )

14350-561: The Sanskrit Dharani: Oṁ veneration to the glorious Buddha distinguished in all the Three Worlds. Namely, oṁ bhrūṃ bhrūṃ bhrūṃ, purge, purge, purify, purify, O Unequalled Enveloping Splendor Sparkle Destiny Sky, O the One of Purified Nature, O the One Purified by the Topknot Victory, let all Tathāgatas consecrate me with consecrations of the nectar of the excellent Sugata’s words along with great seals and mantrapadas, oṁ bring, bring, O

14525-488: The Saṃskṛta language, both in its vocabulary and grammar, to the classical languages of Europe. In The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World , Mallory and Adams illustrate the resemblance with the following examples of cognate forms (with the addition of Old English for further comparison): The correspondences suggest some common root, and historical links between some of

14700-616: The South India, such as the great Vijayanagara Empire , so did Sanskrit. There were exceptions and short periods of imperial support for Sanskrit, mostly concentrated during the reign of the tolerant Mughal emperor Akbar . Muslim rulers patronized the Middle Eastern language and scripts found in Persia and Arabia, and the Indians linguistically adapted to this Persianization to gain employment with

14875-564: The Sūtra a devaputra by the name of Suṣṭhita (Supratiṣṭhita) was enjoying the supremely wonderful bliss of heavenly life, but then he suddenly heard a voice in space saying, Devaputra Susthita, you have only seven days left to live. After death, you will be reborn in Jambudvīpa (Earth) as an animal for seven successive lives. Then you will fall into the hells to undergo more sufferings. Only after fulfilling your kārmic retribution will you be reborn in

15050-712: The Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī into the English language and this was included in the Manual of Zen Buddhism. In addition to the long dhāraṇī, there is the much shorter Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya heart-mantra: This mantra is used in Shingon Buddhism . In Mahayana Buddhism, the Uṣṇīṣavijaya Dhāraṇī is personified as a female deity, called Uṣṇīṣavijayā ("Victorious Uṣṇīṣa"; Tibetan : གཙུག་གཏོར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་མ། , Wylie : gtsug tor rnam rgyal ma , THL : Tsuktor Namgyelma ; Chinese : 佛頂尊勝佛母 ), She

15225-447: The Vedic Sanskrit in these books of the Ṛg-veda "hardly presents any dialectical diversity", states Louis Renou – an Indologist known for his scholarship of the Sanskrit literature and the Ṛg-veda in particular. According to Renou, this implies that the Vedic Sanskrit language had a "set linguistic pattern" by the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Beyond the Ṛg-veda, the ancient literature in Vedic Sanskrit that has survived into

15400-451: The Vedic Sanskrit's bahulam framework, to respect liberty and creativity so that individual writers separated by geography or time would have the choice to express facts and their views in their own way, where tradition followed competitive forms of the Sanskrit language. The phonetic differences between Vedic Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit, as discerned from the current state of the surviving literature, are negligible when compared to

15575-455: The alphabet, the structure of words, and its exacting grammar into a "collection of sounds, a kind of sublime musical mold" as an integral language they called Saṃskṛta . From the late Vedic period onwards, state Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus, resonating sound and its musical foundations attracted an "exceptionally large amount of linguistic, philosophical and religious literature" in India. Sound

15750-419: The arising of bodhicitta. These elements, which constitute a kind of preliminary preparation for bodhicitta, are found in the "seven part worship" ( saptāṇgapūjā or saptavidhā anuttarapūjā ). This ritual form is visible in the works of Shantideva (8th century) and includes: After these preliminaries have been accomplished, then the aspirant is seen as being ready to give rise to bodhicitta, often through

15925-418: The benefit of all sentient beings . Mahayana bodhisattvas are spiritually heroic persons that work to attain awakening and are driven by a great compassion ( mahākaruṇā ). These beings are exemplified by important spiritual qualities such as the "four divine abodes" ( brahmavihāras ) of loving-kindness ( maitrī ), compassion ( karuṇā ), empathetic joy ( muditā ) and equanimity ( upekṣā ), as well as

16100-592: The benefit of all heavenly beings. The Buddha also reminded Lord Śakra that he should diligently uphold and protect it, and never allow it to be forgotten or lost. After Lord Śakra received this Dhāraṇī practice from the Buddha, he returned to his heavenly palace to convey it to Devaputra Suṣṭhita. Having received this Dhāraṇī, Devaputra Suṣṭhita kept the practice as instructed for six days and six nights, after which all his wishes were completely fulfilled. When seven days had passed, Lord Śakra and Devaputra Suṣṭhita, together with other heavenly beings, respectfully approached

16275-478: The bodhisattva path as being open to everyone, and Mahāyāna Buddhists encourage all individuals to become bodhisattvas. Spiritually advanced bodhisattvas such as Avalokiteshvara , Maitreya , and Manjushri are also widely venerated across the Mahāyāna Buddhist world and are believed to possess great magical power which they employ to help all living beings. In pre-sectarian Buddhism , the term bodhisatta

16450-505: The bodhisattva. The authors of the various Madhyamaka treatises often presented the view of the ekayana , and thus held that all beings can become bodhisattvas. The texts and sutras associated with the Yogacara school developed a different theory of three separate gotras (families, lineages), that inherently predisposed a person to either the vehicle of the arhat , pratyekabuddha or samyak-saṃbuddha (fully self-awakened one). For

16625-440: The capacity to understand the old Prakrit languages such as Ardhamagadhi . A section of European scholars state that Sanskrit was never a spoken language. However, evidences shows that Sanskrit was a spoken language, essential for oral tradition that preserved the vast number of Sanskrit manuscripts from ancient India. The textual evidence in the works of Yaksa, Panini, and Patanajali affirms that Classical Sanskrit in their era

16800-517: The close relationship between the Indo-Iranian tongues and the Baltic and Slavic languages , vocabulary exchange with the non-Indo-European Uralic languages , and the nature of the attested Indo-European words for flora and fauna. The pre-history of Indo-Aryan languages which preceded Vedic Sanskrit is unclear and various hypotheses place it over a fairly wide limit. According to Thomas Burrow, based on

16975-420: The compassionate mind aimed at awakening for the sake of all beings, is a central defining element of the bodhisattva path. Another key element of the bodhisattva path is the concept of a bodhisattva's praṇidhāna - which can mean a resolution, resolve, vow, prayer, wish, aspiration and determination. This more general idea of an earnest wish or solemn resolve which is closely connected with bodhicitta (and

17150-609: The context of a speech or language, is found in verses 5.28.17–19 of the Ramayana . Outside the learned sphere of written Classical Sanskrit, vernacular colloquial dialects ( Prakrits ) continued to evolve. Sanskrit co-existed with numerous other Prakrit languages of ancient India. The Prakrit languages of India also have ancient roots and some Sanskrit scholars have called these Apabhramsa , literally 'spoiled'. The Vedic literature includes words whose phonetic equivalent are not found in other Indo-European languages but which are found in

17325-639: The crystallization of Classical Sanskrit. As in this period the Indo-Aryan tribes had not yet made contact with the inhabitants of the South of the subcontinent, this suggests a significant presence of Dravidian speakers in North India (the central Gangetic plain and the classical Madhyadeśa) who were instrumental in this substratal influence on Sanskrit. Extant manuscripts in Sanskrit number over 30 million, one hundred times those in Greek and Latin combined, constituting

17500-426: The cycles of birth and death - in all kinds of life forms in the evil paths - hell, hungry ghost, animal, realm of King Yama , Asuras , Yaksa , Raksasa , ghosts and spirits, Putana , Kataputana, Apasmara , mosquitoes, gnats, tortoises, dogs, pythons, birds, ferocious animals, crawling creatures and even ants and other life forms. Owing to the merits accrued from hearing for a moment this Dharani, once this very life

17675-467: The detailed and sophisticated treatise then transmitted it through his students. Modern scholarship generally accepts that he knew of a form of writing, based on references to words such as Lipi ('script') and lipikara ('scribe') in section 3.2 of the Aṣṭādhyāyī . The Classical Sanskrit language formalized by Pāṇini, states Renou, is "not an impoverished language", rather it is "a controlled and

17850-467: The differences between the Vedic and Classical Sanskrit. Louis Renou published in 1956, in French, a more extensive discussion of the similarities, the differences and the evolution of the Vedic Sanskrit within the Vedic period and then to the Classical Sanskrit along with his views on the history. This work has been translated by Jagbans Balbir. The earliest known use of the word Saṃskṛta (Sanskrit), in

18025-456: The distant major ancient languages of the world. The Indo-Aryan migrations theory explains the common features shared by Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages by proposing that the original speakers of what became Sanskrit arrived in South Asia from a region of common origin, somewhere north-west of the Indus region , during the early 2nd millennium BCE. Evidence for such a theory includes

18200-399: The dominant language of Hindu texts has been Sanskrit. It or a hybrid form of Sanskrit became the preferred language of Mahayana Buddhism scholarship; for example, one of the early and influential Buddhist philosophers, Nagarjuna (~200 CE), used Classical Sanskrit as the language for his texts. According to Renou, Sanskrit had a limited role in the Theravada tradition (formerly known as

18375-483: The early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture , and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in

18725-474: The eradication of suffering. With Amitayus and White Tara , she constitutes one of the three Buddhas of Long Life in Tibetan Buddhism, where she is known as Namgyälma. She is one of the more well-known Buddhist divinities in Nepal , Tibet , and Mongolia . In Chinese Buddhism, Uṣṇīṣavijayā is also a popular deity, and her dhāraṇī is part of the ritual practices in both monasteries and lay Buddhist circles. Her sūtra

18900-543: The first language of the respective speakers. The Sanskrit language brought Indo-Aryan speaking people together, particularly its elite scholars. Some of these scholars of Indian history regionally produced vernacularized Sanskrit to reach wider audiences, as evidenced by texts discovered in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Once the audience became familiar with the easier to understand vernacularized version of Sanskrit, those interested could graduate from colloquial Sanskrit to

19075-499: The forms of a pig, dog, jackal, monkey, python, crow and vulture, all feeding on filth and putrescence. Lord Śakra could not think of any way to help Suṣṭhita. He felt that only the Tathāgata , Arhat , Samyaksambuddha could save Suṣṭhita from falling into the great suffering of the evil destinies. Soon after nightfall, Lord Śakra made preparations and headed to the garden of Anāthapiṇḍada . Upon arrival, Lord Śakra prostrated himself at

19250-412: The foundation of Vyākaraṇa, a Vedānga . The Aṣṭādhyāyī was not the first description of Sanskrit grammar, but it is the earliest that has survived in full, and the culmination of a long grammatical tradition that Fortson says, is "one of the intellectual wonders of the ancient world". Pāṇini cites ten scholars on the phonological and grammatical aspects of the Sanskrit language before him, as well as

19425-467: The future Buddha Maitreya and thus receive a prediction from him. Medieval Theravada literature and inscriptions report the aspirations of monks, kings and ministers to meet Maitreya for this purpose. Modern figures such as Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933), and U Nu (1907–1995) both sought to receive a prediction from a Buddha in the future and believed meritorious actions done for the good of Buddhism would help in their endeavor to become bodhisattvas in

19600-410: The future. Over time the term came to be applied to other figures besides Gautama Buddha in Theravada lands, possibly due to the influence of Mahayana . The Theravada Abhayagiri tradition of Sri Lanka practiced Mahayana Buddhism and was very influential until the 12th century. Kings of Sri Lanka were often described as bodhisattvas, starting at least as early as Sirisanghabodhi (r. 247–249), who

19775-476: The gods Varuna, Mitra, Indra, and Nasatya found in the earliest layers of the Vedic literature. O Bṛhaspati, when in giving names they first set forth the beginning of Language, Their most excellent and spotless secret was laid bare through love, When the wise ones formed Language with their mind, purifying it like grain with a winnowing fan, Then friends knew friendships – an auspicious mark placed on their language. The Vedic Sanskrit found in

19950-670: The growth of his insight." Other early sources like the Acchariyabbhutadhamma-sutta ( MN 123, and its Chinese parallel in Madhyama-āgama 32) discuss the marvelous qualities of the bodhisattva Gautama in his previous life in Tuṣita heaven. The Pali text focuses on how the bodhisattva was endowed with mindfulness and clear comprehension while living in Tuṣita, while the Chinese source states that his lifespan, appearance, and glory

20125-431: The historic Sanskrit literary culture and the failure of new Sanskrit literature to assimilate into the changing cultural and political environment. Sheldon Pollock states that in some crucial way, "Sanskrit is dead ". After the 12th century, the Sanskrit literary works were reduced to "reinscription and restatements" of ideas already explored, and any creativity was restricted to hymns and verses. This contrasted with

20300-456: The holy life." Another early source that discusses the qualities of bodhisattvas is the Mahāpadāna sutta. This text discusses bodhisattva qualities in the context of six previous Buddhas who lived long ago, such as Buddha Vipaśyī . Yet another important element of the bodhisattva doctrine, the idea of a prediction of someone's future Buddhahood, is found in another Chinese early Buddhist text,

20475-521: The human realm, but to a humble and destitute family; while in the mother’s womb you will be without eyes and be born blind. On hearing this, Devaputra Suṣṭhita was so terrified and rushed over to the Heavenly Palace of Lord Śakra . Bursting into tears, he prostrated himself and revealed what had happened to Lord Śakra. Lord Śakra immediately calmed his mind and entered into samādhi . Instantly, he saw that Suṣṭhita would undergo seven successive lives in

20650-628: The idea that Metteya ( Maitreya ), who currently resides in Tuṣita , would become the future Buddha and that this had been predicted by the Buddha Sakyamuni was also an early doctrine related to the bodhisattva ideal. It first appears in the Cakkavattisihanadasutta . According to A.L. Basham, it is also possible that some of the Ashokan edicts reveal knowledge of the bodhisattva ideal. Basham even argues that Ashoka may have considered himself

20825-573: The ideal of the arahant . The oldest known story about how Gautama Buddha becomes a bodhisattva is the story of his encounter with the previous Buddha, Dīpankara . During this encounter, a previous incarnation of Gautama, variously named Sumedha, Megha, or Sumati offers five blue lotuses and spreads out his hair or entire body for Dīpankara to walk on, resolving to one day become a Buddha. Dīpankara then confirms that they will attain Buddhahood . Early Buddhist authors saw this story as indicating that

21000-478: The intense change that must have occurred in the pre-Vedic period between the Proto-Indo-Aryan language and Vedic Sanskrit. The noticeable differences between the Vedic and the Classical Sanskrit include the much-expanded grammar and grammatical categories as well as the differences in the accent, the semantics and the syntax. There are also some differences between how some of the nouns and verbs end, as well as

21175-459: The largest cultural heritage that any civilization has produced prior to the invention of the printing press. Sanskrit has been the predominant language of Hindu texts encompassing a rich tradition of philosophical and religious texts, as well as poetry, music, drama , scientific , technical and others. It is the predominant language of one of the largest collection of historic manuscripts. The earliest known inscriptions in Sanskrit are from

21350-412: The linguistic expression and sets the standard for the Sanskrit language. Pāṇini made use of a technical metalanguage consisting of a syntax, morphology and lexicon. This metalanguage is organised according to a series of meta-rules, some of which are explicitly stated while others can be deduced. Despite differences in the analysis from that of modern linguistics, Pāṇini's work has been found valuable and

21525-503: The literary works. The Indian tradition, states Winternitz , has favored the learning and the usage of multiple languages from the ancient times. Sanskrit was a spoken language in the educated and the elite classes, but it was also a language that must have been understood in a wider circle of society because the widely popular folk epics and stories such as the Ramayana , the Mahabharata ,

21700-426: The making of a resolution ( abhinīhāra ) in the presence of a living Buddha and his prediction/confirmation ( vyākaraṇa ) of one's future Buddhahood was necessary to become a bodhisattva. According to Drewes, "all known models of the path to Buddhahood developed from this basic understanding." Stories and teachings on the bodhisattva ideal are found in the various Jataka tale sources, which mainly focus on stories of

21875-501: The modern age include the Samaveda , Yajurveda , Atharvaveda , along with the embedded and layered Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas , Aranyakas , and the early Upanishads . These Vedic documents reflect the dialects of Sanskrit found in the various parts of the northwestern, northern, and eastern Indian subcontinent. According to Michael Witzel, Vedic Sanskrit was a spoken language of

22050-429: The more advanced Classical Sanskrit. Rituals and the rites-of-passage ceremonies have been and continue to be the other occasions where a wide spectrum of people hear Sanskrit, and occasionally join in to speak some Sanskrit words such as namah . Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini , around the fourth century BCE. Its position in the cultures of Greater India

22225-401: The most advanced analysis of linguistics until the twentieth century. Pāṇini's comprehensive and scientific theory of grammar is conventionally taken to mark the start of Classical Sanskrit. His systematic treatise inspired and made Sanskrit the preeminent Indian language of learning and literature for two millennia. It is unclear whether Pāṇini himself wrote his treatise or he orally created

22400-593: The most archaic poems of the Iranian and Greek language families, the Gathas of old Avestan and Iliad of Homer . As the Rigveda was orally transmitted by methods of memorisation of exceptional complexity, rigour and fidelity, as a single text without variant readings, its preserved archaic syntax and morphology are of vital importance in the reconstruction of the common ancestor language Proto-Indo-European . Sanskrit does not have an attested native script: from around

22575-583: The numbers are thought to signify a wish to be aligned with the prestige of the language. Sanskrit has been taught in traditional gurukulas since ancient times; it is widely taught today at the secondary school level. The oldest Sanskrit college is the Benares Sanskrit College founded in 1791 during East India Company rule . Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial and ritual language in Hindu and Buddhist hymns and chants . In Sanskrit,

22750-403: The oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they are ceremonial literature, where the exact phonetic expression and its preservation were a part of the historic tradition. However some scholars have suggested that the original Ṛg-veda differed in some fundamental ways in phonology compared to the sole surviving version available to us. In particular that retroflex consonants did not exist as

22925-431: The other." Reinöhl further states that there is a symmetric relationship between Dravidian languages like Kannada or Tamil, with Indo-Aryan languages like Bengali or Hindi, whereas the same relationship is not found for non-Indo-Aryan languages, for example, Persian or English: A sentence in a Dravidian language like Tamil or Kannada becomes ordinarily good Bengali or Hindi by substituting Bengali or Hindi equivalents for

23100-568: The past lives of the Sakyamuni. Among the non-Mahayana Nikaya schools, the Jataka literature was likely the main genre that contained bodhisattva teachings. These stories had certainly become an important part of popular Buddhism by the time of the carving of the Bharhut Stupa railings (c. 125–100 BCE), which contain depictions of around thirty Jataka tales. Thus, it is possible that the bodhisattva ideal

23275-418: The path beginning with the first arising of the thought of becoming a Buddha ( prathamacittotpāda ), or the initial arising of bodhicitta , typically aeons before one first receives a Buddha's prediction, and apply the term bodhisattva from this point." The Ten Stages Sutra , for example, explains that the arising of bodhicitta is the first step in the bodhisattva's career. Thus, the arising of bodhicitta,

23450-414: The possible influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit is only one of many items of syntactic assimilation, not least among them the large repertoire of morphological modality and aspect that, once one knows to look for it, can be found everywhere in classical and postclassical Sanskrit". The main influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit is found to have been concentrated in the timespan between the late Vedic period and

23625-497: The power of the vow. Jewel, Jewel, Great Jewel, the purified ultimate reality ( tathatā ), the peak of existence (bhūtakoṭi). O one with clear, pure wisdom. Victorious one, Victorious one, triumphant, triumphant, remember, remember. Purified by the sustaining power ( adhiṣṭhita ) of all Buddhas. O vajra, O essence of vajra, may my body and that of all beings be a vajra and be completely purified. May all paths (of rebirth ) be purified. May all Tathāgatas give me equal comfort. Empowered by

23800-439: The previous 1,500 years when "great experiments in moral and aesthetic imagination" marked the Indian scholarship using Classical Sanskrit, states Pollock. Scholars maintain that the Sanskrit language did not die, but rather only declined. Jurgen Hanneder disagrees with Pollock, finding his arguments elegant but "often arbitrary". According to Hanneder, a decline or regional absence of creative and innovative literature constitutes

23975-480: The problems of interpretation and misunderstanding. The purifying structure of the Sanskrit language removes these imperfections. The early Sanskrit grammarian Daṇḍin states, for example, that much in the Prakrit languages is etymologically rooted in Sanskrit, but involves "loss of sounds" and corruptions that result from a "disregard of the grammar". Daṇḍin acknowledged that there are words and confusing structures in Prakrit that thrive independent of Sanskrit. This view

24150-429: The recitation of a bodhisattva vow . Contemporary Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to give rise to bodhicitta and ceremonially take bodhisattva vows. With these vows and precepts, one makes the promise to work for the complete enlightenment of all sentient beings by practicing the transcendent virtues or paramitas . In Mahāyāna, bodhisattvas are often not Buddhist monks and are former lay practitioners. After

24325-596: The regional Prakrit languages, which makes it likely that the interaction, the sharing of words and ideas began early in the Indian history. As the Indian thought diversified and challenged earlier beliefs of Hinduism, particularly in the form of Buddhism and Jainism , the Prakrit languages such as Pali in Theravada Buddhism and Ardhamagadhi in Jainism competed with Sanskrit in the ancient times. However, states Paul Dundas , these ancient Prakrit languages had "roughly

24500-490: The relationship between various Indo-European languages, the origin of all these languages may possibly be in what is now Central or Eastern Europe, while the Indo-Iranian group possibly arose in Central Russia. The Iranian and Indo-Aryan branches separated quite early. It is the Indo-Aryan branch that moved into eastern Iran and then south into South Asia in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Once in ancient India,

24675-442: The rites-of-passage. Similarly, Brian Hatcher states that the "metaphors of historical rupture" by Pollock are not valid, that there is ample proof that Sanskrit was very much alive in the narrow confines of surviving Hindu kingdoms between the 13th and 18th centuries, and its reverence and tradition continues. Hanneder states that modern works in Sanskrit are either ignored or their "modernity" contested. Bodhisattvas In

24850-491: The same relationship to Sanskrit as medieval Italian does to Latin". The Indian tradition states that the Buddha and the Mahavira preferred the Prakrit language so that everyone could understand it. However, scholars such as Dundas have questioned this hypothesis. They state that there is no evidence for this and whatever evidence is available suggests that by the start of the common era, hardly anybody other than learned monks had

25025-517: The self-conceit that they are." However, for Sarvāstivāda, one is not technically a bodhisattva until the end of the third incalculable aeon, after which one begins to perform the actions which lead to the manifestation of the marks of a great person . The Mahāvastu of the Mahāsāṃghika - Lokottaravādins presents various ideas regarding the school's conception of the bodhisattva ideal. According to this text, bodhisattva Gautama had already reached

25200-551: The semi-nomadic Aryans . The Vedic Sanskrit language or a closely related Indo-European variant was recognized beyond ancient India as evidenced by the " Mitanni Treaty" between the ancient Hittite and Mitanni people, carved into a rock, in a region that now includes parts of Syria and Turkey. Parts of this treaty, such as the names of the Mitanni princes and technical terms related to horse training, for reasons not understood, are in early forms of Vedic Sanskrit. The treaty also invokes

25375-554: The sky. O pure Victorious Uṣṇīṣa . Activated by the thousand rays of light. Behold the vision of all Tathāgatas, who fulfill the Six Perfections (Pāramitās). Established in the mind of all Tathāgatas and in the ten levels ( bhūmis ). Empowered by the heart of all Tathāgatas, the great seal ( Mahāmudrā ). With a body as strong as a vajra , by the power of the Mahāmudrā be purified from all obstacles, suffering, and unfortunate rebirths. Turn back (the causes of) death, purified in longevity, with

25550-594: The social structures such as the role of the poet and the priests, the patronage economy, the phrasal equations, and some of the poetic metres. While there are similarities, state Jamison and Brereton, there are also differences between Vedic Sanskrit, the Old Avestan, and the Mycenaean Greek literature. For example, unlike the Sanskrit similes in the Ṛg-veda, the Old Avestan Gathas lack simile entirely, and it

25725-447: The sravakas do so for their own good ( sv-ārtha ) and thus, do not have bodhicitta (which is compassionately focused on others). Mahayana bodhisattvas were not just abstract models for Buddhist practice, but also developed as distinct figures which were venerated by Indian Buddhists. These included figures like Manjushri and Avalokiteshvara , which are personifications of the basic virtues of wisdom and compassion respectively and are

25900-460: The sravakas, he preached the doctrine which is associated with the four Noble Truths and leads to Dependent Origination. It aims at transcending birth, old age, disease, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress of mind and weariness; and it ends in nirvana. But, to the great being, the bodhisattva, he preached the doctrine, which is associated with the six perfections and which ends in the Knowledge of

26075-498: The state of a śrāvaka not only in Mahayana but also in Theravada. Rahula writes "the fact is that both the Theravada and the Mahayana unanimously accept the Bodhisattva ideal as the highest...Although the Theravada holds that anybody can be a Bodhisattva, it does not stipulate or insist that all must be Bodhisattva which is considered not practical." He also quotes the 10th century king of Sri Lanka, Mahinda IV (956–972 CE), who had

26250-401: The superior goal of sambodhi ( Buddhahood ) and thus must continue to strive until they reach this goal. The Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra , one of the earliest known Mahayana texts, contains a simple and brief definition for the term bodhisattva , which is also the earliest known Mahāyāna definition. This definition is given as the following: "Because he has bodhi as his aim,

26425-491: The ten vows found in the Ten Stages Sutra . Mahayana sources also discuss the importance of a Buddha's prediction ( vyākaraṇa ) of a bodhisattva's future Buddhahood. This is seen as an important step along the bodhisattva path. Later Mahayana Buddhists also developed specific rituals and devotional acts for which helped to develop various preliminary qualities, such as faith, worship, prayer, and confession, that lead to

26600-414: The term "bodhisattva" can refer to those who follow any of the three vehicles, since all are working towards bodhi . Therefore, the specific term for a Mahāyāna bodhisattva is a mahāsattva (great being) bodhisattva . According to Atiśa 's 11th century Bodhipathapradīpa , the central defining feature of a Mahāyāna bodhisattva is the universal aspiration to end suffering for all sentient beings, which

26775-522: The three vehicles of the Śrāvakayāna , Pratyekabuddhayāna and the Bodhisattvayāna were really just one vehicle ( ekayana ). This is most famously promoted in the Lotus Sūtra which claims that the very idea of three separate vehicles is just an upaya , a skillful device invented by the Buddha to get beings of various abilities on the path. But ultimately, it will be revealed to them that there

26950-464: The time of the great scholar Buddhaghosa (5th-century CE), orthodox Theravāda held the standard Indian Buddhist view that there were three main spiritual paths within Buddhism: the way of the Buddhas ( buddhayāna ) i.e. the bodhisatta path; the way of the individual Buddhas ( paccekabuddhayāna ); and the way of the disciples ( sāvakayāna ). The Sri Lankan commentator Dhammapāla (6th century CE) wrote

27125-411: The top of the Buddha's head. The Buddha smiled and said to Lord Śakra, “Lord of Heaven, there is a Dhāraṇī known as the Uṣṇīṣa Vijaya Dhāraṇī. It can purify all evil paths, completely eliminate all sufferings of beings in the realms of hell, King Yama and animals, destroy all the hells, and transfer sentient beings onto the virtuous path.” After hearing this, Lord Śakra appealed to the Buddha to give

27300-641: The turn of the 1st-millennium CE, it has been written in various Brahmic scripts , and in the modern era most commonly in Devanagari . Sanskrit's status, function, and place in India's cultural heritage are recognized by its inclusion in the Constitution of India 's Eighth Schedule languages . However, despite attempts at revival, there are no first-language speakers of Sanskrit in India. In each of India's recent decennial censuses, several thousand citizens have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue, but

27475-430: The two most important bodhisattvas in Mahayana. The development of bodhisattva devotion parallels the development of the Hindu bhakti movement . Indeed, Dayal sees the development of Indian bodhisattva cults as a Buddhist reaction to the growth of bhakti centered religion in India which helped to popularize and reinvigorate Indian Buddhism. Some Mahayana sutras promoted another revolutionary doctrinal turn, claiming that

27650-408: The variants in the usage of Sanskrit in different regions of India. The ten Vedic scholars he quotes are Āpiśali, Kaśyapa , Gārgya, Gālava, Cakravarmaṇa, Bhāradvāja , Śākaṭāyana, Śākalya, Senaka and Sphoṭāyana. In the Aṣṭādhyāyī , language is observed in a manner that has no parallel among Greek or Latin grammarians. Pāṇini's grammar, according to Renou and Filliozat, is a classic that defines

27825-407: The various bodhisattva "perfections" ( pāramitās ) which include prajñāpāramitā ("transcendent knowledge" or "perfection of wisdom") and skillful means ( upāya ). In Theravāda Buddhism , the bodhisattva is mainly seen as an exceptional and rare individual. Only a few select individuals are ultimately able to become bodhisattvas, such as Maitreya . Mahāyāna Buddhism generally understands

28000-564: The vernacular Prakrits. Many Sanskrit dramas indicate that the language coexisted with the vernacular Prakrits. The cities of Varanasi , Paithan , Pune and Kanchipuram were centers of classical Sanskrit learning and public debates until the arrival of the colonial era. According to Lamotte , Sanskrit became the dominant literary and inscriptional language because of its precision in communication. It was, states Lamotte, an ideal instrument for presenting ideas, and as knowledge in Sanskrit multiplied, so did its spread and influence. Sanskrit

28175-425: The words inscribed "none but the bodhisattvas will become kings of a prosperous Lanka," among other examples. Jeffrey Samuels echoes this perspective, noting that while in Mahayana Buddhism the bodhisattva path is held to be universal and for everyone, in Theravada it is "reserved for and appropriated by certain exceptional people." Mahāyāna Buddhism (often also called Bodhisattvayāna , "Bodhisattva Vehicle")

28350-415: The yogacarins then, only some beings (those who have the "bodhisattva lineage") can enter the bodhisattva path. In East Asian Buddhism, the view of the one vehicle ( ekayana ) which holds that all Buddhist teachings are really part of a single path, is the standard view. The term bodhisattva was also used in a broader sense by later authors. According to the eighth-century Mahāyāna philosopher Haribhadra ,

28525-497: The Ṛg-veda is distinctly more archaic than other Vedic texts, and in many respects, the Rigvedic language is notably more similar to those found in the archaic texts of Old Avestan Zoroastrian Gathas and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey . According to Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton – Indologists known for their translation of the Ṛg-veda – the Vedic Sanskrit literature "clearly inherited" from Indo-Iranian and Indo-European times

28700-408: Was a spoken language ( bhasha ) used by the cultured and educated. Some sutras expound upon the variant forms of spoken Sanskrit versus written Sanskrit. Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang mentioned in his memoir that official philosophical debates in India were held in Sanskrit, not in the vernacular language of that region. According to Sanskrit linguist professor Madhav Deshpande, Sanskrit

28875-427: Was a spoken language in a colloquial form by the mid-1st millennium BCE which coexisted with a more formal, grammatically correct form of literary Sanskrit. This, states Deshpande, is true for modern languages where colloquial incorrect approximations and dialects of a language are spoken and understood, along with more "refined, sophisticated and grammatically accurate" forms of the same language being found in

29050-472: Was adopted voluntarily as a vehicle of high culture, arts, and profound ideas. Pollock disagrees with Lamotte, but concurs that Sanskrit's influence grew into what he terms a "Sanskrit Cosmopolis" over a region that included all of South Asia and much of southeast Asia. The Sanskrit language cosmopolis thrived beyond India between 300 and 1300 CE. Today, it is believed that Kashmiri is the closest language to Sanskrit. Reinöhl mentions that not only have

29225-674: Was also the language of some of the oldest surviving, authoritative and much followed philosophical works of Jainism such as the Tattvartha Sutra by Umaswati . The Sanskrit language has been one of the major means for the transmission of knowledge and ideas in Asian history. Indian texts in Sanskrit were already in China by 402 CE, carried by the influential Buddhist pilgrim Faxian who translated them into Chinese by 418 CE. Xuanzang , another Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, learnt Sanskrit in India and carried 657 Sanskrit texts to China in

29400-452: Was also traditionally considered to be a reincarnation of Maitreya. Paul Williams writes that some modern Theravada meditation masters in Thailand are popularly regarded as bodhisattvas. Various modern figures of esoteric Theravada traditions (such as the weizzās of Burma) have also claimed to be bodhisattvas. Theravada bhikkhu and scholar Walpola Rahula writes that the bodhisattva ideal has traditionally been held to be higher than

29575-423: Was greater than all the devas (gods). These sources also discuss various miracles which accompanied the bodhisattva's conception and birth, most famously, his taking seven steps and proclaiming that this was his last life. The Chinese source (titled Discourse on Marvellous Qualities ) also states that while living as a monk under the Buddha Kāśyapa he "made his initial vow to [realize] Buddhahood [while] practicing

29750-409: Was initially brought to China in the late sixth century, with additional Sanskrit manuscripts arriving during the seventh century. A series of translations were produced in the late 670s and 680s, motivated in part by attempts to address the health issues of Emperor Gaozong. Notable translators included Divākara and Yijing, with Buddhapālita's translation becoming the most iconic. His version’s popularity

29925-407: Was popularized through the telling of Jatakas. Jataka tales contain numerous stories which focus on the past life deeds of Sakyamuni when he was a bodhisattva. These deeds generally express bodhisattva qualities and practices (such as compassion, the six perfections, and supernatural power) in dramatic ways, and include numerous acts of self-sacrifice. Apart from Jataka stories related to Sakyamuni,

30100-752: Was renowned for his compassion, took vows for the welfare of the citizens, and was regarded as a mahāsatta (Sanskrit: mahāsattva ), an epithet used almost exclusively in Mahayana Buddhism . Many other Sri Lankan kings from the 3rd until the 15th century were also described as bodhisattas and their royal duties were sometimes clearly associated with the practice of the ten pāramitās . In some cases, they explicitly claimed to have received predictions of Buddhahood in past lives. Popular Buddhist figures have also been seen as bodhisattvas in Theravada Buddhist lands. Shanta Ratnayaka notes that Anagarika Dharmapala , Asarapasarana Saranarikara Sangharaja, and Hikkaduwe Sri Sumamgala "are often called bodhisattvas". Buddhaghosa

30275-462: Was taught for all beings to follow. This was in contrast to the Nikaya schools, which held that the bodhisattva path was only for a rare set of individuals. Indian Mahayanists preserved and promoted a set of texts called Vaipulya ("Extensive") sutras (later called Mahayana sutras ). Mahayana sources like the Lotus Sutra also claim that arhats that have reached nirvana have not truly finished their spiritual quest, for they still have not attained

30450-442: Was visualized as "pervading all creation", another representation of the world itself; the "mysterious magnum" of Hindu thought. The search for perfection in thought and the goal of liberation were among the dimensions of sacred sound, and the common thread that wove all ideas and inspirations together became the quest for what the ancient Indians believed to be a perfect language, the "phonocentric episteme" of Sanskrit. Sanskrit as

30625-419: Was widely cited by various sources. According to Ulrich Pagel, this text is "one of the longest works on the bodhisattva in Mahayana literature" and thus provides extensive information on the topic bodhisattva training, especially the perfections ( pāramitā ) . Pagel also argues that this text was quite influential on later Mahayana writings which discuss the bodhisattva and thus was "of fundamental importance to

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