THE DASABHUMIKASUTRA -AB

THE DASABHUMIKASUTRA - PRAMUDITA

Bodhisattva is a concept of Mahayana Buddhism and the position of Bodhisattva is attained on y afte! successfu y achievin" the ten sta"es #hich a!e te!med as $%humi& o! "!ound' These () sta"es a!e enume!ated in The Dasa%humi*asut!a #hich is dated to %e a!ound +) , (+) A'D' Since Acha!ya -a"a!.una #!ote a commenta!y tit ed $Dasa%humivi%hasa&/ the te0t definite y is ea! ie! to him' This te0t #as ate! inc uded in Avatamsa*a sut!a' The ten sta"es as enume!ated in the Dasa%humi*asut!a a!e1 Pramudita 2"!eat .oy3/ Vimala 2taint ess3/ Prabhakari 2i uminatin"3/ Archismati 2" o#in" #isdom3/ Sudurjaya 2uncon4ue!a% e3/ Abhimukhi 2envisa"in"3/ Durungama 2fa! "oin"3/ Achala 2immova% e3/ Sadhumati 2e0ce ent unde!standin"3/ Dharma-megha 2dha!ma c oud3' The Bodhisattva p!o"!esses th!ou"h these ten sta"es %y ove!comin" i"no!ance and !ea i5es the Dha!ma natu!e/ then #hi e deve opin" sup!eme #isdom/ he attains pe!fect en i"htenment' Pramudita (great joy): To ente! this sta"e/ the Bodhisattva must cu tivate the !oots of s*i fu ness and "athe! as much spi!itua !e4uisites 2me!its3/ deve op compassion to a sentient %ein"s/ hono! and #o!ship the Buddhas and have deep faith in the Dha!ma' He a so needs to %e suppo!ted %y spi!itua f!iends' He deve ops the $%odhichitta&' This sta"e ma!*s the ent!y of the Bodhisattva into the path of vision' 6o! the fi!st time/ he di!ect y !ea i5es the Dha!ma natu!e' Due to this "!eat .oy a!ises in him and is fu!the! ove!.oyed #hen he unde!stands the paths t!ave ed %y the $tatha"athas&' The "!eat .oy e0pe!ienced %y the Bodhisattva is due to the !ea i5ation

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that pe!fect en i"htenment is nea! and that he #ou d %e a% e to %enefit a sentient %ein"s' Since the Bodhisattva has a deep !eso ve in !e"a!d to the emptiness of the Dha!mas/ he is a% e to ove!come a defi ements/ a !e i"ious o%se!vances/ dou%t and %ecomes f!ee f!om fivefo d fea!/ oss of ive ihood/ of %ad !eputation/ of death and fa in" into unfo!tunate p ane of e0istence' Since the Bodhisattva has pa!tia y !ea i5ed the Dha!ma/he %ecomes the $son of the Buddha& and deve ops p!a.napa!amita and upaya *ausa ya' Since he has un imited vision and due to the po#e! of his vo#s/ he is a% e to se!ve innume!a% e Buddhas' The fo o#in" p!ose sarvagrahakalatrabhogan utsarjya tathagata sasane pravajati states that since the Bodhisattva has "ene!ated "!eat desi!e to %e fo!emost amon" a %ein"s/ he %!in"s fo!th "!eat vi"o! and !enounces his fami y/ #ife and a %e on"in"s to "o fo!th in the Tata"atha7s dispensation' Immediate y he attains hund!eds of samadhis and samapatti and he sees hund!eds of the Buddhas and fu y unde!stands thei! %enediction' (buddhasatam ca pasyati tesam cadisthanam samjanite!" He moves ac!oss hund!eds of Buddha fie ds/ i uminates hund!eds of #o! d systems/motivates hund!eds of %ein"s and ives fo! hund!eds of eons and t!ansfo!ms himse f in hund!eds of fo!ms' In this sta"e/ he is dete!mined and tota y devoted to the cu tivation of the pe!fection of "ivin" and p!actices pa!ticu a! y the fi!st fou! san"!aha vastus 2dana/ "ivin"3' 8hateve! me!its he thus ac4ui!es/ he dedicates fo! his en i"htenment'

Atu Bhose*a!

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M'A ,II 2Buddhist Studies3