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Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra

July 09, 2023

The Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra[1] (traditional Chinese: 勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經, Lion’s Roar [zh] of Queen Śrīmālā) is one of the main early Mahāyāna Buddhist texts belonging to the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras that teaches the doctrines of Buddha-nature and "One Vehicle" through the words of the Indian queen Śrīmālā.[2] After its composition, this text became the primary scriptural advocate in India for the universal potentiality of Buddhahood.[3]

History

 
Relief image of the Great Stupa at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, India

Brian Edward Brown, a specialist in Buddha-nature doctrines, writes that the composition of the Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra occurred during the Īkṣvāku Dynasty in the 3rd century CE as a product of the Caitika schools of the Mahāsāṃghikas.[3] Alex Wayman has outlined eleven points of complete agreement between the Mahāsāṃghikas and the Śrīmālā, along with four major arguments for this association.[4] Anthony Barber also associates the earlier development of the Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra with the Mahāsāṃghikas, and concludes that the Mahāsāṃghikas of the Āndhra region were responsible for the inception of the Buddha-nature doctrine.[5] In the 6th century CE, Paramārtha wrote that the Mahāsāṃghikas revere the sūtras that teach the Buddha-nature doctrine.[6]

Translations

The Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra was translated to Chinese in 436 CE by Guṇabhadra (394-468) and later by Bodhiruci (672-727).[2] A complete Sanskrit original is no longer extant,[7] but extensive quotations are found in the Sanskrit text of the Ratnagotravibhāga as well as some recently discovered fragments conserved in the Schøyen Collection. It was later translated into English by Alex and Hideko Wayman as The Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala.

Content

The Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra teaches the reality of an ultimate, immaculate consciousness within each living being, which is the Buddhic "Dharmakāya" (essence of Truth), which is yet temporarily sheathed in obscuring defilement. This Dharmakāya, when viewed as intrinsically free from spiritual ignorance, is said to constitute eternity, bliss, the self, and purity in their perfect state. The use of the word "self" in this sutra is in a way unique to this class of sutra. The great Queen Śrīmālā, who according to this text is empowered by the Buddha to teach the Dharma, affirms:[8]

[T]he Dharmakāya of the Buddha has the perfection of permanence, the perfection of pleasure, the perfection of self, the perfection of purity. Whatever sentient beings see the Dharmakāya of the Tathagāta that way, see correctly. Whoever see correctly are called the sons of the Lord born from his heart, born from his mouth, born from the Dharma, who behave as manifestation of Dharma and as heirs of Dharma.

The scripture, which was extremely influential by way of clarification of the Tathagātagarbha view of Śūnyatā, insists that the ultimately correct understanding of emptiness is that the Tathāgatagarbha is empty of all knowledge that is not liberation, whereas, in contrast, the qualities which characterise a Buddha are not empty of inconceivable virtues. An alternative title offered by the Buddha for this sutra expresses this idea of an ultimate meaning to the emptiness doctrine: "The True Revelation of the Buddha's Intention when Teaching Emptiness."

The sūtra has, furthermore, significantly contributed to the Mahāyāna notion of the permanent, steadfast and eternal Tathagātagarbha, which is nothing less than the perfect Dharmakāya temporarily concealed by (ultimately unreal) mental contaminants:

“The tathāgatagarbha is without any prior limit, is nonarising, and is indestructible, accepting suffering, having revulsion toward suffering, and aspiring to nirvana. O Lord, the tathāgatagarbha is not a substantial self, nor a living being, nor ‘fate,’ nor a person. The tathāgatagarbha is not a realm for living beings who have degenerated into the belief of a substantially existent body or for those who have contrary views, or who have minds bewildered by emptiness.[9]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ (PDF). Translated by Paul, Diana. BDK America. 2017. ISBN 978-1-886439-31-3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-12-09.
  2. ^ a b McRae 2004, p. 5.
  3. ^ a b Brown 2010, p. 3.
  4. ^ Barber 2008, pp. 153–154.
  5. ^ Barber 2008, pp. 155–156.
  6. ^ Hodge 2006.
  7. ^ Tola 2004, p. xiii.
  8. ^ Wayman 1990, p. 102.
  9. ^ McRae 2004, p. 45-46.

Sources

  • Barber, Anthony W. (2009), Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra, NY: State Univ of New York
  • Brown, Brian Edward (1994), The Buddha Nature. A Study of the Tathagatagarbha and Alayavijnana, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
  • Hodge, Stephen (2006), "On the Eschatology of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and Related Matters". (PDF), lecture delivered at the University of London, SOAS
  • McRae, John (2004), (PDF), Berkeley, CA: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, ISBN 1886439311, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-28, retrieved 2017-05-06
  • Tola, Fernando; Dragonetti, Carmen (2004), Being As Consciousness: Yogācāra Philosophy of Buddhism, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 8120819675
  • Wayman, Alex and Hideko (1990), The Lion's roar of Queen Srimala, New York: Columbia University Press

Bibliography

  • Paul, Diana (1979). 'The Concept of Tathāgatagarbha in the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra (Sheng-Man Ching)'. Journal of the American Oriental Society 99 (2), 191–203
  • Mark Dennis (trans.). Prince Shōtoku's Commentary on the Śrīmālā-sūtra, Berkeley, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2011. ISBN 978-1-886439-43-6
  • King, Richard (1995). Is "Buddha-Nature" Buddhist? Doctrinal Tensions in the Śrīmālā Sūtra: An Early Tathāgatagarbha Text, Numen 42 (1), 1-20

External links

  • Digital Dictionary of Buddhism[permanent dead link] (log in with userID "guest")
  • Appreciation of the Nirvana Sutra and Tathagatagarbha teachings

July 09, 2023
Śrīmālādevī, siṃhanāda, sūtra, traditional, chinese, 勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經, lion, roar, queen, Śrīmālā, main, early, mahāyāna, buddhist, texts, belonging, tathāgatagarbha, sūtras, that, teaches, doctrines, buddha, nature, vehicle, through, words, indian, queen, Śrīmāl. The Srimaladevi Siṃhanada Sutra 1 traditional Chinese 勝鬘師子吼一乘大方便方廣經 Lion s Roar zh of Queen Srimala is one of the main early Mahayana Buddhist texts belonging to the Tathagatagarbha sutras that teaches the doctrines of Buddha nature and One Vehicle through the words of the Indian queen Srimala 2 After its composition this text became the primary scriptural advocate in India for the universal potentiality of Buddhahood 3 Contents 1 History 2 Translations 3 Content 4 See also 5 Notes 6 Sources 7 Bibliography 8 External linksHistory Edit Relief image of the Great Stupa at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh India Brian Edward Brown a specialist in Buddha nature doctrines writes that the composition of the Srimaladevi Siṃhanada Sutra occurred during the ikṣvaku Dynasty in the 3rd century CE as a product of the Caitika schools of the Mahasaṃghikas 3 Alex Wayman has outlined eleven points of complete agreement between the Mahasaṃghikas and the Srimala along with four major arguments for this association 4 Anthony Barber also associates the earlier development of the Tathagatagarbha Sutra with the Mahasaṃghikas and concludes that the Mahasaṃghikas of the Andhra region were responsible for the inception of the Buddha nature doctrine 5 In the 6th century CE Paramartha wrote that the Mahasaṃghikas revere the sutras that teach the Buddha nature doctrine 6 Translations EditThe Srimaladevi Siṃhanada Sutra was translated to Chinese in 436 CE by Guṇabhadra 394 468 and later by Bodhiruci 672 727 2 A complete Sanskrit original is no longer extant 7 but extensive quotations are found in the Sanskrit text of the Ratnagotravibhaga as well as some recently discovered fragments conserved in the Schoyen Collection It was later translated into English by Alex and Hideko Wayman as The Lion s Roar of Queen Srimala Content EditThe Srimaladevi Siṃhanada Sutra teaches the reality of an ultimate immaculate consciousness within each living being which is the Buddhic Dharmakaya essence of Truth which is yet temporarily sheathed in obscuring defilement This Dharmakaya when viewed as intrinsically free from spiritual ignorance is said to constitute eternity bliss the self and purity in their perfect state The use of the word self in this sutra is in a way unique to this class of sutra The great Queen Srimala who according to this text is empowered by the Buddha to teach the Dharma affirms 8 T he Dharmakaya of the Buddha has the perfection of permanence the perfection of pleasure the perfection of self the perfection of purity Whatever sentient beings see the Dharmakaya of the Tathagata that way see correctly Whoever see correctly are called the sons of the Lord born from his heart born from his mouth born from the Dharma who behave as manifestation of Dharma and as heirs of Dharma The scripture which was extremely influential by way of clarification of the Tathagatagarbha view of Sunyata insists that the ultimately correct understanding of emptiness is that the Tathagatagarbha is empty of all knowledge that is not liberation whereas in contrast the qualities which characterise a Buddha are not empty of inconceivable virtues An alternative title offered by the Buddha for this sutra expresses this idea of an ultimate meaning to the emptiness doctrine The True Revelation of the Buddha s Intention when Teaching Emptiness The sutra has furthermore significantly contributed to the Mahayana notion of the permanent steadfast and eternal Tathagatagarbha which is nothing less than the perfect Dharmakaya temporarily concealed by ultimately unreal mental contaminants The tathagatagarbha is without any prior limit is nonarising and is indestructible accepting suffering having revulsion toward suffering and aspiring to nirvana O Lord the tathagatagarbha is not a substantial self nor a living being nor fate nor a person The tathagatagarbha is not a realm for living beings who have degenerated into the belief of a substantially existent body or for those who have contrary views or who have minds bewildered by emptiness 9 See also EditAṅgulimaliya Sutra Anunatva Apurnatva Nirdesa Atman Buddhism Mahayana Mahaparinirvaṇa Sutra Purity in Buddhism Shōmangyō Gisho an annotated Japanese version of the sutra Notes Edit The Teaching of Queen Srimala of the Lion s Roar PDF Translated by Paul Diana BDK America 2017 ISBN 978 1 886439 31 3 Archived from the original PDF on 2017 12 09 a b McRae 2004 p 5 a b Brown 2010 p 3 sfn error no target CITEREFBrown2010 help Barber 2008 pp 153 154 sfn error no target CITEREFBarber2008 help Barber 2008 pp 155 156 sfn error no target CITEREFBarber2008 help Hodge 2006 Tola 2004 p xiii sfn error no target CITEREFTola2004 help Wayman 1990 p 102 McRae 2004 p 45 46 Sources EditBarber Anthony W 2009 Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra NY State Univ of New York Brown Brian Edward 1994 The Buddha Nature A Study of the Tathagatagarbha and Alayavijnana Delhi Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Hodge Stephen 2006 On the Eschatology of the Mahaparinirvana Sutra and Related Matters PDF lecture delivered at the University of London SOAS McRae John 2004 The Sutra of Queen Srimala of the Lion s Roar and the Vimalakirti Sutra PDF Berkeley CA Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research ISBN 1886439311 archived from the original PDF on 2017 02 28 retrieved 2017 05 06 Tola Fernando Dragonetti Carmen 2004 Being As Consciousness Yogacara Philosophy of Buddhism Delhi Motilal Banarsidass ISBN 8120819675 Wayman Alex and Hideko 1990 The Lion s roar of Queen Srimala New York Columbia University PressBibliography EditPaul Diana 1979 The Concept of Tathagatagarbha in the Srimaladevi Sutra Sheng Man Ching Journal of the American Oriental Society 99 2 191 203 Mark Dennis trans Prince Shōtoku s Commentary on the Srimala sutra Berkeley Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2011 ISBN 978 1 886439 43 6 King Richard 1995 Is Buddha Nature Buddhist Doctrinal Tensions in the Srimala Sutra An Early Tathagatagarbha Text Numen 42 1 1 20External links EditDigital Dictionary of Buddhism permanent dead link log in with userID guest Appreciation of the Nirvana Sutra and Tathagatagarbha teachings Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Srimaladevi Siṃhanada Sutra amp oldid 1148718769, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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