THE JOURNAL
OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
BUDDHIST STUDIES
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Roger Jackson
Dept. oj Religion
Carleton College
Northfield, MN 55057
USA
EDITORS
Peter N. Gregory
University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
Alexander W. Macdonald
Universite de Paris X
Nanterre, France
Steven Collins
Concordia University
Montreal, Canada
Ernst Steinkellner
University of Vienna
Wien, Austria
Jikido Takasaki
University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
Robert Thurman
Columbia University
New York, New York, USA
Volume 14 1991 Number 1
CONTENTS
I. ARTICLES
1. The Pratityasamutpadagathd and Its Role in the
Medieval Cult of the Relics, by Daniel Boucher 1
2. Notes on the Devotional Uses and Symbolic
Functions of Sutra Texts as Depicted in Early
Chinese Buddhist Miracle Tales and
Hagiographies, by Robert F. Campany 28
3. A Source Analysis of the Ruijing lu ("Records of
Miraculous Scriptures"), by Koichi Shinohara 73
4. Pudgalavada in Tibet? Assertions of Substantially
Existent Selves in the Writings of Tsong-kha-pa
and His Followers, by Joe Bransford Wilson 155
II. BOOK REVIEWS
1. The Dawn of Chinese Pure Land Buddhist Doctrine:
Ching-ying Hui-yiian's Commentary on the
Visualization Sutra, by Kenneth K. Tanaka
(Allan A. Andrews) 181
2. Three Recent Collections: The Buddhist Heritage,
ed. Tadeusz Skorupski; Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha,
ed. Robert E. Buswell, Jr.; and Reflections on
Tibetan Culture, ed. Lawrence Epstein and
Richard Sherburne (Roger Jackson) 191
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS 195
The Pratityasamutpddagathd and Its
Role in the Medieval Cult of the Relics
by Daniel Boucher
I. Introduction
Over the past one hundred and fifty years, thousands of clay
seals, miniature stupas, and images inscribed with the famous
"Buddhist creed" (the ye dharmd hetuprabhava... verse) have
been excavated from sacred sites throughout the Buddhist
world. The quantity and ubiquity of the finds has led Simon
Lawson to state recently: "From late in the Gupta period until
the end of the Pala period, this verse was what drove Bud-
dhism."1 There has yet to be, however, a satisfactory explana-
tion of the role of this verse in Buddhist cult practice. This
paper is an attempt to address part of the problem—to explore
both the literary and archeological milieu surrounding the use
of this verse during the early medieval period (ca. 600-1200
C.E.). My efforts will be directed at tracing the early develop-
ments that may have inspired the use of this verse epitome of
the pratityasamutpada and its connection to consecrating stupas
as an alternative relic of the Buddha. More importantly, we
may also be able to gain a clearer sense of one of the ongoing
struggles within the Buddhist tradition: to maintain the pres-
ence of the all-too-absent Buddha.
The Buddhist tradition has since the death of the Buddha,
or perhaps more precisely, because of the death of the Buddha,
wrestled between two tendencies: to locate the Buddha in his
corporeal body, especially as left behind in his relics; or to
locate the "true" Buddha in the dharma, his teachings. This
dichotomy manifested itself in two directions: the cult of the
stupa, which venerated the physical remains of the Buddha;2
and the equation of the Buddha and his teaching in such pas-
1
2 JIABS VOL. 14 NO. 1
sages as Samyutta-Nikdya I I I , 120, where the Buddha states:
"He who sees the dhamma, Vakkali, sees me; he who sees me,
sees the dhamma"*
As a corollary to this equation, the Pali sources also identi-
fied the paticcasamuppada (Skt. pratityasamutpdda) with the
dhamma.' Since the "discovery" of the pratityasamutpdda is inti-
mately connected to the Buddha's enlightenment and therefore
who he was as Buddha, it is not surprising to find it exalted as the
premier dharma, the teaching par excellence. This doctrine has
been taken as the very essence of the Buddha's teaching, the
source of his Buddhahood, and has accordingly been expressed
in a variety of ways in Buddhist canonical texts.5
The intimate connection between the Buddha and the
pratityasamutpdda was taken up again in the Sdlistambasutra, a
canonical reflection on the chain of causation known from
Chinese translations to date to at least the third century C.E.*
The bodhisattva Maitreya says to Sariputra:
He, monks, who sees the pratityasamutpdda sees the dharma; he
who sees the dharma sees the Buddha.7
Then, he glosses this equation as follows:
How does one see the pratityasamutpdda there (i.e., in this
verse)? The Blessed One has spoken on this matter: "He who
sees this pratityasamutpdda, which is eternal, [lifeless], without
the life-essence, as it should be, auspicious, unborn, not
become, unmade, uncompounded, unobstructed, unsup-
ported, propitious, fearless, unseizable, undecaying, with un-
ending self-nature—he sees the dharma. And he who likewise sees
the dharma, which is eternal, [lifeless], without life-essence...
and with unending self-nature, he sees the Buddha, whose body is the
most excellent dharma, by attaining through right knowledge to
the direct understanding of the noble dharma.6
Early Mahayana literature repeatedly identified the dharma
as the true body of the Buddha.9 By extension, therefore, a dis-
course on the Buddha's dharma (dharmaparydya) would equal if
not surpass the Buddha's physical body, especially as left
behind in his relics. This equation found its fullest practical
expression in the cult of the book, an early Mahayana adapta-
CULT OF THE RELICS 3
tion for establishing new cultic centers vis-a-vis the stupal relic
cult.10 Briefly stated, the Mahayana sutras reinforced their cul-
tic innovation by consciously identifying the loci of their writ-
ten dharmaparyaya with the well established pilgrimage site of
Bodh-Gaya, the seat of the Buddha's enlightenment (bodhi-
manda) ." We find, for example, at AsP 28:
Furthermore, Kausika, just as those men or ghosts who
have gone to the seat of enlightenment (bodhimanda), or to the
vicinity of the seat of enlightenment, or to its interior, or have
gone to the foot of the Bodhi tree itself, they accordingly cannot
be harmed by men or ghosts, even with the help of evil animals,
or be injured or taken possession of by them, except as a result of
former deeds. Why? Because there the future, past, and present
tathagatas, arhats, [etc.] achieve enlightenment.. ..In the same
way, Kausika, where a son or daughter of good family will set up,
preserve, [etc.] this perfection of wisdom, there, Kausika, beings
cannot be harmed, [etc.] by men or ghosts except as a result of
former deeds. Why? Because by this perfection of wisdom,
Kausika, this spot of ground is made a true shrine (caityabhuta)
for all beings, and is to be honored, worshipped—l2
In a concrete sense, the bodhimanda is the seat under the tree
at Bodh-Gaya where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlighten-
ment and became the Buddha. It is to this seat, an established
pilgrimage site, that the loci of the dharmaparyaya are equated.
Simultaneously, in a more figurative sense, the bodhimanda is
the source or essence (manda) of that experience under the
Bodhi tree. It represents what Lamotte has called the "presence
toute spirituelle de la Loi ou du dharmakaya des Buddha, et ceci
independamment de toute localisation materielle."13 A spot,
therefore, where the dharmaparyaya is set up, recited, etc., is a
true shrine (caityabhuta) because there the enlightenment expe-
rience of the past, present, and future buddhas is made present.
Such a spot contains the quintessence of the Buddha himself
and thus has no need of relics:
Why? There the body of the Tathagata is deposited in its total-
ity. At which spot of earth this dharmaparyaya would be declared,
or taught, or recited, or chanted in chorus, or written, or hav-
ing been written, would be set up in a book—at that stupa,
4 JIABS VOL. 14 NO. 1
honor, reverence, worship, and homage should be done.. .And
furthermore, Bhaisajyaraja, all beings who would succeed in
praising, worshipping, or seeing this tathdgatacaitya, they all,
Bhaisajyaraja, are to be known as ones who come near to the
most excellent, perfect enlightenment.14
Paralleling this link between dharma-text and the bodhi-
manda in the Mahayana literature is the appearance of reliquary
inscriptions of the pratityasamutpdda formula. From at least the
second century C.E., inscriptions of a short sutra detailing the
pratityasamutpdda were etched on relic caskets and other objects
deposited inside stupas in India and Central Asia. The earliest
known archeological evidence of this practice is a KharosthI
inscription from the Kurram Valley in Peshawar. It was dis-
covered on a copper relic casket "shaped like a miniature stupa
with harmikd and umbrellas, all complete."15 This stupa not only
housed the Buddha's bodily remains, but was simultaneously
vitalized in some sense with the "remains" of his enlighten-
ment experience:
Anno, 20, the 20. day of the month Avadunaka, at this in-
stant Svedavarman, the son ofYasa, deposits a relic of the Ador-
able Sakyamuni in the relic stupa (erected by King M...) the
property of the Sarvastivada teachers—as it has been said by
the Adorable one: contingent on ignorance (are) the forces, con-
tingent on the forces perception, contingent on perception
name and form, contingent on name and form the six senses,
contingent on the six senses contact, contingent on contact sen-
sation, contingent on sensation thirst, contingent on thirst
grasping, contingent on grasping existence, contingent on exis-
tence birth, contingent on birth age, death, sorrow, lamentation,
misery, downcastness and despair. Such is the origin of this
entire mass of misery—in honour of all beings. And this contin-
gent origination [paticasamupada (sic)] has been written by
Mahiphatika in honour of all beings.16
Similar finds include the Devnimori relic casket inscrip-
tions,17 the Kasia copper plate,18 the Gopalpur bricks,19 two
important brick finds from Nalanda,20 a slab from Ratnagiri,21
as well as instances of the pratityasamutpdda formula engraved
on the base of miniature stupas at Tun-huang.22
CULT OF THE RELICS 5
In terms of Buddhist practice then, the cult of the book in
early Mahayana consolidated the identification of the Buddha
and the dharma by linking the locus of their written sutras to the
well established and popular pilgrimage center at Bodh-Gaya,
where the Buddha was thought to be in some sense still pre-
sent. The reliquary inscriptions of the pratityasamutpdda indi-
cate a parallel attempt to appropriate the enlightenment
experience of the Buddha—his cognizance of the chain of cau-
sation—into the stupa cult that venerated his corporeal remains.
Thus we see developing a dialectic between what could be
described, for lack of better words, as the concrete and abstract
modes of defining and locating the Buddha."
By the late Gupta period (ca. 6 th-7th cent. G.E.), the tra-
dition of locating the Buddha in his concrete presence—at sites
housing his bodily remains or at the bodhimanda where he
attained enlightenment—and the tradition that identified him
with his dharma most essentially embodied in the pratityasamut-
pdda became completely synthesized. After the sixth century,
when the reliquary inscriptions of the pratityasamutpdda formula
appear to end in the archeological record, we begin to find
deposited in stupas clay tablets and miniature stupas inscribed
or stamped with the verse epitome of the pratityasamutpdda (ye
dharma hetuprabhavd...). This four-line verse has been rather
matter-of-factly regarded as some form of Buddhist "creed."
The function of this much-neglected verse and the complex of
ideas surrounding it will be the focus of the remainder of this
paper.
/ / . The Verse and Its Function
The verse itself is quite simple. It is composed in the dryd
meter24 and occurs canonically in the famous conversion of
Sariputta and Moggallana.25 These two brahmacdrins, disciples
of the mendicant Sanjaya, were unable to attain the deathless
state. Sariputta, having seen Assaji (one of the Buddha's five
initial disciples) wandering in Rajagaha for almsfood, ap-
proached him to inquire who his teacher was and what dhamma
he professed. Assaji replied:
6 JIABS VOL. 14 NO. 1
Now I, dear Sir, am new [i.e., newly ordained], not long on the
renunciant's path, a newcomer to this dhamma and vinaya. I am
not able to teach you the dhamma in detail. But I will tell you its
essence (attha) concisely.
Sariputta, satisfied with a gist of the dhamma, implored Assaji
to instruct him. Assaji consented by uttering this dhamma-
pariydya (short exposition of the dhamma):
ye dhamma hetuppabhava tesdm hetum tathdgato
aha tesan cayo nirodho evamvadi mahdsamano Hi.
Those dhammas which arise from a cause
The Tathagata has declared their cause
And that which is the cessation of them.
Thus the great renunciant has taught.
Having acquired the "stainless eye of wisdom" through the
hearing of this verse, Sariputta conveyed this discourse to his
fellow wayfarer Moggallana, to whom he repeated this formula
of the dhamma.
Although relatively insignificant from a literary point of
view, this verse appeared on clay seals and miniature stupas vir-
tually everywhere in the Indian Buddhist world during the
medieval period (ca. 600-1200 CE) . These clay balls, often
regarded as among the most trivial of finds from Buddhist
sites, functioned in many cases as far more than mementos.26
Because it would be impossible to consider every inscriptional
instance of this verse in all its contexts, I will focus on those
better reported finds for which the archeological context of the
discovery is known. Only then can we get a sense of the import
of this verse and its place in a history of Indian Buddhist cult
practice.
Thousands of small clay seals inscribed with the ye
dharmd.. .verse have been excavated from various stupa sites—
often from within the relic chamber itself. Many of these relic-
seals are simple and unadorned, bearing only this verse. Such
examples would include many from Kasia,27 Sarnath,2fl Bodh-
Gaya,29 Ratnagiri,30 Lauriya-Nandangarh,31 Nalanda,32 Vala-
bhl,33 Gazni,34 and Mainamati35 to name just a few. Others,
however, are stamped with specific representations. For exam-
CULT OF THE RELICS 7
pie, Alexander Cunningham unearthed from the ruined stupas
at Bodh-Gaya several burnt clay seals only a few inches in
diameter. In the center is the Buddha seated on the vajrdsana
(diamond throne) in bhumisparsamudrd, the posture of his
enlightenment.36 Above the niche in which the Buddha sits is a
straight-sided tower surmounted by an dmalaka, depicting the
famous temple at Bodh-Gaya. Branches of the Bodhi tree ema-
nate from the top; small stupas, found in abundance at Bodh-
Gaya, flank the niche. Below is etched t h e ^ dharmd.. .verse in
medieval characters.37 These seals, in effect, juxtapose both
senses of the bodhimanda: they depict the enlightenment site at
Bodh-Gaya as well as the essence of the experience at that site.
Furthermore, they are intentionally placed within repositories
traditionally associated with the corporeal remains of the Bud-
dha. Other tablets like these have been found at Sarnath,38 Raj-
badidanga,39 SanchI,40 Ratnagiri,41 Kasia,42 and in Sind,43
Burma44 and Thailand.45
Clay seals inscribed with the pratityasamutpddagdthd were
also frequently inserted into miniature clay stupas, which in
turn consecrated larger stupas. Hsiian-tsang, the Chinese pil-
grim who traveled throughout the Indian subcontinent in the
seventh century, observed this practice in Magadha:
There is a practice in India of making incense powder into
paste to make small stupas 5 or 6 inches high. People write
[pieces of] scripture and place them into the interior [of these
small stupas]. They call these dharmas'arfra. When a number [of
these small stupas] are greatly heaped up, they erect a large
stupa and gather them into its interior, constantly doing pujd to
it. This then is the practice of Jayasena: with his mouth he pro-
claimed the wonderful dharma, instructing his students in it,
while with his hand, he made stupas and acquired great merit
by venerating them In 30 years he made altogether seven
kotis ofdharmasarira-stupas. Every time he completed one koti, he
erected a large stupa, collected them into its interior, and per-
formed copious homage to it.4f>
The archeological evidence is equally abundant. Minia-
ture stupas of baked clay, often only 2 or 3 inches high, were
found en masse inside of stupa no. 40 at Sarnath:
8 JIABS VOL. 14 NO. 1
Inside the stupa near the bottom is inserted a little tablet with
the Buddhist creed as is proved by other stupas of this type
which were found in a broken condition. The stupa dates from
about the 10th century A.D. Such stupas were made in India in
abundance in the time of Hiuen Thsang, and were called
dharma-sarira. That such stupas were frequently built into larger
ones is shown by the fact that the core of stupa No. 40 to the
north-east of the Main Shrine at Sarnath was, in the main, con-
structed of stupas of unbaked clay.47
Cunningham also discovered such clay stupas at Bodh-
Gaya: "Scores, and sometimes even hundreds, of these minia-
ture stupas were found inside of these larger stupas, enclosing
small clay seals."48 Similar relics were excavated from
Rajagrha,49 Paharpur,50 Harwan (Kashmir),51 Gaznl,52 Maina-
mati,53 and Gilgit.54
Besides the plethora of archeological remains, there is also
a short sutra preserved in Chinese that specifically enjoins the
practice of depositing the j e dharmd.. .gdthd inside stupas. Diva-
kara's seventh century translation of the Sutra on the Merit of
Building a Stupa Spoken by the Buddha™ articulates what was
understood to be the nature and function of this verse at a time
roughly contemporaneous with its appearance in the epi-
graphical record. Because the text is little known and since
there is no known extant Sanskrit version,56 I will provide a
complete translation below:
Translated by the Central Indian Tripitaka master of theT'ang
dynasty, Divakara, whose name means in Chinese, the "Day
Illuminator."57
Thus have I heard at one time.58 The Buddha was in the
heaven of the thirty-three devas on a pure jade seat, together
with an immeasurable assembly of great bhiksus, bodhisattvas, as
well as the lord of the devas, Indra. At that time Brahma,
Narayana-deva, Mahesvara and the five gandharva kings, each
with his retinue, came to where the Buddha was. They desired
to ask the Tathagata the method of building a stupa and the
amount of merit that would be produced by the stupa.
In the midst of this assembly, there was a bodhisattva
named Avalokitesvara, who, knowing their wishes, rose from
his seat, bared his right shoulder, and placed his right knee on
CULT OF THE RELICS 9
the ground. With palms together in salutation, he faced the
Buddha and made this statement: "World-Honored One, the
reason that these gods, gandharvas, and others have come here
today is that they desire to request of the Tathagata the method
of building a stupa and the amount of merit that would be pro-
duced by this stupa. I only desire that the World-Honored One
expound this for them, benefitting all the innumerable beings."
At that time the World-Honored One explained to the bo-
dhisattva Avalokitesvara: "Noble son, among the heavenly beings
present here and all the living beings of future generations,
whoever is able to erect a stupa wherever there is a place without
one—whether its form be so exaltedly marvelous as to surpass
the triloka or so extremely small as an dmalaka fruit; whether its
mast ascend
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