(Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) Edward Kamens-The Three Jewels - A Study and Translation of Minamoto Tamenori's Sanboe-Univ of Michigan Center For (1988)

The Three Jewels
Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies
Number 2
Center for Japanese Studies

T h e University o f M i c h i g a n
T H E THREE JEWELS
A S T U D Y A N D T R A N S L A T I O N OF
M I N A M O T O T A M E N O R I ' S SANBÖE
Edward Kamens
Ann Arbor

The Unversity of Michigan
1988
© 1988
by

The University of Michigan
108 Lane Hall
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1290
A l l rights reserved
Cover design by Sue-Ellen Feinberg
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Kamens, Edward, 1952

The three jewels.
(Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies; no. 2)

Includes bibliography and index.
1. Minamoto, Tamenori, d. 1011. Sanbö ekotoba. 2. Buddhism. I.
Minamoto, Tamenori, d. 1101. Sanbö ekotoba. English. 1988. II. Title.
III. Series.
BQ4000.M563K36 1988 294.3'92 87-30940
I S B N 0-939512-34-3
Printed in the United States of America

Contents
Abbreviations ix
Preface xi
Part 1
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Short History of Sanböe 3
Chapter 2: A Reading of Sanböe 41
Part 2
Translation
General Preface 91
The First Volume: The Buddha 101
Preface to the First Volume 101

1.1 The Perfection of Charity: King Sibi 107
1.2 The Perfection of Discipline: King Srutasoma 110
1.3 The Perfection of Forbearance: The Ascetic K§änti 114
1.4 The Perfection of Effort: Prince Mahätyägavat 118
1.5 The Perfection of Meditation: The Ascetic Sankhäcärya 123
1.6 The Perfection of Wisdom: Prime Minister Govinda 126
1.7 The Elder Jalavähana 128
1.8 The Lion Who Held Firmly to His Vows 132
1.9 The Deer King 135
1.10 The Himalaya Boy 139
1.11 Prince Mahäsattva 144
1.12 Prince Sudäna 149
ν
vi Contents
1.13 Syäma 158

Verse 164
The Second Volume: The Teachings 165
Preface to the Second Volume 165

2.1 Shötoku Taishi 174
2.2 EnoUbasoku 191
2.3 Gyöki Bosatsu 197
2.4 The "Lump" Nun of Higo Province 203
2.5 Kinunui Tomo Miyatsuko Gitö 206
2.6 An Old Fisherman of Harima Province 208
2.7 The Monk Gikaku 210
2.8 Ono no Ason Niwamaro of Echizen Province 212
2.9 The Go-Playing Monk of Yamashiro Province 215
2.10 The Sütra-Box Patron of Yamashiro Province 216
2.11 Takahashi no Muraji Azumahito 218
2.12 A Woman of Yamato Province 220
2.13 Okisome no Omi Taime 221
2.14 Nara no Iwashima 224
2.15 A Monk of Nara 228
2.16 A Monk of Mount Yoshino 230
2.17 A Miner of Mimasaka Province 232
2.18 Eikö of Daianji 234
Verse 240
The Third Volume: The Clergy 241
Preface to the Third Volume 241

The First Month
3.1 New Year Rites 249
3.2 The Feast 251
3.3 The Rites of Penance at Hie 254
3.4 The Bath 260
3.5 The Convocation 265
The Second Month
3.6 Second Month Rites 269
3.7 The Änanda Rite of Penance at Saiin 272
3.8 The N i r v a n a Service at Yamashinadera 276
3.9 Stone Stüpas 279
The Third Month
3.10 The Service of the Propagation 282
of the Teachings at Shiga
Contents vii
3.11 The Saishö Service at Yakushiji 286

3.12 The L o t u s Service at Takao 288
3.13 The K e g o n Service at Hokkeji 291
3.14 The Kangakue of Sakamoto on Hie 295
3.15 The Service of Ten Thousand Lights at Yakushiji 299
The Fourth Month
3.16 The Relics Service at Hie 302
3.17 The Great Prajnä Service at Daianji 307
3.18 The Anointment of the Buddha 312
3.19 The Ordination at Hie 315
The Fifth Month
3.20 The Bodhisattva Ordination at Hatsuse 320
3.21 The Rice Donation 326
The Sixth Month
3.22 The Service of One Thousand Flowers at Tödaiji 328
The Seventh Month
3.23 The Mafijusrl Service 333
3.24 The Rite for the Dead 337
The Eighth Month
3.25 The Continuous Nenbutsu on Hie 342
3.26 The Liberation of Animals at Yahata 345
The Ninth Month
3.27 The Anointment Initiation at Hie 349
The Tenth Month
3.28 The V i m a l a k l r t i Service at Yamashinadera 353
The Eleventh Month
3.29 The Service of Eight Lectures at Kumano 357
3.30 The Service in the Month of Frost 360
The Twelfth Month
3.31 The Buddhas' Names 366
Verse 371
List of Names, Titles, Terms, and Passages 373
Select Bibliography 413
Index 427
Abbreviations
Works in this list do not appear in the bibliography.
B D Mochizuki, Shinkö. Bukkyö d a i j i t e n . 10 vols. Rev. ed. Tokyo: Sekai

Seiten Kankö Kyökai, 1958-63.
B G D Nakamura, Hajime et al., eds. Bukkyögo d a i j i t e n . 3 vols. Tokyo:

Tokyo Shoseki, 1975.
B S K D Ono, Genmyö, ed. Bussho kaisetsu d a i j i t e n . 12 vols. Tokyo: Daitö

Shuppansha, 1933-36.
D N B Z Bussho Kankökai, ed. D a i N i h o n bukkyö zensho. 150

vols. Tokyo: Bussho Kankökai, 1912-19.
F Y C L Tao shih. Fa-yüan c h u - l i n . Τ #2122 in Τ 53:269-1030.
GR Hanawa, Hokiichi, ed. Gunsho ruijü. 19 vols. Tokyo: Keizai

Zasshisha, 1898-1902.
K G D Nihon Daijiten Kankökai, ed. K o k u g o d a i j i t e n . 20 vols. Tokyo:

Shögakukan,1972-76.
K J J Takeuchi, Rizö, Yamada Hideo and Hirano Kunio, eds. K o d a i

j i n m e i j i t e n . 7 vols. Tokyo: Yoshikawa Köbunkan, 1958-77.
K M J Akanuma, Chizen. I n d o bukkyö koyü meishi j i t e n . 1931. Reprint.

Kyoto: Hözökan, 1967.
KSTK Kuroita, Katsumi, ed. Shintei zöho kokushi taikei. 60

vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1958-68.
N K B T N i h o n koten bungaku t a i k e i . 100 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten,

1958-68.
ix
χ Abbreviations
ΝΚΒΖ N i h o n koten bungaku zenshü. Tokyo: Shögakukan, 1970-76.
NST N i h o n shisö t a i k e i . 56 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1970-.
Ρ J Cowell, Ε. B., ed. T h e J a t a k a , o r Stories of the B u d d h a ' s F o r m e r

Births. T r a n s l a t e d f r o m the P a l i b y V a r i o u s H a n d s . 6
vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1895-1907.
Ryakuchü Yamada, Yoshio, ed. Sanböe ryakuchü. 1951. Reprint. Kyoto:

Höbunkan Shuppan, 1971.
Shüsei Koizumi, Hiroshi, and Takahashi Nobuyuki, eds. Shohon taishö

Sanböe shüsei. Tokyo: Kasama Shoin, 1980.
STD Fujiwara, Yüsetsu, ed. Shötoku T a i s h i den. 2 vols. 1942. Reprint.

Kyoto: Rinsen Shoten, 1977.
Τ Takakusu, Junjirö, and Watanabe Kaigyoku, eds. Taishö shinshü

daizökyö. 85 vols. Tokyo: Taishö Issaikyö Kankökai, 1924-32.
ZGR Hanawa, Hokiichi et al., eds. Zoku gunsho ruijü. 34 vols. Tokyo:
Zoku Gunsho Ruijü Kanseikai, 1929-33.
ZZGR Kokusho Kankökai, ed. Zoku zoku gunsho ruijü. 16 vols. Tokyo:
Kokusho Kankökai, 1906-9.
Preface
Sanböe is a title frequently cited in studies of premodern Japanese

literature, as is the alternate form Sanböekotoba. But most students and
scholars in the field know little about the work itself. This was one of the
reasons for my own interest in Sanböe when I began the study that has
led to the present book. Sanböe is a literary work concerning Buddhism,
and so it is of interest to those who study literature or Buddhism or
both. It was meant to be illustrated, and may have been, so a study of
Sanböe also raises questions that are of interest to art historians. I have
tried to write about Sanböe and translate it in a way that will be useful
for specialists in these fields and comprehensible to nonspecialists too. I
have described the particular circumstances in which its author,
Minamoto Tamenori, wrote it for its first intended reader, Sonshi
Naishinnö, and I have attempted to bring her experience of reading it
back to life for the contemporary reader. I believe that these special
circumstances shaped the writing and the reading of the work in impor-
tant ways, and it is to the consideration of these that I have devoted
most of my attention.
Readers should take note of the following technical aspects of the
book:
5
1. The texts of Sanböe that I used are Koizumi and Takahashi s
Shohon taishö Sanböe shüsei (1980) and Yamada's Sanböe ryakuchü
(1951; reprinted 1971). Descriptions of these and full bibliographic
information will be found in the first chapter of the introduction, along
with some comments on the shortcomings of other editions.
2. Romanization systems used are the standard (modified)
Hepburn for Japanese and Wade-Giles for Chinese. Readers will alreadly
have noticed that I write "Sanböe" not Sampöe or Samböe; they will find
Monmu, not Mommu, and genpö, not gempö. No attempt has been made
to reproduce archaic pronunciation in the reproduction of text
passages. Sanskrit names and titles of works are reproduced according to
Franklin Edgerton's B u d d h i s t H y b r i d S a n s k r i t G r a m m a r a n d D i c t i o n a r y
(1953) or Ogiwara and TsujTs K a n ' y a k u taishö b o n w a d a i j i t e n (revised,
1979) (see also the next paragraph). A l l Japanese personal names are
xi
xii Preface
given in the Japanese order, i.e., family name preceding personal

name. The particle no, sometimes inserted between surname and
personal name, has generally been omitted except where it appears in a
text of Sanböe. I have used the very familiar Japanese forms of some
names of Buddhist deities (Kannon, Amida) and texts ( D a i c h i d o r o n , the
K e g o n Sütra) but have used an English translation for the very familiar
L o t u s Sütra. All other titles and names are in the original languages
(where known), except where translation into English is useful for
emphasizing the relation of the title of a work to the topic of the passage
in which it appears (e.g., The Sütra o n R e w a r d s ) . In all such cases, the
title of the work in its original language is given in an accompanying
note.
3. Some special conditions govern the representation of titles of
works in the Chinese Buddhist canon. Works that appear in volumes 1-
32 of Taishö shinshü daizökyö (1924-32) are cited by their Japanese
titles, except as noted above. The titles of treatises, commentaries, and
the like by Chinese authors appear in Chinese, as do the names of those
authors. The forms of all these titles follow the listing in Ono Genmyö's
Bussho kaisetsu d a i j i t e n (1933-36) or in Demieville et al., R e p e r t o i r e d u
c a n o n b o u d d h i q u e s i n o - j a p o n a i s : f a s c i c u l e annexe d u Höbö g i r i n (1931;
revised, 1978).
This book is based in part on my doctoral dissertation, which was
submitted and approved at Yale University in 1982. The dissertation has
not been made available through University Microfilms International,
pending publication of this revised edition, which supercedes it. My
dissertation research in Japan was supported by grants from the Japan
Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. A grant from the
Northeast Asian Council of the Association for Asian Studies also
assisted me in the later stages of revision.
Stanley Weinstein and Edwin McClellan are only two of the many
individuals at Yale whose guidance has shaped my work. Kunisaki
Fumimaro welcomed me to Waseda University in 1980, and Nakai
Katsumi helped me in the search for materials and kindly introduced me
to other scholars who took an interest in my project, including
J
Yamanaka Yutaka and Takahashi Mitsugu. Robert Leutner s and
Dominic Kinsley's careful readings of the dissertation manuscript led to
many improvements. Lucie Weinstein and Carolyn Wheelwright have
both been very helpful with responses to my questions about Japanese
Buddhist art. I am also deeply grateful for the encouragement and
criticism so kindly given by the late Robert Brower. The support of my
family and of many friends and colleagues has been invaluable; among
them, I want paricularly to thank James Dobbins and Suzanne Gay; my
parents, Margot and Leslie Kamens; and my wife, Mary Ellen Miller.
Part 1
Introduction
Chapter 1
A Short History of Sanböe
In the winter of 984, Minamoto Tamenori, Provisional Governor of

the province of Mikawa and a modestly accomplished author of poetry
and prose, completed a work entitled Sanböe ("Illustrations of the Three
1
Jewels"). It was an illustrated collection of Buddhist tales in three
volumes, compiled for and presented to an imperial princess, Sonshi
Naishinnö, who had recently taken vows as a nun, and it was written to
serve as her guide to Buddhism. Tamenori offered her an array of exem-
plary tales that showed how merit generated through good deeds and
practices would yield rewards both in this life and in the next. He
included stories from the lives of Buddhas, based on scriptural sources;
tales of Japanese Buddhists and the miracles produced through their
devotions, adapted from other Japanese sources, chiefly N i h o n ryöiki;
and accounts of the origins, organization, and benefits of various
Buddhist rites, for which he drew upon court and monastic documents,
scripture, and, in one or two cases, personal observation. He added a
general preface and three other prefaces to bind the tales together in
three volumes or fascicles ( m a k i ) .
Tamenori's stated purpose was to provide Sonshi with information
conducive to her spiritual advancement, but he also believed that by
providing such guidance and by rejoicing in her accomplishments he
would simultaneously augment his own store of merit and increase the
likelihood of his own salvation. He claimed that this particular kind of
literature, which literally chastised evil and encouraged good and which
was based on the irrefutable teachings of the Buddha, was superior to
the fanciful romances ( m o n o g a t a r i ) favored by women of Sonshi's day
and of Sonshi's class. But to convey his message most effectively,
Tamenori adapted the form of the illustrated m o n o g a t a r i for his own
purposes, and thus devised a special book designed to fulfill his special
goals and particularly suited to the needs and capacities of his intended
reader.
3
4 A Short History of Sanböe
In his "General Preface" Tamenori justified the plan of his book by

quoting a verse attributed to the revered Nägärjuna suggesting a scrip-
tural analogue to the illustrated m o n o g a t a r i :
Whether you look at what is shown in the pictures,

Hear what is said in the words of others
Or follow the scriptures and other writings
2
Be sure to understand and remember!
"With this in mind," Tamenori wrote, "I have had illustrations of several
exemplary stories made, and I submit them to you together with these
words from the scripture and from other works." Accordingly, he
prepared for Sonshi a book that was unlike any of its acknowledged
sources and unlike any of its known models in the genre of Buddhist tale
collections. It was, instead, an emaki, a text combined with pictures, like
many of the books read at court and in the private quarters of aris-
3
tocratic women in mid-Heian Japan. It may have been planned to take
the same general shape as does Genji m o n o g a t a r i emaki, the best known
surviving work of this type, which has blocks of narrative text broken at
intervals by an illustration of some highlight or essential element of that
4
passage. The resulting book not only would have been a beautiful object
and a pleasure to read and look at but also would have been an embodi-
ment of the Buddhist practice of höben, the teaching of the complex
through expedient, simplifying means. Tamenori's innovative choice of
the emaki format for Sanböe, a serious didactic and devotional work,
made its content all the more accessible and palatable for Sonshi; yet, in
its author's view, its content and purpose made it a far better book than
those whose form it imitated.
In another passage of the "General Preface," certainly the most
frequently quoted in the whole work, Tamenori condemns m o n o g a t a r i
and criticizes their readers for allowing themselves to be taken in by so
much of what he considered to be hokum. He approaches the subject by
imagining how Sonshi will spend her time now that she has left her old
way of life for that of a nun. Concerned about the temptations to which
she may yield in her idleness, he warns her against too much enjoyment
5
of games of go and k o t o practice before moving in for the real attack :
Then there are the so-called m o n o g a t a r i , which have such an

effect upon ladies' hearts. They flourish in numbers greater
than the grasses of Öaraki Forest, more countless than the
sands on the Arisomi beaches. They attribute speech to trees
and plants, mountains and rivers, birds and beasts, fish and
insects that cannot speak; they invest unfeeling objects with
A Short History of Sanböe 5
human feelings and ramble on and on with meaningless

phrases like so much flotsam in the sea, with no two words
together that have any more solid basis than does swamp
grass growing by a river bank. The Sorceress of I g a , The T o s a
L o r d , The F a s h i o n a b l e C a p t a i n , The N a g a i C h a m b e r l a i n , and
all the rest depict relations between men and women just as if
they were so many flowers or butterflies, but do not let your
heart get caught up even briefly in these tangled roots of evil,
6
these forests of words.
The attitude Tamenori reveals here is typical of the distrust of fiction

that was a tenet of the intellectuals of his age, and a wholly accepted
7
inheritance from their Chinese literary forebears. This distrust is also
the subject of a barbed exchange between Hikaru Genji and his ward,
Tamakazura—a m o n o g a t a r i enthusiast—in a famous section of the
"Fireflies" (Hotaru) chapter of Genji m o n o g a t a r i . There, Genji first
presents objections that are very similar to Tamenori's, but then
expresses more positive views that have often been taken to be those of
8
the author herself. At a time when the m o n o g a t a r i was flourishing
(although perhaps not as wildly as Tamenori suggests), its readers-—both
women and men, no doubt—may indeed have engaged in such debates
with one another and with themselves as they tried to reconcile the
pleasures and rewards of this genre with their established notions of
what literature should be.
As Tamenori conceived it, however, Sanböe could never be
attacked for spuriousness or frivolity. He could borrow the structure of
the illustrated m o n o g a t a r i for it, but the veracity of its contents would be
unquestionable, primarily because its sources, particularly the scriptures,
were also works of accepted veracity. Furthermore, the spiritual goals of
his work were unimpeachable and certainly more high-minded (in his
view) than those that merely sought to titillate. The illustrations as well
as the text of Sanböe might entertain as well as, or better than, the
m o n o g a t a r i , but they would also edify and perhaps even "save" the
reader.
So far as is known, no one in either China or Japan had tried to do
what Tamenori did when he combined Buddhist tales with illustrations
in the emaki format, though of course there were many examples in
other modes and genres of art and literature in which words and pictures
had been used together to communicate the ideas and images of
Buddhism. There were, indeed, illustrated versions of sütras (for
example, the K a k o genzai ingakyö, or "Eingakyö," probably a mid-eighth
century work, depicting the life of Säkyamuni), and the preparation of
copies of certain sütras with elaborate illustrations and calligraphy was a
favored form of devotional offering in Heian society. But the Japanese

work most like Sanböe, which also comprises one of its major sources—
the above-mentioned N i h o n ryöiki—was not illustrated, even though
much of its content was equally well suited to rendering in visual form
and despite the fact that illustrations would have promoted the didactic
goals of its author (which were, of course, closely akin to Tamenori's).
So, although not entirely without precedent, the idea of the form of
Sanböe was very likely Tamenori's invention, or perhaps that of
someone in Sonshi's household, or even the princess's own notion. It
seems unlikely that anyone would have argued against the suggestion
that illustrations would add a great deal to what Tamenori had to say in
the book. His reference to the verse by Nägärjuna may even imply that
the illustrations were the more important component of the work, while
the text itself was somewhat secondary.
At some point in the intervening centuries the Sanböe illustrations
were lost. No means of reconstructing them readily presents itself, for
there are no contemporary descriptions of the illustrations, and there is
only slight evidence that they ever existed. At the end of seven tales in
one of the major copies of Sanböe are the words e a r i ("There is an
illustration"). In addition, one fragment of a copy of the first tale in the
second volume (the biography of Prince Shötoku) contains what appears
10
to be a description of two or three illustrated scenes. This does not
necessarily mean that only these tales were illustrated. Tamenori (if it
were he who made these notations; it may very well have been a later
copyist) may simply have omitted the indication in the other tales.
E m a k i texts and pictures were frequently produced by separate hands,
and this was most probably the case with Sanböe. Tamenori was and is
known as a writer and not a painter, although he was mistakenly thought
11
of as such in later centuries. Perhaps Tamenori fulfilled his part of the
task of creating Sanböe, but the anonymous graphic artist failed to do so.
Women like Sonshi often "read" emaki by looking at the pictures
while a companion read the text out loud. For this purpose, or for that
of copying, the Sanböe text and illustrations, even if they were originally
presented together as a single work in three large scrolls, may eventually
have been separated. It is also possible that the illustrations were
planned for presentation in some format separate from the text itself. In
either case, if damaged or worn, the illustrations would have been far
more difficult and expensive to reproduce than the text. The possibility
that they may have been the more treasured part of the work and were
perhaps unique or groundbreaking in their interaction with the text
makes their loss even more regrettable. But Sanböe is not the only early
emaki for which only either illustrations or text survive, and in this case
Tamenori's holograph has not survived either. We know Sanböe's
content largely through its survival in three later copies, each of which is
very different, in various ways, from the others.
More than a millennium has passed since Tamenori wrote this
book, and during much of that time Sanböe was virtually ignored. Its
rediscovery by Japanese scholars did not occur until the early part of this
century, but today it is studied by numbers of scholars interested in its
literary form and content, its relationship to other works, its religious
and historical data, and its linguistic and orthographic aspects. And if
the Sanböe illustrations are ever found and can be shown to be the
original illustrations completed around the end of the tenth century,
they would be by far the earliest examples of the genre and of immense
value in the study of emaki and of Japanese Buddhist art in general.
Unfortunately, it now seems unlikely that the illustrations will ever come
to light, and we can only speculate about them and their function with
the text. Even the text we read today looks different from the one
prepared for Sonshi's eyes; yet, something like the experience of reading
it as she did is still possible for us.
Sonshi
The woman for whom Tamenori wrote Sanböe was about nineteen
years old in the year that the book was completed and, presumably,
presented to her. Sonshi was the daughter, wife, and sister of successive
emperors. Two years before Sanböe, in the fourth month of Tengen 5
(982), she took the initial vows of a Buddhist nun. Then, in the fifth
month of Kanna 1 (985), just a few months after Sanböe was finished,
news reached the court that Sonshi had died. Though few of the details
are known, there is much in this brief life that explains how Sanböe
came to be written and why Tamenori wrote it as he did.
Sonshi was the second daughter of Emperor Reizei, who lived from
950 to 1011 but reigned only from 967 to 969. She was the first child
borne him by Fujiwara Kaishi, whose father, Koretada (or Koremasa,
924-972), was a scion of the Ichijö branch of that powerful family. In
968, following Reizei's ascent to the throne, the two-year-old Sonshi was
12
named Priestess ( S a i i n ) of the Kamo Shrine. It was customary for
new priestesses, usually immediate relatives of the emperor regnant, to
be installed shortly after the beginning of each new reign. In the eighth
month of Anna 2 (969), Reizei abdicated and was succeeded by his
brother, who took the throne as Emperor En'yü (959-991; reigned 969-
984), but Sonshi continued to serve as Kamo priestess until 975, when
13
her mother Kaishi died.
In 980, Sonshi, then about fifteen years old, was received in the
imperial palace as one of En'yü's wives. Such marriages between close
relatives (in this case, of a fraternal uncle and niece) were by no means
14
unusual, either in the imperial family or in the aristocratic clans.
En'yü already had several wives whose family ties made them politically
more important than Sonshi. These included Senshi, daughter of
Fujiwara Kaneie, then the Minister of the Right, and Junshi, daughter of
Kaneie's cousin and rival, Fujiwara Yoritada, the Regent. But Sonshi
was, after all, an emperor's daughter, and so a place was found for her at
court, too. On the twentieth day of the tenth month of Tengen 3 she was
installed in the Reikeiden, one of the consorts' residence halls in the
inner palace. On the twenty-second day of the following month, a fire
destroyed most of the palace. The court was forced into temporary
15
quarters, and Sonshi withdrew to her private residence. Palace fires
were all too frequent, but this one seems to have been particularly
destructive, and the timing could not have been worse as far as Sonshi
was concerned. The fact that it occurred so soon after her arrival at
court as En'yü's wife seems to have bound the two events together and,
according to E i g a m o n o g a t a r i and Ökagami, she was known thereafter as
16
Hi no miya—"the Fire Princess."
Though she eventually returned to court, taking up residence in the
Shökyöden, the pall cast by the fire upon Sonshi's marriage seems never
to have lifted, and, if we believe the Ökagami narrator, "she only waited
upon the emperor once or twice." When her maternal uncle Mitsuaki
died, on the second day of the fourth month of Tengen 5 (982), she
17
withdrew once more to her own home. On the ninth, the court learned
that she had had her head shaven. She had become a nun.
"Some said that it was the work of an evil spirit in possession of
her," reported the courtier Fujiwara Sanesuke in his diary, Shöyüki.
"But others said that this was an intention nurtured for many years,
kept secret from the court, so that no one knew the truth. This morning,
Lord Yoshichika [another of Sonshi's maternal uncles] came to the
palace and informed the emperor. It was said that not much was cut,
18
just the locks that fell across her brow."
Although this news seems to have taken the court by surprise, there
were several plausible explanations for what Sonshi had done, and there
are several similarities between this incident and many that are docu-
mented in the history and literature of Heian Japan. Aristocratic lay
men and women of that society took vows as monks or nuns in various
situations and for various reasons. Their motives were sometimes purely
religious, but other objectives were often of great importance. The act
itself is generally termed shukke, literally "leaving the home," i.e., one's
worldly modus v i v e n d i , for the life of religious devotion, ostensibly in a
monastery or convent. Other terms for various stages of this process
include r a k u s h o k u , an initial, partial vows-taking (like Sonshi's) by

royals or aristocrats, at which time the hair was partly cut or shaved, and
j u k a i the undertaking of a more complete set of precepts.
f
The act of shukke was understood as a symbolic renunciation of

secular ties, but the extent to which such renunciations were actually
realized varied greatly. The shukke of emperors and political figures,
often occurring simultaneously with or following closely after abdication
or resignation, was sometimes little more than a strategy that allowed
them to shed their official responsibilities while retaining power and
prestige, qualities that were often heightened by their newly sanctified
aura. Emperor Goshirakawa and Taira Kiyomori are two historical
figures who used this tactic to great advantage. Other motives for the
shukke of both men and women were bereavement over the death of a
parent; the hope of salutary effects when the initiates were seriously ill;
escape from a dangerous or frustrating love affair; and, particularly for
persons of advanced years, the desire to prepare effectively for death
through devotion to meritorious practices, among which the act of
shukke itself ranked high.
Many of the possible motives, conditions, and consequences of
shukke in Heian society are depicted in Genji m o n o g a t a r i . Among the
male characters who are monks there are, for example, Akashi no nyüdö,
a retired governor who is admired for his piety but is nonetheless
successful in realizing an ambitious marriage for his daughter, and the
Eighth Prince, a politically useless member of the royal family whose
untimely withdrawal from the world and overwhelmingly cynical view of
it have particularly disastrous effects on his daughters. There are
women like Fujitsubo, who takes vows after her husband the emperor's
death but also to atone for her guilty affair with Genji, and the Third
Princess, Genji's attractive and naive young wife, who becomes a nun
immediately after giving birth to a child by another man. (Her marriage
resembles that of Sonshi and En'yü: the Third Princess is also the
daughter of Genji's brother, Emperor Suzaku.) Genji himself, and
Murasaki, the woman he raises from childhood to serve as his ideal wife,
both nurture the desire to take vows throughout much of their lives.
Genji is lured to this panacea whenever the political and romantic ways
of the world seem to go against him, or when he is bereaved by the loss of
someone he has loved. Murasaki's desire to become a nun increases in
fervency as a mysterious illness strengthens its grip on her and her
presentiments of death grow more intense, but because of Genji's
inability to match her resolution, her intention remains unfulfilled at
death.
Like the acts of renunciation described in both historical chronicles
and in fiction, Sonshi's shukke can probably be explained as the result of
a combination of factors. Her long-nurtured "intention" may have been
conceived at the time of the death of her mother and her retirement as
Kamo priestess, but not only because of this bereavement. Other incum-
bents of that ritual office are known to have become Buddhist nuns,
almost as a matter of course, after their Kamo tenure. They did so in
the belief that compensatory Buddhist devotion was called for after the
periods they spent as shrine officiants, during which time their participa-
tion in Buddhist observances was proscribed. Senshi Naishinnö (964-
1035), a daughter of Emperor Murakami, succeeded Sonshi as S a i i n in
975 and remained in that post through the next five reigns, until 1031 —
for a total of fifty-seven years. Almost immediately upon retiring from
her Kamo duties, she became a nun. While still serving at Kamo, she
composed a series of verses on Buddhist scriptural themes, entitled
H o s s h i n wakashü ["A Collection of Poems of Religious Awakening"],
one objective of which was to counteract the ill effects of her inability to
19
participate directly in Buddhist rituals. A fictional Kamo priestess,
Princess Asagao, in Genji m o n o g a t a r i , also becomes a nun after she
leaves her post.
Sonshi may well have viewed her own circumstances in a similar
light and may have decided very early in life that, sooner or later, she
should take vows. Then came her marriage, forestalling her intentions
but perhaps adding further to her determination. Her coincidental
association with the fire and the greater importance of En'yü's other
wives may have been reasons why she "only waited upon him once or
twice"; at any rate, their union yielded no children, whose presence
would have made Sonshi's position at court somewhat more secure.
Perhaps, for some reason, she was incapable of bearing them. It has
been suggested, though not very convincingly, that she was somehow
20
deformed ; what seems more likely, however, is that she was ill—too i l l ,
perhaps, to attract or receive the emperor's affection, or too ill to
conceive a child even if there had been the opportunity to do so.
Illness may be the meaning of the "possession" (jake) that was
rumored, according to Sanesuke, to have been responsible for Sonshi's
initial tonsure. Possession was a very common diagnosis for all manner
of physical ailments, as well as the cause to which all kinds of untoward
events and precipitous acts were attributed. Jake may also be a
euphemism for madness, which was usually thought to be caused by
possession. Indeed, it is generally believed that Reizei, Sonshi's father,
suffered from mental illness, and her brother Kazan was also notorious
for his wayward behavior, so there may have been a general suspicion
that this branch of the imperial family suffered from some kind of
21
hereditary mental debility. In the eyes of Sanesuke and other cour-
tiers, Sonshi's deed may have seemed so premature, so abrupt and
thorough a denial of the promise of her birth and her marriage that it
A Short History of Sanboe 11
could only have been the act of one who was not entirely in the posses-
sion of her own senses. It may have seemed to them to be the act of one
who was suffering temporary insanity, caused perhaps by grief over the
death of her uncle Mitsuaki, which was certainly more than a personal
loss for Sonshi. His death must have deprived her of one of the very few
men who were still in a position to look after her interests at court.
But perhaps only those closest to Sonshi knew the truth and under-
stood. If, at the time that she first took vows and had a few locks cut
from her brow, she was in fact seriously ill (in some way that would have
been called j a k e ) , and consequently knew even then that she might not
live much longer, she probably also knew that there was really only one
thing for her to do. It was now time to set aside any lingering reasons for
delaying the realization of her "intention" to devote herself singularly to
Buddhist practices that would increase her store of merit and prepare
her as well as possible for the life to come. And that was how she must
have spent those three years of life that, as it turned out, were all that
were left her.
According to Sanesuke, Sonshi died on the morning of the second
22
day of the fifth month of Kanna 1 (985). ( N i h o n k i r y a k u gives the first
23
day of the month as the day of her death. ) The "forty-ninth day"
memorial service was held at Hosshöji, a temple closely associated with
the Fujiwara family, on the seventeenth day of the sixth month.
Sonshi's father Reizei, her husband En'yü (who had abdicated at age
twenty-five in the eighth month of the previous year) and the new
emperor, Sonshi's brother Kazan, were all present. A prayer of interces-
sion ( g a n m o n ) was composed for the occasion by Yoshishige Yasutane
(?—1002), a pious and scholarly scribe known today for a number of
24
literary achievements. In his prayer, Yasutane tried to make sense of
Sonshi's brief life. He observed, to begin with, that even the Buddha
Säkyamuni was mortal, that even celestial beings can grow old; and
among all sentient beings, he asked, are there any that must not face
death? When Sonshi came to court as En'yü's wife, he continued, her
beauty rivaled that of fabled Chinese sirens ("the enchantress of Mount
Lo Fu"; "the goddess of the Lo River"), but she found no joy in her life
there. "It wasn't that the flowers of the palace were not beautiful, but for
a long time her greatest wish was for enlightenment. It wasn't that the
moon over her pavilion at court did not shine bright, but she had always
had her heart set on perfect wisdom. She did not glory in the emperor's
affection but sought only to escape from worldly woe. Day and night she
chanted the 'Devadatta' chapter and thought constantly of Lord Amida."
In Yasutane's view, then, it was no "evil spirit" but her "long-
nurtured intention" that prompted Sonshi to bring her career at court to
its abrupt end. For some time, according to him—since her initial
12 A Short History of Sanboe
tonsure, or perhaps even earlier—she had devoted herself to worship of

that chapter of the L o t u s Sütra that tells how a child of eight, the Nägä
girl, daughter of the Dragon King, instantaneously became a Buddha,
overcoming all the special obstacles that women face, and Sonshi had
meditated upon the Buddha who promised rebirth in the Pure Land for
all sentient beings.
Accordingly, Yasutane reported, "on the nineteenth of last month"
(does he mean the third month, the month prior to her demise?) "she
called upon the late Enryakuji Abbot Ryögen to serve as her preceptor"
and, at last, "entered the Way of Buddha." This passage in the g a n m o n
presents a puzzle. Ryögen, an extremely influential Tendai abbot who
had close ties to the imperial family and the Fujiwara clan, died in the
first month of Kanna 1—some four months before Sonshi. Yasutane
may have meant that Sonshi took her full vows from Ryögen, as
"preceptor" ( k a i s h i ) , in the third month of the previous year, or on some
date unrecorded elsewhere. Perhaps, however, Sonshi "called upon him"
posthumously, or, perhaps, the date was miscopied in the g a n m o n text
that is preserved in Honchö m o n z u i . At any rate, the passage seems to
indicate that at some time not long before her death Sonshi's induction
into Buddhist orders was made complete, under the guidance and with
the sanction of the most eminent clergyman in the land. Nonetheless,
Yasutane acknowledged, there may still have been those who did not
understand why she acted as she did.
"In the past and in the present," he explained, "there have been
women who renounced the lives they led. There have been those who
were widowed in old age and those who were besieged by illness or were
parentless." But Sonshi, he observed, was the daughter, wife, and sister
of emperors: "Her place in the world denied her nothing; her beauty had
not faded, nor had youth left her. Why, then, did she leave this world so
soon? Looking back, it seems she must have been a divine manifesta-
tion: perhaps Mafijugho§a, come to this world but briefly, dwelling here
in the guise of a lady of the court, or maybe Kannon, taking mortal shape
to point the way to salvation for all."
As Yasutane suggested, there was ample precedent for certain
women, in certain circumstances, to do as the late Sonshi had done. But
she was not a widow, nor an orphan in the true sense, nor elderly, as
were most of the women who entered religious orders. Sonshi's decision
to do so, and her death not long thereafter, were to be explained, he
suggested, not in worldly terms but in religious ones. Her very existence
had been of other than human origin, and its meaning was to be sought
not in her secular accomplishments but in her exemplary spiritual life.
Such memorials often proclaimed that the departed was in fact a
Buddha or Bodhisattva incarnate, but Yasutane used this device to
suggest the very reasons why Sonshi had lived and died as she did. Her
spirituality was inherent, the brevity of her presence on earth predes-
tined by her other-worldly origins, and her whole life an embodiment of
the Buddhist principle of innate impermanence.
Still, it was as a mortal woman, and as a woman of high birth and
rank, that she had lived. So, as Yasutane reported, her memorial service
was one befitting such a personage: "For this forty-ninth day of
remembrance, images of Amida Buddha and of the Bodhisattvas
Kannon and Mahästhämapräpta were cast in silver, and copies of the
eight fascicles of the L o t u s Sütra and its Opening' and *Closing' sütras,
and of the A m i d a Sütra, the Sütra o n t h e T r a n s f o r m a t i o n of Women
25
i n t o B u d d h a s , and the H e a r t Sütra were made in gold letters. Upon
completion, these were presented as offerings at Hosshöji."
Yasutane also described Sonshi's last moments in a manner
reminiscent of the death scenes he wrote in the biographies of forty-two
religious individuals in N i h o n öjögokurakuki ("Accounts of Japanese
who were Reborn in the Pure Land"—a work that he probably was
26
completing at about the same time as this memorial ): "In her last
moments, Her Highness faced the West and supported herself on an
armrest. Her heart never wavered, even for an instant, as she
concentrated upon her desire to attain rebirth in the Pure Land.
Therefore, the day on which she breathed her last must also have been
the day on which she first claimed her seat upon the Lotus. Without
doubt, she passed through no intermediate stage of purgatory but went
directly to the Western Paradise."
A l l the documents reviewed here in the effort to reconstruct some
of the details of Sonshi's life and death, including this g a n m o n , were
written under the constrictions of formal conventions and social obliga-
tions. A l l , for example, contain descriptions of the princess's beauty that
must be, to some extent, exaggerated. Still, they convincingly suggest
that there was something extraordinary about her. Beyond what these
documents tell us, there is really very little that can be said about her.
But the book that Tamenori wrote for her does tell us something about
the ideas and practices to which she may have devoted herself in those
last few months and days of her short life.
Tamenori
Minamoto Tamenori was in the middle of his career as a scholar-

21
bureaucrat when he wrote Sanböe. Both before and after Sanböe, he
produced a few other literary works that have survived, some of which,
like Sanböe, also deal with Buddhist topics from a lay perspective.
Emperor Ichijö (980-1011; reigned 986-1011) is said to have admired

Tamenori's Chinese poems, and Tamenori is always listed among the
outstanding literati of his generation. Yet none of his surviving shi or
w a k a (poems in Chinese and Japanese, respectively) have sufficient
merit to distinguish them from those of his peers. Still, Tamenori,
rather than other available scribes, was called upon to write Sanböe,
probably because his literary accomplishments, particularly those in the
religious sphere, had brought him to the attention of Sonshi's household,
to which he was bound by blood ties. Though scarcely extraordinary,
Tamenori was thus singled out to execute a task, the survival of which
has helped to rescue his name from what would otherwise be total
obscurity.
The exact year of Tamenori's birth is not recorded, but since it is
said that he was seventy when he died in 1011, the date of 941 is often
given. The Minamoto surname indicates that his was one of those
families descended from princes of the blood lowered from imperial to
common rank. In Tamenori's case the line went back four generations to
a son of Emperor Kökö, Prince Korehito, who was created Minamoto no
Ason in 896. (Kökö was the brother of Emperor Uda, Sonshi's great-
great-grandfather, so Sonshi and Tamenori were actually distant
cousins. A similar relationship existed between Tamenori and En'yü.)
Little is known about Tamenori's father, Tadamoto, beyond the fact
that he attained the Junior Lower Fifth Rank and served as Governor of
28
Chikuzen.
When Tamenori's name first appears among those of men
attending and contributing to poetry contests, beginning in the 960s, he
is identified as a monjöshö, a student of literary studies in the Imperial
29
University. There, his chief mentor is said to have been Minamoto
Shitagö (911-983), an important scholar and author (he was a
descendant of a different Minamoto line—from a son of Emperor Saga—
and so was not an immediate relative of Tamenori's). Shitagö was, for
example, the compiler of the earliest known Japanese dictionary, Wamyö
ruijushö, which may have been completed as early as 934, when Shitagö
was only twenty-three, at the behest of an imperial princess, Kinshi
30
Naishinnö. A number of Shitagö's Chinese and Japanese poems
(many composed at contests) and his essays in Chinese appear in various
collections, particularly Honchö m o n z u i . Because of the breadth of his
literary activity, Shitagö is also often mentioned as a possible author of
works of unknown provenance, such as U t s u h o m o n o g a t a r i . None of his
works are as specifically Buddhist in content as is Tamenori's Sanböe,
but in the general field of Chinese and Japanese b e l l e s - l e t t r e s he was
certainly Tamenori's chief guide and exemplar. His bureaucratic career
was as mediocre as his protege's: he never rose above the Junior Upper
Fifth Rank, which he achieved rather late, at age fifty, and he died while
holding the same rank, some twenty-one years later, in the rather insig-
nificant post of Governor of Noto. The conventional theme of frustra-
tion over failure to be rewarded for public service—a literary inheritance
from China—is frequently evoked in Shitagö's poetry and is one of the
hallmarks of the poetry and prose produced by his contemporaries and
31
followers, including such men as Tamenori and Yasutane. Another
poet, Tachibana Masamichi, was recognized, according to Gödanshö, as
Shitagö's most accomplished disciple in his own time, but Gödanshö also
reports that it was to Tamenori that Shitagö entrusted his own collected
32
poems shortly before his death. Whether true or not, this story would
seem to be evidence of the closeness of the relationship between the two
men, nurtured by shared literary interests.
What Tamenori studied as a monjöshö, under Shitagö's supervi-
sion, was the Chinese histories, the Confucian classics, and Chinese
33
verse, as well as the art of writing in imitation of these models. The
method of study was rote memorization and composition on set themes,
in specific styles and standard formats. Thus, graduates of the monjöshö
course were prepared to serve in the various government bureaus and
provincial administrations, where they were required to write edicts,
chronicles, and memorials in literary Chinese. Their university training
also prepared them to take a place at the poetry contests and other
gatherings sponsored by their higher-ranking relatives and patrons. A l l
of Tamenori's works display his thorough absorption of this kind of
training. His "original" works, such as the prefaces in Sanböe, are
marbled, in the typical manner, with allusions to secular Chinese and
Japanese works, as well as to a vast number of Buddhist texts, and many
of these allusions are to works that must have seemed obscure even in
his own day. His contributions to poetry contests are notable for little
other than their typical reliance on stock phrases, rendered fresh only in
that they are newly combined and juxtaposed. It was, of course, such
manipulation of known and borrowed materials, rather than creativity,
per se, that was valued in these literary exercises. It is also such skillful
manipulation of materials from other sources that comprises most of
Sanböe and yet makes of it a work with its own distinctive shape and
character.
The study of Buddhist texts was a late addition to the monjöshö
curriculum and was considered a minor field. Some familiarity with the
ideas and terminology of Buddhism was as necessary for a gentleman as
was the ability to be conversant in the language of flowers, music, and
other accomplishments, but it was not usually an element of formal
poetic composition. Nonetheless, Tamenori and some of his peers in the
960s seem to have become particularly knowledgeable about Buddhist
literature, perhaps largely through their own efforts. Some of them

wanted to apply the literary skills that their formal secular studies had
given them to the creation of devotional works as well. This was the
motive for the formation, in 964, of the Kangakue ("Society for the
Advancement of Learning"), an association of which Tamenori was
34
almost certainly a member, in its initial stages. Yasutane is also
generally acknowledged as one of the central figures—or t h e central
figure—of the Kangakue. Other founding members were university
students and monks from the Enryakuji monastery, the headquarters of
the Tendai school. The group met twice a year in one or another
subtemple of Enryakuji on the slopes of Mount Hiei, northeast of the
capital city. At each convocation, the participants passed a twenty-four-
hour period reading sütras, meditating on Amida Buddha, and
composing devotional verses on scriptural phrases and topics. Tamenori
includes in the third volume of Sanböe a detailed description of the
organization and intent of the Kangakue, giving the impression of an
insider's view. He says that the participants conceived of their activity
in this association as atonement for their waste of energy in worldly
pursuits (i.e., their secular studies and writings). Tamenori quotes their
chanting of a line by the Chinese poet Po Chü-i that, although taken out
of context and somewhat altered in its meaning, nevertheless embodies
the wish that the verses written in the Kangakue setting might generate
sufficient merit to ameliorate the negative value of their author's more
mundane exertions. Inherent in this wish is a certain skepticism about
the lasting value of worldly literary endeavors, which is itself a stock
theme like that of the frustrated bureaucrat—and that is what these
students felt they were destined to become. Through the Kangakue they
expressed a desire to make something else of their literary skills and of
their lives. The Kangakue also represents the beginnings of very
personal involvement by sincere lay Buddhists in Amidist piety and
worship outside the confines of formal monastic ritual, and so marks an
important development in the early history of the Pure Land movement
35
in Japanese Buddhism.
Tamenori's early activities in the sphere of religious literature were
not limited to the Kangakue setting. In fact, he seems to have viewed
much of his Buddhist-oriented writing as an effort to produce religious
merit, just as the Kangakue poems were meant to do. He seems also to
have been drawn to other manifestations of the Pure Land movement,
and from an early date displayed an interest in charismatic religious
figures that would lead him to include the biographies of several such
men and women in Sanböe. Such a figure in Tamenori's own time was
the preacher Köya (or Küya). This so-called "Saint of the Marketplace"
(Ichi no hijiri) was an unconventional Tendai monk who proselytized by
demonstrating the nenbutsu (the invocation of the name of Amida

Buddha, probably in a danced and sung version) and proclaiming its
merits in public places in both the capital and the countryside. Köya
had a wide, popular following, but his activities also captured the interest
of the aristocracy, and he was invited to preach in their households as
well. Perhaps it was thus that Tamenori came into contact with him.
Shortly after Köya's death, in 972, Tamenori wrote a memorial
biography (Köya r u i ) extolling the late preacher's character and chroni-
36
cling the deeds that had made him legendary. Köya r u i forms the basis
of Yasutane's biography of Köya in his N i h o n öjögokurakuki and
remains the most important source of information about him.
Faith in Amida and his Pure Land, and worship thereof, are of
course present in the Buddhism described in Sanböe, but always within
the larger context of Tendai teaching and practice. This was the context
in which Köya promoted them as well. Still, in a sense, Köya's career did
embody one of the cardinal ideas of the important Pure Land innovators
who came after him. This was the belief that Buddhist faith and prac-
tice could, should, and indeed had to be made readily accessible to people
of every social stratum and mental capacity, in terms they could under-
stand and in a form that they could easily accept and take part in. For
the Pure Land patriarchs, this approach was strengthened by the convic-
tion that the coming of an apocalyptic age (called mappö) that would see
the decline and end of true Buddhism made such simple approaches to
religion the only ones that could still have meaning and effect. The
simplification and accessibility thus dictated were crucial elements of
Köya's appeal, just as they were in the success of the Pure Land
reformers: the nenbutsu they taught supplanted more difficult modes of
worship, and its benefits were assured to all sincere practitioners.
A work like Sanböe can also be thought of as a product of a similar
attitude, although Sanböe is less an explicit expression of mappö
concerns than it is an example of that genre of works composed by and
for laymen that attempt to bring aspects of sophisticated religious tradi-
tions into their purview by presenting them in modes that are neither
too technical nor overly abstract. When Tamenori sought to share with
Sonshi such knowledge of Buddhism as he possessed, he did so by
presenting it in a form and language that was familiar to her. He
reduced its complexities by portraying it as a religion in which she might
participate on a personal level, and about which she might best learn
simply by reading the book he had designed both for her pleasure and for
her edification.
Tamenori was able to do so not only because of what he had
learned about Buddhism but also because he had sufficiently developed
his secular literary skills. In 972, the same year that he wrote Köya r u i ,
Tamenori was invited to an utaawase (a contest for the writing of

Japanese verse) at the residence of Imperial Princess Kishi, who was
soon to be named Ise Priestess. Shitagö was the moderator, and the
participants were called upon to write w a k a in praise of the late spring
flowers in Kishi's garden. Tamenori's contribution was an acrostic, with
a pun on the word kusagusa ("plants" and "array"):
Nobegoto ni h a n a ο shi oreba

Kusagusa no ka u t s u r u sode zo t s u y u k e k a r i k e r u
In every field I've plucked a flower,

and now my sleeves, imbued with their array of scents,
are soaked with dew.
When the poems of the day were recorded, together with Shitagö's
critique, it was Tamenori who wrote the preface, which set the scene,
commended the hostess, and saluted the assemblage and their offer-
37
ings. The preface is pedestrian prose, just as the poem is pedestrian
verse, but both are acceptable exercises in the use of conventional
wordplay and conventional poetic figures. U t a a w a s e (and shiawase)
participants sought to demonstrate their facility in composing poems
according to shared, accepted rules and values. What mattered was the
way that each poem addressed the others and contributed to the total
effect, reflecting a sensitivity to the particular social and natural setting
while acknowledging, by drawing upon, the corpus of poetic tradition.
Innovative, overtly personal expressions in verse had little place in these
gatherings, and such expressions were rarely encountered. Thus, the
conventions were hallowed, the poetic vocabulary was narrowed, and the
aesthetic code they represented became increasingly inflexible.
Tamenori seems almost to have made a special study of this kind of
verbal gamesmanship. Two years prior to Kishi's utaawase, Tamenori
compiled what appears to be a kind of handbook that might well have
been useful for spur-of-the-moment composition of verse or prose for
either public or private occasions. It is called K u c h i z u s a m i
("Impromptus") and consists simply of brief items (many of them
names) arranged in nineteen categories: "Celestial Objects, Seasons,
Reign Dates, Geography, Provinces, Rural Places, Urban Places, Habita-
tions, Buddhist Scriptures, Social Relationships, Official Court Titles,
Y i n - y a n g Divination, Medicine, Food and Drink, Literature, Music,
Theatricals, Birds and Beasts, Miscellaneous." (Some of these
categories, and the listing concept itself, bear a close resemblance to
some of the "list" sections of Sei Shönagon's M a k u r a no söshi, but
Tamenori offers none of his own editorial comments, as Shönagon does.)
K u c h i z u s a m i was written on commission, or on request, as was

Sanböe—in this case, for Matsuo no kimi (later Tadanobu), the seven-
38
year-old son of Fujiwara Tamemitsu.
In 1007, toward the end of his life, Tamenori compiled another
such primer entitled Sezoku genbun ("Familiar Quotations") for the
benefit of the nineteen-year-old Fujiwara Yorimichi (990-1074, one of
39
Michinaga's many sons, later prime minister and regent). Sezoku
genbun originally consisted of three volumes; only one of these survives,
and it contains some 220 passages taken verbatim from Chinese classics
and Buddhist scriptures. It has the appearance of a commonplace
book—which, like the lists in K u c h i z u s a m i , might have been quite useful
as a ready reference (especially if memorized) when an appropriate allu-
sion was needed at a poetry contest or in an elegant conversation.
While Sanböe presented Sonshi with a guide to her religion,
K u c h i z u s a m i and Sezoku genbun were designed to function as guides to
the secular world, primers designed for young men learning to take their
place in aristocratic society. A l l three consist wholly or in part of
materials taken from other sources. While only Sanböe has,
additionally, an original, unifying framework, all three may be grouped
as simple manuals, gleanings from a wider store of knowledge culled by a
teacher for particular students with particular needs. Perhaps the
production of such books was Tamenori's scholarly forte, and perhaps he
was recognized in his own day as one who could skillfully distill his own
broad knowledge in manageable and attractive packages. The pedantic
tone he occasionally employed in the "original" parts of Sanböe may also
stem from this attitude of expertise v i s - a - v i s his audience.
The breadth and depth of Tamenori's knowledge of the language of
poetry, and his pedantry as well, are revealed in an odd story that
40
appears both in Gödanshö and Kokonchomonjü. It seems that
Tamenori was never seen at a poetry gathering without a great pouch
stuffed full of scraps of paper covered with jotted drafts from previous
contests. At one s h i a w a s e , the moderator, Öe Mochitoki, introduced a
poem of his own composition that concluded with these lines:
The crane, returning to Mount Sung,

dances on high in the rays of the sun;
the dragon, having drunk the waters of the Wei,
climbs skyward, leaving not a cloud behind.
Yasutane's nephew, Yoshishige Tamemasa, protested: the words "the

dragon climbs skyward" were taboo because the two characters for
"dragon" and "ascend" could be taken to mean "the emperor died."
Mochitoki only smiled, refusing to withdraw the poem or change the
line. Tamenori, meanwhile, was overcome with admiration for

Mochitoki's poem. (He may have been impressed by the allusions to the
ancient story of Prince Chin of Chou, who acquired the special powers of
a sage and flew around Mount Sung on the back of a crane, and to the
legend of the black dragon that drank from the Wei River and was trans-
formed into a huge mountain.) Whatever the cause, so intense were his
emotions that Tamenori felt compelled to plunge his head into his
poetry bag, and he kept it there until his tears dried up. Some of the
other poets were similarly moved, it seems, while others could only laugh
at Tamenori's eccentricity.
The story may be apocryphal, but it supports the image of
Tamenori as a man who was eager to preserve all sorts of scraps of
knowledge, who was thus armed with information of all kinds, and who
took it all quite seriously. His skills as record-keeper and compiler must
also have been called upon and developed in the series of official posts he
held, beginning, after he left the university, with those of chamberlain
(kurödo) and secretary in the Ministry of Ceremonials ( S h i k i b u no jö).
His duties probably involved researching and writing records of court
functions, Official appointments, and the activities of imperial family
members, as well as record-keeping for the university. Tamenori's
familiarity with official records must have been quite useful when he
wrote Sanböe, particularly its third volume, which includes detailed
accounts of the origins of court-sponsored and other Buddhist rituals.
Like most scholar-bureaucrats, Tamenori was also assigned to
several tours of duty in the provinces. In 984, when he completed
Sanböe, he signed himself "Provisional Governor of Mikawa." The
duties of this office (gon no k a m i ) , like many others provided for in the
legal codes, were vague, and although titularly second in command,
"Provisional Governors" may not have had to spend much time in their
designated outposts. Some governors did delegate considerable respon-
sibility to the "Provisionals," while for others the title was probably no
more than an honorary adjunct to their official rank ranging, depending
on the importance of the province, from Senior Upper Seventh to Junior
Upper Fifth. Mikawa was only a moderately important province in
economic terms, but its relative proximity to the capital made appoint-
ments there fairly prestigious.
Tamenori was Provisional Governor of Mikawa until at least 986.
Eventually, he served as governor in Iga, Tötömi, and Mino provinces as
well. His term in Tötömi ended in 995, and on his return to the capital
he was elevated to the Junior Upper Fifth Rank, presumably in recogni-
tion of a good record of service. At about this time, however, he is said
to have been implicated in a plot to murder another official, Tachibana
Koreyori. Though exonerated, Tamenori was passed over for official
appointments for a number of years thereafter. Honchö m o n z u i includes

a petition attributed to Tamenori in which he pleads for an appointment
41
as governor of either Kaga or M i n o . He praises himself as an able
administrator, claiming credit for a large increase in the number of fields
on the tax rolls and for having rescued many citizens from poverty in the
provinces where he has served, and he proclaims his loyalty to the
emperor. Records do show that he got the post in Mino, though perhaps
not as a result of this plea. The date given for the petition in Honchö
m o n z u i is Chöwa 3 (1014), which postdates Tamenori's death, so the
42
document may be spurious. At any rate, Tamenori's disgrace cannot
have been too great. He remained a frequent guest at poetry parties
hosted by the great and powerful, such as that held at the residence of
Michinaga, then Minister of the Left, in 1003 (where he was identified as
43
"the former Governor of Mino").
Tamenori's, then, was a career spent in the lower echelons of the
aristocracy, brightened occasionally by recognition from his superiors in
the form of special requests for his literary and scholarly services, of
which Sanböe was one result. And again, in the third month of 986—not
quite a year after Sonshi's death—when the retired Emperor En'yü took
Buddhist vows, Tamenori was asked to write a record of the event
entitled Dajöhöö g o j u k a i no k i or En'yüin j u k a i no k i . It was written as
an eyewitness account (in Chinese, of course) beginning with the depar-
ture of En'yü's party from the capital, on the nineteenth, through the
journey to and from Tödaiji, where the initiation ceremony took place on
the twenty-third, under the direction of the eminent Shingon monk
Kanchö (?—998, another of the emperor's distant cousins). At the
conclusion of the ceremonies, Tamenori wrote:
The ecclesiastic officials and members of the nobility

withdrew from [the emperor's] presence. He asked that an
accurate record of these events be made. I, Minamoto
Tamenori, his humble servant, had the honor of accom-
panying him as a senior member of the entourage. My obliga-
tions to him have been and are overwhelming. I wrote this in
obedience to his imperial command. My tears are mixed with
the ink upon these pages. And though I have completed the
task, I truly fear that those who read what I have written will
44
not esteem i t .
Tamenori's tears also mixed with the ink he used to write the last lines
of his "General Preface" to Sanböe, where he again expressed his
gratitude for having been asked to perform such a service for Sonshi.
The figure is a conventional one, a rhetorical flourish, like the seemingly
modest protestation that accompanies it, and yet it probably reflects a

genuine sentiment. Tamenori was no doubt very glad to receive these
assignments, to have the opportunity to serve with his brush. We do not
know what rewards he may have received from his royal kinsmen other
than increased recognition as an efficient and reliable scribe. In Sanböe,
he writes only of the religious merit he hoped to earn by contributing to
Sonshi's progress, but there may have been some more tangible benefits
as well.
Recognition of Tamenori's literary efforts came, eventually, in the
inclusion of some of his works in various anthologies. In addition to
those quoted in Honchö m o n z u i and Gödanshö, there are nine shi by
Tamenori in Honchö reisö, a compendium of the works of the literati of
Ichijö's court, and others may be found in Ruijü kudaishö, W a k a n
röeishü, and Shinsen röeishü. W a k a by Tamenori appear in Shüishü,
Gengenshü, and Shoku shikashü. There was, in addition, a collection of
his poetic works (Tamenorishü, or Ikeishü), but this has been lost, as has
a work attributed to Tamenori with the title Honchö shirin—perhaps a
dictionary or another collection of aphorisms. And in Chöya g u n s a i (a
miscellany compiled by Miyoshi Tameyasu in 1116), there is a letter said
to have been written by the Tendai monk Genshin (942-1017) to accom-
pany a set of Japanese devotional writings that he had selected for
conveyance to China. The set included Genshin's own Öjöyöshü (his
influential treatise on the practice and benefits of Pure Land piety),
hymns in praise of Kannon by Yasutane and Ryögen, and some poems
on themes from the L o t u s Sütra (Hokkekyöfu) by Tamenori—but these
45
last are otherwise unknown. There is no evidence that Tamenori's
name actually became known to Chinese readers by this or any other
means. And, as we have seen, his fame in his own land was only of a very
limited sort. The brief passage in Ökagami devoted to the life of Sonshi
does mention that Sanböe was written for her, but its author goes
46
unnamed. Typical as he was of the literati of his generation—though
perhaps distinguished somewhat by the relative extent of his knowledge
of Buddhist lore—Tamenori was not, after all, a very remarkable man,
nor one to whom we would pay much attention were it not for Sanböe.
Then again, as we have also seen, it was not for fame that he wrote it.
Texts and Title
No manuscript of Sanböe in Tamenori's own hand, or even of his

own time, has survived. A fourteenth-century work, E i g a k u yöki, which
is a miscellany of history and lore of Enryakuji, refers to "a handwritten
draft [söan] of Minamoto Tamenori's Sanböe" as the source for an
episode in the life of Saichö (who does appear in several tales in the third
volume), but no such episode is in any of the known Sanböe copies, and
47
no such "draft" is to be found today at Enryakuji or elsewhere.
Nor is much known about the circulation of Sanböe after it was
presented (as we assume) to Sonshi. We may suppose, at the very least,
that Tamenori shared what he had written with some of his literary
colleagues; it does appear that the text somehow found its way into
Yasutane's hands. Yasutane had probably written most of his N i h o n
öjögokurakuki before 985, but between the fourth month of 986 and the
ninth month of 987 he added two more biographies. These were of
Prince Shötoku and of Gyöki—the subjects of the first two sections of
the second volume of Sanböe—and Yasutane honored them by placing
their biographies at the very beginning of his book. He explained, in a
note, that he was directed to do so by Prince Kaneakira, his patron, who
48
had seen these two "Bodhisattvas" in a dream. (Perhaps the prince,
too, had read what Tamenori had written about them in Sanböe.)
Yasutane's versions of the lives of Prince Shötoku and of Gyöki are very
similar to Tamenori's, but we should probably stop short of calling them
copies; at the very least, it would certainly seem that both men used the
same sources, and perhaps Yasutane did so after consulting Tamenori
49
about his references and seeing how he had used them in Sanböe.
It is tempting to suppose that what Yasutane saw was Tamenori's
mysterious söan, and to imagine that he took it with him when he
became a monk in the fourth month of 986 and retired to live out his
days in the Yokawa sector of Enryakuji, for this might explain how the
author of the E i g a k u yöki came to know of it. We have also seen that
Yasutane, like Tamenori, was one of the regular scribes relied upon by
Sonshi's household, for it was he to whom the task of writing her
g a n m o n was entrusted. Perhaps it was through this connection—at a
reading of the text for Sonshi before her death, or in its aftermath—that
he became familiar with its contents. But it is just as likely that what
Yasutane saw was a copy, perhaps one of several that might have been
made if Sanböe was shared, in some way, among the households of other
royal ladies. They, in turn, may have had their own attendants copy it
again (like the women of Genji's household did during the rainy season,
when there was little else to do but seek diversion in the reading and
50
copying of m o n o g a t a r i ) .
The copying of Sanböe, of course, may have been the work of men
like Yasutane himself or other scholars—perhaps other members of the
Kangakue old guard—who would have had a similar natural interest in
Tamenori's work. These men, as well as women readers, may have
regarded it not so much as a m o n o g a t a r i - like text but as a devotional
one, the copying of which itself might be a meritorious act. If we
suppose that copies of Sanböe were in fact made by and for both men
and women, we may have an explanation, as plausible as any other, for
the fact that the three major copies that do survive are all written in
different orthographies. The two oldest are in forms that employ, to
some extent, the phonetic syllabaries; they are readable, even orally, as
essentially Japanese texts. They thus resemble the form that would have
been the most appropriate for reading by or to women, at least in the
Heian period. The other copy, however, is written almost entirely in
Chinese characters, in the style that is called h e n t a i k a n b u n , and so
looks more like what a man of the time would have been likely to read or
write. ( H e n t a i k a n b u n is a form of Sino-Japanese written entirely in
k a n j i , but with syntactic adjustments that conform more to the
character of Japanese than to classical Chinese.)
The oldest of these copies—actually a scattered assortment of
fragments—is known as the Tödaiji-gire. The longest fragment,
containing most of the second volume plus the preface and first tale of
the third volume, is dated 1120 and is thought to have been copied by
Minamoto Toshiyori (1055?—1129). It is owned by the Sekido family of
Nagoya. In addition, some eighty-two fragments, including parts of all
three volumes of Sanböe, have been identified as parts of the Tödaiji-
gire. The origin of the name "Tödaiji-gire" is unclear. It is unlikely that
it ever belonged to Tödaiji; rather, the nomenclature may have been
derived from the frequent mention of that monastery in the text of
Sanböe itself. The Tödaiji-gire is written in the orthographic form called
sögana, generally a combination of Chinese ideographs (kanji) with
either or both types of Japanese phonetic characters ( k a t a k a n a or
h i r a g a n a ) ; in the case of the Tödaiji-gire, the text is almost all in
h i r a g a n a , with a sprinkling of k a n j i , usually for personal and place
names, but not in any consistent pattern. Several facsimile and printed
editions of the Sekido fragment have been published, as have reproduc-
tions of many of the other fragments. Most of these fragments are also
in private collections; many are of no more than two or three lines in
length, but occasionally it has been possible to show that fragments in
51
separate collections are in fact contiguous.
The next oldest copy is virtually complete. It originally belonged to
the Kanchiin subtemple of Töji, in Kyoto, and hence is known as the
Töji Kanchiin copy. It is dated 1273 and is registered as a National
Treasure (kokuhö) by the Agency of Cultural Affairs, which currently
houses it in its own library in Tokyo. The Töji Kanchiin copy is written
in a combination of k a t a k a n a and k a n j i called k a n a m a j i r i . The
orthography of the first volume, however, closely resembles the style
known as senmyötai (typified in the Shoku N i h o n g i ) in which the
ideographs for nouns and verbal and adjectival stems are written in large
k a n j i , followed by small k a n j i (i.e., man'yögana in the case of Shoku

N i h o n g i ) that provide the phonetic Japanese readings for inflected
suffixes and particles. In the Töji Kanchiin copy of Sanböe, these
phonetic elements are in k a t a k a n a . In the first volume, when more than
three or four k a n a follow a k a n j i , the line of k a n a begins under the right
side of the k a n j i and continues under the left side, and all the k a n a are
much smaller than the k a n j i . In the remaining two volumes, the k a n j i
and k a n a are written in single, continuous columns, and all characters
are of approximately the same size. This variation may suggest that
there was more than one copyist, or that the Töji Kanchiin copy was
52
based on more than one source. A photographic reproduction of the
53
Töji Kanchiin copy was published in 1939 by the Koten Hozonkai. A
printed version appeared in volume 90 of D a i N i h o n bukkyö zensho (in
1922); however, this version contains numerous typographical errors and
54
should not be used. For example, it transposes senmyötai and
k a t a k a n a into h i r a g a n a in a misleading manner. An edition prepared in
1932 by Takase Shögon and Anzai Kakushö has been criticized on
55
similar grounds. The edition prepared by Yoshida Köichi and Miyata
Hiroyuki for the Koten bunko series in 1965 is somewhat more reli-
56
able. In 1982, Eguchi Toshio published yet another version, based on
the Koten Hozonkai reproduction, with annotation (including emenda-
tions based on the two other copies) and a paraphrase in modern
57
Japanese.
The copy of Sanböe in h e n t a i k a n b u n format is called the Maeda-
ke copy, indicating its identification with that scholarly daimyö family.
It is to be found in the Sonkeikaku Library, the repository of rare books
and manuscripts collected by the Maeda since the Edo period, in Tokyo.
The copyist was the bibliophile Maeda Tsunanori (or Shöun, 1643
1724), whose collection forms the core of the Sonkeikaku holdings. He
signed and dated his copy of Sanböe in 1715 and indicated that he had
made it from another copy that belonged to the Shakain, a subtemple of
the Daigoji monastery in Kyoto. That copy was dated 1230 and was
signed by a monk named Eigen. Its second and third volumes were still
in the library of Shakain in 1896, according to a catalog the monastery
published that year, but neither could be found when Yamada Yoshio
58
went there to see them in 1910, and they have never been relocated.
Like the Töji Kanchiin copy, the Maeda ke copy is virtually complete.
O k u r i g a n a ( k a n a following the k a n j i , indicating the Japanese reading of
inflected words) are employed occasionally in it, and k a e r i t e n and
kutöten (punctuation marks that help transform the Chinese syntax into
Japanese and indicate the ends of syntactic units) are provided in most
of the text of the first volume and in part of the second. The Sonkeikaku
59
published a photographic reprint of the entire Maeda ke copy in 1935.
Nothing in the dating or lineage of the surviving copies of Sanböe

provides sufficient evidence for identifying any of them as a true copy of
the original, and the fact that the book was written by a man for a
woman only compounds the puzzle. It seems plausible, however, that
Tamenori wrote his first version of the text (the putative söan?) in
h e n t a i k a n b u n and then rewrote it, or had someone rewrite it, in sögana.
His original version in Chinese could then have served as the basis for
the Shakain/Maeda ke line of copies, while the sögana version would
have served as the source of the Tödaiji-gire and Töji Kanchiin lines.
The language of the sögana copies is close enough to that of a
k a k i k u d a s h i (a "break-down" of the literary Chinese into readable
Japanese) to suggest that some such process may indeed have been
followed. There is, of course, no reason to think that Tamenori was
incapable of writing in Japanese. But in Sanböe, his style was governed
by that of the sources from which he drew so extensively for the body of
his work. The great majority of these sources, as well as most of the
works from which he made direct quotations, were in Chinese. The
result, even if written in Japanese from the start, would inevitably look
and sound like k a k i k u d a s h i . Scholars like Tamenori probably read
Chinese texts by inserting k a e r i t e n and kutöten themselves, or by
following the marks of previous readers. It would not have taken too
much work to write out what such edited texts gave the reader to
produce something that looked and sounded like Japanese, in a style that
would be quite suitable for reading out loud in Sonshi's chambers while
the accompanying illustrations were studied and admired. So it seems
quite probable that the three scrolls of Sanböe that Tamenori presented
to Sonshi in 984 looked more like the Tödaiji-gire and Töji Kanchiin
copies than the Maeda-ke copy, although something more akin to the
Maeda ke copy may have actually been the earliest draft.
There are, surely, other ways besides those given here to account
for the fact that the three copies of Sanböe differ so widely from one
another. There are more differences, in fact, besides those of
orthography. For example, only the Töji Kanchiin copy has tables of
contents, and for the second and third volumes only. What is perhaps of
greater significance is the issue of reliability, although few of the
discrepancies among the copies seriously affect comprehension of the
text. In general, scholars have focused on the Töji Kanchiin copy—the
more complete of the older two—and have used the Maeda-ke and the
Tödaiji-gire copies to fill in gaps where the Töji Kanchiin copy is
damaged or illegible and to correct obvious errors. A l l three copies have
miscopyings and holes, but these can usually be rectified through refer-
ence to the other copies or to quotations from Sanböe in later works,
which have been thoroughly cataloged. The pioneering edition of this

60
kind was Yamada Yoshio's Sanböe ryakuchü, published in 1951.
Working with the Töji Kanchiin copy as his base text, Yamada replaced
k a t a k a n a with h i r a g a n a and had k a n j i , as found in the Maeda-ke copy,
printed next to selected k a n a phrases to facilitate reading and to clarify
meaning. In extensive notes, Yamada indicated some of the important
differences in the content and orthography of the three major copies,
with most extensive reference to the Maeda-ke copy. His notes also
explain technical terms, trace obscure or unusual usages, and comment
on the text in various ways. Most of Yamada's commentary is useful, as
is his index of names, terms, and vocabulary. The essays he included in
the volume present a summary of Sanböe reception and research up to
that time, with particular attention to the histories of the copies. In
1981, Koizumi Hiroshi and Takahashi Nobuyuki produced Shohon
taishö Sanböe shüsei, an authoritative edition in which all three copies,
including all known fragments and other miscellaneous versions and
quotations, are reproduced along with detailed notation of all variations
and discrepancies, an extensive bibliography, and essays on the textual
61
history of Sanböe, its role in later works, and other aspects. Along
with Yamada's, their work provides the basis for the study of Sanböe
today; both were used for the preparation of this translation.
The question of the proper form of the name of the work is one
that must be addressed with both internal and external evidence. In the
"General Preface," immediately after the Nägärjuna quotation and
Tamenori's interpretation of it, comes a passage that names the book
from within. Figure 1 presents the passage as it appears in the Töji
Kanchiin and Maeda-ke copies and in Yamada's Sanböe ryakuchü.
(There is no Tödaiji-gire-type copy of the "General Preface.")
M y translation reads, "Its title is [ I l l u s t r a t i o n s of] t h e T h r e e
Jewels, because what it would say is that you should form a bond with
the Three Refuges. Its volumes are three because these correspond to
the Three Periods." The brackets account for the fact that the title in
the Töji Kanchiin copy is "Sanbö," while the Maeda-ke copy reads
"Sanböe." Koizumi and Takahashi suggest that the "e" character
("picture") may have been omitted in error in the Töji Kanchiin copy.
But in all three versions above it is clear that these are sentences
constructed in parallel, in typical Japanese k a n b u n style. The omission
of the character e actually enhances the balance, and the fact that
"Three Jewels" (sanbö) and "Three Refuges" ( s a n k i ) are synonymous
(for both terms refer to the Buddha, his teachings, and his clergy and are
formulaic synonyms for Buddhism as a whole) is only further justifica-
tion. Furthermore, "sanbö" is in symbolic (rather than syntactic)
(!) (2) i.3)

TN
of #
ü a iL
P-i 5
it
7 f έ
7 h
f A ft
li ^\
J\
Τ A et 1
(i
0)
) 1;
(
0
if
t
9
t
U
Figure 1. Passage (1) reproduces the orthography of the Töji Kanchiin

bon, passage (2), the Maeda ke bon, and passage (3), Yamada Yoshio's
Sanböe ryakuchü. (Sono n a 0 Sanbö t o i u koto w a tsutaeiwamu mono n i
sanki no en 0 musubashimemu to n a r i . Sono kazu 0 m i m a k i ni w a k a t e r u
wa sanji no h i m a ni atetaru n a r i . )
balance with "sanji," "the Three Periods." Still, the context here is a
discussion of the nature of the book, and Tamenori has already said that
it will include illustrations, so the reader expects to see "Sanböe" here.
In the Ökagami passage about Sonshi, the name of the work that is
said to have been written for her is, indeed, "Sanböe" This is the
earliest known citation of the title in any other work. Ökagami was
written sometime between 1040 and 1140, and the earliest known
62
complete copy dates from the latter half of the thirteenth century.
Such works as Shüchüshö (ca. 1185-1187), N i h o n kösöden yömonshö
(1249), R e k i d a i köki (fourteenth century), and Sanetaka köki (in an
63
entry from the year 1498) also refer to "Sanböe" In the Köyasan copy
of N i h o n ryöiki, dated 1214, the text of most of those tales that were
used as sources for tales in Sanböe is abbreviated, and the reader is
referred to "Sanböe" (which suggests a presumption that some form of
64
Sanböe would be known and available to readers). On the basis of such
evidence, Yamada, together with Koizumi and Takahashi, concluded
that Sanböe is certainly the correct form for the title of the book.
Within the copies of the book itself, however, there are some incon-
sistencies. The only title that survives in the Sekido fragment is
"Sanböe" and all the sectional titles in the Maeda-ke copy read likewise.
In the Töji Kanchiin copy we find "Sanböe" in the title for the "General
Preface" and in that of the preface to the first volume, the table of
contents of the second and its preface, the table of contents of the third
and at its end. The titles written at the very beginning of the portions
devoted to each volume, however, are all "Sanböekotoba." Though no
good explanation has been given for this anomaly, it is nonetheless the
likely source for the frequent reference to the work by this alternate
name. Its invention probably has something to do with the separation of
pictures from text, for it means, most literally, "Three Jewels, pictures
and words." One interpretation is "the words that went with the illustra-
tions of the Three Jewels" (sanbö no e no k o t o b a ) but another is y
"pictures and words about the Three Jewels" (sanbö no e t o k o t o b a ) .

And this is not the only variation on the title. In an entry of Sanetaka
köki, written one month prior to that previously cited, we find "Sanbö
65
m o n o g a t a r i , by Minamoto Tamenori" quoted as a source ; a 1487 copy
of T a i s h i d e n gyokurinshö (a commentary on the traditional biographies
of Prince Shötoku) refers to "Sanböekotoba," while an Edo-period copy
of the same work cites "Sanböe m o n o g a t a r i , " as does a similar work,
66
T a i s h i d e n kingyokushö. In Fusö r y a k k i , " I k e i k i " (or T a m e n o r i no k i ,
i.e., "Tamenori's chronicle") is cited, and elsewhere in Shüchüshö there
67
is a quotation from " I k e i s h i " ( T a m e n o r i no k o t o b a , "Tamenori's text").
While all of these titles certainly refer to Sanböe, none of these forms is
68
thought to be any more correct than is Sanböekotoba. The latter form
survives in much of the modern scholarship on the work, on the genre of

tale collections (setsuwa b u n g a k u ) , and in general studies of the litera-
ture of the Heian period. Following the example of Yamada and of
Koizumi and Takahashi, however, I have used "Sanböe" throughout.
Sanböe after Sonshi
Even if the illustrations were lost or destroyed soon after they were
made, and even if they were indeed the more important part of the work,
the text of Sanböe has managed to retain a life of its own, largely
through its use by later readers and writers such as those discussed
above. In many such cases, close comparisons of later quotations, allu-
sions, and adaptations with the copies of Sanböe itself can suggest which
type of copy they refer to, but as yet there is insufficient evidence of this
kind to establish the primacy of one or the other of the copies. Still, an
examination of subsequent reference to Sanböe helps place it in larger
contexts—of Japanese literature as a whole, of particular genres, and of
the complex history of the development of Buddhism within Japanese
culture. This aspect of Sanböe has been particularly well documented by
Japanese scholars, for one of the key areas of inquiry in setsuwa
b u n g a k u studies has been the interrelationship of works within the genre
and the question of how these works develop and alter the material that
they share. Koizumi and Takahashi's edition treats this aspect of
Sanböe in notes, charts, and appendices, to which readers of Japanese
are referred. The notes in my translation also deal with some of these
matters. What follows is a summary of what has been learned about the
69
use of Sanböe in the centuries since its composition.
Yasutane's N i h o n öjögokurakuki was only the first of many works
in the genre of setsuwa collections to borrow elements from Sanböe.
When the Enryakuji monk Chingen wrote D a i N i h o n k o k u hokke g e n k i
(also known as Honchö hokke g e n k i ) , a collection of tales about miracles
resulting from devotion to the L o t u s S u t r a , between 1040 and 1044, he
also used Sanböe (as well as N i h o n ryöiki and N i h o n öjögokurakuki) as a
70
source. Höbutsushü, another devotional collection compiled by Taira
Yasuyori in the 1180s, and Shishü hyakuinnenshü, a similar anthology
assembled by the monk Jushin in the 1250s, also draw extensively on
11
Sanböe. Fusö r y a k k i is a collection at once sacred and secular; its
accounts of the deeds of Prince Shötoku and En no gyöja and of the
founding of Yakushiji, Hasedera, and Tödaiji are all very similar to
72
Tamenori's accounts, and, as noted above, they are so identified. The
biographies of Prince Shötoku and E n no gyöja in M i z u k a g a m i (usually
attributed to Nakayama Tadachika [1131-1195] or Minamoto Masayori
[1129-1192], but perhaps the work of a later author) are also very similar
to Tamenori's, but the Fusö r y a k k i recensions, rather than Sanböe itself,
73
may have been its models. K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü is probably the
best known and most thoroughly studied of the setsuwa collections. Its
anonymous author(s) made no explicit acknowledgments of their source,
but volumes 11 through 14 and 21 of K o n j a k u contain a total of thirty
tales that are based wholly or in part on tales in the second and third
14
volumes of Sanböe.
Ökagami and E i g a m o n o g a t a r i (ca. 1107) are both works of
historical narrative related by content to the setsuwa collections, and
,
both contain obvious borrowings from Sanböe s third volume. The two
passages in Ökagami that describe the "Three Great Services" (the
Y u i m a e at Köfukuji, the Saishöe at Yakushiji, and the Gosaie) are based
75
on Sanböe 3.1, 3.11, and 3.28. The "Utagai" chapter of E i g a
m o n o g a t a r i tells of Michinaga's attendance at and patronage of a series
of thirteen Buddhist ceremonies (two in the first month of 1016 and one
in each of the succeeding months); the descriptions of the origins and
76
conduct of these rites are clearly based on Tamenori's.
Works quoting directly from Sanböe are quite diverse in nature,
and they span several hundred years of literary history. The source of
the quotation, of course, is not always fully acknowledged, and when it is,
the form of acknowledgment varies to a considerable degree. In
S h i c h i d a i j i j u n r e i s h i k i , Öe Chikamichi's record of visits to the great
temples of Nara (ca. 1140), a brief passage about Bodhisena's attendance
at the Tödaiji dedication ceremony is quoted (from Sanböe 3.22), with a
11
proper citation { " T a m e n o r i sen Sanböe") And in Tödaiji yöroku, a
collection of various materials concerning that monastery's early history
compiled in 1106 by the monk Kangon, a description of the founding
ceremony includes a passage that corresponds to part of Sanböe 3.22; it
begins with the words " a r u n i k k i i w a k u " which may refer either to
18
Chikamichi's "diary" or to Sanböe.
Poetic commentaries are another type of work that cite Sanböe,
usually for vocabulary usage or historical background. In W a k a
dömöshö, by Fujiwara Norikane (ca. 1145-1154), an explication of the
pillow-word sasanami quotes at length from Sanböe 3.10, but without
79
acknowledgment. The passages from Fujiwara Kenshö's Shüchüshö
mentioned above, with their variant forms of citation, are about devo-
tions of the second month and the founding of Yakushiji and are taken
80
from Sanböe 3.6 and 3.11.
Some medieval writers on Buddhist subjects also found Sanböe
useful. The author of N i h o n kösöden yömonshö (1249), a monk named
Shüshö, observed in a note to his biography of Kükai that the Sanböe
version of the origins of the Takaodera H o k k e e (3.12) was somewhat
1
different from his own. A much more significant example appears in
the writings of Shinran (1173-1262), the founder of the Jödo Shinshü
school of Buddhism. In 1257, Shinran made a copy of a version of the
preface to the second volume of Sanböe and the biography of Prince
Shötoku that follows it, combining the two sections as if they were one.
This was copied again by Shinran's disciple Jakunin in 1283 and again,
in 1307, by Kakunyo. This text came to be known as Jögü T a i s h i g y o k i
and was regarded as an independent work of Shinran's own composi-
82
tion. At about the same time that he copied the Sanböe sections,
Shinran also wrote a series of one hundred and fifteen verses in praise of
the prince. The title was " D a i N i h o n k o k u sokusan'ö Shötoku T a i s h i
hösan" but the set has come to be known as the I p p y a k u j u s h i s h u T a i s h i
w a s a n ("One Hundred and Fourteen Verses in Praise of Prince
Shötoku"), one verse having been dropped or lost at an early stage.
These verses eventually became quite popular among Shinran's followers
and among adherents of cults that centered on the worship of the prince.
Similarities between many of these verses and portions of the Jögü
T a i s h i g y o k i text were noted by scholars in the early part of this century,
and when it was recognized that the G y o k i was not Shinran's but
Tamenori's work, it also became apparent that Shinran must have been
83
familiar with some form of the Sanböe text or a part thereof.
Sanböe was used in at least one other rather interesting way.
Sometime before 1317, an anonymous writer assembled some legends
about Bodhidharma and other patriarchs of the Zen school and called his
work S h i n Sanböekotoba (i.e., "The New 'Sanböe'"). Aside from the fact
that this short text consists of stories about eminent monks, as do many
of the tales in Sanböe volumes two and three, there is almost no
similarity between the two works; nor is there any evidence that the
latter work was really meant to include illustrations. Still, the author
consciously named his work after Tamenori's, so he must have been
84
familiar with it to some degree.
Significant references to Sanböe dwindle over the next centuries.
However, when Kariya Ekisai incorporated the commentaries of earlier
scholars in his own work on N i h o n ryöiki (carried out over the period
from 1801 to 1816), he included observations about the corresponding
85
portions of Sanböe. Ekisai's work was an important precursor to
modern Sanböe and setsuwa scholarship, with its emphasis on compara-
tive textual study, but his approach also meant that Sanböe would
invariably be considered an imitative, secondary work, always in the
shadow of N i h o n ryöiki. Even in the modern period, Sanböe has been
studied and written about far less than has N i h o n ryöiki or K o n j a k u
monogatarishü, its monumental successor in the setsuwa genre. In one
of his essays in Sanböe ryakuchü, Yamada admitted that he was
unaware of the existence of Sanböe until Nakagawa Chüjun published an

article in the January 1909 number of the journal Gakutö in which he
86
reintroduced the "forgotten" work by describing the Maeda-ke copy.
Yamada's own article, "Bungaku shiryö to shite no Sanböekotoba"
["Sanböekotoba as a Literary Source"], which first appeared in
87
December 1914 (in O n g a k u ) , effectively rekindled interest in the work ;
it was soon followed by such studies as Hashikawa Tadashi's on the
Prince Shötoku biography (2.1), on Tamenori's representation of Saichö,
and on the possibility of a relationship between aspects of the K e g o n ' e
8 8
(as described in 3.13) and the modern doll festival ( h i n a m a t s u r i ) .
To appreciate the range of modern research and commentary on
Sanböe, the reader should consult the bibliography in Shohon taishö
Sanböe shüsei. There has been much important work of a highly tech-
nical nature on the language and orthography of the Sanböe copies, and
Kasuga Kazuo's publications in this area (especially on the Tödaiji-gire)
are particularly noteworthy. The most useful studies of Sanböe's struc-
ture and sources are Izumoji Osamu's "Sanböe no hensan ishiki" (March
1975) and Mori Masato's "Sanböe no seiritsu to Höon j u r i n " (March
1977); the reader will see frequent reference to these in my own
89
analysis.
Just as other works in its genre overshadow Sanböe, other contem-
porary works in other genres have certainly surpassed Sanböe in impor-
tance. Genshin's Öjöyöshü had a far greater impact; yet we can detect
certain similarities in the religious goals and even in the method of the
authors of both works, for Öjöyöshü, too, is in a sense a pastiche of
reworked materials from other sources, assembled to teach its readers
the proper form of a religious practice (the n e n b u t s u ) and the ensuing
rewards. Murasaki Shikibu's diary and her Genji m o n o g a t a r i , Sei
Shönagon's M a k u r a no söshi and other ladies' diaries and journals may
be greater works of art and may reveal more of Heian court life and
courtly sensibilities, but Sanböe may be placed beside them as literary
documentation of the religious concerns of another denizen of that
special world. Over one thousand years have passed since Tamenori
wrote it for Sonshi, but for these reasons, and also as a work of literature
per se—a work in which language is consciously and skillfully used to
convey certain images and ideas in an effort to expand and reshape the
reader's perceptions—Sanböe continues to invite our interest and to
deserve close study.
Notes
The title "Sanböekotoba" is also seen, but "Sanböe" for reasons

that shall be discussed below, is preferred.
2
I n its original context, in Ryüju Bosatsui Sendakaö seppö yöge (Τ
32:747a), Nägärjuna's verse is an exhortation to his disciple, a king, to
study the descriptions of hell available through various media and to
take them seriously lest, through ignorance, he find himself experiencing
its horrors in person. Tamenori alters this to a recommendation that
Sanböe, which consists of pictures and a text (to be read out loud),
drawn in large part from "scripture and other [secular] writings," should
be taken seriously and its lessons should be pondered and embraced by
the reader.
3
For general introductions to emaki, see Miyeko Murase, E m a k i :
N a r r a t i v e P i c t u r e S c r o l l s (New York: The Asia Society, 1983); Okudaira
Hideo, N a r r a t i v e P i c t u r e S c r o l l s , Arts of Japan 5 (New York and Tokyo:
Weatherhill/Shibundö, 1973); and Ienaga Saburö, P a i n t i n g i n the
Yamato Style, The Heibonsha Survey of Japanese Art 10 (New York and
Tokyo: Weatherhill/Heibonsha, 1973).
4
For studies and reproductions of the G e n j i m o n o g a t a r i emaki, see
Genji m o n o g a t a r i emaki (Tokyo: Ködansha, 1971); the simultaneously
published English version, with a translation of the text by Ivan Morris,
entitled The T a l e of G e n j i S c r o l l s ; and Akiyama Terukazu, ed., N i h o n
emakimono zenshü 2: G e n j i m o n o g a t a r i emaki (Tokyo: Ködansha, 1971).
5
The notion that m o n o g a t a r i were primarily a form of diversion
seems to have been a widely accepted one. In her list of "things that help
to ease boredom" ( t s u r e z u r e nagusamu mono) in M a k u r a no söshi ("The
Pillow Book"), Sei Shönagon included "go, s u g o r o k u [another board
game], m o n o g a t a r i , the amusing things a child of three of four may say."
See section 140 in the Iwanami text, N K B T 19:195.
6
None of the works that Tamenori names has survived. The first
two titles (Iga no taome, Tosa no o t o d o ) do not appear elsewhere, but in
Kenchü m i k k a n , a commentary on the K o k i n wakashü by Fujiwara
Kenshö (1130? ?), edited by Fujiwara Teika in 1221, it is said that
Genshin mentioned the latter two ( I m a m e k i no chüjö, N a g a i no j i j u ) in
K a n n y o öjögi, a lost work. For Kenchü m i k k a n , see M i k a n kokubun
kochüshaku t a i k e i 4:426. See also Mitani Kuniaki, "San'itsu
monogatari," in Heianchö bungaku j i t e n , pp. 251-52.
7
Very similar doubts about poetic endeavors are voiced, and in very
similar language, by Minamoto Shitagö and Sone Yoshitada in prefaces
to poems they exchanged in about 960. See Kansaku Köichi and
Shimada Ryöji, ed., Sone Y o s h i t a d a shü zenshaku (Tokyo: Kasama
Shoin, 1975), pp. 347-48, 475-76; N K B T 8 0 : 9 1 , 114-15.

8
N K B T 15:430-33; Edward G. Seidensticker, tr., The T a l e of Genji
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976), vol. 1, pp. 436-38.
9
It should be noted that the illustrations in the K a k o genzai
ingakyö scroll run parallel to and above the text, while the illustrations
in most illustrated sütras alternate with the text and fill the entire
surface of the scroll in the portions devoted to them. In most cases, the
latter are frontispieces to chapters of the sütras; they are not intertex-
tual illustrations. For the K a k o genzai i n g a k y o , see Ienaga, P a i n t i n g i n
t h e Yamato S t y l e , plate 15. For frontispieces from fourteenth-century
sütra copies, see John M. Rosenfield and Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis,
J o u r n e y of t h e T h r e e Jewels (New York: The Asia Society, 1979),
pp. 61-71.
10
The discovery of the fragment containing this note was
announced by Yasuda Naomichi at a conference of the Zenkoku Daigaku
Kokugokokubungaku Gakkai in the spring of 1977 {Shüsei, p. 394; see
also 117, 541). Since there is no e a r i notation before this note, and since
such descriptions appear in no other tale and in no other copy, it is hard
to judge the significance of this note. The passage seems to describe
three scenes: the young prince with a light emanating from his forehead;
the prince in battle with the foes of Buddhism, and the defeat of the
enemy leader Yuge Moriya; and the prince lecturing on scripture in the
presence of the emperor. A l l , of course, are episodes in the biography
itself, and they also resemble scenes depicted in various versions of
Shötoku T a i s h i eden, including the earliest, a set of door panels from
Höryüji. See Nara Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan, ed., Shötoku T a i s h i eden
(Tokyo: Tokyo Bijutsu, 1969), pp. 227-35, p a s s i m . See also Yasuda,
"Sanböe no e to etoki" in Issatsu no köza: e t o k i ( N i h o n no k o t e n b u n g a k u
3 ) , pp. 147-55.
11
The error has been traced to Arai Hakuseki's Gakö b e n r a n (1672)
and was retained in Hori Naonori's Fusö m e i g a d e n (1854) and in
Kurokawa Harumura's Köko gafu (see Kurokawa Mamichi, ed.,
K u r o k a w a M a y o r i zenshü 1, pp. 204-5; Shüsei, pp. 373, 537-38.)
1 2
K S T K 11:109.
1 3
K S T K 11:126.
14
William H. McCullough, "Japanese Marriage Institutions in the
Heian Period," H a r v a r d J o u r n a l of A s i a t i c Studies 27 (1967):136.
1 5
K S T K 11:142.
1 6
N K B T 75:82; William H . McCullough and Helen Craig McCul-
lough, tr., A T a l e of F l o w e r i n g F o r t u n e s (Stanford: Stanford University
Press, 1980), vol. 1, p. 119; N K B T 21:134; Helen Craig McCullough, tr.,
Ökagami, t h e G r e a t M i r r o r (Princeton and Tokyo: Princeton University
Press, 1980), p. 141.
Fujiwara Sanesuke, Shöyüki; see Tokyo Daigaku Shiryö

Hensanjo, ed., D a i N i h o n k o k i r o k u (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1959),
vol. 10.1, pp. 28-29.
18
Ibid., pp. 29-30.
19
There are several editions. One is in Waka Shi Kenkyükai, ed.,
Shikashü t a i s e i , chüko 2 (Tokyo: Meiji Shoin, 1975), pp. 95-97.
20
T h i s theory, which suggests similarities between Sonshi and the
"Lump Nun"—the heroine of Sanböe 2.4—was put forward by
Fukushima Köichi in an article, "Sanböe chükan to N i h o n ryöiki" in
S h i o t a Ryöhei Sensei k o k i k i n e n ronbunshü N i h o n bungaku ronkö
(Tokyo: Öfusha, 1970), pp. 32-64. However, the evidence is rather weak.
21
See Imai Gen'ei, K a z a n ' i n no shögai Kokubungaku kenkyü sösho
9
8, rev. ed. (Tokyo: Öfusha, 1971), p. 13 passim.

22
Shöyüki: D a i N i h o n k o k i r o k u 10.1, p. 96.
2 3
K S T K 11:154.
94
For the text of the ganmon, see Kakimura Shigematsu, ed.,

Honchö monzui chüshaku 2 (1922; reprinted Tokyo: Fusanbö, 1968),
pp. 985-94.
or
The "opening and closing sütras of the L o t u s " {kaiketsukyö) are

the Muryögikyö (Τ 9:384-89) and the Kanfugengyö (Τ 9:389-94) (see
also 2.18, n. 10). The "Sütra on the T r a n s f o r m a t i o n of Women i n t o
Buddhas" ("Tennyo jöbutsukyö" i.e., Tennyo shingyö, Τ 14:915-21) is
designed to help women overcome the obstacles (goshö, h a c h i n a n ) that,
according to other scriptures, make it inherently impossible for them to
obtain Buddhahood or other good forms of rebirth. Since Yasutane
expresses his belief, at the conclusion of the ganmon, that Sonshi has
already gone to dwell in Amida's Pure Land, it appears that he also must
have believed that she had overcome those obstacles, or that they did not
apply to her. The idea of these obstacles was certainly abhorrent, and
women did not always find it easy to overlook; it is a theme of concern,
for example, in Senshi's H o s s h i n wakashü (poems 2, 16, 36; see n. 19,
above).
3
* See NST 7:10-41. For a translation, see Peter Michael Wetzler,
"Yoshishige no Yasutane: Lineage, Learning, Office and Amida's Pure
Land" (Ph.D. diss., University of California, Berkeley, 1977), pp. 193-
266.
97
The biographical information that follows derives from a number

of sources, including the biography in Tokugawa Mitsukuni et al., D a i
N i h o n shi (Tokyo: 18517—1906), kan 217, retsuden, bungaku 5
[unpaginated]. This biography also appears in the introductory pages of
Ryakuchü. Other sources are Okada Mareo, "Minamoto Tamenori den
kö," K o k u g o t o kokubungaku 19.11 (January 1942):25-37 and Okada
Mareo, "Minamoto Shitagö oyobi dö Tamenori nenpu," R i t s u m e i k a n

d a i g a k u ronsö 8 (January 1 9 4 3 ) : 3 9 1 2 ; 68 (May 1948):l-24.
28
Sonpi b u n m y a k u , K S T K 60a:370.
29
One such occasion was a competition between senior, established
poets and younger, up-and-coming talents, in 963 (the " Z e n s h u s a i t a k u
s h i a w a s e " ) ; see Kawasaki Tsuneyuki, "Gaisetsu," in J i n b u t s u N i h o n no
r e k i s h i 3: öchö no b u n k a (Tokyo: Shögakukan, 1976), p. 18.
30
Kawaguchi Hisao, Heianchö N i h o n k a n b u n g a k u no kenkyü, 3d
ed. (Tokyo: Meiji Shoin, 1982), p. 336.
31
See, for example, Shitagö's "Song of the Tailless Ox," in
Kakimura, ed., Honchö m o n z u i chüshaku 1, pp. 123-26; translated by
Burton Watson in his Japanese L i t e r a t u r e i n Chinese (New York and
London: Columbia University Press, 1968), vol. 1, pp. 65-66.
32
Gödanshö Kenkyükai, ed., K o h o n k e i gödanshö chükai (Tokyo:
Musashino Shoin, 1978), p. 42; N K B T 74:280.
3 3
O n the university, its organization, and its curriculum, see Momo
Hiroyuki, Jödai gakusei no kenkyü (Tokyo: Meguro Shoten, 1947) and
his "Gakumon to kyöiku" in Zusetsu N i h o n b u n k a s h i t a i k e i 5: H e i a n
j i d a i 2 (Tokyo: Shögakukan, 1966), p. 174.
34
Tamenori's name appears in a list of participants compiled by
Fujiwara Arikuni, another early member, included in his Kangakue
memoir in Honchö reisö (GR 6:639). Tamenori is listed as "the Governor
of Mino," which is probably the post he held when Arikuni wrote the
memoir.
35
See Itö Shintetsu, H e i a n jödokyö shinköshi no kenkyü (Kyoto:
Heirakuji Shoten, 1974), pp. 270-81.
36
ZGR 8:743-46. See also Hori Ichirö, Köya, Jinbutshu sösho 106
(Tokyo: Yoshikawa Köbunkan, 1963), p. 22 p a s s i m .
3 1
N K B T 74:108-19. Tamenori's poem is number 114.
38
ZGR 32a:61-85. There is also a facsimile of the 1807 woodblock-
printed version of a copy dated 1263, published by Kojisho Sökan
Kankökai, 1975, with commentary by Kawase Kazuma.
39
ZGR 30b:51-86.
4 0
K o h o n k e i gödanshö chükai, pp. 112-13, 155; N K B T 73:154, 298;
N K B T 84:125.
41
Kakimura, Honchö m o n z u i chüshaku 1, pp. 920-26.
42
T h e author of Tamenori's biography in D a i N i h o n shi did not
question the document's authenticity (see n. 27 above).
43
Hagitani Boku, ed., Heianchö u t a a w a s e t a i s e i 3 (Kyoto:
Dömeisha, 1958), pp. 682-96.
44
GR 15; Shakkebu, vol. 427, pp. 67-75.
45
Chöyagunsai, K S T K 2 9 a : 46263.
46
See n. 16, above.
41
Eigakuyöki, GR 15; Shakkebu, vol. 439, p. 533b.
48
NST 7:19.
49
Shüsei, pp. 483-86; Inoue Mitsusada, "Bunken kaidai," NST
7:716-17.
50
See n. 8, above.
51
See Shüsei, pp. 391-98 for a description of all fragments and
their location and publication data.
52
Shüsei, p. 379; Mizuta Norihisa, "Töji Kanchiin bon
Sanböekotoba no kisai keishiki no seiritsu," K o k u g o k o k u b u n 21.7
(August 1952):33-41.
53
Sanböekotoba, Koten hozonkai fukuseisho, 7th series (1939),
with an introduction by Yamada Yoshio.
5 4
D N B Z 90. Note that the numbering of volumes differs in some
printings of D N B Z .
55
Takase Shögon and Anzai Kakushö, ed., Sanböekotoba (Tokyo:
Morie Shoten, 1932).
56
Yoshida Köichi and Miyata Hiroyuki, ed., Sanböekotoba (Tokyo:
Koten Bunko, 1965), no. 215.
57
Eguchi Toshio, Sanböekotoba, 2 vols., Koten bunko 64, 65
(Tokyo: Gendai Shichösha, 1982). (This "Koten bunko" is not to be
confused with the more familiar series, as cited in n. 56.)
58
Ryakuchü, p. 407.
59
Sanböe, jö-chü-ge, Sonkeikaku sökan (1935), with an introduc-
tion bv Ikeda Kikan.
0
Yamada Yoshio, ed., Sanböe ryakuchü (1951; reprinted Kyoto:
Höbunkan Shuppan, 1971). Cited throughout as Ryakuchü.
61
K o i z u m i Hiroshi and Takahashi Nobuyuki, Shohon taishö
Sanböe shüsei (Tokyo: Kasama Shoin, 1980). Cited throughout as
Shüsei.
McCullough, tr., Ökagami, t h e G r e a t M i r r o r , p. ix.
63
F o r Shüchüshö, see Kyüsojin Hitaku, ed., N i h o n k a g a k u t a i k e i ,
bekkan 2, p. 52. For N i h o n kösöden yömonshö, see K S T K 31:15-16.
Döin Kinkata (1291-1360), the author of R e k i d a i köki, uses Tamenori's
figure of "one thousand nine-hundred and thirty-three years . . . since
the Buddha Säkyamuni left this world," from the "General Preface." See
S h i n t e i zöho shiseki shüran 2, p. 122a. Sanetaka köki is the diary of
Sanjönishi Sanetaka (1455-1537), courtier, poet, and scholar. See
Takahashi Rikuzö, ed., Sanetaka köki (Tokyo: Zoku Gunsho Ruijü
Kanseikai, 1963), vol. 3b, p. 548. See also Shüsei, p. 371.
64
Shüsei, p. 372.
Takahashi, ed., Sanetaka köki 3b, p. 544.
66
Höryüji, ed., Höryüjizö s o n ' e i b o n T a i s h i d e n gyokurinshö (Tokyo:
Yoshikawa Köbunkan, 1978), vol. 1, p. 158; vol. 3, p. 67. T a i s h i d e n
kingyokushö, by Söjin, survives in copies dated 1584. It is not available

in print. See Shüsei, pp. 371-72.
67
F o r Fusö r y a k k i , see K S T K 12:65, 86-87. For Shüchüshö, see
Kyüsoün, ed., N i h o n k a g a k u t a i k e i , bekkan 2, p. 105.
In addition to its use in the Töji Kanchiin copy and in T a i s h i d e n
gyokurinshö, a listing for "Sanböekotoba: three volumes" has been found
in an undated catalog of poetic commentaries in the Higashiyama
Gobunko. See Shüsei, p. 372.
See also Yasuda Naomichi, "Kobunken ni in'yö sareta
Sanböekotoba (1)" in A o y a m a g o b u n 10 (March 1980):15-42. Reprinted
in K o k u b u n g a k u n e n j i b e t s u ronbunshü, chüko 3.1 (Tokyo: Gakujutsu
Bunken Fukyükai, 1981), pp. 207-21. My notes use the original
pagination.
1 0
H o k k e g e n k i tales 1.10, 3.96, 3.98, 3.105, 2.106, and 3.108 are
based on Sanböe 2.16, 2.9, 2.4, 2.10, 2.11, and 2.17, respectively. A l l of
these are based on N i h o n ryöiki (tales 3.6, 1.19, 3.19, 2.6, 2.15, and 3.13).
Chingen's biography of Prince Shötoku (1.1) closely resembles both
Tamenori's and Yasutane's versions, as do his accounts of the lives of
Gyöki, Saichö and Ennin (1.2-1.4); see Shüsei, pp. 486-94; NST 7:720-
21.
71
Koizumi has identified forty-six passages of varying length in the
various Höbutsushü texts that can be traced to Sanböe. He also has
found nine tales in Shishü hyakuinnenshü that use material from
Sanböe. Shüsei, pp. 510-24.
1 2
K S T K 12:54-55, 65, 70-71, 86-87, 99.
13
Shüsei, pp. 507-10. For a text of M i z u k a g a m i , see K S T K 21a:l-
107.
74
F o r a detailed analysis, see Shüsei, pp. 504-7.
15
Shüsei, pp. 501-4.
76
See Shüsei, pp. 494-501 for details.
77
F o r S h i c h i d a i j i j u n r e i s h i k i , see Fujita Tsuneo, ed., Kökan b i j u t s u
shiryö. j i i n hen 1 (Tokyo: Chüö Köron Bijutsu Shuppan, 1972), p. 40.
Tsutsui Eishun, ed., Tödaiji yöroku (1944; reprinted Tokyo:
Kokusho Kankökai, 1971), p. 45. See also Shüsei, pp. 509-10.
79
Muromatsu Iwao et al., ed., K o k u b u n chüshaku zensho (Tokyo:
Kokugakuin Daigaku Shuppanbu, 1907-1910), p. 32.
80
See nn. 63 and 67, above.
See n. 63, above. Yasuda has cited a passage in a somewhat
earlier work, Ruihishö, by the Shingon monk Kanshin who died
ca. 1152-1153: a copy dated 1220 has a note about Indra's yearly evalua-
tion of human behavior that quotes from Sanböe 3.1 (Yasuda,
"Kobunken ni in'yö sareta Sanböekotoba (1)," p. 18).
82
Kakunyo's copy survives and is housed in the library of Honganji.
It is printed in Shinshü Shögyö Zensho Hensanjo, ed., Shinshü shögyö
zensho 4 (1941; reprinted Kyoto: Öyagi Köbundö, 1974), pp. 5-21; see
also Shüsei, pp. 96-97 and 118-22. There is also a translation in
German: see Hermann Bohner, Shötoku t a i s h i . Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Natur und Völkerkunde Ostasiens. Mitteilungen Supplementband
15 (Tokyo, 1940), pp. 414-35. See also Hashikawa Tadashi, Jögü t a i s h i
g y o k i no kenkyü (Kyoto: Teishiya Shoten Shuppanbu, 1921) and "Jögü
t a i s h i g y o k i to Sanböekotoba" in S h i n r a n t o sökoku 2.1 (January
1920):24-27.
See Shüsei, pp. 525-59. For an annotated edition of the verses,
see Shinran Shönin Zenshü Kankökai, ed., T e i h o n S h i n r a n Shönin
zenshü 2 (Kyoto: Hözökan, 1969-1970), pp. 251-74. The early studies of
the verses are Washio Kyödö, "Jögü T a i s h i g y o k i to Ippyakujüshishu
oyobi Shichijüshichi T a i s h i w a s a n " in Rokuhö gakuhö 217 (December
1919):19-28 and Taya Raishun, "Ippyakujüshi T a i s h i w a s a n kö" in
O t a n i gakuhö 13.2 (April 1932):183-231.
8
Shüsei, p. 535. For the text and a commentary on S h i n
sanböekotoba, see Koizumi Hiroshi, " S h i n sanböekotoba (honkoku) to
kenkyü" in Hokkaido Setsuwa Bungaku Kenkyükai, ed., Chüsei setsuwa
no sekai (Tokyo: Kasama Shoin, 1979), pp. 3-28.
85
Yasuda, "Kobunken ni in'yö sareta Sanböekotoba ( 1 ) " p. 17; see
also the notes by Izumi Michi in N K B T 70:19-20.
Of*
See Ryakuchü, p. 44. Nakagawa's article, "Minamoto Tamenori

no Sanboe" is reprinted in Nihon Bungaku Kenkyü Shiryö Kankökai,
ed., Setsuwa b u n g a k u , Nihon bungaku kenkyü shiryö sösho (Tokyo:
Yüseidö, 1972), pp. 67-70.
87
Reprinted in Nihon Bungaku Kenkyü Shiryö Kankökai, ed.,
Setsuwa b u n g a k u , pp. 71-75.
88
T h e studies on Prince Shötoku are included in Hashikawa's Jögü
t a i s h i g y o k i no kenkyü; the Saichö and K e g o n ' e articles are in his N i h o n
bukkyö b u n k a s h i no kenkyü (Kyoto: Chügai Shuppan, 1924), pp. 103-29.
89
Izumoji Osamu, "Sanböe no hensan ishiki" in B u n g a k u 43.3
(March 1975): 24166; Mori Masato, "Sanböe no seiritsu to Höon j u r i n "
in A i c h i K e n r i t s u D a i g a k u B u n g a k u b u ronshü 26 (March 1977):15-28.
Chapter 2
A Reading of Sanböe
Imagine, if you will, that you are Sonshi. It is a bleak afternoon in

winter, and you have been finding it hard to keep warm in your black and
grey nun's robes. It has not been easy to concentrate on your prayers.
But one of your attendants has just come in to say that Tamenori has
called and left a three-scroll book. It must be the one you have been
expecting him to bring. Now the scrolls are set before you, and you reach
for the one that is marked "The First Volume," undo its bindings, and
start to unroll it. It is, indeed, Sanböe. The reading begins.
The General Preface
Tamenori begins with quotations, the first in a book replete with

quotations, allusions, things borrowed from other sources, sometimes
acknowledged, sometimes not. The first two such borrowings—one, a
Chinese poem, the other, Japanese—are given to remind the reader of
the insubstantiality of life, a fundamental Buddhist concept, the essen-
tial insight that allows men and women to shed their attachments to life
and impels them to search for permanent release. Tamenori first intro-
duces the idea through poetry rather than through scriptural quotation,
and the poems also introduce an imagery of impermanence—rootless,
floating weeds, a drifting boat lost in a mist, fragile bubbles (a conven-
tional imagery, to be sure)—that will be sustained throughout the
"General Preface" through the repetition of similar natural metaphors.
By evoking the language of poetry at the outset, Tamenori effectively
tunes his narrative voice to a secular key. Though much of what follows
will be derived from scripture and will deal with specifically nonsecular
41
42 A Reading of Sanboe
concerns, there will be no permanent transposition from this key:

Tamenori will continue to address his reader in the language of this
world as he teaches the right way to prepare for the next.
The next quotation, given in proof of the sentiments expressed in
the Chinese and Japanese verses just quoted, is, appropriately enough,
taken from the L o t u s Sütra, the central scripture in the Tendai tradition
and the scripture that formed the basis of Tamenori's perspective on his
subject, and the Buddhist text from which he quotes more than any
other. Here, however, Tamenori does not identify the source as the
L o t u s as such; rather, he says, these are words that we find "in the teach-
ings of the truly enlightened, universally compassionate Buddha." This
is an appropriate way to introduce the first of many instances in which
Tamenori, with considerable reverence and to considerable effect,
employs the words of the sütras, and of other respected, authoritative
texts in Sanböe.
Quotation, Allusion, and Citation
Although it is an original creation, the "General Preface," like the

prefaces to each volume of Sanböe, is largely a tissue of quotations and
allusions. Tamenori freely acknowledged this by naming many of his
sources, however, and in return his own text gained authority; the
respected words of others, identified as such, gave Sanböe strength and
attested to the veracity of its content.
Tamenori's citations of his sources are generally of two kinds.
When a direct quotation or paraphrase is offered in the midst of a
preface or tale it is usually preceded by the phrase "[title] n i i w a k u " ("As
it says in [title]"). Some of these tags say only "The sütra [or 'a sütra'}
says. . ." and omit the proper name of the work. In many such cases,
though not all, "the sütra" means "the L o t u s Sütra."
The other form of citation is found at or near the end of almost
every tale. These citations name a primary text or texts as the source for
the content—and in some cases, most of the words—of that tale. The
form of most of these citations is "[title] n i m i e t a r i " ("This appears in
[title]"). Close comparison, where it is possible, confirms that most of
these citations do identify the works that Tamenori used as his models.
Where multiple titles are cited, each is usually represented in some part
of Tamenori's version. So these acknowledgments are not merely lists of
texts in which related material is to be found; in most cases, they do tell
us what we need to know about the way that Tamenori put this book
together.
A Reading of Sanböe 43
However, some citations of primary sources are offered even where

Tamenori may have used a text other than that cited, or where he may
have written his own version independently, without close reliance on
the original or any other recension. It has been shown that in many
instances, where Tamenori cited a work of scripture as his source, or
paraphrased one without identification, his model text may not, in fact,
have been the original scripture but, rather, the version of it that appears
in Fa-yüan c h u - l i n , a Buddhist encyclopedia compiled by Tao-shih in
1
668. Tamenori's most extensive use of this work would appear to be in
the tales of the first volume, which are discussed below. Various
passages in the prefaces, the sources of which are not indicated by
Tamenori, can also be found in Fa-yüan c h u - l i n ; it is thought that he
used it as his source or model in these instances as well. Even in these
instances, nonetheless, where he did cite a title as a source he cited the
title of the original work; he never mentioned Fa-yüan c h u - l i n . His
reasons were the same here as everywhere else that he cites a title: espe-
cially when the cited text was a Buddhist scripture, but even when it was
not, such citation underscored and strengthened the authority of this
text (Sanböe). It did so by placing it in a lineage extending through time
from those other texts to Sanböe and on beyond it, toward other texts
that would, in turn, cite Sanböe as a reliable and respected authority.
There are, in addition, a great number of quotations and
paraphrases from scripture and from secular works that are not set off
by anything explicitly identifying them as derived materials. (The
sources of most of these passages have been identified by modern
scholars and are indicated in the notes to the translation.) The assump-
tion behind these unspecified allusions may have been that the reader
would recognize them as such and might even recall their original
context; the intended function may then have been akin to the allusions
that played such an important role in the kinds of poetry familiar to
both Tamenori and Sonshi. Such allusive writing may also have been
employed in Sanböe in a conscious effort to involve the reader more
deeply in the reading of the text. Reliance on allusion is certainly typical
of the stylistic conventions of the time, especially those that governed
the writing of Chinese prose in Japan. The effect in Sanböe may have
been to make this text, which had to deal with material and ideas that
must have been unfamiliar to its first reader, at least stylistically closer
to something she was used to reading. There is one other possible reason
for the lack of identification of the source of some quotations and allu-
sions. Tamenori may also have been working, at times, from secondary
or tertiary materials in which the original source identifications were
also omitted, and he may not have had the means or the time to check
for further information.
Whether quoting from originals, from Fa-yüan c h u - l i n , or else-

where, Tamenori is generally a careful and faithful adaptor of his
sources. Sometimes, however, he reduces the amount of detail, changes
a term or an expression here or there, or gives only a very loose
paraphrase. More apparent discrepancies may arise from variations
between the texts he used and those that are now standard. But at other
points it seems that Tamenori has consciously edited his version,
eliminating possibly puzzling terms or discursive digressions, generally
simplifying and clarifying the narrative line to maintain momentum and
clarity. (Instances of this are cited in the notes.) The motive for such
editing is easy to perceive: anything that would help Sonshi to under-
stand and absorb the information in Sanböe, and make the experience of
reading it more rewarding, was entirely justified.
Sanbö, Sanji, a n d Sonshi
This tissue of quotations that is the "General Preface" initiates the

process of edification by speaking to Sonshi about Sonshi. Elsewhere,
Tamenori addresses her directly; here, perhaps in deference, he refers
obliquely to her actions and her attitudes. He does so with sympathy
and admiration and with flattering hyperbole that is reminiscent of
Yasutane's; but, more importantly for the purpose of what is to come, he
affirms her present circumstances and motives by showing that they are
consonant with compelling Buddhist concerns. The urgency of her need
to prepare for the next life is not discussed here as something stemming
from any aspect of her personal condition, such as illness; rather, as
Tamenori describes it, such urgency is dictated by grave conditions that
pertain to all. That Sonshi has correctly perceived the need, and has
decided to act upon it, is, in his view, all the more praiseworthy.
Furthermore, the fact that she has done so has created not only the need
for the book that he is writing but also an opportunity for him to gather
merit as well through its composition.
"One thousand nine hundred and thirty-three years have passed
since the Buddha Säkyamuni left this world," Tamenori observes. "We
may now be in the Period of the Imitated Teaching [zöhö], but surely
only a few years of this interim period remain to us." Tamenori was
writing this in the year 984 (a date that appears, in fact, at the end of the
"General Preface"), and the figure that Tamenori uses here is one that is
based on the dating of the death of the Buddha to the year 949 B . C . E .
This was, indeed, one of the dates used most frequently in calculations of
the beginnings and endings of the predestined "three periods" (sanji),
and, on the same basis, it was often predicted that the final period of
A Reading of Sanboe 45
decline would begin in the year 1052 C.E.—only sixty-eight years beyond
2
Tamenori's and Sonshi's "present." Tamenori thus reminds Sonshi
that she and he are living in the second of the three periods through
which Buddhism was to pass, and that the conditions of this period and
the imminence of the next—the cataclysmic "Period of the Declining
Teaching" (mappö)—have made most individual religious acts impotent
and empty. The only alternative is to rely on "the Three Jewels" and, if
possible, to become part of them by taking vows and joining the
3
community of monks and nuns.
Sonshi, of course, has done just that, for perhaps a variety of
reasons—some of which may have been known to Tamenori only slightly
better than they can be known to us. Here, however, he describes her
deed as one inspired by an innate spiritual predisposition (as Yasutane
also was to do in the g a n m o n ) . Sonshi's renunciation is ennobled, after
the fact, by Tamenori's view of it as the realization of long-nurtured
intent, with firm grounding in legitimate religious tenets, ample
precedent—even in women of Sonshi's station, according to scripture—
and as a reasonable response to the perception of this world's imper-
manence evoked in the preface's opening lines. The interpretation
Tamenori offers may have been de r i g u e u r but may nonetheless have
been well taken, for it deftly placed Sonshi's deed on a higher plane than
that of private, willful impulse. To the extent that renunciation can
appear positive—a fulfillment rather than a resignation—Tamenori
makes it appear to be so. And when Tamenori observes that there is
"nothing among all acts of devotion to compare with the merit derived
from one day and one night as a sworn monk or nun" (a point he would
reiterate in several ways), he may be reminding Sonshi that even if her
time as a nun is short it will have been well spent. Sonshi has done the
best thing that she can, and she can make the most of it by reading this
book (Sanböe) and following its injunctions.
It is on these grounds that Tamenori makes bold to warn Sonshi
against the temptations of g o , k o t o and m o n o g a t a r i . Her time is
precious, and her need to maintain a clear perception of truth and to
focus on her future—whatever it may be—preclude such entertainments.
It is unfair to take Tamenori's complaints about fiction as an absolute
and categorical condemnation, as some commentators have done,
though it is certain that m o n o g a t a r i suited neither his tastes nor his
4
standards. But he dismisses them here, along with other trivial
pursuits, mostly for Sonshi's sake; this book, Sanböe, was better than
other entertainment and very fit to serve as a means through which the
knowledge she needed could be obtained, and the spiritual progress she
sought, enhanced.
To achieve those ends Tamenori claimed to have planned his book
with Nägärjuna's verse as his guide and with structure and content that
46 A Reading of Sanböe
correspond more than simply symbolically to the "Three Jewels" and

Buddhism's "Three Periods." His identification of sanbö (which, as we
have seen, is underscored as a motif by mention in this passage of its
synonym, s a n k i , as well) with s a n j i was specious, without doctrinal
support or any deep meaning that could be developed successfully within
the book itself. This was Tamenori's way of suggesting that there was a
wholeness in these three wide-ranging volumes and that the fact that
they were three was somehow more than an accident, but in his
persistent attempt to make these identifications complete he over-
reached himself. The content of volume one, the volume of the Buddha
(the first jewel) comes, he says, from the distant past, which he equates
with the first "period"; the second volume describes the progress and
results of the propagation of Buddhist teachings (the second jewel) "in
more recent times," representing the second "period"; the third volume
deals with the "rites performed by monks" (who stand for the third
jewel) "today." He must stop short here, for he cannot say that the
present is the last "period"; he has, for one thing, already shown that
mappö may be close but has not yet dawned, and he certainly does not
want to imply that "today's monks" are corrupt or that their under-
standing of the teachings is in any way invalid.
Another element of the balancing of "threes" also breaks down
midway into this passage. Tamenori distinguishes the sources of the
first volume's tales—"a variety of scriptures" ( k u s a g u s a no kyö)—from
those of the second—"an array of secular documents" (ieie no f u m i ) in
balanced phrases—but he makes no attempt to complete the triad when
he reaches the third volume, and its varied sources remain unidentified
here. Instead, Tamenori manages a graceful escape from this overly
wrought imposition of abstract symbol and interpretive concept on
content and form, this overextended attempt at parallelism. Returning
once more to the sanbö figure, he uses a scriptural paraphrase, again
from the L o t u s Sütra, to praise the book that so fully elaborates upon it:
" A l l of it concerns itself with the Buddha, his Teachings, and his Clergy,
and therefore it is good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at
the end. The Three Jewels are to be found everywhere and in all things,
and you must stand by them."
Hereafter, the s a n j i concept recedes into the background, while
other motifs and ideas take precedence, and the three volumes that
follow portray them instead. Rather than presenting an account of
Buddhism's progressive degeneration (a process described in the preface
to the second volume, but for other reasons), the content of Sanböe
draws a picture of Buddhism as something that is very much alive, some-
thing that has grown and developed and spread, something that remains
full of meaning and efficacy and is hence admirable above all things.
Were that not so, there would have been no reason, of course, for
teaching Sonshi so much about it. Tamenori was pessimistic about the
state of the world and the value of worldly pursuits, and in this he was in
agreement with the standard pessimism of his time. This pessimism did
not extend to Buddhism, however, for he believed that he, as well as
Sonshi, would benefit from his service and his devotion to it.
Kudoku, Zuiki, a n d T a m e n o r i
In the last section of the "General Preface," Tamenori steps forth

to identify himself as Sonshi's servant and teacher and as aspirant to the
same salvation that she seeks. He alludes to his relationship to her
family and to his literary training, both of which have made it possible
for him, now, to take up and carry out this task. It is a task that came to
him when he was ready for it, for he had already fixed upon a good
rebirth in the next life as his only meaningful goal. When he writes that
"the feelings in my own heart got tangled in the very words," he shows
that he has taken his task very seriously and that he knows that his
injunctions apply as well to him as they do to Sonshi; when he says that
"my tears fell like rain upon my brush tip," there is more here than
melodrama. He reveals here a portion of his piety and his sincere
concern for Sonshi's fate—which, as it may have seemed to Tamenori,
might be submitted to judgment before much more time had passed.
"This is my prayer," he concludes: he wants these efforts to produce
merit for both Sonshi and himself, that he might follow her to his own
reward in the same way that Säkyamuni's servant followed him.
Tamenori's expectation is based on concepts that are developed in
several ways in the tales that follow—and fittingly so, for they are
fundamental tenets of Buddhist faith. Merit for good deeds ( k u d o k u ) , of
course, adds directly to the accumulated promise of a good reward in a
life or lives to come. Offerings of flowers, incense, and light—all of
which are documented in Sanböe tales—are conventional ways of
gaining such merit and are among the simplest ways of doing so. The
incipient Buddhas of the first volume's tales who strive in various ways
to do good, the devout Japanese Buddhists of the second, and the
observant monks and nuns of the third all do what they do largely in
order to accrue such merit. Sanböe is in large part concerned with the
depiction of the rewards that they and those who follow them receive. If
Sonshi emulates them, her expectations may be high. Tamenori himself
expects to gain his reward, but only through a particular kind of good
deed, one that is often favored by, and characteristic of, the self-
sacrificing Bodhisattva of the Mahäyäna tradition: devoting himself to
the spiritual progress of others before realizing his own. This, then, is
zuiki—literally, "derived joy"—and, technically, it is one of the means
that more advanced beings (such as Bodhisattvas) use to promote the
eventual salvation of others and, secondarily, to proceed toward their
own. Tamenori saw that he could emulate this method and claim a
reward for doing so through the very act of writing Sanböe, but he does
not use the terms for this method and its merit ( z u i k i höben, z u i k i
k u d o k u ) until he reaches his summation, in the last verse at the end of
the last volume. Still, the spirit of z u i k i pervades the text as Tamenori
strives at length to be a good teacher and good friend—like many that
have gone before him, in Buddhist scripture and in history—and thus to
win, through these efforts, an ultimate and everlasting reward.
Preface to the First Volume
"The first volume tells about the deeds of the Buddhas of long ago,"
Tamenori wrote in the "General Preface," and that is indeed so. But
first, in the preface to this volume, he explains that the thirteen Buddhas
of the past, who are the protagonists in the tales to follow, were, in fact,
the Buddha Säkyamuni in his previous lives. Tamenori will remind the
reader of this in a formal element repeated at the end of each of the tales.
In the preface, he goes on to explain that in these former incarnations,
which spanned an unimaginably vast period of time, the Buddha-to be
acted in specific ways that eventually produced, as a karmic reward, his
birth as the historical Buddha. The various ways in which he
"sacrificed" himself are particularly exemplary of this service, and
sacrifice is an important motif in almost all of the thirteen tales included
in the volume.
Inga: The P a t t e r n of Cause a n d Effect
Even the physical attributes of the Buddha's person are said to be

the results of his past virtues, according to scripture, and Tamenori
proceeds to list these in some detail. At the conclusion of this descrip-
tion he says, " A l l of these marks were the result of his deeds in previous
ages, the effect of his practice of the various perfections." Thus,
Tamenori focuses specifically on the pattern of cause and effect (inga) as
a key element in the formation of the Buddha. Similarly, in tale after
tale throughout Sanböe he will remind his reader of this incontrovertible
fact: good deeds will duly result in good rewards, and evil deeds will
likewise be duly punished. The concept is a simple but a fundamental
one; it is the assumption behind the whole noti of k a r m a , the force

that shapes each being's life according to its past actions, good or i l l , as
long as that being remains within the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
But abstract philosophical and technical disquisitions on such
concepts as k a r m a have little place in a work like Sanböe; instead,
Tamenori chooses to illustrate the workings of this principle by
dramatizing a repeating pattern of reward and retribution, primarily in
the context of memorable stories. Throughout the work, in fact, the
philosophical principles of Buddhism, where explicitly stated, are stated
very simply and without much explanation; Tamenori relies instead on
implicit illustration of abstract principles in the concrete contexts of his
chosen tales. This by no means represents condescension toward his
reader, but, rather, an accurate assessment of the best way for her to
learn and understand, and the method of teaching and the content of the
lesson are adjusted to that assessment. This approach, of course, is not
original with Tamenori. It is, in fact, espoused by scripture and securely
rooted in Buddhist doctrine: what one teaches and the way one teaches it
must suit the one who needs to learn. If this means that only part of the
lesson or only part of the truth can be taught, then so be it. (This is one
aspect of the concept of höben, "expedient means.") Tamenori certainly
could not teach Sonshi all of Buddhism, but he could amply represent
the whole by illustrating some of its essential parts. That meant,
however, that he had to make certain choices as to which parts to teach.
Clearly, he decided that, if nothing else, she should learn a great deal
about the law of cause and effect in human lives, as it is understood in
Buddhism. In the materials available to him and the works that served
as his models—especially N i h o n ryöiki—the same idea was dominant,
and so it naturally presented itself as an area of emphasis. The tales
included in Sanböe range considerably in terms of both subject and
source, but they are, inevitably, unified in their concern with the cause
and effect pattern. It is perhaps this element, more than any other, that
makes of them a cohesive, meaningful whole.
The E t e r n a l B u d d h a
This volume's tales deal with Säkyamuni's previous lives, while this
preface directs the reader's attention to a conception of Säkyamuni as
the great "effect" of a great many admirable "causes." But Tamenori
also wants to explain that Buddhism did not end with the end of this
great Buddha's life, that in fact he was but one great manifestation of a
Buddha who is everywhere, in all time, and always accessible. (This view
of the Buddha is that of the L o t u s Sütra, of the Tendai school, and of
Mahäyäna Buddhism in general.) Certain "causes"—certain acts of

piety—will produce the much desired effect of contact with this eternal
Buddha and his unbounded benevolence. The right practices, rightly
practiced, will make visualization of this Buddha possible, as Tamenori
promises: "When there is an affinity [en—a special predisposition,
brought about through the cultivation of right attitudes and pious prac-
tices], he will show you his form," and "in response to your prayers he
will let you hear his voice." The worship of images of the Buddha and
the relics of his person are also, he says, ways of getting close to him;
offerings of just "a single flower" or a single moment of sincere prayer are
also ways of making contact. Like so many other passages in the
prefaces, this one again foreshadows the content of many of the tales to
come, where it will be repeatedly shown that even the most modest offer-
ings, even devotions conducted on the smallest scale will nonetheless
produce the desired results as long as they are undertaken in sincerity.
A Reverent Gesture
At the end of the preface—as at the end of the prefaces to the two
remaining volumes—Tamenori describes a physical gesture that he
might indeed have acted out: "The palms of my hands are joined in
reverence; now I will illustrate the wonders of the Buddha." In each
volume the final phrase is altered slightly to lead effectively into what
follows, and the use of the repeating figure is another way of suggesting a
unity among the book's diverse parts. The gesture may have been
directed to Sonshi, the reader, but more likely it is a gesture toward the
book itself; it is an acknowledgment of the awe its author feels when he
steps outside of the text for a moment and recalls the gravity of its
content, its meaning, and its purpose.
The Tales of the First Volume
Composition
The line in the preface explaining that the Buddha's attributes

"were the result of his deeds in previous ages, the effect of his practice of
the various perfections," is also a key to the composition of the volume
itself. Its thirteen tales divide into two closely related groups, the first
six and then the remaining seven.
The first group consists of versions of stories traditionally collected
in scripture and elsewhere as illustrations of the Buddha's practice of
"the Six Perfections" (the six päramitäs; r o k u h a r a m i t s u in Japanese)—

categories of ideal behavior that, if cultivated to the greatest extent
possible, produce vast merit and assure the future Buddhahood of the
practitioner. The latter seven tales are about similarly virtuous doings,
and though they do not form a conventional group, they do come from
the same general source as do the first six, namely, the jätakas, the
corpus of stories about the Buddha's previous lives.
That Tamenori should have used jätaka stories in Sanböe at all is,
in itself, remarkable, for though known and recognized in Japanese
Buddhism, these stories were never particularly prominent as subjects in
either Japanese literature or art. Their role in Chinese Buddhism was
similarly limited, and it is only in Southeast Asian Buddhism that they
5
have continuously functioned as an important canonical genre.
Tamenori's use of them, however, is in fact in keeping with the rather
special way that they have been used throughout their history.
At least as early as the second century B.C.E., Indian Buddhists
began to use elements from indigenous folk tales and story-telling
traditions—elements such as the working of miracles, transformations,
and metamorphoses—in narratives that illustrated specifically Buddhist
concepts, especially those related to the Buddhist interpretation of the
belief in transmigration. Many examples of this kind of appropriation
can be seen in the jätakas. The protagonists of these stories are kings,
princes, wealthy merchants and their sons and daughters, ascetics, and
various other noble or humble creatures, including animals, whose
virtuous deeds collectively contribute to the accumulation of merit that
eventually produced the Buddha himself. They adhere sedulously to
their promises to do good or to devote themselves to a particular prin-
ciple or goal, often with the intention of sharing the benefits or merit
thus attained with others, but primarily in order to garner merit toward
future Buddhahood. They often face great odds or are subjected to
physical torment, but they invariably persevere or are miraculously
saved from their travails. Their determination, their sacrifices, and their
eventual success prove their inherent possession of the qualifications for
Buddhahood, and so most jätakas contain some element (sometimes at
the beginning, more often at the end) that reveals that the protagonist is,
in fact, a former incarnation of Säkyamuni. Other characters are often
identified as former incarnations of other members of Säkyamuni's
family, and good characters who aid or support the hero or heroine are
usually identified with his disciples, while adversaries and evil-doers are
often identified with Säkyamuni's enemies or other opponents of
Buddhism. The good or i l l these characters do is thus interpreted as the
cause leading to their eventual fortunate or unfortunate rebirths, and the
protagonists, of course, are rewarded with the greatest prize of all when
they become, at length, the Buddha himself. Thus, the jätakas

repeatedly demonstrate the operation of k a r m a , while simultaneously
illustrating the tenets of Buddhist morality, and were therefore effective
and appealing didactic tools. For the same reason, they were well suited
to Tamenori's needs and goals in Sanböe.
But in reproducing a selection of them in full, in the context of a
work such as Sanböe, Tamenori was doing something that no known
Japanese writer before him had done. Of the hundreds of known
jätakas, relatively few are of significance in the Mahäyäna tradition that
made its way from India through central Asia and China and eventually
to Japan. These stories were of most interest in the earliest stages of the
propagation of Buddhism in each region through which it passed.
Jätaka subjects were prominent, for instance, in the earliest known
examples of Buddhist art in India, in central Asia, and then in China.
But in each place they were soon eclipsed by other subjects—the life of
Säkyamuni himself, then other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and other
celestial deities. This development in iconography generally parallels the
shifts in interest occurring as particular texts rose to and then fell from
favor. Though the jätaka literature as such found no distinct niche in
Mahäyäna, the small but select number of jätakas that were incor-
porated into a few sütras in its canon did find a place there because they
served effectively as illustrations of ideas of particular significance in
that tradition. Others may have been created, with known jätakas or
6
other stories as their models, to serve a similar function. Some came to
be used repeatedly in descriptions of the sixfold path of virtuous practice
whereby Bodhisattvas qualify themselves for Buddhahood. Versions of
particular jätakas that lent themselves to the illustration of these "Six
Stages" ( r o k u d o ) , which are the same as the "Six Perfections"—charity,
discipline, forbearance, effort, meditation, and wisdom—recur in many
texts that deal with the Bodhisattva and his practices, which are, of
course, major Mahäyäna preoccupations.
The set of six jätakas illustrating the "Six Perfections" that
Tamenori uses as the first six tales in Sanböe is one that is used in
similar ways in well-known texts—specifically, a sütra entitled
1
Rokudojikkyö and a treatise, D a i c h i d o r o n (a wide-ranging commentary
on the Mahäprajnäpäramitä Sütra), traditionally attributed to Nägär-
8
juna. Tamenori's selection and inclusion of these six can be explained
largely through reference to those texts, which are also the works he cites
as his chief sources. His first three tales are those that are used to
illustrate the same three "perfections" in Rokudojikkyö: the Sibi,
Srutasoma, and K§änti stories are in sections 2, 41, and 44 of the sütra.
The story of Prince Mahätyägavat, used in Sanböe 1.4 to illustrate the
perfection of effort, appears in Rokudojikkyö section 9, but there it
illustrates the perfection of charity. And, in a single passage in the

fourth fascicle of D a i c h i d o r o n , all six of Tamenori's jätakas appear in
9
the same order and in correspondence to the same perfections. In addi-
tion, the same six appear in the same way in treatises of importance in
the Tendai school. There is, for example, a close paraphrase of the
D a i c h i d o r o n passage in Chih-i's S s u - c h i a o - i , where each story is intro-
duced with a question—"How is the perfection of [charity, discipline,
etc.] fulfilled?"—and each is concluded with a coda-like section that ends
with the words "This is how the perfection of [charity, discipline, etc.] is
10
fulfilled." An almost identical presentation appears in Chih-i's K u a n -
y i n hsüan-i, and another variation appears in Ti-kuan's T ' i e n - t ' a i ssu-
1
chiao-i}
There can be little doubt that these presentations served as
Tamenori's models, even for the sections that begin and end each of his
first six tales. In Sanböe, Chih-i's questions become short disquisitions
on the meaning of each of the Six Perfections, expanded through the
inclusion of allusions to and paraphrases from a variety of other texts.
The subject of these disquisitions—grammatically and otherwise—is
"the Bodhisattva," and Tamenori uses the term here, as does Chih-i in
the model passages, to mean "the incipient Säkyamuni Buddha." Even
the verb used in Tamenori's codas to say that the perfections were "thus
fulfilled" (i.e., the verb m i t s u ) is the same as Chih-i's. One addition of
Tamenori's to the codas, the revelations of the heroes as "the Tathägata
Säkyamuni of today," makes explicit what is implicit in S s u - c h i a o - i and
the other model texts. This addition serves one other important func-
tion for Tamenori: it is the only structural feature of the first six tales
that is also repeated in the remaining seven, and thus it helps to bind
them all together.
The content of all the tales, of course, is also similar: all narrate the
heroes' adherence to their principles or their vows despite all challenges
and obstacles, and all of the protagonists act in ways that justify their
identification with the Buddha at each story's end. A l l thirteen can also
be said to be examples of the jätakas that are best known in the
Mahäyäna tradition (the number of which, as has been noted, is rather
limited), but, perhaps surprisingly, there is no one place to which we can
look—at least not in literature—for a good model or likely source for
Tamenori's selection of the last seven or, for that matter, the entire
grouping. That the literary evidence of precedents should be so sparse
may also be surprising since some of these stories seem so "familiar"
(insofar as a general East Asian tradition is concerned), but this may in
turn suggest that the best indications of precedent lie elsewhere.
The first known Chinese writers to include jätakas in a compen-
dium of Buddhist materials were Pao-ch'ang and the other editors of
Ching-lü i-hsiangy the first great Chinese Buddhist encyclopedia, which

was completed in 516. Its twenty-first section is composed almost
entirely of jätaka recensions, including several about the past lives of
12
Devadatta, Säkyamuni's violently rebellious cousin and disciple. F a -
y u a n c h u - l i n contains a great many jätaka passages and related
materials, including excerpts from Chinese pilgrims' descriptions of
Indian memorials to various jätaka heroes. (Some of these, from Hslian-
tsang's T a - t ' a n g h s i - y u - c h i , are also quoted by Tamenori in the conclu-
sions to 1.11 and 1.12.) Some jätakas appear in brief form or are alluded
to in T'ang p i e n - w e n ("marvel" or "transformation" texts) found at Tun-
huang. In the opening section of a version of the p i e n - w e n entitled T'ai-
tzu c h ' e n g - t a o c h i n g ( T a i s h i jödökyö), dated 934, for example, the stories
of K§änti, Sibi, and Mahäsattva (Sanböe 1.3, 1.10, and 1.11) are briefly
13
summarized. Fragments of other p i e n - w e n specifically devoted to the
Mahäsattva and the Sudäna (Sanböe 1.12) jätakas have also been iden-
14
tified. (The protagonist of the Sudäna jätaka is perhaps better known
as Visvantara.) P i e n - w e n were probably meant to be read aloud, and
readings were probably highlighted and explicated with corresponding
pictures in popular proselytizing performances. For this reason, these
works are often cited as forerunners of Japanese Buddhist didactic
works that also employed texts and pictures, and particularly of those
like Sanböe that may have been designed for oral readings. Attempts to
show direct correlations between p i e n - w e n and specific Japanese works
15
of this kind have, however, been inconclusive. Likewise, it has not yet
been shown that there was any direct line of transmission from the p i e n -
wen and their treatment of jätaka material to Sanböe or any other of the
very few works in Japanese that include jätaka versions, though such a
lineage does seem plausible.
The earliest known Japanese references to jätaka are in Tödaiji
fujumonkö, a manual of ritual texts compiled between 796 and 834, but
these are only brief allusions to the stories of the "Himalaya Boy" and of
16
Mahäsattva (1.10 and 1.11 in Sanböe). There is also a brief allusion to
1 1
the Mahäsattva story in Kükai's Sangö s h i i k i . There are, however, no
other significant references or recensions in Japanese works that predate
Sanböe; nor, it may be observed, are there all that many in works coming
after it.
The search for models and precedents must, of course, be made
with the awareness that literary works that might have served in this
capacity may have been lost. There are, on the other hand, some impor-
tant works of art that can supplement this search, and these may be of
particular importance if Sanböe is viewed as part of a pictorial as well as
a literary tradition. In fact, a survey of the jätaka subjects depicted in
sculpture and painting all over Asia (found mostly in a few transitional
epochs in Buddhism's history) reveals that the subjects Tamenori chose

are also those that appear or predominate at every site where jätaka
depictions do occur. Eight jätaka illustrations are to be found, for
example, in friezes on a stone stüpa carved in the second century B.C.E.
at Bharhut, in central India, and one of these depicts the Mfga jätaka,
the story of a regal stag that is closely related to the jätaka source of
18
Sanböe 1.9. The stories of Sudäna/Visvantara and Syäma (Sanböe
1.12 and 1.13) are two of the eight jätakas depicted in the carvings on the
gateways to the Great Stüpa at Sänchi, which date from the first century
1 9
C.E. The Syäma and Sudäna/Visvantara jätakas are also seen in
examples of Gandhäran sculpture that also date to the first or second
2 0
century C . E . The same jätakas are the subjects of carvings at
AmarävatI (executed between 150 and 200 C.E.) and at Mathura, and
there is a depiction of the Srutasoma jätaka (Sanböe 1.2) in Cave 2 at
21
Aurangabad. And five of the Sanböe subjects—Sibi (1.1), K§änti (1.3),
the Deer King (1.7), Sudäna/Visvantara, and Syäma—are represented in
the great cave paintings at Ajantä, which were executed at various times
22
between the second century B.C.E. and the sixth century C . E .
Among the most famous examples of jätaka art outside India are
the eighth-century carvings in the temples at Barabucjur, in Java; the
Mj-ga jätaka is one of the nineteen depicted there that have been iden-
23
tified with certainty. Jätaka subjects were also of great importance in
the art produced as Buddhism made its way east through Central Asia.
In the cave paintings at Kizil, on the northern branch of the Silk Route
in what is now part of the Soviet Union, the dominant jätaka subjects
are, again, many of those appearing in Sanböe: in the early seventh-
century paintings in the "Cave of the Musicians," for instance, there are
illustrations of the Srutasoma, K§änti, Mahätyägavat (Sanböe 1.4),
"Himalaya Boy," Mahäsattva, Sudäna, and Syäma jätakas. Other caves
at Kizil have additional paintings of the K$änti and Mahäsattva tales
24
and also of the story of Sankhäcärya (Sanböe 1.5).
Farther east into China, in the cave paintings at Tun-huang,
jätakas again provided a source of subjects, and the majority of those
illustrated are once again the ones that appear in Sanböe. The story of
Sibi (1.1) is depicted in three caves, while the Jalavähana jätaka (1.7),
that of the Lion (1.8), the Mfga jätaka, and the story of the "Himalaya
Boy" are all subjects of paintings in one cave each. The last three
Sanböe tales are the most frequently depicted at Tun-huang: there are
Mahäsattva paintings in seven caves, Sudäna/Visvantara depictions are
25
found in four, and Syäma depictions occur in five. There are also four
jätaka friezes in the caves at Yün-kang, one of which depicts the story of
26
Syäma. In the "Pin Yang" cave at Lung-men, the Sibi, Mahäsattva
and Sudäna/Visvantara jätakas are depicted in carvings in "minor
decorative areas." There are also Chinese steles of the fifth and sixth
centuries, in Western collections, that illustrate the Mahäsattva,
28
Sudäna/Visvantara, and Syäma stories.
Jätaka scenes appeared in China in one other instance that was
known in Japan through written description as well as direct importa-
tion. According to Tao-hsüan's C h i - s h e n - c h o u san-pao k a n - t ' u n g - l u
(664), the A yü-wang ssu in Mou-hsien possessed a stüpa with jätaka
illustrations that was reputedly one of a set of 84,000 cast at the behest
of King Asoka, the great patron of Buddhism and unifier of India in the
29
third century B . C . E . (after whom the temple was named). The monk
Chien-chen (Ganjin) visited the temple in 743 before leaving China for
Japan (see Sanböe 3.5), and his biographer Ömi Mifune (Genkai) also
reported that the four sides of the stüpa Chien-chen saw there were
decorated with jätaka scenes, two of which were the Sibi and
30
Mahäsattva stories. In 955, Ch'ien Hung-shu, the prince of Wu-Yüeh,
commissioned the casting of 84,000 similar stüpas (apparently half the
31
size of Asoka's) with illustrations of the same jätakas Several of
Ch'ien's stüpas survive in China, and at least four of them eventually
32
found their way to Japan.
The only other example of depiction of jätaka subjects in a
Japanese artifact is far better known. It is the "Tamamushi no zushi," a
miniature shrine dated to about 600 C.E. that is one of the great
treasures of the Höryüji monastery. Two of the shrine's panels are
painted with scenes from the "Himalaya Boy" and Mahäsattva jätakas,
and the paintings emphasize the motif of sacrifice in both stories: the
,
"Himalaya Boy" s fall out of a tree toward the arms of the demon and
Prince Mahäsattva's fall into the pit of starving tigers are both depicted
with figures of the young men plummeting in similar postures toward the
beasts that wait to devour them. The choice and pairing of these two
subjects, as well as the method of depiction, may indicate that the
anonymous artist or artists—probably Japanese—had some knowledge
33
of a continental artistic tradition that combined them in this way. It is
important to point out, however, that the stories of these two self-
sacrificing heroes were known in early Japanese Buddhism not as jätaka,
as such, but rather because they figured in sütras that were particularly
prominent in the earliest phase of the religion's propagation in Japan.
The "Himalaya Boy"'s story occurs in D a i h a t s u nehangyö, and
34
Mahäsattva's is featured in Konkömyö saishöökyö Both texts were
the basis of rites that were among the first to be sanctioned and spon-
sored by the state, and though other sütras were to have greater
significance for Japanese Buddhism, the rites based on these two (which
are described by Tamenori in the third volume) continued to be observed
long after their central role had come to an end. "Nehangyö" and
"Saishöökyö" as he calls them, are also Tamenori's sources for his

versions of the stories of these two great heroes, who are by no means
the central figures of the sütras but the protagonists of episodes. Did
familiarity with the "Tamamushi no zushi" painting play some role in
his placement of the two tales portrayed there together, following one
another in Sanböe, with the effect of echoing the motif of the "sacrificial
fall" as it is echoed on the shrine? Could an artist, commissioned to
paint the pictures that were to accompany Tamenori's text, have been
aware of a tradition of such depiction, and could he have suggested this
arrangement? We cannot know. There are no "e a r i " notations in the
copies of these tales, and even if there were we could not be sure that
they were ever illustrated, or in what manner—though they were surely
meant to be.
The coincidence of Tamenori's selection of these subjects and of
almost all the subjects of the first volume with subjects known to have
been painted, sculpted, or otherwise portrayed elsewhere (though chiefly
on the continent) may suggest, at least, the possibility of some
consciousness of a tradition of jätaka depiction on someone's part—if
not Tamenori's, then perhaps his artist colleague's (if there was one).
And even if the direct influence of artistic tradition cannot be proven,
Tamenori and the Asian artists who depicted the same jätaka subjects
did have this in common: they recognized that certain features of
certain jätakas made them particularly apt for the illustration of certain
features of Buddhism in memorable and affecting ways. The selections
made by both Tamenori and these artists may have been determined in
large part by the texts that came most readily to their hands, and by
other factors as well, but in all cases the search for materials to adapt
and include and the process of their reproduction were carried out in the
same spirit and fulfilled the same desire: to teach about Buddhism in the
most direct, appealing, and lasting ways possible.
Some of Tamenori's acknowledgments of sources at the end of each
tale can be read as indications of which texts came most readily to his
hands. They also may show that in some cases he had to explore further
for sources that could serve as the bases of complete, detailed presenta-
tions. Rokudojikkyö and D a i c h i d o r o n are cited either as the single
source or as one of the two sources for nine of the tales. "Höongyö" (i.e.,
Daihöbenbutsuhöongyö, another collection of jätakas known in the
35
Mahäyäna tradition ) is cited along with Rokudojikkyö as a source for
the Mahätyägavat tale (1.4) and as the sole source of the tale of the
"Lion Who Held Firmly to His Vows" (1.8). "Saishöökyö" the source of
the Mahäsattva tale, is also the source cited for that of Jalavähana (1.7).
And for the Sudäna and Syäma tales (1.12 and 1.13), Tamenori cites two
sütras—Taishi Shudainakyö and "Bosatsu Senkyö" (i.e., Bussetsu
Senjikyö), which are works devoted entirely to versions of these

6
jätakas—along with Rokudojikkyö? Tamenori may have taken some
elements of many of these tales from elsewhere, particularly from F a -
y u a n c h u - l i n (as notes to the tales show), but we can also assume with
some certainty that Tamenori did consult versions of all the works he
names at some point in the process of preparing his versions. There
remains the possibility that some other models of jätaka renderings
presented themselves to him, but none can be identified. The writing of
these thirteen tales probably required some time and effort, but they are,
by and large, well told. The Sankhäcärya (1.5) and Govinda (1.6) tales
are perfunctory recitations that stay close to their sources, but the
Sudäna and Syäma tales, though equally faithful, are sustained,
dramatic narratives skillfully retold and are perhaps the best examples of
the way that good stories are allowed to speak for themselves in Sanböe.
Jätaka Motifs
These thirteen tales, like all jätakas, speak for themselves; there is
not much subtlety here, and the moral lesson of each tale is made as
clear as it can be. But where the story is a good one, with sympathetic,
admirable characters in a gripping plot line, as in the last two tales, the
method seems to justify itself. The morals and the motifs of these thir-
teen tales are representative of the jätaka literature as a whole—
wherein, in turn, a very basic form of Buddhist ethics is shown at work
in a mythic, ideal world of the past. In the jätaka world, the wise recog-
nize what is good and what is not, and those who do wrong, whether
knowingly or not, repent or are duly punished and duly forgiven. Only
one of Tamenori's jätakas—that of Mahäsattva (1.11)—has a less than
perfectly happy ending; in all the others all wounds are healed, all injus-
tices redressed, and ignorance and suffering are replaced by enlighten-
ment and prosperity. But Mahäsattva, like all the other heroes, even-
tually became the Buddha, too, so even his sad story has its happy
ending.
In this sense, perhaps unwittingly, Tamenori did devise a volume of
tales that suggests the ideal conditions of Buddhism's first period—"the
Period of the True Teaching" (shöbö), when the Buddha's teachings were
perfectly understood and perfectly realized. This effect, however, is
probably incidental. It comes about simply because Tamenori's jätaka
sources represented such an ideal world, and not necessarily because he
consciously sought to do so. He did not define s a n j i when he introduced
the concept; he used it primarily to underscore the book's relationship to
various "threes." But a well-schooled reader of his time, perhaps an

older monk or nun who might have read with Sonshi, might very well
have known enough to point out that the perfect operations of cause and
effect and the moral balance of the tales in this first volume do, in fact,
portray a shöbö world.
In a similarly incidental manner, and also largely due to their
derivation from jätakas, these first thirteen tales also introduce certain
motifs that, when taken together, begin to create a composite picture of
Buddhist values. These motifs recur throughout the tales in the volumes
that follow. A desire to achieve this effect was probably not a factor in
Tamenori's selection of the tales, but the effect, deliberate or not, is
unmistakable. The concept of respect for all forms of life and the abhor-
rence of killing, for example, which is developed in various ways in the
stories of Sibi (1.1), Sankhäcärya, Jalavähana, the Lion, the Deer King,
Mahäsattva, and Syäma, reappears in both the second volume (in 2.13,
the story of a virtuous woman who saves the life of a crab and is then
saved by it) and the third (in 3.26, a description of the Höjöe, a ritual
release of captured animals). Aspects of the ascetic life and its rewards
are seen in Sankhäcärya's, the Himalaya Boy's, Sudäna's, and Syäma's
stories; in retrospect, these become ideal examples for the devout
Japanese men and women of volume two and the observant monks and
nuns of volume three. The ultimate self-sacrifices offered in the name of
principle, faith, and the welfare of others by such heroes as Sibi,
Srutasoma, K§änti, Mahätyägavat, the Lion, the Deer King, the
Himalaya Boy, and Sudäna have their parallel, too, in the absolute,
unswerving devotion of the protagonists of the later tales. The
Himalaya Boy, for example, offers his life in order to hear the prajnä
(wisdom) doctrine of nonsubstantiality; in a sense he prefigures the fear-
less and determined monks who risked their lives on their way to Japan
to propagate Buddhism and the Japanese monks who made the arduous
journey to China and back in search of authoritative texts and transmis-
sions. The charity practiced in the extreme by Sibi and Sudäna is a
magnified version of the acts of generosity described and recommended
in later tales, and the miracles that restore Sibi, K§änti, and Syäma
foreshadow others that are also attributed to faithful reliance on
Buddhism's powers. These recurrences appear in part because they are
inherent features of the kind of material that Tamenori used, material to
which he was naturally drawn in his search for good stories about cause
and effect; that is also why these themes recur as they do even among the
37
tales of this one volume. Nonetheless, they give the volume and Sanböe
as a whole a kind of motivic unity, and they work together to suggest
what Buddhism, albeit greatly simplified, should mean to Sonshi.
The First Verse
Like verse passages in sütras, which often serve as recapitulations

of preceding prose sections, the verses at the end of each volume of
Sanböe echo particular elements of the corresponding prefaces and
groups of tales. In his first verse Tamenori metaphorically and hyper-
bolically alludes again to the superhuman dimensions of the Buddha's
character and achievements. In the preface these were enumerated in
detail; here they can be referred to generally as his "accomplishments in
the six stages," "his fulfillment of ten thousand tasks," "his awesome
deeds and sufferings." The content of the preceding tales is thus
summarized and recast as a portion of a much larger story. Here, too,
the identity of the Bodhisattva (the Buddha-to-be) with the Tathägata
(the fully realized Buddha) is made explicit, as if in reiteration of the
point of each tale's coda section. The verse also alters the narrative pace
and, in closing the set of tales, reflects back upon it in assessment; the
reader, too, is given time to pause and ponder.
Preface to the Second Volume
The focus of this second volume, according to Tamenori's scheme,

is on the second jewel: the Buddha's teachings. The tales do not in fact
expound those teachings but cast them as the causes of certain
marvelous effects: a procession of Japanese devotees to various aspects
of Buddhism appears here, demonstrating some of the many ways in
which the power of these teachings is made manifest. Tamenori does
begin this preface, however, with a description of Säkyamuni's progres-
sive revelation of his teachings in a sequence of "five periods"; in so
doing he follows a periodizing classification found in the writings of
Chih-i, the patriarch of the Tendai school. (Although he does not cite it
as a source, the language Tamenori employs and the imagery he uses to
describe the periods is in fact very close to that of a passage in Chih-i's
M o - h o c h i h - k u a n > one of several treatises in which this analysis
38
appears. ) Once the Buddha had completed his task and left the earthly
sphere, Tamenori explains, these teachings nonetheless remained
behind, "like valuable jewels left in our keeping by a departed friend."
Sooner or later, therefore, all sentient beings may learn them and reap
the benefits.
B u d d h i s m Goes East
Tamenori turns next to the description of another gradual process:

it is that by which these Buddhist teachings found their way from their
place of origin in India, through China, and, at last, to Japan, the setting
of all the tales that follow (in contrast to the setting of the preceding
tales, which is implicitly Indian). Buddhism, Tamenori reports, has
declined in India to the point of invisibility; although it prospered inter-
mittently in China, it was subjected to a series of violent suppressions
that left it lifeless. "But behold," he exclaims, "the Buddha's teachings
have spread to the east and have come to rest in our land, where they
now flourish! Many sages have appeared here and left their marks, and
our sovereigns have continuously fostered the spread of Buddhism."
This, then, is Tamenori's view of Buddhism's "manifest destiny,"
its inexorable eastward course. In the third and the sixteenth tales of
the third volume, Tamenori will allude to predictions made by Chinese
Tendai patriarchs to a similar effect: whatever its travails in China
might be (these sages foretold), Buddhism would inevitably find its
safest haven and its fullest realization in Japan. A l l the tales of this
volume, as well as those of the next, can be read as documentation of the
truth of these predictions, for they show how Buddhism has taken root
in Japan and how it thrives there, even though (in the Japanese view) it
has virtually perished elsewhere.
Other elements of the passage quoted above similarly anticipate the
content of the tales that follow. The second volume will begin with an
account of Buddhism's establishment in Japan under the aegis of the
"sage"-Prince Shötoku, who served as regent for his aunt, Empress
Suiko; it will then go on to describe the deeds of other acknowledged
"sages." The miracles produced or witnessed by the pious men and
women protagonists of the remaining tales are also "marks" of sagely
insight and the results of their loyalty to the teachings. The third
volume will also document many ways in which the nation's rulers
"fostered Buddhism" through the founding of temples, the support of
rites, and even through their personal devotions. And all this, Tamenori
suggests, was predestined and made possible by "no slight affinity"
(oboroge no en n i a r a z u ) : it is some great, inherent spiritual disposition
in Japan, or at least in some Japanese, that has made it possible for
Buddhism's blessings to be realized here.
That this is so is in itself a miracle, for, as Tamenori shows through
reference to several scriptural examples, access to the teachings is rare.
Some devotees (the "Himalaya Boy," hero of 1.10, reappears here as one
example) have gone to very great lengths to obtain it, while others—even
a dog and a bird—have received its blessings only through strange acci-
dents. "What then may humans who offer their faith expect?" asks
Tamenori, and he gives the answer in the following stories of devotions
and pieties (the causes) that produce various miraculous rewards (the
effects), including magic powers, fabulous escapes from danger, and even
the evasion of untimely death.
Immediate Rewards
In the last section of the preface, Tamenori explicitly states—and

bemoans the fact—that Buddhism did not reach China or Japan "until
long after the demise of the Buddha and the advent of the Period of the
Imitated Teaching." So, as in the "General Preface," he reminds the
reader that he and she and their contemporaries are living in a zöhö
world and must accept its limitations. Once again, however, Tamenori
neglects to give details of what this means. According to most defini-
tions, however, the salient feature of the second period is that, though
those who live in it may uphold the Buddha's teachings, enlightenment
is no longer possible. Is this reflected in the second volume's tales? In a
sense, yes. The protagonists of the first volume are all intent seekers of
enlightenment and the assurance of future Buddhahood even though
these are rewards that they cannot expect to receive until they have
passed through many more lives and won much more merit. But the
goals and aspirations of the men and women who appear in the tales of
the second volume are of a different sort. These people strive for and
duly receive their rewards—magical power, victory over their enemies,
escape from peril—in this life, in the here and now. Future enlighten-
ment, it would appear, is not their primary concern, but, rather, the
more immediate realization of the "effects" of their devotions. This can,
perhaps, be thought of as an apt adjustment to a zöhö world.
Once more, however, these apparent extensions of the s a n j i
element of Tamenori's scheme are best judged as incidental conse-
quences of his choice of materials. The miracles and other amazing
manifestations of Buddhism's power that are described in the following
tales as the direct results of various devotions are also the focus of the
works that are their sources. The retelling of such incidents was a very
direct and uncomplicated way to show what the religion could do for its
practitioners, and so it was very attractive and very useful as a method
for many didactic Buddhist writers—including Tamenori. As in the
previous volume, Tamenori's acknowledgments of sources in the
eighteen tales of the second volume are evidence of his place in a specific
lineage—in this case, that öf Chinese and Japanese writers and
compilers of miracle tales and hagiographies. His use of jätakas in
volume one is, as observed, quite an anomaly in Japanese Buddhist
literature, but his use here (and in the volume hereafter) of miracle tales
and hagiographies emphatically places him in the setsuwa mainstream,
showing him to be both heir and transmitter of a long and well-defined
narrative tradition.
The Tales of the Second Volume
Composition
Tamenori cites N i h o n ryöiki as the source, or one of the sources, of

every tale in this volume except the last. Through such extensive use of
Ryöiki, Tamenori places himself within a tale-telling lineage extending
back through Ryöiki to Ryöiki's own sources in both the oral traditions
of pre- and early-Buddhist Japan and in Chinese Buddhist tale collec-
tions of an even earlier period. In compiling Ryöiki, Kyökai organized
and reproduced a corpus of stories that had developed earlier around
legendary religious figures and certain texts and practices. Dissemina-
tion of tales of this kind may have played a fairly important role in the
gradual process of Buddhism's integration into the Japanese ethos. In
some cases, these stories were frank imitations of Chinese works that
had been devised to achieve a similar effect. The method of the Chinese
creators and compilers of Buddhist tales, like the method of the Indian
creators and compilers of the jätakas, consisted in great part of the adap-
tation of familiar, native story elements—feats of wizardry, magical
metamorphoses, ghosts, and apparitions—to Buddhist contexts. The
basic features of Buddhist thought could thus be introduced into the
Chinese experience in a way that suggested a reconciliation of the inim-
39
ical characteristics of both. Confronted with a similar need, Japanese
Buddhist story tellers did very much the same thing; they adopted some
of these miracle tales for their own uses (with which they were familiar
through the importation of some of the collections, and perhaps by some
oral transmissions as well) and simply substituted Japanese characters
and Japanese settings for the Chinese names and places in the originals.
Like their Chinese predecessors, they also introduced Buddhist elements
into native tales and thus created new ones. Tales developed through
both these methods can be found in Ryöiki, and when Tamenori
included some of them in Sanböe, he showed that the method was still
viable; while he did not develop the technique, he did show how it could
be applied to a specific situation in which certain kinds of tales were

needed to teach certain ideas.
The Biographies
The first three tales of Tamenori's second volume form a subgroup

that represents a Japanese development of another tradition in Buddhist
literature begun in China—the compilation of biographies of saintly
figures, primarily monks, and sometimes nuns and also lay men and
women, which combine fact and legend with an emphasis on amazing
40
deeds. Like the miracle-tale genre to which it is so closely related, this
genre of religious biography was also adopted and imitated in Japan, and
parts of Sanböe, such as the biographies at the beginning of volume two,
can be considered important examples of it. These first three sections
concern figures of prominence in the early stages of the establishment of
Buddhism in Japan and thus begin the process of documenting the
realization of Buddhism's "manifest destiny."
These prominent persons are Prince Shötoku, traditionally
considered the founding father of Japanese Buddhism (and the person to
whom the longest single section of the whole book is devoted), Ε no
ubasoku, a controversial ascetic whose amazing powers derive from
esoteric practices, and Gyöki, a great early proselytizer who appears as
41
the protagonist in more tales in Ryöiki than any other single figure.
Their biographies, like the tales that follow, focus on the amazing deeds
and miracles performed by these three men; if these deeds are the
"effects," the "causes" are their innate spiritual superiority and their
absolute loyalty to their faith, rather than any one particular practice.
While most of the remaining tales relate the circumstances surrounding
one amazing occurrence, usually seen as the result of one particular deed
or practice, these biographies relate several episodes, in sequence, in the
lives of these renowned men.
As sources for these first three biographies Tamenori cites official
chronicles ( N i h o n g i for the Prince Shötoku biography, Shoku n i h o n g i
for the latter two), an early biography of Prince Shötoku (Shötoku
T a i s h i d e n f r y a k u ] ) , and some other works that are now lost, in addition
to Ryöiki. These three tales do in fact appear to be composites of
elements from all these works. Passages in them that are based on
Ryöiki are from multiple tales rather than from any single section of
Kyökai's work; passages for which there is no parallel in any existing
work must, it would seem, be based on passages in the lost ones.
The fourth tale, on the other hand, is based solely on one section of
Ryöiki and varies very little from it. It is about "the 'Lump Nun' of Higo
Province," a woman of strange birth and strange constitution who

proves herself more knowledgeable than some very eminent monks and
becomes the center of a cult. Her story is more like the previous three
tales than those that follow: it is a full-scale biography of a wise saint; it
narrates her story from her mysterious birth through her amazing
career. A l l four of these tales, defined as a subgroup in this sense, also
anticipate the biographical sections that occupy large portions of many
of the tales in the third volume as well.
The Ryöiki Tales
Tales 2.4 through 2.17 are all straightforward adaptations of Ryöiki

tales. No extraneous elements are added, and what is left out or changed
from Kyökai's versions is, for the most part, irrelevant or unnecessary
42
detail and some narrative asides. Tamenori stays very close to Ryöiki;
such differences as can be observed between his versions and the earlier
work may be attributable to variations among texts of N i h o n ryöiki
43
itself, of which there are many.
What kind of tales did Tamenori select from Ryöiki for inclusion in
this part of Sanböe? It is, in fact, rather difficult to discern a meaningful
44
pattern in his choices, though some commentators have tried to do so.
,
There are one hundred and sixteen tales in Ryöiki s three volumes, all of
which in some way illustrate its full title ( N i h o n k o k u genpö zen'aku
ryöiki): "amazing stories of good and bad karmic retribution in Japan."
Ryöiki shows that those who uphold certain teachings, offer personal
devotion to particular texts or practices or support more eminent prac-
titioners who do so, or act in other ways that propagate the faith are
rewarded, invariably, in the here and now; those who ridicule, thwart, or
attack these efforts are immediately or eventually vanquished. Kyökai
proves this with numbers of tales, many of which closely resemble one
another; Tamenori does the same but with far fewer stories. Almost
every conceivable form of Buddhist piety—flamboyant public patronage
and rigid asceticism, devotion to the L o t u s or the K e g o n sütras or to
esoteric practices, and many more—and every type of Buddhist—royalty
and commoners, monks and nuns, wealthy merchants and starving
beggars—is depicted in Ryöiki, and Tamenori's selection is a fair
representation of this diversity. Thirty of the Ryöiki tales feature a
woman as protagonist, while female characters figure prominently in
45
another ten; six of this total are nuns, and the rest are lay women.
Tamenori's selection from Ryöiki includes just three tales (2.4, 2.12, and
2.13) with women as the featured characters, and in one other (2.11), the
mother of the protagonist is quite important. The heroine of 2.4 is the
only nun in this group. It therefore does not appear that Tamenori
consciously chose tales from Ryöiki that might appeal directly to Sonshi
because they depicted Buddhist women. He seems instead to have made
a random selection of tales from throughout Ryöiki that are, at any rate,
varied with regard to the kinds of "causes" (devotions to certain texts or
practices) and "effects" (miscellaneous, but all impressive) they docu-
ment; they thus constitute a composite picture of the early Japanese
(primarily pre- and early-Heian) Buddhist experience.
Miracle-tale Motifs
As in the previous volume, the tales of the second contain some

recurring elements that emphasize certain aspects in the resulting
portrait of Buddhism. Many of these elements are also found in the
tales of other volumes, so once again there is an incidental effect
suggesting unity. But these elements are recurrent in Tamenori's
sources, are fundamental and pervasive ideas of Buddhism, and are thus
inevitable foci for Buddhist literature. Here, Tamenori is concerned
with the portrayal of the direct results of reliance on the Buddha's teach-
ings, and the kinds of results he shows are indeed those that also fill
many books of miracle tales—including, of course, Ryöiki.
Most of the Prince Shötoku biography is devoted to accounts of
remarkable episodes that occurred as he acquired his own knowledge of
Buddhism and applied the wisdom and insight it gave him in various
ways, but, i n t e r a l i a , the tale also documents Buddhism's capacity to
overcome its foes, particularly in the form of those who remain loyal to
indigenous traditions. When the young Buddhist institution is attacked,
a plague ensues, and the instigators of the attack are chief among the
sufferers; when reactionaries defy the state, which has embraced the
faith at the prince's urging, the prince invokes the aid of the Four
Guardian Kings, and the rebels die at the end of the battle. Similar
confrontations are central in the next tale: the ascetic Ε no ubasoku is
defied by a native deity and defamed by a jealous master of native magic,
but his wizardry, acquired through devotion to an esoteric spell, enables
him to control the k a m i and to escape from exile.
Individual Buddhists under attack prevail in other tales as well.
Gyöki, for example, neatly outwits some hooligans who try to trick him
into the sin of eating fish; inside his mouth, the sashimi turns back into
whole, live fish that he spits back out into their pond. Another form of
attack comes from Chikö, an eminent monk who protests Gyöki's eleva-
tion to office. However, a visit to hell for a preview of his fate teaches
Chikö humility, and he returns to this world a chastened man. The two
monks who scorn the Lump Nun are not so fortunate: their punishment
is instant death. The Lump Nun also shows that she knows more about
K e g o n doctrine than two scholarly monks do, and so, like Gyöki's, her
story illustrates a favorite Ryöiki and Sanböe theme: the humble but
sincere monk or nun, though lacking formal training or official rank, is
often wiser and better than those who are, in name, superior.
Harassments of other sorts befall the protagonists of still other
tales; again, these characters are humble men who prevail while their
ostensible superiors suffer. In 2.8 a mendicant devoted to the " K a n n o n
d a r a n i " an esoteric text, enlists its power in his confrontation with a
cruel local magistrate: while the mendicant is bound to a tree, the
magistrate is bound to his horse, upon which he is lifted into the sky and
then dropped to earth. In 2.9 a monk who makes fun of a beggar's way of
chanting the L o t u s is instantly and fittingly punished: his own mouth
locks in the twisted shape he used to taunt the beggar, and it stays that
way.
The travails of other characters come not from Buddhism's foes
but from their own bad k a r m a ; stories that focus on such revelations are,
again, quite numerous in Ryöiki and are common in the Buddhist
miracle-tale genre. In 2.5 a man discovers that his deafness is caused by
sins in previous lives, but L o t u s Sütra recitations "open" his ears. In 2.6
a fisherman is punished for sins in this life: his innards catch on fire in
retribution for the many fish he has killed, but, once again, worship of
the L o t u s quenches the flames.
The wonders wrought through devotion to specific texts are, as has
been noted, favored focal points in Ryöiki and in several Sanböe tales
already described. Again, in 2.7, the monk Gikaku finds that constant
recitation of the H e a r t Sütra gives him superhuman vision. Repeated
recitations of the L o t u s make a box shrink to fit it in 2.10. And in 2.11
devotion to the H e a r t Sutra's d a r a n i helps a beggar pressed into service
as a lecturer make a great coup. He discovers in a dream that the lecture
patron's mother has been punished for her sins with rebirth as an ox in
her own son's herd. She is brought to the memorial service, and when he
reveals her identity, she achieves final release. A subtheme in this tale is
the son's desire to honor his mother's memory and improve her state
beyond this life—an aspect of Buddhist filial piety that will play a role in
later tales (such as 2.18 and 3.24).
The power of unnamed sütras is responsible for a woman's
miraculous rescue from a falling house in 2.12. In 2.13, however, it is a
pious virgin's own deeds that save her: she rescues a frog from a snake in
exchange for a promise of marriage and sells her clothes to free a crab;
the crab, grown many times its former size, reappears just in time to kill
the snake when it tries to claim her as its bride. This tale obviously
shares the "saved animal's gratitude" motif of tale 1.7 (Jalavähana),

which also appears in 3.26 (on the Höjöe).
A merchant gains protection in yet another way in 2.14. Three
underworld agents set out to claim his life for Yama, ruler of the dead,
but the Four Celestial Kings protect him because he has yet to repay a
loan from Daianji's "sütra fund." The merchant feeds the starving
ghouls, who ask him to protect them from Yama's wrath with readings of
the D i a m o n d Sütra. This tale also seems to suggest that this was the
origin of an annual Daianji D i a m o n d rite, but this aspect of the story is
not so important as in 2.18 (see below).
In 2.15 it is the chanting of unnamned, miscellaneous sütras
(perhaps the L o t u s ) that saves a monk from death by drowning, while
the power of the L o t u s is once again in play in 2.16: fish, bought to feed
a sickly monk, turn into scrolls of the L o t u s itself and then change back
to fish again, all to protect an acolyte's ruse as well as his master's
reputation. And in 2.17 it is Kannon, as portrayed in the L o t u s , who
rescues a man trapped in a fallen mine: specifically, the miner's promise
to offer copies of the L o t u s brings the Bodhisattva to his aid. These
three tales may represent, as a group, a proof of the promise the L o t u s
text makes to save its sincere adherents from all sorts of perils.
While worship of the L o t u s is the force that brings rescue in the
greatest number of these tales—as is the case in Ryöiki—it should also
be noted that other sütras and, significantly, esoteric texts (including
esoteric parts of Prajnä texts) are shown to be equally efficacious.
Tamenori's ties to the Tendai school may account for the prominence he
gives to L o t u s miracle tales, but that school's eclectic, all-embracing
approach may also have encouraged his inclusion of other stories about
other forces. Overall, in Sanböe, he shows little interest in the esoteric
side of Buddhism, but he does not entirely overlook it. The preface to
this volume began with the claim that "among all the teachings of
S ä k y a m u n i . . . none are untrue," and elsewhere (in 3.24, for example) he
proclaims the equality of all teachings. In his choice of tales he may
show certain biases, but, as we see here, he does try to adhere to this
ecumenical attitude.
The L a s t T a l e : "Eikö of D a i a n j i "
The last tale in the volume is distinct from the others in several
ways. Its source—a lost work called I w a b u c h i d e r a e n g i ("The Origins of
Iwabuchidera")—is unique, but so is its content. Its description of the
monastic lives of Eikö and Gonsö resembles elements of the first three
biographical tales in this volume as well as many of the tales in the third,
but its focus on the circumstances that lead to the initiation of an
annually observed rite—a "Service of Eight Lectures" (Hakkö) at

Iwabuchidera—is very much like that of most of the tales in the volume
that follows. No miracle, as such, occurs; rather, the story focuses on
Eikö's faithful support of his mother and Gonsö's efforts to continue
that support after Eikö's death. Gonsö and Eikö's acolyte "cover up"
Eikö's death, but this deception is perpetrated only in order to prolong
Eikö's mother's life. The themes of respect for life and for parents, as
well as the idea that adherence to a vow (in this case, the vow to be
truthful) is vital but should be flexible in certain circumstances (as in
2.16), are all present here, but somehow this tale seems out of place in
volume two. Still, it effectively transposes the cause and effect pattern
from one form—that which dominates the Ryöiki based tales, with their
repeated revelations of the immediate effects of pious practices on or for
the practitioners—to another—that which characterizes the remaining
thirty-one tales in the next volume. There, too, pious activities and
deeds lead to some miracles, but these are also the factors that make
possible another kind of outcome—the founding of monasteries,
convents, and other institutions or specific rites observed in temples as
annual events. The eighteenth tale is also a good, long story—somewhat
more entertaining, and perhaps better retold, than many of those that
precede it—so it effectively anchors the end of the volume and, at the
same time, provides a meaningful transition to the next.
The Second Verse
In summation, Tamenori versifies about Prince Shötoku's

(a.k.a. Umayado's) "sagacious rule," under which, as his tale showed,
Buddhism's foes were vanquished and the "Way of the Law" was
established throughout the land. Thus, for four centuries since the
prince's time, Japanese have "learned about causation and realized the
effects/and have been saved from suffering and rewarded with joy!"—just
as the tales of this volume have repeatedly shown. The verse recapitu-
lates the time arch of the volume, from the prince's day up to the
present, and prepares the reader to proceed to the next and final volume
with its accounts of "the rites performed by monks today."
Preface to the Third Volume
M o n k s ( a n d N u n s ) of Sue no yo
Tamenori begins this preface with an analysis of one more group of

"three": the three types of monks, as described traditionally in scripture.
His main point in doing so is to explain that the monks of "today"—

those who conduct the rites featured in the tales that follow—are all
"common" monks of the third category ( b o n b u no sö). The Bodhisattva
monks ("Maitreya, Mafijusri, and the like") left this world when
Säkyamuni died; Srävaka monks (Säriputra and Käsyapa are examples)
eventually disappeared, too. But the "common monks" of today are still
of immeasurable value. "In this final age [sue no yo]," Tamenori
observes, were it not for these b o n b u no sö, there would be no one to
"propagate the Buddha's Teachings, and upon whom could sentient
beings then rely?"
Tamenori's use of the term sue no yo (a synonym for mappö, as is
the alternate reading masse) here is as imprecise as in most of its
appearances in secular literature, where it refers generally to a
degenerate fin-de-siecle kind of era. Tamenori cannot mean that the
present is mappö, for this would contradict his statements in earlier
prefaces. Furthermore, the monks and nuns whose activities fill the tales
to come are certainly not shown to be incapable of fulfilling the require-
ments of Buddhist clerical life, as they should be by most definitions of
mappö. On the contrary, they personify Buddhist virtues: they perform
many acts similar in spirit and intent to those of the jätaka heroes of
volume one and the pious men and women of volume two, and there is
no lessening of their expectations of the merit accruing from these
activities. These may be mere b o n b u no sö of sue no y o , but their deeds
and doings, as Tamenori presents them, are nonetheless exemplary and
full of potency, whatever the limitations of the present world may be.
"Revere Them All"
Tamenori goes on to say that " A l l of the Three Jewels"—including

these b o n b u no so—"are one and the same, and you should revere and
serve them equally. You cannot revere the Buddha and his Teachings
and, at the same time, slight his monks and nuns." This implies more
than a symbolic unity in the content of Sanböe as a reflection of
doctrine; it is also practical advice. Though Sonshi may emulate the
examples given her in all these tales, it may be very difficult for her, in
her circumstances, to act as these exemplary men and women did. But
one of the most feasible modes for her expression of devotion would be
the provision of support—especially financial—for worthy monks and
nuns, as a gesture of respect for them and for the teachings they espouse
and the practices they observe. In several tales in the third volume,
Tamenori will urge her to seek out and help such "good companions"; he
also will indicate those of their rites that are particularly accessible, since
some—in particular, those held within the all-male sanctuaries on

M t . Hie—are closed to her.
In this preface, however, he also urges Sonshi not to consider any
one teaching, rite, or practice—or anyone devoted to any of them—
superior to any other. Using conventional imagery from several sources,
Tamenori describes the variety of monks' activities in a passage that
refers generally, though obliquely, to the whole range of schools and
traditions, to every type of service to which a Japanese monk or nun
might be devoted. " A l l of them have passed through the many portals of
the Buddha's teachings to go their separate ways," he says, "but all will
converge upon the same shared goal of Buddhahood." Here, in its most
explicit form, is Tamenori's affirmation of Tendai-style ecumenicalism,
and a major theme in this third volume will be the idea that the good
Buddhist reveres, supports, and accepts the guidance of all monks (and
nuns), no matter what type of teachings they adhere to, no matter what
their official qualifications are, no matter if (as one might expect from
b o n b u no sö) they sometimes show that they themselves are less than
perfect. He says, "I even revere those monks who violate the precepts"
(like those of whom he told in several second volume tales—and he will
tell about some more), and the same goes for the initiate (the not-yet-
fully ordained monk or nun, like Sonshi herself); again, he supports this
view with scriptural examples and metaphors. Even he (or she) who
simply looks like a monk (or nun, as Sonshi must) can visualize all
Buddhas and claim a parent-child affinity with the Tathägatha; this is
true of the high as well as the low, the fervent and the casual, the "deep"
and the "shallow." No lay man or woman should judge or differentiate
among them, "for all are vessels of the Law," and physical attacks upon
these members of the clergy are among the worst of sins and invite the
worst kinds of punishment. The second volume has already presented
tales that show these principles to be true, and the third volume will do
so, too.
The R i t u a l Year
"The reverent rites they observe throughout the year, and the
teachings whereby they guide us toward our future goal, all must be
counted as the contributions of this community." Thus, having
established the sanctity of monks and nuns and the proper spirit of
respect for all of them, Tamenori prepares to turn to descriptions of
what they do, and why. As suggested here, he will do so within the frame
of a calendar of one year. Like the semisecular Heian nenjü gyöji
(annual ritual) screens and courtly almanacs, this volume will list, in
6
order, the major Buddhist events of the year. It will do so, however,
with special attention to the historical origins and scriptural bases of
these rites—the "causes" behind these impressive "effects"—also
treating the rites themselves as the powerful "causes" of the most
desirable of "effects": valuable merit for the participant or patron. And
so, with one last reverent folding of his hands, Tamenori begins this
survey of the ritual year.
The Tales of the Third Volume
Composition
The "Table of Contents" for this volume (found only in the Töji
47
Kanchiin copy) provides a useful preview of what lies ahead. It is
preceded by these words: "In this volume are described the rites
performed at various places in each month, from the First Month
through the Twelfth." A list of section titles under headings with the
number of each month follows. The "various places" named in the titles
are mostly monasteries and convents in and around Heian kyö or in or
near the old capital, Nara, but a few rites described are those observed at
the imperial court. Most of these monasteries are at places that would
have been well within the reach of someone like Sonshi should she have
wished to see these rites or sites after reading about them; if that were
not feasible, they are all places that would have been within the reach of
her imagination, and all sites of which she would have been likely to have
heard.
The list also reveals that the allotment of tales per month is
uneven, though perhaps not random. Nineteen sections are devoted to
descriptions of rites observed in the first four months (five for Shögatsu,
the first month, four for the second, six for the third, and four for the
fourth). Thereafter, only one or two rites for each of the remaining eight
months are covered. Does this mean that there was more ritual activity
in the early months of the year? Nenjü gyöji lists may give a similar
impression but would also lead us to expect an increase in ritual activity
at year's end, too. This lopsided distribution may suggest that
Tamenori's energy or other resources flagged here, or that, for some
reason, he was pressed for time; Sonshi, or someone in her retinue, may
have called for the completed manuscript before Tamenori had a chance
to do all that he meant to do.
Still, the thirty-one tales included here, in a volume that is about as
long as the other two combined, do represent a fair selection of the many
rites that were observed by Japanese Buddhists c i r c a 984. How did
Tamenori make the selection? We can only speculate since no known

nenjü gyöji or almanac offers a similar list or covers this material in
quite this way. Sources for parts of many of the tales can be identified,
but no one of them could possibly have served as Tamenori's general
model. The extent of and even the imbalance in Tamenori's selection
may reflect similar patterns in his sources. He may have had more
material about rituals for some months than for others, or he may have
gone looking for certain kinds of material, writing only about those rites
for which such information was available. The line that closes the
above-mentioned "Table of Contents" and the actual content of the tales
all point in this direction. "Descriptions of the beginnings and endings
[hajime owari] of these rites are what are recorded here," comments the
"Table of Contents" compiler (either Tamenori or a later editor), as if to
inform the reader of what he or she should and should not expect.
Indeed, the tales that follow are not so much concerned with the
procedural details of rites; far more space is devoted to narration of their
historical inception (who started them, when, where, and why), their
scriptural bases (in particular the merits that accrue), and subsequent
developments. Thus, " h a j i m e o w a r i " may here mean "origins and conse-
quences," and Tamenori's sources would seem to be those that helped
him address these aspects. He uses state and monastic documents to
retell the stories of the founding and early histories of the institutions
where these rites are observed or to describe the circumstances
surrounding their first observance there; he draws, as well, from official
or literary biographies of those individuals (several important monks, as
well as emperors, empresses, and ministers) who founded these institu-
tions or introduced specific rites; and he quotes or paraphrases sütras or
other canonical works that served as the major ritual texts or that
illustrated the benefits of the rites in some detail.
Almost every tale offers such information about each rite, to
greater and lesser degrees, but the order in which the tales do so varies
considerably; this, too, may result from adherence to the order in which
Tamenori found the relevant information in his sources. Only two tales
differ radically both in the type of material included and the sources
thereof: these two, 3.14, on the Kangakue, and 3.27, on the esoteric
initiation (kanjö) practiced at Enryakuji, go into more detail about ritual
procedure. The accounts of these rituals seem to be based on Tamenori's
first-hand knowledge (3.14) and on a personal interview (3.27). For this
reason, and for some others, these two tales call special attention to
themselves.
Though it is frequently mentioned in contemporary documents,
there is no comparably complete account of the Kangakue, so the
Sanböe tale about it is itself a unique historical document. In some
ways, Tamenori's account conforms to the pattern of the other third

volume tales, but its components are unusual. Throughout Sanböe
Tamenori is sparing in his use of the first person, and there is no "Γ in
the text of this tale, either. But "we" is used here, and it seems to include
Tamenori, for he describes aspects of the society's creation and its meet-
ings that might be known only to a member. The founding members'
manifesto serves here to account for the originating "cause" of the rite,
and the sütra verses and lines by Po Chü i (including the famous
"kyögen k i g o " line) chanted by the members in procession take the place
of ritual text quotations as evidence of a doctrinal base. No descriptions
of benefits received are given—perhaps because the rite, the most
recently instituted of all those in the volume, is still too new—but the
expected future benefits are clear: participation in the Kangakue and
the offering of verses written in this setting will contribute to a collective
store of merit that will help save all its members.
The kanjö section is unique in other ways. Like several other tales,
it does begin with biography: in this case, a portion of the life of Saichö
(Dengyö Daishi), founder of Enryakuji and the first man to perform a
sanctioned esoteric initiation in Japan. But, having explained how
Saichö acquired the kanjö "teaching" in China and brought it home, and
how official provisions were later made for its performance in facilities
on Mt. Hie, Tamenori says, " A l l the teachings of the Tathägata are
equal, but none leads faster to the attainment of Buddhahood than this
one. In order to explain it to you in detail, I asked a monk of Hie to
describe it." Thus, Tamenori reiterates his ecumenical attitude. At the
same time, he acknowledges the special character of esoteric ritual,
which is said to produce instant enlightenment, here and now (in
contrast to most of the rituals he describes, the long-range effects of
which are not realized until some future rebirth of the practitioner).
Esoteric ritual is also, by definition, secret, its details known only to the
initiated. Even if the kanjö procedures were recorded in manuals, those
manuals probably would not have been available to an outsider like
Tamenori—unless he himself undertook the rite, and, perhaps, not even
then. So, he says, he obtained his information by special interview—
maybe surreptitiously—and he presents a full list of the offices of the rite
as well as an explanation of its significance, presumably acquired
through this unusual means. It is the only such interview mentioned in
Sanböe.
"The pouring of water upon the head and the throwing of a flower
from the hand may seem simple," he observes as he sums up the kanjö,
"but this is a teaching full of mystery, and it is, indeed, a way to become
a Buddha." Tamenori seems to anticipate some skepticism about
esoteric ritual and perhaps reveals his own. It would seem that such
practices were beyond his ken, somehow alien to his experience of

Buddhism, and perhaps alien to Sonshi's, too; still, he felt that a descrip-
tion of the Hie kanjö had its place here. With the exception of the two or
three Ryöiki tales in volume two in which protagonists are devoted to
esoteric spells, this is, however, the only tale in the book that is so
focused on the esoteric side of Buddhism, the only tale in the third
volume to deal specifically with an esoteric rite. Even here, Tamenori
chose to describe the Hie kanjö—a rite of the eclectic Tendai school—
rather than the version of the same ritual performed in the quintessen-
tially esoteric Shingon school. Similarly, his brief biography of Kükai
(Köbö Daishi), the Japanese Shingon founder, is relegated to a small
part of the account of a Tendai ritual (the H o k k e e) observed at Jingoji
(also known as Takaosanji), where Kükai happened to live for some time
(see 3.12). In 3.16 and 3.30 he also includes biographies of the Tendai
patriarchs Ennin and Enchin, but he does not deal with their important
contributions to the esoteric side of the Tendai school. The only
Shingon monastery besides Jingoji mentioned even incidentally in
volume three is Töji, but the rite in question (the M o n j u e ; see 3.23) is
not an esoteric rite.
How is this bias to be explained? Tamenori's and Sonshi's ties
were, as has been shown, to Enryakuji, to the Tendai. Five third volume
tales are devoted to rites performed on M t . Hie, so more are set there
than at any other site, and many other tales are concerned with rites
performed at institutions that were literally or figuratively in M t . Hie's
shadow. Enryakuji libraries may, indeed, have served as Tamenori's
resource for scriptural and other research. But this would still not
explain his slighting treatment of the esoteric tradition, which was a
strong, almost dominant element in the Buddhism of his time and, in
particular, within the Tendai church of his day. Again, the answer
probably lies in Tamenori's sources—in this case, in the absence of
them. Information on esoteric ritual was, ipso f a c t o , secret, hence
unavailable or inaccessible to him; he had to respect such secrecy and
violated it only with his kanjö interview. As a result, esoteric Buddhism
had to play a minor role in the picture of the religion that he made for
Sonshi.
Still, at the end of the kanjö tale he tells Sonshi how she, too, may
obtain this "teaching" if she wishes. Though she may not participate in
a Hie kanjö—since the mountain is off-limits to women—she is free to
go to Töji or to Hosshöji (her family temple) where the kanjö is also
performed. Implicitly he thus offers her a choice between the Tömitsu
(Shingon) and the T a i m i t s u (Tendai) esoteric transmissions. The
distinction, however, may not have been very meaningful or important
to her, or to him, and the exoteric-esoteric distinction was perhaps
equally insignificant. A l l these "teachings" may, after all, have been

"equal" in Tamenori's eyes, not merely rhetorically or symbolically but in
practice and in fact.
By putting these and all the other tales together as he did,
Tamenori also implied that the merit to be derived from all the practices
he described might lead to varied kinds of rewards—from the promise of
good harvest and protection for the state, to pleasant physical and
mental attributes and financial prosperity for the individual in this life
or the next, to visualizations of Buddhas and eternal Buddhahood
itself—but that all merit-generating activities are equally commendable.
Where Tamenori specifically suggests that one type of practice is supe-
rior to another, or that one form of recompense is better than others, he
does so largely because his sources, which are texts devoted to the
propagation of specific modes of worship, do so. But Tamenori's
equalizing principle subsumes and overrides these passages. What
emerges in the end is not a recommendation that Sonshi pursue any
single practice, but that she should at least be aware of the merits of all
and should consider devoting herself, if possible, to several. Tamenori
also makes it clear, through many examples and some direct admoni-
tions, that the chosen practices, no matter what they are, should be
performed with a clear mind, a sincere heart, and a humble attitude. It
makes no difference, then, what Sonshi makes up her mind to do, but
she must act, and act properly, if her practices are to achieve their
desired effects.
Origin T a l e Motifs
The eighteenth tale of the second volume—which, it was observed,

has many characteristics in common with the tales of the third—might
well have been titled not " D a i a n j i no Eikö" ("Eikö of Daianji") but
" I w a b u c h i d e r a Hakköe no e n g i " ("The Origins of the Service of Eight
Lectures at Iwabuchidera"). A similar label would be apt for many of the
tales of this third volume, too. " E n g i " entered Japanese as a Chinese
translation of two Buddhist technical terms. One, p r a t l t y a - s a m u t p a d a ,
means "dependent (or interdependent) origination," the process by
which all existences arise out of a conjunction of conditions and causes;
the other, nidäna can be a synonym for pratltya-samutpäda but can
9
also denote those canonical works that explain how and why certain
sütras and books of discipline and other canonical works came into
48
being. But, eventually, the word " e n g i " came to be used generically in
Japan in the titles of literary works that describe the origins of religious
institutions, Buddhist and non-Buddhist—temples, shrines, even the
revered images they house—usually by narrating the amazing feats of

those monks who founded or created them, invariably with supernatural
49
a i d . Many of the tales in the third volume of Sanböe are based in part
on a specific engi about the sites of the rites described or about the first
observance of those rites. In other tales, the biography of the
institutional founder or the first patron of the ritual takes focal
precedence and fulfills the engi role of explaining origination. In still
other tales, it is a passage from the sütra that is read, expounded, or
worshiped in the rite that fills this role; many of these quoted passages
also contain the descriptions of rewards that make up an integral part of
each tale.
The engi or e n g i - l i k e elements in almost every tale are one means
of developing the cause-and-effect pattern to which all Sanböe tales
conform. Another means, of course, is the explicit indication of the
reward resulting from practice or patronage of these rituals. While the
engi elements are the more interesting as story content—turning as they
do on portents, miracles, and the deeds of great men and women—the
descriptions of rewards were, perhaps, of more direct relevance to
Sonshi. Like advertisements for miracle drugs, the tales promise
fabulous results, and she may have been thirsting terribly for knowledge
of such cures.
Tale 3.28, for example, offered several compelling suggestions to
her. She would learn, first of all, that it was her Fujiwara forebears that
founded Köfukuji ("Yamashinadera") and that the Yuimae ( V i m a l a k l r t i
Service) was performed with the expectation that it would cure or
prevent their illnesses. Sonshi would then be offered a paraphrase of a
portion of the V i m a l a k l r t i n i r d e s a itself, in which she would be shown
that physical illness is merely a metaphor for the spiritual illness that
Vimalaklrti sought to cure in all sentient beings, that is, ignorance of the
very idea that all things in this world are nonsubstantial. She might use
this information in several ways: she could go to Köfukuji and observe
its Yuimae or contribute something for its performance, or she could
read the text itself or have someone lecture to her about it. Either way,
Sonshi might seek to cure her own illness, whether metaphoric or real.
Many other tales might inspire her through similar means. Several
of them (3.11, for example) would tell of Fujiwara or imperial patronage
of monasteries, convents, or particular rites, and in these tales she might
recognize the names of her ancestral kin. Several, like 3.7 and 3.13,
which tell how women first claimed their place as nuns in the Buddhist
community despite initial opposition on the grounds that their admis-
sion would shorten the shöbö era, would specifically address the issue of
women's role in the church. These would offer specific examples of rites
and supportive activities that she, as a woman, might emulate.
Other tales might describe formal rites less accessible to or less

practical for her while suggesting activities she could imitate with the
expectation of comparable rewards. She might not, for instance, be able
to attend or sponsor a Mandöe (an offering of ten thousand votive lights,
as described in 3.15) or a Senke e (a presentation of a thousand flowers,
as in 3.22), but she might make her own offerings of candles, flowers, or
incense (as in 3.6) and hope, with good reason, for future recompense
similar to that promised the practitioners in the story. The description
of the building of the tiniest and crudest of stüpas (3.9) and the parable
(in 3.15) about the poor laywoman whose single votive light burned
longer than the thousands offered by a king would remind her, too, that
the scale of her offering was irrelevant and that its merit would not be
diminished by her status or her sex; only her sincerity would matter.
Sonshi might not read every tale with an eye for its relevance to
herself, but she would learn something useful from every one. Some
pairs of tales, for instance, would teach her about the public and private
forms of penance (3.2 and 3.3), or the differences and the similarities in
the two types of ordination received by monks (3.19) and lay men and
women (3.20). She would see how the legitimate transmissions and
lineages so graphically described in the third volume's preface were
stressed in history. She would understand why Ganjin (Chien-chen)
journeyed from his native China to establish a school of monastic
discipline in Japan (3.5) and why Saichö, Kükai, Ennin, and Enchin all
went to China to study and to obtain ordinations and texts, and how
they then, with new authority, introduced the new teachings and prac-
tices they had learned to their own country (3.3, 3.12, 3.16, 3.30). She
would also read about the life of the revered Chinese Tendai patriarch
Chih-i and would know why his memory was honored in an annual rite
at Enryakuji (3.30). The Chinese precedents for some particular rites
(3.30, 3.31) would also be stressed.
Still other tales would remind her of principles suggested in the
tales of the previous volumes. She would learn about the many forms
and benefits of charity, whether directed to monks (3.1, 3.4, 3.21, 3.29,
3.24, 3.31) or to common beggars (3.23). The virtues of strict adherence
to clerical precepts would be reemphasized (3.5), as would the notion
that every monk, regardless of rank and training, deserves respect (3.10,
3.29), the idea that Buddhism can be reconciled with native spirits (3.8),
and the principle of reverence for all forms of life (3.26). Still, what
might be the most memorable aspect of many of these tales was not
these concepts and principles but the dramatic stories that illustrated
them, such as that of the nun Utpalavarnä's initial travails and subse-
quent career (3.7 and 3.13), the narrative of the strange events that
preceded the construction of the Hase temple (3.20), the account of the
miracles that attended the dedication of the Great Buddha at Tödaiji

(3.22), or the saga of Maudgalyäyana's search for his mother in the
underworld (3.24).
In 3.13 Tamenori describes a rather curious rite practiced by the
nuns of Hokkeji. Hokkeji was a convent founded by an empress-consort,
Kömyö, a daughter and granddaughter of Fujiwara ministers—like
Sonshi's mother—and an exemplary, generous, and pious royal woman.
As one part of the Hokkeji K e g o n service, Kömyö had the nuns make
images of the youth Sudhäna and of the fifty-odd "worthy teachers"
( z e n j i s h i k i , a translation of the Sanskrit kalyänamitra) he encountered
in his search for insight, as described in one of the most familiar parts of
50
the K e g o n Sütra Quoting the L o t u s , Tamenori explains what a
z e n j i s h i k i is: "These teachers teach us, guide us, and inspire the wish for
enlightenment within us"; quoting from Shinjikangyö, he also observes
that "it is easier to attain the full fruition of enlightenment than to find a
truly worthy teacher," adding from Butsuhongyökyö (indirectly, through
Fa-yüan c h u - l i n ) , that "if you touch good incense, the scent perfumes
your hand. If you have contact with a worthy teacher, his teachings will
51
pervade your mind." In the middle of the tale Tamenori summarizes
the Sütra o n t h e Life of t h e N u n Utpalavarnä, which justifies once again
the presence of nuns in the Buddhist institution. Then, at the end of the
,
tale, instead of describing the benefits of the K e g o n e, he simply draws
these parallels: "The merit generated by the empress's introduction of
this service is equal to that generated by Utpalavarnä's encouraging
words to the nuns of long ago. A meeting with a worthy teacher is a
repetition of the experience of Sudhäna in former times." The relevance
of these observations for Sonshi is clear: he reminds her of her mission
as a nun, and her right to be one, while he encourages her in her own
search for "worthy teachers." These teachers are, of course, to be found
among the "worthy monks and nuns of today" who carry out the rites he
has described. In 3.21 he again exhorts her: "You, too, should find your-
self a monk who lives in quietude, who is neither too familiar nor too
aloof, with whom to associate." But how practical were these sugges-
tions? What if Sonshi were too ill to move? Who, then, would be her
worthy teacher? Would Ryögen really come down from Hie to help her?
The Third Verse
Tamenori's answer is in the last verse. He returns here to the idea

of z u i k i , describing the reward that he expects to earn for teaching
Sonshi:
When I rejoice in your planting of good roots,

My own merit is increased.
Whether I myself worship,
Or witness worship from afar and rejoice therein,
If my heart is as one with the worshiper,
I will be rewarded in just the same way as he.
We will both be imbued with the same scent of incense;
We will both be illuminated by the light of the same
candle.
For "he" we may as well read "she." In the next lines Tamenori makes it
clear that he is referring to Sonshi and then summarizes what he has
taught her here:
I have recorded all manner of public and private rites

and ceremonies of Buddhism in China and Japan.
For learning about all these admirable things
without stepping beyond her door,
Nothing can be better than this volume.
So, through these tales and through the writing of all of Sanböe
Tamenori has sought to fulfill the role of a "worthy teacher"; he has tried
to teach her enough about her religion to make her feel that she can
participate in it and obtain its blessings even if her physical capacities
are diminished, even if her time is short. He has, indeed, created a work
that fulfills the idea of Nägärjuna's verse: Sanböe has given Sonshi much
to see and hear, much to learn and remember, and—if needed—the
inspiration to act.
And now, citing the words of Buddhas in his penultimate lines of
verse, he shows why he expects a share in the resulting rewards.
Maitreya, he says, explained the "expedient of rejoicing in the works of
others" ( z u i k i höben); Samantabhadra guaranteed the merit in rejoicing
( z u i k i k u d o k u ) . Tamenori thus is assured that he will profit spiritually
from Sonshi's progress. In final summary, Tamenori reiterates his
praise of the z e n j i s h i k i who appeared in this volume: "The endeavors of
monks are myriad, and all are admirable/How very admirable indeed!"—
but the whole verse has shown that Sonshi's real z e n j i s h i k i is none other
than himself. He has only occasionally used an insistent, lecturing form
of direct address (as at the end of 3.29, with its imperative " k i m i k i k i t o r e
[Listen well!]"); for the most part, his attitude has been that of a
concerned older friend. And a good teacher is, after all, a good friend
52
(zen'yü or zen'nu, another translation of kalyänamitra ), that is, one
who guides another to the right path, as he has done.
Now the reading has come to an end. The last of the scrolls can be
bound up once again and taken away. The reading of Sanböe has filled
many hours, perhaps many days; perhaps there have been many read-
ings, stretching over months, and winter has at last given way to spring.
And now, having read it, you (Sonshi) have a new sense of what it means
to be a Buddhist—and a woman in Buddhism—in these times and in
this sphere in which you have lived. You know now—perhaps better
than many men and women like yourself—what it means to say, "I place
my faith in the Three Jewels." The book has proven a good companion
and a useful guide, just as its author wished it to be. But perhaps, in
your concern for what tomorrow may bring and how you will face it, you
do not give much thought to the future disposition of this book. You do
not realize that the copy you have read will someday—perhaps soon—be
lost. You cannot know that this text will nonetheless survive, and that
its pleasures and its lessons will be imparted to many generations of men
and women to come, for as much as a thousand years and more. Their
experience of reading it will be very different from yours but will surely
have its own rewards. But there is no time to dwell upon such things;
you must return to your prayers. And so you do.
Notes
1
T 53:269-1030. Tamenori's use of Fa-yüan c h u - l i n was first
discussed in detail in an article by Mori Masato, "Sanböe to Höon j u r i n "
(cited above). Mori's findings are expanded and corrected in the
appendix chapter on Sanböe's sources and structure in Shüsei, pp. 416
444-49 ,37. Some further corrections appear in my notes to the
translation.
2
This periodization, which gives each period a length of one
thousand years, is probably derived from the description of the three
periods in Daihikyö and other texts. See A j i a bukkyöshi, N i h o n hen 2
( H e i a n bukkyö), pp. 202-4. One of the interesting things about the
calculation used here is that it does not agree with the dating in a
controversial fragment of the preface to the third volume of N i h o n
ryöiki. This passage, in what is known as the " M a e d a - k e i t s u b u n , " has
been used in some attempts to propose an exact date for the composition
of Ryöiki and to assess the influence of the concept of mappö on its
author. It contains the year 789 as an internal composition date, like the
last line of Tamenori's "General Preface." That year is said, in turn, to
mark the "seventeen hundred and twenty-second year" since the death of
the Buddha. The calculation places the surcease in 944 B.C.E., which is
five years later than the date more frequently used. This may reflect a
miscalculation by the author of the fragment, who may or may not have
been Kyökai, or it may be a copyist's error. Tamenori may not have
known of the passage, or, if he did, he may have chosen to correct it. For
further discussion of the passage, see Kyoko Motomachi Nakamura,
M i r a c u l o u s Stories f r o m the Japanese B u d d h i s t T r a d i t i o n : The N i h o n
Ryöiki of the M o n k Kyökai (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1973), pp. 9-14.
3
Translations of the names of the three periods are taken from
Stanley Weinstein, "The Concept of Reformation in Japanese
Buddhism," in Öta Saburö, ed., Studies i n Japanese C u l t u r e (Tokyo:
Japan P . E . N . Club, 1973), pp. 75-86, especially p. 79. A useful article on
the origins of the three periods concept is Yamada Ryüjö, "Mappö shisö
ni tsuite," in I n d o g a k u Bukkyögaku kenkyü 4.2 (March 1956):54-62.
4
See, for example, Uesaka Nobuo, "Minamoto Tamenori
Sanböekotoba no monogatari kan" in K o d a i m o n o g a t a r i no kenkyü
(Tokyo: Kasama Shoin, 1971), pp. 55-70.
5
There are 547 jätakas in the standard Pali collections. See John
Garret Jones, Tales a n d Teachings of the B u d d h a : The Jätaka Stories i n
R e l a t i o n t o the P a l i C a n o n (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd.,
1979). For comprehensive studies of the genre and its role in various
Buddhist traditions, see Hikata Ryüshö, Jätaka g a i k a n (Tokyo: Suzuki
Gakujutsu Zaidan, 1961), and Hikata, Honjökyörui no shisöshiteki
kenkyü, 2 vols. (Tokyo: Töyö Bunko, 1954). For translations, see Ε. B.
Cowell, ed., The Jätaka, o r Stories of the Buddha's F o r m e r L i v e s , T r a n s -
l a t e d by V a r i o u s H a n d s , 6 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1895-1907). Six of the jätakas used by Tamenori—1.1, 1.2, 1.3,
1.9, 1.11, and 1.12—correspond to those numbered 499, 537, 313, 12, 546,
and 540 by Cowell. In making comparisons, however, the reader is
reminded that Tamenori's versions are based on works that do not
descend directly from the Pali tradition.
6
It should be noted here that some of the jätakas most prominent
in Mahäyäna texts do not have counterparts in the Pali collections. As
indicated in the preceding note, for instance, seven of the thirteen
jätakas contained in Sanböe are not known in Pali.
1
T 3:1-52. The sütra contains some ninety-one jätakas and jätaka-
like stories grouped according to the particular "perfection" they
illustrate. For an outline that shows the relation of the included jätakas
to those in other collections, see Hikata, Honjökyörui no shisöshiteki
kenkyü, 1, p. 96; 2, pp. 35-39.
8
T25:57-75b.
9
T 25:87c 89b. The stories corresponding to the first two perfec-
tions (and to Sanböe 1.1 and 1.2) are told in detail, followed by
summaries of the remaining four. For a French translation, see Etienne
Lamotte, L e t r a i t e de la g r a n d e v e r t u de sagesse de Nägärjuna 1
(Louvain: Bureaux de Museon, 1944-76), pp. 255-77.
10
T46:744c 46b.
1 1
T 34:885b; 46:777b.
12
See Τ 53:113-17.
13
The text of this pien-wen (Stein 548v) is in Wang Chung-min,
ed., T u n - h u a n g pien-wen c h i 1 (Peking: Jen-min wen-hsüeh ch'u-pan-
she, 1957), pp. 285-96. Α Japanese translation by Iriya Yoshitaka
appears in Iriya, ed., Bukkyö bungaku shü, Chügoku koten bungaku
taikei 60 (Tokyo: Heibonsha 1975), pp. 3-15.
14
See Kanaoka Shökö, Tonkö shutsudo bungaku bunken b u n r u i
m o k u r o k u t s u i kaisetsu (Tokyo: Töyö Bunko, 1971), pp. 6-17 and
Kanaoka, Tonkö no bungaku (Tokyo: Daizö Shuppan, 1971), p. 108.
15
See, for example, Kawaguchi Hisao, "Tonkö henbun no seikaku
to waga kuni shödö bungaku: Setsuwa to sekkyöshi no keifu," in
K a n a z a w a d a i g a k u höbungakubu ronshü bungaku hen 8 (January
}
1960):1-20. Kawaguchi is right, however, in treating Sanböe as an early

example of shödö bungaku, literature read out loud for proselytizing
purposes. See Kawaguchi, Heianchö N i h o n kanbungaku shi no kenkyü,
3 vols. (1959-61; revised, Tokyo: Meiji Shoin, 1982), pp. 445-50.
16
The relevant passages may be found in Nakada Norio, Tödaiji
fujumonkö no kokugogakuteki kenkyü (Tokyo: Kazama Shobö, 1969),
pp. 31,65, 77.
1 7
N K B T 71:122.
18
Benjamin Rowland, The A r t a n d A r c h i t e c t u r e of I n d i a : B u d d h i s t ,
H i n d u , J a i n (Baltimore: Penguin Books [The Pelican History of Art],
1953; revised, 1967), p. 53 and plate 15a.
19
S i r John Marshall, The B u d d h i s t A r t of Gandhära (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1960), p. 11 (and figure 6), pp. 13-14 (figure
10a).
20
S y ä m a is the subject of a "narrow frieze of phyllite from the
Dharmarajika at Taxila," now in the Taxila Museum; the Visvantara
carving is in the British Museum (Marshall, The B u d d h i s t A r t of
Gandhära, pp. 106-7 [and plates 81-82], p. 99 [plate 130]).
21
Alfred Foucher, L ' a r t G r e c o - B o u d d i q u e du Gandhära, 2
vols. (Paris: E. Leroux, 1905-1918), pp. 280-81, figures 142-43; James
Fergusson, Tree a n d Serpent W o r s h i p (1868; reprinted Delhi: Oriental
Publishers, 1971), plates L X V , L X X I X ; Douglas Barrett, The S c u l p t u r e
of Amarävatl i n the B r i t i s h Museum (London: The Trustees of the
British Museum, 1954), p. 71 (plate XXVII); and Barrett, A G u i d e t o the
B u d d h i s t Caves of A u r a n g a b a d (Bombay: Bhulabhai Memorial Institute,

1956), pp. 11-12.
22
S i b i , Deer King, Sudäna, Visvantara and Syäma paintings are in
cave 17. Cave 2 had a K§änti illustration, but it has been defaced; a
portion of text incised on the wall has survived. Additional depictions of
Sudäna/Visvantara are in caves 16 and 18, and another Syäma painting
is in cave 10. See Ghulam Yazdani, Ajantä: The C o l o u r a n d
M o n o c h r o m e R e p r o d u c t i o n s of t h e Ajantä Frescoes Based o n
P h o t o g r a p h y w i t h a n E x p l a n a t o r y Text, 4 vols, text with 4 vols, plates
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1933-1955): 1:4-7, plate V; 4:103-6,
plate Lb, L X I X c , L X X A - b ; 4:43-52, plates X I X - X X V I ; 3:29-31, plates
XXVIIb X X I X a b and 4:79-80, plates X L I X b ; 2:58-61. See also
A . Ghosh, ed., Ajantä M u r a l s (New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of
India, 1967), p. 17, plates LVII, L X I X - L X X I , and figures 15 and 19.
23
Rowland, The A r t a n d A r c h i t e c t u r e of I n d i a , pp. 262, 266, plate
180; Hikata, Honjökyörui no shisöshiteki kenkyü, 2, pp. 1-3.
24
Hikata, Jätaka g a i k a n , pp. 63-72; Herbert Härtel et al., A l o n g t h e
A n c i e n t S i l k Routes: C e n t r a l A s i a n A r t f r o m t h e West B e r l i n State
Museums (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1982), pp. 84
(plate 21), 100-1 (plate 34), 104 (plate 36).
25
See Takada Osamu, "Bukkyö setsuwa to Tonkö no hekiga: Toku
ni zenki no honne setsuwazu" in Chügoku sekkutsu: Tonkö bakukökutsu
2 (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1981), pp. 229-31. Takada identifies eleven
jätaka subjects among the paintings of the Tun-huang caves decorated
in the "early period" (i.e., Northern Dynasties through Sui); seven of
these are Sanböe subjects or variants thereof. Here is a list of the
depicted Sanböe subjects, with cave numbers:
Sibi: 254,175, 302

Mahätyägavat (variant): 302
Jalavähana: 417
The Lion: 846
Myga jätaka (Deer King variant): 257
"Himalaya Boy": 285, 302
Mahäsattva: 254, 299, 301, 302,417, 419, 428
Sudäna/Visvantara: 422, 427, 428, 492
Syäma: 299, 301, 302, 438, 461
26
Mizuno Seiichi, Unkö sekkutsu 6 (Kyoto: Kyoto Daigaku Jinbun
Kagaku Kenkyüjo, 1951-1956), p. 126-28, plates 19-26.
27
Eduard Chavannes, M i s s i o n a r c h e o l o g i q u e dans le c h i n
s e p t e n t r i o n a l 2 (Paris: E . Leroux, 1909-1915), pp. 555-56 and plate
X X X V I , figure 220 (no. 1737-38). See also Patricia Dina Eichenbaum,
"The Development of a Narrative Cycle Based on the Life of the Buddha
in India, Central Asia and the Far East: Literary and Pictorial Evidence"
(Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1979), p. 235.
28
T h e stele illustrating the Mahäsattva and Syäma stories, dated
455, is in the Peking Museum; that which illustrates the Sudäna/
Visvantara story is dated 531 and is in the University of Pennsylvania
Museum. See Matsubara Saburö, Zoku chügoku bukkyö chökokushi
kenkyü (Tokyo: Yoshikawa Köbunkan, 1966), p. 231, plates 16a b;
Osvald Siren, Chinese S c u l p t u r e f r o m the F i f t h t o the F o u r t e e n t h
C e n t u r y , 4 vols. (London: E . Benn, 1925), 1, p. 62; 3, plate 234.
2 9
T 52:404c.
30
T h e biography is entitled Tö daiwajö töseiden. See Kuranaka
Susumu, Tö Daiwajö töseiden no kenkyü (Tokyo: Öfusha, 1976), p. 588;
Andö Kösei, G a n j i n Daiwajö den no kenkyü (Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1960),
pp. 162-66; Alexander C. Soper, "Japanese Evidence for the History of
the Architecture and Iconography of Chinese Buddhism," M o n u m e n t a
S e r i c a 4 (1939-1940):638-79, especially 641-42. As evidence that jätaka
subjects were rare in Chinese Buddhist art, Soper observes that Chien-
chen is said to have called the depictions on the reliquary "unusual"
(hijö) (Soper, p. 648).
31
Soper, "Japanese Evidence," p. 465; Ono Genmyö, "Goetsu Sen
Köshukuzö kintotö shikö" in Bukkyö no b i j u t s u o y o b i g e i j u t s u ( O n o
Genmyö Bukkyö g e i j u t s u chosakushü 2 ) , pp. 614-40; Sasaki Közö, "Sen
Köshuku hachimanshisentö ni kansuru ichini no mondai" in Yamato
b u n k a kenkyü 33 (January 1961):16-20.
32
According to a document entitled Hökyöingyöki, by Döki, dated
965, now in the possession of the Közanji monastery, the Ch'ien Hung-
shu stüpa at Kontaiji in Söraku-gun, Kyoto Prefecture was brought from
China by the monk Nichien in the Tenryaku era (947-957), quite soon
after Ch'ien began the project. Two other stüpas of the set are at
Seiganji in Imazu, Fukuoka-shi and at Kawachi Amano Kongöji, near
Osaka; another, found at Nachi in Wakayama Prefecture, is in the
collection of the Tokyo National Museum; and the fourth is in the
private collection of the Hosokawa family (BD 3:2959c 60c and plate
931).
33
Mizuno Seiichi, Asuka B u d d h i s t A r t : Höryüji (New York and
Tokyo: Weatherhill/Heibonsha, 1974), pp. 40-52; Uehara Kazu, [ZöhoJ
Tamamushi no zushi no kenkyü (Tokyo: Nihon Gakujutsu Shinkökai,
1968), pp. 31-36.
3 4
T 12:449b 51b; Τ 16:450c 53a.
35
T 3:124-66.
36
T 3:418-24, 438-43.
37
I n his article on Tamenori's editorial concepts, Izumoji tried to
explain the selection and composition of the first volume tales in terms
of these recurring motifs, but his argument overlooks the fact that the
motifs identified are inherent characteristics of almost all jätakas

(Izumoji, "Sanböe no hensan ishiki," pp. 243-49).
3 8
T 46:2c, 90c.
39
F o r studies and descriptions of the Chinese Buddhist tale collec-
tions, see Donald Edward Gjertson, "The Early Chinese Buddhist
Miracle Tale: A Preliminary Survey" in J o u r n a l of the A m e r i c a n
O r i e n t a l Society 101.3 (July September 1981): 287301; Kageyama
Tadaharu, "Chügoku Bukkyö setsuwashü josetsu: Nihon Bukkyö
setsuwashü to no kanren ni oite" in M e i j i D a i g a k u I z u m i Kösha
Kenkyüshitsu kiyö 18 (April 1961):139-64. The direct relationship
between some of these collections and the content of Ryöiki has been
documented elsewhere. It has been shown, for example, that M i n g - p a o
c h i , compiled in the mid-seventh century by T'ang L i n , is the source of
nine Ryöiki tales (Nakamura, M i r a c u l o u s Stories, p. 38, n. 162).
40
T h e best examples of this tradition in China, of course, are the
various Kao-seng c h u a n , which begin with Hui-chiao's work of that title,
dated 519; see Τ 50:322-423. It has been observed that some aspects of
these collections of biography are, in turn, developments of aspects
found in the early Chinese dynastic histories. See also Arthur F. Wright,
"Biography and Hagiography: Hui-chiao's L i v e s of E m i n e n t M o n k s " in
S i l v e r J u b i l e e Volume of the Z i n b u n k a g a k u Kenkyüsho (English
volume), pp. 383-432.
4 1
H e appears in seven (Nakamura, M i r a c u l o u s Stories, p. 69).
42
F o r comparative studies, see Fukushima Köichi, "Sanböe chükan
to N i h o n ryöiki" in S h i o t a Ryöhei k o k i k i n e n ronbunshü N i h o n bungaku
ronkö (Tokyo: Öfusha, 1970), pp. 32-64 and Köyashi Takamitsu, "Ryöiki
to Sanböe ο megutte" in Kokugo to k o k u b u n g a k u 50.10 (October
1973):65-75. Differences in the details of Sanböe 2.6 and 2.8 and the
Ryöiki versions are examined in Terakawa Machio, "Ryöiki gekan
rokuen to Sanböe oyobi K o n j a k u " in Döshisha kokubun 11 (February
1976):24-35 and Inada Koji, '"Jitsu ni reitoku araba ima iriki shimese'"
in Ochanomizu J o s h i d a i g a k u kokubun (October 1973):6-18.
43
See Nakamura, M i r a c u l o u s Stories, p. 76.
44
See, for example, Izumoji, "Sanböe no hensan ishiki," pp. 249-56.
45
Nakamura, M i r a c u l o u s Stories, p. 69.
46
T h e earliest nenjü gyöji text is probably the Nenjü gyöji
goshöjimon, which was painted on a screen in the Seiryöden, the main
ceremonial hall of the Inner Palace, under the direction of Fujiwara
Mototsune in 885. See Köda Toshio, ed., Nenjü gyöji goshöjimon chükai
(Tokyo: Heibonsha, 1976). The major almanacs of the tenth and
eleventh centuries include Fujiwara Morosuke's Kujö nenjü gyöji and
Sanesuke's O n o n o m i y a nenjü gyöji (GR 5:152-252). They list such court
observances as the Gosaie (3.2) and Butsumyöe (3.31), but they are not
concerned with rites at temples and institutions elsewhere. For a general

study, see Yamanaka Yutaka, Heianchö no nenjü gyöji (Tokyo: Hanawa
Shobö 1972).
47
See Shüsei, p. 218.
48
T a y a Raishun, Bukkyögaku j i t e n (Kyoto: Hözökan, 1955), p. 43.
49
T h e earliest Japanese e n g i were written at the behest of the
Sögösho, the ecclesiastical bureaucracy, in 747 and concern the early
histories of Höryüji, Daianji, and Gangöji ( D N B Z 117:1-25; 118:115,130,
138-46). See also Nakano Takeshi, "Ryöiki izen no engi ni tsuite" in
M a b u c h i K a z u o hakase t a i k a n k i n e n setsuwa b u n g a k u ronshü (Tokyo:
Taishükan Shoten, 1981), pp. 1-20. The most famous e n g i presented in
emaki format is, of course, the S h i g i s a n e n g i , which dates from the
twelfth century; several other illustrated e n g i from the Kamakura period
and later also survive.
50
O n the term z e n j i s h i k i , see Taya Raishun, Bukkyögaku j i t e n ,
p. 296 and Mochizuki Shinkö, Bukkyö d a i j i t e n , 7 vols. (1933; revised, 10
vols., Tokyo: Sekai Seiten Kankö Kyökai, 1958-1963), vol. 1, p. 480c.
For a discussion of the Sudhäna story and its role in art, see Jan Fontein,
The P i l g r i m a g e of Sudhäna: A Study of t h e Gandavyüha I l l u s t r a t i o n s i n
C h i n a a n d J a p a n (The Hague and Paris: Mouton, 1967); for an analysis
of this section of the K e g o n sütra, see Kawada Kumatarö and Nakamura
Hajime, ed., K e g o n shisö (Kyoto: Hözökan, 1960), pp. 5, 54-62. The rite
mentioned here is the one believed to have played a role in the origins of
the doll festival, as noted in the preceding chapter.
5 1
T 9:90c; 3:305a; 53:668c.
52
See n. 50, above.
Part 2
Translation
General Preface
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon)
Long ago it was written:
Contemplate the body:

it is but rootless grass
lying on the riverbank;
And as for this life:
it is but a small boat
drifting at the channel's edge.
And elsewhere:
To what shall I compare this life?

To white waves of foam trailing behind
2
a boat putting out at break of day.
Thus, in both China and Japan, people who understood the essence of
things expressed the same thought. Indeed, in the teachings of the truly
enlightened, universally compassionate Buddha we find these words:
"This world is absolutely insubstantial, like the bubbles on the water, the
shadow of the mist. You must reject this world as soon as possible and
3
free yourselves from it." The Buddha is the father of all sentient beings;
with what fatherly wisdom did he offer this guidance to his children!
There are many people in this land who have heard this teaching, but
they assume that summer insects are safe as long as the dew is on the
grass, and then mourn them when they go up in smoke—what foolish-
4
ness! That "Rude Courier" will rush them headlong toward the way of
91
92 General Preface
darkness, and the "Harassing Demon" will say, "You were born as a
human being and you had your chance, but you failed to practice the
Way! It is as if you had gone into a mine full of treasure and come out
empty-handed! And it is your own fault; you have no one to blame but
5
yourself." Your shame and contrition will be of no avail when you face
his pitiless attack!
One thousand nine hundred and thirty-three years have passed
since the Buddha Säkyamuni left this world. We may now be in the
Period of the Imitated Teaching, but surely only a few years of this
6
interim period remain to us. Those who have the misfortune to be born
as human beings at this time have less chance of receiving the Buddha's
teaching than a thread dangled from heaven has of going through the eye
of a needle in the middle of the sea. Even if they manage to free them-
selves from this life, they will never have any assurance of what will
7
become of them hereafter. At this time there is nothing to do but
contemplate the Buddha, hear his Teachings, and revere his Clergy.
Have you not heard of the elder of Räjagyha who gathered treasures
and rejoiced in the flourishing of his household, only to die and become a
8
snake whose lot it was to guard his former mansion and storehouse?
And do you not know of the lady of Srävasti who constantly gazed into
her mirror in order to admire her own beauty, only to become an insect
9
at the end of her life and dwell in what was formerly her own skull?
While they lived they never thought they would become a snake or an
insect, but they took inordinate pride in wealth and beauty, and so they
brought their fate upon themselves. So, a flourishing household is a
likely site for sinning; you must abandon it and seek out the Buddha's
Country. Have no second thoughts for your worldly beauty; forget it and
pray that you may attain the Buddha's Body. Follow his traces in the
10
sütras that survive today to discover the Buddha's Way. The k a l p a s
pile up, the ages pass one after another, and though you strive, the goal is
11
difficult to reach. If each day you give yourself over to your true desire,
even if only for a moment, you will surely attain it. You may build one
hundred thousand million trillion jeweled stüpas, or copy eighty-four
thousand holy scriptures, or donate countless wonderful treasures to the
poor, or even cut up your body and give it away, but the Buddha never
said that these acts were superior to all others. There is, however,
nothing among all acts of devotion to compare with the merit derived
12
from one day and one night as a sworn monk or nun. A l l the
inhabitants of the Buddha's world rejoice in this act, while the forces of
evil tremble with fear. This is the boat that will carry you across the
endless seas of life and death, the provision for your journey to the
13
mountain of Nirvana. Look, for example, at the Brahman who was
always drunk; he wore the garb of a monk but briefly, but this enabled
General Preface 93
him to hear the Teaching. Think of Utpalavarnä, who wore nun's

14
clothing as a joke but was thereby able to meet the Buddha of that age.
Even these cases of drunken bumbling and playful masquerade produced
good seeds that were certain to yield good effects; so if you have a clever
mind and sincere intentions, you are all the more capable of generating
unlimited merit!
How admirable! The second daughter of my liege, the Retired
Emperor Reizei, whose beauty puts the spring flowers to shame and
silences even the cool wind in the pines, was chosen to live in the
Ninefold Palace, but now she despises and seeks release from this world
15
with its Five Pollutions. Srimälä, the daughter of King Prasenajit,
16
needed no one to inspire her faith. Candraprabhä was the wife of King
Udäyi, and she voluntarily shaved her head, without anyone having
17
suggested that she do so. They were born into noble families and
achieved high station, but since their sacred destiny was to be reborn
upon the lotus, they made haste to plant the seeds of the Law; since they
nurtured lofty intentions of becoming as perfect as the full moon, they
strove constantly toward the light that shines on those who take the
Buddha's vows. When we compare the present age to the ancient past,
the time may seem different, but the act is essentially the same. Jeweled
blinds and brocade curtains may have graced your former abodes, but
18
now you shall tend to the dew on the flower and the perfumed incense.
Even so, the spring days linger, with nightingales warbling softly in the
grove, and the autumn nights seem endless, as the light from your candle
19
and its shadow on the wall grow d i m . Go may seem like a pleasing way
to pass the time, but there is no profit to be had in challenging others to
games of skill. The k o t o may also serve as your companion for the night,
but you should not let yourself become too attached to its sound. Then
there are the so-called m o n o g a t a r i , which have such an effect upon
ladies' hearts. They flourish in numbers greater than the grasses of
20
Öaraki Forest, more countless than the sands on the Arisomi beaches.
They attribute speech to trees and plants, mountains and rivers, birds
and beasts, fish and insects that cannot speak; they invest unfeeling
objects with human feelings and ramble on and on with meaningless
phrases like so much flotsam in the sea, with no two words together that
have any more solid basis than does swamp grass growing by a river
21
bank. The Sorceress of I g a , The T o s a L o r d , The F a s h i o n a b l e C a p t a i n ,
The N a g a i C h a m b e r l a i n , and all the rest depict relations between men
and women just as if they were so many flowers or butterflies, but do not
let your heart get caught up even briefly in these tangled roots of evil,
these forests of words.
You may well ask, then, where you should look for the inspiration
that will make your aspirations lofty and put your heart and mind at
94 General Preface
rest. In the verses that Bodhisattva Nägärjuna taught King

[Sätavähana] it says:
Whether you look at what is shown in the pictures

Hear what is said in the words of others
Or follow the scriptures and other writings
23
Be sure to understand and remember!
With this in mind, I have had illustrations of several exemplary stories

made, and I submit them to you together with these words from the
scripture and from other works. Its title is [ I l l u s t r a t i o n s of] The T h r e e
Jewels because what it would say is that you should form a bond with the
24
Three Refuges. Its volumes are three because these correspond to the
25
Three Periods. The first volume tells about the deeds of the Buddhas
of long ago and is drawn from a variety of scriptures. The middle volume
discusses the propagation of Buddhism in this land in more recent times,
and I have selected these accounts from an array of secular documents.
The last volume describes the rites performed by monks today, from the
first month of the New Year through the twelfth month. Each volume is
prefaced with an explanation of its purport, and each volume is
concluded with a verse in praise of the virtuous teachings contained
therein. A l l of it concerns itself with the Buddha, his Teachings, and his
Clergy, and therefore it is good at the beginning, good in the middle, and
26
good at the end. The Three Jewels are to be found everywhere and in
all things, and you must stand by them.
I, Minamoto Tamenori, Provisional Governor of Mikawa, with my
burdens of obligation heavier than a mountain and my sincere intentions
deeper than the sea, am your humble servant. As a young man I studied
27
literature, and I managed to pass the examinations. But now that I am
old I devote myself entirely to the study of religion, and my only desire is
28
for the attainment of the Nine Lotus Stages. When you look at
Buddhism and other teachings, you learn that the human heart can be a
slave to obligations and duties, whereas the seeds of Enlightenment arise
29
from karmic affinities. And so I have labored assiduously to gather
these leaves from the vast forest of merit, and as I prepared for you this
picture of the solid roots of the tree of Enlightenment, the feelings in my
own heart got tangled in the very words, and my tears fell like rain upon
30
my brush t i p . This is my prayer: may my endeavors guide us both
through this world and to the next, just as it was when the son of King
Suddhodana became the Buddha, and his faithful servant Kaup<Jinya
31
was converted and saved before all others.
General Preface 95
This was written in the winter of the second year of the Eikan era
[A.D. 984].
Notes
This Chinese verse appears in the same form in W a k a n röeishü, in

a section with other poems on the topic of "Impermanence" (see N K B T
73:254), where it is attributed to Lo wei, which may be a mistranscrip-
tion for Yen-wei. The image of the drifting boat is from the "Lieh Y u -
k'ou" chapter of C h u a n g - t z u . (See Burton Watson, tr., C o m p l e t e W o r k s
of C h u a n g - t z u , p. 354.) Izumi Shikibu composed a sequence of forty-
three verses beginning with each syllable of the poem as it is read in
Japanese. (See Shimizu Fumio, ed., I z u m i S h i k i b u shü (sei, z o k u ) :
Köteibon, pp. 32-35.) There is also an allusion to this verse in M a k u r a
no söshi { N K B T 19:104).
2
This verse appears in slightly different form in Man'yöshü 3
(no. 351), where it is attributed to the monk Mansei { N K B T 4:179). In
W a k a n röeishü { N K B T 73:255, 284) and in Shüishü (no. 1327; see
Yamagishi Tokuhei, ed., Hachidaishü zenchü 1, p. 616) it appears in
exactly the same form as it does here. Tamenori's literary mentor
Shitagö wrote a sequence of ten verses that begin with the first eleven
syllables of Mansei's poem { Z o k u k o k k a t a i k a n 1, p. 280). F u k u r o söshi,
a poetic miscellany compiled by Fujiwara Kiyosuke in about 1156,
contains a story (in section 82) about Genshin and this poem: it is said
that he rejected secular poetry as "wild words and fanciful phrases"
{kyögen k i g o ) , but one morning at Yokawa he heard some boaters rowing
through the mist, singing these lines by Mansei. Genshin realized that
such poetry could be an aid to the cultivation of advanced meditative
states, and thereafter he read and studied poetry, including the verses in
the L o t u s Sütra, and composed ten verses on the "ten delights of the
Pure Land." (No such verses appear among his extant works. See
Ozawa Masao et al., ed., F u k u r o söshi chüshaku 1, pp. 333-36.) In
Höjöki, Chömei said he recalled this verse when he saw boats in the
morning mists at Uji { N K B T 30:38).
3
This is a verbatim quotation from the sixth chapter of the L o t u s
Sütra {T9:47b).
4
The images of summer insects and summer grasses burning are
common in poetry, but usually as symbols of burning passion; see, for
example, poem 544 in K o k i n wakashü { N K B T 8:211) and S h i k a wakashü
poem 79 (Yamagishi, ed., Hachidaishü zenchü 2, p. 244; see also N K B T
80:69). Tamenori has recast this imagery in a Buddhist context to mean:
96 General Preface
"He who thinks he is safe in life is deluded, for he will soon perish (like
the dew, the insects, and the grass) and must be prepared for
retribution."
5
"Rude Courier" ( a r a k i t s u k a i ) appears to have been devised for
balance here with "Harassing Demon" ( g o k u s o t s u ) . The former refers to
the couriers of Yama, ruler of the land of the dead (i.e., "the way of dark-
ness," k u r a k i m i c h i ) . Gokusotsu is a translation of Sanskrit b a n d h a n a -
pälaka, torturers of those who are condemned to suffer in hell for their
crimes (BD 2:1146b c). Gokusotsu are often described and depicted with
heads of beasts and semihuman bodies, as in J i g o k u zöshi. (See Shinshü
N i h o n emakimono zenshü 7:44). The words of the demon paraphrase a
passage in Shöbönenjokyö (Τ 17:189c).
If the year A . D . 984 is the starting point for Tamenori's calcula-
tion, this places the Buddha's demise in the year 958 B.C.E. The
"Period of the Imitated Teaching" (zöhö) is the second of the "Three
Periods" (see below). It was widely believed that this period was to end
in the year A . D . 1052. This and the preceding sentence are quoted in
notes following the biography of Emperor En'yü in R e k i d a i köki. (See
Shintei zöhö shiseki shüran 2, p. 122a.)
7
The figure of the thread and needle is borrowed from a passage
quoted from Daiibarikyö in F Y C L ( T 53:455b).
8
T h i s story from Senjü hyakuengyö (Τ 4:228a) is quoted in F Y C L
(T 53:868b). Räjagfha (Öshajö) was one of the great Indian cities at the
time of Säkyamuni. (Elsewhere, drawing on another source, Tamenori
uses another transliteration, Raetsuki; see 3.4.)
9
T h i s story is quoted from Gengukyö (Τ 4:378b) in F Y C L (T
53:443a), but Tamenori's version differs slightly. Gengukyö does not say
that the woman, a wealthy merchant's wife, became an insect, but
various other punishments for her pride are described. The F Y C L
version does not mention the skull. Srävasti, another Indian city, is here
transliterated Shaekoku.
10
I n the Töji Kanchiin bon, "The Buddha's Country" is bukkoku,
"The Buddha's Body" is busshin, and "The Buddha's Way" is read
hotoke n i nam m i c h i . In the place of these terms, the Maeda-ke bon has
buppö ("The Buddha's Law"), shöshin ("a saint's body," probably a
mistranscription), and jöbutsudö. Bukkoku means a Buddha's Pure
Land, a place where a Buddha or Buddhas dwell, or a nation that has
embraced Buddhism ( K G D 17:429a). Busshin is probably used here in a
nontechnical sense, meaning "a body that has the characteristics of a
Buddha." The last phrase in the group, in both versions, literally means
"the way to become a Buddha."
1 1
A k a l p a (kö) is an extremely long period of time. In Zöichi
agongyö it says that if a fortress measuring one y o j a n a (another infinite
General Preface 97
measure) in each direction were filled with mustard seeds and one seed
was then removed every hundred years, all the seeds would be gone
before one k a l p a had passed. Similarly, if a boulder one y o j a n a square is
brushed with a white feather once every hundred years, the boulder will
be worn away and will disappear before a k a l p a has passed (BGD 1:392b;
BD2:1018-21c).
12
"The merit . . . as a sworn monk or nun" is shukke no kudoku.
This passage is loosely adapted from F Y C L ( T 53:447c 48a), which
quotes a number of assessments of the vast merit of shukke from various
sütras, including Shukke kudokukyö (Τ 16:814a). K u d o k u translates
Sanskrit guna, merit accrued through good deeds, the accumulation of
which produces favorable karmic rewards (BD l:689c 90a). The example
of "cutting up your body" suggests the stories of King Sibi and the
hermit K§änti, i.e., Sanböe tales 1.1 and 1.3.
13
T h i s passage is loosely adapted from a quotation from
Monjushirimongyö (Τ 14:505b c) in F Y C L (T 53:447b). "The forces of
evil" ( m a g u n ) is literally "Mära's army." Mära is an extremely
malevolent spirit, the personification of evil. His "army" symbolizes
ignorance and other obstacles to enlightenment or anti-Buddhist forces
of all kinds. In the F Y C L passage cited above it says that Mära is
frightened by the act of shukke itself. The term "Nirvana" (nehan) does
not occur in the cited passages, nor does the mountain image, although
the metaphor of the boat does occur. The original passage consists of
repeated variations in the pattern "he who lives a secular life (jüke)
experiences [various negative aspects of worldly existence]; he who lives
a life under vows (shukke) experiences [various ideal aspects of
enlightened existence]."
14
These stories appear in D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:161b) and are quoted
in F Y C L ( T 53:448a 49a). (See also Etienne Lamotte, tr., L e t r a i t e de la
g r a n d e v e r t u de sagesse 2, pp. 844-46.) The Brahman took vows in a
drunken stupor and then, when sober, regretted having done so. The
Buddha said he had admitted him to the order because, though drunk,
he had expressed the wish to be admitted, though he had never
expressed such a wish in many kalpas of previous existence.
Utpalavarnä's name appears here in the translated form Rengeshiki;
D a i c h i d o r o n , using the form U h a t s u r a k e , tells how the nun, who has
become an a r h a t (a fully enlightened being with exceptional powers),
exhorts other women, despite their protests, to follow her example by
taking vows. The story is repeated in Sanböe 3.13.
15
"The second daughter" is, of course, Sonshi Naishinnö. Her
marriage is indicated by the expression "chosen to live in the Ninefold
Palace," i.e., the imperial enclosure. The "Five Pollutions" are marks of
a degenerate age, during which (1) life spans are shortened; (2) kalpas
98 General Preface
are shortened; (3) ignorance and evil desires proliferate; (4) heretical
views prevail; and (5) human life is extremely corrupt (BD 2:1259b 61a).
16
Srimälä (Shöman), the daughter of King Prasenajit
(Hashinokuö), is the protagonist of the Shömangyö, i.e., Shöman
s h i s h i k u ichijö daihöben hökökyö (Τ 353). As an example of a devoted
laywoman of royal birth, she is an appropriate model for Sonshi.
17
Candraprabhä (Usö) and King Udäyi (Udasen'ö) are the subjects
of a story in Zappözökyö (Τ 4:495a 96b) summarized in F Y C L (T
53:449a). U d a g i is given as an alternate reading for Udasen in the Töji
Kanchiin bon.
18
T h e "jeweled blinds and brocade curtains" are poetic emblems of
a royal lady's chamber which, in Sonshi's case, have now been replaced
by emblems of a nun's way of life.
19
These lines about long spring days and autumn nights allude to a
poem by Po Chü i describing the life of an abandoned courtesan:
The autumn nights are long,

And through the long, sleepless night it
seems that dawn will never come;
The candle, still sputtering into
flame, casts its shadow on the wall,
And the rain, falling desolately
in the darkness, spatters the windowpane.
The spring days are endless,
And through the long bright hours of solitude,
it seems the day will never end.
Though warblers chatter in the garden,
frustration spoils their song for me.
Though pairs of swallows nest in the eaves,
this aging heart feels no more envy.
The warblers fly, the swallows leave—
But how long will my sorrows last?
See Uchida Sennosuke, ed., H a k u s h i monjü, pp. 87-91. The lines about
autumn appear in the "autumn evening" section of Wakan röeishü
( N K B T 73:106), and there are many allusions to them in Heian litera-
ture; for example, in the "Maboroshi" chapter of G e n j i m o n o g a t a r i , Genji
quotes these lines as he mourns Murasaki in the midst of a long autumn
rainstorm ( N K B T 17:209; Edward G. Seidensticker, tr., The T a l e of
G e n j i 2, p. 729).
General Preface 99
20
T h e phrases Öaraki no m o r i no kusa and A r i s o m i no hama no
masago employ place-names and imagery associated in poetry with the
idea of "that which is numberless (or uncountable)," and, by extension,
the infinite or eternal. M o r i , in this phrase, is sometimes written with
the character for a shrine or tomb (i.e., y a s h i r o ) ; that is how it appears in
the Maeda-ke bon, while it is written in k a t a k a n a in the Töji Kanchiin
bon (Shüsei, p. 5). A locus classicus for the phrase may be in Man'yöshü
11 (poem 2839, N K B T 6:253). A r i s o m i is probably an elided form of
arisoumi—a place where rocks are dashed by churning waves—but it is
also associated with certain place-names for beaches (see Takeshita
Kazuma, ed., Bungaku iseki j i t e n , s h i k a hen, pp. 26-27). A n early occur-
rence is in Man'yöshü 12 (poem 3163, N K B T 6:319). H a m a no masago
("sands of the beach") is itself a recurring phrase, as in Man'yöshü 4
(poem 596, N K B T 5:275) and in K i no Tsurayuki's k a n a preface to the
K o k i n wakashü ( N K B T 8:103).
21
"Swamp grass" ( s a w a no makomo)—perhaps "water oat" or wild
rice ( z i z a n i a l a t i f o l i a ) — i s a symbol of instability because its roots grow
under water.
22
T h e titles in Japanese are Iga no taome, Tosa no o t o d o , Imameki
no chüjö, and N a g a i no jijü. None of these works survive. The first two
titles do not appear elsewhere, but in one of Fujiwara Kenshö's commen-
taries, collected and edited by Teika in 1221 as Kenchü m i k k a n (or
K o k i n hichüshö), it is said that Genshin mentioned the latter two in a
work called K a n n y o öjögi, now lost. (For Kenchü m i k k a n , see M i k a n
K o k u b u n Kochüshaku t a i k e i 4:426.)
23
Nägärjuna (ca. A . D . 150-250) is here honored with the epithet
Bosatsu, indicating the reverence in which he was held. The name of the
king, Sendakaö, is in the form that appears in Gunavarman's translation
of the verses (T 32:747a); Sätavähana is a reconstruction. He is said to
have fostered Buddhism under Nägärjuna's guidance. (See Hirakawa
Akira, I n d o bukkyöshi 2:34-37; Shizutani Masao and Suguro Shinjö,
A j i a bukkyöshi, I n d o hen 3 (Daijö bukkyö), pp. 211-14.
24
See the introduction for a discussion of this passage and its rela-
tion to the title and structure of Sanböe.
25
T h e "Three Periods" (sanji) are the "Period of the True
Teaching" (shöbö), the "Period of the Imitated Teaching" (zöhö) and the
"Period of the Declining Teaching" (mappö); see the introduction for
further explication.
26
T h e phrase "good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good
at the end" is borrowed from the Preface to the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:3c),
where it means that the whole sütra is good, but here it is used in
reference to the three parts of Sanböe.
100 General Preface
Literature (fumi no m i c h i in the Töji Kanchiin bon), literally "the

Way of Literature," is contrasted with "the study of religion" ( n o r i no
k a d o , literally "the gate to the Law"). "I managed to pass the examina-
tions" is literally "I have broken off my branch of the k a t s u r a tree," a
literary Chinese expression meaning "a modest beginning in public
service." (On its origins, see Hosoda Michio, Chügoku koji t a t o e j i t e n ,
p. 74.) In poetic usage, the expression is a circumlocution for "obtaining
a post in the civil service."
28
According to Kanmuryöjukyö and other texts, there are nine
levels of existence in Amida's paradise, in three major groups, each
divided into three subgroups, representing gradations determined by the
specific devotional activities performed in worldly life. Each reborn
being is seated on a different type of lotus-pedestal (T 12:344c; BD
l:707a 8a). Tamenori means, "I yearn for rebirth in the Pure Land."
29
Confucianism is, of course, the "other teaching" that emphasizes
the proper recognition of social obligations. There may be a reference
here to a poem in W a k a n röeishü ( N K B T 73:244), originally from the
H o u H a n shu, which refers to the stories of four men who, according to
S h i h c h i , sacrificed themselves in situations demanding loyalty to their
superiors or to principles. Tamenori's intent, in these parallel phrases, is
to acknowledge both his social obligations to Sonshi and her family
(based, as it were, on Confucian principles) and his hope of forging a
spiritual bond that will unite and reward both patron and author. He
also suggests that he is destined to perform this task for her.
30
T h e phrase "forest of merit" ( k u d o k u no h a y a s h i ) occurs in a
poem by Po Chü i quoted in W a k a n röeishü ( N K B T 73:200) and in the
processional chant of the lay participants in the Kangakue (see Sanböe
3.14). The "tree of enlightenment" (bodai no k i ) perhaps suggests the
tree under which Säkyamuni achieved that state, but it also extends the
floral imagery.
31
"The son of King Suddhodana" (Jöbon'ö) was Säkyamuni.
Kaurnjinya (Kyöchinnyo) was a servant in Säkyamuni's household who
followed him on his quest for enlightenment. He became discouraged
and scornful when his master undertook extreme ascetic practices, and
abandoned him. Eventually, however, he returned and was the first
among the five original disciples to follow Säkyamuni in attaining
enlightenment, and he became an a r h a t (KMJ 43a).
The First Volume
The Buddha
P R E F A C E T O T H E FIRST V O L U M E
Our Great Teacher Säkyamuni was in this world as an unenlightened

mortal for three incalculable aeons during which he devoted himself to
the cause of saving all sentient beings, and throughout the great
1
chiliocosm he never refused to sacrifice himself utterly for their sakes.
Then he was born in the palace of a king and, while still in his youth,
rejected the Five Cravings and left his father's house, and when he sat
under the Tree of Enlightenment, he subdued the Four Forces of E v i l
2
and became a Buddha. Internally, he mastered the Three Modes of
Training, the Four Modes of Expression, the Five Modes of Vision, and
the Six Supernatural Faculties, and externally he displayed the Thirty-
3
two Marks and the Eighty Signs. The crown of his head was like the
vast canopy of heaven, and his face was as perfectly round as the full
moon. The curls on his head resembled twisted cords of dark blue
thread, and the downy hairs between his eyebrows were like strands of
polished white jewels. His eyebrows were like two crescent moons, his
teeth like a mass of white snow, his eyes like blue lotus blossoms, his lips
like red berries. His skin was the color of burnished gold and shone bril-
liantly, without blemish. On the sole of each of his feet was the mark of
a wheel with one thousand spokes, and when he walked he did not touch
the ground. A l l of these marks were the result of his deeds in previous
4
ages, the effect of his practice of the various perfections. Even the
heavenly eye of Brahma could not see the top of his head; even the
supernatural hearing of Maudgalyäyana could not detect all the nuances
5
of his voice. In a sütra it is said, "If all those who slander the Mahäyäna
101
102 The First Volume: The Buddha
sütras, or steal the property of monks, or commit any of the Five Trans-
gressions, or violate any of the Four Great Prohibitions will contemplate
one of these marks or signs of the Buddha for one day and one night
with great concentration, all their sins will be erased, and eventually they
6
shall not fail to see the Buddha."
Also, the Six Supernatural Faculties endowed him with a wondrous
capacity for subduing other creatures. He turned fire into a lake and so
was able to pass Srigupta's house without accident, and he walked on
the water just as if it were solid ground, avoiding the hazard of Käsyapa's
7
boat.
Also, he had a very compassionate heart and saved all living things
from their sufferings. A heretic put insects that he himself had killed in
8
the Tathägata's footsteps, but they immediately came back to life.
When the dove that Säriputra had rescued came under the protection of
9
the Bhagavat, it was freed from all its fears.
He is the one relied upon by all the beings of all the three worlds,
10
the one revered by all the four kinds of creatures. Though he takes
various forms, you may not be able to see him; though he speaks, you
may not be able to hear him. But when there is an affinity, he will show
you his form, as does the moon in the sky when its reflection floats upon
the water. In response to your prayers he will let you hear his voice, like
thunder in the heavens that echoes your thoughts. His body fills the
whole vault of heaven, but for expedience he appears to be sixteen feet
tall. His life span is endless and incalculable, but he made it seem as if it
11
came to an end when he reached the age of eighty. If you smashed the
earth and counted every one of its particles, you still would have no
concept of the age of the Buddha. If you scooped up all the waters of the
great seas until they were dry, you still could not measure the depth of
12
his wisdom.
From the time he entered Nirvana to this day, many wondrous
things have taken place. He left his shadow inside a cave guarded
13
constantly by a poisonous dragon. He left his footprint upon a stone,
14
and though an evil king tried to rub it out, he could not do so.
Thus, you must know that though the Buddha chose to hide
himself from the sight of mankind for a brief time, he did not disappear
for eternity. The Buddha lives always in our hearts. You must never
think that he is far away. Moreover, you should pay homage to his
images, made ever since he rose into Träyastriipsa heaven, and you
should worship his relics, left behind ever since he made his way toward
15
the grove of Säla trees. Even when your thoughts are in disarray, offer
up a single flower; even when you are only pretending to pray, clasp your
ten fingers together. Even if your sincerity lasts for but a moment, even
if you intone his name but once, he will certainly fulfill your desire for
the extinction of your sins, just as he would have done when he himself
was in this world. In all the heavens and all the realms of earth below,
there is nothing like the Buddha; nor in all the worlds in the Ten Direc-
16
tions is there anyone comparable to h i m .
The palms of my hands are joined in reverence; now I will illustrate
the wonders of the Buddha.
Notes
An unenlightened mortal" ( b o n b u ) here describes the condition of

the Buddha in his existences prior to birth as Säkyamuni, which are said
to have occurred in "three incalculable aeons" ( s a n daiasögi). He passed
through forty progressive stages in the first aeon, seven in the second,
and three in the third (BGD 1:454c). This process is recounted in detail
in the fourth fascicle of D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:84ff). "The great chiliocosm"
is sanzen daisensekai. The world in which humans live was thought to
have a great mountain at the center, surrounded by four continents, in
turn encircled by seven mountain ranges and eight oceans. This is called
"one small world" (isshö s e k a i ) , and it includes the several heavens and
the sun and moon. Such worlds exist in infinite multiples (literally,
"three thousand 'great thousand'"—a number produced by several multi-
plications of a thousand) in the universe or "great chiliocosm" (see
William McGovern, A M a n u a l of B u d d h i s t P h i l o s o p h y 1 (Cosmology),
pp. 48ff).
2
"The Five Cravings" (go y o k u ) are the desire to see forms, hear
sounds, smell smells, taste tastes, and to touch and be touched, all
produced by the five corresponding sensory organs. Freedom from these
desires is a fundamental aspect of enlightenment (BD 2:1385c 86b).
"The Tree of Enlightenment" here is döju; the tree under which
Säkyamuni attained enlightenment is usually called b o d a i j u . "The Four
Forces of Evil," shi m a , are literally "four demons," personifications of
four fundamental causes of suffering in the unenlightened person: (1)
desire for the fulfillment of bodily cravings, (2) the various sufferings
that arise from the function of the "five aggregates" (the five skandhas,
which make up the person: matter, sensation, volition, actions, and
consciousness), (3) death, and (4) attachment to the belief in the exist-
ence of the sixth desire heaven, which destroys the will to do good in this
world (BD 3:1997a c).
3
This sentence is balanced by the phrases u c h i n i sonae ("attained
within") and soto n i a k i r a k a n a r i ("are evident on the outside"); the
attainments listed with these two phrases are the internal and external
aspects of Buddhahood. "The Three Modes of Training" ( s a n g a k u ) are

discipline, concentration, and wisdom ( k a i , jö, e ) , i.e., the three general
areas into which the activities of one striving for Buddhahood are clas-
sified (and three of the "six perfections") (BD 2:1472c 73c). The "Four
Modes of Expression" (shi ben) attained by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
are: (1) unlimited powers of expression in expounding doctrine and (2) in
explaining the inner meaning of the doctrine, (3) absolute command of
all manner of language, and (4) personal rejoicing in the doctrine, which
produces an unlimited capacity to share it with others (BD 3:2020a c).
The "Five Modes of Vision" (go g e n ) , cultivated at various stages in the
progress toward Buddhahood, are: (1) conventional vision with the
human eye; (2) the vision of celestials, which allows one to see the future
rebirths of any given sentient being and to see events occurring at great
distances; (3) the vision of the s r a v a k a and p r a t y e k a b u d d h a , i.e., the
capacity to see that all things are nonsubstantial; (4) the vision of the
Bodhisattva, which illuminates all manner of doctrines for the sake of all
sentient beings; and (5) the vision of a Buddha, constituted by the
possession of the four other modes simultaneously (BD 2:1170a-c). The
"Six Supernatural Faculties" ( r o k u tsü) are special powers possessed by
enlightened beings, such as a r h a t s . One list includes: (1) clairvoyance,
(2) the ability to hear all sounds in the world, (3) the ability to know
what another person is thinking, (4) the ability to know one's past lives
as well as those of others, (5) the ability to manifest one's body
whenever, wherever, and in whatever form one chooses, and (6) the
ability to extinguish one's illusions and end the cycle of rebirth (BD
5:5060a 61b). The use of many of these modes and faculties by various
kinds of beings is illustrated in the tales that follow. Various sütras have
lists of the "thirty-two marks and eighty signs" (sanjünisö,
hachijisshugö) that distinguish a Buddha; Tamenori proceeds to
describe some of the most remarkable and well-known marks and signs,
perhaps abbreviating and adapting lists in F Y C L ( T 53:347c-48c, 381b,
etc.).
4
The idea that the marks and signs are the results of the Buddha's
experiences in former lives is stated in almost the same words in F Y C L
( T 53:458b), which quotes Bussetsu taishisetsugokyö. The "perfections"
( h a r a m i t s u ) are the virtues specifically illustrated in tales 1.1-1.6; the
other tales in this volume illustrate these same virtues in various
combinations.
5
This sentence closely paraphrases F Y C L ( T 53:469b), which in
turn quotes M o - h o c h i h - k u a n ( T 46:66b). Many Buddhist stories tell of
Indra's and Brahma's "heavenly eye" ( t e n g e n ) , i.e., the organ through
which they exercise the first of the "six supernatural faculties" (clair-
voyance); Maudgalyäyana ( M o k u r e n ) , one of Säkyamuni's disciples, is
the quintessential possessor of the second (universal hearing). (See n. 3

above.)
6
The sütra quoted has not been identified. The "Five Transgres-
sions" (gogyaku no t s u m i ) are (1) patricide, (2) matricide, (3) killing an
a r h a t , (4) causing a schism in the community of monks, and (5) inflicting
bodily injury on the Buddha (BGD 1:357a). The "Four Great Prohibi-
tions" (shijü no toga) are the four worst possible violations of the rules of
behavior for monks: (1) sexual intercourse, (2) theft, (3) murder, and (4)
pretending to be enlightened. These prohibitions are also called s h i h a r a i
or shijüzai (BGD 1:522c; BD 2:1976b 77c).
7
The first part of this sentence is a paraphrase of a story in F Y C L
( T 53:615c) quoted from Jüjuritsu (Τ 23:464b 65a), but F Y C L has
S h i r i g u t a instead of Shömitsu for "Srigupta." After hearing Säkyamuni
preach, Srigupta, a wealthy merchant and heretic, tried to test the
Buddha in such a way as to discredit him. He invited the Buddha to his
house but set a pit full of flames in his path and put poison in the food
and drink to be served. Säkyamuni transformed the burning pit into a
pond full of lotuses, and neither he nor his disciples were affected by the
poison. Duly impressed, Srigupta became a disciple. The phrase
referring to "Käsyapa's boat" has not been explained or traced.
8
F Y C L ( T 53:549b) quotes Funbetsu k u d o k u r o n ( T 25:35c) for this
tale. An evil monk put the dead insects in the Buddha's tracks and
accused him of stepping on them (in violation of the vow against the
taking of life), but as a result of contact with his feet they were
miraculously revived.
9
F Y C L ( T 53:812c) quotes D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:138c 39a). Säriputra
( S h i n s h i ) is one of the disciples who figures frequently as interlocutor in
various sütras. According to this story, he and the Buddha were strolling
in the Jetavana garden when they saw a dove being chased by a hawk.
(Note the similarity to tale 1.1.) When the Buddha's shadow covered the
dove, it became calm; after he passed, it trembled again with fear. The
Buddha explained that Säriputra's own shadow had no such effect
because he was not yet completely free of illusions (see also Lamotte, 2,
pp. 647-49). Tathägata ( N y o r a i , "the one who has come thus [to
enlightenment]") and B h a g a v a t (Seson, "the one who is honored by the
world") are standard epithets for the Buddha, used here to create
balanced phrases with a slight variation in nomenclature—a typical
pattern.
10
T h e "three worlds" (sangai)—the desire world, the world of
matter, and the world of nonmatter—are all inhabited by various mortal
beings. A l l living things are classified as the "four kinds of creatures":
(1) those born from wombs (humans and other mammals), (2) those
hatched from eggs (birds and reptiles), (3) those born from larvae, and
(4) those born in supernatural circumstances (i.e., celestial beings and

denizens of hell) (BD 2:1842b c).
11
T h e idea is that the Buddha's physical existence was an
expedient means for enlightening sentient beings, while his essential
existence is universal and eternal. Kanmuryöjukyö (Τ 12:244c) explains
that Amida took human form—sometimes large enough to fill the
heavens, at other times at the height of sixteen feet—but only for the
sake of expedience. In the second chapter of the L o t u s Sütra,
Säkyamuni reveals that he appeared as a mortal in this world for eighty
years for expedience, but that in fact his Buddhahood is without begin-
ning or end.
1 2
A verse in the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:43c) may be the source, but the
figures are probably Tamenori's device. The "scooping out" of the sea
suggests the story of Prince Mahätyägavat (1.4).
13
T h e dragon-king Gopäla, who keeps the Buddha's shadow inside
his cave, is mentioned, for example, in T a - t ' a n g hsi-yü-chi (Τ 51:879a;
see also Thomas Watters, On Y u a n Chwang's T r a v e l s i n I n d i a 1:184).
14
The king's name was Sasänka; his attempt to erase the footprint
is also mentioned in T a - t ' a n g hsi-yü-chi (Τ 51:911c; see also Watters, 2,
pp. 92-93).
15
Träyastriipsa heaven (Tönten) is the second of the desire
heavens; a translated form of the name, Sanjüsanten, also occurs. A
total of thirty-three deities—Indra and the deities of eight heavens in
each of the four directions—were said to dwell there (BGD 1:472a;
2:448c). Zöichi agongyö says that when Säkyamuni left this world and
rose into Träyastriipsa heaven, King Udayana of Kausämbi was so filled
with yearning for him that he set up an image in the likeness of the
departed sage (T 2:706a). This is said to have been the first man-made
image of the Buddha (BD 1:223c). "The grove of Säla trees" ( S h a r a r i n )
was the site of Säkyamuni's death. The grove is also known as the
"White Crane Grove" and by several other names.
16
T h i s sentence is a verbatim quotation from M o - h o c h i h - k u a n ( T
46:6b).
1.1 The Perfection of Charity 107
1.1 T H E P E R F E C T I O N OF C H A R I T Y : K I N G SIBI
1
The Bodhisattva spent many ages practicing the Perfection of Charity.
He reflected: "If I do not teach myself to be willing to give what I have, I
will forever be reborn to miserable poverty. I want to cultivate the power
to save others and thus attain Buddahood, so I will give anything I have
to anyone who asks for it. Giving away my domains, my palaces, my wife
and children is even easier than throwing away so much wood and grass.
Giving away my head, eyes, hands, and feet is even easier than throwing
away so many stones and clods of earth. Why, then, should I lament the
2
loss of any other treasures?"
3
Long ago there lived a king named Sibi. He had a deeply compas-
sionate heart and treated all other beings as if they were his own
children. Indra decided to test Sibi's compassion and gave orders to his
4
lieutenant, Visvakarman : "Change yourself into a dove, and then hide
yourself in the folds of the king's robes. I will change myself into a hawk
and chase you. This will be the king's test."
They transformed themselves, and the dove went and hid inside
the king's robe; the hawk came after it and then landed in a nearby tree.
"Give me back that dove," it begged.
The king replied, "I have made a vow to save all sentient beings, so
I cannot give it back to you."
"Am I not a living thing as well?" protested the hawk. "Is it not
cruel to deprive me of my daily sustenance?"
The king wanted to save the dove's life, but he also wanted to keep
the hawk from starving, so he took up his sword and cut off some flesh
from his own thigh. The hawk said, "I'll take as much as the dove
weighs."
Each time the king measured the weight of the dove on a scale, it
grew still heavier, while his own flesh grew lighter. When he added the
flesh of his other thigh, it all weighed even less. He added the flesh from
his arms and back and finally all the flesh on his body, but it all weighed
too little.
The hawk said, "You have used up all your flesh, but the dove still
weighs more. What have you got left to add? Hurry up and give me back
that dove!"
Despite his insistence, the king replied, "I simply will not give it to
you," and when he tried to put what was left of his body on the scale, its
sinews fell apart. He had lost all strength and collapsed in a heap. But
he pressed himself further, saying to himself, "This suffering is nothing
compared to the immeasurable sufferings in hell. Even if I were

enlightened at this very moment but faltered in this trial, all those who
are in hell would never be enlightened, and what could I do about their
suffering then? It was my own idea to make this vow to save all sentient
beings. I cannot let such a trifling thing as this cause me pain; I must
not weaken or collapse. Someone must come and help me get up!"
Once more he managed to raise himself. He took hold of the ropes
of the scale, and with great effort he managed to get up on it. His mind
was clear and he felt no rancor.
At that moment the earth moved in six ways and flowers fell like
rain from the sky; waves rose high on the sea and blossoms burst forth
5
on withered trees. A Celestial appeared and praised the king, saying,
"For the sake of a tiny bird you did not shrink from the sacrifice of your
own body. You are indeed a Bodhisattva, and you will surely become a
6
Buddha very soon."
Then the hawk told the dove, "Our error has caused injury to the
body of this Bodhisattva. Let us use our heavenly powers to heal him
quickly." The hawk became Indra again and said to the king, "Do you
regret this experience that has caused you so much pain and suffering?"
"No, I feel only the greatest happiness," replied the king. "I have
no regret at all."
Then Indra said, "Without proof of what has happened, who will
ever believe that it is true?", whereupon the king made a vow, saying, "I
was prepared to sacrifice my life in search of the Way of the Buddha. If
you do not want to make a lie of what is in my heart, or let what has
happened here be in vain, then I ask you, please, restore my body at once
to its former state."
And so Indra poured heavenly medicine on him, and suddenly his
flesh reappeared, all his wounds were healed, and he was just as he had
7
been before.
Everyone who witnessed this rejoiced and revered him. After this,
Sibi's generosity was even greater than before.
He cared nothing for his own life: that is why it is said that he
exemplified the Perfection of Charity.
8
King Sibi of old is the Tathägatha Säkyamuni of today. This story
9
appears in Rokudojikkyö and C h i d o r o n . There is an illustration.
Notes
"The Perfection of Charity" ( d a n h a r a m i t s u , from Sanskrit däna-

päramitä) is the cultivation of unlimited generosity. The transliteration
1.1 The Perfection of Charity 109
d a n n a h a r a m i t s u also occurs, but the transliteration seen here is the

same as that used in D a i c h i d o r o n . The Sibi jätaka (which follows) and
the Sudäna jätaka (1.12) are both emblematic of this "perfection."
2
This passage follows lines at the opening of the twelfth chapter of
the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:34b), but it also foreshadows the stories of Sudäna
(1.12) and K§änti (1.3). A similar allusion to the sacrifices of Sudäna,
Mahäsattva (1.11), and Sibi in F Y C L ( T 53:877c) may also be
Tamenori's model here, but the parallel phrases "so much wood and
grass" and "so many stones and clods of earth" appear to be his own
devices (Shüsei, pp. 443-44).
3
The story of Sibi (Shibiö) in D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:87c 88c) is the
primary basis for Tamenori's version (see also Lamotte, 1, pp. 256-60).
A few details not found in D a i c h i d o r o n are taken from the Rokudojikkyö
version ( T 3:lb c), where the king's name is Sarvadatta ( S a p a d a ) . The
story does not appear in full anywhere in F Y C L , though it is alluded to
frequently (e.g., Τ 53:498b). Other versions may be found in the Mahä-
bhärata, Jätakamäla, etc. (see KMJ:62a; Hikata, Honjökyörui, 1, p. 61
c, 2, p. 18b; BD 2:1980a 82a; J.A.B, van Buitenen, ed. and tr., The
Mahäbhärata 2, pp. 470-73; J.S. Speyer, tr., The Gätakamälä, pp. 18-
19).
4
Indra (or Sakra; T a i s h a k u ) frequently appears in jätaka to test
and bear witness to future Buddhas. Visvakarman ( B i s h u k a t s u m a ) , who
lives in Träyastriipsa with Indra, frequently appears as his assistant (BD
5:4308b 9a).
5
The movements of the earth, along with the other phenomena
described, are signs that reveal the presence, realization, birth, or death
of a Buddha. (They recur, in the same context, in 1.8 and 1.11.) The six
types of movement are (1) side to side, (2) up and down, (3) a "boiling
up" out of the earch, (4) sudden crashing noises, (5) groaning sounds,
and (6) wailing sounds (BGD 2:1453d).
6
I n jätaka, Celestials ( t e n n i n ) appear to rejoice in or acknowledge a
Buddha's accomplishments, often bringing celestial instruments, flowers,
or perfumes with them. D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:88c) has a tennyo, a female
Celestial, appearing here. The message delivered is a prophecy of future
Buddhahood, the giving of which is also a recurring feature in jätaka.
7
This sentence is taken from Rokudojikkyö (Τ 3:lb c); D a i c h i d o r o n
has "As soon as he had spoken, his body was restored to its former
state." This suggests that Tamenori consulted both texts in the prepara-
tion of his own version, as he indicates below (Shüsei, p. 450; Izumoji,
"Sanböe no hensan ishiki," p. 242).
8
This identification is made explicit at the beginning of the
D a i c h i d o r o n version.
9
See n. 3 and n. 7.
1.2 T H E P E R F E C T I O N OF DISCIPLINE: K I N G S R U T A S O M A
1
(Maeda ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Tödaiji-gire )
The Bodhisattva spent many ages practicing the Perfection of

2
Discipline. He reflected: "If I do not uphold the precepts, I will
repeatedly fall into the Evil Realms; if I cannot obtain a good rebirth,
3
how then can I practice the Venerable Way?" So he placed little value
on his own life and great value on the observance of the precepts,
treasuring them like the pearl in his topknot, relying upon them as upon
4
a boat that floats over the sea.
5
Long ago there lived a king named Srutasoma. He upheld the
precept that forbids the telling of lies. One day this king was on his way
to a park, accompanied by many women. When his carriage was about
to pass through the palace gate, a Brahman appeared and said to the
king, "I am poor, I am suffering. I beg you, give me something." The
king said, "I will give you something when I return," and went on his
way. But while the king was taking his pleasure in the park,
6
Kalmä§apada swooped down from the sky and took him away. It was
7
just like a hawk capturing a bird. He flew into the mountains, and King
Srutasoma was set down among ninety-nine other kings already
captured by Kalmä§apada, who was going to behead them all. King
Srutasoma's tears fell like rain. Kalmä§apada said, "Why are you crying
like a baby?"
"I am not sorry to lose my life," replied the king, "but I am
sorrowful because I have just become a liar. From my birth to this day I
have never told a lie. But today, when I left the palace, a beggar came up
to me, and I told him I would give him something when I returned. I had
no idea that I would lose my life in this unexpected manner and so
commit the crime of telling a lie. It is in grief over this that I am crying."
Kalmä§apada said, "If you are sincere about this, I will let you have
seven days' respite." The king rejoiced and went home. He summoned
the Brahman and gave him treasure. He abdicated in favor of the crown
prince and turned the kingdom over to him. He gathered the people
together and gave them treasure, too, and then he prepared to leave the
kingdom. A l l the nobles strove as one, and all the people of the kingdom
wept as one. With one voice they pleaded: "Please, remain in this
kingdom and continue to rule it as generously as before. We will build a
house with a roof of iron, and you will live there under the protection of
your most excellent warriors. Then, even if Kalmä§apada comes out of
the sky, you need fear nothing."
1.2 The Perfection of Discipline 111
The king said to them, "I cannot do so. Rather than violate the
precepts and make my life meaningless, I will stand by my vow and will-
ingly part with my life. The Vow of Truth is the first of the precepts.
Truth is a bridge by which we mount to Heaven; lies lead to Hell. So,
even if I must give up my life to protect the Truth, I shall have no
8
regrets." And so saying, he left them and went back.
Kalmä$apada had seen this from afar, and he rejoiced and praised
him, saying, "Indeed, you do not tell lies. There is nothing men value
more than their own lives. I have already released you once, and you
went away. Now you have come back. You have not broken your
promise; you are indeed a superior man."
The king said, "To do what is true: this makes me human. To do
what is false: this makes me not human." In this manner he praised all
9
of the Ten Good Ways.
Kalmä§apada listened to him and said, "I have heard your words,
and already my heart is transformed; I am enlightened, and my spirit is
purified. I will let you live, and I will release the ninety-nine kings to you
as well. Let them all return to their own countries." Then all the kings
rejoiced, and they returned to their countries and lived out the rest of
their lives ruling their realms.
He lived his whole life to the point of death without telling a lie;
that is why he is said to have exemplified the Perfection of Discipline.
10
King Srutasoma of old is the Tathägatha Säkyamuni of today. This
story appears in D a i c h i d o r o n . There is an illustration.
Notes
1
One fragment has been identified. See Shüsei, p. 17.
2
"The Perfection of Discipline" is j i k a i h a r a m i t s u (Sanskrit s l l a -
päramita), usually illustrated, as here, as devotion to a particular precept
(as the translation j i k a i suggests).
3
Tamenori uses the expression "The Venerable Way" (tötoki m i c h i )
to balance akudö, a technical term for the three lowest and least
desirable levels of the six realms of life into which beings who have not
escaped from the cycle of rebirth are likely to be reincarnated, i.e., as (1)
creatures in hell, (2) hungry ghosts, and (3) animals; the three slightly
better realms are (4) quasi-celestial beings, (5) humans, and (6) celestial
beings (BGD 2:1457d 58a). In contrast, "The Venerable Way" refers to a
mode of life exemplified by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
The pearl in the topknot is a mark of a king. In the L o t u s Sütra, a

king's circumspection in parting with this jewel, his most precious sign
of office, is compared to the circumspection of the Tathägata, who gives
his most precious teaching (i.e., the L o t u s ) only when the time and
circumstances are right ( T 9:38c). A passage in F Y C L ( T 53:889c), which
contains the similes of the jewel and the boat, may be Tamenori's source;
the context there is also "upholding the precepts" (Shüsei, p. 445). But
these are generally recurring figures; the boat figure was also used, for
instance, in the "General Preface."
5
For Srutasoma, Tamenori has Shudama, while D a i c h i d o r o n , the
primary source, has the full transliteration Shudashuma ( T 25:88c 89b;
see also Lamotte, 1, pp. 260-63). In other versions of this story the
king's name is translated Fumyö ("Far-reaching Brilliance") (e.g., in
Rokudojikkyö, Τ 3:22b, which has some other major differences with the
D a i c h i d o r o n version). Jätaka 537 in Ρ J is the prototype of the many
versions of this story, incorporated into various works, including
Gengukyö (see K M J 673a; Hikata, Honjökyörui, 2, p. 36; BD 3:2485b-
86b).
6
Kalmäsapada (Rokusokuö) means literally the "deer-footed" or
"cloven-footed" king. A winged, quasi-celestial being, he swoops out of
the sky to plague those on earth (KMJ 271a-b).
The D a i c h i d o r o n description of the attack ("It was like a golden-
winged bird plucking a dragon out of the sea") has been replaced with a
figure that recalls the preceding story of the hawk and the dove.
8
The latter half of the king's statement follows a verse in the
D a i c h i d o r o n version, with a few alterations:
The truth is foremost of all vows;

The truth is a stairway to heaven.
The truth makes great men; lies lead to hell.
Now I shall protect the truth,
And shall freely sacrifice my life,
But there shall be no regret in my heart.
9
This statement is also adapted from D a i c h i d o r o n , which says "he
praised the truth and condemned falsehood in various ways." Tamenori
substitutes "he praised all of the Ten Good Ways" (jüzen no m i c h i ) .
These are fundamental aspects of behavior dictated by Buddhist
precepts: (1) abstention from killing, (2) abstention from stealing, (3)
abstention from sexual intercourse, (4) abstention from lying, (5) absten-
tion from the devious act of giving two people different versions of the
same story, (6) abstention from rough speech, (7) abstention from
frivolous speech, (8) abstention from covetousness, (9) abstention from
1.2 The Perfection of Discipline 113
anger, and (10) abstention from the holding of wrong views (BD 3:2282b
83c).
10
There is no such explicit identification in D a i c h i d o r o n , but all the
tales in the group from which this tale is drawn are understood as stories
of Säkyamuni's former lives. Other versions also identify Kalmä§apada
as a previous incarnation of Angulimäla, an evil king of Säkyamuni's
time.
1.3 T H E P E R F E C T I O N OF F O R B E A R A N C E :
T H E A S C E T I C K§ÄNTI
1
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Tödaiji-gire )
The Bodhisattva spent many ages practicing the Perfection of

2
Forbearance. He reflected: "If I do not cultivate forbearance, my
experiences will make me angry and resentful, and I shall not attain a
beautiful and gentle form. So I shall endure that which is hard to
endure, and though I am chastised with words of scorn, I shall think of
them as tiny murmurs in a valley; though I am beaten and slashed with
poles and swords, I shall remember that this body is a mere bubble upon
3
water."
4
There once was an ascetic named K§änti. He lived in the forest on
the outskirts of a great city. At that time there was a king in that
5
country named King K a l i . He went out to take his pleasure in the
forest, accompanied by many women. When the king dozed off, a
number of the women went into the forest to look for flowers. In the
distance they spotted the ascetic and gathered before him. The ascetic
expounded the Law, explaining why this world is to be despised and
rejected.
When the king awoke, he looked around for the women but could
not see them. "Who has made off with them?" he roared, pulling out his
great sword and setting off to find them. Then he saw them in the
distance, gathered around the ascetic, and he went up to them and
furiously inquired, "Who are y o u ? "
"I am an ascetic."
"And what do you do?" asked the king.
"I practice the Way of Forbearance."
The king thought, "That must mean that he can maintain his
forbearance even when he sees this furious countenance of mine!" and
then he asked, "Have you already attained the World of Matter and the
6
World of Nonmatter?"
The ascetic replied, "No, I have not attained them." The king grew
angrier still and said, maliciously, "You are still not free from worldly
desires, so how can you trust yourself when you look at my women?"
But the ascetic merely answered, "I only practice the Way of
Forbearance."
"Is that so?" cried the king. "Stick out your arm!" The ascetic
stuck out his arm, and the king cut it off with his huge sword.
"Who are you?" asked the king.
1.3 The Perfection of Forbearance 115
"I am one who can endure this easily," answered the ascetic. The
king then made him stick out his other arm and cut it off, too. "Can you
endure that so easily?" he asked.
"I can," answered the ascetic. Then his two legs, his two ears, and
his nose were cut off, and each time he was asked the same thing and
responded in the same way as before.
It was not until the king noticed that the greater part of the
ascetic's body lay scattered on the ground that his rage subsided. But
the ascetic asked, "Why do you not cut me up some more? Though you
chop me and mash me like a mustard seed, though I become like so much
dust, I shall not be angry or resentful for a single moment." Then he
made this vow: "Today, oh king, the anger in your heart made you cut
my body into seven parts, and I have sustained seven wounds. If I
become a Buddha in the future, I pray that I may convert you through
the power of my compassionate heart, show you how to cultivate the
7
Seven Enlightened States, and free you from the Seven Illusions."
His body was cut to pieces, but he felt no resentment; that is why
he is said to have exemplified the Perfection of Forbearance. The ascetic
8
K§änti is the Tathägata Säkyamuni of today. This story appears in
D a i r o n ? There is an illustration.
Notes
One fragment, of seven lines, has been identified. See Shüsei,

p. 19.
2
"The Perfection of Forbearance" ( n i n n i k u h a r a m i t s u ) is the
cultivation of the capacity to withstand hardships, suffering, or torture
without becoming angry or vengeful, particularly for the sake of a moral
principle or, more generally, the cultivation of patience and determined
application. N i n n i k u is a translation of Sanskrit ksänti.
3
It has been shown (Shüsei, pp. 445-46) that the Buddha's "reflec-
tions" combine elements from D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:164b), F Y C L ( T
53:893c), and the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:50c 51a). The first two passages
appear in general discussions of the practice of forbearance, but the
latter, from the twentieth chapter of the L o t u s , concerns the Bodhisattva
Sadäparibhüta (Jöfugyö bosatsu), who was abused as a fool by members
of the Buddhist community, to all of whom he responded with the words,
"You shall become a Buddha." "When he spoke these words, some in the
multitude beat him with sticks and staves, with tiles and stones" (Leon
Hurvitz, tr., S c r i p t u r e of the L o t u s Blossom of the F i n e D h a r m a , pp.
280-81). This paragon of forbearance is held up as an example to those

who may suffer for their adherence to the L o t u s .
The figure "murmurs in a valley" does not occur in the above-
mentioned texts; it may be Tamenori's own insertion.
4
N i n n i k u sennin combines the translation of K§änti with the word
for a person who dwells alone in the mountains or some other isolated
place, cultivating wisdom and striving for spiritual progress through
austere practices and communion with nature. In D a i c h i d o r o n , sennin
is used as a translation for r s i . The Sanskrit name for this character in
several other versions of the same story in various sütras (including
Rokudojikkyö, Τ 3:25a-c) is K§äntipäla. In another version ( P i n d o l a -
bhäradväja-jätaka, which Akanuma says is the prototype) he is an elder
whose adversary, King Udena, vents his wrath by dumping a basket of
red ants on the old man's head. In T a - t ' a n g hsi-yü-chi, Hsüan-tsang
describes a stüpa located at the site of the ascetic's dismemberment (T
51:882b). Although Tamenori quotes similar passages from T a - t ' a n g
hsi-yü-chi in subsequent tales (1.11 and 1.12), he does not do so here.
It has been shown that Tamenori's version of this tale follows that
in F Y C L more closely than it does that in D a i c h i d o r o n (Mori, "Sanböe
no seiritsu to Höon j u r i n , " pp. 22-24). The F Y C L version ( T 53:896a) is
a quotation from Shinbasharon (i.e., A b i d a t s u m a d a i b i b a s h a r o n , Τ
27:914c-15b). In general, Tamenori rearranges and simplifies the F Y C L
version into a recension uniquely his own.
5
See K M J 262b-63b for other forms of the name of the evil King
Kali (Kariö).
6
"The World of Matter and the World of Nonmatter" is s h i k i k a i
m u s h i k i k a i . F Y C L has hisöhihisöjojö, a type of meditation in which
there is neither perception nor nonperception. S h i k i k a i m u s h i k i k a i
usually refers to two worlds in which normal mortals are likely to be
reborn. Though beings in the "World of Matter" retain their bodily
existence, they are free of fleshly desire, so all things in that world are
pure, and there are no sexual distinctions (BGD 1:575a). In the "World
of Nonmatter," beings have no bodily existence or distinctive physical
qualities, such as purity, whatsoever; they retain only their spiritual
essence and dwell in a permanent state of deep meditation. The most
advanced level of this meditative state is hisöhihisöjojö (BGD 2:1326c-d).
The substitution does not lessen the likelihood that such terminology
would probably have been rather abstruse for Sonshi. The next few
lines, however, reveal the intent: the king means to ask the ascetic
whether or not he is free from worldly cravings, because he suspects that
the ascetic has designs on his concubines.
7
"The Seven Enlightened States" ( s h i c h i s h u no m i c h i ) refers to
seven components of the enlightened condition: (1) discretion in
1.3 The Perfection of Forbearance 117
selecting the proper doctrines, (2) right effort, (3) joy in practicing the
proper doctrines, (4) cheerfulness and physical relaxation, (5) rejection
of attachment to objects, (6) concentration (meditation), and (7) tran-
quility (BGD 1:587b). Most texts list six fundamental illusions ( z u i m e n
or z u i m i n ) : (1) craving, (2) anger, (3) pride, (4) ignorance, (5) possession
of false views, and (6) doubt. Occasionally, two types of desire are distin-
guished, yielding "seven illusions" (BD 2:1379a; 3:2877c).
8
F Y C L includes this identifying statement and also identifies King
K a l i with the Buddha's disciple Kaun<Jinya, who was eventually
enlightened, as promised in the present tale.
9
B o t h the Maeda-ke and Töji Kanchiin copies have this shortened
form for D a i c h i d o r o n .
1.4 T H E P E R F E C T I O N OF E F F O R T : P R I N C E MAHÄTYÄGAVAT
1
2
The Bodhisattva spent many ages practicing the Perfection of Effort.
He reflected: "If I do not strive with great effort but allow myself to live
in ease and comfort, I shall not free myself from the cycle of life and
death, and it will be impossible to turn to the way toward enlighten-
3
ment." He resolved to accomplish many things but never abandoned
any of them. If you light a fire but stop blowing on it, there will be no
fire; if you go swimming but do not keep your arms moving, you cannot
move through the water. It is just the same in this striving; if you allow
yourself a respite, it becomes impossible to attain the goal.
Long ago there was a prince, the son of the king of Väränasi, and
4
his name was Prince Mahätyägavat. Once, on an excursion outside the
palace, he saw a farmer at work in a field. He was digging a hole in the
ground with a spade, and crows had gathered to catch the insects. He
also saw people spinning thread, weaving cloth, slaughtering cattle,
shearing sheep, trapping birds, and catching fish. When he asked his
attendants about what he had seen, they said, "They are doing this to
make clothing and food."
The prince felt sorry for them, and when he returned to the palace,
he asked the king to open up his storehouses, and he took out many
jewels and distributed them to the poor. The king's ministers expressed
their outrage. But the prince said, "I have heard that there is a Magic
5
Pearl in the ocean, and I would like to go and try to find it."
The king was shocked. "This kingdom is your kingdom, and all its
treasures are yours as well. What can be lacking that makes you want to
search for this pearl in the ocean? There are poisonous dragons, giant
fish, wild winds, high waves; out of ten million men who go there only
one or two return. I cannot allow you to go!"
The prince prostrated himself before the king. "If you will not let
me go," he said, "I will not rise from this spot, and I will die here."
Though both the king and queen tried to reason and plead with him, he
refused to eat or to rise from the spot for the next seven days. The
queen wept, and said, "It is impossible to change his mind. Rather than
watch him die before our eyes like this, would it not be better to let him
go and hope that by some chance he may come back again?" The king
agreed, and, with tears in his eyes, he gave the prince permission to go.
There was a certain old man in that country who was very well
6
versed in the ways of the sea. He was eighty years old and blind in both
eyes. The king himself went to him and said, "Go with the prince." The
1.4 The Perfection of Effort 119
old man wept and said, "It is impossible for those who go into the sea to
return, but I cannot refuse your command. I shall accompany him even
to my death."
The prince prepared a ship and set sail. Five hundred merchants
had asked to accompany him. He bound their ships together with seven
chains of iron. Every morning the prince beat a drum and called out, "If
there is any one among you who wishes to go no further, turn back now!"
7
and each day he unfastened one of the chains.
The wind filled the sails, and they arrived at a mountain of
treasure. The prince left his ship and told the merchants, "Take this
treasure and go home in this ship," but he kept back one ship and some
of the people. Then he and the old man walked off. When they had
walked for seven days, they were in water up to their knees. After
another seven days the water was up to their necks. For another seven
days they floated and finally came to a beach. The old man said, "We
have reached the Beach of Silver Sand. Look, there in the distance, in
the southeast; you can see the Silver Mountain."
"Let's go there!" said the prince.
Once they had reached it, they saw the Beach of Golden Sand lying
still further ahead. But the old man was exhausted, and he collapsed,
saying, "I will die here. If you go on for seven days from here, you will
come to the place where the Blue Lotus grows. If you go on for yet
8
another seven days, you will find the Red Lotus. If you continue on
9
from there, you will reach the Palace of the Dragon King." Having
given these directions, the old man died.
The prince wept for him and then went on alone as he had been
directed. When he found the Lotuses, there were poisonous blue snakes
entwined around the stems. They glared at him, but they did not attack.
When he reached the king's palace, there were poisonous dragons
10
guarding the moat and beautiful women guarding the gate. When they
made the prince tell how and why he had come, the Dragon King was
amazed and incredulous. But he realized that no mere mortal could
possibly have come this far, and so he came forth to receive him and
bade him sit down on a jeweled couch.
"What can you be searching for that has brought you so far?" he
asked, and the prince replied, "The people of Jambudvipa are poor, and
11
consequently their sufferings are many. I have come here to ask you to
give me the jewel that is in your left ear."
The Dragon King said, "If you will stay here for seven days and
accept my hospitality, I will give you what you ask." So the prince
stayed for seven days and received the jewel. Then the dragon deity
carried him through the sky and took him to the shores of his own
country.
But many dragons had converged upon the palace with complaints:
"That jewel is the most prized treasure in the ocean, the most excellent
of all your adornments! It must be returned!" So saying, one of the
ocean spirits took human form and appeared before the prince and said,
"I have heard that you have acquired a rare jewel. Show it to me." When
the prince took it out and showed it to him, he stole it and went back
into the sea.
The prince cried out in grief, and made a vow: "If you do not give
me back the jewel, I will empty the sea until it is dry!"
The ocean spirit came out of the sea, laughing, and said, "How
stupid you are! Perhaps you would like to try to make the sun set, or
stop the winds from blowing. Where do you think you're going to put all
the water you scoop out of the sea?"
The prince replied, "Bonds of love are hard to break, but I still
intend to break them. The cycle of life and death is hard to end, but I
still intend to end it. Indeed, there may be a great deal of water in the
sea, but it, too, is finite. Even if I cannot empty it completely in this age,
I will continue scooping it through ages to come until it is all dry."
Having made this vow, he took up a shell and began to scoop the
sea water. A l l the Celestials, who saw that his vow was sincere, took pity
on him and came to his aid. They poured the sea water beyond the
Cakrävacja Mountains, carrying it in the sleeves of their heavenly
12
robes. When the prince had scooped once or twice, eight tenths of the
waters of the seas were gone. In a frenzy the Dragon King came forth,
crying, "My house will soon be emptied!" and he returned the jewel.
The prince went back to the palace, and on the fifteenth day of the
month he lit incense, raised a banner, and placed the jewel on top of the
banner post. With the censer in his hand he worshiped the jewel, and
said, "For the sake of all sentient beings I endured many hardships to
obtain this jewel. I pray, let many jewels fall from heaven like rain and
fulfill all the wishes of the people." In response to his words a gentle
breeze swept all the clouds from the sky, and a fine rain fell to the earth,
laying the dust. Then jewels fell everywhere like rain and piled up knee-
high upon the ground. There was no place in Jambudvipa where this
rain of jewels did not fall.
He endured his trials, steeled his will to fulfill his vows, and
emptied the sea; that is why he is said to have exemplified the Perfection
of Effort. Prince Mahätyägavat of old is the Tathägata Säkyamuni of
13 14
today. This story appears in Rokudojikkyö and Höongyö.
Notes
Four fragments have been identified. See Shüsei, pp. 23, 27.
1.4 The Perfection of Effort 121
2
"The Perfection of Effort" is shöjin h a r a m i t s u , a translation of
ulrya-päramitä, sometimes transliterated b i r i y a h a r a m i t s u : dedicated
practice of the other five perfections; fervent, active striving to do good
and thereby make progress toward enlightenment. Devotion to various
types of ascetic practices is often referred to as shöjin (BGD l:731c 32a;
Taya, Bukkyögaku j i t e n , pp. 265c 66a, 363b).
3
"The way toward enlightenment" is bodaidö; it may mean the
state of enlightenment itself.
4
Varänasi ( H a r a n a - k o k u ) is the early name for the modern
Benares (KMJ 76b 77b). The name "Mahätyägavat" ( D a i s e t a i s h i ) ,
actually an epithet meaning "the generous prince," does not appear in
the texts Tamenori cites as his sources for this tale, i.e., Rokudojikkyö (Τ
3:4a 5a) and Höongyö (Daihöbenbutsu höongyö, Τ 3:142c 47a). The
prince is called Fuse in the former and Zen'yü t a i s h i in the latter; the
names mean "the generous one" and "the prince who is a good friend,"
respectively. The name D a i s e bosatsu is used in a very brief version of
this story in D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:89b; see also Lamotte, 1, p. 265) and in a
version in Gengukyö (Τ 4:404b 9b). Elsewhere in D a i c h i d o r o n , the story
is retold using the name Fuse (T 25:151a 52a; Lamotte, 2, pp. 755-62).
It has been maintained that the Höongyö version was Tamenori's model
text (Shüsei, p. 451), but I think his recension bears a greater
resemblance to the longer of the two D a i c h i d o r o n versions.
"Mahätyägavat" is the equivalent of D a i s e given in Τ I n d e x 2:115,
referring to Gengukyö. Other possible translations are Mahäjanaka
(KMJ 364) and Mahädäna (Groner, Saichö, p. 118n).
5
The "Magic Pearl" is n y o i s h u , a translation of Sanskrit m a n i ,
sometimes transliterated (e.g., m a n i höshu in Höongyö, Τ 3:142b;
D a i c h i d o r o n has n y o i höshu, Τ 25:151b). Those who possess the jewel
will have all their wishes granted. The jewel is said to have been found
inside a divine fish, or to be a fragment of a jewel that was once Indra's,
or a transformed relic of the Buddha ( B G J 422b c). The prince wants
the jewel so that he can wish for treasures that will make his
countrymen's lives still easier.
6
Höongyö calls the old man k a i s h i and döshi, "master of the sea"
and "master guide" ( T 3:144a). In D a i c h i d o r o n he has a name, D o s h a , a
transliteration of Däsa (Τ 25:151b; Lamotte, 2, p. 759).
7
In D a i c h i d o r o n we are told that the merchants were fractious and
that they argued with the prince about their course, but Däsa insisted
that they should let the winds blow them in the right direction.
8
The blue lotus is associated with compassion and the Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara ( K a n n o n ) in esoteric symbolism (BD 3:2817a); the red
lotus is associated with wisdom (BD 1:736c). Perhaps what is meant
here is that the prince will attain these additional virtues in the process
of reaching his ultimate goal of "perfection in effort." On the other hand,
the lotuses may simply be emblems of the exotic regions through which
the prince must pass before he reaches his destination.
9
The Dragon King (Ryüö; Sanskrit Nägaräja) appears in Buddhist
texts as both a malevolent and benevolent figure. His palace, which lies
beneath or beyond the seas, is often idealized (see also 3.11).
10
"Beautiful women" ( t a m a no o n n a ) may mean, literally, "women
of jade."
11
Jambudvipa ( E n b u d a i ) refers to the continent lying south of
Mount Sumeru and is the area in which human beings of the present age
dwell, close to the center of the universe (in other words, India itself)
(BD l:317a b).
12
T h e Cakravä(Ja Mountains ( T e c h i i no y a m a ) are iron ranges that
encircle the four continents and the seas that surround them.
13
T h i s identification was made at the end of the Höongyö version,
along with identifications of the king as Säkyamuni's father
Suddhodana, the queen as his mother Mäyä, and an adversary to the
hero, an evil prince called Akuyü T a i s h i ("the prince who is a bad
friend") as Devadatta (T 3:147a). The absence of this last-mentioned
character is one of the main differences between the Höongyö and
D a i c h i d o r o n versions, suggesting again that the latter may have been
Tamenori's model. Devadatta was a disciple who turned against
Säkyamuni, caused a schism in the community of monks, and plotted
unsuccessfully to kill the Buddha. Jätaka villains are frequently iden-
tified as previous incarnations of Devadatta (see 1.8, for example).
14
See n. 4.
1.5 The Perfection of Meditation 123
1.5 T H E P E R F E C T I O N OF M E D I T A T I O N :
T H E A S C E T I C SANKHÄCÄRYA
The Bodhisattva spent many ages practicing the Perfection of Medita-

1
tion. He reflected: "The mind is like a drunken elephant; when it goes
2
wild, it cannot be restrained. The mind is like a playful monkey; you
3
can cage it, but it still escapes. If I do not control my thoughts, they will
constantly throw my mind into disorder. It is hard to part with worldly
4
illusions, but can I let them prevent me from attaining perfect insight?
So he went to a quiet place, put his thoughts in order, calmed his
heart, and was never disturbed. As a result, his meditations and his
5
wisdom joined to help him achieve enlightenment. They acted like the
two wings of a bird, the two wheels of a cart. If you have wisdom but you
6
do not meditate, your mind will not come to rest. The radiance of
enlightenment will not be able to shine but will merely flicker as a lamp
flickers in the wind, and you will be like a sea tossed by waves. But if you
add the quiescent mind of meditation to the radiant enlightenment
attained through wisdom, your mind will be as luminous and serene as
the light of a lamp when all the winds have ceased, like a lake free of
7
ripples in which bright reflections can float peacefully. If you focus your
whole mind on one thing, this result is guaranteed. There is nothing
more virtuous and wonderful than meditation.
8
Long ago there was an ascetic, and he was called Sankhäcärya. He
lived alone in a quiet cell and remained in meditation for long periods,
with his eyes closed and his breath in control, and for days he did not
rise. Some birds, seeing that he was as stationary as a tree stump, made
a nest and laid eggs in the hair on his head. When the ascetic came out
of his meditation, he realized that there was a bird's nest on his head.
He was afraid the eggs might fall and break, or that the mother bird
might be frightened and refuse to come near. So great was his concern
that he immediately reentered the state of meditation. He waited until
the young birds had all hatched and flown away, and then once more he
emerged from meditation.
He maintained quiescence and did not move; that is why he is said
to have exemplified the Perfection of Meditation. The ascetic
9
Sankhäcärya of old is the Tathägata Säkyamuni of today. This story
1 0
appears in C h i d o r o n . There is an illustration.
Notes
1
"The Perfection of Meditation" (zenjö h a r a m i t s u ) is devotion to
the practice of meditation, the object of which is clarity in the mind.
Intense concentration on one object or concept is a common form of
such meditation. Zenjö is one of many transliterations and translations
of Sanskrit dhyäna (BGD 2:855b).
2
This description originates in the N i r v a n a Sütra (Τ 12:512a,
756a): a drunken elephant, the Buddha says, may go on a rampage and
threaten injury and damage, but when controlled by a skillful driver, he
becomes docile and harmless. Similarly, sentient beings, intoxicated by
greed, anger, and ignorance, may commit evil acts, but this tendency is
suppressed when a good teacher reveals the Buddhist doctrines to them.
3
This description appears in Daijö honjö shinjikangyö (Τ 3:327b):
"The mind is like a monkey, scampering constantly among the branches
of the tree of Five Desires, never resting long on any one." The elephant
and monkey similes are combined in a passage in F Y C L on the merits of
meditation (T 53:902a; Shüsei, p. 446).
4
Here, "worldly illusions" (bonnö) are contrasted with "perfect
insight" ( k a n n e n ) . Bonnö is the state of spiritual confusion and suffering
that exists as long as the mind is controlled by worldly appetites; kannen
is the state of mind produced through meditation, producing a focused,
quiescent mind that fully grasps or "visualizes" the truth. Although the
terminology is somewhat technical, Sonshi would probably have
perceived the implied contrast between mental chaos and mental clarity.
5
E is used for wisdom here, c h i for the same thing elsewhere in this
tale; Tamenori seems to use both terms interchangeably. Ε translates
Sanskrit prajnä, while c h i corresponds to jhäna. While there are some
technical differences in these terms, both may be understood as types of
wisdom (Taya, Bukkyögaku j i t e n , pp. 38c-39a, 321b 22c). It is e,
however, that joins k a i (discipline) and jö (concentration) in the
formulaic "three modes of training." (See "Preface to the First Volume,"
n. 3.) What follows is an elaboration of the idea of the interrelated func-
tion of jö and e. "Enlightenment" here is b o d a i .
6
Here, "wisdom" is c h i (see n. 5).
7
The figures of the lamp and the rough and still waters may be
based on the same passage in F Y C L that contains the simile of the
monkey (see n. 3).
8
Tamenori uses the transliteration Shöjari sennin. Sahkha means
a mollusk or its shell; äcärya is a master teacher (Ogiwara Unrai,
K a n ' y a k u taishö B o n ' w a d a i j i t e n , pp. 1306a, 184b). The source,
1.5 The Perfection of Meditation 125
acknowledged by Tamenori, is D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:188a; see also 89b and

Lamotte, 2, p. 1046 and 1, p. 266). The protagonist is introduced there
as " r a k e i s e n n i n . . . n a w a Shöjari t o su" Rakei describes tight ringlets
of hair, curled tight like mollusk shells; R a translates s a h k h a . On the
term s e n n i n , see 1.3, n. 4.
9
D a i c h i d o r o n makes this explicit identification at the beginning of
the story.
10
See n. 8.
1.6 T H E P E R F E C T I O N OF WISDOM: P R I M E M I N I S T E R
GOVINDA
1
The Bodhisattva spent many ages practicing the Perfection of Wisdom.
He reflected: "If I do not strive toward the dawning of enlightenment, I
shall remain forever in the dark realm of ignorance. I shall wander into
the dense forest of wrong views and lose my way on the true path to
2
enlightenment. So he sought the venerable Way and cultivated deep
insight. With the Five Perfections heretofore described, you are still
like a blind man unable to see the path before him; with the Sixth
Perfection, you are like a sighted man for whom the path is clearly
3
revealed. The Five Perfections already described serve as the arms and
legs serve the body; the Sixth Perfection is like the head that holds the
4
life force. Through the eye of the flower you are directed toward
Nirvana; through the head of the flower you grasp the essence of the
5
Dharma Body. This much is certain: if our heart can be freed from its
illusions, we know that the realization of Buddhahood is nigh, just as we
know, when we see the leaves beginning to swell and open in the trees,
that spring will soon be here; or, when we see the sandy shores spreading
before us, we know that the waves of the sea must be close at hand. So it
is with the Bodhisattva: when the deep flowering of wisdom is attained,
it is certain that his enlightenment cannot be far beyond.
6
Long ago there was a prime minister named Govinda. His mind
was illuminated; his insight was vast. When there was fighting among
7
the kingdoms, he divided Jambudvlpa into seven equal parts. Further-
more, he saw directly into the minds of all the people of kingdoms and
cities far and near, and he divided each kingdom and city into seven
parts as well, and thus brought all the fighting among them to a stop.
He understood perfectly that which was so difficult to understand;
this is why he is said to have exemplified the Perfection of Wisdom.
8
Govinda of old is the Tathägata Säkyamuni of today. This story
appears in the D a i r o n ? There is an illustration.
Notes
1
"The Perfection of Wisdom" ( h a n n y a h a r a m i t s u ) is the achieve-
ment of perfect knowledge, insight, and understanding. H a n n y a trans-
literates prajnä, which is also translated as e and c h i e (see 1.5, n. 5).
1.6 The Perfection of Wisdom 127
In the figure "forest of wrong views," "wrong views" is j a k e n :

"misconceptions," "ignorance," or, in a more technical sense, nonrecogni-
tion of the principle of cause and effect (BGD 1:61 lb-c). The figure of
the "forest" of such views is not an original device; it occurs, for example,
in the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:8b).
3
There is a similar comparison of wisdom with vision in
D a i c h i d o r o n (T 25:498a) quoted in F Y C L (T 53:833b).
4
This figure is also in the same D a i c h i d o r o n and F Y C L passages
(see n. 3).
5
Yamada suggested that the use of the flower figure here derives
from a reading of the characters h a n n y a as h a - n i - y a , suggesting a
homonym for h a n a , "flower" (Ryakuchü, p. 44). "Dharma Body" is
hosshin, here meaning "the essential truth of the Buddhist teachings"
(BGD 2:1253d 54b). The poetic effect of this imagery may have been of
greater interest than its doctrinal import.
6
I n Tamenori's acknowledged source, D a i c h i d o r o n , Govinda
( K u h i n ) is identified as K u h i n d a b a r a m o n d a i j i n ( T 25:89b; see also
Lamotte, 1, p. 266). The story is retold or alluded to in various sütras,
including one devoted entirely to this jätaka, i.e., D a i k e n g o b a r a m o n
engikyö (Τ 1:207-13; see also K M J 217b).
7
See 1.4, n. 11.
8
This identification is implicit in the D a i c h i d o r o n version.
9
The Töji Kanchiin bon has this abbreviated title; the Maeda ke
bon has D a i c h i d o r o n .
1.7 T H E E L D E R JALAVÄHANA
Long ago there was an elder named Jalavähana. Once, on an excursion

with his two sons, he noticed that all the birds and animals were flying
and dashing off together in one direction. Mystified, he followed them
2
and came to a large pond. It was called [Yashö Pond]. Its water was
almost gone, but there were many fish in it. Jalavähana pitied them;
then a tree spirit addressed him, saying, "Your name is Jalavähana;
3
bring water and keep the fish alive.
Jalavähana was startled, but he asked, "How many fish are there?"
and the tree spirit replied, "There are ten thousand."
The pond was baking in the sun, and the death of the fish was at
hand. Jalavähana rushed off to search for water in every direction, but
there was none to be found. He climbed a big tree and broke off a leafy
branch, and then he went and stood in the middle of the pond, making
shade for the fish. He looked this way and that, trying to discover how
the pond was draining, and he spotted a big river in the distance. Some
fishermen had let out the water in order to trap the fish; they would very
soon be beyond all rescue.
Jalavähana ran back to the city, went to see the king, and reported
what was happening. "Please, let me have twenty elephants that can
carry water and save the fishes' lives!" he said.
The king immediately gave him the elephants. Then Jalavähana
and his two sons found some vintners, from whom they borrowed many
leather pouches. Then they went to the river and filled the pouches with
water, and the elephants carried the pouches to the pond. The water
soon regained its previous level.
As Jalavähana paced along the banks of the pond, the fish kept
following him. He was puzzled, but then he realized that they must be
starving and were following him in hope of getting some food. So he said
to his sons, "One of you, take the elephants and hurry home. Gather up
all the food we have, mine and your mother's and even the servants', and
bring it here," and one of them set off. He soon returned with the food,
and Jalavähana cast it all over the pond, and all the fish ate their fill.
Jalavähana thought, "I have supplied food and saved the fish from
starvation. Now I should introduce them to the flavor of the Law and
give them guidance for the life hereafter," and so he stepped into the
4
pond and expounded the Law for the benefit of the fish. He explained
the Twelve Causes and Conditions as he had heard them described long
ago by a monk, and he sang the praises of the Jewel-Haired Tathägata as

5
described in the sütras he had heard. Then he went home.
Not long thereafter, these ten thousand fish died at the same time
6
and were all reborn together in Träyastriipsa heaven. They said to one
another, "In our last incarnation we were all born as fish. Jalavähana
gave us water and fed us and explained the Law and sang the praises of a
Buddha, and as a result we have been reborn in this heaven where we
will dwell forever. Let us all go and repay our debt to him."
At this time, Jalavähana slept every night in a room high up in his
mansion. The ten thousand Celestials appeared there and placed ten
thousand jeweled bracelets on all four sides of the spot where he lay, so
7
that in all there were some forty thousand jeweled bracelets. Flowers
fell from heaven and piled up knee-high, and the Celestials played
heavenly music; everyone in the house was awakened. While Jalavähana
was still in awe and astonishment, the Celestials departed. High in the
sky they gave off a bright light and dropped flowers all over the
countryside. Then they went to the pond where they had once lived and
dropped many flowers upon it, and then went back to heaven.
When he heard about these events the next morning, the king was
amazed, and he wanted to investigate further, so he sent for Jalavähana,
questioned him, and dispatched an attendant to examine the pond.
Thus it was discovered that the fish of the pond had been reborn in
heaven and had demonstrated their gratitude in this way. A l l the people
of the land were deeply impressed.
8
Jalavähana of old is the Tathägata Säkyamuni of today. This
9
story appears in the Saishöökyö.
Notes
1
Jalavähana means "he who causes water to flow" or "water bearer"
(Ogiwara, B o n w a d a i j i t e n 5, p. 496b). The translated form Rusui has
been omitted in the Töji Kanchiin but appears in the Maeda-ke bon.
Tamenori cites Saishöökyö (i.e., Konkömyö saishöökyö, Τ 16:488c 50c);
F Y C L quotes part of this version of the story (T 53:782c-83b). Tamenori
may have followed the F Y C L abridgement, but he uses some names and
terms that appear only in the fuller version (see notes following). In
Konkömyö saishöökyö, Rusui is identified as "the son of an elder" (chöja,
which may mean "a man of property," "an elderly man," or "a virtuous
man"; see B G D 2:963a). This story does not occur in the jätaka collec-
tions or in other sütras based on them, other than in the various versions
of Konkömyö saishöökyö. The story may form part of the background of
the Höjöe described in 3.26 (Ryakuchü, p. 49).
A photographic reproduction of an early Japanese copy of

Konkömyö saishöökyö (Kasuga Masaji, ed., S a i d a i j i b o n Konkömyö
saishöökyö koten no kokugogakuteki kenkyü) see pp. 8-9 and 178-86 for
the chapter on Jalavähana) has been used for comparison with
Tamenori's version in Shüsei. See also the translation of the shorter
Konkömyökyö, which contains an almost identical version of the story
(R.E. Emmerick, tr., The Sütra of the G o l d e n L i g h t , p. 79ff).
2
The characters used for Yashö in the two texts differ, but those in
the Maeda-ke bon are the same as those in Konkömyö saishöökyö and
accurately translate A t a u l s a m b h a v a , "a pond in the fields" (Ogiwara,
B o n w a d a i j i t e n 1, p. 18a). The pond is not named in the F Y C L version.
3
The tree spirit may simply be a forest deity, or perhaps, as
Yamada suggested, the "female Celestial of the Bodhi tree" ( B o d a i j u s h i n
zennyoten) who is the Buddha's interlocutor in Konkömyö saishöökyö
(Ryakuchü, p. 49). When she repeats the protagonist's name, she is
saying, "You are called 'he who sets water flowing'—so do so!"
4
The expression "introduce them to the flavor of the Law" ("ho no
aji 0 h o d o k o s h i t e " in the Töji Kanchiin bon) does not appear in F Y C L ;
Konkömyö saishöökyö reads "höjiki 0 h o d o k o s h i t e " (Τ 16:449c). Höjiki
usually means food prepared according to monastic regulations (BGD
2:1232d); hömi (i.e., hö no aji) means the essence of the Law, "the subtle
flavor of the essential Buddhist doctrine." What is suggested is a
relationship between the sustenance just given the fish and the spiritual
food about to be offered them.
5
The "Twelve Causes and Conditions" (jüni i n n e n in F Y C L and
Sanböe; jüni engi in Konkömyö saishöökyö) are factors that cause the
unenlightened person to remain in the cycle of life and death; each factor
gives rise to the next in a chain of causality. This constitutes a
fundamental analysis of the cause of worldly suffering, suitable for
preaching to fish in the hope that they may obtain a better rebirth.
Neither F Y C L nor Konkömyö saishöökyö enumerate them. One
standard list is: (1) ignorance, (2) predispositions, (3) consciousness, (4)
selfhood, (5) the six senses, (6) contact, (7) feeling, (8) craving, (9)
grasping, (10) arising, (11) birth, and (12) death (Taya, Bukkyögaku
j i t e n , pp. 235a 36a).
In referring to the "Jewel-Haired Tathägata" (Hökei n y o r a i ) ,
Tamenori follows Konkömyö saishöökyö. This is Ratnasikhin-tathägata,
a Buddha of the distant past who made a vow that if any sentient being
in any of the ten directions were to hear his name at the moment of
death, that being would be "reborn to the same lot as the thirty-three
gods," i.e., in Träyastriipsa heaven (BGD 2:1144; Emmerick, pp. 80-81).
F Y C L reads Höshö n y o r a i , i.e., Prabhütaratna-tathägata, another great
Buddha of the past who figures prominently, for example, in the L o t u s

Sütra. Since the fish are reborn in Träyastrirpsa as a result of hearing
this name, Hökei n y o r a i would appear to be correct.
6
Sanböe has the translated form Sanjüsanten, as does Konkömyö
saishöökyö; F Y C L has the transliteration Tönten (see "Preface to the
First Volume," n. 15).
7
The "Celestials" here are called Tenshi (see 1.1, n. 6). These are,
of course, the reborn fish.
8
This identification is made by the Buddha himself at the end of
the story in Konkömyö_ saishöökyö. He also says that the elder's two
sons were Rähula and Änanda (the Buddha's son and his chief disciple)
and that the elder's wife was the Buddha's wife Gopä (or Gopi) (T
16:450c). The F Y C L version does not have these identifications.
9
See η. 1.
1.8 T H E LION WHO H E L D F I R M L Y TO HIS VOWS

1
Long ago, there was a mountain in the land of Väräiiasi called the Moun-
2 3
tain of Sages. Five hundred self-enlightened sages lived there. A lion
lived on the mountain, and his name was "The Lion who held firmly to
4
his vows." The hair on his body was the color of gold, and he had the
strength of a thousand lions. When he lifted his voice and roared, birds
flying in the sky were so frightened that they fell to the ground, and
animals running on the ground lay huddled in fear.
This lion used to watch for one of the self-enlightened sages who
came to sit beneath the trees, and he gradually fell into a daily habit of
listening to the sage as he chanted the sütras and expounded the Law.
One day a hunter came by and saw this and thought, "If I could get
his hide and present it to the king, he would surely grant me high office
and riches in return. But this is the King of the Beasts, and he cannot be
shot with a bow or trapped with a rope. This will require a special plan.
As it happens, he has grown used to being close to this monk, so I will
shave my head for this purpose, and I will hide a bow under priestly
robes, and I will sit under that tree. Then, when he comes close, he won't
know that I am going to shoot him!"
He went home and told his wife, "I have never, ever heard of a
beast with golden hair, but today I saw one. If I can manage to kill it and
get the hide and present it to the king, our house will prosper and our
descendants will thrive for many generations to come." So saying, he
immediately shaved his beard and the hair on his head, put on a black
robe, went back to the mountain, and sat beneath the tree.
When the lion saw him he danced for joy and ran up close and
licked the hunter's feet. The hunter drew the bow, which was concealed
beneath his robe, and shot the lion with a poisoned arrow.
The lion roared and snarled and was about to devour the man, but
then he had a change of heart. He thought, "It would be very easy for me
to eat this man, but he looks like a monk and he is wearing priestly garb.
To injure a monk's body is the same as injuring the body of the
5
Buddha." So he tried to calm himself and withstand the pain, but his
suffering was too hard to bear, and he was about to open his jaws to bite
the hunter when once more he regained control and rejected the idea.
For, though the man harbored evil intentions within his heart, he still
looked like a monk on the surface.
"If I were to kill this man today," thought the lion, "I would violate
the severe prohibitions established by the Buddhas of many ages. We
1.8 The Lion 133
revere forbearance, while lack of forbearance is despised, for it gives rise

to additional illusions that lead to interminable rebirths in the Evil
realms, separation from good companions, failure to hear the True
Dharma, and further delay in attaining enlightenment. Therefore, I
6
must not heed these evil thoughts," and with this resolve, the lion
intoned a verse, saying,
Though it may cost me my own life

Let no evil thoughts turn me against the robes of the
Law;
Though it may cost me my own life,
7
Let no evil thoughts turn me against a man of the Law.
As soon as he had uttered these words, the lion died. At that very
moment the earth shook six times, and the birds and beasts were startled
into flight; though there were no clouds, blood rained from the sky, and
8
no light shone from the sun in the heavens.
The hunter threw off his robes and cut off the lion's hide with his
sword. Clutching it gleefully, he rushed home. Soon he presented it to
the king, who was filled with wonder and delight and asked, "How did
you acquire this hide?" The hunter explained in detail, as above, how he
had plotted and succeeded in killing the lion.
Hearing this, the king was shocked, and he wept with grief. As his
tears fell, he said, "Long ago I heard a wise man say that beasts with
9
golden hair are invariably Bodhisattvas. As a result of your evil plot-
ting, you have killed a Bodhisattva. If I were to reward you with high
offices and riches, I would be no better than you are!" He immediately
had the man arrested and executed.
The king took the lion's hide and climbed up the mountain. He
found the spot where the lion had died, gathered a pile of sandalwood,
and placed the lifeless remains upon the funeral pyre. Then he burned
the hide and collected the bones and worshipped them.
The "Lion who held firmly to his vows" of old is the Tathägata
Säkyamuni of today; the king of that land is the Bodhisattva Maitreya of
10 11
today. This story appears in Höongyö.
Notes
1
S i x fragments have been identified. See Shüsei, pp. 39-41.
2
In the details of the location ( H a r a n a - k o k u : see 1.4, n. 4; "Moun-
tain of Sages" is Senshösen), Tamenori follows his cited source, Höongyö
(Τ 3:162c-63b). The story of the lion appears in other works, including
Gengukyö (Τ 4:438a c), which is quoted in F Y C L (T 53:558-59a), but in

this case Tamenori seems to have consulted Höongyö for at least some of
the details (see following notes).
3
The word for "self-enlightened sages" used here is engaku, a trans-
lation of p r a t y e k a b u d d h a . The p r a t y e k a b u d d h a is an individual who has
achieved enlightenment through his own efforts, as distinguished from
the s r a v a k a (Japanese shömon), who hears the doctrine from others and
is thereby enlightened, and the b o d h i s a t t v a , who postpones the
enlightenment he has achieved in this world in order to help others
(Taya, Bukkyögaku j i t e n , pp. 42c-43a; B D l:292b 95b). In some
Mahäyäna sütras, the p r a t y e k a b u d d h a is an object of great scorn since
his enlightenment is "selfish," but there is no such pejorative nuance
here. Höongyö has the transliterated form byakushibutsu (as do
Gengukyö and F Y C L , but these versions do not specify how many
"sages" there were).
4
The name Kensei Shishi appears here as it does in Höongyö and
F Y C L . Gengukyö has a transliterated Sanskrit name, S a k a r a b i , for
which the reconstruction Samkalpa has been suggested ( T Index 2:59b;
Hikata, Honjökyörui, 2, p. 71).
5
This is an interpolation; there is no direct parallel in the model
texts, but a statement to this effect is to be found in a quotation in F Y C L
(T 53:428a) from Daihödö daijikkyö, and the same idea is repeated in the
"Preface to the Third Volume."
6
This speech closely follows the Höongyö version. On the "Evil
Realms," see 1.2, n. 3. The lion is afraid that he will be reborn again as
an animal, or worse. "Separation from good companions" (i.e., zen'yü)
means the inability to come into contact with guides and comrades who
can help one toward spiritual progress.
7
This verse is found in the Höongyö version; in the Gengukyö and
F Y C L versions the lion utters an esoteric spell, followed in the text by an
interpretation of the spell that shows its purport—respect for monks—
to be quite similar to that of the Höongyö verse.
8
The Maeda-ke bon says "the earth shook in six ways," while the
Töji Kanchiin bon says "the earth shook six times," which is quite
literally what the Höongyö version has as well (see 1.1, n. 5). The other
strange phenomena also signal the death of a Buddha-to-be and his
rebirth as a Buddha.
9
"Bodhisattva" here means an incipient Buddha.
10
T h e identification of the lion with Säkyamuni appears at the end
of the Höongyö version, but the king's identification with Maitreya
( M i r o k u bosatsu, a Buddha of the future) appears only in the Gengukyö
and F Y C L versions, along with an identification of the hunter as
Devadatta (see 1.4, n. 13).
11
See n. 2.
1.9 T H E D E E R K I N G
Long ago, there was a grove that stood in a vast meadow. Two Deer
1
Kings lived there, and each was the leader of a large herd. When the
2
king of the country came out on a hunt, all the deer ran away. Some fell
into holes or collided with rocks and were injured or killed.
In grief at the sight of this carnage, one of the Deer Kings decided
3
to go and see the king. This Deer King was very large, and he had
4
antlers of five colors. Everyone who saw him was amazed and
impressed. The Deer King knelt and said to the king, "Whenever you go
out to hunt, or when your courtiers go hunting, many deer are killed.
Sometimes mothers are parted from their young, and that is especially
5
tragic. A great many deer may be killed in a single day, and so many of
them are simply left to rot! You cannot possibly need so many each day!
If you will tell me how many your cooks require, I will deliver that many
every day. Then the king will always have fresh meat, and we deer will
survive a little longer."
The king was impressed, and he said, "I can do easily with just one
a day. I had no idea that so many of your herd were dying each time!
What you have said is very reasonable; I will adopt your suggestion," and
with these words of praise he abandoned the hunt and went home. The
two Deer Kings took turns offering their subjects to the king on alternate
days. With tears in their eyes, they would go to the deer chosen for the
next day's sacrifice and give counsel, saying, " A l l living things must die.
Who is spared this fate? Invoke the Buddha's name as you go. Do not
6
go before them with a resentful heart."
Then it happened that a pregnant deer in one of the herds was
chosen, but she pleaded with her king, saying, "I will soon give birth to
my child. I beg you, send another deer in my place and let me go another
time. Once the expected child is born and raised, I will be willing to
7
die."
But the Deer King said angrily, "What makes you think that feel-
ings should be a reason for excusing you from your turn?" Since he
would not excuse her, the unhappy deer went to the other Deer King to
complain. When he heard her story he exclaimed, "Ah, a mother's heart
beset by grief—mourning a child that is not yet born!" In pity for her, he
summoned the deer of his own herd who would be sent next and told
him, "Go in her place today."
But this deer complained, too. "Who does not covet even the
shortest portion of his life?" he argued. "I know that it will be my turn
tomorrow, and it cannot be avoided. But to lose the one night I still have
left by dying today—it is too cruel!"
The Deer King said, "Yes, you have good reason to refuse. Very
well; I myself will go in your place and give my own life." With these
8
words, he left them.
The king was amazed and bewildered. "Why has the Deer King
himself come today? Are all the deer in your herd already gone?"
"In the other herd there is a pregnant deer, and it was her turn
today. When I heard her mourn the fate of her unborn child, I could not
bear it, and so I decided to die in her place," replied the Deer King.
The king's sorrow was deep, and he wept and said, "I maintain my
own existence by taking the lives of many others. You sacrifice your own
9
existence to save the lives of other creatures. I am truly ashamed!"
Then the king uttered a verse:
I am truly an animal!
I should be called "the beast in human form."
You may be an animal,
But you should be called "the man in beastly form."
Men are men if they have the true character of men;
Men are not made men by their appearance!
10
From this day forth, I shall no longer eat animals!
Having made this vow, he gave an order to the nation: "Those who
hunt will be treated as criminals." He also made the meadow where the
deer lived into a park. This is the origin of what is known as the "Deer
11
Park." It was there that the Buddha first propounded the Dharma.
12
Also, the Deer King of old is the Tathägata Säkyamuni of today.
13
This story appears in Rokudojikkyö.
Notes
1
Tamenori cites only Rokudojikkyö as his source (T 3:12b 13a), but
I have found evidence that he referred to the version in D a i c h i d o r o n ( T
25:178b c) as well (see notes following). In D a i c h i d o r o n , this story is
given as an illustration of the Buddha's freedom from attachment to
mortal life and his practice of the "Perfection of Effort" (see also
Lamotte, 2, pp. 972-75). There is only one Deer King in the
Rokudojikkyö version, while two are clearly identified in D a i c h i d o r o n :
the D a i c h i d o r o n version begins by identifying one Deer King with
Säkyamuni, while the other is called "Devadatta."
2
Neither king nor country is named in Rokudojikkyö, or by
Tamenori, but D a i c h i d o r o n identifies them with transliterated forms of
names that correspond to those in Päli jätaka 12 (PJ 1:36-42).
3
I n specifying that only one of the two Deer Kings goes to plead for
his herd, Tamenori appears to follow D a i c h i d o r o n , where it is clear that
this is the deer identified with Säkyamuni.
4
Rokudojikkyö says his hide was of five colors; D a i c h i d o r o n says his
body had the colors of seven jewels.
5
T h i s particular point is not made in the Deer King's speech in
either Rokudojikkyö or D a i c h i d o r o n . The theme of compassion for the
pregnant mother and her unborn child is the larger context in which this
story is presented in the Päli jätaka collection.
6
Nothing that quite corresponds with this speech appears in
Rokudojikkyö or D a i c h i d o r o n .
7
In D a i c h i d o r o n it is clear that the protesting female deer is from
the herd of the less admirable, inflexible Deer King identified with
Devadatta. Her speech follows D a i c h i d o r o n more closely than it does
that in Rokudojikkyö, although part of her argument there—that two
deaths will result, though only one is required—has been omitted. In the
Päli jätaka version this question of the proper treatment of pregnant
females is the central issue. The introduction tells of a nun of
Devadatta's order who was expelled when she was found to be with child.
Säkyamuni received her in his order, and she gave birth to a virtuous son
who faithfully served Buddhism. The narrative then presents the story
of the Deer Kings as a demonstration of a predetermined, repeating
pattern of events, contrasting Devadatta's inflexible and heartless
adherence to regulations with Säkyamuni's compassion and willingness
to overlook them. This in itself is a repeating pattern in the jätaka
genre.
8
The attempt to find another deer from the sympathetic Deer
King's herd to take the place of the pregnant doe does not occur in the
Rokudojikkyö or D a i c h i d o r o n versions.
9
The king's speech is not to be found in either of the model texts.
10
T h i s is a condensed version of a gätha in D a i c h i d o r o n (over-
looked by Yamada); see Τ 25:178c; Lamotte, 2, p. 974.
11
The statement that these events led to the creation and naming
of the "Deer Park" ( R o k u o n , the site of the Buddha's first discourses)
does not occur in either of the model texts. A similar story is presented
as "The History of the Deer Park" in Mahäuastu (J. J. Jones, tr., The
Mahäuastu, 1, pp., 305-11). There are, however, several other stories
about how the "Deer Park" came to be so named; see, for example, the
version in Shutsuyökyö (Τ 4:685b c), which bears some resemblance to
the present tale. The story of the origins of the Deer Park given in T a -
f a n g hsi-yü-chi is basically the same as that given by Tamenori (T
51:906a-c).
12
See η. 1.
13
See η. 1.
1.10 T H E H I M A L A Y A BOY
1
Long ago there was someone who lived all alone in the Himalayas, and
2
he was called "the Himalaya Boy." He drank elixirs and picked mush-
rooms and made his heart serene; thus did he cultivate the Way. Indra
observed this and thought, "Fish give birth to many young, but few will
grow into mature fish. The mango tree has many blossoms, but only a
few of the flowers will turn into fruit. Men are the same. Many have the
3
intention, but only a few become Buddhas. It is possible for every heart
that seeks enlightenment to reach the Pure Land, but too many are too
easily deterred; the fear of discomfort and the burden of diligence are too
much for them, and so they are as easily swayed as is the moon's reflec-
tion when it is disturbed by waves; they are like soldiers clad in armor
4
who nonetheless flee in terror when they face combat." So he resolved
to go and put the heart of the youth to the test.
At that time there was no Buddha in this world, and so, though the
Himalaya Boy had sought far and wide for the Sütras of the Great
5
Vehicle, he could not find them. Suddenly he heard a dim voice saying,
" A l l things are impermanent;

6
They are entities that rise and fall."
He was startled and looked about, but he could see no one. Then
he noticed a demon standing nearby. His appearance was fierce and
frightening. The hair on his head blazed like fire, and his teeth were like
sabres. There was fury in his eyes as his glance darted in every direction.
The boy saw him but he was not afraid. Rather, he was in
rapturous wonder at the words he had heard spoken, just like a calf that
has been parted from its mother for some years and then hears her
7
lowing again in the distance.
"Who is it that spoke those words? Surely there must be more to
the verse!" he said, and he looked everywhere, but since there was no one
else there, he wondered if it could have been this demon who had spoken.
But he thought, "That is impossible!" He thought that the demon's form
must be its punishment for past crimes. When he heard the verse, he
knew that the words were those of the Buddha's teaching. He did not
think it possible for such words to come out of the mouth of such a
demon, but since there was no one else to be seen, he asked, "Can it be
you who spoke these words?"
"Do not speak to me!" responded the demon. "I have gone for
many days without eating, so I am weak and starving and can remember
nothing. Besides, whatever I have said may have been a lie, for I was not
even aware of what I was saying."
But the boy said, "I have heard but half the verse, and I feel like I
have seen but half the moon or found but half a jewel. It must have been
you that spoke. I pray you, let me hear the rest of the verse."
"If you had any insight at all," said the demon, "it would make no
difference to you whether you heard the rest or not. I am near the point
of starvation, and I have not the strength to say one word. This is too
much. Ask me no more!"
But the boy persisted. "If you have something to eat, will you then
be able to speak?"
"In that case, yes."
"Then what will you eat?" the youth asked eagerly.
"You had better not ask. If I tell you, you will certainly be very
frightened. Even if I tell you, it is not something that you would be able
to provide."
The boy was insistent. "Nevertheless, tell me what it is. At least I
can try to find it," he said, and so the demon told him, "I eat only the
warm flesh of human beings and drink only their warm blood. I have
been flying through the sky in search of nourishment, but I have found
that, though the world is full of people, they have many ways of
protecting themselves, and I cannot simply devour them as I would like."
The boy thought, "I shall die today in order to hear the entire
verse," and he said, "Here is your food; you need not look elsewhere. I
am not yet dead, so my flesh is still warm. I am not yet grown cold, so
my blood is still hot. So hurry, speak the rest of the verse, and then you
may have this body of mine."
The demon laughed and said, "Who can testify to the truth of what
you say? I want a witness so that you can't hear the verse and then run
away."
"This body of mine will inevitably perish," argued the boy, "before I
have accomplished a single act of merit. By giving up this filthy, impure
body for the sake of the Law today, I know I will attain a pure and
perfect body as a Buddha in the hereafter. It is like exchanging a clay
pot for a jeweled vessel. Let Brahma, Indra, the Four Celestial Kings
and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions be my
8
witnesses. I do not speak falsehoods."
The demon relented. "If what you say is indeed the truth, I will
speak the verse." The boy rejoiced, and he removed the deerskin robe he
had been wearing and spread it out as a cushion for the propounder of
the Law. He clasped his palms together and knelt on the ground and
said, "Now, I beg you, let me hear the rest of the verse," and he
concentrated and grew very reverent.
The demon said, "The rest of the verse is as follows:
When an entity has risen and fallen,

9
That absolute extinction creates happiness."
When he heard this, there was no limit to the boy's joy and awe. "I
shall not forget it in all the worlds to come," he said, and he repeated the
words many times so that they were engraved upon his heart. "How
happy I am that I have been enlightened in this doctrine of the Void
10
taught by the Buddha! How sad I am that only I have heard it and
cannot convey it to others!" he thought, and so he wrote the verse on
11
rocks and cliffs and on every one of the trees that stood by the road.
"I hope that those who come here after me will see what I have
written here," he said to himself, and then he climbed high up into a tree
and threw himself down at the demon's feet. But even before the boy
struck the ground, the demon reverted instantly to the form of Indra and
12
caught the boy's body as it fell. He set the boy down on the ground and
worshiped him, saying, "I have temporarily borrowed the Tathägata's
verse, to see whether or not you have the heart of a Bodhisattva, but I
have caused you to be distressed. I beg you, forgive me my sin, and grant
me salvation in the future."
Then Celestials appeared and sang the youth's praises: "Hail! Hail!
This is truly a Bodhisattva!"
By offering his life for half a verse, he transcended the sins of
13
twelve kalpas of life and death. The "Himalaya boy" of old is the
14
Tathägata Säkyamuni of today. This story appears in the N i r v a n a
15
Sütra.
Notes
1
2
I n the name Sessen Döji, sessen translates "Himalaya." The story
of the ascetic youth tested by Indra appears as an episode from the
previous lives of Säkyamuni described in the N i r v a n a Sütra (Τ 12:449b-
51b), which Tamenori cites as his source. In some other versions, döji
becomes d a i j i , "a great sage" (BGD 2:917c; e.g., in M o - h o c h i h - k u a n , Τ
46:272a). In the N i r v a n a Sütra, the boy addresses Indra, disguised as a
demon, as " d a i j i " The site of the boy's attempted suicide is described in
T a - V a n g hsi-yü-chi (Τ 51:882c 83a), but only briefly, and Tamenori does
not quote the description as he does in 1.11 and 1.12. The story was
probably familiar in Japan from an early time through the widespread
liturgical use of the N i r v a n a Sütra and is one of the two stories
illustrated on the Tamamushi no zushi.
3
A s Yamada pointed out {Ryakuchü, p. 61), this part of Indra's
internal monologue appears as a verse he utters in the D a i c h i d o r o n
version of the story of Sibi (i.e., 1.1; see Τ 25:88a; Lamotte, 1, p. 257).
However, Yamada failed to mention that similar lines also appear in the
N i r v a n a Sütra (Τ 12:450a). He did observe that there is an allusion to
this verse in Ökagami but placed it incorrectly in the chapter on
Emperor Ichijö; it occurs in the biography of Emperor Go-Ichijö ( N K B T
21:60; see also Helen McCullough, tr., Ökagami, the G r e a t M i r r o r , p. 86).
The Ökagami allusion is very probably based on the verse as it appears
in Öjöyöshü (Τ 84:45c; also overlooked by Yamada). Hosaka Hiroji
(Ökagami shinkö, 1, p. 177) mistakenly takes issue with the note on this
passage in Ökagami u r a g a k i , which in fact reproduces the verse exactly
as it appears in the N i r v a n a Sütra (see GR 16:232-33).
4
A "heart that seeks enlightenment" is b o d a i s h i n ( b o d h i c i t t a ) , the
determination to seek salvation, which is a Bodhisattva's initial resolve
(Taya, Bukkyögaku j i t e n , pp. 407c-8b). The term appears in the
N i r v a n a Sütra a few lines before the verse discussed in the preceding
note. The rest of Indra's internal monologue (including the figures of the
moon's reflection and the frightened soldiers) is an adaptation of this
passage.
5
This is an adaptation of a line in the N i r v a n a Sütra: "He had not
heard that the Tathägata was present in the world, nor the names of the
Sütras of the Great Vehicle (daijökyöY (Τ 12:449b). Though the youth
has been searching and striving, he has not yet found the key to
enlightenment.
6
I n the Maeda-ke bon, "he heard a dim voice" becomes "it sounded
like the wind" (Shüsei, p. 47).
7
The Buddha, narrating this episode in the N i r v a n a Sütra,
employs a number of similes to describe his reaction to hearing the first
half of the verse, but the simile employed by Tamenori is not among
them. From this point on, Tamenori's adaptation becomes rather free,
and much of the verbiage in the original is abbreviated and reduced to
the dialogue between the boy and the demon. Among other things thus
eliminated is material dealing with the philosophical significance of the
verse; its effect is thus rendered somewhat more mystical than in the
original.
8
Brahma (Bon'ö) dwells in a "meditation heaven" (which bears his
name) and governs the world of mortal beings (BD 4:3426a 29b). He
frequently appears with Indra to "give witness." The four Celestial
Kings (Shidaiten'ö) are guardians of the four directions (and of

Buddhism in general) (BD 2:1958a 59b). The "ten directions" are the
four cardinal points plus southwest, southeast, northwest, northeast, and
up and down (Taya, Bukkyögaku j i t e n , p. 68c). This list of invoked
witnesses is formulaic.
9
The verse is actually a simple definition of n i r v a n a .
10
T h e expression "doctrine of the Void" ( m u n a s h i k i o s h i e ) does not
occur in the model text. It is a nontechnical summation of the verse.
11
O n the left side of the panel illustrating this story on the
T a m a m u s h i no zushi, the boy is shown writing the verse on rocky cliffs.
12
T h e boy's fall through the air out of the tree toward Indra's arms
is depicted in the center of the T a m a m u s h i no zushi panel.
13
T h e N i r v a n a Sütra continues with a list of many other benefits
of the boy's act.
14
T h i s identification is clear from the beginning of the story in the
N i r v a n a Sütra; it is narrated by the Buddha himself in the first person.
15
See η. 1.
1.11 P R I N C E MAHÄSATTVA
1
Long ago there was a king. He had three sons. The eldest son was called
Mahäpala. The second son was called Mahädeva. The youngest was
2
called Mahäsattva.
One day the king went out to take his pleasure in a mountain grove.
The princes accompanied him. They came to a large bamboo grove and
saw a tiger that had given birth to seven cubs. She was on the verge of
starvation, weakened and withered. It seemed that she was close to
death. The eldest prince exclaimed, "How sad! Seven days have passed
since this tiger gave birth. She has seven cubs. She has been searching
constantly for food, and so she herself is starving and is about to devour
her own children."
Prince Sattva asked, "What does she usually eat?"
"Tigers eat only the warm flesh of human beings," his brother told
him.
The second eldest brother said, "That is indeed very hard to find.
Maybe someone will sacrifice himself in order to save her," but his elder
brother observed, "Of all things, there is nothing harder to give up than
one's own life." But the youngest brother said, "We protect and covet
our own lives only because we are not enlightened. A wise man would
sacrifice his own life in order to save that of another creature," while in
his own heart he reflected: "This body of mine has been reborn in many
ages since the distant past and has died many times in vain, and since
there is no merit to be gained by simply letting it spoil and decay, why
should I not use it to save this tiger here and now?"
Speaking thus among themselves, the three princes were deeply
moved, and they found themselves unable to take their eyes off the tiger.
Finally they left, but with every step along the way Prince Sattva grew
more pensive.
"If I am going to sacrifice my life, this is the time to do it," he
thought. "This body is putrid and impure. There is no reason to
treasure and pamper it. It is as fragile as a bubble. It knows as much
fear as if it faced an army of soldiers. It is a construct of sinews and
bones, a mass of flesh and blood. A l l those who are enlightened
thoroughly despise it. Let me give it up and fully attain the ultimate
degree of concentration and wisdom, so that I may gain a state of pure,
3
wondrous Buddhahood replete with very virtue."
Though he had reached this decision, he was afraid that his two
brothers would try to stop him, so he said to them, "You two, please go
on ahead. I will come a little later." His brothers, suspecting nothing,

continued on without him.
Then Prince Sattva ran back into the forest and soon reached the
tiger's lair. He tore off his clothes and hung them on the bamboo
4
branches.
"For the sake of all sentient beings in the Dharma world," he
proclaimed, "I am seeking to attain the highest Way. I will now give up
this human body that the ignorant love, in order to have the great
5
compassion for which the sages strive."
6
So saying, he approached the tiger and fell at her feet. Because of
the power of compassion, the tiger would not eat him. He thought, "This
tiger is so tired and weak, it is not even capable of devouring me," so he
stood up and broke off a stalk of dead bamboo and slashed his throat
with it so that the blood ran out, and again he went up and stood close by
the tiger. At that moment the earth shook and rolled like waves upon
the sea when stirred by the wind; the light of the sun disappeared from
the sky, and there was darkness everywhere; flowers rained out of the
7
sky and fell in torrents all over the forest.
When the starving tiger saw the blood running from the prince's
throat, she lapped it up, and then she devoured his flesh, leaving only his
bones.
The prince's brothers said to one another, "The earth moves and
the light is gone from the sky! Flowers are falling, filling up the sky!
This can only mean that our brother has taken pity on the tiger and has
8
sacrificed his life for her." Alarmed, they ran back to the spot and saw
their brother's clothes hanging on the bamboo. The blood he had spilt
had soaked into the ground. There was a corpse of bones and dishevelled
hair, full of perfume. When they saw this they were utterly grief-
stricken, and they threw themselves down upon the remains. Weeping,
they cried, "Our brother was very handsome, and our mother and father
doted on him. They will wonder why we all went out together but
returned without him, and why he has sacrificed himself. What will we
tell them?" and they wailed and wept.
Finally, they went home, but because they were afraid they did not
go to the king. They asked their brother's servants, "Where can he be?
Go and find him!"
At this time their mother, the queen, was in the palace, asleep in a
high tower. She had three dreams. Her breasts burst open and blood
ran out. One of her canine teeth fell out. One of three doves was
captured by a hawk. When the earth shook, she awoke. Her breasts
were indeed dripping with blood. She was wondering and worrying
about this when one of her servants ran in and said, "Have you not
heard? Everyone is looking high and low for the princes, but it seems
they are nowhere to be found!"
The queen was shocked and bewildered, and she went to the king
and said, "Have you lost my sons?"
The king himself was shocked, and he wept; he sent many more
people to go and search in the forest. Then one of his ministers came
forward and said, "The two elder princes are here, but Prince Sattva still
has not been found." The king wept again and said, "What grief! When
first my son was born to me, how happy and joyous I was! Now I have
lost him, and how I suffer and lament!"
Once again the minister came forward and informed them, "The
prince has indeed sacrificed himself."
The king and queen were overcome, and, still in tears, they went
together to the spot and fell together upon the ground. They poured
water over the remains, and after a while their voices returned to them.
"If only we had died before our son, we would not then have known
this misery!" they said, and their bodies shook with weeping. They beat
their chests and rolled on the ground like fish cast up on the shore. They
gathered up the bones and placed them in a stüpa.
9
The Prince Sattva of old is the Tathägata Säkyamuni of today.
10
This story appears in the Saishöökyö. [This is a record of events in
11
India.] In the R e c o r d of T r a v e l s t o the Western Regions it says:
The earth and trees and plants there are still red. It is as if
they have been painted with blood. When people step upon
this place they are startled to find their body stinging as if
pierced by rose thorns. [Believers as well as nonbelievers,] all,
without exception, lament, and there are none who do not feel
12
that pain.
Notes

2
In Konkömyö saishöökyö (Τ 16:450c 53a), which Tamenori
acknowledges as his source, the king's name is D a i s h a , apparently a
translation of Mahäratha. In Gengukyö his name appears as a trans-
literation of Mahäratna (Τ 4:352c). The kingdom is not named in either
case. In a sütra devoted entirely to a version of this tale (Bosatu töshin
shigako kitö innengyö [On the origins of the stüpa commemorating the
Bodhisattva's sacrifice to the starving tigers], Τ 3:424b 28a), all the
characters have different names. Tamenori's version does appear to be
based directly on the Konkömyö saishöökyö rather than on the version in
F Y C L ( T 53:989c 91a), which is a quotation from Konkömyökyö. He
gives the names of the three princes in the same transliterated forms
that appear in Konkömyö saishöökyö (i.e., M a k a h a r a , M a k a d a i b a ,
M a k a s a t t a ) . Hereafter, Tamenori abbreviates the name of the hero to
"Prince Sattva" ( S a t t a öji). Though the story is not found in the Päli
jätaka collection, it is included in Jätakamala (see Speyer, tr., pp. 2-8;
see also Hikata, Honjökyörui, 2, p. 34). There is also a very short version
of the story in D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:179b c). Like the preceding story of
the Himalaya boy, this story was widely known in Japan from an early
time through the liturgical use of Konkömyö saishöökyö, and it is the
subject of the other illustrated panel of the T a m a m u s h i no zushi.
3
The special interacting effect of concentration and wisdom (jöe)
was defined in the opening section of 1.5.
4
This is depicted in one corner of the T a m a m u s h i no zushi panel.
5
I n the Konkömyö saishöökyö these sentiments are expressed in a
verse; Tamenori abbreviates and simplifies it (T 16:451c 52a).
6
The T a m a m u s h i no zushi panel shows Mahäsattva plummeting
from a precipice and then being devoured by the tiger; graphically, this
parallels the Himalaya boy's fall out of the tree on the opposite panel.
7
Again, nature bears witness to the death of an incipient Buddha.
8
The Töji Kanchiin bon reads s o r a n i s h i r i n u , an idiom that means
"we know intuitively." The Maeda ke bon reads sadamete s h i r i n u , "we
know without doubt." The latter duplicates the passage in Konkömyö
saishöökyö. The characters for s o r a and sadamete could easily have been
interchanged.
9
This identification is implicit in Konkömyö saishöökyö, where
Säkyamuni narrates the story as an experience recalled from one of his
own previous lives.
10
See n. 2.
11
T h i s line may mean "this appears in Indian records," in which
case it may refer to the following quotation from T a - t ' a n g hsi-yü-chi.
The line appears only in the Töji Kanchiin bon. Obviously, all the tales
in the first volume are about "events in India," and all are based on texts
that are ultimately of Indian origin. Yamada suggested that this is
probably a copyist's marginal note that has strayed into the text
(Ryakuchü, p. 69).
12
Tamenori refers to Hsiian-tsang's account of his sixteen year tour
of India (629-645) by the abbreviated title S a i i k k i (i.e., Hsi-yü-chi). The
Chinese pilgrim describes a "great stone gate" marking the site, and a
nearby stüpa, in a region called Siiphapura. Tamenori's translation is
rather loose compared to the original (T 51:885c):
About two hundred leagues southeast of the Sindhu River we

passed through a stone gate. This is the place where long ago
Prince Mahäsattva cast his body to the starving tigers. About

one hundred forty or fifty paces to the south is a stüpa.
Mahäsattva pitied the tigers in their weakened state. He
came here and cut his throat with a piece of dried bamboo and
fed them his own blood. Ah, how those beasts devoured it!
Some of it fell upon the plants thereabouts. They still retain
the marks of red color, stained by that blood. People who step
on the spot feel as if they have been pricked by thorns and
needles. Whether a believer or a nonbeliever, there is no one
who is not saddened by this tale. To the north of the spot
where he sacrificed himself is a stüpa, about two hundred feet
high. It was built by King Asoka.
Hsüan-tsang's visit to the site is depicted in the early Kamakura-period

scroll based on his life and travel writings, Genjö Sanzö e; see Z o k u
N i h o n emaki t a i s e i 7, pp. 156-59. For "believers as well as nonbelievers"
in Tamenori's version, the Töji Kanchiin bon has k o k o r o a r u mono mo
k o k o r o n a k i mono m o , an apparent mistranscription; the Maeda-ke bon
is better, with s h i n j i n contrasted with m u s h i n j i n .
1.12 P R I N C E SUDÄNA
1
Long ago there was a king of the land of Sibi, and he had only one son,
2
whose name was Sudäna. His body was extraordinary, and it shone
luminously. In his heart he had great sympathy for others. Poor people
from near and far came to him to beg for alms.
The king had entrusted all his treasures to him, and whatever the
prince was asked for he gave away. The king had one albino elephant. It
was as strong as sixty elephants. Whenever enemies invaded the
country, this elephant always overcame them.
One enemy king devised a plot. He disguised eight men as beggars,
dressing them in deerskins and giving them staffs to carry, and he sent
them to the prince to ask for the elephant. The prince thought, "This is
one of the king's great treasures. To lose it would surely be a crime," but
when they repeated their request he thought, "Were I to refuse their
request, I would violate my fundamental vow," and so he put a golden
saddle on the elephant and gave it to them. A l l eight of them climbed
onto the elephant, and, rejoicing and laughing, they departed.
The king's ministers were alarmed, and they went to the king and
said, "The prince is exhausting the treasury with his charity, and all of
the storehouses will soon be empty. Now he has taken the elephant and
given it to our enemy, and the nation is on the verge of destruction. He
must be severely censured."
The king was terribly alarmed and very unhappy. The ministers
insisted that the prince be banished and sent beyond the borders of the
kingdom. "Let him be sent deep into the mountains and kept there for
twelve years," they demanded. The king assented and sent couriers to
carry out the order. They were told to say: "The treasured elephant was
our protection against our enemies. By giving it to the enemy you have
destroyed the kingdom. Such a deed cannot be forgiven. Leave the
3
kingdom immediately and go to the Dancjaka Mountains."
The prince responded, "The king entrusted all of his treasures to
me and told me to use them as I thought best. The elephant, too, was
one of these treasures, and I thought it was included among those
entrusted to me, and so I gave it away without consulting him. But I
would not dare to defy his command."
The prince had a wife who was the daughter of a king. She was
extraordinarily beautiful and extremely good-hearted. They had two
small children, a boy and a girl. The prince woke his wife from her sleep
and said, "Get up, quickly. Have you not heard? The king has banished
me and has ordered me to go to the Dan<Jaka Mountains."
His wife was bewildered. "What is the reason for this?" she asked.
The prince replied, "It is because I gave the elephant away," and his
wife wept and said, "I shall go too."
The prince said, "Those mountains are very far away. The sky is
always cloudy and dark and full of thunder, and the rain never stops.
The place is full of tigers and wolves and other fierce beasts, and there
are many poisonous creatures. The mountains are full of rocky cliffs.
The paths are covered with thorny bushes. There is never a moment
free from fear. There is no place to walk with ease. We have been
brought up in palaces and have never known worldly suffering. Suddenly
we will find ourselves in the wilderness, where we will have to live on
nuts and fruits and sleep on a bed of grass. How will you be able to bear
it? Please, stay here."
But his wife said, "There may indeed be all those hardships, but
what of the hardship of separation? I depend upon you as a child
depends upon its parent. Even if it means going with you and dying
together, I shall not violate my vows to you."
And so the prince relented, and they went together to his mother,
the queen. The prince said, "You must not have another thought for me.
But you must go on serving the king faithfully. If the government adopts
policies that are likely to cause suffering to the people, you must speak
out clearly."
The queen wept and said, " M y body is like a stone, my heart is no
longer within me. You are my only child. Even if I could gaze upon you
forever, I would never tire of it. Since I heard that you must go so far
away, my spirit has faltered, and I have lost my senses. When I was
pregnant with you, I was as happy as a tree when it bears its blossoms.
Since I gave birth to you, I have doted on you as a tree dotes on the fruit
it bears. I never thought that you would leave this kingdom and go so far
away, abandoning me here," and she gazed into his face as they all wept
without respite. Twenty thousand ladies-in-waiting and four thousand
ministers also wept in grief over this parting. And when the prince left
the palace, all the people wept as they watched him go. They filled the
roads, and their wailing voices echoed throughout the kingdom.
The prince had sent back those who had seen him off and had gone
a great distance when a man came to him and asked him for a horse. He
got off his own horse and gave it to the man.
He continued on, and another man asked him for his cart. He
made his wife get out of the cart and gave it to the man.
Then many people came and asked them for their clothes. The
prince and his wife and their children all removed their clothes and gave
them all away.
Since all their companions had gone away, the prince carried his
son and his wife carried her daughter, and they continued on foot for a
long time. It was a very great distance to the mountains from their
kingdom. There were people who could have given them a place to rest
along the way, but they were forbidden to do so by order of the king.
After three weeks of hard travel they reached the Daiicjaka Moun-
tains with unusual speed. At the foot of the mountains was a big river.
He helped his wife, and they crossed it. In the mountains lived an
4
ascetic. They looked for him, and when they found him, they asked
where they might live in the mountains and told him that they wished to
cultivate the Way. The ascetic was impressed, and he pitied them and
suggested a place where they might live.
The prince built three huts in a row by the edge of a cliff in the
mountains. He took up residence in one of them. His wife lived in
another, and he let his children play in the third. The boy was seven
years old, and he followed his father everywhere he went. The daughter
was six years old, and she followed her mother everywhere she went.
They all drank spring water and ate the fruits of the trees. Thus did they
live for days and months, with the water of the valley stream flowing
gently, the mountain birds singing sadly. Sometimes they went to visit
the ascetic and made vows to practice the Way with him.
At that time, in a distant kingdom called Kuru, there lived a poor,
5
feeble old man. His hair was white, his face was black, his eyes festered,
his mouth twisted. He looked altogether like a demon. He had a young,
nagging wife. "When I go to draw water," she complained, "everyone
who sees me laughs spitefully. If you won't hire a servant, I will leave
you."
"I am a poor man. Who can I hire?" the old man replied.
"I have heard that Prince Sudäna has been exiled deep in the
mountains," said his wife. "I believe he has two children. If you go and
ask him for them, he is sure to give them to you," and upon this sugges-
tion the old man took up his walking stick and made his way to the place
where the prince was living.
The prince's wife had gone off to gather fruit. The two children
were so frightened at the sight of the old man that they ran off and hid.
The old man said, "I have just travelled a very long way. My whole body
aches, and I am weak with hunger, too." The prince felt sorry for him
and gave him hot water to drink and fruit to eat.
"Word of your generosity brought me here," said the old man.
"I have already used up all my treasures," responded the prince.
"I am old and poor, and it is hard to get through even the few days
that are left me," the old man pleaded. "Give me your two children so
that they can help me in my dotage." He repeated this earnest entreaty

three times.
The prince wept because his love for his children was boundless,
but the old man's account of his suffering only grew more poignant.
"The belief that I would help you has brought you all this way!"
said the prince. "I cannot refuse your request."
The old man was delighted. The prince called out to his children,
but they were hiding and would not answer. The prince went to look for
them, and when he found them he said, "Do you acknowledge me as your
father? Then you must go with this old man."
But they hid in his arms and wailed and wept. "This old man is a
demon," they cried. "To send us with him is to kill us. When mother
comes back and looks for us, she will run wild like a mother cow who has
lost her calves, and you, father—what of your own regret and sorrow?
Please, wait until mother comes back."
But the old man protested. "If their mother comes, she is sure to
interfere. If you really intend to grant me my request, then do so
6
quickly, and let us go."
The prince forced himself to scold his children and took them by
7
the hand to give them over, whereupon the earth shook and swayed.
The children broke loose and hid among the folds of the prince's
clothing, saying, "What sins could we have committed in the past that
cause us now to meet with this trial! We were born from the seed of
kings, and now we will be the servants of peasants!" and they both wept.
But the prince scolded them again. "Parents and children must
inevitably be parted forever," he said. "Nothing in this world is
permanent. There is nothing one can depend upon. But when I become
a Buddha, I myself shall lead you to salvation."
With these chastening words, he once more tried to hand them
over, but still they lamented that they would part forever from their
mother without having seen her face once more, and they wept and cried,
"Why is mother so late in coming home today, of all days? We are about
to go away. If only she would come home soon so that we can see her!"
and they collapsed in tears upon the ground and would not go.
The old man said, "I am old and weak, and my legs are so lame that
I can hardly walk. What shall I do if these children run away from me to
their mother? You must tie them together and give them to me."
The prince consented and held the two children by the arms while
the old man came up and tied them together. The old man took hold of
the rope and pulled, but they fought back and would not move. Then the
old man beat them with a stalk of bamboo. Their blood ran out and
stained the earth. The prince stood watching this in the yard, and his
tears fell upon the ground. Once more the earth shook and swayed, and
the creatures of the mountain wailed and whimpered. As the prince
stood watching, his children disappeared into the distance.
When their mother returned, she found their father alone. She
asked three times about her children, but he would not answer. She
questioned him relentlessly, and finally he told her, "A poor old man
came and asked for them, so I gave them to him."
She fell upon the ground and collapsed in a heap. She wept and
wailed loudly. "Oh, where have my children gone, and with whom, and
without me! Sleeping and waking, they were always at my left and right.
If I was carrying fruit in my arms, they scampered up to ask for some; if
there was dust on me, they fought for the privilege of brushing it off.
They played and frolicked and rolled on the ground and made models of
birds and animals, and the traces of their little games still lie here and
there; the sight adds to my grief, and my heart is about to break. Please,
just tell me which way they went. I will run after them and find them!"
8
she cried, weeping wildly all the while.
"Your vows to me include a promise never to defy my wishes, no
matter what trials befall us," admonished the prince. "Now your cries of
grief are twisting my heart and confusing me, in violation of your vow."
But despite his scolding, she wept hysterically and would not get up.
After a little while a man came and said, "I have heard that you
have a wife of great beauty and intelligence. Give her to me."
"Indeed, it is just as you say," the prince replied. "She has just
come home. I will let you have her."
His wife heard this and said, "If I am taken away, who will stay
with you and look after you?"
"Were I to refuse to give you up," replied the prince, "I would
betray my vow to fulfill any request that is made of me," and so he took
her and handed her over, whereupon the earth shook and swayed again.
The man took hold of the prince's wife and had gone seven steps, but the
prince felt no regret. The man came back and gave the prince back his
wife.
9
"I am Indra," he said. "When I saw you give your children away, I
decided to test you by asking you for your wife. What do you wish for?
It will be yours!" He reverted to the form of Indra.
The prince's wife bowed to him and said, "I ask that you make the
man who took my children away decide to sell them, and that they be
sent to our native land. I ask that they be protected and that they may
never know hunger or suffering. And I ask that the prince may soon be
returned to our native land."
The prince said, "I only wish that I may find the Way of the
Buddha and may save sentient beings, and that I may continue to give
things in charity to others," whereupon Indra intoned their praises—
"Excellent, excellent!"—and disappeared.
By this time the old man had reached home with the two children.
But his wife said, "These children are not capable of doing the work of
servants. Sell them and buy a slave-girl!" And so the old man went to the
neighboring kingdom to sell the children, but he lost his way and
happened to come to the palace where they had once lived. Everyone
who saw them said, "These are the prince's children, the grandchildren
of the king!"
When the king heard about this, he sent for the old man and ques-
tioned him. "I asked for them, and the prince gave them to me," he
reported. "I came here to sell them."
The king was filled with sorrow and wanted to take the children on
his knee, but they would not go to him. "Have they forgotton me?" he
wondered.
"We were once the grandchildren of a great king," they said, "but
now we are the servants of peasants."
The king wept and embraced them anyway, and he asked what the
price for them was, but the old man was speechless. The children said,
"The price for the boy must be small, and the price for the girl must be
great."
"And why is that?" asked the king.
"The prince was the son of the king of the land," said the boy, "and
yet he was exiled deep into the distant mountains and met with many
hardships. So a boy must be worthless. His ladies-in-waiting were
daughters of peasants, but they still serve in the palace of his father
amidst many luxuries. So a girl must be worth more."
When the king heard this, his sorrow was even greater, and he said,
"These words are very wise indeed—and from an eight-year-old child!"
He gave the old man some money and sent him away. Then he asked the
young prince, "How fares my son?"
"He lives by eating fruit and nuts and such," replied the boy. The
king wept even more and sent a courier to the prince.
When the courier found the prince, he conveyed the king's words:
"'Since the prince left, the queen and I have pined and sorrowed for him.
We do not eat, we cannot sleep, and as the months and years pass we
grow more weak and feeble every day, and our very lives will soon be in
danger. Come back quickly and let us see you!' This is the king's
message," said the courier.
The prince said, "The king's sentence for my crime was for twelve
years. Only one year has passed. When all the years of the sentence
have passed, I will be ready to go back."
The courier returned and reported to the king. Then the king
himself wrote a letter that said, "The prince is a man of great wisdom.
When he went away, I thought highly of him; upon his return, I shall
respect him all the more. As long as he is angry with me and will not
come back, I will wait, but I will eat nothing until then."
When the prince read the king's letter, he thought about how the
queen must be pining for him, and so he left the hut and climbed into the
carriage that had been sent for him. He cast a look back toward the
mountains, and he wept.
The people of the kingdom rejoiced, and they swept the road and
burned incense and played music to welcome him back. The king of the
enemy country put an ornamental saddle on the albino elephant he had
begged from the prince and decorated it with many jewels. He filled
golden bowls with silver millet and steel bowls with silver [and gold]
10
millet, and he sent a courier at once to express his repentance, saying,
"In ignorance I begged this of you, and my crime caused the prince to be
judged a criminal. When I heard that he had been sent to the moun-
tains, I could not bear my sorrow. Now I hear that he has returned to
the palace, and there is no limit to my rejoicing. I am returning the
albino elephant, and with it this offering of golden millet. I ask you to
set my heart at rest by forgiving me my crime." The prince sent the
elephant back again with expressions of the pleasure he had taken in the
message.
His own father, the king, rode out on an elephant to meet him, and
when the queen saw her son, she was filled with joy, and they greeted
each other affectionately.
The king gave away all his treasures, keeping nothing back, and the
prince's acts of charity exceeded all that had gone before. Thereafter,
the houses of the people of the land all prospered, and there were no
thieves, and no more prisons. A l l the other countries followed the
example of the enemy king and put a stop to their fighting, and the
11
whole world was at peace.
12
Prince Sudäna of old is the Tathägata Säkyamuni of today. This
3
story appears in T a i s h i Shuda[i]nakyö and Rokudojikkyö}
In the R e c o r d of T r a v e l s t o t h e Western Regions it says:
In the Da^daka Mountains there stands a stüpa. This is

where the prince lived long ago. Nearby there is another
stüpa. This is the spot where the prince handed over his
children. When the Brahman took the children and beat
them, their blood ran out and stained the earth. Even now it
14
is said that all the trees and grasses there are red.
Notes
1
Six fragments have been identified. See Shüsei, pp. 63-67.
2
I n all the versions of this tale from which Tamenori seems to have
drawn material—Taishi Shudainakyö, Rokudojikkyö, and FYCL—the
name of the kingdom is written Shöba, a transliteration of Sibi (T
3:419a, 7c; Τ 53:879b; Τ Index 2:75a, 92a). This form also appears in the
Maeda-ke bon, whereas the Töji Kanchiin bon has S h a k u h a r a , and
Höbutsushü, perhaps on this model, has Shöhara (Ryakuchü, p. 80).
This transliteration of the name of the prince, S h u d a i n a , appears in all
these versions. The Maeda-ke bon and Töji Kanchiin bon both read
Shudana, though with inconsistent orthography (see Shüsei, p. 65;
Ryakuchü, p. 80). The story of Sudäna is one of the most familiar in
jätaka literature. In the Päli jätaka 547 his name is Vessantara (PJ
6:246ff); in Jätakamala, it is Visvantara (Speyer, tr., p. 93). D a i c h i d o r o n
makes only brief mention of the tale but does so in association with the
tales of Sibi (1.1) and Mahäsattva (1.11) (Τ 25:304c).
Mori has suggested that the F Y C L recension of T a i s h i
Shudainakyö may have been Tamenori's main reference ("Sanböe no
seiritsu to Höon j u r i n , " p. 22), but it has been shown that the sütra itself
must have also been in Tamenori's hands, since certain passages
eliminated from the F Y C L version appear as details or dialogue in the
Sanböe version. Furthermore, some details correspond only to the
Rokudojikkyö version (Shüsei, p. 451; see also notes following). For a
translation of T a i s h i Shudainakyö, see Eduard Chavannes, C i n q cents
contes et apologues e x t r a i t s du T r i p i t a k a C h i n o i s 3, pp. 362-95.
3
The Dan<Jaka ( D a n d o k u ) Mountains are a range in the Gandhara
region (BD 4:3520c-21c).
4
The ascetic (gyönin) is identified in T a i s h i Shudainakyö as "a
devotee of the study of the Way" (gakudösha; Τ 3:421a); Rokudojikkyö
has döshi ("sage" or "holy man") and names him Ashüda ( A c y u t a ) ( T
3:9a; see also K M J 4a).
5
Although the name "Kuru" is written in slightly different ways in
the reference texts, Tamenori duplicates the form found in T a i s h i
Shudainakyö and Rokudojikkyö rather than that in F Y C L . These two
texts identify the man in Kuru as "a poor old Brahman."
6
The discussion between the prince, his children, and the old man
corresponds roughly to T a i s h i Shudainakyö (Τ 3:422a-b); it does not
occur in F Y C L .
7
Here, and in the two repetitions that follow, the shaking of the
earth is a response to the prince's ultimate sacrifices, which prove that
he is a Buddha-to-be.
8
The mother's collapse and her impassioned speech are based on
passages in Rokudojikkyö (Τ 3:10a); no such speech occurs in the other
versions.
9
I n all the versions to which Tamenori referred, it is clear from his
first appearance that this "man" is Indra in disguise. Tamenori builds
suspense by withholding this information. He also eliminates a long
passage in which the prince explains to his wife that they have
confronted these same troubles in their previous lives (compare T a i s h i

Shudainakyö, Τ 3:422c).
10
The Maeda-ke bon is the most consistent here, including both
silver and gold millet, as does T a i s h i Shudainakyö (Shüsei, p. 70; Τ
3:423c).
11
This part of the happy ending is based on Rokudojikkyö (Τ
3:12a); the other versions have nothing similar.
12
Säkyamuni, narrating the story in Rokudojikkyö, makes this
identification explicit at both the beginning and the end.
13
See n. 2.
1 4
A s in the previous tale, Tamenori's quotation from T a - t ' a n g hsi-
yü-chi is rather free (see Τ 51:881b; see also Watters, 1, p. 217).
Some twenty leagues to the northeast of the city of

Palu§a we reached Mount Dancjaloka. On top of the peak is a
stüpa, erected by King Asoka. This was the site of Prince
Sudäna's hermitage. Nearby is another stüpa. On this site the
prince gave his children to the Brahman. When the Brahman
beat the children, their blood ran out and stained the earth.
Even today the plants retain their red color. On the moun-
tain is a cave where the prince and his wife practiced
austerities. The branches of the trees in the valley droop as if
to form a curtain. Alongside is the spot where the prince's
journey ended. Nearby is a stone cottage. There is where the
ascetic used to live.
1.13 SYÄMA
1
Long ago there was an elder who lived in the kingdom of Kapilavastu.
Both he and his wife were very old, and both of them were blind in both
3
eyes. They had only one child, and his name was Syäma. [In some
4
texts his name is Zenshin.] In his heart he cherished the Ten Good
5
Practices, and he looked after his two parents diligently. His father and
mother wanted to go deep into the mountains to practice the Way of the
Buddha. But they were reluctant to leave their only son at home, and
besides, they knew of no one who could lead them into the mountains.
So the months and years passed in vain, and their dreams remained
unrealized.
Syäma said to them, "Why should you concern yourselves about
me, and why, on my account, should you hesitate to fulfill your greatest
wish? Nothing in this world is permanent. There is no way to live
forever. It is best to carry out your plans without delay. I will go with
you and take care of you."
His father and mother rejoiced, and they immediately put their
household things in order and gave them all away to the poor.
Then Syäma led his parents deep into the mountains. He built a
hut of straw, spread layers of rush mats, collected water from springs,
and gathered the fruits of the mountain trees. Every morning he went
out to gather fruit, but he would not eat it by himself. Every night
without fail he woke three times to find out if they were too cold or too
warm. He looked after his parents by himself, and thus the months and
years piled up, and all the birds and animals came to know his compas-
sionate heart, and they sang about it.
One day his parents asked him for water. He went down into the
valley to fetch it, wearing a deerskin cloak, and when he bent down with
his jug to scoop up the water among the deer who had also gathered to
drink, he looked just as if he were one of them. Just then the king of that
country had come into the mountains to hunt, and when he saw the deer,
he shot at them, and by mistake his arrow struck Syäma in the chest.
Syäma fell and cried out, "Who is it that with this one arrow has slain
three people? An elephant is slain for its tusks. A rhinoceros is slain for
its horn. But there is nothing to take from me, so why do you slay me?"
When the king heard this voice, he realized with shock that this
was a man, and he got off his horse and went up to him. "Who are you?
You look just like a deer, and that is how I came to shoot you, by
mistake!'' he said.
1.13 Syäma 159
"I live here in the mountains," answered Syäma, "looking after my

aged parents."
The king wept when he heard this, and all his attendants also wept.
At that moment a great wind suddenly began to blow, breaking branches
off the trees, and all the birds cried mournfully, and all the animals scur-
ried and screeched; the sun went dark, and there was no light in the sky;
6
thunder was heard, and the earth shook.
The king grew frightened, and he said, "By mistake I have killed a
filial son. This is a very heavy sin. How sad, to have come in search of a
small morsel only to reap this heavy weight of sin. What can I do to keep
you alive?" Still weeping, he tried to pull the arrow out with his own
hands, but it was deeply lodged and would not come out.
"Do not blame yourself, oh king," said Syäma. "This is the result of
sins in my own past. I do not regret the loss of my own life, but I am
very sorry for my father and mother. They are very old, and both of
them are blind. After one day without me they are sure to die."
This made the king even sadder, and he wept again and said, "If, in
the end, you do not live, I shall not go home again. I shall remain here in
the mountains forever and take care of your parents in your place. May
all the deities, dragons, and divine creatures bear witness. I will not
break this vow."
When Syäma heard this, there was no limit to his joy and admira-
tion. "If the king will indeed take care of my parents, I have no reason to
be sorry to die."
"But before you die," said the king, "tell me where your parents
are."
"If you follow this narrow path, you will soon come upon a small
grass hut," Syäma told him. "You will find them there. Go calmly and
step softly; do not startle them, please. Plan what you will say to them
carefully, or they will be overwhelmed by the shock. But do not fail to
4
convey these words: Men cannot live forever, and from this moment I
shall be parted from you forever. I am worried about who will take care
of you, and how you will manage to live out the rest of your days. Such
worries are making it hard for my spirit to accept death peacefully. Yet,
death is the way that we must all take in the end; no one can escape it. I
absolutely forbid you to mourn for me; there is nothing to be gained in
lamentation.' And tell them that I died giving them the assurance that
they will meet their son again in the next life, and he will never neglect
them or leave them again," and with these last words, he died.
Hearing this, the king and all his attendants wept and raised their
voices together in grief. Then they followed the path he had shown
them, and soon they came to the hut. When the two blind parents heard
the noise of the crowd, they asked, "Who is there?"
The king replied, "I am the king of this land. I heard that you have
come into the mountains to practice the Way. The truth is, I came here
to bestow an offering on you."
They were very surprised, and said, "We are deeply honored. Can
we offer you a fresh mat of straw on which to be seated? Rest here a
while, if you will." And so saying, they spread out the mat.
The king asked them, "Do you find it easy or difficult, living here in
the mountains?"
They answered, "The nation has a great king; we have a filial son.
Thanks to your virtue, the world is at peace and the times are
prosperous. Thanks to our son's care, we eat fruit and drink spring
water. We want nothing and never suffer. Let us offer you some of this
mountain fruit. Our son has gone to fetch water. He should come back
soon."
The king could bear it no longer, and he began to weep and said,
"When I see you waiting for your son, my pain is enough to tear me
asunder. I came into the mountains to shoot deer, and by mistake I shot
your son. The truth is, my utter remorse has brought me here. Now you
must depend upon me alone. I will take care of you in his place."
When the parents heard this, they threw themselves down on the
ground and collapsed, like two great mountains crumbling into dust.
The king went and helped them to their feet. Weeping, they cried, "Our
son was very circumspect, and, as far as we know, he was faultless. What
error could he have committed against the king to cause you to kill him
today? When that great wind blew up suddenly, and the birds of the
mountain cried so mournfully, we thought, 'We have been here for more
than twenty years and have never known anything like this before.'
That was when our son was at the stream. We wondered and worried
that something might have happened, when in fact he was already lost!
How much time has passed since then? Is he dead, or does he still live?"
The king repeated every word their son had said and told them,
"With these words your son died." Hearing this, they grew even more
distraught and said, "Our only son is dead! Who can we rely on now?
We are sure to perish soon ourselves. We beg you, oh king, take us to the
place where our son died. Let our corpses lie with his!"
The king was terribly distressed, and he took them by the hand and
led them to the place where their son lay. The father embraced his son's
feet, the mother embraced his head, and each took one hand and
together they pulled on the arrow in his chest. The mother licked his
wound with her tongue and said, "May the poison enter my mouth and
kill me, and let my son live! I am old, and I am blind. Surely, I should
die instead of him!" Weeping, they both raised their voices in grief: "Our
son was filial. He served the Buddha, upheld the teachings, and revered
1.13 Syäma 161
the clergy. If heaven knows how virtuous he is, let the arrow in him
come out by itself, and let the poison lose its effect, and give him back his
departed spirit. Restore this life cut short! If his virtuous heart was not
truly filial, or if our words have not proven it so, we too will end our lives
7
here and become deer like him."
At that moment, Indra's throne crumbled and all the palaces in
heaven shook, for, with his heavenly eye, Indra had seen them from on
8
high. He had heard the parents mourning their son and was moved by
the true filiality the son had shown his parents, and so, in company with
Brahma and a tumultuous assemblage of all the spirits of the heavens
and earth, he made himself visible to the parents and said, "This was
truly a filial son. I will bring him back to life," and he poured heavenly
9
medicine into Syäma's mouth.
Instantly, the arrow came out, and he came back to life. His
parents were amazed, and they discovered that their sight had been
restored as well. A l l the birds and animals came flying and scurrying,
raising their voices in joyous cries. The wind ceased, the clouds
dispersed, the sun shone brightly, and flowers bloomed.
The king, too, was truly stunned and overjoyed, and he bowed to
Indra and also to the father and mother and their son and said, "I shall
gather all the treasure of my kingdom and give it all to you. I shall stay
here forever and look after you both day and night."
But Syäma said, "If you wish to make amends, you would do better
to return quickly to your kingdom and look after your own people and
encourage them to uphold the precepts. And you, king—do not go
hunting ever again! Your life in this world will not be easy, and in the
next life you will go to hell. Long ago you garnered perfect merit, and so
you are now a king. But do not succumb to the willfulness of your heart
and thereby commit sins through your headstrong actions!"
The king was deeply repentant, and he said, "From now on I shall
do as you instruct me."
When the king's attendants saw how Indra descended and instantly
saved the youth's life with his medicine, and how the parents were made
to see again, they all were greatly amazed and filled with awe, and they
thought seriously, for a long time, about their lives to come and resolved
to live the rest of their present lives correctly.
The king returned to his kingdom and issued a general proclama-
tion, saying: "Everyone whose parents are blind should look after them
according to Syäma's example. Anyone who molests or harms such
persons will be treated as a heinous criminal."
A l l the people in the land were inspired with faith, like Syäma, and
the high as well as the low taught each other. They upheld the Five
Precepts and cultivated the Ten Good Practices, and when they died,
they were all reborn in heaven; none of them were reborn in the Three
10
Evil Realms.
The Buddha told Änanda that Syäma of old was his very self:
["The father and mother were King Suddhodana and the Lady Mäyä of
today. I owe the fact that I have become a Buddha to them and to the
power of filial piety. A l l men have fathers and mothers, and they must
be filial to them. There is a righteous Way in this world, and all must
study it."
11
This story appears in Bosatsu Senkyö and Rokudojikkyö.]
Notes
Ten fragments, some contiguous, have been identified. See

Shüsei, pp. 77-83.
2
Kapilavastu ( K a i r a k o k u ) was the city of Säkyamuni's birth. On
the meaning of "elder" (chöja), see 1.7, η. 1.
There are two translations of Bussetsu Senjikyö in the Chinese
canon (T numbers 174 and 175); it has been assumed that Tamenori
referred to the latter (T 3:438b-40a), but it has been shown that he also
incorporated some unique details from the version in Rokudojikkyö (Τ
3:24b 25a) (see following notes).
In the Päli jätaka version of this story (number 549) the elder is
named Duküla, and his wife is named Pälikä (PJ 6:72; see also K M J
570b).
3
In the Töji Kanchiin bon the name is written with two characters
that give the phonetic reading Semu; the Maeda ke bon has the single
character Sen (phonetically semu) used in the title and text of Senjikyö
and in Rokudojikkyö. In some versions "Syäma" becomes Syamaka (e.g.,
in Mahävastu; see K M J 370b; H J S K 2:24).
4
This interlinear note appears only in the Töji Kanchiin bon.
Zenshin means "good-hearted one," which accurately describes the
protagonist. It may be an attempt to transliterate Senji in some mean-
ingful way. It is not a translation; Ogiwara suggests that Syäma
probably means "black and beautiful" ( B o n w a d a i j i t e n 14, p. 1351a).
5
"The Ten Good Practices" (jüzen): see 1.2, n. 9.
6
Again, these signs warn of the death of a Buddha-to-be.
7
The couple's speech up to this point corresponds to the
Rokudojikkyö version. Senjikyö has no such passage. Note that Syäma
is praised here for his respect for "the three jewels." To "become deer"
must mean "to be slain like a deer, as was our son."
1.13 Syäma 163
Indra, like Brahma, possesses the "heavenly eye" ( t e n g e n ) ,

enabling him to see events throughout the universe.
9
This speech does not occur in Senjikyö but is derived from
Rokudojikkyö (Τ 3:25a).
10
The "Five Precepts" (go k a i ) , which apply to both monks and
laymen, are injunctions about killing, stealing, fornicating, lying, and
drinking alcoholic beverages (Taya, Bukkyögaku j i t e n , p. 52a). On the
"Ten Good Practices," see 1.2, n. 9; on the "Three Evil Realms"
(san'akudö), see 1.2, n. 3.
11
Änanda ( A ' n a n ) , one of Säkyamuni's closest disciples, is the
interlocutor in Senjikyö; the Buddha tells him that he presented himself
to the blind couple as the child Syäma, and thus makes the identification
explicit. The text in brackets appears only in the Maeda-ke bon. The
Töji Kanchiin bon breaks off here; the verse concluding the volume is
also missing. Suddhodana (Jöbon'ö) and Mäyä are the names of
Säkyamuni's parents. These identifications are also explained by
Säkyamuni to Änanda at the conclusion of Senjikyö. "Bosatsu Senkyö"
is a mistranscription of "Bussetsu Senjikyö."
T a - t ' a n g hsi-yü-chi has a description of a stüpa commemorating
Syäma immediately preceding the passage quoted at the end of 1.12 (T
52:881b; see also Watters, 1, p. 217), but Tamenori, somewhat inex-
plicably, does not refer to it here.
VERSE
(Maeda-ke bon)
In praise I sing:
Until you have climbed to the top of the mountain,

You do not know how high the heavens are.
Until you have found the valley's depth,
You do not know how thick the earth is.
And if you are not aware of the Bodhisattva's strivings

In three immeasurable chiliocosms and a hundred k a l p a s ,
How can you know of the Tathägata's accomplishments
In the Six Stages, his fulfillment of ten thousand tasks,
1
Or of Säkyamuni's awesome deeds and sufferings?
Note
1
While the first quatrain appears to be Tamenori's own invention,
the second is an adaptation of a prose passage in M o - h o c h i h - k u a n ( T
46:27c). The "Six Stages" ( r o k u d o ) are, of course, the "Six Perfections."
The Second Volume
The Teachings
P R E F A C E T O T H E SECOND V O L U M E
1
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Sekido-ke bon )
Among all the teachings of Säkyamuni—from the day he was

2
enlightened to the night he entered Nirvana—none are untrue. First,
like the sun rising at dawn and casting its light upon lofty peaks, he
3
expounded the K e g o n for the enlightenment of Bodhisattvas. Next, like
the sun mounting high in the sky, casting its rays deep down into the
4
valley, he delivered the Ägamas for the edification of his disciples.
Then he propounded the diverse Mahäyäna scriptures in many different
places, and though he spoke with one voice, all sentient beings responded
in their own way and attained enlightenment. It was just like the rain,
which is the same no matter where it falls but causes all the various
5
kinds of trees and flowers to flourish in their special ways. At sixteen
assemblies he taught the Prajnä doctrine of nonsubstantiality, and after
6
more than forty years he opened up the marvelous Way of the L o t u s .
He propounded his views on Vulture Peak, and after his voice had died
away in the midst of the White Crane Grove, Käsyapa transmitted his
teachings by ringing a bell, and Änanda passed through a keyhole in
order to hear them. Finally, one thousand a r h a t s were chosen, and they
8
recorded all the holy teachings he had given during his lifetime.
Thereafter, a succession of more than twenty sages transmitted them,
9
and the kings of sixteen great nations spread them and protected them.
The Blessed Säkyamuni died, but his teachings remained after him, like
10
a prescription left by a physician. Why should there be anyone, then,
who cannot be cured of the plagues of passion? The teachings are like
valuable jewels left in our keeping by a departed friend. Eventually, we
11
must all awaken from our ignorant stupor.
It was in India that the Buddha appeared and propounded his
teachings, and it was to China that they were transmitted. But from all
165
166 The Second Volume: The Teachings
accounts it seems that Buddhism there has grown weak and superficial.
In the third year of the Chen-kuan era [629] the monk Hslian-tsang
"Tripitaka" went to India and traveled all over the country, but he found
that the old pathways on Mount Kukkutapäda were choked with
12
bamboo and deserted. A l l the buildings in the ancient Jetavana garden
13
were gone, and not even one monk could be found living there. When
he went to see the Bodhgaya Monastery in the kingdom of Magadha, he
found the images of Kannon that had been made by kings, but they had
sunk below the ground and were so deeply buried that only the parts
above the brows could still be seen. It was said that when the Buddha's
14
teachings were entirely lost, these images would be completely buried.
There were many great sages in China, and Buddhism flourished
there, but there was frequent turmoil. In the Latter Chou Dynasty,
devils stirred up a terrible tempest that threatened to extinguish the
15
torch of Buddhism. The monk [Ching ]ai, in grief over the state of the
world and in disgust with this life, killed himself, while the monk [Hui]
yuan, deploring the fate of Buddhism, confronted the emperor and
16
accused him of his crimes. In the K'ai-huang era [581-600], Buddhism
flourished anew, but in the Ta yeh era [605-617] it declined once more,
causing demons to weep, gods to sigh, mountains to rumble, and oceans
17
to b o i l . The Hui-ch'ang emperor burned many sütras and treatises,
though many of the nobles within his court bowed their heads and wept,
18
and state officials before the gates sobbed streams of tears.
More than 360 years have passed since those days of the Chen-
kuan era, and those images of Kannon in India have no doubt disap-
peared. More than 140 years have passed since the Hui-ch'ang suppres-
sions, and it is unlikely that much, if anything, is left of Buddhism in
China. But behold, the Buddha's teachings have spread to the east and
have come to rest here in our land, where they now flourish! Many sages
have appeared here and left their marks, and our sovereigns have
continuously fostered the spread of Buddhism. It is no slight affinity
that allows us here and now to be witnesses to the words of the
Mahäyäna scriptures, which, it is said, are rarely found among all the
lands in the ten directions, rarely heard in countless k a l p a s . The sound
of the Law is as efficacious as a "poison drum": even if you hear it just
19
once, your enemy—ignorance—will be destroyed immediately. The
names of the sütras are just like medicinal trees: you have only to utter
them for the illness—the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth—to be
20
cured. That Himalaya Boy gave up his life to obtain half a verse, and
21
[Pravara] destroyed himself in order to gain a whole one.
Sadäprarudita's yearning sent him to the east, while the youth Sudhana
22
searched in the south. Bhai§ajyaräja burned his own flesh, and Saman-
23
taprabha was willing to give up his head. If, in one day, three times as
many people as all the sand in the Ganges were to sacrifice themselves,
they would not even begin to repay our debt for a single verse in the
24
Buddha's teachings. Long ago there was a dog who heard a sütra while
25
he lay under a bed; he was reborn in Srävasti and became a sage. And
then there was the bird in the forest who heard the teachings and was
26
reborn in Träyastriipsa Heaven, to dwell forever amidst its pleasures.
Birds and animals have been thus rewarded; what then may humans who
offer their faith expect?
How sad that it was not until long after the demise of the Buddha
and the advent of the Period of the Imitated Teaching that Buddhism
was first transmitted to China from India, in the reign of Emperor Ming
of the Han, and that it was not until still later, during the reign of
27
Emperor Kinmei, that it came to Japan from the kingdom of Paekche!
I am now pressing my palms together, and I shall display the
wonders of the teachings of the Buddha.
Notes
A version of this preface, recorded contiguously with the

biography of Shötoku Taishi (2.1), appears in Jögü T a i s h i g y o k i ; see
Shüsei, pp. 96-97. In the Töji Kanchiin bon, the text of the preface is
preceded by a table of contents for the second volume; see Shüsei, p. 89.
2
The word used here for enlightenment is shögaku, one of many
translations of samyaksambodhi (BD 3:2561c).
3
The Buddha is said to have preached the K e g o n (Avatamsaka)
sütra during the twenty-one days immediately following his attainment
of enlightenment. The figure of the sun illuminating the mountaintops
(the Buddha enlightening the Bodhisattvas) is employed in Chih-i's
description of gradual revelation in M o - h o c h i h - k u a n ( T 46:2c, 90c), but
it is derived from the K e g o n Sütra itself ( T 9:616b; quoted in F Y C L , Τ
53:463a). The extension of the sunlight figure in the following lines also
follows M o - h o c h i h - k u a n , as does Tamenori's whole presentation of the
gradual revelation.
4
Ägamas (Agon) here refers to the group of scriptures that
epitomize the Hinayäna teachings. The Buddha is said to have spent the
twelve years following his enlightenment propounding these teachings.
For "disciples," the Töji Kanchiin bon has the word shamon (i.e.,
srämana); the other three texts have the word shömon (srävaka).
5
"The diverse Mahäyäna scriptures" refers to the sütras grouped
under the term V a i p u l y a , by which Chih-i meant the Mahäyäna sütras
other than the K e g o n , Prajnäpäramitä, L o t u s and N i r v a n a Sütras
(which are classified in other periods). The Buddha is said to have spent
the next eight years of his career propounding the Vaipulya sütras.
Tamenori paraphrases Chih-i's description of the effect of these teach-
ings; the figure of the rain and the plants it nourishes appears in the fifth
chapter of the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:19b).
6
"The Prajnä doctrine of nonsubstantiality" refers to the content
of the Mahäprajnäpäramitä Sütra, which is said to have been
propounded at sixteen assemblies (jürokue) occurring over the next
twenty-two years of the Buddha's career. The L o t u s is said to have been
delivered forty years after the Buddha's initial enlightenment, during the
last eight years of his life.
In this sequence, Tamenori omits specific mention of the N i r v a n a
Sütra. According to Chih i , it was given after the L o t u s to reach those
who had been alienated by the universalist doctrines of the L o t u s ; Chih-i
nevertheless held that the L o t u s was the supreme teaching.
7
"Vulture Peak" (Washi no m i n e , Sanskrit Grdhraküta) is the place
where the Prajnäpäramitä and L o t u s Sütras were given. The "White
Crane Grove" is another name for the "grove of Säla trees" (see "Preface
to the First Volume," n. 15). When the Buddha entered Nirvana, the
trees in the grove turned white, it is said, and looked like a flock of
cranes. In the opening section of M o - h o c h i h - k u a n , Chih-i lists the three
main venues of the Buddha's teaching activities: their beginnings in the
Deer Park, continuation at Vulture Peak, and conclusion in the "Grove
of Cranes" (T 46:1a).
After the death of Säkyamuni, his disciple Mahäkäsyapa (Kashö)
called for a gathering of all disciples to record the Buddha's teachings.
D a i c h i d o r o n says that he went up on Mount Sumeru and rang a bell to
summon the dispersed followers of the Buddha to this first convocation
(T 25:67c, quoted in F Y C L , Τ 53:647c; see also Lamotte, 1, pp. 91-92).
D a i c h i d o r o n also says that Mahäkäsyapa excluded Änanda (A n a n ) from
,
the convocation because of various charges of disloyalty to the Buddha

(see 3.7, n. 16). Furthermore, the thousand disciples chosen as authorita-
tive transmitters of the teachings were all a r h a t s , but Änanda was not.
On the eve of the convocation, Änanda entered deep meditation and
attained a r h a t s h i p , as well as the Six Supernatural Faculties. The next
day, he asked for admittance; when Mahäkäsyapa asked for proof of his
a r h a t s h i p , Änanda passed through a keyhole and entered the hall (using
his newly attained ability to alter his shape) (T 25:69a, quoted in F Y C L ,
Τ53:375b; see also Lamotte, 1, p. 100).
8
The recording of the teachings is recounted in D a i c h i d o r o n , Τ
25:67c.
9
Fuhözö innenden (Τ 50:297ff) records the transmission through
twenty-plus patriarchs, beginning with Mahäkäsyapa. The same record
of transmission is summarized in F Y C L ( T 53:511c). The latter part of

this sentence may refer to Ninnö hannyaharamitsukyö, a discourse
attended by sixteen kings, all of whom receive the transmission of the
Prajnä doctrine from Säkyamuni (Ryakuchü, p. 101).
10
T h i s passage is paraphrased in Kunkai's T a i s h i d e n gyokurinshö,
but "his teachings" is changed to "his relics" (Höryüji Son'ei b o n
T a i s h i d e n gyokurinshö 1, p. 158).
11
T h e figure of the jewels is based on one of the "seven parables" of
the L o t u s Sütra. In the seventh chapter, five hundred newly converted
a r h a t s compare their experience to that of a man who got drunk while
visiting a friend's house and was unaware that his host had put jewels
inside the lining of his robe. Much later, starving and suffering in a
distant land, he met his former host, who revealed the treasure hidden
inside his tattered robes and advised his friend to exchange the jewels for
food and shelter (T 9:28a). Thus, the hidden jewels symbolize a priceless
treasure, the existence of which may be unknown to the possessor.
12
Hsiian-tsang (660-664), the great translator and pilgrim of the
T'ang period, described his sojourn in India in T a - f a n g hsi-yü-chi, the
work quoted several times in the tales of the first volume. Because he
brought back a great number of scriptures, many of which he then trans-
lated, he earned the sobriquet "The Tripitaka Monk" (Sanzö höshi) (see
BD 1:964c; Weinstein, "Imperial Patronage in T'ang Buddhism,"
pp. 291-97). Mount Kukkutapäda ( K e i s o k u s e n ) , in Magadha, the site of
the death of Mahäkäsyapa and closely associated with the early
Buddhist community, is described in some detail by Hsüan-tsang: "The
peak is so lofty, it seems limitless; the valleys are so deep, they seem
bottomless . . . on the peak, the flourishing grasses have made the rock
faces crumble" (T51: 919b-c; see also Watters, 2, p. 143).
13
T h e Jetavana garden ( K o d o k u e n ) , near Srävasti, was donated by
Sudatta (Anäthapin<Jada) as a refuge for the Buddha and his disciples.
Hsüan-tsang reported: "Where great halls once stood there is only decay
. . . the buildings have collapsed and only the foundations remain" (T
51:899b; Watters, 1, p. 384). The Jetavana ruins are depicted in Genjö
Sanzö e ( Z o k u N i h o n emaki t a i s e i 8, pp. 4-7).
14
T h e Bodhgaya Monastery ( B o d a i j u i n ) was a complex of buildings
that were constructed around the site of Säkyamuni's attainment of
enlightenment. Hsüan-tsang found them almost deserted:
After the Buddha entered Nirväfla, the kings of several

nations put up two images of Kannon, facing east, marking
the north and south boundaries. When I asked an old man
about them, he said, "When these images of the Bodhisattva
are completely buried, the Buddha's teachings will be extinct."
The image in the south is buried so that only the chest

remains visible above ground. (T 51:915b; see also Samuel
Beal, B u d d h i s t Records of t h e Western W o r l d , p. 116)
This scene is also depicted in Genjö Sanzö e, where both images are
shown buried to the shoulders ( Z o k u N i h o n emaki t a i s e i 8, pp. 27-28).
15
"The Latter Chou Dynasty" refers to the Northern Chou (557-
581). At the behest of Emperor Wu, a number of temples and their
images and scriptures were destroyed. Their treasuries were confiscated
and redistributed to members of the nobility, and their monks and nuns
were laicized. The persecution lasted from 574 to 577 (see Kenneth
Ch'en, B u d d h i s m i n C h i n a , pp. 190-94; Tsukamoto Zenryü, "Hokushü
no haibutsu ni tsuite," in Töhö gakuhö 16 [1948]:29-101 and 18
[1950]:78-222; Nomura Yöshö, Shü-Bu hönan no kenkyü).
Tamenori refers to Ching-ai as " A i zenshi." His biography in
Hsü kao-seng-chuan ( T 50:625c 27b) describes his reaction to the
Northern Chou suppression and is probably Tamenori's source. He was
an active participant in the debates at court between Buddhist, Taoist,
and Confucian leaders, which preceded Emperor Wu's harsh action.
Ching-ai used Taoist texts as well as the classical Chinese histories and
chronicles to defend Buddhism, and the emperor was impressed with his
eloquence and passion. The emperor proposed a test: Buddhists and
Taoists would be put into cauldrons of boiling oil, and, presumably, the
righteous would not be injured. But the test was never carried out.
Ching-ai withdrew from court to the mountains with thirty followers,
and he built twenty-seven monasteries as refuges for the thousands of
monks displaced by the destruction ordered by Wu. He also compiled a
work called S a n - p a o - c h i ("Record of the Three Jewels") in ten (or
twenty) fascicles, now lost. (It is mentioned in L i - t a i s a n - p a o - c h i [T
49:96b] and F o - t s u t ' u n g - c h i [T 49:347b].) The emperor died in the sixth
month of 578, and the violence of the suppression abated, but in the
following month, in despair over the violence against his religion, Ching-
ai committed suicide. He is said to have been forty-five at the time, and
he was buried in the mountains by his followers (Nomura, Shü-Bu
hönan no kenkyü, pp. 179-81).
Hui-yüan is called Ε höshi here. In his biography in Hsü kao-seng-
c h u a n ( T 50:489c-91a) he is identified as "Hui-yüan of Ching-ying ssu"
and is thus distinguished from the more famous Chin Dynasty monk of
the same name. Hui-yüan of the Northern Chou is far better known
than Ching-ai because of his authorship of several important treatises.
He registered an official protest against the emperor's actions, either in
the spring of 578 or perhaps just after the first suppressions in the spring
of 577. He was threatened with the death penalty for this challenge to
imperial authority, but he survived, and most of the work for which he is
remembered was written in the period of revival after Emperor Wu's
death (Nomura, Shü-Bu hönan no kenkyü, pp. 228-30; BD l:263c 64a).
17
T h e downfall of the Northern Chou and the accession of the Sui
(581-617) led to a revival of Buddhism. Emperor Yang was an active
supporter of Chih i. The only anti-Buddhist act during his rule was the
issuance of an order that monks would be required to do homage to
secular rulers and officials. This was a radical departure from custom;
monks had, until then, been held exempt from worldly demonstrations of
obedience (Ch'en, Buddhism i n C h i n a , p. 202). This may be the
evidence of decline that Tamenori describes so melodramatically, or
there may be a confusion of dates and periods. The next persecution,
which he describes less colorfully, was by far the worst in Chinese
history.
18 ,
T h e "Hui-ch ang emperor," identified here by the name of the era
of his rule, is Emperor Wu tsung of the T'ang Dynasty. This most
destructive of the Buddhist suppressions began in 842. Again, many
temples were destroyed, thousand of monks and nuns were laicized, and,
in 845, Buddhism was officially banned. The diary of the monk Ennin
(see 3.16) is the best surviving record of these events (see Edwin
0. Reischauer, E n n i n ' s T r a v e l s i n T'ang C h i n a , pp. 217-71).
Tamenori omits reference to one later suppression, that of 955,
under Emperor Shih-tsung of the Latter Chou Dynasty, when over 300
temples were dismantled (see Kamata Shigeo, Chügoku Bukkyöshi,
pp. 280-81).
19
T h e parable of the poison drum appears in the N i r v a n a Sütra: a
man painted a drum with special poison, and everyone who heard him
beat the drum died instantly. The teachings uttered by the Buddha are
said to be equally efficacious and universal in effect, transforming even
those who do not choose to listen (T 9:420a).
20
T h i s simile is also in the N i r v a n a Sütra: the sütra itself is said to
be like the most efficacious of all medicinal trees, unsurpassed in its
curative powers (T 9:418a).
2 1
O n the "Himalaya Boy," see 1.10. "Pravara" is a suggested
reconstruction for the name that appears here, Saisö; the story appears
in Shuissai f u k u t o k u zanmaikyö (Τ 12:995c; see also F Y C L , Τ 53:996a;
Ogiwara, K a n ' y a k u taishö b o n w a d a i j i t e n , 870). A demon told this
former incarnation of Säkyamuni that he would teach him a Buddha's
verse if he would write it on his skin with his own blood. The sage
agreed, flayed himself, and waited to hear the verse. But the demon fled,
awed by the sage's devotion. A great number of Buddhas then appeared
and healed the sage's wounds.
22
Sadäprarudita (Jötai; also Sadäparibhüta) is a Bodhisattva
whose story appears in D a i h a n n y a haramittagyö (Τ 6:1059a 68b). In a
dream he learned that the Prajnä doctrine was to be found in the east, so
he traveled in that direction and, after an arduous journey and many
trials, attained perfect wisdom.
Sudhana ( Z e n z a i ) is the hero of the latter half of the K e g o n Sütra.
Inspired by Manjusri's preaching, he traveled south, met and studied
with fifty-three sages, and finally attained enlightenment (see also 3.13).
23
"Bhai§ajyaräja" (Yakuö) is a Bodhisattva who disperses medicine
that cures all the ills of both the body and the mind. The twenty-third
chapter of the L o t u s Sütra describes his devotion to that scripture,
culminating in his self-immolation as a demonstration of absolute faith
(T 9:53b). A l l texts of this passage read literally "he burned his arm."
The story of Samantaprabha (Fumyö; also Samantaprabhäsa) is
the same as that of Srutasoma (1.2), and in Rokudojikkyö the
protagonist's name is Fumyö.
The preceding passage, citing four examples of extreme devotion to
Buddhism, is closely modeled on a passage in the first section of M o - h o
c h i h - k u a n ( T 46:2b): "Sadäprarudita sought in the east; Sudhana
searched in the south; Bhai§ajyaräja burned his arm; Samantaprabha cut
off his head."
24
"The sands of the Ganges" is a figure frequently employed to
suggest infinite numbers. Here, Tamenori continues his paraphrase of
M o - h o c h i h - k u a n (see preceding note).
25
T h e story of the dog is from Kuzö hiyukyö (Τ 4:512b, quoted in
F Y C L , Τ 53:466b). The dog slept under the bed of a monk who chanted
sütras day and night. So attentive was the dog that when it died it was
reborn as a nun in the city of Srävasti, and as such attained
enlightenment.
26
T h i s story is from Gengukyö (Τ 4:437b, quoted in F Y C L , Τ
53:412c). The bird heard a monk chanting in the woods. When it flew
closer to hear him better, it was shot by a hunter, but it was reborn in
Träyastriijisa as a reward for its good intentions.
27
One of the traditional accounts of the introduction of Buddhism
to China claims that Emperor Ming (who reigned from A . D . 58 to 75)
had a dream (in about the year 65) that inspired him to send envoys to
the western regions to obtain Buddhist texts. They returned in 67 with
two monks for whom the first Chinese Buddhist monastery was built in
the capital, Lo yang. The monks are said to have brought a "(Sütra) in
Forty-two Sections" with them, and it is the preface to that sütra (incor-
porated in C h ' u san-ts'ang c h i - c h i , Τ 55:42c) that is the primary source
of this legend (see Zürcher, The B u d d h i s t Conquest of C h i n a , p. 22). A
version of this story, quoted from M i n g - h s i a n g - c h i , appears in F Y C L ( T
53:383b; overlooked by Mori and Koizumi et al.).
Traditionally, an event during the reign of Emperor Kinmei (540-

571) is said to mark the introduction of Buddhism to Japan: a Korean
king sent Kinmei a gift of Buddhist images and scriptures. N i h o n s h o k i
says this occurred in 552, but other documents give 538 as the date, and
this is generally thought to be more accurate.
2.1 SHÖTOKU T A I S H I
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Tödaiji-gire,

1
Sekido ke bon, Jögü Taishi gyoki )
2
Long ago there was a sage named Jögü Taishi. He was begotten by the
Emperor Yömei, when he was still a prince, in the womb of Princess
3
Anahobe Hashihito. First the mother-to-be had a dream in which she
saw a golden monk who said, "I intend to save the world. Let me rest in
your womb for a short time. I am the World-saving Bodhisattva, and my
home is in the west." So saying, he flew into her mouth, whereupon she
4
found that she was with child.
On the first day of the first month of the first year of the reign of
the prince's uncle, Emperor Bidatsu [572], she was strolling in the palace
grounds and was approaching the stable when suddenly the child was
delivered. Her servants cradled the infant in their arms, and just when
they reached the main hall of the palace, a red light shown down on them
5
from the west. The infant's body was very fragrant.
By the age of four months he spoke with great skill. At dawn on
the fifteenth day of the second month of the following year, without any
encouragement, he seated himself, placed his palms together, faced the
6
east, and prayed, chanting " N a m u b u t s u . "
When the prince was six years old, monks and nuns came from
7
Paekche for the first time, bringing scriptures and commentaries. The
prince asked the emperor for permission to open the scriptures and
commentaries, burn incense, and examine the texts, and when he had
finished doing so, he asked that the eighth, fourteenth, fifteenth, twenty-
third, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days of each month be set aside as Six
Ritual Days. On these days, Brahma and Indra were to be worshiped,
and the killing of animals was to be forbidden. The emperor was very
pleased, and he gave an edict to this effect, forbidding the killing of
8
animals on those days.
In the winter of the prince's eighth year, an image of the Buddha
arrived as an offering from Silla. The prince said, "This is an image of
9
the sage Säkyamuni Buddha, who lived in India."
10
A man named Nichira came from Paekche. His body shone with
a bright light. The prince, secretly disguised in humble clothing among a
group of boys, went to the palace at Naniwa to see him. Nichira pointed
at the prince and was suspicious. The prince was startled, and he tried
to get away. Nichira bowed down on the ground, put his hands together,
and said, "Hail the World-saving Kannon, bringer of light, king of this
wild little eastern country!" and as he spoke a great light emanated from
11
his body. A light also emanated from the prince's brow.
Another time, a stone image of Maitreya was brought from

Paekche. The prime minister, Lord Soga Umako, took charge of it, and
he built a temple in the eastern quarter of his mansion to house it, and
he worshiped it. He placed three nuns in the temple to care for the
12
image. The prime minister built a pagoda in the temple. The prince
said, "A pagoda is supposed to hold a relic of the Buddha. Perhaps a
relic of the Tathägata Säkyamuni will appear here." So Umako prayed,
and a relic of the Buddha was found lying upon the offertory rice. It was
put into a jar of lapis lazuli, which was placed upon an altar, and they
13
worshiped i t .
The prince and the prime minister were united in their desire to
foster the Three Jewels, but a plague spread through the land, and many
people died. Great Chieftain Moriya and Nakatomi Katsumi went to the
emperor and said, "From ancient times our people have prayed only to
our own deities. But the Soga Minister reveres and worships this thing
called Buddhism. This has caused the plague to strike, and the entire
populace is sure to perish. Their lives can be saved only if we put an end
14
to Buddhism now!"
"Indeed, it is as you say," replied the emperor. "Let Buddhism be
banned forthwith," and an edict to that effect was issued. But the prince
petitioned the emperor: "These two have not yet understood cause and
effect. Good actions yield good fortune; evil actions lead to disaster.
15
These two are certain to meet with disaster very soon."
In spite of his words, the edict went into effect; Moriya was
dispatched to Umako's temple, and he destroyed the halls and the
pagoda and burned the image and all the sütras. Then he threw the
remains into the canal at Naniwa. The three nuns were humiliated,
chastised, and driven away. On that day, the heavens turned black,
though there were no clouds, a tempestuous wind blew, and torrential
16
rains fell. The prince said, "The worst disaster is yet to come."
17
Indeed, a plague of smallpox struck, and many people suffered.
They felt as if their flesh were being burned and flayed. The two
ministers were punished with especially severe attacks of the disease,
and in their pain and suffering they petitioned the emperor: "Your
ministers can no longer bear this misery. We ask that prayers be
addressed to the Three Jewels for our sakes." And so the emperor
ordered the reinstatement of the three nuns and allowed [the two
ministers] to worship. He also called for the reconstruction of the
temple they had burned. Thus [Buddhism], which had been burned and
18
discarded, [was] revived, and it began to flourish.
The prince's father, Emperor Yömei, took the throne, and during
his two-year reign Buddhism spread and prospered. He said, "We shall
place all our trust in the Three Jewels," and, at his command, the Soga
Minister invited a Buddhist monk to the palace. The prince rejoiced;
shedding tears of joy, he grasped the minister by the hand and said,
"Many are those who have yet to learn about the marvelous Three
Jewels. But you, prime minister, have given them your heart. How
19
happy this makes me!"
Later, someone secretly reported to Moriya: "Certain persons are
plotting against you. You had better get your soldiers ready." So he
barricaded himself in his mansion at Ato and gathered his private army
around him. Nakatomi Katsumi also raised an army to aid Moriya. At
the same time, there was a rumor that they had placed a curse on the
emperor. The Soga Minister reported this to the prince and led his army
in an attack on Moriya. Moriya raised his army, and they put up their
shields and fought off the attack. His army was extremely fierce, and the
20
imperial forces were frightened and were thrown back three times.
The prince was sixteen years of age. He stood behind the leaders of
the army and ordered the Minister of War, Hata Kawakatsu, to cut
down some sumac trees and carve them into images of the Four Celestial
Kings. These were placed in the soldier's topknots and on the tips of
their spears, and they all prayed: "If we are granted victory over our
enemies, we will make images of the Four Celestial Kings and dedicate
21
halls and pagodas to them." The Soga Minister prayed, too, and he
regrouped his forces and attacked once more. Moriya climbed into a
large nettle tree and invoked the tutelary deities of his clan, the
22
Mononobe, and then he let his arrows fly. One of them struck the
prince's stirrup. The prince then gave an order to his retainer, Tomi
23
Ichihi, to pray to the Four Celestial Kings and shoot back. Ichihi's
arrow struck Moriya in the chest, and he fell out of the tree. His army
scattered, the imperial forces advanced, and they cut off Moriya's head.
A l l the treasure of his household and his entire estate became the
property of the temple. The Temple of the Four Celestial Kings was
established on the Tamatsukuri Heights, and Buddhism flourished ever
24
afterward.
The prince's uncle, Emperor Sushun, took the throne. During his
reign the prince, now nineteen years of age, had his first capping
25
ceremony.
Then his aunt, Empress Suiko, took the throne. She gave all
26
responsibility for governing the nation to the prince.
A prince named Asa came as an envoy from the state of Paekche.
He bowed to the prince and said, "Hail the World-saving Bodhisattva
Kannon who has brought the wondrous teaching to the eastern nation of
Japan, who will illuminate and expound the teachings for forty-nine
years." At that moment, a white light shone from Prince [Shötoku] 's
brow; the beam of light was three yards long. After a while, it shortened
27
and then disappeared.
When a black pony with four white legs was sent as a gift from K a i
Province, the prince mounted it and flew off into the clouds toward the
east. His retainer, Tsukai Maro, went with him, at his right side.
Everyone looked up into the sky to see them fly by. They reached the
province of Shinano and skirted the boundaries of Mikoshi. After three
28
days they returned.
In the presence of Empress Suiko the prince took the seat of honor
and lectured on the Srlmälä Sütra. Many learned monks questioned
him, and they were amazed by his responses. When he completed the
three days of lecturing, lotus flowers fell from the night sky. The flowers
were three feet in diameter, and they fell to earth in piles that reached a
height of four feet, completely covering the site of the lecture. When the
empress saw this on the following morning, she commanded that a
29
temple be built on the spot. This is the present Tachibanadera.
The prince sent Ono Imoko to look for a sütra that, he said, had
belonged to him in a former life, when he had lived on Mount Heng in
30
China. "In the southern part of China," said the prince, "there is a
mountain called Mount Heng, and on the mountain is the Pan-jo
31
temple. A l l of my comrades of those by-gone days must be dead by
now, but three of them may still be alive. Tell them that you are my
messenger and that I had a copy of the L o t u s Sütra in one fascicle when
I lived there. Ask them for it, and bring it back." Following these
instructions, Imoko went to China and made his way to the temple. A
monk was standing at the gate, and when he saw Imoko he went in and
32
said, "A messenger has come from Meditation Master Nien." Then
three aged monks came out, leaning on staffs, and they gladly showed
him where the sütra was and let him have it. He immediately took it
home.
The prince put up a building adjacent to his living quarters in his
33
palace at Ikaruga and called it the "Yumedono". Three times each
month he bathed and purified himself and then entered this hall. The
34
next morning he would come out and tell all about Jambudvipa. Also,
while inside the hall, he wrote a number of commentaries on the
35
sütras. On one occasion he did not come out for seven days and seven
nights. The door remained closed, and no sound could be heard inside.
The monk Hyeja of Koguryö said, "The prince has entered meditation;
he must not be disturbed." On the eighth day the prince finally came
out. He carried a sütra in one fascicle on a jeweled tray. He sent for
Master Hyeja and told him, "This is the sütra that belonged to me in my
former life on Mount Heng. Imoko brought one back this year, and I
have just sent my spirit over to get this one." When the two sütras were
compared, it was found that one character was missing from the former
one. The new sütra in one fascicle was written on gold paper and rolled
36
around a jeweled shaft.
The monk Dögon and a party of ten came from Paekche to assist
him. "In your former life," Dögon explained, "when you lectured on the
L o t u s Sütra on Mount Heng, we were monks on Mount Lu, and some-
37
times we went to Mount Heng to hear you."
Ono Imoko went to China again and returned to Mount Heng. One
of the aged monks was still alive and told him, "In the autumn of last
year, your prince, formerly the Meditation Master of this temple, came
out of the sky from the east in a chariot drawn by a blue dragon, with 500
attendants, and he took a sütra in one fascicle that had been hidden in
the wall of his former cell and flew off into the clouds with it." Thus, it
was known that this is what had taken place when the prince stayed so
38
long inside the Yumedono.
39
The prince's consort was a woman of the Kashiwade clan. The
prince said to her, "You are always obedient to me and never challenge
anything I say. How fortunate I am! When I die, you and I shall be
buried together in one grave."
"If I could," she responded, "I would serve you day and night for a
thousand autumns and ten thousand years. Why do you speak as if this
day were your last?"
" A l l things that have a beginning must also have an end," he
answered. "This is the inherent nature of all things. For every birth we
experience, we also experience a death; this is the way we all must follow.
I have lived many lives in the past, and I have striven in the Way of the
Buddha in many incarnations. Now I am just a prince in this small
nation, trying to spread the wondrous Teachings, propounding the
doctrine of the Single Vehicle where there was no doctrine before. But I
do not think that I am long for this evil world corrupted by the Five
40
Pollutions." His words brought tears to his wife's eyes.
When the prince was traveling from Naniwa to the capital, he
encountered a starving man who was lying on the slope of Kataokayama.
The prince's black pony stopped and would not go forward, so the prince
got down and spoke with the man. He took off his purple cloak and
covered the man with it, and uttered this verse:
Here on Kataokayama
Lies a poor man, starving for food.
How sad! Has he no parents?
The starving man lifted his head and uttered this verse in reply:
Though the rich rivulets of Ikaruga run dry,

The name of our great Lord
Shall not be forgotten!
By the time the prince reached the palace, the man was dead. The
prince mourned him and supervised his funeral service. At the time,
seven of the highest-ranking ministers criticized him for this. The
prince responded, "Go to Kataoka and see what has become of him."
When they got there, they found that there was no corpse. Fragrance
41
filled the empty coffin. They were all astounded.
Then the prince spoke with his wife. He bathed and washed his
hair and put on fresh robes and told her, "I am going to die tonight." He
spread out their sleeping mat, and they lay down upon it. The next
morning, although the sun had risen high in the sky, the prince did not
get up. Everyone became anxious, and someone opened the door of his
room and looked and saw that both the prince and his wife were dead.
Their features were unaltered, and their fragrance was stronger than
42
ever.
The prince was forty-nine years old. On the day he died his pony
whinnied and whimpered and refused to eat or drink. It followed the
cortege to the grave site, gave a final cry, and fell dead. It too was buried
43
with the prince.
Also, on the day of the prince's death the sütra he had brought
from Mount Heng suddenly disappeared. The sütra in the possession of
44
the temple is the one Imoko brought back from China. The image of
the Buddha brought from Silla is now in the Eastern Hall of
45
Yamashinadera. The stone image brought from Paekche is now in the
46
Eastern Hall of Gangöji in Nara
The prince founded Shitennöji, Höryüji, Gangöji, Chügüji,
Tachibanadera, Hachiokadera, Ikeshiridera, Kazurakidera, and
47
Hyügadera.
The prince is known by three names. First, he is called Umayado
Toyotomimi no Miko. This is because he was born by the side of the
royal stable and could hear about the sufferings of ten people all at one
time without missing a word. Second, he is called Shötoku Taishi. This
is because he behaved like a monk from the time of his birth and later
wrote commentaries on the Srlmälä Sütra and the L o t u s Sütra, spread
Buddhism, and saved many people. Third, he is called Jögü Taishi.
This is because he lived in the southern wing of the palace during the
48
reign of Empress Suiko and conducted all the affairs of state himself.
His story appears in N i h o n g i , in the Taira's Shötoku T a i s h i den, Jögüki,

and in N i h o n k o k u zen'aku ryöiki, edited by the monk Kyökai of
49
Yakushiji in the capital of Nara.
Notes
There is a gap in the Sekido ke bon from a point near the end of
this section to a fragment of the last sentence of 2.3. Three fragments of
the Tödaiji-gire type have also been identified. As noted above, Jögü
T a i s h i g y o k i contains a complete version of this tale (see Shüsei,
pp. 115-22).
2
"Jögü Taishi" is one of the many names for Shötoku Taishi,
discussed also at the conclusion of this section. The word used here for
"sage" is h i j i r i .
3
Yömei was the fourth child of Emperor Kinmei and reigned from
585-587. Anahobe Hashihito was also a daughter of Kinmei, by a
daughter of Soga Iname; she was Yömei's half-sister. This reading of her
name follows that in the Töji Kanchiin bon and Yamada's commentary
thereon (see Shüsei, p. 115; Ryakuchü, p. 118).
4
The "World-saving Bodhisattva" (Guze bosatsu) is Kannon. By
association with Amida, this Bodhisattva is also believed to dwell in the
west. Iconographical representations of the Guze k a n n o n are common,
and one of the most famous is the image in the Yumedono (see n. 33,
below), which is popularly believed to be modeled on Shötoku Taishi's
own features (see BD l:677b-78a).
The account of this dream in Shötoku T a i s h i d e n r y a k u (hereafter
cited D e n r y a k u ) contains this explicit identification of the prince as
Guze bosatsu ( S T D 1:71). In the earlier Jögü T a i s h i den h o k e t s u k i the
monk in the dream says only, "I have vowed to save the world" ( S T D
1:55; see Hayashi Mikiya, T a i s h i shinkö, pp. 40-51 for a full discussion
of the birth legend).
5
Bidatsu was Kinmei's second child and Yömei's elder half-brother.
He reigned from 572 to 585.
The story of the prince's birth near a stable ( u m a y a d o ) appears in
D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:71-72). It is sometimes thought to be the source of
one of the prince's names (discussed below), but was perhaps developed
to explain the name itself. The account of the birth in Jögü Shötoku
T a i s h i Höötei setsu gives a birthdate corresponding to the year 574,
which is generally held to be accurate ( S T D 1:12; see Hayashi, T a i s h i
shinkö no kenkyü, pp. 116-20). A similar birth story appears in N i h o n

s h o k i but without any indication of a date { N K B T 68:172-73).
6
The description of this incident, indicating the prince's precocious
religiosity, is based on D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:72). The fifteenth day of the
second month is the traditional anniversary of the death of Säkyamuni
(see also 3.8). "Facing east" suggests that a Buddha other than Amida—
perhaps Maitreya—is the object of worship of the ritual salute, " N a m u
butsu"
1
D e n r y a k u says that these events occurred in the tenth month of
577 ( S T D 1:73-74), but N i h o n s h o k i has it in the eleventh month
( N K B T 68:140), where it is said that the envoy Öwake no Ökimi,
returning from his mission to the Korean kingdom, brought back "scrip-
tures and treatises, a Vinaya master, a meditation master, a nun, an
expert in the chanting of dhäranl and other curative and protective
spells ( j u g o n s h i ) , a sculptor of Buddhist images, and a temple carpenter."
The Töji Kanchiin bon and Sekido-ke bon include the phrase "for
the first time," suggesting that this was the actual introduction of these
Buddhist artifacts, officiants, and artisans; there is a gap in the Maeda-
ke text at this point, and D e n r y a k u contains no such phrase.
8
The account of these events follows D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:74), slightly
abbreviated. The "Six Ritual Days" ( r o k u s a i ) originate in the Indian
belief that on six days each month the Four Celestial Kings record all
good acts, while evil spirits record all evil acts; as a result, these days
were marked with circumspect behavior, particularly abstinence from
eating after mid-day. Several sütras prescribe strict adherence to certain
rules of behavior on six days in each month (with some variation in the
days so designated). Monks and nuns must chant the precepts (i.e., hold
a Convocation; see 3.5) on these days, while laymen should strictly
observe the "Eight Ritual Precepts" ( h a c h i s a i k a i ) , i.e., abstention from
(1) killing living things, (2) stealing, (3) sexual intercourse, (4) lying, (5)
drinking alcoholic beverages, (6) dressing in a showy manner and
attending entertainments, (7) sleeping on a high bed, and (8) eating after
mid-day (BD 5:5057a b).
9
The arrival of the image from Silla, with returning envoys in 579,
is recorded in N i h o n s h o k i ( N K B T 68:140). The story of the prince's
identification of it is in D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:174).
10
The arrival of Nichira in 583 is recorded in N i h o n s h o k i ( N K B T
69:142). He seems to have been an ethnic Japanese who spent most of
his life in Paekche and rose to a high position in its government. He
served as envoy between Paekche and the Asuka Court at a time when
the Japanese were hoping to regain control of the Korean state of Imna.
On his way back to Korea, Nichira was murdered by members of his own
party who suspected that he had revealed to the Japanese the fact that
Paekche also had designs on Imna (BD 5:4088b c; K J J 5:1278c 79b).
11
The story of Nichira's encounter with the prince is based on
D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:76). Naniwa (now part of modern Osaka) was the port
used by envoys to and from the continent. The palace mentioned here
may have been a ceremonial hall where arriving and departing diplomats
were entertained.
A l l three Sanböe texts record Nichira's salutation in Chinese,
without transcription. The last five characters of the salutation literally
mean "king of this nation in the east that is like scattered millet," i.e., a
disordered, fractious state; the terminology is found in early Chinese
documents referring to Japan (KGD 12:348d; Morohashi, D a i k a n w a
j i t e n 8, p. 896a). In the Jögü T a i s h i g y o k i the salutation continues with
two more five-character lines that mean: "You come from the west; you
are born here to deliver all the wondrous teachings and save all sentient
beings" (Shüsei, p. 118).
1 2
A s head of the influential Soga clan, which enjoyed close ties to
the throne, Umako was one of the most powerful men at the Asuka
Court, and he is portrayed in N i h o n s h o k i as the champion of Buddhism
at the time of its introduction. The events described here, in the year
584, are recorded in some detail in N i h o n s h o k i ( N K B T 68:148). One of
the three nuns mentioned here, Zenshin, figures prominently in that
account but is not mentioned by name in D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:77); this is
probably the reason for Tamenori's omission.
13
The construction of what may have been the first such pagoda (a
model of a stüpa) in Japan is recorded in the N i h o n s h o k i passage cited
above, but with no mention of Shötoku Taishi. Again, Tamenori
depends on D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:77) but alters the sequence of events;
D e n r y a k u mentions the discovery of the relic before the construction of
the pagoda by Shiba Tattö, a devout layman.
14
M o r i y a was the head of the Mononobe clan who, with their allies,
the Nakatomi, were the chief rivals of the Soga and the main opponents
of Buddhism, according to N i h o n s h o k i (see K J J 6:1744a 54a). The
name Nakatomi Katsumi appears in some early Nakatomi genealogies
but not in Sonpi b u n m y a k u (KJJ 5:1223). The following account of
Moriya's and Katsumi's anti-Buddhist activities corresponds to that in
N i h o n s h o k i ( N K B T 68:150ff), embellished with elements from
D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:78).
15
While the ministers' statement of opposition to Buddhism and
the emperor's response are recorded in both N i h o n s h o k i and D e n r y a k u ,
the prince's protest appears only in the latter.
16
There are several historiological problems with this traditional
account, not the least of which is the fact that it duplicates an earlier
N i h o n s h o k i section in which anti-Buddhist ministers (the Mononobe
and Nakatomi chieftains of the previous generation) are said to have
thrown a Buddhist image into the same canal, in 552 (see N K B T 68:102).
Furthermore, Gangöji g a r a n e n g i says that Emperor Bidatsu himself was
the instigator of the plan to destroy the nascent religion ( D N B Z
114:138), while N i h o n s h o k i simply says, "he did not accept Buddhism"
( N K B T 68:132).
According to N i h o n s h o k i , the nuns were flogged in a public
marketplace ( N K B T 68:150; see also D e n r y a k u , S T D 1:78). The natural
omens and the prince's prediction are in D e n r y a k u only.
17
T h e Töji Kanchiin bon specifies "smallpox" ( k a s a no y a m a i ) ,
although both N i h o n s h o k i and D e n r y a k u have eyami, a word for a
general plague or epidemic.
1 8
A l l texts include the words "the two ministers," but this is clearly
a misreading of D e n r y a k u , which says that "the minister" (i.e., Umako)
"was allowed to worship." According to N i h o n s h o k i , the emperor
allowed Umako to practice Buddhism but forbade all other citizens to do
so ( N K B T 68:51). Also, the Töji Kanchiin bon and Maeda-ke bon read,
"the image and sütras that had been burned and lost," but this is not
supported by the N i h o n s h o k i or D e n r y a k u accounts. The Sekido ke
bon and Jögü T a i s h i g y o k i versions read, "Buddhism, which had been
burned and lost."
19
O n Emperor Yömei, see n. 3. Bidatsu seems to have been a
victim of the smallpox epidemic. The Soga and Mononobe struggled
briefly over the succession, but the Soga candidate prevailed ( N K B T
68:152). According to both N i h o n s h o k i and D e n r y a k u , the motive for
the emperor's acceptance of Buddhism in 587 was his hope of being
cured of a chronic illness. His utterance is a vow called Sanki ("reliance
on the Three Jewels"). Debate between the Soga and Mononobe factions
over the advisability of this adoption of the new faith ensued. Then "a
monk from Toyo Province" (i.e., northern Kyüshü) was brought to the
palace (the first time a Buddhist monk had entered the precincts) by the
emperor's brother or by Umako (according to N i h o n s h o k i and
D e n r y a k u , respectively). The prince's words of praise for this event
appear only in D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:79).
20
A t o is now called Atobe, in Ösaka-fu. The account of these
events follows both N i h o n s h o k i ( N K B T 68:158-59) and D e n r y a k u ( S T D
1:79-80). In D e n r y a k u it is not entirely clear who was bewitched by
Moriya, but N i h o n s h o k i says that he made images of the emperor's sons
and placed murderous curses on them. In fact, Yömei was ill and died in
the fourth month of 587. Tamenori, following D e n r y a k u , omits mention

of the succession dispute that resulted.
21
T h e prince's participation in the battle is recorded in N i h o n
s h o k i ( N K B T 68:163), but Tamenori's wording is closer to that of
D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:80-81). Little is known about Hata Kawakatsu; he is
named in D e n r y a k u but not in the N i h o n s h o k i account of the battle (see
KJJ5:1349b 50a).
The invocation of the Four Celestial Kings may be based on a
passage in Konkömyö saishöökyö in which they promise to protect
Buddhism from its enemies. On Shötoku Taishi and the worship of the
Four Celestial Kings, see Hiraoka Jökai, "Shitennö shinkö ni tsuite," in
Shötoku T a i s h i kenkyü, pp. 65-81.
22
T h e contrast between the imperial forces' invocation of Buddhist
deities and Moriya's invocation of the native gods is more explicit in
D e n r y a k u ; in N i h o n s h o k i , Umako is said to have called on both the
Buddhist and the Shinto deities ( N K B T 68:164).
23
T o m i Ichihi is specifically named in both accounts, but little else
is known (see K J J 5:1167c).
24
T h e forerunner of Shitennöji, the great temple in Osaka, was
probably located near the present site of Osaka Castle (Sakamoto Tarö,
Shötoku T a i s h i , pp. 181-83; Hiraoka, "Shitennö shinkö ni tsuite,"
pp. 78-81).
25
Sushun (?—592) was the twelfth child of Kinmei and the brother
of Shötoku Taishi's mother. Umako overcame the Mononobe effort to
crown a different brother and put Sushun on the throne in the expecta-
tion that he would be compliant, but Sushun proved to have a mind of
his own, and in 592 Umako engineered his assassination (KJJ 4:965a
67a). D e n r y a k u mentions the assassination ( S T D 1:84) without any
indication of Shötoku Taishi's possible role, or even his attitude toward
it, although the event led to his appointment as regent.
A cap-rank system was adopted at Shötoku Taishi's instigation in
603, and it was expanded in 647. According to D e n r y a k u the prince's
adulthood ceremony was performed in the third year of Sushun's reign
(590), but it is imprecise to call this a "first capping."
26
Suiko (554-628) was a daughter of Kinmei, a full sister of Yömei,
and Bidatsu's consort (Sakamoto, Shötoku T a i s h i , pp. 37-39). Umako
chose her to replace Sushun, and Shötoku Taishi's selection as regent
was also based on close family ties: the prince's grandmothers on both
sides were Umako's sisters, and one of his wives was Umako's daughter.
27
Nothing is known about Asa except that he seems to have been
the son of the king of Paekche. N i h o n s h o k i records his visit in the
fourth month of 597 ( N K B T 68:175). The account of his praise for the
prince and the accompanying sign is based on D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:88).
The legend has obviously been adjusted to the facts; Shötoku Taishi did
die at the age of forty-nine according to most accounts (see below). This
legendary incident also reflects another element of the popular notion
that the prince was an incarnation of Kannon.
28
Tsukai Maro is otherwise unknown. The incident is described in
D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:89). The ability to travel through the air is frequently
attributed to saintly figures (hijiri); see the story of Ε no ubasoku (2.2),
for example. "Mikoshi" comprises the three provinces of Echizen,
Etchü, and Echigo.
29
T h e Srlmälä Sütra (i.e., Shöman s h i s h i k u ichijö daihöben
hökökyö) is a work in one fascicle about the devout queen of Srävastl,
emphasizing, among other ideas, universal salvation attainable by both
men and women on an equal basis; hence, it would be an appropriate text
for a lecture given before the empress. The three-day lecture is only
briefly mentioned in N i h o n shoki, in the seventh month of 606 ( N K B T
68:189), where it also says that the prince lectured on the L o t u s Sütra in
the same year, but Tamenori omits this and continues with the story of
the falling flowers that accompanies the account of the Srlmälä lectures
in D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:95). The fact that Tamenori's narrative moves next
to an account of the prince's devotion to the L o t u s may result from the
association of the two texts in the legend of his lectures.
According to the chronicles of Tachibanadera (in Asuka-son,
Takaichi-gun, Nara-ken), it was originally Yömei's detached palace and
the site of Shötoku Taishi's birth (BD 4:3472c-73b). The identification
of the site as that of the prince's lectures appears in an interlinear note
in D e n r y a k u .
30
According to N i h o n shoki, Ono Imoko went to China for the first
time in the seventh month of 607 and returned in the fourth month of
608 ( N K B T 68:189; see also K J J 2:282b-c). The following account of his
adventure follows D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:96-98). Mount Heng (Közan), in
Hunan, was the site of a number of monasteries associated with Hui-ssu
and other Buddhist figures (BD 2:1044a-45a).
31
T h e word used here for China, Sekiken, is one that appears in
such early Japanese documents as the Shoku n i h o n g i (see K G D 11:684a).
The "Pan-jo" (i.e., Prajnä) "temple" is H a n n y a t a i (i.e., "Prajnä peak") in
Denryaku.
32
"Meditation Master Nien" (Nen zenshi) is understood here as
Shötoku Taishi's name in his previous existence. Later in the D e n r y a k u
version the prince explains that he led five previous lives as Chinese
monks (two of whom lived on Mount Heng) before his present life ( S T D
1:106-7). Because of the association of Mount Heng with Hui-ssu, the
theory that the prince was a reincarnation of Hui-ssu himself became
popular; both Saichö and Kükai espoused it. (Hui-ssu died in 577, three
years after the accepted date of Shötoku Taishi's birth. See R y a k u c h u ,

p. 128.)
33
According to N i h o n s h o k i , construction of the palace at Ikaruga
began in 601 ( N K B T 68:177). It has been suggested that the prince left
his aunt's palace and established this separate residence in order to
pursue his activities away from the direct cynosure of Umako (Ajia
bukkyöshi, N i h o n hen 1: A s u k a - N a r a Bukkyö, pp. 69-70). The site was
eventually incorporated into the monastery that became Höryüji, and
the Yumedono is now part of Höryüji. It is an octagonal structure, said
to have been used by the prince as a meditation hall; "yume" ("dream")
probably refers here to the meditative state. The design of the present
structure dates from 1230. It houses the revered Guze Kannon image,
said to resemble the prince's own features (see Kuno Takeshi et al.,
N i h o n no b i j u t s u : Höryüji, pp. 105, 207-8).
34
"Jambudvlpa" here means India. D e n r y a k u says, "He talked all
about things in foreign lands" ( S T D 1:99). The implication is that while
in meditation he was able to travel to other times and places.
35
See the discussion of the commentaries below.
36
Hyeja (Eji, ?—623) came to Japan in 595, spent twenty-three
years at Hököji, and then returned to Korea, where he died. He is iden-
tified as one of the prince's teachers in N i h o n s h o k i ( N K B T 1:174; see
also BD 1:275b). The word used here for meditation, sanmaijö, is as in
D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:99). The implication of the story, which Tamenori
does not make particularly clear as yet, is that the prince had detected
the tiny error in the sütra brought by Imoko and suspected that it was
not the one he had once possessed. In meditation, he transported
himself to China and found the correct and perfect copy.
37
T h e arrival of Dögon, ten monks, and seventy-five lay followers
from Kyüshü at court in 609 is recorded in N i h o n s h o k i ( N K B T 68:193),
where it says that the party was blown off course while attempting to
reach the Chinese province of Wu. Dögon and the monks eventually
took up residence at Gangöji (see K J J 5:1179a-b). The "Mount L u " to
which he refers may be the peak in Shantung associated with both
Taoist and Buddhist ascetics; the word used for "monks," döshi, could
mean either Taoists or Buddhists. D e n r y a k u has dönin ( S T D 1:100).
38
Ono Imoko was sent back to China in the ninth month of 608 and
returned one year later. The account of his second visit to Mount Heng
is based on D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:100).
39
T h e marriage, according to D e n r y a k u , took place in 598 ( S T D
1:89), and she is said to have borne the prince four sons and four
daughters (KJJ 2:492c 93a). Shötoku Taishi is said to have had as many
as four wives (see Naganuma Kenkai, Shötoku T a i s h i ronkö, pp. 267-72;
Öno Tatsunosuke, Shötoku T a i s h i no kenkyü, pp. 34-35).
40
T h i s section paraphrases D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:100-1). The phrase
"the doctrine of the Single Vehicle" (ichijö no g i ) may be construed as a
reference to the L o t u s Sütra. On the "Five Pollutions," see "General
Preface," n. 15.
41
T h i s story appears in N i h o n shoki ( N K B T 68:198-200), dated
613, in D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:102-3), and in both Höötei setsu and H o k e -
t s u k i . There is also a version in N i h o n ryöiki, which Tamenori
acknowledges as one of his sources at the end of this biography (see
N K B T 70:77-81). The first verse appears in N i h o n shoki in a slightly
different form and as poem number 1350 in Shüishü (see Yamagishi
Tokuhei, ed., Hachidaishü zenchü 1, p. 621). It does not appear in the
Ryöiki version. The second verse does not appear in N i h o n shoki but
appears in this form in D e n r y a k u and as poem 1351 in Shüishü. In
Ryöiki it is said to have been written on the door of the beggar's empty
tomb. In Höötei setsu it is given as one of three verses composed as
memorials to the prince by Kose Sanjö Daifu ( S T D 1:16; NST 2:372).
D e n r y a k u names Umako as one of the ministers who protest the prince's
kindness to the beggar. There is perhaps an echo here of the legend of
Asoka's ministers' opposition to his patronage of mendicants (see
"Preface to the Third Volume"). In Genkö shakusho ( K S T K 31:27) this
beggar is identified as Bodhidharma, and this story became the basis of
the belief that Bodhidharma visited Japan (see Ogisu Jundö, "Shötoku
Taishi to Datsuma Nihon dorai no densetsu ο megutte," in Shötoku
T a i s h i kenkyü, pp. 297-309). Kataokayama is in Öji-chö, Nara-ken
(Takeshita Kazuma, Bungaku iseki j i t e n , shikahen, pp. 117-18).
42
T h i s account of the prince's death follows D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:112)
up to the last two sentences, which appear to be Tamenori's own embel-
lishments or derived from another unidentified source. N i h o n shoki
cites the fifth day of the second month of 621 as the date of the prince's
death. Documents at Höryüji, the Tenjukoku tapestry, and Höötei setsu
all give the twenty-second day of the second month of 622 as the date,
which is generally accepted (Sakamoto, Shötoku T a i s h i , p. 192).
43
T h e prince's age at his death agrees with Höötei setsu and with
the generally accepted dating of his birth, 574. D e n r y a k u says he was
fifty (see Hayashi, T a i s h i shinkö: sono hassei t o h a t t e n , pp. 137-39).
The events following the death of the prince are as described in
D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:112-13).
The disappearance of the sütra is not mentioned in any of

Tamenori's acknowledged sources.
45
Yamashinadera is another name for Köfukuji (see 3.28). The
information reported here appears in a parenthetical note in D e n r y a k u
( S T D 1:74). The image was destroyed when the troops of Taira
Shigehira set fire to the temple in 1180 ( H e i k e m o n o g a t a r i , p. 5; N K B T
32:383).
46
T h e private temple in which Umako originally placed the image
may have been the forerunner of Gangöji. This passage is based on an
interlinear note in D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:77). The image was not to be found
in the temple's Eastern Hall (Tökondö) when Öe Chikamichi visited it in
1140, according to his S h i c h i d a i j i j u n r e i k i (see Fujita Tsuneo, ed., Kökan
b i j u t s u shiryö, j i i n h e n , p. 56). There is no record of what became of it.
47
T h e list is the same as that in D e n r y a k u ( S T D 1:113); other
biographies have different lists (see Sakamoto, Shötoku T a i s h i , pp. 180-
91). On Shitennöji, see n. 24. Höryüji is said to have been built by
Shötoku Taishi and Suiko in memory of Yömei in 607. It was destroyed
by fire in 670, rebuilt in 693, and in 739 incorporated the neighboring
precincts of the prince's Ikaruga mansion, including the Yumedono. It is
one of the greatest repositories of the art and architecture of the Asuka
and Nara period. Gangöji, the Soga clan temple founded by Umako, was
known as Asukadera and Hököji. The original site, now a Shingon
temple, is in Asuka-son, Takaichi-gun, Nara-ken. "Shin" Gangöji (the
"new" Gangöji), in Nara proper, was founded in 718, in conjunction with
the building of the capital city, and was regarded as one of the Seven
Great Nara Temples. Few of its buildings have survived (see Öta
Hirotarö, N a n t o s h i c h i d a i j i no r e k i s h i t o nenpyö, pp. 3-30). Chügüji is
said to have been the prince's mother's private residence adjacent to his
Ikaruga Palace and was made a convent after her death in 621 (BD
4:3650b 51b). Among other treasures it houses fragments of the
Tenjukoku tapestry believed to have been made by one of the prince's
widows. On Tachibanadera, see n. 29. Hachiokadera is now known as
Köryuji, in Uzumasa, Ukyö ku, Kyoto. Hata Kawakatsu built it in 603
(BD 2:1110b-12a). Ikeshiridera is now known as Hokkiji, near Höryüji.
The prince is said to have built it in 607. Some accounts say that his
son, Yamashiro Öe no Ö, built it for him when he was near death, or as a
memorial (BD 5:4536a b). Kazurakidera is also known as Myöanji. It
does not survive; a possible site in Asuka-son has been identified (see
Sakamoto, Shötoku T a i s h i , p. 189). "Hyügadera" may refer to a temple
in northern Kyüshü, in the district of that name, where the Soga clan are
said to have dwelt before moving to Asuka. It may also have been a
temple near Daikandaiji (the forerunner of Daianji) in Takaichi (see
Naganuma Kenkai, Shötoku T a i s h i ronkö, pp. 104-6).
8
This section follows a passage in the N i h o n ryöiki tale previously
cited ( N K B T 70:77). For discussions of the prince's various names, see
Sakamoto, Shötoku T a i s h i , pp. 10-18; Naganuma, Shötoku T a i s h i
ronkö, pp. 143-52. The name "Umayado Toyotomimi no Miko" is used
several times in N i h o n shoki. Since umayado means "stable," the name
is thought to have some relation to the legend of the prince's birth. But
Umayado may have been a place-name near the present site of
Tachibanadera, which is also associated with his birth. "Toyotomimi"
may describe ears with supernatural capabilities, and the name may
suggest the attribution to the prince of the universal hearing possessed
by Bodhisattvas. The element m i m i appears in the names of many
Shinto deities and may have some other ritualistic or honorific meanings
of non-Buddhist origin. "Shötoku Taishi" probably came into use as a
name for the prince soon after his death. The phrase Shötoku muryö
("the sage's virtues are limitless") appears in Shömangyö gisho (see
below), but this only suggests the name's general Buddhist character and
probably does not directly account for the application of the name to the
prince. In addition to the two commentaries mentioned here in connec-
tion with this name—the Shömangyö gisho (on the Srlmälä Sütra) and
the Hokkekyö gisho (on the L o t u s ) — a third commentary, the Yuimakyö
gisho (on the V i m a l a k l r t i Sütra), is also attributed to the prince. Shoku
n i h o n g i mentions only the Srlmälä and L o t u s lectures, with no reference
to written commentaries. Shötoku Taishi's authorship of these works
has long been an article of faith for Japanese Buddhists, and they are
considered the first native Japanese works of this kind. There are,
however, a number of controversies concerning their actual provenance
and authenticity. It has been shown that the commentaries rely to a
considerable extent on Chinese commentaries that may not have been
known in Japan during the prince's lifetime. On the L o t u s commentary,
see Hanayama Shinshö, Shötoku T a i s h i gyosei H o k k e gisho no kenkyü
and Hanayama's edition of the H o k k e g i s h o . On the Srlmälä commen-
tary, see Hanayama's Shömangyö gisho no Jögüö n i k a n s u r u kenkyü and
his edition of the commentary; see also Shömangyö gisho ronshü and
Kanaji Isamu, Shömangyö gisho no shisöteki kenkyü. Another text of
the commentary, annotated by Hayashima Kyöshö and Tsukishima
Hiroshi, is to be found in NST 2:25-352, and all three commentaries are
in Τ 56 (nos. 2185, 2186, 2187). On all three commentaries, see Shirai
Shigenobu, Shötoku T a i s h i gosen sangyö gisho no r i n r i g a k u t e k i kenkyü.
The name "Jögü Taishi" appears in N i h o n shoki in the sections
covering the reigns of both Yömei and Suiko. There are several other
possible explanations of its origins besides that given by Tamenori.
Jögü, literally "upper palace," may mean that his quarters were on higher
ground than the sovereign's. It may mean that he governed (as regent)
from the "former" palace (at Ikaruga). It may simply be an honorific

expression, or an indication that he was heir apparent, or may be derived
from a place-name.
4 9
N i h o n g i is an abbreviation of the name of the N i h o n s h o k i , which
was compiled by about 720. On its dating and authorship, see N K B T
67:6-12. "The Taira's Shötoku T a i s h i den" identifies Shötoku T a i s h i
d e n r y a k u , which was once believed to have been written by various
members of the Taira family but has been shown to be the work of
Fujiwara Kanesuke (877-933) and has been dated to 917 ( B S K D 5:381b;
Fujiwara Yüsetsu, "Kaisetsu," in S T D 1:38-48). Jögüki (author and date
unknown) survives only in fragments in Shaku n i h o n g i (a commentary
on N i h o n s h o k i by Urabe Kanekata, compiled between 1274 and 1301)
and in Shötoku T a i s h i H e i s h i d e n zökanmon, compiled by the monk
Hökü in 1314. These fragments are printed in S T D 1:1-20.
2.2 Ε no Ubasoku 191
2.2 Ε NO U B A S O K U
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Tödaiji-gire ) 1
Ε no ubasoku's lay surname was Kamo no Ε no K i m i , and he belonged to

the clan now known as Takakamo no Ason; his personal name was
Otsunu.2 He came from the village of Chihara in Upper Kazuraki
District in Yamato Province. 3 He was born with knowledge of a great
variety of matters, and through study he became enlightened in diverse
ways. His reliance and respect for the Three Jewels were constant. He
wanted to attain skill in wizardry, so he went to live on Mount
Kazuraki. 4 For over thirty years he lived in a cave, wearing clothes made
from wisteria bark, eating pine needles, and washing the dirt from his
body with pure spring water, and through his practice of the Dhärani of
the Peacock King he learned how to perform miracles. On one occasion
5
he rode on a cloud of five colors to the city of the wizards.
Karakuni Hirotari, of the Junior Lower Fifth Rank, admired him
and accepted him as his master. But later, when he saw how the gods
obeyed him, Hirotari submitted an official petition that said, "This evil
6
man is deceiving the world. This is bad for the nation."
The Gyöja commanded many spirits and deities to draw water and
7
gather firewood for him. None of them refused to obey. He summoned
a crowd of these spirits and deities and said, "Build me a bridge between
Mount Kazuraki and Mount Kinpu. I will use it when I travel back and
forth between them." The deities all moaned and wailed, but he insisted.
Coerced into service, they complained [as they set about collecting
boulders, cutting them, and moving them into place], "We do not want
to be seen by day!" and so they continued the project under the cover of
8
night. They worked and worked night after night, but the Gyöja
summoned the deity of Kazuraki, Hitokotonushi, made him his captive,
and scolded him angrily. "What are you embarassed about? Why are
you hiding? Why isn't it finished yet?" With a spell, he tied the deity up
9
and imprisoned him deep down in the bottom of the valley.
When the world was ruled from the Fujiwara Palace,
Hitokotonushi possessed someone and said, "E no ubasoku is plotting to
overthrow the king." This alarmed all the officials, and they sent men to
arrest the sage, but he flew into the sky where they could not reach him.
When they took his mother hostage, he realized that he would have to
give himself up to save her, and so, of his own accord, he came down out
10
of the sky and allowed himself to be captured.
On the twenty-fourth day of the fifth month of the third year of the
reign of Emperor Monmu [699] he was banished to Izu Island. He
floated over the waters of the sea as if he were running on them; he lived
up on the mountain peaks and flew around them as if he were a bird.
During the day he was obedient to the law and stayed on the island, but
at night he went to Mount Fuji in Suruga Province [to practice
austerities]. He prayed constantly to be released from the island and to
11
be able to go to court and acquit himself of his alleged crimes.
After three years, in the fifth month of the first year of the Taihö
era [701], he was recalled to court. Just before he reached the imperial
palace, he flew up into the sky and out of sight. He rode on the moon,
hid among the clouds, and floated across the seas to a very great
12
distance, and he did not come back.
The Japanese monk Döshö received an imperial command to
search for the Law in China, and five hundred tigers in Silla invited him
to speak. There, among the mountains, he was lecturing on the L o t u s
S u t r a in a temple courtyard when a man asked him a question in
Japanese. Döshö asked, "Who are you?" and the man answered, "I used
to live in Japan; I am Ε no ubasoku. Certain persons in that country
perverted the minds of the gods and planted evil in the hearts of the
people, so I left. But even now, I occasionally travel back and forth."
Then Döshö knew him to be the Japanese sage, and he came down from
the lecturer's seat to worship him, but suddenly the sage was nowhere to
13
be seen.
It is said that Hitokotonushi, the deity of Kazuraki who was bound
14
up by the Gyöja, has still not been released.
This story appears in Shoku n i h o n g i , Ryöiki, and in the
B i o g r a p h i e s of Famous Monks of Japan compiled by Koji Ono
15
Nakahiro.
Long ago someone said, "E no gyöja could fly on a grass mat, and
he put his mother in a bowl and they flew off to China together. Cease-
less groaning was heard from the bottom of the valley below Mount
Kazuragi, and when people went to investigate, they found a big stone
encircled by a huge wistaria vine. This seemed suspicious, so they cut
the vine, but the groaning went on just as before. They say that many of
the boulders cut to build the bridge are still to be found on the mountain
16
and in the valley."
Notes
1
Eight Tödaiji-gire fragments have been identified. See Shüsei,
pp. 131-35.
Ubasoku transliterates Sanskrit upäsaka, "a devout layman." In

Japan, as in this case, it usually refers to a religious individual who has
not taken full, formal vows and who functions independently of formal
Buddhist institutions (BD 1:226). The protagonist is also known as En
no gyöja. Gyöja is sometimes used to translate upäsaka and usually indi-
cates an ascetic practitioner of some kind. Tamenori refers to him as
"Gyöja" in the text itself. This opening biographical section is based on
N i h o n ryöiki 1.28 ( N K B T 70:135). The legend of Ε no ubasoku has been
discussed at some length elsewhere. See Tsuda Sökichi, "En no gyöja
densetsu kö," in N i h o n no S h i n t o , pp. 358-84; Sato Torao, "En no
Shökaku den," in T e n r i D a i g a k u gakuhö 21 (August, 1956):33-52; Hori
Ichiro, "On the Concept of H i j i r i (Holy Man)," in Numen 5.2-3 (April,
September 1958), especially pp. 141ff; and Nakamura Munehiko, "En no
Shökaku den shiki: sono gensho denshö," in Ötani j o s h i d a i kiyö 14.12
(January 1980):19-38. Concerning his significance in the history of
Shugendö, see Carmen Blacker, The C a t a l p a Bow, pp. 96-99, 248-49,
267, 342; H. Byron Earhart, "Shugendö, the Tradition of En no gyöja
and Mikkyö Influences," in Studies of E s o t e r i c Buddhism a n d T a n t r i s m ,
pp. 297-317; and Wakamori Tarö, Shugendö shi kenkyü, pp. 31-35.
According to Shoku n i h o n g i , the names "Kamo no Ε no kimi" and
"Takakamo no Ason" were granted to the family in 719 and 760 ( K S T K
2:77, 364). The Kamo were a branch of the Miwa clan; Kazuraki (see
below) was the seat of the Takakamo family (see Öta Akira et al., eds.,
Shinpen seishikakei j i s h o , pp. 215, 755). Many members of the Kamo
families held hereditary posts as Shinto priests or On'yöji (Yin yang
prognosticators) (see Ikeda Genta, "Kamoshi," "Kamonokimi," in N i h o n
r e k i s h i d a i j i t e n 5:50d, 52c d). The name "Otsunu" (also read "Otsuno,"
"Ozuno," or "Shökaku") does not appear in Ryöiki, but it does appear in
the Shoku n i h o n g i account of his career, which Tamenori also
acknowledges as one of his sources. The entry is dated Monmu 3 (699)
and begins with a report of his exile ( K S T K 2:4).
3
Chihara is now Chiwara in Gose-shi, Nara-ken. A temple,
Kichijösöji, which is said to have been founded by Ε no ubasoku, stands
on the traditional site of his birthplace ( N i h o n c h i m e i d a i j i t e n 3:276).
4
These two sentences seem to indicate his interest and proficiency
in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist (probably Taoist) techniques. "To
attain skill in wizardry" (sen ο m o t o m u r u ) may mean "in order to gain
immortality" through a unity with natural forces. Mount Kazuraki, one
of the peaks on the border between Nara and Osaka prefectures, was
associated from a very early time with mystical religious activities and
supernatural presences. The name is also pronounced "Katsuragi."
5
The ascetic practices described are typical of Taoist austerities
conducive to the attainment of immortality. The "Dhärani of the
Peacock King" (Kujakuö no j u ) is a spell prescribed by several esoteric
texts for the protection of the state. The earliest fourth-century transla-
tions (Kujakuö jinjukyö and Kujakuö zöjinju) are lost. Versions by
Saipghavarman and I-ching are listed in Shösöin catalogs (see Ishida
Mösaku, Shakyö y o r i m i t a r u Narachö Bukkyö no kenkyü, appendix,
p. 87). They may be found, along with several other versions, in Τ 19. It
cannot be determined which version, if any in particular, was the basis of
Ε no ubasoku's magic, and the identification of this text as the one on
which he relied may be a late accretion to the legend. S h o k u n i h o n g i
simply says that he used spells, but the Dhärani of the Peacock King is
clearly the focal point of the N i h o n ryöiki version.
Nakamura Kyöko maintains that the "cloud of five colors" is a
rainbow, which represents a bridge to the land of the dead in many
Taoist tales ( M i r a c u l o u s Stories f r o m the Japanese B u d d h i s t T r a d i t i o n ,
p. 113, n. 31 and n. 141). But it could also be a cloud of the five Buddhist
colors (variously defined), generally taken as a good omen in Pure Land
texts, a sign of future rebirth in paradise. In esoteric texts it is said that
he who possesses a cloud of five colors possesses immortality (BD
2:1190a b); this is perhaps the result of a mixture of Taoist and Buddhist
notions. In Kamakura-period illustrated narrative scrolls (for example,
the scenes of the death of Honen in H o n e n shönin den; see Zoku N i h o n
emaki t a i s e i 3, pp. 6-7), clouds of five colors appear in illustrations
corresponding to texts that read " s h i u n " ("purple cloud"). Purple clouds
are also good omens and signs of an affinity with the Pure Land or
saintly beings. (A number of purple clouds appear in the biographies of
revered personages in Sanböe volume 3; see 3.3, 3.16, and 3.17.) The
"city of the wizards" (sennin no m i y a k o ) suggests the dwelling place of
Taoist immortals.
6
This account of Karakuni Hirotari's relations with Ε no ubasoku
is based on N i h o n shoki. He is not mentioned in the Ryöiki version.
Two other, later entries in Shoku n i h o n g i record his elevation to the
Junior Lower Fifth Rank (in Tenpyö 3.1 [731]; K S T K 2:125) and his
appointment as Chief of the Imperial Bureau of Physicians (Ten'yaku no
k a m i ; Tenpyö 4.10 [732]; K S T K 2:130). The latter appointment indi-
cates that he was a practitioner of healing magic, which could explain the
story of his conflict with the protagonist and his brand of magic. He is
also identified in Töshikaden as a j u g o n s h i ("master of divine healing")
(Takeuchi Rizö, ed., N a r a i b u n 3, p. 886a; K J J 2:363a b).
7
See n. 2 on "Gyöja." The protagonist's ability to control the native
deities through powers learned from "foreign" religions is emphasized in
the Ryöiki version.
0
The account of the bridge-building episode follows Ryöiki. Mount
Kinpu is a peak in the Yoshino district, southeast of Kazuraki, also
known at "Kane no mitake" or simply "Mitake." It has long been
thought to be a place replete with spiritual affinities. See also 3.22, n. 6.
The phrase in brackets appears only in the Maeda-ke bon, but
evidence in later recensions of the tale indicate that it is appropriate (see
Shüsei, p. 459).
9
Hitokotonushi is a kami associated with and worshiped on
Kazuraki. He is said to possess the power to do good or evil by uttering a
single word, hence his name, which means "master of the single word."
The concept suggests Taoist and esoteric Buddhist influences in the cult
of this "native" deity. His encounter on the mountain with the Emperor
Yüryaku is described in K o j i k i ( N K B T 1:317) and N i h o n shoki ( N K B T
67:466-67) (see the analysis of this episode in Kawazoe Taketane, K o j i k i
no kenkyü, pp. 215-33). The episode described here is not in Ryöiki;
however, at the end of that version we are told that the sage bound the
kami and that he is still a captive. Tamenori's specific source for this
episode has not been identified. It is perhaps from one of the lost
acknowledged works (see below). The point seems to be that the kami
resisted the sage's authority and was punished for his insolence. Most
commentators see this as a dramatization of conflict between indigenous
and imported religions.
10
T h i s episode is based on Ryöiki, but Tamenori changes a phrase
understood to mean "the deity went insane" to "the deity took posses-
sion of someone." Tamenori adopts Kyökai's manner of identifying the
date by the location of the ruler's palace, i.e., the Fujiwara Palace used by
Jitö, Monmu, and Genmei. On the basis of the date of the Shoku
n i h o n g i account (which appears in the following paragraph), the
reference is clearly to the reign of Monmu (697-707).
11
As noted above, the date is in Shoku n i h o n g i ; it is not specified in
Ryöiki, although the latter is clearly Tamenori's main reference for this
episode. As in Shoku n i h o n g i , the date citation includes astrological
signs (reproduced inconsistently in the various Sanböe texts; see Shüsei,
p. 459). The "Izu Island" mentioned here is probably Izu Öshima, the
largest in the chain lying east of the Izu Peninsula. Ryöiki compares the
sage's flying to that of a phoenix. "To practice austerities" is one
possible reading of the Töji Kanchiin bon and Tödaiji-gire texts for this
passage; the Maeda-ke bon has only one character that may mean "go"
or "worship" (see Shüsei, pp. 132-33).
12
T h e description of the release and disappearance follows Ryöiki
up to the point of "he rode on the moon." This and the other discrepan-
cies noted above may indicate that Tamenori's account of this episode
was based on Meisöden (see below) rather than on Ryöiki. There may
also be differences between his Ryöiki text and those that are standard
today.
13
T h i s episode follows Ryöiki. Another Ryöiki tale (1.22) also
describes Döshö's Chinese sojourn and his subsequent career. Döshö
(629-700) was one of the most eminent monks of the Nara period. He
went to China in 653, studied with Hsüan-tsang and with monks of the
Ch'an school, and returned to Japan in 661 with a number of relics,
texts, and ritual implements received from Hsüan-tsang. With this
authoritative transmission, he established the Japanese Hossö (Fa-
hsiang) school and lived at Gangöji, which served as its headquarters
(BD 4:3876a b; Nakao Takashi and Imai Masaharu, N i h o n meisö j i t e n ,
pp. 140-42).
In later recensions of this story (in Fusö r y a k k i and K o n j a k u
monogatarishü), the "five hundred tigers" become "five hundred sages"
( N K B T 70:137, n. 13).
14
See n. 9.
15
The work cited, i.e., N i h o n k o k u meisöden, is lost, and nothing is
known about its author. A work with this title is quoted as a source in
Sögöbunin shöshutsu, compiled by Echin in 1165 (GR 3:221a), but there
are no later references or evidence of its survival. Koizumi et al. suggest
that most of the passages in Tamenori's version that are not supported
by Ryöiki or Shoku n i h o n g i may be based on Meisöden (see Shüsei,
p . 459).
16
T h i s paragraph does not appear in the Ryöiki. It is perhaps
based on Meisöden.
2.3 GYÖKI B O S A T S U
1
(Maeda ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Tödaiji-gire )
2
Gyöki Bosatsu was originally a monk of Yakushiji. His lay surname was
that of the Koshi clan, and he came from Ötori District in Izumi
3
Province. While still a youth he shaved his head and began to chant the
4
Y u g a r o n . He soon attained enlightenment. He traveled widely in the
provinces, teaching the people about Buddhism, turning them toward
the path of the Buddha, and performing Buddhist rites. Wherever he
went, there was not a home that was not deserted as the people rushed
out and fought to get a close look at him and to worship him. When he
encountered impassable roads, he built bridges and levees. When he
found auspicious places, he built halls and established temples. He
founded thirty-nine of them in the capital region and a great many
others in the provinces. These temples are still in use, and their
5
prosperity continues to this day.
He traveled all over the country, and none of the places he visited
failed to reap benefits through him. Once, when he came home to his
own village, a number of people were gathered around the banks of the
pond, catching fish and eating them. As he passed by, some ruffians
stopped him and forced him to take some of the raw fish. He gave in, but
as soon as he put it into his mouth he spat it out again, and each piece
instantly turned into a small fish, which he returned to the pond.
Everyone who saw this was amazed, and they regretted the mischief they
6
had done.
His amazing and miraculous feats of this kind were numerous
indeed. The people living in the vicinity of Gangöji in the old capital
organized a great Buddhist rite and invited Gyöki Bosatsu to lecture for
seven days. Many laymen and laywomen and monks and nuns came to
see him. Among them was a woman who had used a tiny bit of rendered
deer fat to dress her forelocks. She was just part of the crowd, seated at
some distance from Gyöki, and even those seated next to her took no
notice. But Gyöki spotted her in the distance and said, "I noticed an
abominable odor, and when I looked I saw that woman over there who
has dressed her hair with animal fat." The woman was mortified, and
7
she ran away. Everyone who witnessed this was amazed.
There were many incredible incidents. The emperor revered him
deeply and took him as his sole teacher, and in the winter of the
sixteenth year of the Tenpyö era [744] he gave him the newly created
8
title "Daisöjö" and assigned four hundred monks to his service.
At that time there was a venerable monk named Chikö. He was a

wise and virtuous teacher. As Gyöki's reputation spread and his
commentaries on various sütras and treatises added to the public's
esteem for him, Chikö became jealous. "I am a learned monk of high
rank," he said. "Gyöki is an ignorant amateur. How can the government
10
honor him and ignore me?" In spite, he withdrew to live in isolation at
Sukitadera in the province of Kawachi, where he suddenly fell ill and
11
died. But ten days later he came back to life and said, "I was following
King Yama's couriers, and at one side of the road I saw a palace made of
12
gold. When I asked the couriers about it they said, 'That is where
Gyöki Bosatsu will be reborn.' We continued on to a place where I could
see nothing but burning clouds of smoke. When I asked the couriers,
they told me, 'That is the hell into which you will be reborn.' When we
got there, they poked me with steel rods and made me clutch a burning
steel pillar, so that my flesh tore and my bones crumbled. I cannot begin
to describe all my torments. King Yama said, 'Your crime of slander
against Gyöki, the Bodhisattva of the rich and fertile land of Japan, is
13
serious. I have summoned you in order to pass judgement. Go home
now, and reverse your fate.' He dispatched his courier to bring me back
and has given me this chance."
To show his repentance, he took up his walking stick and went to
find Gyöki in Naniwa, where he was building bridges, digging canals,
organizing ferry systems, and planting trees. Gyöki instinctively knew
what was in Chikö's mind, and unable to suppress a grin, he said, "Why
14
do you find it so hard to look me in the eye?" Chikö was more deeply
awed and ashamed than ever, and he wept with remorse.
When the emperor built Tödaiji and was planning the dedication
15
service, he chose Gyöki to be the lecturer. But Gyöki said, "I am not fit
to serve in such an office. A great teacher will come from a foreign
country; it is he who should serve."
When the day of the dedication service drew near, Gyöki went to
the port of Naniwa in Tsu Province to welcome the expected teacher. At
his request, the government sent one hundred monks to accompany him.
Gyöki took his place at the end of the procession. Officials of the Civil
Affairs Ministry's Bureau of Religious Affairs and of the Bureau of Court
Musicians got into boats, and as the musicians played, they all went out
16
to meet the visitor. But when they reached Naniwa, there was no one
to be seen. Gyöki prepared a welcoming bowl of perfumed water and set
it adrift. Rafts of flowers and burning incense were also set afloat in the
currents. They did not scatter or dissolve but drifted far off toward the
west. After a while a small boat appeared bearing the Brahman Abbot
17
named B o d h i . The bowl of perfumed water was floating in front of his
boat, undisturbed. This Bodhisattva had come from Southern India to
be present on the day of the dedication of Tödaiji. He got out of the

boat, came up on the shore, and grasped Gyöki by the hand, smiling
joyfully. Then Gyöki Bosatsu uttered this verse:
We made our vow before Säkyamuni at Vulture Peak;

We have not failed to fulfill it,
Now that we stand face to face.
The Brahman Abbot replied:
The vow we exchanged in Kapilavastu

Has had its effect,
And now I gaze upon Manjusn's face once more.
and then they went to court together. Thus it was discovered that Gyöki
18
was Manjusri.
He died on the second day of the second month of the first year of
19
the Tenpyö era [749]. He was eighty years old at the time. His story
appears in the B i o g r a p h i e s of F a m o u s M o n k s of J a p a n compiled by Koji
20
Ono Nakahiro and in Ryöiki by the monk Kyökai.
Notes
1
Three Tödaiji-gire fragments have been identified (see Shüsei,
pp. 139-43).
2
Gyöki (688-749) is one of the most famous figures in Nara-period
Buddhism, best known for his proselytizing and participation in public
works. He was called "Bosatsu" (Bodhisattva) on the basis of the belief
that he was a reincarnation of Manjusri (see below) and because of the
supernatural powers attributed to him. For an authoritative and
detailed modern biography, see Inoue Kaoru, Gyöki. I have followed
Inoue's reading of the name, although "Gyögi" is common. Yakushiji,
one of the "Seven Great Nara Temples," was a monastery of the Hossö
school (see also 3.11 and 3.15). Although Gyöki was officially registered
as a monk of this temple, he did not reside or practice there but moved
freely about the countryside (Inoue, Gyöki, pp. 124-26). In this
biographical section, Tamenori follows Gyöki's obituary in Shoku
n i h o n g i (dated Tenpyö Shöhö 1.12 [749]; K S T K 2:196-97).
3
The Koshi clan claimed descent from the immigrant Korean
scholar Wani. Ötori, which was probably the seat of Gyöki's mother's
family, is now part of Osaka Prefecture. In Ryöiki 2.7, Gyöki's lay name
is given as "Koshi no fuhito," and his birthplace is said to be "Kubiki
District in Echigo Province." This was probably the seat of his father's
family, but he seems to have been born in Izumi. He later founded a
temple in Ötori called Ieharadera (Inoue, Gyöki, pp. 1-3).
4
" Y u g a r o n * probably refers specifically to Y u g a s h i j i r o n , one of the
major treatises of the Hossö school ( T 1580). The Shoku n i h o n g i
obituary for Gyöki says he also studied Y u i s h i k i r o n (i.e., Y u i s h i k i
nijüron, another important treatise, Τ 1590, or perhaps "the various
4
consciousness-only' treatises").
Gyöki's master was Döshö (see 2.2, n. 13), about whom there arose
legends quite similar to those about Gyöki (Inoue, Gyöki, pp. 30-32).
5
The distinction between halls (dö) and temples ( t e r a ) may be that
of informal halls for public, lay worship, on the one hand, and officially
sanctioned monasteries, on the other. Shoku n i h o n g i refers here to döjö,
a term that originally translated Sanskrit b o d h i - m a n d a , the site of a
Buddha's attainment of enlightenment. The term was used in China and
Japan in reference to informally established halls in which the public
could worship (BD 4:3897a-98).
The biography of Gyöki in N i h o n öjögokurakuki also has thirty-
nine as the number of temples he founded, probably on the basis of the
Sanböe account. The number forty-nine is more widely accepted. It
appears in the Shoku n i h o n g i obituary and in the Maeda-ke bon (Inoue,
Gyöki, p. 168).
6
This episode, illustrating Gyöki's superhuman powers and his
adherence to dietary precepts, and also providing another variation on
the "release of animals" theme, does not appear in Ryöiki. It may have
been in the lost Meisöden. The episode is included in the N i h o n
öjögokurakuki biography (NST 7:16-19), which is probably based on
Sanböe.
7
This episode is based on Ryöiki 2.29 ( N K B T 70:265); it is not
repeated in the N i h o n öjögokurakuki biography. "Gangöji in the old
capital" refers to the first temple of that name in the old Asuka capital
(see 2.1, n. 47).
8
"Arne no mikado" refers throughout Sanböe to Emperor Shömu
(see also 3.5, 3.13, and 3.22). Although Gyöki was officially chastised for
his extra-institutional proselytizing activities, Shömu demonstrated his
approval by granting him ecclesiastical office, probably in order to enlist
his aid in the construction of the Great Buddha at Tödaiji (Inoue, Gyöki,
pp. 133-34). The title "Daisöjö" made Gyöki the honorary head of the
Buddhist establishment. The date here is as in Ryöiki 2.7, which is the
basis for the account of the following episode. N i h o n shoki gives Tenpyö
17 [745] 1.21 as the date of the bestowal of the title.
9
Chikö (7097-780?) was an influential Sanron monk, patriarch of
its Gangöji faction (as distinguished from Döji's Daianji faction), and
author of a number of commentaries and is traditionally believed to be
the creator of the Pure Land mancjala in the Gokurakubö at Gangöji.
Although he is portrayed as an arrogant and ambitious monk in this
story, he actually lived modestly in a rural temple, Sukitadera (or
Suitadera) in Kawachi Province, and declined all official appointments.
While this episode is repeated in Gyöki's biography in N i h o n
öjögokurakuki, a much more complimentary biography of Chikö is also
included therein (NST 7:24-25; see also BD 4:3527a b; Nakao and Imai,
N i h o n meisö j i t e n , pp. 122-23).
10
Chikö contrasts himself as a daisö with Gyöki as a shami (i.e., a
monk without full, formal ordination). Interpreters of this story in
Ryöiki emphasize the fact that it fits Kyökai's theme of the superiority
of "unofficial" monks who devote themselves to the people at large over
monks who devote themselves to narrow exegetical studies. The tale
may also personify the rivalry of the Hossö and Sanron schools.
11
T h e monastery no longer stands, but the site is in Minami
Kawachi-gun, Ösaka fu.
12
" K i n g Yama's couriers" are the servants of the ruler of the land of
the dead (see also 2.14, 3.1, 3.16). In Ryöiki it is clear that there are two
couriers.
13
"The rich and fertile land of Japan" is expressed with a formal
epithet, " t o y o a s h i h a r a no mizuho k u n i , " which is supposedly derived
from the appearance of Japanese terrain when viewed from the sea
(Maruyama Rinpei, Jödaigo j i t e n , p. 724a).
14
Gyöki is demonstrating his ability to know what Chikö is
thinking—a Bodhisattva attribute.
15
See 3.22 for an account of the founding of Tödaiji. The title
"lecturer" (köshi) designates the main officiant at a large Buddhist
ceremony. The following episode does not appear in Ryöiki; it may be
based on Meisöden. Gyöki died in the second month of 749; the dedica-
tion of Tödaiji took place in 752, a discrepancy that has not diminished
the popularity of the story of Gyöki's meeting with Bodhisena (see
below) who did, in fact, attend the ceremony. The story is repeated in
S h i c h i d a i j i j u n r e i s h i k i (see Fujita, ed., Rökan b i j u t s u shiryö, j i i n hen 1,
p. 40).
16
T h e Civil Affairs Ministry ( J i b u ) included two subdivisions in
charge of "Buddhism and aliens" ( G e n b a n ) and court music ( U t a no
tsukasa).
17
"The Brahman Abbot named Bodhi" ( B a r a m o n söjö . . . B o d a i )
identifies the Indian Bodhisena (704-760). According to a memorial
inscription dated 770 ( N a n t e n j i k u B a r a m o n Söjö h i ; Τ 51:987a-88a), he
came to Japan from China in 736 in the entourage of the returning envoy
Tajihi Hironari, as did the Vietnamese monk Buttetsu and the Chinese
monk Tao hsüan (see 3.22). Bodhisena was appointed Söjö in 751,
conducted the Tödaiji dedication in 752, and died at Daianji in 760 (BD
5:4670a b).
18
The first verse suggests that Gyöki and Bodhisena formed a bond
in Säkyamuni's time that has brought them together in their present
lives; the second reveals Gyöki's "identity." Both appear in the same
form in Shüishü, nos. 1438 and 1439 (Yamagishi, ed., Hachidaishü
zenchü 1, p. 620). "Vulture Peak" is the site of Säkyamuni's last
discourses; Kapilavastu is the city of his birth.
19
The date agrees with that of the Shoku N i h o n g i obituary.
20
See 2.2, n. 15 on Meisöden.
2.4 The "Lump" Nun 203
2.4 T H E " L U M P " N U N OF HIGO P R O V I N C E
(Maeda ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Sekido ke bon)
The wife of Lord Toyobuku of Toyobuku village in Yasshiro District in

Higo Province was pregnant, and at four o'clock in the morning on the
fifteenth day of the eleventh month of the second year of the Höki era
1
[771], she gave birth to a lump of flesh. It was as round as the bright
moon. The couple thought, "This is terrible!" and they put it in a bucket
and hid it in a cave in the mountains. Seven days later they returned
and discovered that it had opened up like an egg to reveal a [mysterious]
2
little girl. They rejoiced, and they took the child to be suckled and
nurtured. Everyone who heard about this was amazed.
During the next eight months the child grew rapidly to a height of
three feet and five inches. She was born clever, with a marvelous gift for
speaking, and she was very wise. Before she was seven years old she had
completely memorized the eight fascicles of the L o t u s Sütra and the
3
eighty fascicles of the K e g o n Sütra.
Out of her desire for the religious life, she shaved her head, put on
holy robes, and became a nun. She practiced Buddhism and taught it to
others. Her voice was awesome, and everyone who heard her was moved
to tears.
Her body was unusual: though she had the figure of a woman, her
private parts were strange, for she had no vagina. She had only a small
opening through which she urinated. Ignorant people made fun of her
4
for this, calling her an "ape sage." When a monk of the Kokubunji of
that province and another of the Usa Daijin[gü]ji in Buzen Province saw
her, they denounced her, saying, "You are a heretic!" and they laughed at
5
her and made fun of her. In the midst of this harassment, a mysterious
being came down out of the sky and grabbed the two monks by their
arms and held them captive. Before long, they both died.
In the eighth year of the Höki era [777], Lord Saga, the Senior
Officer of Saga District in Hizen Province, sponsored a Service of the
Retreat and invited the venerable monk Kaimyö of Daianji, who was the
ecclesiastical governor of Tsukushi Province, to lecture on the K e g o n
6
Sütra in eighty fascicles. The nun attended every day, missing not one
single session, and she asked questions as a member of the congregation.
The monk singled her out and berated her, saying, "What kind of nun
are you? Mixing indiscriminately with the congregation!" but she
answered, "Because his compassion was so deep, the Buddha taught a
universal doctrine. Now you are propounding his teachings, which he
intended for the benefit of all sentient beings. On what grounds do you
censure me? Furthermore, I have some questions [about the text of the
sütra you have been explicating. I wonder if you would clarify these
7
uncertain areas for me.]"
She quoted a verse from the K e g o n Sütra and asked him about it,
but he was unable to respond. A l l the venerable monks of great repute at
this gathering were startled and amazed. Each one quoted a verse and
tested her knowledge, and the nun answered each one easily, without the
least hesitation. Then she was revered and worshiped by the congrega-
tion, and it was understood that she was the reincarnation of a sage. She
was called "Bodhisattva Säriputra," and she gained a following of cler-
gymen and laymen who relied on her and worshiped her; they took her as
8
their spiritual leader and followed all her teachings.
Long ago, when the Buddha was in this world, Sumanä, the
daughter of Sudatta, an elder of Srävasti, gave birth to ten eggs, all of
9
which became male children who eventually became a r h a t s . The wife of
an elder of Kapilavastu became pregnant and gave birth to a lump of
flesh, and after seven days the lump of flesh opened and one hundred
children came out, and all of them took vows at the same time, and all
10
became a r h a t s at the same time. Births of lumps of flesh in this
country are to be compared to those in ancient times, according to
11
Ryöiki. There is an illustration.
Notes
1
This story is based on N i h o n ryöiki 3.19. There is also a version
in H o k k e genki 3.98 (NST 7:179). Toyobuku is now part of Matsubase-
chö, Shimomashiki-gun, Kumamoto-ken. The identity of the Lord with
the place-name indicates that he was probably the major land owner or
village headman ( D N B Z 6:306). The hour and year, as in many Ryöiki
tales, are indicated by their Chinese cyclical signs. As noted at the end
of the tale, there are a number of Indian as well as Chinese and Japanese
stories about "lumps of flesh" ( s h i s h i m u r a ) that turn into remarkable
humans, often exemplary Buddhists.
2
The word "mysterious" ( a y a s h i k i ) does not occur in Ryöiki or in
any but the Töji Kanchiin text.
3
The version of the K e g o n Sütra in eighty fascicles is that trans-
lated by Sik§änanda (Τ no. 278).
4
"Ape sage" is s a r u h i j i r i . There may be a pun here on the verb
saru, "play," suggesting that the woman is a "false sage" as well as a
nonhuman one. See also n. 8.
5
The Higo Kokubunji site is now part of Kumamoto-shi (DNBZ
6:307). The temple at Usa, identified in Ryöiki as "Yahata no Daijinji,"
2.4 The "Lump" Nun 205
was attached to the Hachiman Shrine there and was also known as
Mirokuji ( N K B T 70:379, no. 30-21; 500, no. 35). The word used for
"heretic" here is gedö.
6
The officer's title (Dairyö) indicates that he is the highest civil
official in the district. Ryöiki identifies him as "Kogimi of the Senior
Upper Seventh Rank"; he is otherwise unknown. The "Service for the
Retreat" (Angoe) is one held during the traditional period of retreat
observed by both monks and nuns from the middle of the fourth month
through the middle of the seventh (see also 2.6 and 3.21). The Töji
Kanchiin bon has "Agon'e"—"an Ägama service"—clearly in error.
Kaimyö was a native of Sanuki Province. He studied K e g o n doctrines at
Daianji, went to China to study during the Höki era (770-780), and
spent most of the rest of his life at Daianji. He died during the Enyraku
era (782-805). His biography appears in Honchö kösöden ( D N B Z
102:99b; see also BD 1:399c). Here he is identified as the holder of the
office of K o k u s h i . These "ecclesiastical governorships," paralleling the
civil office of kokushi (i.e., k u n i no tsukasa), were part of a complex
system of decentralized control of the Buddhist establishment instituted
early in the eighth century (see Nanba Toshinari, "Kodai chihö sökan
seido ni tsuite," in N a n t o Bukkyö 28 [1972]:30-50).
7
The text in brackets does not have a parallel in Ryöiki and appears
only in the Töji Kanchiin bon.
8
The Bodhisattva Säriputra ( S h a r i bosatsu) was a disciple
particularly known for his wisdom and learning (BD 3:2192b 2193c). As
LaFleur has suggested, there may be an intentional linguistic play on the
names "Saru hijiri" and " S h a r i bosatsu," but the latter name surely
refers to the disciple, not to the "ashes" of the Buddha (LaFleur, The
K a r m a of W o r d s , pp. 42, 169, n. 32). The term for "spiritual leader" here
is keshu, literally "one who has a good effect" as the leader of a religious
group (BD l:883c-84a).
9
According to a story in Gengukyö (Τ 4:440d 41d), Sumanä's sons
were hunting enthusiasts, but she persuaded them to give up the killing
of animals, and they became devoted Buddhists and, eventually, a r h a t s
(see also BD 3:2486c).
10
T h i s story appears in Senjü hyakuengyö (Τ 4:237a-b). It may be
the progenitor of all stories with the "lump of flesh" motif.
11
Both of the scriptural examples are as cited in Ryöiki. In some
cases, however, Tamenori omits such additional references provided by
Kyökai (see, for example, 2.6, n. 4; 2.8, n. 8).
This is the only tale other than those in the first volume for which
an illustration is indicated, and the indication appears only in the
Sekido ke bon. There are no known examples of illustrations of this
story.
2.5 K I N U N U I ΤΟΜΟ M I Y A T S U K O GITÖ

1
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Sekido ke bon )
Long ago, during the reign of the empress who ruled from the palace at
2
Owarida, there was a man named Kinunui Tomo Miyatsuko Gitö. He
was suddenly stricken with a terrible illness and became deaf in both
ears, and ugly pockmarks appeared on his body, which remained
unhealed one year later. Then he realized, "This affliction has come
upon me in retribution for something in the past. It has nothing to do
with this present life. Rather than live a long life in which I shall be
despised, I should quickly generate merit and die."
So he went to a temple and swept the courtyards and decorated the
halls and invited the monk Gi to recite sütras, and he prayed and bathed
3
in perfumed water to purify his body. He concentrated with all his
might and had the monk read the Mahäyäna sütras. Then Gitö told the
monk, "I just heard the name of a Bodhisattva in one ear. I ask you,
reverend Master, lead me to the next world." They worshiped the names
of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the sütras with even greater zeal,
and Gitö heard the names clearly in his other ear. He was overjoyed, and
as the monk continued with still more fervent prayers, he regained his
hearing in both ears.
There was no limit to the awe and wonder of people everywhere
when they heard about this. If people are firm and deep in their faith,
the power of the teachings cannot fail to have its effect. This story
appears in Ryöiki.
Notes
1
A complete version of this tale also appears in T a i s h i d e n
gyokurinshö. See Shüsei, p. 153.
2
This story is based on N i h o n ryöiki 1.8. There is also a version in
K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 14.36. "The empress who ruled from the palace
at Owarida" is Suiko; the palace was near modern Takaichi. Gitö, the
protagonist, is otherwise unknown. His name suggests that he may have
been head of a court guild of weavers and clothiers. Each text gives a
slightly different transcription and reading of the name; I have used the
form that appears in N i h o n ryöiki and in Yamada's Ryakuchü.
3
"The monk G i " is otherwise unknown. It has been suggested that
this is not a name but a phrase meaning "a learned monk" ( N K B T 70:95,
2.5 Kinunui Tomo Miyatsuko Gitö 207
n. 21). There may have been some error in the copying of various
versions, whereby a character from the name of the protagonist has
become part of the name of the monk. The Sekido ke bon has " T e n g i
z e n j i , " but this may be an incorporation of the te suffix of the preceding
verb "to invite" (Shüsei, pp. 153-54).
2.6 AN OLD F I S H E R M A N OF H A R I M A P R O V I N C E
1
At the invitation of the patrons of Nödera in Shikama District in

Harima Province, the revered monk Jiö of Gangöji in the capital spent
the period of the Retreat with them. He gave lectures on the L o t u s
2
Sütra.
An old fisherman lived near the temple. From youth to old age,
catching fish had been his only occupation, and he knew no other. One
day he suddenly crawled up into a mulberry tree in his garden and raised
his voice in wails and cries: "Red hot flames are coming at me and
burning up my body! Help!"
A crowd of people gathered, and they were going to try to help him,
but he called out, "Don't come near me! You too will be burned!" So
some of his friends ran to the temple and asked the exorcist to come and
3
try his spells. He tried for a long time, but the flames still threatened.
The man's jacket and trousers were all burned to shreds. Quaking with
terror, the old man went to the temple and, along with the congregation,
begged forgiveness for his sins. Spiritually renewed, he cast off his
4
tattered robes and chanted the sütra. He never went fishing again.
5
This story appears in Ryöiki.
Notes
The Sekido-ke bon text breaks off at the point corresponding to

"He tried for a long time, but the flames still threatened."
2
This story is based on N i h o n ryöiki 1.11. Shikama is now part of
Himeji-shi. Nödera may have been the Kokubunji of Harima Province
( N K B T 70:100, n. 5). "Patrons" is d a n ' o c h i (or d a n ' o t s u ) , from Sanskrit
dänapati, the financial supporters of a temple or religious group. Jiö is
otherwise unknown. He is identified here as " d a i t o k o , " a term of respect
rather than a formal title. On the Retreat, see 2.4, n. 6 and 3.21.
3
I have translated "gyöja" here as "the exorcist," since he uses
"spells" (kaji) and appears to be some kind of expert in the treatment of
curses and possession. It is not entirely clear that this is not Jiö; see
following note.
4
Since the cure is achieved when the man is at the temple and
chants the sütra (presumably the L o t u s ) , we are perhaps to understand
that Jiö was at the temple all along and is not to be identified as the
2.6 An Old Fisherman 209
gyöja. The point may be that the spells had no effect, while the chanting
of the sütra led by the revered monk was immediately efficacious.
5
Tamenori omits Kyökai's reference to a similar Chinese story in
Yen-shih chia-hsün, by Yen Chih-t'ui (531-591): a man sold eel soup for
a living, and in retribution his own son was born with the head of an eel
(Utsunomiya Kiyoshi, ed. and tr., G a n s h i k a k u n , in Chügoku k o t e n
b u n g a k u t a i k e i 9, p. 545; Teng Ssu yü, tr., F a m i l y I n s t r u c t i o n s for t h e
Yen C l a n , p. 149). The story also appears in F Y C L ( T 53:841b).
2.7 T H E M O N K G I K A K U
1
2
The monk Gikaku was born in Paekche. When that kingdom was
destroyed, during the reign of the empress who ruled at the Latter Palace
3
of Okamoto, he emigrated to Japan. He lived in Kudaradera in
4
Naniwa. He was seven feet tall. He studied widely in the teachings of
the Buddha and chanted the H e a r t Sütra? Another monk of the same
temple, Egi, was taking a solitary stroll one night, and when he looked
toward Gikaku's quarters, he saw that the whole building was shining
6
with radiance. When he approached and looked through the window,
he saw that Gikaku was seated, chanting the sütra, and that the light
was emanating from Gikaku's mouth. Egi was amazed.
The next morning he told everyone about it, and they were all
impressed. The saintly Gikaku himself told his disciples, "Last night I
chanted the H e a r t Sütra one hundred times. Then I opened my eyes,
and when I looked around the room, I realized that I could see right
through the walls into the courtyard. I was amazed, and I left my room
and walked around the temple and then went back to confirm it, but all
the walls and the sliding doors were solid. When I continued to chant
the H e a r t Sütra, I found that I could see through the walls again, just as
71
before. This is evidence of the miraculous power of the H e a r t Sütra.
1
Notes
1
Only four lines of the end of the story survive in the Sekido-ke
bon.
2
in K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 14.32. Gikaku is otherwise unknown.
3
Paekche was overwhelmed by the armies of Silla and the T'ang in
660. "The Latter Palace of Okamoto" was one of the palaces at Asuka
used during the reign of Saimei (655-661).
4
Kudaradera was probably located in a village of the same name,
now part of Osaka; it is sometimes identified with the modern Shariji
( N K B Z 6:93, n. 27; N K B T 70:107; n. 16). "Kudara" is a Japanese name
for Paekche.
5
The H e a r t Sütra ( H a n n y a shingyö, i.e., H a n n y a h a r a m i t t a
shingyö) was and is a popular liturgical text, ending dramatically with a
2.7 The Monk Gikaku 211
well-known dhärani (see 2.11, n. 4). Hsiian-tsang's translation is the

most widely used (T 8:848c; see also BD 5:4265c-67b; Edward Conze, tr.,
B u d d h i s t W i s d o m Books, pp. 77-107). Ryöiki calls it S h i n hannyagyö, a
form that also appears in Nara-period catalogs.
6
E g i is otherwise unknown.
7
In Ryöiki, Kyökai concludes with a verse that summarizes the
preceding story.
2.8 ONO NO A S O N N I W A M A R O OF E C H I Z E N P R O V I N C E
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Sekido-ke bon)
In Kaga District in Echizen Province there was a magistrate in charge of

vagrants. When such persons came there from other provinces, he
recorded their names and assigned them to such duties as corvee labor,
1
public construction, and tax-collecting.
At that time there was a man who lived in Nara named Ono no
Ason Niwamaro who had become a lay devotee and who constantly
2
chanted the Dhärani of the Thousand-armed Kannon. He came to this
district and was wandering through the mountains when, at noon on the
twenty-sixth day of the third month in the spring of the third year of the
Jingo Keiun era [769], he came to the village of Mimakawa and
3
encountered the magistrate, who asked him to identify himself. He
answered, "I am an ascetic monk. I am not concerned with worldly
4
affairs."
The magistrate became angry and said, maliciously, "Your
appearance is still that of a man of the world. You have come wandering
here from the next province. I'm going to put you to work for the
common weal, whether you're an ascetic or not, and I'll make you help
with the tax collecting." He tied Niwamaro up and beat him and put him
to work. But the ascetic said, "When a louse leaves your robes and goes
up to your head, it turns black; when a louse leaves your head and goes
down to your robes, it turns white. Just as the insect adjusts its color to
the place in which it lives, I who carry my faith with me must adjust its
5
form to different circumstances. I carry the Dhärani in my head; I bear
6
the Sütra of t h e T h o u s a n d - a r m e d K a n n o n on my back. I rely on the
power of these teachings to protect me from all dangers. I uphold the
Great Vehicle. I am innocent of crimes and violations. What makes you
think you can beat me and tie me up and harass me and subject me to
such humiliation?"
"If this Dhärani really works," the magistrate retorted, "let me see
some proof right now!" He took a rope, hung the sütra up in a tree and
7
went away.
The distance from this place to the magistrate's house was about
one league. When the magistrate reached the gate of his house and was
about to get off his horse, he discovered that he was stuck firm and could
not get down. Thus attached, they flew off into the sky. They reached
the place where he had left the ascetic tied up, stopped in mid-air, and
remained there for a day and a night, unable to descend. The next day,
at the very hour that he had captured the ascetic the day before, he fell
2.8 Ono no Ason Niwamaro 213
out of the sky and was killed. His shattered bones clattered like a
handful of divining rods in a sack.
This story appears in Ryöiki?
Notes
1
This story is based on N i h o n ryöiki 3.14. A fragmentary version
appears in the Kanazawa bunko manuscript of K a n n o n r i y a k u shü as
tale number 37 (Kondö Yoshihiro, ed., Chüsei shinbutsu setsuwa [Koten
bunko 38], pp. 204-5).
Since Kaga was separated from Echizen and organized as a
separate province in 823, this line in Ryöiki has been used to show that
the work was probably completed before that year.
Vagrants (rönin) were declared criminals in 709 because, by leaving
the communities in which they were registered, they evaded taxation
(Naoki Kojirö, "Nara jidai ni okeru furo ni tsuite," in S h i r i n 34.3
[1957]:19-39). "Corvee labor" is zöyaku actually labor extracted as a
f
form of taxation, usually applied for the construction of levees, public

buildings, and roads {KGD 12:321b). "Public construction" is k a r i t s u k a i ,
synonymous with zöyaku {KGD 5:230d). Chöyö refers to the collection
of food-stuffs and other materials due to the provincial administration as
local taxes; vagrants were apparently employed in the labor of hauling
rice bales from private to public storehouses (KGD 13:545a).
2
Niwamaro is otherwise unknown. "Lay devotee" is ubasoku (see
2.2, n. 2). "Dhärani of the Thousand-Armed Kannon" (Senju no j u , i.e.,
Senju d a r a n i ) refers to an esoteric text, known also as D a i h i s h i n d a r a n i ,
of which there are many translations (e.g., Τ no. 1060). The full name is
Senju sengen kanzeon bosatsu ködai enman muge d a i h i s h i n daranikyö.
It invokes the aid of the merciful Kannon, who has the capacity to avert
or reverse all ills and evils throughout the world.
3
Mimakawa has been identified as Minma, part of Kanazawa-shi
( N K B Z 6:294, n. 15).
4
"Ascetic monk" is shugyöja.
5
The aphorism about the louse occurs in Chi Shu-yeh's Yang-sheng
l u n , a Taoist "pure-discourse" text quoted in Wen-hsüan. In his
commentary on Wen-hsüan, Li Shan attributes it to Pai P'u-tzu, but the
passage cannot be found in his extant works ( N K B T 70:355, n. 5; Obi
Köichi, Monzen 7 [ Z e n ' y a k u kanbun t a i k e i 32]:16-18). In the original
context the point is that the apparent colors black and white do not exist
in and of themselves but are merely the result of dependent causation.
Niwamaro, however, is using the figure to indicate his adaptability to
conditions and to express the idea that religious observance must fit its
time and circumstances.
6
Here, the sütra of which the dhärani is a part is named.
7
Tamenori interprets a line in the Ryöiki version as the
magistrate's challenge to the mendicant. It can also be read as the
mendicant's pronouncement: "This dhärani really has wondrous effects;
now I'll show you some proof!"
8
Tamenori omits two scriptural quotations with which Kyökai
concludes the tale. One, from the Senju d a r a n i itself, warns of punish-
ment to those who disparage it (see Τ 20:111c). The other, from "a
Mahäyäna sütra" (Hökökyö), warns against the disparagement of sages.
Matsuura Teishun has identified similar passages in Sassha nikengyö (Τ
9:336b) as a possible source (Matsuura, N i h o n k o k u genpö zen'aku ryöiki
chüshaku, pp. 379-80; see also Nakamura, tr., M i r a c u l o u s Tales, p. 241).
2.9 The Go-Playing Monk 215
2.9 T H E G O - P L A Y I N G M O N K OF Y A M A S H I R O P R O V I N C E
1
Long ago there was a monk of the province of Yamashiro. He was
playing go with a layman when a beggar approached them, chanted the
titles of the chapters of the L o t u s Sütra, and asked for food. The monk
laughed, mocking and disparaging him. He twisted up his own mouth
and, in an affected, silly voice, he imitated the beggar's chant.
The layman, going on with the game, exclaimed, "What a thing to
do!" As they played, the layman won every match. The monk lost every
match. Then the monk discovered that his mouth was still twisted. A
doctor was called, and he tried to cure the monk with medicine, but he
never was cured.
In the L o t u s Sütra it says, "If you laugh [at those who chant and
sing the praises of the sütra], for many rebirths your teeth will fall out
and leave ugly gaps in your mouth, your lips will turn black, your nose
will become flat, you arms and legs will be crooked, and you will squint in
2
one eye."
Notes
This story is based on N i h o n ryöiki 1.19. There are also versions

in H o k k e genki 3.96 and K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 14.28. In the latter,
the names of characters from Ryöiki 2.18 are borrowed; the monk is
named Eijö, of Kömadera in Sagaraka District, Yamashiro. In
Tamenori's version the monk is called a shami, perhaps indicating
incomplete or unofficial ordination; in Ryöiki he is a j i d o , a "self-
ordained" monk. In contrast with most Ryöiki tales about such
irregularly ordained, noninstitutional monks, this protagonist is
ignorant and irresponsible, and he is duly punished.
2
In Ryöiki, the passage is quoted v e r b a t i m from the L o t u s Sütra (Τ
9:62a): "Those who belittle and joke about this sütra will immediately
lose many of their teeth, their mouths will become ugly, their noses will
be flattened, their hands and feet will be crippled, and they will squint."
Tamenori omitted the bracketed clause.
2.10 T H E SÜTRA-BOX P A T R O N OF Y A M A S H I R O P R O V I N C E
During the reign of Emperor Shömu, a man who lived in Sagarafka]

1
District in Yamashiro Province vowed to perform devotions. His name
is unknown. In order to repay the Four Obligations, he made a copy of
2
the L o t u s Sütra. He wanted to make a box to hold the sütra. He
wanted to use white and red sandalwood, and he had some brought from
the capital, Nara, for which he paid a price of one hundred strings of
coin.
He hired carpenters, and when they presented him with the
completed box, he discovered that the sütra was too long and the box too
short, and the one could not be placed inside the other. The patron was
very distressed, and he tried to get more wood but could find none. But
he concentrated on his goal, made vows, invited a number of monks, and
had them conduct services for three weeks, praying that more wood
might be found.
After two weeks he tried to put the sütra into the box, but it still
would not fit, though the box seemed to have stretched a little. He was
pleased, and amazed, and he prayed even more fervently. At the end of
the third week he tried again, and the sütra fit right into the box.
Everyone was amazed and incredulous. Had the sütra gotten smaller?
Had the box gotten larger? They got out the original sütra and
compared the new copy, but they were the same size. They put the
sütras side by side, and though the new one fit in easily, the old one
would not go in.
Thus it was known: the wonderful power of the Great Vehicle had
3
matched the deep sincerity of the devout practitioner.
Notes
This story is based on N i h o n ryöiki 2.6. There are also versions in

H o k k e g e n k i 3.105 and K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 12.26. On Emperor
Shömu (reigned 742-749), see 3.22. He is identified here, as in Ryöiki,
without circumlocution. Most commentators, citing Wamyöshö, give
"Sagaraka" as the correct place-name. The Töji Kanchiin bon reads
"Sagara" (Shüsei, pp. 166-67). The name is retained as Söraku-gun, in
Kyöto fu ( N K B Z 6:160, n. 2).
2.10 The Sütra-Box Patron 217
2
"The Four Obligations" ( s h i o n ) are listed in Shinjikangyö as
obligations to one's parents, other sentient beings, one's king, and the
Three Jewels (T 3:297a). There are several variations (BD 2:1725c 26c).
3
The "Great Vehicle" (Daijö), given the context, probably refers to
the teachings of the L o t u s Sütra as the epitome of Mahäyäna Buddhism.
2.11 T A K A H A S H I NO M U R A J I A Z U M A H I T O
Takahashi no Muraji Azumahito lived in the village of Hamishiro in

1
Yamada District in Iga Province. He was very rich and owned many
treasures. He had a copy of the L o t u s Sütra made in memory of his late
mother. In preparation for the offertory service, he decorated a hall, and
on the day before he planned to hold the ceremony he dispatched a
courier to find a monk to serve as lecturer, telling him, "The first man
you meet will be someone who has a special affinity to serve as my
teacher, and it is he who should conduct the ceremony. It does not
matter what he looks like. You must invite him, in any case."
With these instructions, the courier departed, and in the village of
2
[Mashi], in the same district, he encountered a beggar. With a begging
bowl and an alms-bag under his arm, intoxicated by wine, he lay asleep
3
in the road. When the servant spotted him, he gave him his master's
invitation and took him back to the house.
When the patron saw him, he bowed respectfully. He gave the
beggar lodging in his house for one day and one night. Ceremonial robes
were hastily prepared for him. The beggar asked, "Just what are you
doing?"
"You are going to lecture on the L o t u s Sütra" the patron answered.
"But I am too ignorant! I only know how to chant the Dhärani of
4
the H e a r t Sütra, and I live by begging."
But the patron would not excuse him. The beggar decided, "I'll
sneak away." But the patron suspected that he might do something of
the kind, so he set a guard to keep watch over the beggar.
That night, the beggar had a dream in which a light brown female
ox appeared and said, "I am the mother of the master of the house.
There is one light brown ox in his herd. Know, then, that it is I. When I
lived, I stole my son's property. That is why I was reborn as an ox, in
retribution for my sin. Tomorrow you will expound upon the Great
Vehicle for my benefit, so I have appeared before you tonight to make
this sincere confession. If you want to know whether or not this is the
truth, prepare a seat for me in the lecture hall. Then I will come and
take my place."
Waking with a start, the beggar was filled with wonder. The next
morning he demurred again, but the patron still would not excuse him,
and so he took the lecturer's seat and said, "I am a humble man, ignorant
and unenlightened. I do not know how to address the Buddha or inter-
pret the scripture. It is only out of obedience to the patron that I have
2.11 Takahashi no Muraji Azumahito 219
taken the lecturer's seat. However, last night I learned something in a

dream." He described his dream. The patron was amazed, and he
spread the mat himself. Then one of his oxen—a light brown one—came
into the hall, bent her knees, and lay down on the mat.
The patron wept profusely and said, "How could I have known?
How terrible! To think of all the years that you have been in suffering
because of my ignorance! But how marvelous! Today I have learned the
truth, and I rejoice in the power of the Great Vehicle. From this day on I
shall look after you with special care, and I will end your long period of
servitude." He continued to weep and grieve.
At these words, the ox herself was moved, and she wept, too. As
soon as the ceremony came to an end, the ox died. The entire
assemblage raised their voices in mournful cries, and the sound echoed
throughout the courtyard. "Nothing like this has ever been known to
happen!" they exclaimed. The patron called for additional rites of
offering in his mother's memory.
Thus it was known: the patron's desire to fulfill his obligations to
his mother brought about a revelation of the truth, and the beggar's
devotion to the Dhärani produced a miracle.
Notes
1
in H o k k e genki 3.106 and K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 12.25. Azumahito is
otherwise unknown. Hamishiro has been identified as Höjiro chö, Ueno-
shi, Mie-ken ( N K B Z 6:185, n. 9). The Töji Kanchiin gloss is "Kuishiro."
2
Ryöiki has "Mitani no sato." The Sekido-ke bon reads "in a village
in the same district."
3
I n the Ryöiki version it is clear that someone has disguised the
drunken beggar as a monk: "Some mischievous person had shaved his
head and hung ropes on him to look like a kesa. But he was too drunk to
notice." The motif can perhaps be traced to the story of the drunken
Brahman who inadvertently became a monk, in D a i c h i d o r o n (see
"General Preface," n. 14).
4
The "Dhärani of the H e a r t Sütra" is the familiar spell that
concludes the text (see also 2.7, n. 5; Τ 8:848c). Even an uneducated
beggar might be expected to have memorized it.
2.12 A W O M A N OF Y A M A T O P R O V I N C E
There was a woman who lived in the village of Yamamura in Sökami

1
District in Yamato Province. Her name is unknown. This woman had
a daughter who married and had two children. Her husband was
appointed governor of another province. He took his wife and children
with him and had been living in that province for two years when his
wife's mother, back home in their native village, had an inauspicious
dream about her daughter. When she awoke, she was full of dread and
grief. She wanted to sponsor readings of the sütras, but she was poor
and had no property. She took off her own clothes and washed and
purified them and gave them as a fee for the readings.
Her daughter lived in the governor's mansion with her husband.
Her two children, who had been playing out in the courtyard, called
inside to her: "There are seven monks on our roof, chanting sütrasl
Come out quickly and see!" Indeed, when she listened for sounds from
the roof, she could hear voices chanting, just like a crowd of droning
bees. Incredulous, she went out into the yard to have a look. In the next
instant, the house collapsed. Just as suddenly, the seven monks had
disappeared. In fright and alarm she thought to herself, "Heaven has
come to my aid and kept me from being crushed to death beneath the
falling house!"
Later, her mother sent a courier who reported the inauspicious
dream and how she had sponsored the sütra readings. Hearing this, her
daughter's reverence for the Three Jewels was many times increased.
Thus it was known: the power generated by the chanting of the
sütras brought her the protection of the Three Jewels.
Note
This story is based on N i h o n ryöiki 2.20. The place has been iden-
tified as what is now Obitoke-chö, Nara-shi ( N K B Z 6:200, n. 3;
K a d o k a w a N i h o n c h i m e i d a i j i t e n 3 ( K i n k i ) , p . 106).
2.13 O K I S O M E NO OMI T A I M E
Okisome no Omi Taime was the daughter of the abbess of a convent in

1
Nara. Her devotion to Buddhism was deep, and she had never had
intercourse with a man. Every single day she picked flowers and
2
presented them to Gyöki Bosatsu.
One day, when she went as usual to pick flowers in the mountains,
she saw a big snake devouring a big frog. Aghast, she said, "Let me have
that frog!" but the snake went right on swallowing it. Utterly distressed,
she thought, "What can I say to make the snake give him up?" Then she
had an idea.
"I will be your wife; let the frog go," she said, whereupon the snake
raised its head, looked her in the eye, and spat out the frog. Then she
was worried. Hoping to postpone the day of their union, she told him
carelessly, "Come to me in seven days," and she ran away.
When the night of the seventh day came, she remembered what she
had done and became frightened. She closed up her bedchamber,
covered all the entrances, made her body impervious, and hid inside the
house. The snake arrived and knocked on the wall with his tail, but he
could not get in, and he went away.
The next morning the woman was all the more frightened, so she
went to the mountain temple where Gyöki Bosatsu was staying and
asked him for help.
"You cannot save yourself," he told her, "so you had better take
vows and hold firmly to them." She immediately took the initiation of
3
the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts.
On her way home she met a stranger, an old man who was carrying
a big crab. "Who are you?" she asked. "Will you give me that crab?"
"I live in Uhara District in Settsu Province, and my name is Such-
4
and-such," he answered. "I am seventy-eight years old, but I have no
children. I have no means of support in this world, so I went to Naniwa
and I happened to catch this crab. I have promised it to someone, so I
cannot give it to anyone else."
The woman took off her robe and offered it in exchange, but he
refused. Then she took off her skirt, which he accepted, and he gave her
the crab.
The woman took the crab, returned to the temple, and had Gyöki
Bosatsu pronounce blessings over it, and then she took it to a river and
5
let it go. "Very good! Very admirable!" Gyöki exclaimed.
Then she went home, and she thought she would be safe that night,
but the snake came down through the ceiling and entered her room. She
was terrified, and she hid under the bed covers. Through the quilts she
heard the sounds of a struggle. The next morning she looked out and
saw the big crab and the snake's body, chopped up in pieces and scat-
tered about the room. Then she realized that the crab had repaid its
obligation and that the Buddhist vows she had taken had generated
great power.
To obtain further proof she sent someone to Settsu Province to
find out where the old man lived, but there was no such person to be
found in that village or district. Then she knew that the old man was the
6
avatar of a deity.
Notes
1
This story is based on N i h o n ryöiki 2.8, and Ryöiki 2.12 is also
quite similar. H o k k e g e n k i 3.123 has a similar plot, but Kannon replaces
Gyöki as the advisor, the young woman's father is the one who strikes
the bargain with the snake, and the frog becomes a handsome young
man who marries the young woman. The H o k k e g e n k i version is
presented there as the origin-tale of the temple in Söraku-gun, Kyöto-fu,
known as Kanimanji.
"Okisome no Omi Taime" is otherwise unknown. Ryöiki says her
mother was abbess of "Tomi no amadera" in Nara. This has been iden-
tified as Tomidera ( N K B Z 6:169, n. 5) or Ryüfukuniin ( K S T K 2:412).
Both are near Nara and are associated with Gyöki.
2
O n Gyöki, see 2.3. In the Ryöiki version he is called "Gyöki
Daitoko," and he is said to have been in residence at Ikomadera (i.e.,
Chikurinji, in Ikoma-gun, Nara-ken) at this time ( N K B Z 6:166, n. 16).
3
The "Three Refuges and the Five Precepts" are s a n k i (see 2.1,
n. 19) and g o k a i , against killing, stealing, fornicating, lying, and
consuming alcoholic beverages. Together they constitute informal
admission to the Buddhist orders (BGD 1:459a; BD l:1118c-20b; 1474a-
75c).
4
A l l three texts have the name in slightly different form; the
Maeda-ke text agrees with Ryöiki. The place has been identified as
Ubara, in Nishinomiya-shi and Ashiya-shi, Hyögo-ken ( N K B Z 6:170,
n. 12). In Ryöiki the man is named "Edoi no Nimaro."
5
Ryöiki says that Gyöki invited a number of other monks to attend
the service, perhaps a kind of höjöe (see 3.26).
6
"Avatar of a deity" is henge no h i t o (or h e n k e n i n ) . Ryöiki has
"shöke" "the reincarnation of a sage" or "saintly avatar."
2.14 N A R A NO IWASHIMA
Nara no Iwashima lived during the reign of Emperor Shömu, on the

1
sixth avenue at the fifth street, in the western part of the capital. His
2
residence lay in the neighborhood west of Daianji. He borrowed thirty
strings of coin from the temple's sütra fund and went to the port of
Tsuruga in Echizen, where he purchased goods and loaded them onto a
3
ship.
On his way home he suddenly fell i l l . He was put ashore, where he
borrowed a horse and hastened homeward on his own. In Takashima
District in Ömi Province he noticed that three men were following him
4
at a distance of about a mile. When he reached the Uji Bridge in
5
Yamashiro Province, they caught up and rode alongside him. Iwashima
asked, "Where are you going?"
"We have been sent from King Yama's palace to bring Nara no
6
Iwashima to him," they answered.
"But I am Iwashima!" he exclaimed. "Why am I summoned?"
"We went to your house," one of the demons went on, "but they
said you had gone away on business and had not yet returned. We went
to Tsuruga and found you there. Just when we were about to take you, a
courier from the Four Celestial Kings appeared and said, 'This man is
doing business with funds received from a temple. Let him be released
7
for awhile.' So we gave you your freedom until you could reach home.
We have been following you for many days, and we have grown weak
with hunger. Do you have any food with you?"
"Yes, I have some dried rice cakes to eat as I travel," he said, and he
gave them to the demons. Then one of them said, "It is our breath that
can make you i l l . But we won't come close, so do not be afraid."
Together they traveled onward to his house. He ordered food and
served them a lavish feast. The demons said, "We want to eat beef. Get
some for us! We are beef-eating demons!"
"I have two dappled oxen," Iwashima said. "I will let you have
them if you will release me."
"You have fed us well, and we are in debt to you," they admitted,
"but if we release you, we will be guilty of a great crime, and we will get
poked a hundred times with steel rods. Do you know someone else who
is your age?"
"I can't think of anyone," said Iwashima.
"How old are you?" asked one of the demons.
8
"I was born in the Year of the Tiger," he answered.
"I know someone who is the same age as you," said the demon.
9
"We will take him instead of you. But first we are going to eat one of
the oxen you offered us. And to prevent our punishment with those rods,
you must sponsor one hundred readings of the D i a m o n d Sütra in our
10 11
names. We are called Takasamaro, Nakachimaro, and Tsuchimaro."
Having pronounced their names, they disappeared into the night.
The next morning, Iwashima found that one of his oxen was dead.
He immediately went to the Nantöin of Daianji, asked for the monk
12
Nin'yö, and asked him to carry out the chanting of the sütra. The
readings continued for two days. On the morning of the third day one of
the demons appeared and said, "Thanks to the power of the Great
Vehicle, we have escaped the punishment of one hundred rods. Also, we
have been given much more food than usual! We are very happy, and
very much in awe. From now on, on every Ritual Day, please conduct
offertory services in our behalf and present food in our names," and he
13
swiftly disappeared.
Iwashima was over ninety when he died.
In China, during the T'ang dynasty, a man named [Te-hsiian]
14
escaped the summons of King Yama through the power of Prajnä. In
Japan, Iwashima received money from the temple and escaped the
15
demons.
Notes
1
in K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 20.19 (see also n. 14, below, concerning the
evolution of this tale). Iwashima is otherwise unknown. The Töji
Kanchiin bon has "Tachibana no Iwashima," as does the K o n j a k u
version—in both cases, a mistranscription of n a r a . Ryöiki places his
residence in the capital city's eastern quarter. The Töji Kanchiin bon
and Sekido-ke bon read "eastern quarter"; Maeda-ke bon reads "in the
old capital."
2
Daianji (see 2.18, n. 2 and 3.17) was at the intersection of the sixth
avenue and the fourth street (Öta, N a n t o s h i c h i d a i j i no r e k i s h i t o
nenpyö p. 82).
f
3
A "sütra fund" was used by some monasteries for making loans,
the interest from which supported various ceremonies, readings, or
research. D a i a n j i g a r a n e n g i n a r a b i n i r u k i shizaichö (dated 747)
mentions such a fund (Takeuchi, ed., N a r a i b u n 2, p. 370).
4
Takashima is on the western shore of Lake Biwa. Ryöiki adds "at
Karasaki in Shiga."
5
The bridge at Uji lies on the route from Omi to Nara.
6
The men are "King Yama's couriers," from the realm of the dead
(see 2.3, n. 12).
7
On the "Four Celestial Kings," see 1.10, n. 8 and 2.1, n. 21. Since
the funds belong to a temple, the kings, protecting the cause of
Buddhism, argue for Iwashima's reprieve from death until he can make
good on the loan.
8
"The Year of the Tiger" ( t s u c h i n o e t o r a no t o s h i ) corresponds to
the seventh year of the reign of Tenmu, i.e., 678, making Iwashima at
least forty-six years old ( N K B T 6:210, n. 5).
9
In Ryöiki, the demon specifically names the alternate victim: "A
prognosticator who lives near the shrine at Izagawa" ( N K B Z 6:210, n. 6).
10
The D i a m o n d Sütra (i.e., K o n g o h a n n y a haramitsukyö, T8:748c
57a), like the H e a r t Sütra, was used primarily as a liturgical text (see B D
2:1347a-48b and the translation by Conze, B u d d h i s t W i s d o m Books,
pp. 21-74). As noted below, the text was thought to have special
miraculous powers; note that the demons specifically ask for as many
readings as the number of potential "pokes" per person.
11
The demons' names have been variously interpreted: "Tall,
medium, and short" ( N K B T 70:249, n. 17) or "tallest and oldest, middle
and 'frightful'" ( N K B Z 6:210, nn. 10-12).
12
"Nantöin of Daianji" seems to refer to a "southern pagoda
subtemple," but no such name appears in Daianji records ( N K B Z 6:210,
n. 13). Nin'yö (?—796), a native of Upper Kazuragi District, was
ordained at Tödaiji, where he studied K e g o n doctrines. He would have
been seventeen or eighteen at the time of this story, so he may not yet
have been fully ordained, which perhaps explains why he is here called a
shami. According to his biography in Honchö kösöden ( D N B Z 103:836),
he observed the precepts strictly. On hot summer nights he sat in
meditation, unclothed, without a mosquito net, enduring the bites of
insects (Washio Junkei, Zötei N i h o n B u k k a j i n m e i j i s h o , p. 998a).
13
"Ritual Day" here is s e c h i n i c h i . Yamada suggested that the "Six
Ritual Days" are intended (see 2.1, n. 8). The notion of pleasing the good
spirits and appeasing the evil spirits on these days seems to support this.
14
None of the Sanböe texts correctly transcribes the name Te
hsiian as it appears in Ryöiki. His story originates in C h i n g - k a n g p a n -
j o - c h i n g c h i - y e n - c h i (Kongo hannyakyö shügenki), a Chinese collection
of tales about miracles attributed to the D i a m o n d Sütra (see D a i N i h o n
zokuzökyö, part 1, section 2b, case 22, vol. 1). He was a high-ranking
courtier during the reign of Emperor Kao-tsung (650-683). On his way
to a provincial post he encountered a demon who took him to the land of
the dead, where he was subjected to numerous tests, all of which he
passed because he had chanted the sütra a thousand times. Finally, the
demon predicted that he would enjoy a very successful career and even-
tually rise to the office of Minister of the Left, and set him free. The
same story appears in T ' a i - p i n g k u a n g - c h i , in which P a o - y i n g c h i is cited
as the source (see the Peking edition, T ' a i - p i n g k u a n g - c h i 2, pp. 695-96).
The story of "Shih-tung of T'ang" in Sangokudenki (compiled by Gentö,
ca. 1431) 4.11 is similar, though its specific source is unidentified (see
Ikegami Jun'ichi, ed., Sangokudenki 1 , pp. 216-18).
15
T h i s sentence seems to take the place of Kyökai's reference to
two stories from Daishögonron about rewards for good deeds. The omis-
sion is perhaps well justified since the stories are not particularly
relevant to the present tale. Kyökai adds, "The woman who sold a flower
was reborn in Träyastriipsa, and Srigupta, who offered poison, later
reformed and became virtuous; these are further examples.'' The first
allusion (a brief one in Daishögonron; see Τ 4:284c) is to Sumati
( S h u m a n ) , who sold the flower that Sumedha, who was the Buddha
Säkyamuni in a former life, offered to the Buddha of that time, Dlparp-
kara. Srigupta's story is told at some length in the sütra (Τ 4:327c 33a;
see "Preface to the First Volume," n. 7). The only resemblance between
these stories and the main tale is that they involve merchants who were
eventually rewarded for various acts of devotion.
2.15 A M O N K OF N A R A
There was a certain monk who lived in Nara. He constantly chanted the
Mahäyäna sütras, but to support himself he saved money, and he had a
1
wife and child. His daughter married and went to live with her
husband's family. In the reign of Empress Shötoku [764-770], her
2
husband was appointed Provisional Secretary in Michinoku. He
borrowed twenty strings of coin from his father-in-law the monk and left
for his post.
3
After one year, his debt had doubled. He was able to pay back the
original sum, but he could not yet return the interest. As the months
passed, his father-in-law continued to press him for payment. Secretly,
the son-in-law sought an opportunity to kill the monk. He said, "Come
with me to the provinces, and I will pay you what I owe you. Let's go!"
So the monk joined him on his ship, and they set sail. The son-in
law enlisted the boatman in his plot. They tied the monk up by the arms
and legs and threw him into the sea.
When he got home, the son-in-law said to his wife, "Your revered
father wanted to see you and was on his way here with me. Suddenly we
came into rough waters, and the boat sank to the bottom. We tried to
save him, but he was gone. I myself only barely managed to survive."
His wife wept. "Alas, I shall never see my father's face again! I
wish I could go to the bottom of the sea myself, if only to see his lifeless
corpse!" she cried.
At the bottom of the sea, the monk was concentrating and chanting
the Mahäyäna sütras with all his might. The waters of the sea parted
around him and stayed that way. After two days and two nights, some
people passed by the spot in a boat. The end of his rope was floating on
the surface, and the boatman caught it, pulled it up, and out came the
monk. His features were unaltered. The boatman was utterly amazed.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I am So-and-so," replied the monk. "I was kidnapped by pirates,
and they tied me up and threw me into the sea."
"And how did you manage to survive down there on the bottom?"
asked the boatman.
"I am always chanting the Mahäyäna sütras. It is their power that
saved me," said the monk. He was careful not to mention his son-in-
4
law's name, and he asked to be taken home. The boatman complied.
The son-in-law organized a lavish offertory service for monks in
honor of the drowned monk. He was serving food to the assembled
2.15 A Monk of Nara 229
monks when his father-in-law, who had disguised himself, came in with
the others and received the offering just as they did. When the son-in-
law saw the monk's face, his own turned red, and he ran away in fright.
The monk smiled benevolently, pitying him, and he never told anyone
what had happened.
Thus it was known that he was saved from drowning in the sea and
from being swallowed by poisonous fish, and that he lived out the rest of
his days without incident, all because of the great power of the
Mahäyäna sütras.
Notes

Fusö r y a k k i 6 and K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 14.38. The story of Su
chang in M i n g - p a o c h i ( T 51:795a) is often compared to this group of
tales, but it tells of a concubine saved from drowning through her faith in
the L o t u s Sütra (see also Donald Gjertson, "A Study and Translation of
the M i n g - p a o c h i : A T'ang Dynasty Collection of Buddhist Tales,"
doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, 1975, p. 330). The twenty-
fifth chapter of the L o t u s Sütra contains specific promises of Kannon's
protection for those in various perils, including drowning at sea (T 9:56c,
57c). Early Chinese Buddhist tales often focused on this aspect of the
Bodhisattva's benevolence; Sanböe tale 2.17 is part of the same
tradition.
The protagonist of this tale is a rather irregular monk. He "saves"
money for the purpose of lending it at interest. The fact that he has a
family (unusual for monks of this period) also indicates that his status
may be somewhat informal.
2
Shötoku is identified by the epithet " T e i k i abe no s u m e r a m i k o t o ?
as in Ryöiki. Michinoku comprised the present Fukushima, Miyagi,
Iwate, and Aomori prefectures and was something of a frontier region in
the Nara and Heian periods. The post of secretary was the third highest
in the provincial hierarchy.
3
The accumulated interest equaled the amount of the original loan.
4
I n Ryöiki he asks to be taken to his son-in-law's province, and it is
there that their confrontation takes place. It appears that Tamenori
misread this; he does not make it clear where the subsequent encounter
occurs.
2.16 A M O N K OF M O U N T YOSHINO
(Maeda ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Sekido-ke bon)
There was a certain mountain temple in Yoshino called Amabenomine.

During the reign of Empress Genmei [707-715] there was a certain monk
who lived there. He had practiced austerities for many years, but finally
his strength was so diminished that he was unable to raise himself or to
lie down. One of his disciples said, "You are physically exhausted, and
you are very i l l . The Buddha has told us to fortify ourselves in order to
continue our devotions. He made certain allowances for monks who are
ill. The sin of buying goods is not too great; how would it be if you were
to try eating some fish?" He was so insistent that the monk said, " A l l
2
right, let us see what will happen."
The disciple sent a servant to the coast of Ki Province, where he
bought eight fresh mullet that he put inside a small chest. On his way
home he met three laymen who were familiar with his master, and they
thought he must be carrying something for the revered monk, so they
asked, "What have you got there?" Casually, the youth answered, "It's a
copy of the L o t u s Sütra" But juices from the fish were dripping out of
the chest, and there was a distinctly fishy smell about it. Believing it
their duty to expose the attendant as a liar, the laymen grabbed him
right there in the marketplace, in the midst of the crowd, and said,
"You've got fish in there! Why did you say it was the sütraV
But the attendant insisted, "It is the sütral It i s n ' t fish!"
"Oh, yes, it's fish all right; that is no sütral" they argued.
They tried to make him open the chest so that they could be
certain of its contents. At a loss for other defenses, he made a silent
prayer: "Oh L o t u s Sütra of the Single Vehicle! M y master has read you
and revered you all these years! Help us now! Do not let my master be
humiliated!"
When the laymen opened the chest and looked inside, there lay a
copy of the L o t u s Sütra in eight fascicles. They were all amazed and
perplexed. They finally went away. But one of them was still suspicious,
so he stayed behind and followed the attendant back to the temple.
Secretly, he watched as the attendant went to the master and reported
what had happened in detail. The monk was amazed and pleased, and
3
he would not eat the fish.
The layman prostrated himself on the ground and worshiped the
master, saying, "They really were fish, but on account of your saintly
virtue they became the sütral I am ignorant and unenlightened, and I do
not understand causality. I have caused anxiety and distress to your
2.16 A Monk of Mount Yoshino 231
Holiness's attendant. I beg you, forgive me for my sins. Please,

henceforward, be my master.
So he became a Major Patron and spent the rest of his life
4
worshiping and giving offerings. Thus be it known: if you try to save
the flesh for the sake of the teachings, even poison can be turned into
good medicine; even fish can be turned into a sütra.
Notes
1
H o k k e g e n k i 1.10 (where the protagonist is named Köon), K o n j a k u
m o n o g a t a r i shü 12.27, and in several versions of Höbutsushü (see
Shüsei, p. 511). The specific temple and peak in the Yoshino range have
not been identified.
2
I n Ryöiki it is the master who asks his attendant to go and buy
some fish, on these grounds. He maintains that the Buddha sanctioned
the eating of otherwise forbidden foods in order to save the life of a
valued spiritual leader. Matsuura cites two passages in K o n p o n s e t s u
i s s a i u b u b i n a y a y a k u j i that justify the taking of such food, including
fish, for medicinal purposes (T 24:1a, c).
3
I n Ryöiki he eats the fish after all. For a detailed discussion of this
difference in the two versions, see Terakawa Machio, "Ryöiki gekan
rokuen to Sanböe oyobi K o n j a k u , " in Döshisha k o k u b u n 11 (February
1976):24 35.
4
"Major Patron" is d a i d a n ' o c h i (see 2.6, n. 2).
2.17 A M I N E R OF M I M A S A K A P R O V I N C E
In Agata District in Mimasaka Province there was a mine from which

1
the government took ore. In the reign of Empress Koken [749-758] the
governor of the province ordered ten men to go up to the mine and bring
2
out some of the ore. While they were inside, the entrance suddenly
crumbled and collapsed. The men were frightened, and they scrambled
out. Nine of them managed to escape, but just as the tenth and last man
was about to come out, the entrance caved in and was completely closed.
The governor of the province was terribly upset, and the man's wife
and children grieved. Images of the Buddha were painted, sütras were
3
copied, and a forty-nine-day period of memorial rites was observed.
The man inside the mine made a vow: "Long ago I planned to offer
a copy of the L o t u s Sütra, but I have not copied or presented it. If I am
saved, I swear that I will complete the project without delay."
Just then, a crack about as wide as his finger opened between the
rocks, and a tiny beam of sunlight shone through. A monk appeared and
passed through the crack, gave him some food, and said, "This was given
to me by your wife and children. I have come to you because you are
4
suffering." Then he disappeared through the crack.
Scarcely a moment after his departure, a crack opened immediately
over the miner's head, through which he could see the sky. This opening
was more than three feet wide and about five feet long.
Just then, thirty villagers had come to the mountain to cut vines.
They happened to pass close to this opening. The man inside heard
them draw near and shouted, "Help!" The villagers heard him, though
his voice seemed no louder than a mosquito's buzz. But the sound made
them curious, so they tied a vine to a rock and lowered the end down
through the opening, and the man inside pulled on it. Then they knew
there was a man inside, so they tied vines together and made a basket,
and they twisted more vines together to make a rope and lowered them
through the opening. The man inside got into the basket, and the men
above pulled him out.
They took him to his parents' house, and when his family saw him,
there was no limit to their joy. The governor of the province was
amazed, and when he made inquiry, the miner told him all about it. The
miner, full of respect and awe, gathered together all the faithful of the
province, and following his lead, they all contributed to the preparation
of a copy of the L o t u s Sütra and a grand offertory service.
2.17 A Miner 233
He survived that which was difficult to survive: this was made

possible through the power of his faith in the L o t u s Sütra.
Notes

in H o k k e g e n k i 3.108, Fusö r y a k k i 6, and K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 14.9.
There is a similar story about trapped miners saved through prayer in
M i n g - p ' a o c h i 1 (T51:790).
"Agata" is also read "Aida"; it is in the northwest part of modern
Okayama-ken. Lead ore was taken from mines in this region as early as
728 (Shoku n i h o n g i , K S T K 2:112).
2
The same empress reigned twice under two names, first as Koken
and later at Shötoku. She is identified here with the same epithet as in
2.16; see n. 2.
3
In Ryöiki it is, specifically, an image of Kannon that is made, and
a seven-day period of mourning is observed.
4
It is probably safe to assume, from the situation and from the fact
that he appears in response to prayers for and from the man in distress,
that this monk is a manifestation of Kannon.
2.18 EIKÖ OF D A I A N J I
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Sekido-ke bon,

1
Tödaiji-gire )
2
Long ago there was a monk of Daianji named Eikö. He supported his
aged mother, who had lodgings just outside the temple, and he had one
young servant who lived with him in his own quarters. In former times
there were no stoves or rice pots in the living quarters of monks in the
3
Seven Great Temples. Rice was cooked in the temple offices and loaded
onto carts, and each morning someone was sent to the carts from each
monk's cell to receive four servings of rice per monk. When he received
his portion, Eikö gave one serving to his mother. Another he gave to
beggars, and one he ate himself, and he fed the other to his servant. He
always waited until he received word that his mother had had her
portion before he would eat his own. When the master finished eating,
the servant ate. This routine was observed without interruption for
many years.
4
In quarters adjacent to those of Eikö lived a monk named Gonsö.
He also lived in poverty and in religious devotion. He and Eikö had been
close friends for many years before the following events occurred.
One morning, listening through the wall, Gonsö heard the sound of
stifled tears. Gonsö was perplexed, and he secretly summoned the
servant and asked, "Why were you crying?"
"My master died this morning, suddenly and painlessly," replied
the boy. "How am I to make arrangements for his funeral all by myself?
And how is his mother, who depends on him for her food, to survive?"
He continued to weep.
There was no limit to Gonsö's own grief and distress, just as if he
had lost his own mother and father. "Don't worry any more," he told the
servant. "You and I will take care of his burial tonight, in secret. As for
his mother, I will take his place and provide her with food and look after
her. You, too, will get your portion just as before. From this time
forward you must rely upon me as you did your former master. But his
mother must never be allowed to know what has happened. She is old
and weak, and if she were to hear of it, she would surely die from the
shock. Now, before the usual hour has passed, go quickly and take her
her portion."
At these words, the servant felt joy in the midst of his sorrow.
Wiping away his tears, he tried to act as if nothing were amiss, and he
delivered the rice to Eikö's mother, just as always. He said nothing,
afraid that he might burst into tears, but simply handed it to her and
immediately left. The old woman sensed that something was amiss that
morning.
That night, Gonsö and the servant took Eikö to a spot deep in the
mountains. They told no one in the temple, saying only that Eikö had
gone away for a while.
Gonsö divided his own portion of food, giving some to Eikö's
mother and some to the servant, just as it had been before. Occasionally,
Eikö's mother would ask, "Why hasn't he been to see me for such a long
time?" The boy would reply, "His devotions leave him no time for
outings, and visitors constantly interrupt him. As long as he hears that
you are resting comfortably, he is pleased, and so he doesn't need to
hurry over to see you. But perhaps he will come this evening." Months
passed in this fashion.
In the spring of the following year, a man came and made an
offering to Gonsö. Many visitors crowded into his cramped quarters,
and the servant had his hands full with them, and his delivery of rice to
Eikö's mother had to be postponed. The guests pressed Gonsö to take
some wine for his health, and he became drunk and fell asleep. When he
awoke with a start, he realized that the sun had already set. He gave the
servant a look in the eye that told him to deliver the rice.
Eikö's mother said, "How terrible it is to be old! I've been so
anxious ever since the usual delivery time came and went this morning!"
The servant's grief now overwhelmed him. He suddenly collapsed in
tears. Suspicious and perplexed, Eikö's mother questioned him. Unable
to keep the secret any longer, and weeping uncontrollably, he said, "I
know you think that your son has been alive all this time, but in fact he
died last year."
"How can it be? How can it be!" she cried, and she died instantly.
In even greater distress than before, the servant tried every means he
knew to revive her, but he couldn't bring her back to life. He was full of
remorse, but there was nothing to be done.
He told Gonsö what had happened. There was no end to Gonsö's
grieving and weeping. "If I were indeed her son, this never would have
happened. If only I had not drunk that wine, which the Buddha has
forbidden me, I would not have let down my guard even for an instant."
His weeping and his grief were truly intense.
That night, having informed several of his colleagues, and including
the boy in the party, they buried Eikö's mother at the foot of the moun-
5
tain on which Iwabuchidera stands.
The next morning, the eight monks returned to Daianji and
entered a hall where they rested briefly. Then Gonsö said, "I took Eikö's
place and looked after his mother. But I was unable to fulfill that wish
for long, and now she is dead. There is no point in grieving now. Rather,
I am concerned about her guidance to the world beyond. Here in this

very hall we have the Buddha before us, and there before the Buddha lies
a sütra. I see that it is the L o t u s Sütra. Its eight fascicles have been
granted to the eight of us. This is surely the sign of a special affinity!
Let us come here every day of the seven days of the mourning period
with a bowl of rice, and let each one of us lecture on one fascicle in turn.
And on the memorial day each year, we eight should gather again and
conduct a four-day lecture service culminating on that day, during which
we will explicate the eight fascicles of the sütra. We will call this the
'Colleagues' Service of Eight Lectures.' And we will observe it every
6
single year."
A l l the other seven monks said, "What an admirable idea! We must
indeed do as you say!" and they vowed to do so.
She died in the fifteenth year of the Enryaku era [796], and in the
years thereafter the observance began on the anniversary of the forty-
ninth day after her death and continued year after year without
7
interruption.
Gonsö's saintliness was praised throughout the world, and he was
honored and venerated both publicly and privately. As the years passed,
the Service of Eight Lectures was observed on an increasingly grand
s
scale. After his death he was granted the official title of Söjö. Following
the respected example of the Eight Lectures of Iwabuchidera, the monks
of Tödaiji have observed it for many years in the Tenchiin; it continues
9
to this day. Later, many other temples adopted it, and it spread widely.
Sometimes they add the Opening and Closing Sütras, making a Service
10
of Ten Lectures. In the tradition established long ago by Gonsö, all the
monks of each temple join cooperatively to observe these rites. The
firewood procession, which occurs on the day of the fifth fascicle, recalls
11
the devotion of an ancient king.
The origin of the Service of Eight Lectures is described in the
1 2
A n n a l s of I w a b u c h i d e r a .
The words of the hymn sung during the firewood procession are:
I have acquired the Lotus Sütra

By gathering firewood and plucking herbs and
scooping water;
Through these labors, I acquired it!
It is sometimes said that this hymn was composed by Empress Kömyö,

or that it was written in her name by Gyöki Bosatsu. The exact truth is
13
not known.
Notes
1
The Sekido-ke bon breaks off at the point corresponding to the
end of Gonsö's speech proposing the Hakkö. There is also an eight-line
fragment of the Tödaiji-gire type, corresponding to the section on the
"firewood" hymn (see Shüsei, pp. 205-7).
2
This is the only tale in the second volume that has no relation to
material in N i h o n ryöiki (see notes following).
On Daianji, see 3.17. Eikö is otherwise unknown. His quarters are
labeled in a plan of the monks' quarters of Daianji in N a n t o s h i c h i d a i j i
j u n r e i k i , an anonymous and undated work of which only a copy of the
first volume, dated 1452, survives ( Z Z G R [Kokusho kankökai sösho] 11
[Shükyöbu 1]:561). The quarters are arranged in the shape of the letter
' U ' . Eikö's is shown on the east side, separated by one from Gonsö's, in
the northeast corner. (In the story we are told that they were neighbors.)
The various quarters are labeled with the names of a number of great
Buddhist figures (Saichö, Kükai, etc.) who were associated with Daianji
at various periods, but these appear to be memorial names for these
quarters or are perhaps entirely fanciful, as the plan of the quarters itself
may be.
3
The traditional list of the "Seven Great Temples" ( S h i c h i d a i j i ) of
Nara includes Tödaiji, Köfukuji, Gangöji, Yakushiji, Saidaiji, Höryüji,
and Daianji. The designation appears in Shoku N i h o n g i and elsewhere.
4
Gonsö (7537—827) was a figure of considerable importance in early
Heian Buddhism, primarily because of his relations with Saichö and
Kükai. (His name is occasionally glossed "Kinsö.") He received his first
ordinations at Köfukuji at the age of twelve or thirteen, and from the age
of sixteen is said to have spent several years engaged in ascetic practices
in Yoshino or at Ömine. At age twenty he returned to Nara and took up
the study of Sanron doctrines under Zengi. His progress through the
ecclesiastical hierarchy culminated in his service as Bettö of Tödaiji,
then of Saidaiji, and his appointment as Daisözu. Two days after his
death he was appointed Söjö posthumously. Though primarily a Sanron
scholar, he also studied esoteric practices and Tendai doctrine. He
attended the Jingoji retreat devoted to Tendai studies in 802 (see E i z a n
D a i s h i den, D D Z 5:8), was among the monks commissioned to study the
M o - h o c h i h - k u a n at Nodera (DDZ 5:21), and was one of two monks
named by the emperor to receive the Kanjö initiation from Saichö at
Jingoji in 805—the first time this rite was conducted in Japan
( K e n k a i r o n e n g i , D D Z 1:283-84; see also 3.27). Among the various
sources of information about Gonsö are some verses, with a biographical

preface, composed in his honor by Kükai (Mikkyö Bunka Kenkyüjo, ed.,
Köbö D a i s h i zenshü 3, pp. 539-43) and other writings by the Shingon
founder, who claimed that Gonsö initiated him in the Koküzö ritual (see
3.12). The nature of Gonsö's association with Iwabuchidera is uncertain.
Presumably, the lost I w a b u c h i d e r a e n g i that Tamenori cites as the
source of this story would have contained further details. The site of the
monastery itself is not known, although it must have been close to Nara.
It is mentioned in S a i d a i j i den'en m o k u r o k u (dated 1298), so it may have
survived until the time of that document (see Ikeda, "Iwabuchidera
Gonsö to Heian Bukkyö," in N a n t o Bukkyö 5 (1958):193; see also D N B Z
118:210a). His affiliation with Daianji, on the other hand, is well docu-
mented, and his association with the Hakköe—the real subject of the
present tale—is a matter of historical record, even if the story of its
origin presented here is apocryphal (see Takagi Yutaka, H e i a n j i d a i
hokke bukkyö shi kenkyü, pp. 209-11; B D 2:1367b c).
5
O n Iwabuchidera, see preceding note. Yamada said that it may
have been on Takamadoyama, which lies south of Kasugayama on the
outskirts of Nara. It is not clear in the text if the temple already existed
when Eikö's mother was buried there or if the temple was constructed
later on that site as a memorial. The lost I w a b u c h i d e r a e n g i would, no
doubt, have given some clues.
6
Gonsö's proposed name for the service is "Döhö hakkö"; the word
"döhö" was used as a translation of Sanskrit sahadhärmika, "comrades
in the dharma." As noted above, this story is the earliest surviving
evidence of Gonsö's origination of the Hakköe, services of eight lectures
on the L o t u s Sütra (also called H o k k e hakkö), also observed at several
temples and by many private sponsors in the Heian period. The twenty-
eight chapters of the sütra are grouped in eight fascicles. The Hakköe
were usually held for four days, with a morning and afternoon session
each day; two fascicles were chanted in each session. There were some
variations in this arrangement, including abbreviated and extended
versions (see Willa Jane Tanabe, "The Lotus Lectures: H o k k e hakkö in
the Heian Period," in M o n u m e n t a N i p p o n i c a 29:4 [Winter, 1984]:393-
407).
1
Tödaiji yöroku gives the same date (796) for the first Hakköe at
Iwabuchidera, but H o k k e hakkö e n g i , compiled in 1010 and included in
S h o j i e n g i shü { D N B Z 118:1-3), gives 793 as the date of origin. The
annals of Kasagidera { D N B Z 118:89), where a similar service was held,
say the Iwabuchidera services began in 783 (see Takagi, H e i a n j i d a i
hokke bukkyö shi kenkyü, pp. 209-11).
8
See n. 4, above.
y
The Tenchiin subtemple of Tödaiji is said to have been founded
by Gyöki as Hörenji in 708. It was destroyed by fire in 1053. Tödaiji
yöroku says its Hakköe began in 798 (Tsutsui Eishü, ed., Tödaiji yöroku,
pp. 108-10).
10
T h e addition of the "Opening and Closing Sütras" (kaikechikyö)
of the L o t u s created a "Service of Ten Lectures" (jükö). In the Tendai
school, the Muryögikyö ("kaikyö") and the Kanfugengyö ("kechikyö")
were treated as appendages to the main sütra. A service of ten lectures
on all three works usually lasted five days. See also 3.30.
11
T h e reading of the fifth fascicle, during the morning session of
the third day, was the highlight of the service. It includes the twelfth
("Devadatta") chapter, which says that the most evil of men (Devadatta,
who tried to kill the Buddha) eventually became a Buddha, as did an
eight-year-old girl, the Näga-girl (daughter of the dragon king). Thus,
the promise of universal salvation is dramatically illustrated and proven.
It is this particular section of the sütra that seems to have most
thoroughly captured the imagination of many lay devotees in the Heian
period, particularly women, as can be seen in the M i n o r i chapter of the
Genji m o n o g a t a r i , for example. The firewood procession is based on the
opening section of the chapter, in which Säkyamuni tells how, in a
former life, he was born as a king but abandoned his throne to serve an
ascetic by gathering fruit, water, and firewood in order to obtain the
teachings of the L o t u s from him. This is also the subject of the "hymn"
quoted below.
12
O n the lost I w a b u c h i d e r a e n g i , see n. 4.
13
The text of the hymn is also found in Shüishü, where it is
attributed to Gyöki (Yamagishi, ed., Hachidaishü zenchü 1, p. 620; see
also Ishihara Kiyoshi, Shakkyöka no kenkyü, pp. 44-49). Kömyö was
the consort and successor of Shömu; see 3.22. This verse was a familiar
part of the Hakköe conducted throughout the Heian period; as noted
above, there are references to it in the description of the service
conducted by Murasaki shortly before her death in the M i n o r i chapter of
Genji m o n o g a t a r i ( N K B T 17:176).
VERSE
Threatened by Great Chieftain Moriya's ignorant words,

The seeds of Japanese Buddhism were almost destroyed,
But thanks to Prince Umayado's sagacious rule
1
The Way of the Law survived to this day.
In the four hundred years since then.

How many sentient beings have learned about causation
and recognized the effects
And been saved from suffering and rewarded with joy!
How marvelous, how wonderful is the power
of Säkyamuni's teachings!
Notes
The reference of the first verse is to the battles over the accept-
ance of Buddhism in the time of Shötoku Taishi ("Prince Umayado");
see 2.1.
2
In fact, 397 years passed between Moriya's death in 587 and the
writing of Sanböe in 984.
The Third Volume
The Clergy
PREFACE TO T H E THIRD V O L U M E
1
Among the disciples of Säkyamuni are three types of monks. First, there
are the B o d h i s a t t v a monks, such as Maitreya and Manjusri and the like.
Second, there are the Srävaka monks, such as Maudgalyäyana and
Säriputra and their fellows. Third, there are the common monks of this
2
world, such as the Söjö and Sözu of today. Obligations to them are
shared by all sentient beings. We have received the benefits, but it is
impossible to repay the debt. Still, all those who make offerings unto the
3
clergy in order to fulfill this obligation duly garner equal merit. A l l
Bodhisattvas save the world by making all-encompassing vows of great
4
compassion, and those vows are truly far-reaching. The Srävakas
possess the Three Insights and the Six Supernatural Faculties, and so
5
they too are capable of saving others. However, after the death of the
revered Säkyamuni, [Kannon went to the west, and] Samantabhadra
6
returned to the east, so there are no Bodhisattva monks for you to see.
Gaväippati's body dissolved into a torrential stream, and Käsyapa
expired in the mountains, so no traces of the Srävaka monks have been
7
left behind. In this final age—when there is no Buddha in the world,
nor any Holy Sages, and we move from darkness only into greater dark-
ness, while our hearts fall into ever greater confusion and our sins grow
ever heavier—if there were no shaven-headed, saffron-robed monks in
this world, who would propagate the Buddha's Teachings, and upon
8
whom could sentient beings rely?
A l l of the Three Jewels are one and the same, and you should
revere and serve them equally. You cannot revere the Buddha and his
9
Teachings and, at the same time, slight his monks and nuns. How
admirable they are, whether expounding the scriptures and casting the
bright torch of the Law far and wide, or upholding the precepts, never
letting a drop of oil spill from the bowl, or transmitting the True Word,
never letting a drop of water escape from the pitcher, or reading the
Mahäyäna sütras, sewing jewels into the seams of many a robe, or
241
242 The Third Volume: The Clergy
devoting themselves to meditation and abandoning their worldly

pursuits, or going out into the world to give encouragement to the hearts
of others. A l l of them have passed through the many portals of the
Buddha's teachings to go their separate ways, but all will converge upon
10
the same shared goal of Enlightenment.
11
I even revere those monks who violate the precepts. In a sütra it
says that though a monk may violate the precepts, he is still superior to a
Wheel-King, and even though he may fall into one of the Evil Realms, he
12
will be a king there. Though the c a m p a k a flower may wilt, it is still
1
superior to all other flowers in their freshest bloom. The scent of
sandalwood incense may burn away to nothing, but still it perfumes
countless robes. If one among a thousand oxen dies, there is no need to
turn out all the rest. Though one among the many precepts is over-
looked, there is no need to take all the others lightly. A bag that has held
incense may lose some of its scent, but still it remains fragrant. A monk
may have taken vows and then may break one, but still, the Buddha
14
says, he is worthy of reverence.
I also greatly revere the initiate who has yet to take full vows. In a
sütra it says that the baby dragon may be small but is not to be taken
lightly, for he can move the clouds and cause the rain to fall. The initiate
may be yet immature, but he is not to be held in contempt, for he will
15
obtain the Way and save many others.
In sum: as Daihikyö assures us, if your appearance is like that of a
16
Srävaka, you will not fail to see all the Buddhas of the present age. He
17
who wears the robes of a monk is truly a child of the T a t h ä g a t a . A
warning is contained in a verse of Daijikkyö: "If you strike a monk you
18
strike me; if you slander him you slander me," the Buddha admonishes.
"The peacock has showy, colorful plumage, but it cannot fly as far as the
wild goose can. Robes of white reflect wealth and awesome social
station, but they are nothing compared to those of monks who dwell in
19
poverty and humility, he says. Therefore, revere those who fervently
20
practice as well as those who do not, for all are vessels of the L a w .
Whether their insight is deep or shallow, think of them all as apostles of
21
the Buddha. Whether they speak the truth or falsehoods, they are not
to be punished. Whether they are venerable or humble, their virtue
should be praised. A common man should not use his worldly mind to
judge the sincerity of those who follow the path of Holy wisdom. The
monk Angulimäla was an evil man, and no one recognized him as a
22
Tathägata from the past. The Bodhisattva Sadäparibhüta was humble
in appearance, and those who scorned him never realized that he was a
23
Great Teacher of the future. It is hard to recognize their true stature,
24
to identify them in their temporary guises. So you must simply revere
them all. The inner virtue, the outer form are hard to judge. So you
must praise them all. In ancient times there was a foolish Provost who
scoffed at monks and was punished with rebirth as an insect for ninety-
2 5
one k a l p a s ; and a young monk who laughed at an older monk was
26
condemned to suffer five hundred lives as a dog.
The wise people of long ago all revered the disciples of the Buddha.
King Bimbisära supported one thousand monks, and his crown prince
27
continued the legacy. King Asoka's ministers criticized his worship of
28
the clergy, but that did not stop h i m . The Elder Sudatta built
monasteries for monks to live in, and Jwaka, King of the Healers,
29
prepared baths for them and invited them to bathe. Indeed, the great
elephant who was attacked by a hunter forgave his assailant when he saw
30
his shaven chin and head. And the demon who was eating a criminal
noticed that his victim was wearing robes of the Law, and he was so
31
upset that he ran away. Even ogres and beasts revered these monks!
How, then, can they be mocked or made fools of in men's hearts? They
32
should all be called lights unto the world, and treasures of the nation.
The reverent rites they observe throughout the year, and the teachings
whereby they guide us toward our future goal: all must be counted as the
contributions of this community. I now press my palms together and
shall display the admirable virtues of the clergy.
Notes
A table of contents for the volume precedes the text of the preface
in the Töji Kanchiin bon. The Sekido-ke bon begins at a point
corresponding to "casting the bright torch of the Law far and wide," and
the title and text of the following section (3.1) continue without a break
after the conclusion of the text of the preface. See Shüsei, pp. 221-23.
2
Many texts classify monks in three types. A classification used in
Tendai literature, based on Shinjikangyö (Τ 3:299c-300a), is that which
appears here. In this context, " B o d h i s a t t v a monks" are those who have
actually attained that high spiritual level. "Srävaka" (shömon) literally
means "those who hear the word"; the examples given here are disciples
of the historical Buddha Säkyamuni, and in this classification they
represent monks of the Hmayäna tradition, in contrast to the strong
Mahäyäna connotation of " B o d h i s a t t v a monks." "Common monks" is
bonbu no so, mortal monks of this world who strive in various ways to
serve other mortals (BD 4:3019b). The examples for the first two types
are those given in Shinjikangyö, while "the Sö;ö and Sözu of today" is
Tamenori's way of referring to monks whose activities are like those
described in the following sections.
The passage in Shinjikangyö cited above concludes with a state-

ment that all monks of all three types together comprise a "field of
merit" (fukuden); in other words, their existence creates many oppor-
tunities for the generation of merit by those who support them.
Tamenori has given a free interpretation of this idea.
4
D a i h i ("great compassion") and guzei ( h i r o k i c h i k a i ; "all-
encompassing vows") are terms associated with the Bodhisattva's deter-
mination to save all sentient beings. The Maeda-ke bon reads gugan
("far-reaching prayers") instead of guzei.
5
The "Three Insights" (sanmyö) are knowledge of the past,
knowledge of the future, and clear perception in the present. These
combine with the "Six Supernatural Faculties" (see "Preface to the First
Volume," n. 3) to enable srävakas, as a r h a t s , to recognize the k a r m a
from the past that determines the present shapes of their lives and those
of others, to see into their future lives and those of others, and to over-
come all impediments to wisdom in the present life (BD 2:1685a-c). The
attribution of these powers to sravakas is explicit in Kanmuryöjukyö (Τ
12:345c).
6
The clause in brackets appears only in the Maeda-ke bon.
Kannon is believed to reside in the west, where he/she is closely
associated with Amida. Samantabhadra ( F u g e n ) is generally associated
with the east, but there does not seem to be a scriptural basis for his
"disappearance" there. The point, however, is that there are no
Bodhisattva monks in the present world.
7
Gaväippati (Kyöbon, aa abbreviation of Kyöbonhadai) was a
disciple of Säkyamuni and of Säriputra (BD l:618b-c). According to
D a i c h i d o r o n , he learned about their deaths when Mahäkäsyapa (Kashö)
sent him a messenger, urging him to come to the convocation at which
the scripture was to be recorded. Grief and shock turned his body into
fire, and he perished. Later, Mahäkäsyapa went to Gydhraküta
("Vulture Peak"), passed into a deep meditative state, and entered
n i r v a n a ( T 25:68c-69a, 78c-79a). Both passages are quoted in F Y C L , Τ
53:375b, 372b (see also Lamotte, 1, pp. 98-99, 192-96). The point of
these two allusions is that all the "original" srävaka monks who heard
the Buddha's words eventually departed this world.
8
"Final age" is "sue no yo," an era so distanced in time from that of
the Buddha that its Buddhism is weak and corrupt. The expression is
not as technical as the term mappö, but it is essentially synonymous.
The phrase "from darkness into darkness" ( k u r a k i y o r i k u r a k i
echoes a verse in the L o t u s Sütra ("passing from darkness into darkness,
never hearing the Buddha's Name"; Τ 9:22c) and a passage in
Muryöjukyö ("The evil man passes from evil into evil, from suffering
into suffering, from darkness into darkness"; Τ 12:277a).
This sentence duplicates a statement in the introduction to a

section of F Y C L on "Reverence for Monks," but no scriptural source is
cited there (T 53:423a).
10
The figures in this passage seem to represent all of the major
types of Buddhism in the Heian period (see Ryakuchü, p. 214; Shüsei,
p. 434). The first group would be those monks primarily devoted to
study of scriptures and treatises, particularly those of the Sanron,
Hossö, and Kegon schools based in Nara. "[N]ever letting a drop of oil
spill from the bowl" alludes to a story in D a i c h i d o r o n about Upagupta, a
revered monk who lived about one hundred years after the death of
Säkyamuni and was one of King Asoka's mentors. He heard that there
was an old nun who had seen the Buddha when she was a child, and he
sent one of his disciples to tell her that he wanted to visit and ask about
her memories. The old nun set a bowl full of oil near the doorsill, with
the intention of testing Upagupta's wisdom and circumspection. When
he came in, he made a few drops of oil spill from the bowl. The nun
answered his questions but told him that his own deportment was
inferior to that of six reprobate monks of Säkyamuni's time who
flaunted many rules and caused much mischief but never would have
allowed a drop of precious oil to be spilt (T 25:129c). Such strict
adherence to certain precepts would typify V i n a y a masters and monks of
the Ritsu school. The "True Word" is s h i n g o n , and the term refers to
esoteric teachings (not only of the school of that name). The image of
water poured from one vessel to the other is commonly used to describe a
perfect transmission from master to disciple. At the end of the N i r v a n a
Sütra, Säkyamuni describes the transmission of his teachings to Änanda
in this way ( T 12:601c). In H i m i t s u mandarakyö fuhöden, the transmis-
sion from Hui-kuo, the Chinese esoteric master, to Kükai is so described
by Wu yin, Hui-kuo's lay disciple (see Köbö D a i s h i zenshü 1, p. 44).
Authoritative transmission of secret teachings was stressed in both the
Tendai and Shingon esoteric traditions, and it is probably to both of
these that Tamenori refers. The story of the jewels sewn into a robe was
alluded to in the "Preface to the Second Volume" (in which refer to
n. 11). Propagation of faith in the power and truth of Mähäyana scrip-
ture, particularly the L o t u s , as well as systematic practice of meditation,
were hallmarks of the Tendai school. The last group of monks to whom
Tamenori seems to refer are those who operate outside the confines of
monastic establishments as charismatic preachers, like Köya. The
sentence closing this passage suggests that all these aspects of Buddhist
practice share the same goals and are manifestations of a single
phenomenon.
The introduction to the F Y C L section previously cited (see n. 9)

also contains the statement, quoted from an unidentified source, that
monks are to be respected whether or not they uphold the precepts.
12
"Wheel-King" is rinnö (an abbreviation of t e n r i n shöö, Sanskrit
cakravartiräja, "a king who turns the wheel of wisdom"). This status
must be won through the accumulation of vast stores of merit (Taya,
Bukkyögaku j i t e n , p. 333b).
1 3
C a m p a k a (senpu) is M i c h e l i a champaka, a much admired, exotic
bloom (BD 3:3002c).
1 4
F Y C L (in the same section cited in nn. 9 and 11) quotes a passage
in Jüringyö (i.e., Daihödo jüringyö) that states that a monk, whether he
upholds his vows or breaks them, is superior to "Wheel-Kings, Sage-
Kings, ministers and generals" and continues with the comments on
oxen, sandalwood, and the campaka; Tamenori has reorganized and
paraphrased this passage.
1 5
F Y C L quotes Aikuögyö, comparing the initiate (srämanera) to
the baby dragon (T 53:425a).
16
T h i s is a paraphrase of a quotation from Daihikyö in F Y C L ( T
53:427b). Srävaka here means "monk." The term for "the present age"
is genkö, the second of three kalpas during each of which one thousand
Buddhas appear (see 3.31, n. 5).
17
The Maeda-ke bon reads "the child of the Tathägata," but the
Töji Kanchiin bon has "the true body of the Tathägata." The former is
more correct if Tamenori is following the quotation from the verse in
Daihödö daijikkyö found in F Y C L ( T 53:427b), also the source of the
material that follows.
18
See preceding note. For the original, see Τ 13:379c.
19
These lines paraphrase a verse in D a i c h i d o r o n quoted in F Y C L
(T 53:449b).
20
The figure "a vessel of the law" ( n o r i no utsuwamono, höki),
meaning a person who has the capacity to absorb and transmit
Buddhism, appears, for example, in the L o t u s Sütra, in a debate about
whether or not a woman can be a "vessel of the Law" (T 9:35c).
21
"Apostles of the Buddha" is " H o t o k e no t s u k a i . " In the L o t u s
Sütra, Säkyamuni says that those who repeat just one word of the sütra
after his death will be true "apostles" of the Tathägata ( n y o r a i s h i ) ( T
9:30c).
22
T h e name Ahgulimäla (also Ahgulimälika) is Shiman b i k u in the
Maeda-ke bon and in Tamenori's probable source, F Y C L ( T 53:977b).
The Töji Kanchiin bon has K u b a r a b i k u . The most common translitera-
tion is Ökutsumara. This king of Säkyamuni's time was convinced that
he could attain n i r v a n a by killing people, and he wore a necklace made
from the fingers of his 999 victims. When his mother was about to
become his thousandth victim, the Buddha heard about him, preached to
and converted him, and accepted his confession of past sins. He became
a disciple and eventually an a r h a t . His story is told is several sütras,
including Ökutsumarakyö (Τ 2:512b 44b), and in most it is said that he
was enlightened in his former lives as well ( B D l:332a b).
23
O n Sadäparibhüta, see 1.3, n. 3. After telling his story in the
Lotus Sütra, Säkyamuni explains that he himself was Sadäparibhüta (Τ
9:51a).
94
"Temporary guise" is k a r i no ato, i.e., gonshaku, a term referring

to an avatar of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. Several tales in this third
volume describe such manifestations.
"Provost" is i n a or y u i n a , a civil official or high-ranking monk in
charge of clerical affairs in a given monastery or region. The reference
here is probably to a story in Senjü hyakuengyö (Τ 4:250c-51a) quoted in
F Y C L (T 53:856b). At the beginning of the summer retreat (see 2.4), a
group of monks elected their eldest member to serve as provost. They
also made a rule that any of their number who attained the Way during
the retreat would be excused from the confession at its conclusion. Only
the provost failed to be enlightened, and so he was not excused. With
harsh words, he vented his anger at this fellow for this repayment of his
absorption in administrative duties. He withdrew to his cell, saying that
its darkness was no worse than the ignominy into which he had been
cast, and there he committed suicide. He fell into hell and suffered there
through several rebirths. The sütra does not say that he became an
insect for ninety-one kalpas.
26
T h e allusion is to a story quoted in F Y C L ( T 53:381b) from
Gengukyö (Τ 4:444c-45a). Among a group of monks there was a young
acolyte who chanted scripture with a particularly beautiful voice. There
was also an aged monk whose voice was cracked and unsteady but who
still liked to chant every day. The younger monk teased the elder: "Your
chanting sounds like the howling of an old dog." The elder proceeded to
tell the younger all he knew about priestly regulations, and the young
monk was so impressed with his knowledge that he repented of his
teasing words and was forgiven by the old monk. Nonetheless, he was
punished with five hundred rebirths as a dog until he was saved by
Säriputra, achieved rebirth as a brahman's son, and became the
Buddha's disciple Cunda.
97
Bimbisära (Yöken'ö in the Töji Kanchiin bon, Yöhiken'ö in the

Maeda-ke bon) supported a thousand monks in the kingdom of Magadha
during Säkyamuni's time, and the patronage was continued after his
death. These thousand are said to have formed the core of the Buddhist
community after the death of Säkyamuni ( D a i c h i d o r o n , Τ 25:78a; B D
3:2982b).
28
There are several stories about Asoka's ministers' efforts to bridle
his patronage of monks in the traditional biographies. F Y C L , quoting
"Fuhözökyö," tells of such a conflict with a minister (T 53:297-322), but
the extant Fuhözö innenden contains no such story. Also, the F Y C L
story uses different transliterations of various names than those in
Fuhözö innenden, so that sütra may not be the source indicated in
F Y C L . Another version of the same story occurs in Aikuöden (Τ
50:129c 130a; see also Jean Przyluski, T h e Legend of E m p e r o r Asoka,
p. 195).
on
Sudatta ( S h u d a t s u ) is another name for Anäthapindada (see

"Preface to the Second Volume," n. 13). F Y C L quotes a Gengukyö
account of his activities, but these are recorded in many other places.
Jivaka (Giba) is mentioned in F Y C L ( T 53:544a), and the baths he
offered to monks are described again in 3.4 (see also BD l:535b c).
30
There are several versions of this story. Tamenori may have
referred to that quoted in F Y C L ( T 53:867a-b) from Rokudojikkyö (Τ
3:17a b) or to the version in Daijö daijü jizö jüringyö (Τ 13:741c 42a).
These appear to be variants of the story of the lion (see 1.8). The king of
elephants was killed by a hunter disguised as a monk who coveted the
elephant's tusks. The elephant's refusal to attack the hunter
demonstrated, as did the lion's, the perfections of charity and
forbearance, as well as respect for the clergy.
31
The reference is, perhaps, to a story in Daijö daijü jizö jüringyö
that immediately follows the story cited in the preceding note (T
13:742b 43c): a criminal exiled to a wilderness disguises himself as a
monk and thus avoids being devoured by demons.
32
T h e description of monks as "treasures of the nation" derives
from a Chinese expression originating in non-Buddhist contexts. In M o -
ho c h i h - k u a n , Bodhisattvas and teachers of Buddhism are called
"treasures of the nation" ( T 46:49a), a usage based on the L o t u s Sütra (Τ
9:26). S h o k u n i h o n g i also uses the phrase in reference to Buddhist
teachers (KSTK 2:171a), and Saichö used the term frequently in his
petitions (see Paul Groner, Saichö, p. 116). Tamenori appears to have
devised the phrase "lights unto the world" for balance.
3.1 New Year Rites 249
The First Month
3.1 N E W Y E A R RITES
1
(Maeda ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon, Sekido-ke bon )
The Buddha taught: "Even one day's observance of purifying rites will
earn 600,000 years of sustenance. One step in the direction of a temple
2
erases the sins of infinite k a l p a s " In another sütra it says, "In the first
month, fifth month, and ninth month, Indra records the good and evil
acts committed by sentient beings in Jambudvlpa. In these months,
bathe and observe the rites of purification and cultivate other virtuous
3
practices." It must be on this basis that everyone in the world strives to
be abstemious in the first month. There are official grants of food to
monks and nuns in the various provinces of the seven regions, and
prayers and rites are commissioned, while, privately, men and women
gather in many temples to light votive candles and practice other devo-
4
tions. Also, in the belief that lifespans can thereby be lengthened, there
are individuals who make offerings of gruel to monks. In S h i b u n r i t s u it
says there are four benefits from this; in Sögiritsu it says there are ten
5
benefits. In a verse it says: "He who wishes to enjoy a long life of ease
6
in heaven should take gruel and offer it to the clergy." There is not a
temple in the land where prayers are not offered for health and welfare
and the successful conduct of all the rites of the coming year, nor any
individual who does not purify himself; thus, in many places the planting
of good roots starts at the very beginning of the year. We know that the
brilliance of these deeds is reflected in Indra's jeweled mirror, and the
7
merit is recorded on King Yama's golden tablet.
Notes
See "Preface to the Third Volume," η. 1.

1
2
A quotation in F Y C L (T 53:954a) from Kuzö hiyukyö has been
identified as the source, but only the first half of this quotation is to be
found there or in the original sütra (Τ 4:513a). "Observance of purifying
rites" in both the Maeda-ke bon and F Y C L passage is j i z a i ; the Töji
Kanchiin bon and Sekido-ke bon read i m o i ο tamote in k a n a . I m o i can
mean any kind of purification ritual, but Yamada suggested that
Tamenori was referring to s a i k a i , purifying abstinences carried out
according to the V i n a y a . The use of the word "sustenance" introduces

the idea of a pure feast, which is a feature of the next section and a
preoccupation in various kinds of rituals, Buddhist and non-Buddhist,
that were observed during the first month. (For a study of the non-
Buddhist rituals, see Robert S. Ellwood, The Feast of K i n g s h i p : Acces-
sion Ceremonies in Ancient Japan.)
3
A quotation in F Y C L ( T 53:932b-c) from Daiikyö (i.e.,
D a i i b a r i k y o ) is the identified source, but it does not contain the instruc-
tions to bathe and to observe rites. This and the preceding quotation
may be free renderings or are perhaps from some source that has not
been identified.
4
A l l of the provinces except those in the immediate vicinity of the
capital were grouped into seven divisions. There were separate provi-
sions for the rites observed in the capital region ( K i n a i ) .
5
S h i b u n r i t s u is the V i n a y a of the Dharmagupta school; Sögiritsu is
that of the Mahäsaipghika. Tamenori's reference, and the source of the
quotation that follows, is probably F Y C L ( T 53:611b), but "four benefits"
should be five: the prevention of starvation, of dehydration, of hunger in
the middle of the night, of constipation, and of bad vision. The ten
benefits listed in Sögiritsu are expansions of these same five.
6
This verse is quoted verbatim from the F Y C L passage cited above.
7
Indra and Yama, the ruler of the land of the dead, record men's
good and bad deeds as a basis for determining subsequent rewards or
punishments. In mentioning them here, Tamenori followed the
previously cited Daiikyö quotation in F Y C L (see n. 3).
3.2 The Feast 251
3.2 T H E F E A S T
1
2
In Saishöökyö it is said : "If the king of a nation lectures on this sütra,
he will be rewarded with endless happiness, while his people shall always
be free from trouble. Winds and rains will come in their due seasons and
will sweep the nation clean of all its plagues. When the king wishes to
hear this sütra, he should adorn the most excellent hall in his palace, the
3
one that is most important to him, and set up a Lion's Seat there. He
should raise banners and light incense. The king should sit in a some-
what humble seat and listen intently to the sütra. He should look up to
the presiding monk with reverence and think of him as a Great Teacher,
and he should look upon all of his people with sympathy and cultivate
compassion in his heart. He himself should take up the white silk
parasol and, as festive music plays, go out to greet the lecturer as he
4
approaches. This is most excellent! If the king is moved to do these
things, then, with each step, he will be reverently serving infinite
numbers of Buddhas. With each step, the long sufferings of life and
death will be overcome. For each step, the long sufferings of life and
death will be overcome. For each step he takes he will earn an age of
rebirth as a Wheel-King, and with each step he will increase his store of
5
merit in this world."
On this basis the court prepares the Great Hall of State, and for a
week there are lectures on the Saishöökyö each day and observances of
6
the Penance of Srimahädev! each night. Snmahädev! was the wife of
7
Vaisravaâ. She made a vow to fill all storehouses with the five grains
8
and to answer all manner of prayers.
The sütra explains how all the lords and ministers should faithfully
9
execute their duties and cooperate with one another in their efforts. In
10
some years there are imperial excursions. The audience and the
various offices for the various parts of the ceremonies are filled by monks
selected and invited from various temples, while the task of providing
the offerings and adornments is assigned to the various imperial
11
bureaus.
This rite is also observed in the various provinces, beginning on the
12
same day. It has been observed since the second year of the Jingo
Keiun era [768], during the reign of Empress Shötoku, who was the
1
daughter of Emperor Shömu. I believe it is so recorded in the
1 4
Regulations.
Notes

2
Tamenori's "quotation" is a fairly loose adaptation from
Konkömyö saishöökyö (Τ 16:428b).
3
The "Lion's Seat" ( s h i s h i no za) is taken by a formal lecturer who
presides in place of the Buddha himself. The sütra has shishi
shushöhöza, "the Lion's Extraordinary Dharma Seat."
4
The sütra says that a white parasol ( b y a k u g a i ) should be placed
over the lecturer's seat.
5
O n "Wheel-King," see "Preface to the Third Volume," n. 12.
6
The "Great Hall of State" ( D a i g o k u d e n ) , the main audience hall in
the imperial palace, was certainly the "most important hall in the
palace," as specified in the sütra.
The Penance of Srimahädevi (Kichijö keka) was based on the
seventeenth chapter of the Konkömyö saishöökyö (Τ 16:439b-40a). This
female celestial deity promises good harvests to those who revere the
sütra. Supplications to her were conducted under imperial auspices
beginning in the mid-8th century and were regularly held in conjunction
with the various New Year rites at court (which also were intended to
insure good harvests).
The several days of observance, including this Penance rite, were
highlighted by a formal vegetarian feast for the attending monks, called
the G o s a i e . ( G o s a i e is the title given to section 3.2, but the word does not
appear in the body of the text.) Between the eighth and fourteenth days
of the first month, large numbers of monks were invited to the palace to
participate in readings, lectures, and formal debate on the Konkömyö
saishöökyö, which, as seen in the passages quoted here, proclaims its own
power to protect the state and promote its welfare. For descriptions of
G o s a i e , see Yamanaka Yutaka, Heianchö no nenjügyöji, p. 139.
Nenjügyöji emaki contains a lively depiction of the general festivities of
the G o s a i e , including the procession of monks, the services in the
Daigokuden and the concurrently observed esoteric rites conducted in
the Shingon'in ( S h i n g o n ' i n no mishuhö)—which Tamenori does not
mention (see N i h o n emaki t a i s e i 8, pp. 34-39).
7
Vaisravaija is one of the Four Celestial Kings and is sometimes
identified as Srimahadevl's brother (BD 5:4304a-7b).
8
The "Five Grains" ( g o k a k u ) are listed in various ways, but rice,
barley, soybeans, and two types of millet are usually included (BGD
1:360b). As noted above, the purpose of the annual Kichijö keka was to
insure good harvests for the coming year.
3.2 The Feast 253
The sütra repeatedly states that all the king's court must
participate in the rite if it is to have the desired effects.
1
"Imperial excursions" is m i y u k i . On several recorded occasions in
the Heian period, the emperor left the palace during the G o s a i e period to
observe associated rites at important shrines and temples and to pay his
respects to retired emperors and empressess living away from court.
M i y u k i also refers to the crown prince's formal New Year's greeting to
the emperor (Yamanaka, Heianchö no nenjügyöji, pp. 112-14).
1
To be invited to be part of the "audience" (chöjü) or designated
an "executor" (höyö) for the G o s a i e was a high mark of distinction.
There were four major offices to be performed by monks in this and most
other important state-sponsored rites: B a i höyö, the leader of sütra
recitation; Sange höyö, "scatterer of flowers"; B o n ' o n höyö, Sanskrit
chanter; and Shakujö höyö, a monk who beat time during the rhythmic
sütra chanting (BD 2:1734b-35a). The distribution of assignments for
providing the "offerings of adornments" (kuyö shögon) among the
various imperial bureaus was specified in E n g i s h i k L
12
Reading the Konkömyö saishöökyö for the protection of the state
was one of the fundamental responsibilities of the Kokubunji (see Inoue
Kaoru, Narachö Bukkyöshi no kenkyü, pp. 61-77).
1
There were, in fact, earlier observances, but Tamenori appears to
have relied on Shoku N i h o n g i for this information ( K S T K 2:339).
Empress Shötoku (see 2.15, n. 2) is identified here as "the daughter of
Emperor Shömu (i.e., A r n e no m i k a d o ) , Princess Takano." This method
of identification may have been used here intentionally to draw a parallel
to SrimahädevL
14
T h e " R e g u l a t i o n s " ( k y a k u ) were official decrees compiled in
various collections, and they formed the basis of much of the material in
official histories. Ruijü s a n d a i k y a k u includes decrees issued during the
reigns of Saga, Seiwa, and Daigo (809-930), but it does not contain any
relevant decrees. The Shoku N i h o n g i record cited above is probably
based upon such a decree.
3.3 T H E RITES OF P E N A N C E AT H I E
1
The monastery on Mount Hie was established by Dengyö Daishi. The

master's lay family name was Mitsu, and he came from the district of
3
Shiga in Ömi Province. From an early age he displayed remarkable
intelligence. By the age of seven he had attained great wisdom. He was
knowledgeable in a wide variety of subjects. At the age of twelve he
4
shaved his head. He went up to Mount Hie for the first time and built a
hut in which to practice austerities. In the ashes of an incense burner he
found a relic of the Buddha. He then prayed for a vessel in which to
5
place it, and found a golden vase amid the ashes.
In the twenty-third year of the Enryaku era [804] he went to China
and climbed the T'ien-t'ai Mountains, where he met Master Tao-sui,
who gave him Buddhist texts from India to study. The abbot Hsing-
man of the Fo-lung-ssu said of him, "Long ago I heard that our founder
Chih-i said, 'Some two hundred years after my death the teachings of
our school will be transmitted to the Land in the East.' The words of the
revered sage were not mistaken; now this man has come to us. Let him
return swiftly to his homeland to spread these doctrines." So saying, he
7
presented him with many scriptures.
He returned home in the twenty-fourth year of the Enryaku era
[805]. When he lectured on the L o t u s Sütra before the deity of the
Yahata Shrine, the deity gave him a purple surplice from the shrine
storeroom in gratitude for the instruction he had received. When he
lectured on the L o t u s Sütra at the Kawaru Shrine, purple clouds rose
from over the mountain peaks and covered the courtyard where he was
speaking. The robe he received from the deities is still kept at
8
Enryakuji.
His prayer was: "Save us in this age of the Imitated Teaching!" So,
with his own hands, he made an image of Bhai$ajyaguru for his Central
Hall, and with the vow "to spread the wondrous teaching of the supreme
L o t u s Sütra" he dedicated himself to the propagation of the Tendai
9
doctrines of the founder Chih-i.
In the seventh month of the third year of the Könin era [812] he
built the Hokkedö and had the Mahäyäna sütras read there constantly,
10
night and day. Down in the valley a voice was heard every night,
chanting the L o t u s Sütra. A search was made, but no one could be
found. When the place from which the voice emanated was located,
there was nothing to be seen but a pile of dried human bones. These
were reburied next to the hall, and people were forbidden to step upon
3.3 The Rites of Penance 255
the burial place. He wrote many sets of vows that were read on
12
particular occasions. He made a vow to light candles, and these still
13
have not been extinguished. During the first moon of spring, summer,
autumn, and winter, he and the twelve monks of the hall observed the
14
Rites of Penance.
The master died on the fourth day of the sixth month of the thir-
teenth year of the Könin era [822]. Mysterious clouds covered the
mountaintop and did not disperse for some time. People who saw them
from afar thought it strange: "Something must have happened on the
15
mountain to cause this," they said.
Now then, this Service of Penance is based on the S a m a n t a b h a d r a
1 fi
Sütra. Among the four types of meditation is one called the "Half-
17
Walking Half-Sitting Meditation." The founder of the T'ien-t'ai
school practiced this and suddenly attained the L o t u s meditation, and he
was enlightened, and his heart was free. He saw Samantabhadra riding
toward him on an elephant, and then he came and touched him on the
18
head. Passages that were unclear in the sütra were explained in full
detail in the master's writings compiled in the M a n u a l of P r a c t i c e of t h e
L o t u s M e d i t a t i o n in one fascicle, which has been transmitted to the
19
world. If it is followed, the power of the Single Vehicle will erase the
20
sins of the six fundamental sources.
Hmayäna penances only have the effect of erasing minor transgres-
sions; Mahäyäna penances effectively save us from heavy sins. In the
M a n u a l it says: "All those who wish to see Säkyamuni and the many
manifestations of Prabhütaratna Buddha, to cleanse themselves of the
sins of the six sources, to enter into the world of the Buddha, overcome
all obstacles, and attain the state of the Bodhisattva: if you commit the
Five Transgressions or violate the Four Great Prohibitions, you must be
disqualified from practice as a monk, but if you reverse this, you will
attain perfection. Those who wish to earn excellent merit should go to
21
an isolated, quiet place and practice this meditation for three weeks."
Furthermore, it says in the S a m a n t a b h a d r a Sütra: "If you practice
this with a settled mind, you will see Samantabhadra on the first day and
on every successive day of the entire three weeks. Those with heavy
obstructions will not see him until after forty-nine days have passed.
Those who have even heavier obstructions will see him in the next life,
99
or in the second or third rebirth."

Also, in M o - h o c h i h - k u a n it says: "This Rite of Penance is a great
treasure for the world. Its proper observance will surely yield other
treasures. Offerings of flowers and incense yield treasures of the lower
ranks. The Buddha was unable to expound all there was to expound to
Manjusri, but he did expound upon the merits of these lower ranks.
Indeed, how much more so was this true concerning the middle and
upper ranks! Indeed, rather than build a pile of treasures from earth to
Indra's heaven as an offering to the Buddha, it is far better to give one
23
devotee of scripture his daily meal, and to look after him." Indeed, the
merit of the practice of meditation is extraordinary!
Notes
A short fragment of the Tödaiji-gire type, corresponding to the

beginning of the section and contiguous with the end of the preceding
section, has been identified (see Shüsei, p. 231).
2
"The monastery of Mount Hie" is Enryakuji, the Tendai head-
quarters founded by Dengyö Daishi (Saichö, 767-822). Throughout
Sanböe, "Hie" means Enryakuji. Tamenori's biography of Saichö is
based on a number of sources, particularly E i z a n D a i s h i den, a work
attributed to Saichö's disciple Ninchü, completed perhaps as early as 840
(see Dengyö D a i s h i zenshü, bekkan, 5, pp. 80-110; for an authoritative,
annotated text, see Nakao Shunpaku, Sange gakushöshiki josetsu,
pp. 367-453). Paul Groner has observed that the general emphasis of
E i z a n D a i s h i den is on Saichö's interest in the L o t u s Sütra and Tendai
teachings, while his interests in Esoteric Buddhism are largely
disregarded. The same bias is apparent in Tamenori's treatment.
The honorary posthumous name Dengyö Daishi was conferred in
866, some forty-four years after Saichö's death. Tamenori uses "Dengyö
Daishi" only.
3
Saichö's family lived in the area of modern Ötsu-shi. Tamenori
omits mention of the fact that the Mitsu claimed descent from an
emperor of the Latter Han Dynasty and other details of family back-
ground that open the E i z a n D a i s h i den.
4
Tamenori follows E i z a n D a i s h i den but does not make it clear
that this was not the occasion of Saichö's initial ordination. At age
twelve he went to the Kokubunji of Ömi and began to study under the
monk Gyöhyö. Two years later he became a novice monk, but his full
ordination did not take place until he was nineteen (Groner, Saichö,
pp. 22-26).
5
According to E i z a n D a i s h i den, Saichö was living in seclusion in
Jingü zen'in, a meditation hall built by his father, when he found the
relic and the vessel (Nakao, Josetsu, p. 375).
6
The T'ien-t'ai area in southeastern China had long been a center
of religious activity, and the Chinese school of Buddhism established
there by Chih-i in the sixth century took its name from the site. For a
detailed account of Saichö's activities in China, see Groner, Saichö,

pp. 38-63; see also Robert Borgen, "The Japanese Mission to China,
801-806," in M o n u m e n t a N i p p o n i c a 37.1:1-28.
Tao-sui (Dösui) was the seventh patriarch of the T'ien-t'ai School;
his dates are unknown. The texts he had copied and presented to Saichö
were not only sütras but also many T'ien-t'ai treatises, including a
manual for the H o k k e senbö, the rite that is the subject of the present
section (Groner, Saichö, pp. 41-43; Kiuchi Hiroshi, Dengyö D a i s h i no
shögai to shisö, pp. 104-7).
7
Hsing-man (Gyöman, ?—823?) has a biography in the Sung K a o -
seng-chuan and is the reputed author of a number of works. Fo-lung-ssu
(Butsuröji) was one of the many monasteries at T'ien-t'ai. Tamenori's
account of this incident closely follows E i z a n D a i s h i den (Nakao,
Josetsu, pp. 400, 405). Chih-i is identified by his posthumous name,
Chih-che (see 3.30, n. 10).
8
O n his way to China Saichö had petitioned the gods in Kyüshü for
aid on his journey, and in 814 he returned to Kyüshü to fulfill his vows to
them. Again, Tamenori draws upon details of these events reported in
E i z a n D a i s h i den (Nakao, Josetsu, pp. 421-23). Both Sanböe texts say
he went to the "Kasuga Shrine," clearly an error for "Kawaru."
9
The "age of the Imitated Teaching" {Zöhö no t o k i ) is the middle
period (after Shöhö, before Mappö) during which the Buddha's teachings
are still transmitted and understood, but imperfectly. The quotation is
probably a paraphrase of Saichö's intent in carving the image, without
specific source. Bhai§ajyaguru ( Y a k u s h i n y o r a i ) is a Buddha who dwells
in the pure land in the east and who has vowed to protect all sentient
beings from illness. The central image of Yakushi n y o r a i in the main
hall ( K o n p o n Chüdö) of Enryakuji is said to have been made by Saichö
in 788. This is not mentioned in E i z a n D a i s h i den, but the legend does
appear in such later documents as E i g a k u yöki (fourteenth century; GR
15:530: see also Groner, Saichö, pp. 75-76).
The full name of the building is H o k k e sanmaidö. It was the site
for the practice of meditation on the L o t u s Sütra and such related rites
as the H o k k e senbö (BD 5:4579c-80c; Groner, Saichö, pp. 75-76).
11
The source of this episode has not been identified. The motif of
human remains that chant the scripture is common in Buddhist tales,
particularly involving devotion to the L o t u s ; there are examples in
Ryöiki.
12
Tamenori is apparently referring to the works collectively called
G a n m o n , many of which are incorporated into the text of E i z a n D a i s h i
den. The G a n m o n has a complex textual history; see Groner, Saichö,
pp. 28-30.
The historical circumstances of this "vow" are not recorded in

E i z a n D a i s h i den, but the legend is well established. A poem Saichö is
said to have written on the occasion of the dedication of the Konpon
Chüdö in reference to these eternal lights appears in S h i n shüi wakashü
(Köchü k o k k a t a i k e i 8, p. 204).
14
The H o k k e senbö was held at Enryakuji on the first day of the
first, fourth, seventh and tenth months. The word senbö has the same
meaning as keka, i.e., a rite of penance (see 3.2, n. 6) for past sins and
exorcism of their ill effects. As Tamenori explains below, this rite was
prescribed by Chih i in his F a - h u a san-mei c h ' a n - i ( T 46:94ff.), on the
basis of passages in K a n f u g e n bosatsugyöhökyö.
15
T h i s account of Saichö's death follows that in E i z a n D a i s h i den
(Nakao, Josetsu, pp. 442-43).
16
The " S a m a n t a b h a d r a Sütra" (Fugengyö), i.e., K a n f u g e n b o s a -
tsugyöhökyö, is the so-called "closing sütra" of the L o t u s trilogy.
17
T h e four types of meditation ( s h i s h u z a n m a i ) were prescribed by
Chih-i and formed the heart of Tendai practice. Sanmai transliterates
samädhi, one of the words used for "concentration" and "meditation."
The "Half-Walking Half-Sitting Meditation" (hangyöhanza z a n m a i )
requires twenty-one days of circumambulation of an image of Samanta-
bhadra, in alternation with seated meditation. The H o k k e senbö was
observed as an adjunct to this practice. The other types of meditation
are "Constant Moving" (jögyö z a n m a i ' , see 3.25, n. 2), "Constant Sitting"
(jöza z a n m a i ) , and "Free meditation" (higyöhiza z a n m a i ) (see Leon
Hurvitz, C h i h - i [ M e l a n g e s c h i n o i s et b o u d d i q u e s 12], pp. 318-31).
18
I n M o - h o c h i h - k u a n , Chih-i states that when the proper spiritual
level is attained in this meditation, the practitioner will be able to
visualize Samantabhadra (T 46:13a).
19
The work indicated ( " H o k k e z a n m a i no gyöhö i k k a n " ) is probably
Chih-i's F a - h u a san-mei c h ' a n - i , or perhaps one of his several other
treatises on L o t u s meditation.
20
T h e "sins of the six fundamental sources" ( r o k k o n no t s u m i ) are
those that arise from the functioning of the sensory organs (the eyes,
ears, nose, and tongue), the body, and the mind (BD 5:5056b-57a). The
"single" vehicle is Buddhism as a whole, from the perspective of the
L o t u s . In the nineteenth chapter of the L o t u s Sütra it is said that those
who uphold the sütra will receive vast stores of merit to offset many
generations of accumulated sins (T 9:47c).
21
T h i s quotation paraphrases F a - h u a san-mei c h ' a n - i ( T 46:949b),
but elements of the original passage have been rearranged. On Pra-
bhütaratna, see 1.7, n. 5; here, he is called "Tahö." On the "Five Trans-
gressions" and "Four Great Prohibitions," see "Preface to the First
Volume," n. 6.
The passage is quoted verbatim from the sütra (Τ 9:389c).

23
This quotation is also very close to the original (T 46:14a). The
term "devotee of scriptures" is jikyösha, literally "one who holds the
scripture"—in this case, the L o t u s .
3.4 T H E B A T H
1
On the fourteenth and twenty-ninth days of each month, a great bath is

prepared in every temple, and all the monks bathe. This is because the
2
Convocation is held on the following day. The bath is also prepared on
many other unspecified days in accordance with the needs of individual
monks.
In the Sütra on Baths and B a t h i n g f o r the Clergy it is said: "The
4
Elder Jivaka, son of Amrapäli, had an idea one night as he was falling
asleep, and the next morning he went to the Buddha and said, Ί have
busied myself with worldly affairs and have not yet earned merit. Now I
would like to invite the Buddha and his disciples to wash themselves in
the bath I have prepared. I pray that all sentient beings may be cleansed
of the worldly filth of ignorance/
"The Buddha said, 'Very good! There is no measure of the merit in
this. For priestly bathing, seven objects are used in the bathroom.
There are seven salutary effects of bathing, and seven benefits accrue.
The seven objects are firewood, pure water, bean husks for scrubbing,
bath oil to moisten, cool, and soften the body, finely ground ashes,
willow-twig toothpicks and bathrobes. The seven salutary effects of
bathing are relaxation of the body, avoidance of colds, avoidance of
pains, avoidance of chills, avoidance of fever, avoidance of filth, and
refreshing of the body and clearing of vision. As for the seven benefits,
the first is that disorders of the Four Elements are prevented, and in
every life into which you are reborn you will be lovely in form and pure in
person.5 Second, filth is washed away from the place where it lodges and
pollutes. Third, the body is always kept fragrant, and one's garments
remain clean and fresh. Fourth, the skin of the body is made soft,
smooth, and lustrous, as it can be made by nothing else. Fifth, many
persons will follow and serve you, and brush away the dust and sweep
away the filth from your path. Sixth, the odor of the mouth is fragrant
and clean, and the words you speak will be followed by the people.
Seventh, at birth you will be naturally clothed and adorned with ever-
lasting brilliant jewels. Indeed, those who are born into this world with
pleasant features admired by others, and who are pure and clean and
lustrous skinned, are those who in their former lives provided baths for
monks and have been thus rewarded. These rewards are also obtained as
the result of providing baths for monks: birth as the son of a great
minister and enjoyment of a wealth of treasures; birth in the house of a
3.4 The Bath 261
great king, where you are bathed with fragrant incense and perfumed
water; protection in all four directions through the power of the Four
Celestial Kings; illumination of the darkness of night by the sun, moon,
and the constellations; and adornment with the Seven Jewels of Indra,
enjoyment of a long life, reaching the world beyond the Four Seas ruled
by the Great Kings, where you may revel in many pleasures and have a
fragrant body, revel in the pleasures of the Six Desire Heavens to the
6
utmost, and dwell in the perfect quiescent state in Brahma's Heaven.'"
In another sütra it is said: "The Buddha's disciple Pin<J01a wanted
to earn merit for the world to come, so he did not enter Nirväjia, but
remained for a long time in the Malaya Mountains. If you intend to
prepare a bath for monks, first prepare the hot water in the morning,
and then summon Pi^dola. Spread flowers and prepare a seat. Close the
doors for a while, and then, when you open them, you should be able to
see that he has come and bathed," and on this basis everyone in India did
7
so. There are those in this country who observe this practice, too.
In various other sütras it is said: "In a former birth, during the age
of the Vipasyin Buddha, Suddhäväsa was the son of a very poor man.
He managed to find a small amount of money that he used to prepare a
bath and meal to which he invited the Buddha and his disciples, and
they accepted. After his death, he was reborn in heaven in an extraordi-
nary form, with bright luminescence. When he becomes a Buddha, he
8
will be called the Tathägata of the Pure Body."
Also: "In a former birth, Änanda was the son of a commoner in the
land of Räjagyha. He suddenly broke out in strange pockmarks that,
though treated, would not heal. Someone told him, 'If you prepare a
bath for monks and take the water used for the bath and wash your
pockmarks with it, they will heal immediately. Also, you will gain other
fortunate benefits as well.' So he went to a temple and did these things,
and he was immediately cured. In every life into which he was born
thereafter, he was lovely in form and pure in person. For ninety-one
k a l p a s he received this fortunate benefit. Now he is with the Buddha,
9
and all the pollutions within his mind have been extinguished."
Also: "In a former birth in the time of Vipasyin Buddha, the monk
Nanda prepared a bath for a group of monks, and as a result he was born
10
into a line of kings and bore the Thirty-two Marks upon his person."
Also: "Säriputra suffered terribly from the heat during a long dry spell.
A man came along with water, which he poured on the plants in the
garden. Seeing Säriputra, he called to him, had him sit under a tree, and
bathed him with the water he had poured on the tree. When this man
died, he was reborn in Träyastriipsa Heaven. He immediately came
down to Säriputra and cast flowers about him, to show his gratitude, and
11
he listened to the Buddha's teachings and thus claimed his reward."
In the Chinese Stories of R e b i r t h it is said that during the Liang

Dynasty a monk named Tao-chen lived on Mount Lu and meditated on
12
the Buddha. One night he meditated upon the waters of the Pure
Land, and then he fell asleep. In a dream he saw a huge body of water.
Upon it was a boat in which a hundred people were sailing westward.
"Let me go with you," he said, but the boatman would not let him. In the
dream Tao-chen said, " A l l my life I have dedicated myself to the worship
of the Western Land. Why won't you let me go?" The boatman replied,
"Your devotions are not yet complete. You have not yet chanted the
3
A m i d a Sütra} You have not yet prepared a bath for monks," and with
this refusal he sailed away. Tao-chen was left behind to weep and grieve.
When he awoke, he immediately chanted the sütra and prepared a bath.
Later, he had another dream. Someone came to him, riding on a silver
lotus, and said, "Your devotions are now complete. You will certainly be
reborn in the Western Land." On the night he died a bright light shown
above the mountain, and his cell was filled with perfume. While he lived,
he told no one of his dream, but he wrote about it and put what he had
written in a sütra box. This was taken out after his death, and thus it
became known.
From all these examples we learn that providing a bath for monks
is a simple deed, but its benefits are great. In the Agongyö, five merits
14
are listed; in Jüjuritsu five benefits are listed.
Notes
Eight fragments of the Tödaiji-gire type have been identified. See

Shüsei, pp. 235-41.
2
The "bath" is onshitsu, o n j i t s u , or unshitsu. On the Convocation
( F u s a t s u ) , see 3.5.
q
The source is O n j i t s u sennyoku shusökyö (Τ 16:802c-3c) quoted in

a discussion of the merits of the provision of baths for monks in F Y C L
(T 53:543c).
4
Jivaka ( G i i k i ) was a devout lay supporter of Säkyamuni and a
renowned physician (BD l:535b-36c). In the "Preface to the Third
Volume," his name appears as "Giba" (see n. 29 there). His mother
Amrapäli ( N a ' n y o ) was one of the first Buddhist nuns (BD l:92a-b).
The "Four Elements" are earth, water, fire, and wind, and they
embody four physical properties, i.e., solidity, moisture, warmth, and
movement. The human body is made up of these elements and shares
these properties, and any imbalance or disorder among them produces
illness or physical disorders (BD 2:1874b-75b).
3.4 The Bath 263
6
"The Seven Jewels of Indra" are, in one list, gold, silver, lapis
lazuli, quartz, giant clamshells, jade, and agates (BGD 1:587c).
To travel beyond the "Four Seas" that encircle Mount Sumeru and
its surrounding continents, thus passing beyond the boundaries of the
worlds ruled by Great King, would mean that one had left the mundane
physical world behind (BGD l:509d). The "Six Desire Heavens"
( r o k u y o k u t e n ) are part of the world of desire and are located above
Mount Sumeru. They include the Träyastrimsa and Tu§ita Heavens.
"Brahma's Heaven" ( B o n t e n ) is beyond the world of desire and its six
heavens, hence "quiescent." It is the dwelling-place of Brahma, as
Träyastrirpsa is the dwelling-place of Indra (BD 4:3426a-29b).
7
The sütra is Shöbinzuruhö (Τ 32:784b-c), quoted in F Y C L (T
53:610a-b) in its entirety. Tamenori paraphrases it briefly to introduce
Pindola ( B i n z u r u ) , one of the disciples of Säkyamuni. To symbolize his
overseership of daily rituals in the monastery, it was common to display
his image in those rooms where monks cooked and ate their meals and
bathed, and on an altar at the Convocation. (This practice was rejected
by Saichö as one that was inappropriate in a Mahäyäna monastery; see
Groner, Saichö, p. 140.)
The Malaya Mountains ( M a r e i s e n ) are a range in southern India
(Ogiwara, B o n w a d a i j i t e n 11, p. 1009a).
8
"Various other sütras" refers to several works cited in the F Y C L
passage on the merits of baths (T 53:543c-44a), Tamenori's source for
this and the following two stories. This one originates in Gengukyö.
Vipasyin Buddha ( B i b a s h i b u t s u ) is said to have lived ninety -one kalpas
before Säkyamuni; stories of the previous lives of Buddhas, a r h a t s , and
the like are often set in the time of this Buddha (BD 5:4324c-25b).
Suddhäväsa (Shudaeten) is the name of a group of heavens in which
sages dwell eternally and eventually attain a r h a t s h i p , but this story
seems to be about one of the chief denizens of those heavens (BD
2:1228b; 4:3771c). "Tathägata of the Pure Body" is Jöshin n y o r a i .
9
This story is quoted in F Y C L from "Fukudengyö" (i.e., Shotoku
fukudengyö). Here, Räjagfha is Raetsuki.
10
Nanda was a son of Mahäprajäpäti and half-brother to
Säkyamuni, as well as his disciple. He is sometimes called
"Sundarananda" (BD 4:4007b-8a). F Y C L quotes his story from
Zöhiyukyö (Τ 4:501a), and Tamenori retains the form of the name of
Vipasyin used there ( Y u i e b u t s u ) . "The Thirty-two Marks" are essen-
tially the same as the "Thirty-three"; see "Preface to the First Volume,"
n. 4). Nanda's attainment of the marks is not mentioned in the F Y C L
passage, but it is confirmed in other texts (KMJ 443b).
1
On Säriputra, see 2.4, n. 8. F Y C L quotes Jüjuritsu as the source.
The work referred to as "Chinese Stories of Rebirth" ( M o r o k o s h i

no öjöden) cannot be identified (see Shüsei, pp. 472-73). The biography
of Tao-chen (Döchin) in Hsü kao-seng-chuan is very similar to this story
(see also K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 6, p. 4). Mount L u ( R o s a n , i.e., L u -
s h a n ) , in southeastern China, was a center for ascetic religious practices,
both Taoist and Buddhist {BD 5:5080c-81b).
The boat sailing westward, to the "Western Land," is, of course,
bound for Amida's paradise. The "Amida Sütra" is one of the three
major Pure Land scriptures (T12, n. 366).
1 4
F Y C L quotes Zöichi agongyö as the source. The five merits are
avoidance of colds, quick recovery from illness, riddance of dirt and dust
from the body, lightening and regulation of the body, and whitening of
the skin. Jüjuritsu, also quoted in F Y C L , lists riddance of dirt,
whitening of the skin, moderation of body temperature, regularity, and
minimal pain when i l l .
3.5 T H E CONVOCATION
(Maeda ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon)
On the fifteenth and thirtieth days of each month, a convocation is held

1 2
in every temple. This practice was brought here by Master Ganjin.
Master Ganjin was the abbot of Lung-hsing-ssu in Yang Province in
3
China. He was well versed in many sütras, and he was especially
learned in the rules of monastic discipline. When the monks Eiei and
Kögyö went to China, they earnestly entreated him, saying: "The teach-
ings of the Buddha have flowed to the East and reached our land, but,
though we have the scripture, there is no one to transmit and explain its
4
teachings to us. We pray that the master will go back with us."
In the fourth year of the Shöhö era [752], when an embassy was
leaving China to return to Japan, Ganjin came with them, accompanied
5
by twenty-four disciples, on the ship of the vice-envoy, Ötomo Komaro.
The empress honored him and installed him in the Tödaiji under her
6
own patronage. In order to correct the texts of sütras, he recited them,
and many errors were rectified. When he was asked the name of a
particular medicine, he could identify it by its smell. He offered prayers
for the [retired] emperor and presented medicines to the empress. At
first he was granted the rank of Daisözu, but he disliked the administra-
tive duties in the Bureau of Clerics that came with it, so he was given the
title Daiwajö and allowed to live in retirement in his V i n a y a monastery;
8
this is the temple presently known as Töshödaiji.
The master was the first to ask imperial permission to hold a
9
convocation at Tödaiji. Later, it was introduced and conducted
everywhere. Many monks gather in a great hall, and one Master of
10
Precepts recites the scripture.
In Bonmökyö it is said: "Newly inspired Bodhisattvas should hold
a convocation fortnightly. They should recite the Ten Major Precepts
and the Forty-eight Minor Precepts. Whether one hundred or one
thousand monks attend, only one should recite. He who recites should
take the highest seat, and the audience should be below him. That which
is recited has been recited by all the Buddhas of the Three Ages. I also
recite it. A l l sentient beings and all kings and princes and monks and
nuns and faithful laymen and laywomen shall, by upholding that which
the Bodhisattva has ordained, be kept from falling into the E v i l
11
Realms."
While the recitation proceeds, those who are not monks may not
watch or listen. When the Buddha was in this world, there was a certain
boy who hid himself and overheard the monks in convocation. The
Buddha was not present, but he knew about this, and he sent Vajrapäni
to drive him away. Vajrapapi struck the boy on the head and killed him;
12
it was then seen that he was not, in fact, a real boy.
The convocation is certainly an important element of monastic
discipline and an ancient artifact of the Buddha's teachings.
During the last days of the sixth month, a census is taken in both
monasteries and convents so that the measure of their merit can be
ascertained.
Notes
The convocation (fusatsu, Sanskrit posadha) is a fortnightly

recitation of the precepts, followed by confessions of violations and a
renewal of vows (BD 5:4410a-llb).
2
Ganjin (Chien-chen, 688-763) is one of the most important figures
in Nara-period Buddhism. Tamenori's account of his life is a close
paraphrase of the biography in Shoku N i h o n g i (Tenpyö Höji 7, fifth
month, reporting his death; K S T K 2:293-94). Other traditional
biographies are Tö Daiwajö töseiden and that in the Sung Kao-seng-
c h u a n , but Tamenori does not seem to have used these (see Takeuchi,
ed., N a r a i b u n 3, pp. 895-908 and Τ 50:797a-c; see also Andö Kösei,
G a n j i n ) . Several incidents described here are depicted in Töseiden
emaki, completed ca. 1298 (Shinshü N i h o n emakimono zenshü 21).
3
The Lung-hsing-ssu (Ryüköji) was a state-supported temple in
Yang-chou (Andö, G a n j i n , p. 8). The title "abbot" here is d a i t o k u ( t a i -
t e ) , denoting monks of high rank in the Sui and T'ang dynasties (BGD
2:925d).
4
E i e i (also "Yöei") was a monk of Köfukuji. He went to China in
733 and remained there for nine years. His first meeting with Ganjin
occurred in 742. Shoku N i h o n g i calls his colleague Kögyö, as does
Tamenori, but all other accounts call him Fushö and identify him as a
monk of Köfukuji or Daianji (Andö, G a n j i n , pp. 30-31). A l l of the
traditional biographies include a speech of invitation like the one
recorded here. Töseiden inserts a phrase in praise of Shötoku Taishi's
efforts to establish Buddhism in Japan ( N a r a i b u n 3, p. 69a).
5
Tamenori omits details that he might have found in Töseiden,
including the account of Ganjin's five abortive attempts to cross to
Japan, during which time he became blind. Töseiden also has a list of
the twenty-four disciples ( N a r a i b u n 3, pp. 904-5). Ötomo Komaro was
second in command in the mission of 752; the leader was Fujiwara
Kiyokawa, but he died after remaining in China for ten years, while
Komaro took the mission home in 754.
6
The empress at the time was Koken.
7
Ganjin apparently introduced a number of medicinal plants
(Watanabe Takeshi, "Ganjin Wajö shörai no yakuhin," in Andö, ed.,
G a n j i n Wajö den no kenkyü, pp. 129-52).
8
The appointment as Daisözu in 756 made Ganjin chief of all
monks and nuns and head of the bureau that regulated their ordinations
and other activities. In 758, when Junnin ascended the throne, Ganjin's
title was changed to Daiwajö, and he retired to Töshödaiji. The
reference to this temple as a " V i n a y a monastery" ( k a i i n ) is to its func-
tion as a center for the study of monastic discipline; it is still the head-
quarters of the Ritsu school (Andö, G a n j i n , p. 198).
9
Details of the first convocation at Tödaiji, including the date, are
unclear. Although Genkö shakushö says that it took place in 756, it is
likely that some form of convocation was held at Kokubunji before
Ganjin established a regular procedure (see Ishida Mizumaro, "Ganjin ni
okeru fusatsu no igi," in N a n t o bukkyö 21, pp. 5-8).
10
T h e "Master of Precepts" ( k a i s h i ) title indicated a monk
qualified to administer vows to newly ordained monks.
11
T h e full name of "Bonmökyö" is Bonmökyö rushanabussetsu
bosatsu s h i n j i k a i b o n daijü; it is probably a Chinese forgery but was
associated from early times with the administration of vows in
Mahäyäna monasteries. The translation is attributed to Kumärajäva.
Tamenori's quotation seems to be a free adaptation of various passages
of the sütra (see Τ 24:1008a, for example) but may in fact be based on
some other intermediary source. "Newly inspired Bodhisattvas" ( s h i n -
gaku bosatsu) refers, in Bonmökyö, to newly ordained monks or those
who want to renew their vows. The "Ten Major Precepts and the Forty-
eight Minor Precepts" are enumerated in various parts of the sütra. The
ten are abstention from killing, abstention from lying, abstention from
selling alcoholic beverages, abstention from speaking of the past viola-
tions of others, abstention from praising oneself and denigrating others,
abstention from selfishness in sharing the teachings, abstention from
anger, and abstention from slandering the Three Jewels (Taya,
Bukkyögaku j i t e n , p. 53b-c). The Forty-Eight Minor Precepts are largely
refinements and variations of these. The "Buddhas of the Three Ages"
are those of the past, present, and future. The expression "faithful
laymen and laywomen" translates s h i n n a n s h i n n y o , itself a translation
of Sanskrit upäsaka and u p a s l k a .
12
Vajrapäni ( K o n g o misshaku) is a Yaksa, a celestial being armed
with lightening bolts who attacks defilers of the Buddhist order at the
Buddha's bidding (BD 3:2247a-48b). The source of the story of his
attack on the interloper at the convocation is probably a passage in the

N i r v a n a Sütra (Τ 12:380c).
-I*q
"The census is taken" is chü ο u k u . A specially prepared piece of

wood (chü) was passed among those in attendance at the end of the
convocation, and each monk or nun made a mark on it (BD 4:3624b
43c). Tamenori euphemistically describes this as "measuring the merit"
of the temple.
The Second Month
3.6 SECOND M O N T H R I T E S
1
From the first day of this month, for three nights or five nights or seven
nights, large ceremonies are held in various temples in the capital and in
2
the provinces. The preparation of artificial flowers, burning of incense,
decorating of the Buddha altar, and all the efforts of the devoted are
3
special and unique to these occasions.
Cutting up silk to make flowers may seem like a trivial pastime for
idle hands, and the smell of burning incense may often be thought of as a
stimulant to the senses, but these offerings are made in accordance with
the teachings of the Buddha. In a sütra it is said: "The color of the
flower is an adornment of the Buddha world. When there are no flowers,
artificial flowers should be used. The smoke of burning incense is a
message of welcome to the Buddha. Human beings are foul smelling and
4
unclean; all the more reason, then, for burning good incense." This is
the basis for these practices.
The Buddha takes no pleasure in the sensation of color, nor is he
pleased by perfume, but these are his ways of teaching us how to increase
our merit and to deepen the power of our faith. Here is an illustration of
an offering of incense to the Buddha and its generation of immeasurable
merit: Long ago, there was an elder who lived after Vipasyin Buddha
5
had already entered Nirvana. He noticed a crack in the plaster at the
back of a stüpa, so he prepared some fresh plaster and repaired the
crack. Then he scattered sandalwood incense around the stüpa, uttered
a prayer, and went away. As a result, he did not fall into the E v i l Realms
through ninety-one k a l p a s of rebirth but was always reborn as a Celestial
or as a man with a fragrant body and a fragrant mouth. Then he was
reborn as the son of an elder of Kapilavastu, and the beauty of his person
exceeded that of all others. The scent of sandalwood emanated from his
6
body, and the scent of lotus blossoms emanated from his mouth. His
7
mother and father were overjoyed, and they named him "Sandalwood."
Eventually, he became one of the Buddha's disciples, and attained the
state of an a r h a t .
Also, in a sütra it is said: "Blowing air from your mouth onto the
8
ashes of incense and scattering them is a terrible crime." It is also said:
"When you light incense, recite this verse:
This is the incense of the Three Modes of Training,

Of freedom from desire and of self-realization.
May it spread throughout the Ten Directions
Perfuming the entire world forever.
May this incense be ever thus,
And may I and others fully attain the Five
9
Dharma Bodies."
Thus be it known: one color, one scent; even these are a part of the
10
Middle Path.
Notes
Two fragments have been identified. See Shüsei, p. 247.

2
According to Yamada, the term Shunigatsu, which appears as the
title to this section but not in the text itself, was specifically associated
with a rite first observed by the monk Jitchü in 752 in a hall of the
Tödaiji known as the Kensakuin, later the Nigatsudö. The central image
was an eleven-headed Kannon that Jitchü claimed to have found in
Naniwa Bay. This rite is said to be the forerunner of the Mizutori rite
now observed in the Nigatsudö (see Nishitsunoi Masayoshi, Nenjü gyöji
j i t e n , p p . 383-84).
The use of flowers made of paper, silk, and other materials as altar
decorations is based on scriptural instructions and was practiced from
an early time in Japan (BD 4:3048c-49a). This paragraph is quoted in
Fujiwara Kenshö's Shüchüshö ( N i h o n kagaku t a i k e i , bekkan 2, p. 105;
Shüsei, p . 247).
4
The source of this quotation has not been identified. The descrip-
tion of incense as a "message of welcome to the Buddha" resembles a
passage in H s i n g - s h i h - c h ' a o (i.e., Ssu-fen-lü shan-fan pu-ch'üeh h s i n g -
s h i h - c h ' a o ) compiled by Tao-hsüan between 626-630, which in turn
quotes Zöichi agongyö (Shüsei, p. 473; Τ 40:136b).
5
The story that follows appears in a F Y C L section on offerings of
flowers and incense, as a quotation from Senjü hyakuengyö (Τ 53:571a).
On Vipasyin Buddha, see 3.4, n. 8.
"Lotus blossoms" here is u h a t s u k e .
The name is Sendankö, a translation of c a n d a n a - g a n d h a , "sandal-
wood incense" (Ogiwara, K a n w a taishö b o n w a d a i j i t e n , p . 459a).
8
F Y C L , in the same section cited above, quotes Yamongyö, a lost
work. Tamenori omits the specific punishment for the crime: the
miscreant falls into "Blue Lotus Hell," where his body and those of other
sinners turn blue.
9
The source is Yokuzö kudokukyö (Τ 16:799b). The verse is also
quoted in Kuchizusami (GR 32a:71a). On the "Three Modes of
Training," see "Preface to the First Volume," n. 3. The "Five Dharma
Bodies" (goshushin; also goshuhosshin, gobunhosshin) are five states
embodying a progressive attainment of enlightenment: this begins with
discipline, which make concentration possible, which produces wisdom,
through which one attains liberation and, finally, the realization that one
is liberated (BD 2:1288a c).
10
The term "Middle Path" (chüdö) has several technical meanings,
but Tamenori uses it here as a synonym for Buddhism. The phrase
echoes Mo-ho chih-kuan ( T 46:1c, 9a, etc).
3.7 T H E ÄNANDA R I T E OF P E N A N C E AT SAIIN

1
Junnain was the palace of the consort of Junna; it is also called Saiin.
The consort was the daughter of Emperor Saga, and she became the wife
2
of Emperor Junna. She deeply revered the Three Jewels and devoted
herself to obtaining the salvation of others. In the fifth month of the
second year of the Jögan era [860] she held a great reading of the L o t u s
3
Sütra in the Junnain. On the last day, she asked the abbot of
Enryakuji, Jikaku Daishi, to stay behind, and she had her head shaved
and received the Bodhisattva precepts and the Buddhist name "Ryöso"
4
from him.
She gathered abandoned children from both the eastern and
western quarters of the capital, found wet-nurses for them, and raised
them. She also made the old Saga palace into a temple and called it
5
Daikakuji. She constructed another building, the Saijiin, at one side of
it, and it was a place where monks and nuns could be cared for when they
6
were i l l . The Junnain was also made into a temple, but its name
7
remained unchanged. There, she supported nuns who worshipped both
day and night, and she remained in residence there for a long time.
Abbesses and their disciples have followed one another, and still the
practice of the Way continues there, uninterrupted to this day. This is
recorded in the N i h o n k o k u s a n d a i j i t s u r o k u ?
A major rite observed at the temple is the Änanda Rite of Penance,
9
held twice each year. This is its basis: Long ago, the Buddha's aunt
Gautami came to him and asked three times for permission to shave her
10
head and become his disciple, but the Buddha refused. Full of disap-
pointment and grief, she left the Jetavana garden; Änanda found her in
tears outside its gates when he returned from an excursion, and he spoke
11
sympathetically to her and then went inside. Änanda said to the
Buddha, "Seven days after you were born, the lady Mäyä died, but
Gautam! resolved to raise you in her place. You encourage all sentient
beings to enter into the Buddha World; why do you not give her, of all
12
people, your permission?"
The Buddha replied, "It is not because I do not acknowledge my
obligation to her. But I cannot allow women to enter the Buddha World.
If I were to do so, the Period of the True Teaching would be shortened
by five hundred years."
Then Änanda said, " A l l the Buddhas of the past had disciples of
the Four Classes. Why does our Great Master, the Tathägata
3.7 The Änanda Rite of Penance 273
14
Säkyamuni, refuse to permit even one woman?" So fervently did he
plead that at last the Buddha gave his permission for Gautami's ordina-
tion, and thereafter numbers of women shaved their heads and were
allowed to take vows. The Buddha said, "In the future, women who wish
to become nuns, as well as those who have that virtuous intention,
should concentrate on the recollection of their obligation to Änanda, and
they should chant his name, make offerings to him, and sing his
15
praises."
After the Buddha's death, his aged disciple Mahäkäsyapa accused
Änanda of six transgressions, and among them he included his promo-
tion of the admission of women to the Buddhist community on the
grounds that this had caused the shortening of the Period of the True
16
Teaching by five hundred years. But Änanda was also a very wise sage,
17
and he answered the charges cleverly.
Thus be it known: all women who become nuns owe a debt of
gratitude to the revered Änanda. In Höongyö it is said: "If a woman
seeks an expedient way to earn good k a r m a , on the eighth day of the
second month and the eighth day of the eighth month, she should purify
her garments and wholeheartedly observe the Eight Precepts through
the Six Watches. Änanda will then use his supernatural power to
respond to her voice, and he will protect her and answer every one of her
18
prayers."
The Rite of Penance, which has been observed for such a long time
at this temple, is thus intended to repay this obligation to Änanda; the
commitment to observe these two days of worship is in accordance with
19
the teachings of the Buddha himself.
Notes
1
Four fragments of the Tödaiji-gire type have been identified. See
Shüsei, pp. 251-53.
2
Junna (786-840) was the third son of Emperor Kanmu and
reigned from 823 to 833. His wife was Emperor Saga's eldest daughter
Seishi. Tamenori acknowledges N i h o n s a n d a i j i t s u r o k u (below) as the
source of his account of her life. He follows the biography that appears
there under the date of her death (the twenty-third xlay of the third
month of Kangyö 3, 879) very closely ( K S T K 4:450). Junnain was the
emperor's residence from his abdication until his death. Saiin was the
designation for several retired emperor's residences, including this one.
Seishi remained there with her son until her death in 879, restoring the
building after it burned in 874. It continued in use as a convent until the
end of the eleventh century, when it became a monastery under the juris-
diction of Ninnaji. The building ceased to exist sometime in the
Muromachi period, although the honorary title "Junnain bettö" was
retained by the Ashikaga and Tokugawa shöguns (Ryü Susumu,
"Junnain," in N i h o n r e k i s h i d a i j i t e n 10, p. 150).
3
J i t s u r o k u reads "She held a Great Feast ( D a i s a i e ) to which many
famous monks were invited, and they lectured on the L o t u s Sütra"
4
"Jikaku Daishi" is the honorary posthumous name of Ennin, the
third Tendai abbot (794-864) (see 3.16). The Bodhisattva Precepts
( B o s a t s u k a i ) were a set of vows administered to both monks and nuns as
well as laypersons; the scriptural basis is the Bonmökyö rather than the
V i n a y a (see 3.19 and 3.20).
5
Daikakuji is in Özawa-chö, Ukyö-ku, Kyoto. It was originally
Saga's detached palace and his place of retirement. Seishi named her
second son its first abbot. Today it is the headquarters of a branch of
the Shingon school (Zenkoku j i i n m e i k a n , K i n k i hen, p. 142c-43b).
6
Saijiin seems to have been a place in which indigent monks and
nuns without formal institutional ties sought refuge and medical care. It
no longer survives (Ryakuchü, p. 254).
7
Although it had been known as Saiin during Junna's residence, the
convent, by Seishi's design, was called "Junnain" (Ryu, "Junnain,"
p. 150). Actually, both names seem to have been used concurrently.
8
This official history was compiled by Fujiwara Tokihira and
others in 901. It covers events in the reigns of Seiwa, Yözei, and Kökö
(858-887).
9
The rite ( A ' n a n keka) was held on the eighth day of the second
and eighth months, as prescribed in the section of Höongyö on which it
was based, quoted below.
10
T h e name Gautami (Kyödonmi) means "woman of the Gautama
clan"; she is also known as MahäprajäpatI (sometimes translated
Daiaidö). She was the sister of Säkyamuni's mother Mäyä, and she
acted as his stepmother after Mäyä died seven days after the birth of the
Buddha (BD 5:4728c-29b). This account of the Buddha's acceptance of
women into his order is similar to that in Höongyö (Τ 3:153b-154b), but
the same story is repeated in several texts.
11
O n Jetavana, see "Preface to the Second Volume," n. 13. On
Änanda, see 1.13, n. 11.
12
"Buddha World" is b u k k a i ; in Höongyö, Änanda speaks of admis-
sion to "the Buddha's Teachings" (buppö). Both terms have technical
meanings, but here the intent is "access to Buddhism" embodied in
membership in the Buddha's clerical order.
13
T h e "Period of the True Teaching" (shöbö) is that which begins
immediately after the presence of the Buddha in this world, during
3.7 The Änanda Rite of Penance 275
which his teachings are perfectly understood and practiced. Höongyö

does not specify here how long this period should last, but in another
story it says that each period should last "twenty short aeons" (T
3:128b).
14
"The Disciples of the Four Classes" ( s h i b u deshi; Höongyö has
shibushu) are monks, nuns, devout laymen, and devout laywomen (BD
2:1800a b).
15
T h e quotation is an abbreviation of a passage in Höongyö (Τ
3:154b).
16
O n Mahäkäsyapa, see "Preface to the Second Volume," n. 7. The
number of his charges against Änanda varies according to different texts.
D a i c h i d o r o n says there were six, but only five are enumerated. These
are seeking the inclusion of women in the Buddhist order, failing to give
the Buddha water when he asked for it in his last moments, failing to ask
the Buddha to delay his death, stepping on the Buddha's robe when it
was being folded after his death, and allowing women to see the
Buddha's private parts (T 25:68a b; Lamotte, 1, pp. 94-97; BD 1:44a).
17
I n some versions of the story, Änanda argues against the charge
but agrees to accept responsibility for the foreshortening of the "Period
of the Correct Law" if the assembly insists that he must do so.
18
T h e quotation is from the same part of Höongyö cited above.
The "Eight Precepts" ( h a c h i k a i ) include vows against the commission of
the Five Transgressions (see "Preface to the First Volume," n. 6) plus
vows to refrain from sleeping on a high bed, using perfume or cosmetics,
and eating after mid-day. These vows are kept for one day and one
night, i.e., through the "Six Watches" (rokuji): dawn, mid-day, sundown,
dusk, midnight, and the hours before dawn (BD 5:5057c-58a; B G J 52b).
19
Tamenori concludes without presenting a description of the rite
itself, and descriptions of it are rare. We can assume that it may have
involved readings of the relevant portions of the Höongyö or other texts
dealing with nuns' obligations to Änanda.
3.8 T H E N I R V A N A SERVICE A T Y A M A S H I N A D E R A
When the Tathägata Säkyamuni sensed that he was about to enter

Nirvana, he left the land of Magadha for the city of Kusinagara, and on
the fifteenth day of the second month, in a grove of säla trees on the
banks of the Ajitavati, "the fuel was exhausted and the fire was
1
quenched." The sandalwood trees that had flourished from the day of
his birth until that day suddenly withered. After the Buddha died, it was
noticed that all the leaves had suddenly fallen from the tree under which
he experienced enlightenment. Even these trees, which have no hearts,
2
reacted to the events of that day. How could all those people who owed
so much to him not yearn for the return of bygone days! Therefore, his
disciples in later ages, unable to forget the ancient past, commemorate
that day by seating themselves upon gold-embroidered cushions, and
they give lectures on the N i r v a n a Sütra, which he himself uttered and
had recorded, and thus they demonstrate the principle of the Buddha's
Eternal Nature. He said, " A l l sentient beings have the seeds of
3
Buddhahood; all will eventually become Buddhas." The celebration of
this principle is intended as a recognition of gratitude to the Buddha,
and the rite is called the N i r v a n a Service. Among the many rites
observed at Yamashinadera, this N i r v a n a Service is conducted with
4
special cooperative efforts among all the monks.
At first the rite was a minor one, but then, many years ago, there
was a young secretary in the service of the governor of Owari Province
who discovered corruption in the provincial administration, and so he
5
shaved his head and came to live in this temple. He was called J u k ö .
6
His heart was pure and wise. He earned the title of "Master." He was
familiar with the Way of Music. He himself rearranged the rite and
regulated the offices of the participants and their proper implements,
thus bringing new grandeur to the rite.
Once, on a certain day immediately following an observance of this
rite, the Great Deity of Atsuta in Owari Province took possession of a
small child and, speaking through him, said: "Jukö used to live in my
province. I heard that this venerable rite was to be held, and I believed
that it would reproduce the rites conducted in former times, so I set out
to attend it myself. But the borders of your province were guarded by all
the Buddhas of the Buddha World, and Nara Grade was guarded by
Brahma and Indra, who would not let me come near. I am sorely
7
grieved. How may I attend the service?"
3.8 The N i r v a n a Service 277
Jukö felt sorry for him and said, "You have come a great distance
for the sake of the Law, only to be kept away from yesterday's service.
For your sake we will perform it again today, with renewed devotion.
During intervals in the rites we will have one hundred readings of the
L o t u s Sütra. By next year I shall have one hundred copies of the L o t u s
Sütra made, and forever afterward this sütra will be read as part of the
service of the second day." He immediately set about these preparations
and held the service as promised. It has continued in this manner to the
8
present day.
I will describe the founding of Yamashinadera in my discussion of
9
the V i m a l a k l r t i Service.
This N i r v a n a Service is also observed as one of the rites at
10
Ishiyama. There is also a group of devotees who observe it on Mount
11
Hie.
In the N i r v a n a Sütra it is said: "If you hear this sütra even once,
all your sins—even those worthy of eternal punishment—will be
expunged. You will know that the Tathägata is always present and never
left the world, and when you hear the words 'He abides eternally' you will
instantly be reborn in Heaven. If you hear the name of the sütra, you
12
will not fall into the Evil Realms." Thus be it known: those who
observe this rite and hear this sütra discover the seeds of Buddhahood
inside their own body, and they can count them just as they might count
up all the gold pieces in their family storehouse.
Notes
1
Magadha ( M a k a d a k o k u ) and Kusinagara (Kushinajö) are the
names of Indian city-states; Räjagrha was in the former. On the "grove
of säla trees," see "Preface to the First Volume," n. 15. The Ajitavati
( B a t s u d a i no k a w a ) is a river that flows through Kusinagara; the site of
Säkyamuni's death was on its western bank. The euphemism "the fuel
was exhausted and the fire was quenched" comes from a verse spoken by
Manjusri at the end of the preface to the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:5a).
2
The source of this description of events following Säkyamuni's
death has not been identified. It is probably an amalgamation of
elements from several texts, including the N i r v a n a Sütra. Tamenori's
emphasis on the reaction of the trees seems to contradict his criticism, in
the "General Preface," of such attributions of emotion to inanimate
objects; the scriptural context makes this acceptable.
3
The idea of "The Buddha's Eternal Nature" (Busshö jöjü) is stated
repeatedly, with this term, in the N i r v a n a Sütra. The quotation
promising Buddhahood to all is also based on repeated statements in the

sütra. Tamenori's point is that the emphasis on the Buddha's eternality
in this rite acts as an antidote to residual grief over the demise of his
temporary, corporeal form, and that the eternal presence of the Buddha
insures universal salvation.
4
A s Tamenori observes, the N i r v a n a Service (Nehan'e) was only
one of several major ceremonies observed at this temple, and it was
observed at many other temples as well. "Yamashinadera" is one of the
early names of Köfukuji (see 3.28). The Nehan'e was also called
Jörakue, "The Service of Everlasting Joy" (BD 5:4149c 50c).
5
The specific source of this story has not been identified. Brief
biographies of Jukö appear in Sanne jöichiki ( D N B Z 123, Köfukuji sösho
1, p. 290) and Sögöbunin ( D N B Z 111, D e n k i sösho, p. 380), compiled in
840 and 833, respectively. This story is also included in an account of
the origin of the Jörakue in S h o j i engishü, a work compiled at about the
same time as Sanböe ( D N B Z 118, J i s h i sösho 2, p. 142; see also B D
3:2832c 33a).
6
"Master" is wajö.
1
A t s u t a no d a i j i n refers to the chief deity of the shrine at Atsuta, in
modern Aichi-ken (the Maeda-ke bon has A t s u t a myöjin). Tamenori
does not give a source for this legend, nor has one been identified. It
seems to suggest a conciliation of native cults with Buddhism. "Nara
Grade" ( N a r a s a k a g u c h i ) lies on the main road between Yamashiro and
the city of Nara, along which the deity would have had to pass on his
way from Owari ( K G D 15:343c).
8
I n an account of the Nehan'e at Köfukuji in Nenjü gyöjishö, it
says: "According to Közeikyöshö, they hold the Nehan'e on the
fifteenth; the Nehan'e is known as the Jörakue. On the sixteenth they
hold the H o k k e e [ L o t u s Service; see 3.12] for the benefit of the great
deity of Atsuta" (ZGR 10a:280a). Közeikyöshö is another name for
G o n k i , the diary of Fujiwara Yukinari (9717—1027). It covers various
parts of the years 991-1011. The passage quoted in Nenjü gyöjishö,
however, does not seem to be in the existing text, which is fragmentary.
9
See 3.28.
10
Ishiyamadera was founded by Roben as a branch of Tödaiji in
762 (see 3.22). According to Ranshöshö, a late Muromachi-period
compendium of the origins of historical sites and rites, the Ishiyama
Nehan'e was first held in 805 (GR 16:979).
11
T h i s assertion has not been documented.
12
T h i s passage from the sütra (Τ 12:406b) is also quoted in F Y C L
(T 53:415a).
3.9 Stone Stupas 279
3.9 S T O N E STÜPAS
1
The building of stüpas of stone is an act of devotion undertaken by many

2
in the spring. Civil and military officials commission their assistants
and lieutenants to see to the construction. Noble clans and royal
households charge their retainers and courtiers with the task. They
select a day and go to the river bank, and there they pile stones in the
shape of a stüpa? Copies of the H e a r t Sütra are gathered, and monks
are invited to chant it and to worship at altars dedicated to the deity
associated with the administration for that year, and prayers are offered
4
for everyone in each sponsoring household. Many are inspired by the
words of the presiding monk and are won over to the faith he expounds.
Great joy is derived from the anticipation of the merit thus generated;
much rice and wine are collected, and the faithful believe that this collec-
tion will help guard against famines and other misfortunes. But there
are ignorant people who think of it merely as a pleasant excursion. They
are responsible for setting the date of the annual observance, and they
are the arbiters of taste regarding the adornments upon the altars, but in
the evening they get drunk and collapse and tumble down in the streets.
Nevertheless, they will reach the garden of merit, and they too shall
plant their own good roots there.
In the Sütra o n E a r n i n g M e r i t for t h e E x t e n s i o n of Life t h r o u g h
5
Stüpa B u i l d i n g it is said : King Prasenajit said to the Buddha, "A prog-
nosticator has examined me and says that I am going to die in seven
days. I pray you, save me, oh Buddha!"
The Buddha said, "Fear not. Cultivate compassion, vow not to kill
living things, and build a stüpa; by performing these excellent deeds, you
will lengthen your life and increase your fortune. Among all excellent
deeds, nothing exceeds the excellence of stüpa building. Once, long ago,
there was a small child who tended cattle. Some prognosticators
examined him and said, T h i s child will surely die in seven days.' The
cowherd saw some other children at play, building little piles of sand
pebbles that they called 'the Buddhas stüpas' The young cowherd
joined them, and he also built a stüpa of sand pebbles. It was only as tall
as the span between his thumb and middle finger, but, as a result, his life
was immediately lengthened by seven years. At that time a certain self-
enlightened sage was going around with his begging bowl. The
mischievous children offered him some sand pebbles, saying, 'Here is
some flour. The sage put out his bowl and accepted the sand pebbles.
Then, through his magical powers, they turned into flour. When the
children saw this, they were inspired with real faith. The sage told them,
'When you build your stüpas of sand pebbles, make them as tall as your
hand, and in the next world you will become an Iron Wheel-King and
rule one world. Make them two hands tall, and you will become a Copper
Wheel-King, and you will rule two worlds. Make them three hands high,
and you will become a Silver Wheel-King, and you will rule three worlds.
Make them four hands tall, and you will become a Gold Wheel-King, and
6
you will rule four worlds."'
Though these small children only built them in play, they received
these great rewards. What, then, can be expected by a Great King who
undertakes this task with sincere devotion? The Buddha said that
anyone with faith in his heart, who is free from doubt, who follows the
teachings and builds a stüpa no taller than the first joint on his finger,
"will earn immeasurable merit"; that is how he explained the practice of
building stüpas of clay. "He who builds a stüpa will be immune to poison
for the rest of his life. His lifespan will be very long. He will not die of
unnatural causes; evil spirits will not come near him, and he will escape
all his enemies and assailants. He will never be i l l , and his sins will be
7
expunged." And in the L o t u s Sütra it is said: " A l l children who, while
at play, gathered sand pebbles together and built stüpas for Buddhas
8
have become Buddhas themselves." Thus be it known: great merit is
embodied in stüpas of stone!
Notes
Three fragments have been identified. See Shüsei, pp. 259-61.

2
Yamada observed that this is one of the few surviving contempo-
rary descriptions of lay gatherings at which small model stüpas
(shakutö) were made, but such gatherings seem to have occurred with
some frequency in the Heian period. Eventually the practice became
almost exclusively associated with blind monks (Ryakuchü, p. 264).
3
According to Yamada this took place on the sixteenth day of the
second month, perhaps in association with the previous day's obser-
vances of the anniversary of the Buddha's death. In the capital, the
banks of the Kamo River were the favored site (Ryakuchü, pp. 264-65).
4
O n the H e a r t Sütra, see 2.7, n. 5. The meaning of "the deities
associated with the administration for that year" ( t o s h i no n a k a no
m a t s u r i g o t o no k a m i ) is unclear, but Yamada suggested that this may
mean the deity or deities associated with a given year according to Y i n -
yang cyclical divination (Ryakuchü, p. 265).
3.9 Stone Stüpas 281
ö
Zötö enmyö kudokukyo is a short work dealing mainly with the
story of King Prasenajit (T 19:726a b).
6
Prasenajit (Hashinokuö) was mentioned in the "General Preface"
as the father of Srimälä. "Self-enlightened sage" is byakushibutsu, i.e., a
pratyekabuddha (see 1.8, n. 3). The various "Wheel-Kings" (Techirin'ö,
Dörin'ö, Gonrin'ö, Konrin'Ö) represent four gradations of that high
status. As the Wheel-King accumulates merit and progresses through
these grades, he commands a greater number of the continents that lie
around Mount Sumeru.
7
The quotations are from the same sütra (Τ 19:727b).
8
This quotation paraphrases a portion of a verse in the second
chapter of the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:8c). It is often alluded to in support of
the notion that simple forms of devotion yield great rewards; see, for
example, an essay by Yasutane on the K a n g a k u e , in Honchö monzui 10
(Kakimura, Honchö monzui chüshaku 1, pp. 368-69).
The Third Month
3.10 T H E S E R V I C E OF T H E P R O P A G A T I O N
1
OF THE TEACHINGS AT SHIGA
Emperor Tenji wanted to build a temple. At the time, the capital was at
4
the palace of Ötsu in the province of Ömi. One night he offered prayers
for guidance in choosing a site for the temple, and later he had a dream
in which a monk appeared and said, "In the northwest quarter there is
an auspicious place. Go out immediately, and you will see it." He got up
and went out to look. A ray of light was shining down out of the sky
upon the spot.
The next morning he sent a courier to investigate, and when the
courier returned, he reported, "A small monastery stands on the spot
where the light was shining. One lay devotee lives there, circumam-
bulating and praying. I questioned him, but he would not answer me.
5
He looks very strange; he does not look like a man of this world."
The emperor was impressed and very pleased. He went to the
monastery himself. The lay devotee came out to welcome him. The
emperor questioned him, and he replied: "Long ago this was the secret
grotto of sagely spirits, and now a great treasure lies buried here at
6
Nagarayama in Sasanami," and then he disappeared.
The construction of the temple was completed in the first month of
the following year. When the ground was broken and the mountain was
7
leveled, a bell was found. White stones that shone luminously in the
night were found as well. These discoveries increased the awe and
reverence of the emperor, inspiring him to build a great hall in which the
8
Buddha was enshrined. The emperor cut off the third finger of his left
hand and placed it in a stone casket, which was buried beneath a stone
lantern. Thus he perpetually held up a light with his own hand to
express his devotion to Maitreya. This is recorded in the A n n a l s of t h e
O r i g i n s of Shiga?
The Consultant and War Minister, Lord Tachibana Naramaro,
held the first "Service of the Propagation of the Teachings" in this
temple on the fifth day of the third month of the eighth year of the
10 11
Tenpyö Shöhö era [756]. In the A n n a l s it says : "Thus have we heard:
the Sufukuji is a venerable temple; its monks were great in number, but
their learning was not vast. Therefore, they were given many sütras,
beginning with the K e g o n Sütra, and many other sütras of the Greater
3.10 The Propagation of the Teachings 283
and the Lesser Vehicles and the V i n a y a s and commentaries and

treatises, and they studied them. They were granted 10,000 k i n of rice
12
for their sustenance and twenty rice fields for their support." From
that time until the present, members of the Tachibana clan have
q
worshiped there.
In C h i d o r o n it is said: "The Buddha said, 'Among the many acts of
charity, a gift of the Teachings is first. Why? Because a gift of property
has limits, but a gift of the Teachings has no limits. A gift of treasure
earns merit for the donor; a gift of the Teachings benefits both the donor
14
and the recipient.'"
In other sütras it is said: "Propagation of the Teachings, whereby
people are encouraged to read the Word and are thereby enlightened,
15
generates merit beyond measure."
Thus be it known: he who has high regard for the Teachings does
not despise a monk just because he is humble. If a robe is malodorous,
do not cast it away along with the gold that may be sewn inside its
seams. The Himalaya Boy acquired the verse by obeying the demon, and
Indra obtained the Teachings by venerating a fox. It is certainly incum-
bent upon us to read the scriptures bequeathed to us by the venerable
16
monks of the past.
Notes
1
The section title in the Maeda-ke bon is followed by the note
"beginning on the fourth day of the third and ninth months"; the Töji
Kanchiin bon erroneously reads "the ninth and fourth days."
2
Five fragments have been identified. See Shüsei, pp. 263-65). A
quotation of approximately the first half of this section appears in
Fujiwara Norikane's W a k a dömöshö (see Shüsei, p. 266; Muromatsu
Iwao, ed., K o k u b u n chüshaku zensho 17, p. 32).
3
Tenji ruled from 668 to 671. What follows is the story of his
founding of Sufukuji. This temple was damaged by many fires and
earthquakes in the tenth and eleventh centuries, and in 1163 it was set
afire again by warrior-monks from Enryakuji, who burned the nearby
Onjöji at the same time. Sufukuji was not rebuilt thereafter (BD
4:3106a-7a). Tamenori's account of the founding of the temple is
probably based on S u f u k u j i e n g i , to which he refers below as " S h i g a no
e n g i " ("Shiga" being another name for the vicinity of Ötsu). The work is
lost, but Fusö r y a k k i contains a few quotations ( K S T K 12:60).
4
Tenji moved the capital from Asuka to Ötsu, on the southwest
shore of Lake Biwa, in 667. After a fire destroyed the palace, Tenji's
successor Tenmu returned the seat of government to Asuka in 672.
"Lay devotee" is u b a s o k u ; in this case, the term refers to an ascetic

who practices alone, without formal ties to any particular institution.
6
The ascetic's words—recorded in k a n j i , with f u r i g a n a , in the Töji
Kanchiin bon—read like a coded, oracular message. The first clause is
"senrei no k u t s u " ; senrei is a Chinese word for semidivine sages. In the
second clause, "fukuzö no c h i " fukuzö refers to holy treasures, perhaps
relics, sacred jewels, or implements. "Sasanami" ("whispering waves") is
an ancient name for the area on the southwestern shore of Lake Biwa.
There is a mountain in the vicinity of Ötsu named Nagarayama, but it is
nowhere near the site of Sufukuji (KGD 15:208d; N K B Z 21:182a).
Reference to it here, along with "Sasanami," probably arises from poetic
convention (see Takeshita, B u n g a k u i s e k i j i t e n , sanbunhen, pp. 298-99
and s h i k a h e n , p. 287). It is in explanation of the use of "Sasanami" in a
poem from the Man'yöshü that Norikane quotes this section of Sanböe
in W a k a dömöshö (see n. 2).
The bell (höshaku) seems to be the "great treasure" to which the
ascetic alluded. Fusö r y a k k i gives 668 as the date of its discovery ( K S T K
12:60).
Q
The central image at Sufukuji was of Maitreya; hence, the

reference to this Buddha that follows.
9
See n. 3.
10
Naramaro (6027—757) was a son of Tachibana Moroe, a Minister
of the Left, by a daughter of Fujiwara Fuhito. Naramaro was imprisoned
and died during the Jöwa Uprising, one of the political crises that led to
the solidification of Fujiwara control of the throne (KJJ 4:1088b 89c).
The rite described here (Denböe) appears to have been unique to
Sufukuji. Since Maitreya was the main image in the main hall, the rite
was also known as M i r o k u e . It is referred to as such in E i g a m o n o g a t a r i ,
where it is said that Michinaga attended the service in the third month
of 1019 ( N K B T 75:453; McCullough and McCullough, tr., A T a l e of
F l o w e r i n g F o r t u n e s 2, p. 510).
11
B o t h the Maeda-ke bon and one of the Tödaiji-gire fragments
have "the A n n a l s " (sono e n g i ) , but Töji Kanchiin bon has, erroneously,
"the P r o c e d u r e s " (sono s h i k i ) .
1 2
A modern k i n is 600 grams. Under the Ritsuryö system, sixteen
ryö comprised one k i n .
13
Tamenori seems to emphasize the relationship between the rite
and the temple and the Tachibana clan. Despite their imperial descent
and long history, this clan was entirely overshadowed by the Fujiwara
and held little power in Tamenori's day.
1 4
A section of F Y C L on "Propagation of the Teachings" ( T
53:882b) contains this quotation from D a i c h i d o r o n .
3.10 The Propagation of the Teachings 285
This quotation amalgamates several quotations in the section of

F Y C L cited above.
16
These remonstrances refer to the deceptively humble appearance
of the mysterious ascetic and to the fact that Naramaro initiated the rite
for the benefit of monks who were somewhat lacking in erudition. The
image of the "gold inside the robe" is reminiscent of the parable of the
jewels in the robe in the L o t u s Sütra (see "Preface to the Second
Volume," n. 11). The story of the boy and the verse is that of tale 1.10;
the wording here follows that of F Y C L ( T 53:413a). A story quoted in
F Y C L (T 53:882c) from Mizöu innengyö (Τ 17:577c) is the source of the
story of Indra and the fox. The fox fell into a hole while he was being
chased, but he did not lament his death. Indra praised him for having
thus demonstrated the principle of nonattachment to worldly existence.
M o - h o c h i h - k u a n also has allusions to the story of the boy of the
Himalayas and the story of the fox in a single passage (T 46:45b), and
this may be Tamenori's point of reference. The idea, of course, is that
lofty things may be learned from unlikely sources.
3.11 T H E SAISHÖ S E R V I C E AT Y A K U S H I J I
1
Yakushiji was built by Emperor Tenmu for his mother. This is how the
temple was designed: the emperor's Buddhist mentor [Soren] entered
meditation and envisioned the palace of the Dragon King. He remem-
bered his vision in detail and built the temple in its image.
In the seventh year of the Tenchö era [830], the Middle Counselor
of the Junior Third Rank and Minister of Central Affairs, Lord Naoyo,
petitioned the emperor: "Let a service be conducted in this temple for
seven days each year, at which prayers will be offered for the welfare of
your empire. Let there be lectures on the Saishöökyö for all eternity."
The imperial edict was given immediately, in accordance with the peti
4
tion. From this beginning the rite has continued to this day.
A l l the emperor's descendants in succeeding ages have been its
patrons, and they have adopted the procedure of the V i m a l a k l r t i Service
5
at Yamashinadera as the procedure for this rite. The V i m a l a k l r t i
Service, the Feast, and this Saishö Service are called "The Three Great
Services." There are no more important services in Japan than these.
The same monk serves at all three as "Lecturer." When he is finished, he
1
is called the "Former Lecturer." Afterward, he is called " R i s s h i "
This is recorded in the R e g u l a t i o n s ?
Notes
There are two fragments of the Tödaiji-gire type; one contains

only a title for the section and one line of text. Both it and the Maeda-ke
bon read "beginning on the seventh day" after the title (see Shüsei,
pp. 268-69).
2
Tenmu is identified here as "the Kiyomihara emperor." He
reigned from 672 to 686. Ruijü s a n d a i k y a k u ( K S T K 25:49) and N i h o n
s h o k i ( N K B T 68:444) both say that he built Yakushiji for his wife when
she was i l l , and the temple's documents agree. Tamenori's source of
information has not been identified. The original site of the temple was
at Kashihara, and it was moved to the new capital at Nara in 718
(Machida Köichi, Y a k u s h i j i , pp. 7-9; Öta, N a n t o s h i c h i d a i j i no r e k i s h i t o
nenpyö, p. 107). This opening sentence is quoted in Fujiwara Kenshö's
Shüchüshö (see Kyüsojin Hitaku, ed., N i h o n k a g a k u t a i k e i , bekkan 2,
p. 52; Shüsei, pp. 532-33).
3.11 The Saishö Service 287
The name appears as "Sore" in k a t a k a n a in the Töji Kanchiin bon

and with the character "Sore" in the Maeda-ke bon. Biographies of
Soren appear in Faso r y a k k i ( K S T K 12:65) and Genkö shakusho ( K S T K
31:135). Some versions of Y a k u s h i j i e n g i include similar accounts of the
design of the temple ( Z G R 27b:286b). Öe Tadamichi's S h i c h i d a i j i n i k k i
(1106) says it was a monk named Jöei who was responsible ( Z G R
27a:504a).
4
Naoyo's lineage is unknown, but he may have been an imperial
prince. The name appears in the same form in several entries in Ruijü
s a n d a i k y a k u , including that which reproduces this petition ( K S T K
25:49). The emperor at the time was Junna. In the Heian period the
Yakushiji Saishöe, consisting primarily of readings of the Konkömyö
saishöökyö, was conducted for seven days in the third month.
5
See 3.28.
The "Three Great Services" (San'e or Sanne) were the Köfukuji
Y u i m a e , the G o s a i e at court (also based on Konkömyö saishöökyö), and
the present Saishöe.
7
The first two titles are Köshi and lkö. In this context it would be
misleading to translate " R i s s h i " as " V i n a y a Master" since the title's
main significance was to denote a monk who had completed this progres-
sion through honorary offices. The monk selected lectured first at the
Y u i m a e , in the tenth month. In the first month of the following year he
would preside at the G o s a i e , and then at this Saishöe. Sanne jöichiki
contains a record of all the Köshi appointments from 646 through 1565
( D N B Z 123, Köfukuji sösho 1, pp. 289-431).
8
"Regulations" ( k y a k u ) probably refers to the petition and decree in
S a n d a i k y a k u (see above), or perhaps to the various decrees that
established the Köshi system.
3.12 T H E L O T U S SERVICE A T T A K A O
1
The L o t u s Service at Takao has been observed for a long time. The
patrons of the temple, University Chancellor Wake Hiroyo and Matsuna,
sent a letter to Dengyö Daishi in which they invited him to serve as a
lecturer, saying, "This is an opportunity to set an example that will last
3
for a thousand years." This was the beginning of this observance.
4
Later, Köbö Daishi of Nara resided in this temple. Köbö Daishi
came from Tado District in Sanuki Province. His lay name was Saeki.
At the age of eighteen he went to the university, and he became a monk
7
at the age of thirty-one. When he practiced the meditation on
Äkäsagarbha on Mount Ötaki in Awa Province, the Morning Star
8
appeared as a sign. Later, his studies of scriptures led to new insights
and achievements, and his calligraphy was widely praised.
In the twenty-third year of the Enryaku era [804] he went to China,
where he met Master Hui-kuo of Ch'ing-lung-ssu and received instruc-
9
tion in Shingon from him. When he returned to Japan, he called for the
10
construction of the Shingon'in. Later, he sought refuge from the
mundane world; he died in the spring of the second year of the Jöwa era
1
[835], at Kongöbuji in Ki Province. He was sixty-two years old and
held the rank of Daisözu. During the Saikö era [854-857] he was given
12
the posthumous name Köbö Daishi.
His disciples continued to live at Takao for several generations,
and they inherited the tradition of this rite. On the day of the reading of
the fifth fascicle, they tie offerings to branches plucked from the Takao
cherry trees, and they chant hymns in harmony with the sound of the
13
waters of the Kiyotaki River. Men and women come to pray, and there
is much for them to see and hear that will bring them joy and
inspiration.
Read the chapter on "Taking Joy in the Merit of Others" to find
out about the merit earned by those who encourage others to hear this
u
sütra. "If you take joy in hearing but one verse, you will be given a
prediction of future Buddhahood": so it is said in the chapter on "The
15
Preacher."
Notes
1
2
Takao is a scenic area in the mountains north of Kyoto and the
location of Jingoji, known as "Takaodera" or "Takaosanji." The L o t u s
3.12 The L o t u s Service 289
Service ( H o k k e e) consisted of readings of and lectures on the L o t u s

Sütra and related commentaries. Major H o k k e e were also held at
Tödaiji, Köfukuji, and Yakushiji. This rite should not be confused with
the Hakköe, also known as the H o k k e hakkö (see 2.18 and 3.29).
3
The Wake brothers were sons of Wake Kiyomaro (733-799). He
first established a temple called Jinganji in Kawachi Province. This was
moved to its present site and renamed Jingoji just before the establish-
ment of the new Heian capital, and soon the temple began to receive
imperial patronage. The letter of invitation quoted here is recorded in
E i z a n D a i s h i den (Nakao, Josetsu, p. 386), where the rite is called a
Tendaie. This occasion was the beginning of a series of lectures on
Tendai texts that lasted through much of the year 802, in which many
distinguished monks participated, including Saichö (see Groner, Saichö,
pp. 34-37).
4
Köbö Daishi (Kükai, 774-835), founder of the Shingon school in
Japan, is associated with Nara because he received his early training and
ordinations at Tödaiji and became its Bettö in 810. In 812 he became
abbot of Jingoji, and the temple was presented to him for his private use
in 829. He has no association with the H o k k e e. This biography is based
on Kükai Sözuden, a work traditionally attributed to Shinzei (780-860);
see Köbö D a i s h i den zenshü 1, pp. 31-33. Another source for Tamenori
was the obituary in Shoku N i h o n köki; see K S T K 3:38-39. For more on
the biography of Kükai, see Yoshito Hakeda, Kükai: Major W o r k s .
5
Kükai's birthplace is near the present Zentsüji, in modern
Kagawa-ken, Shikoku.
6
The Saeki were a branch of the Ötomo, one of the most powerful
clans of the Nara period.
7 J
The traditional biographies differ on Kükai s age at the time of his
matriculation and ordination, but his formal ordination does seem to
have occurred fairly late.
8
Äkäsagarbha (Koküzö) is a Bodhisattva who figures prominently
in esoteric Buddhism (BD 2:1136a-38b). In Sangö s h i i k i , Kükai
explained that the meditation was based on a passage in Koküzö bosatsu
nöman shogan saishöshin d a r a n i gumonjihö (Τ 20:601c-3a), which
promises that one million repetitions of the Dhärani in the text will
enable the practitioner to memorize and grasp the meaning of any
passage in scripture. Kükai said that he learned this practice from
Gonsö (see 2.18; Köbö D a i s h i zenshü 3, p. 324). The appearance of the
morning star (myöjö) over Mount Ötaki was taken as a favorable sign
because it was believed to be a manifestation of Äkäsagarbha.
9
Here, " S h i n g o n " is the Japanese translation of Chen-yen, the
Chinese school of esoteric (Tantric) Buddhism. Kükai and Saichö
traveled with the same mission to China, but their ships were separated
en route, and they landed at different points on the Chinese coast.
Kükai soon made his way to Ch'ang-an, where he met Hui-kuo (Keika),
a disciple of Amoghavajra, the translator of many major esoteric texts.
Hui-kuo extended the direct transmission of esoteric Buddhism through
Amoghavajra to Kükai (as alluded to in the "Preface to the Third
Volume"; see n. 10). The ordinations Kükai received from him at
Ch'ing-lung-ssu, in Ch'ang-an, were the basis for Kükai's claim to the
legitimate transmission of esoteric Buddhism. Most of what is known
about Hui-kuo comes from Kükai's own writings (BD l:836c-37a). Their
meetings are depicted in various versions of Köbö D a i s h i den emaki (see
Shinshü N i h o n e m a k i m o n o zenshü, bekkan 1, pi. 22).
10
Hui-kuo died in 805, and Kükai left Ch'ang-an shortly thereafter.
He was in Kyüshü in the tenth month of 806, but he did not reach the
capital until 809, at which time he took up residence at Takao. The
Shingon'in, a chapel for esoteric rites within the imperial palace, was not
established until 834, the year before Kükai's death.
11
Emperor Saga granted Kükai a tract on Mount Köya (in modern
Wakayama Prefecture) for the development of a Shingon monastery;
Kongöbuji, the main temple of what eventually became a large complex
of temples, was established in 818.
1
K ü k a i became Daisözu in 827. The posthumous title Daisöjö was
awarded at the request of Shinzei in 857. Kükai was granted the name
Köbö Daishi in 921, at the request of Kangen, who was then the abbot of
the Shingon school.
1 3
A s in the Hakköe, the chanting of the fifth fascicle was the high
point of the service (see 2.18, n. 11). The hymns ( s a n t a n ) are probably
like those of the Hakköe, or they may have been specially composed for
the H o k k e e.
14
The chapter referred to here as the Z u i k i b o n , i.e.,
Z u i k i k u d o k u b o n , is the eighteenth. The promised rewards for propaga-
tion of the sütra are "perfection of person, seeing the Buddha, hearing
his Law, and receiving his teaching" (T 9:47a).
15
T h e tenth chapter of the sütra (Höshibon) promises a prediction
of Buddhahood (Juki) to those who foster the L o t u s ( T 9:30c).
3.13 The K e g o n Service 291
3.13 T H E K E G O N SERVICE A T H O K K E J I
1
Hokkeji was established by the Empress Kömyö. The empress was the
granddaughter of the palace minister Kamatari and the daughter of the
3
posthumously entitled chancellor, Lord Fuhito. She revered Buddhism,
she was compassionate, and she sought to relive the sufferings of others.
She established an alms house and a dispensary, where she gave succor
4
to her ailing and suffering subjects. It was at the empress's suggestion
that the emperor established Tödaiji and the Kokubunji in the various
5
provinces. She herself established the Hokkeji as the official convent of
6 1
the province of Yamato. This is recorded in the Shoku N i h o n g i .
She also commissioned a service of lectures on the K e g o n Sütra at
8
this temple, and it is called the K e g o n Service. All the offices of the
service were performed by nuns. They made a representation of the
youth Sudhana as he is described in the sütra, and of his meetings with
more than fifty worthy teachers, from whom he heard a variety of
9
wondrous doctrines. The images were seven or eight inches high. On
each day of the service they dressed the images in garments made of silk
and linen, placed them on an altar, and made offerings to them. Later,
this service introduced by the empress came to be known as the "Doll
10
Service." Since the founding of this convent by the empress, there has
been no interruption in its habitation by nuns.
In the Sütra o n t h e Life of t h e N u n Utpalavarnä it is said that she
1 1
obtained the Six Supernatural Faculties and became an a r h a t . She
encouraged many women to become nuns, but some protested: "We are
young and in our prime; it will be difficult for us to uphold our vows,"
they said.
"If you are going to break the vows, then break them—but be
nuns!" she insisted.
"But if we break our vows we will fall into hell!" they countered.
"If you are going to fall into hell, then fall—but be nuns!"
"But if we fall into hell we will suffer ghastly torment!" they cried,
laughing at her.
"When I think of myself in a former life," she said, "I think I was a
very bold woman. I amused myself by wearing many different kinds of
garments and altering my voice and my manner of speaking; finally, I
put on the robes of a nun and pretended that I was a nun. But through
this simple act I earned sufficient merit to be born as a human in the age
12
of Käsyapa Buddha, and I became a real nun. But I was proud of this
special accomplishment, and I became conceited and nurtured evil

thoughts. I committed many sins and frequently broke my vows, and so
I fell into hell. For a while I suffered its torments, but soon I was reborn
in the realm of human beings. Then, because of the good roots I had
planted ages before, I came into this world of the Tathägata Säkyamuni,
and I have become a nun again and have attained the status of an a r h a t .
So even though you say that you might break your vows, I would still
urge you to become nuns, since you will rapidly attain the Way by so
doing."
You will recall that they made images of Sudhana's worthy teachers
and made offerings to them. Meetings with such worthy teachers are not
every-day occurrences. In a sütra it is said: "These teachers teach us,
13
guide us, and inspire the wish for enlightenment within us." In the
verse of a sütra it is said: "It is easier to attain the full fruition of
14
enlightenment than to find a truly worthy teacher." Elsewhere it is
said: "If you touch good incense, the scent perfumes your hand. If you
have contact with a worthy teacher, his teachings will pervade your
15
mind." The merit generated by the empress's introduction of this
service is equal to that generated by Utpalavarnä's encouraging words to
the nuns of long ago. A meeting with a worthy teacher is a repetition of
the experience of Sudhana in former times.
Notes
1
Two fragments have been identified. See Shüsei, p. 275.
2
The temple still stands in Hokkeji chö, Nara-shi. Kömyö (701-
760) was the consort of Emperor Shömu and, like him, a devout
supporter of Buddhism. Tamenori's account of her life follows that in
her obituary under the date of her death, Tenpyö Höji 4.6, in Shoku
N i h o n g i ( K S T K 2:271-72; see also Hayashi Rokurö, Kömyö kögö).
3
Kamatari (614-699) is the progenitor of the Fujiwara clan (see
3.28, η. 1). On Fuhito (659-720), see 3.28, n. 6. His daughter's appoint-
ment as Kögö in 729 marked a departure from precedent, for until that
time there had been no empresses from outside the imperial clan. For
centuries thereafter, the Fujiwara clan maintained control of the throne
by marrying its daughters to emperors.
4
These institutions ( H i d e n ' i n , Seyakuin) were established in 723
and were administered by the Office of the Empress as divisions of the
Köfukuji. Each year, specific provinces were selected to provide finan-
cial support for these institutions, as a meritorious act (Hayashi, Kömyö
kögö, pp. 86-94).
3.13 The K e g o n Service 293
This statement also appears in Shoku N i h o n g i and is thought to

be accurate (see also 3.22).
6
Hokkeji was originally Fuhito's private residence. Kömyö
inherited it after his death and used it as a private temple before it was
designated the official convent of Yamato and named H o k k e
m e t s u z a i s h i j i , as were the convents established in each province at the
same time as the Kokubunji.
7
See n. 2.
8
Tamenori's is one of the few descriptions of the rite as it was
observed at Hokkeji, but his source of information has not been
identified.
9
"The youth Sudhana" ( Z e n z a i döji) heard the preaching of
Manjusri and decided to travel and meet as many "worthy teachers"
( z e n j i s h i k i , from Sanskrit kalyänamitra) as possible. The story of his
travels comprises the Nyühokkaibon section of the K e g o n Sütra
(Kawada Kumatarö and Nakamura Hajime, ed., K e g o n shisö 5, pp. 54
62). The number of z e n j i s h i k i encountered ranges from fifty-three to
fifty-five among the three versions of the sütra (and according to the way
they are counted); this is why Tamenori says there were "more than
fifty," which perhaps indicates a lack of certainty as to which version
1
formed the basis of the K e g o n e.
10 1
T h e "dolls" used in the early K e g o n e do not survive. They may
have been something like the clay figures in the Höryüji dioramas that
depict Säkyamuni's life and death (Jan Fontein, The P i l g r i m a g e of
Sudhana, p. 79, who suggests that the figure of Sudhana may have been
moved from the figure of one of the sages to another as an abridged
reading of the related portion of the sütra was read. He also describes an
early Kamakura-period illustrated scroll, Zenzai döji emaki, which
portrayed the fifty-odd sages in detail). It has been suggested that the
use of dolls in this rite had some relationship to the early forms of H i n a
m a t s u r i , the "Doll Festival" celebrated today by young girls in the third
month of each year (Hashikawa Tadashi, "Hina matsuri to Hokkeji no
Kegon'e," in N i h o n Bukkyö b u n k a no kenkyü, pp. 113-29).
11
T h i s sütra ( U h a t s u r a k e b i k u n i honjökyö) is quoted in
D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:161a-c; Lamotte, 2, pp. 844-48), which is in turn
quoted in F Y C L ( T 53:448c), and the last is probably Tamenori's point of
reference. The name Utpalavarpä is sometimes translated Rengeshiki,
"Color of the Lotus," and that name is used in the "General Preface" (in
which see n. 14). The story that follows has no direct relationship to the
K e g o n Sütra or the K e g o n ' e but is inserted here because it bears upon
the history of women in Buddhism. On the "Six Supernatural Facul-
ties," see "Preface to the First Volume," n. 3.
Käsyapa Buddha (Kashöbutsu) is the sixth of seven major

Buddhas of the past, and the last to appear in this world before
Säkyamuni.
13
The quotation is from the L o t u s Sütra (Τ 9:60c).
14
The verse is from Shinjikangyö (Τ 3:305a).
15
This quotation is based on F Y C L (T 53:668c) and amalgamates
elements of prose and verse passages from Butsuhongyökyö quoted
there.
3.14 T H E K A N G A K U E OF S A K A M O T O ON H I E
In the first year of the Köhö era [964], in the reign of Murakami, a group
of like-minded students from the Northern Hall of the university formed
1
a society. They said, "Man's existence in this world is as fleeting as a
2
glimpse of a speedy colt seen through a crevice. While we may collect
the snow upon our window sills, we would also avoid the smoke outside
3
our gate. We would like to form a bond with monks and meet with
them at a temple to hold services. Let us select the fifteenth day of the
third month and the fifteenth day of the ninth month. Let there be
lectures on the sütras and meditations on the Buddha. Let us be
comrades forever, in this world and in the world to come, and let us give
encouragement to one another in our studies of the Way of the Law and
the Way of Literature."
On this basis, they gave their society its name, "The Society for the
Advancement of Learning." On the evening of the fourteenth day,
monks come down from the mountain and gather at its foot, while the
4
laymen set forth toward the temple when the moon rises in the sky.
Along the way their voices join in the chanting of a verse of Chii i:
The seeds of enlightenment last for billions of k a l p a s ;

The virtuous rewards of eighty-three years create a
5
forest.
When they draw close to the temple, the monks come out to join them,
chanting a verse from the L o t u s Sütra:
Those who seek the Buddha's Way

Are countless, billions—
But those who do so with reverent hearts
Will certainly attain his realm.
At dawn on the fifteenth they discuss the L o t u s Sütra, and in the

evening they meditate on Amida Buddha. Then, until dawn on the
following day, they compose Chinese verses in praise of the Buddha and
of his teachings, and these verses are recorded and kept within the
7
temple. They also chant this verse that Chü i wrote when he presented
a collection of his poems to the Hsiang-shan-ssu:
May my worldly works conceived in error in this life—

A l l the wild words and fanciful phrases—
Be transformed in the next into hymns of praise
That will glorify Buddhism through age after age
8
And turn the Wheel of the Law forever and ever.
as well as this verse:
Why should I feel any love for my body?

It is the source of ten thousand k a l p a s of suffering.
Why should I feel any hatred for this body?
9
It is only a pile of dust in a void.
In response, the monks chant a verse from the L o t u s Sütra:
Hear the Law and sing its praises:

Even if you produce a single sound,
It is the same as if you made an offering
10
To all the Buddhas of the Three Ages.
or they chant the Bodhisattva Nägärjuna's T w e l v e H y m n s until the night

11
is over.
Denizens of this world of suffering who add their voices to these
reverent prayers, or chant the holy hymns and anthems with the monks,
or hear the venerable poems and verses of the laymen are deeply
inspired, and their sleeves are soaked with tears for the duration of the
12
gathering. The monks and laymen in the society share this vow:
As long as this mountain stands without crumbling,

As long as this Way does not come to an end,
Our society will never perish;
It will survive to see the Three Assemblies of the Dragon
13
Flower!
Notes
1
Emperor Murakami reigned from 946 to 967. The date Tamenori
gives for the founding of the Kangakue concurs with that in a letter of
Yasutane's (Honchö m o n z u i , K S T K 29:305). The division of the univer-
sity formally called the Todöin and known familiarly as the K i t a no dö
("Northern Hall") was primarily concerned with the study of secular
literature (kidendö). It was the only division of the institution to
prosper in the ninth century, relying on the continuing support of a

handful of scholarly families. The pessimism of its students, destined
for limited civil careers in a bureaucracy completely dominated by the
Fujiwara, has been much discussed as a motive for the foundation of the
Kangakue (Momo Hiroyuki, "Gakumon to kyöiku," Zusetsu N i h o n
b u n a k s h i t a i k e i 5 ( H e i a n j i d a i 2 ) , p . 174).
2
The figure of the colt seen through a crevice is derived from
C h u a n g - t z u (Burton Watson, tr., The C o m p l e t e W o r k s of C h u a n g - t z u ,
p. 240).
q
To "collect the snow upon our window sills" refers to the scholarly
way of life. This figure is derived from a verse in M e n g - c h i u , a collection
of exemplary anecdotes compiled by Li Han in the early tenth century,
probably introduced almost immediately to Japan. The verse describes
the impoverished scholar Sung Kang; unable to afford a candle, he read
by the light of the moon reflected in the snow piled on his window ledge
(Hayakawa Mitsusaburö, Mögyü 1, pp. 8-9, 95, 460-62). "Avoid the
smoke outside our gate" has no comparably definitive source, but the
phrase is an expression of the scholars' wish to avoid the tainting,
evanescent values of the world outside their scholarly milieu. "Outside
the gate" certainly means "beyond our world of scholarship"; the smoke
may be that of funeral pyres. Tamenori appears to be quoting a
manifesto for the Kangakue, but these expressions do not recur in any
other surviving Kangakue writings.
4
The expression for "when the moon rises," t s u k i n i n o r i t e (literally
"riding on the moon") may be derived from a poem by Hsieh Ling yun
(385-422); Po Chii-i also used the expression (Tanaka Katsumi,
ed. H a k u r a k u t e n , p. 184). The appearance of such a usage here may
suggest that Tamenori is drawing from another account of the Kangakue
(perhaps his own, Yasutane's, or another member's) that has not
survived.
5
These are the first two lines of Po Chli-i's poem honoring the
monk Ju man, with whom he studied for some nine years and who was
eighty-three when the poem was written. The verse is included in
H a k u s h i monjü and in W a k a n röeishü ( N K B T 73:200); see also the
"General Preface," n. 29. For "verse," both Sanböe texts have ge, i.e.,
gätha although the poem is not "scripture." Its form, however, may be
y
imitative of verse in scripture.

6
The verse occurs in the second chapter of the L o t u s ( T 9:10a).
7
Some prefaces to such verses, by Yasutane and other Kangakue
members, are included in Honchö m o n z u i , volume 10.
The lines are from the poem-preface "Po-shih Lo-chung chi-chi";
see W a k a n röeishü ( N K B T 73:200). Hsiang-shan-ssu was a monastery
at Lung-men, known chiefly for its association with the poet.
These lines are from another poem by Po Chü i, "Hsiao-yao

yung," in C h a n g - c h ' i n g c h i 11 (unpaginated), P a i H s i a n g - s h a n s h i h - c h i .
10
These lines are from the same chapter as those cited above (T
9:10b). The "Three Ages" are, of course, the past, present, and future.
11
T h e twelve hymns (Ryüju bosatsu no jüni r a i h a i ) , traditionally
attributed to Nägärjuna (and translated by Jfiänagupta) are in praise of
Amida. They appear in several recensions in Chinese Pure Land works,
notably Chia-ts'ai's C h i n g - t ' u l u n ( T 47:96c-97a), Shan-t'ao's Wang-
sheng l i - t s a n c h i e h ( T 47:442a 43a), and Chih-sheng's C h i - c h u - c h i n g l i -
,
c h a n - i (T47:469c 70b).
12
"This world of suffering" is shaba sekai, from Sanskrit sahäloka-
dhätu, the world of mundane existence from which release is sought
through Buddhism (BGJ 218). In his C h i n - k u n g - m i n g - c h i n g hsüan-i 9
Chih i says, "In this world of suffering, the sound of voices constitutes a
Buddhist rite" (T 39:1b). This statement is, in turn, said to be based on
a line in the V i m a l a k l r t i Sütra: "With the sound of voice and of words,
thus are Buddhist rites composed" (T 14:533c). Thus, indirectly,
Tamenori provides support for the idea that the Kangakue poem offer-
ings embody great merit.
13
T h i s verse is either Tamenori's own composition or perhaps that
of another Kangakue member. The "Three Assemblies of the Dragon
Flower" is ryüge san'e. In M i r o k u geshökyö (Τ 14:423b) it is said that
Maitreya's attainment of Buddhahood will occur several million years in
the future; he will be sitting under a "Dragon-flower" (pumnäga) tree
that is in bloom and, after realizing his enlightenment, will deliver three
discourses. Ninety-six billion people will become a r h a t s after hearing
the first discourse, ninety-four billion after the second, and ninety-two
billion after the third (BGD 2:1422c d). This is a very auspicious way of
saying that the Kangakue should last forever.
3.15 The Service of Ten Thousand Lights 299
3.15 T H E S E R V I C E OF T E N
THOUSAND LIGHTS AT YAKUSHIJI
1
The Service of Ten Thousand Lights at Yakushiji was begun by the

2
monk Etatsu. He continued to observe it for the rest of his life, and he
bequeathed it to his comrades in the monastery at his death. Before he
died, he attained the rank of Risshi? He was buried in the western sector
of the monastery. It is said that a luminescence emanated from his
grave on nights when this rite was performed.
The merit in the giving of lights is described at length in many
4
sütras. In Ajaseo juketsukyö it is said : "King Ajätasatru received the
Buddha and made offerings to him. When the Buddha took his depar-
ture, the king used one hundred stone-weights of oil to kindle rows of
lamps that stretched from the gate of his palace to that of the Jetavana
5
garden.
"A poor woman saw this, and she was deeply moved. She found
two coins of her own and bought some oil. The merchant said, 'You are
extremely poor. Why do you buy oil instead of food?'
"Ί have heard that it is very difficult to meet a Buddha/ she
replied, *but I am fortunate enough to have been born into a world in
which he is present. I cannot afford to give him offerings. But I have
just seen how much merit the king has created with his lights, and I want
to offer at least one light of my own in the hope that I, too, can plant a
good seed for the world to come.'
"The oil merchant sympathized with her and gave her more oil
than she could afford. Then she set her light beside the Buddha's path.
She was afraid that it would go out before the night had passed, and so
she prayed: 'If I am to become a Buddha in the world to come, then let
this light not die; let it burn all night long.'
"The Buddha said to Maudgalyäyana, 'The dawn has come into
6
the sky. The lights should be extinguished.' And so Maudgalyäyana

went out to extinguish all the lights and found that all those of the king
had already gone out. He tried three times to blow out the poor women's
light, but still it burned. He covered it with his robe, but it burned still
brighter. The Buddha said, 'Stop! Stop! This is the light of a Buddha of
a world to come; you cannot put it out with your own powers. Thirty
kalpas from now this woman will become a Buddha, and she will be
7
called the Tathägata Sumeru of the Brilliant Light.'
"When the woman heard about this she was filled with joy. When
the king heard about it, he thought it very strange, and he said to Jivaka,
Ί kindled many lights, while that woman kindled only one. Why does
the Buddha not predict future Buddhahood for me when he predicts it
for her?' 8
"Jivaka replied, T h e king's lights may have been great in number,
but his mind still has not reached the degree of concentration that that
woman has attained.' Thus did the king come to know the truth, and
when he offered lights to the Buddha again, the Buddha gave him this
prediction: 'After eighty-thousand k a l p a s you will become a Buddha.'"
Also, in Hiyukyö it is said: "Änanda asked the Buddha, 'What did
9
Aniruddha do in the past to attain universal vision?'
"The Buddha answered, 'Long ago, after Vipasyin Buddha had
10
already entered Nirvana, Aniruddha was reborn as a thief. He entered
a temple and was going to steal its property when he noticed that the
lights set before the Buddha were about to go out. He rekindled one
light, and he was about to carry off his plunder when a great light
emanated from the Buddha's image. He was frightened, and as he took
flight he said to himself, "Other people do all they can to create merit. I,
too, will be like them. How my thievery shames me!" and he threw down
his plunder and ran away. The merit he had earned by offering up one
light led to a good rebirth after ninety-one k a l p a s . Then he met me,
became a monk, and attained the state of an a r h a t . And that is how he
came to have universal vision.'"
If a single light could make a Buddha, what, then, of ten thousand
lights? A thief who offered up one light found the Way; what, then, of
monks who offer lights? There is no doubt that the merit of this service
causes the light of wisdom to shine and to illuminate all places in which
the darkness of ignorance may linger.
Notes
The Sekido-ke bon has only a portion of this section (see Shüsei,
pp. 281-83). Both the Maeda-ke and Töji Kanchiin bon have a note "on
the twenty-third," following the section title.
2
Tamenori does not discuss the rite (the Mandöe) in any detail,
and there are no other surviving accounts of its observance at Yakushiji.
Yamada said that it consisted of a reading of the Yakushi r u n n y o r a i
hongan kudokukyö (Τ 14:404c-8b) during the day and the ceremonial
lighting of ten thousand votive candles or lanterns in the evening.
3.15 The Service of Ten Thousand Lights 301
Bosatsu zökyö (Τ 24:1086-89), which specifically enumerates the bless-

ings that result from the offering of ten thousand lights, is usually cited
as the scriptural basis for such rites, but this text is not mentioned here.
Nor does Tamenori note that similar offerings were made at Tödaiji,
Kongöbuji and elsewhere as early as 744 (Ryakuchü, p. 295; N K B Z
21:229; BD 5:4716c-62b). According to Etatsu's biography in Genkö
shakusho, his lay surname was Hata, and he was born in Mimasaka. He
studied Hossö doctrine, began the Yakushiji Mandöe at age 38, and died
in 878 at the age of 83 ( K S T K 31:147). This would make 833 the year of
the first Yakushiji Mandöe.
3
I n the account of the Yakushiji Mandöe in K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i
shü which is based largely on the Sanböe version, Etatsu is given the
f
title Sözu. Various details also seem to have been added to the K o n j a k u
version ( N K B Z 21:229).
4
F Y C L ( T 53:564a-b) summarizes this sütra in a section that deals
specifically with the merit in offerings of lights (see Τ 14:777a-78a for the
original). Ajätasatru, the protagonist, was a king of Srävasti who killed
his father and imprisoned his mother, but when he heard the preaching
of Säkyamuni, he repented and was enlightened. The Buddha told him
that he would be reborn in hell but nevertheless gave him a promise of
future salvation.
5
O n the Jetavana garden, see "Preface to the Second Volume,"
n. 13.
On Maudgalyäyana, see "Preface to the First Volume," n. 5.
7
The future Buddha's name is Shumi tökö n y o r a i . "Shumi" trans-
literates Sumeru and suggests that the illumination she personifies will
be as vast as the mountain of that name.
Q
On Jivaka (here, G i b a ) , see "Preface to the Third Volume," n. 29.

9
T h i s quotation appears in the same F Y C L section cited above, and
Tamenori reproduces almost every word. Aniruddha ( A n a r i t s u ) was one
of Säkyamuni's disciples, renowned for his cultivation of "universal
vision" (BD l:46a-c).
10
O n Vipasyin Buddha, see 3.4, n. 8.
The Fourth Month
3.16 T H E R E L I C S S E R V I C E AT HIE
1
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon )
The Relics Service was initiated by Jikaku Daishi. He came from

3
Shimotsuke Province. When he was born, a purple cloud filled the
4 5
house. A saintly monk known as Köchi Bosatsu lived in that province.
He saw the cloud from a distance, and he went to the house. He
admonished the parents: "Look after this child, and guard him well.
When the boy was nine years old he went to live with Köchi. He
prayed for and received a copy of the K a n n o n Sütra? Eventually, he
grasped the meaning of many sütras and treatises.
In a dream, he saw a venerable monk who touched him on the head
and spoke to him. Another voice in the dream said, "Know ye, this is the
7
Great Master of Hie." Later, he went to Hie and saw Dengyö Daishi
himself; the manner in which he smiled and spoke of his happiness in
receiving him was just like that of the monk in the dream—but Jikaku
kept this knowledge to himself.
In the fifth year of the Jöwa era [838] he went to China. He went
to Mount T'ien-t'ai and Mount Wu-t'ai, and he spent many years
searching for the Teachings, meeting many masters, and learning many
8
doctrines. In China a man told him, " A l l of the Buddhism of our
9
country has passed with the Masters to the lands of the East."
He returned to Japan in the fourth year of the Jöwa era [847], and
10
he brought many relics of the Buddha with h i m . In the second year of
the Jögan era [860] he conducted this Service for the first time, and
11
made provision for its continued observance in the Söjiin. He desig-
nated the various offices of the rite. The Söjiin was allocated a number
of officiants as well as two intendants a long time ago, and so the desig-
12
nation of offices was made in accordance with their capacities. There
was no specific date for its observance; rather, it was held when the
13
cherry blossoms on the mountain were in their fullest bloom.
Long ago, the Buddha said: "Whether you make offerings to the
Buddha's relics or to the living Buddha, the merit is exactly the same,
and there is no difference in the benefits yielded. One instance of relic
worship will erase all sins and lead to rebirth in heaven. Prepare jeweled
caskets and place the relics inside them. Build jeweled stüpas and place
14
the caskets inside them."
3.16 The Relics Service 303
He gave these instructions many times, but when he entered

n i r v a n a , his followers yearned and lamented for their Tathägata, and
they struggled and competed for his relics. The Four Celestial Kings
wanted to take them up to heaven; the Dragon Kings wanted to take
them into the sea. But his disciple stopped them, saying, "Those are
very bad ideas! If the relics are kept up high in heaven or down deep
beneath the seas, how will those of us who live on the land be able to go
1 r
and worship them?" Having received permission to do so, Indra took

16
away one tooth. A demon in disguise stole two teeth and ran off with
17
them. The great kings of the various states were ready to go to war
and were threatening to seize the relics, but finally all the relics were
placed in one king's palace, under heavy guard, and, in accordance with
the Buddha's wishes, their distribution was controlled. There were
many who grieved and wept over their failure to obtain a single relic.
King Yama was desperate with craving, but he went away empty-handed
and disappointed; envoys from the Säkya clan came from their distant
18
home but left in tears of frustration. Finally, the upright Brahman
Dopa was chosen to make a fair and even distribution. He spread honey
19
inside the vessels and weighed each portion generously.
No one who comes in contact with the Buddha's relics goes away
without a purified heart. Those who did not receive his relics may have
his ashes, and these, too, are worshiped. The body of the Buddha is
eternal; there is no end to his existence, and his person was pure and
void. You may think that his bones would not have been left behind.
But he left them here in accordance with his destined task, and as an act
of great compassion; in order that all sentient beings might plant good
roots for the life to come, he adopted this compassionate expedient and
20
allowed his invincible body to deteriorate. In India, when the relics
were placed in stüpas or stored in temples, flowers fell and lights shone
forth, kings presented offerings, and common men and women gathered
to worship there. Our sins in former lives prevented our birth in the age
in which he lived, but now, because of the nature of his destined task, we
too can worship his relics. How many years have disappeared in the
smoke of funeral pyres since then? The haze spreads as far and wide as
21
do the vast clouds that drift across the Gobi Desert.
Great joy is instilled in those who can be present at the Relics
Service. But women, who are forbidden access to Mount Hie, are
apparently not satisfied with second-hand accounts. I have heard that
Relics Services are also observed each year in the fifth month at
Töshödaiji, in a tradition established by the Master Ganjin, and also, on
occasion, in the third month at the Hanayama monastery of Bishop
Henjö. The offices of these services are assigned to ladies from far and
wide. Go, then, to these services and worship the Buddha's relics
22
there.
Notes
1
There is a lost Sekido-ke version, preserved in Yamada's copy.
See Shüsei, pp. 287-89.
2
Worship of the Buddha's relics ( s h a r i ) was widespread in India
and China. Ganjin, Kükai, Ennin (i.e., Jikaku Daishi), and Engyö (789-
852, a disciple of Kükai who went to China at the same time as Ennin)
and others brought relics from China to Japan. These became the focus
of S h a r i e at Töshödaiji, Töji, Enryakuji (described here), Höryüji,
Yakushiji and Chüsonji (BD 3:2189a). Ennin (793-863) was a disciple of
Saichö and the third Tendai abbot. The title of D a i s h i was
posthumously awarded for the first time in 866, when it was granted to
both men. It has been claimed that Tamenori's account of Ennin's life
bears greater resemblance to the official biography in Sandai j i t s u r o k u
( K S T K 4:124-27) than to J i k a k u D a i s h i den, a work that was begun by
an imperial prince, Tokio Shinnö (a.k.a. Kanpyö nyüdö) and completed
by his son, Minamoto Hideaki, between 912 and 929 (ZGR 8b:683-99;
Shüsei, pp. 475-76). In fact, the two biographies are very similar to one
another. The opening sections of the biographies of Ennin in N i h o n
öjögakurakuki and H o k k e g e n k i are also similar ( N S T 7:19-20, 58). On
these works, see Fukui Köjun, " J i k a k u D a i s h i den no keisei" in Fukui,
ed., J i k a k u D a i s h i kenkyü, pp. 659-794 and the second chapter of
E.O. Reischauer's E n n i n ' s T r a v e l s i n C h i n a , as well as Reischauer's
translation of Ennin's diary.
3
Shimotsuke is modern Tochigi Prefecture. Ennin's lay surname
was Mibu.
4
This purple cloud is a sign of affinity with the Pure Land. See 2.2,
n. 5.
5
Köchi was a disciple of Döchü, who had been Ganjin's disciple and
an ally of Saichö. Köchi lived at Daihiji, also known as Onodera, of
which the Mibu were patrons. He is credited with the promotion of
Tendai influence in the eastern provinces (Washio Junkei, Zötei N i h o n
bukke j i n m e i j i s h o , p. 375b).
6
Kannongyö is a popular name for the twenty-fifth chapter of the
L o t u s Sütra, often treated as an independent work.
1
H i e no D a i s h i refers to Saichö.
8
Tamenori follows the account in Sandai j i t s u r o k u , but, in fact,
Ennin never went to T'ien-t'ai. The error is corrected in N i h o n
öjögokurakuki and H o k k e g e n k i . He spent fifty days on Wu-t'ai, where
3.16 The Relics Service 305
he studied esoteric and Pure Land teachings (Reischauer, E n n i n ' s

T r a v e t e , p. 119 and D i a r y , pp. 227-60).
9
T h i s is an abridgement of the corresponding passage in Sandai
j i t s u r o k u ( K S T K 4:126). It refers indirectly to the decline of Buddhism
following the violent persecutions carried out under Emperor Wu tsung
during Ennin's stay in China (see also "Preface to the Second Volume,"
n. 17). The quotation in Sandai j i t s u r o k u continues: "From now on,
those who seek the Teachings will have to go to Japan to find them."
This is a rendering of statements made to Ennin by a provincial official
and recorded in his diary in the entry for the ninth day of the sixth
month of 845 (Reischauer, E n n i n ' s T r a v e l s , p. 262; D i a r y , pp. 370-71).
The biography of Ennin in H o k k e g e n k i has a more accurate reproduc-
tion of the official's words ( N S T 7:54).
10
Sandai j i t s u r o k u makes no mention of the relics; nor do Ennin's
diary or J i k a k u D a i s h i den provide any information about his acquis!-
tion of the relics.
11
T h e inception of the S h a r i e is not mentioned in Sandai
j i t s u r o k u . The date agrees with that in J i k a k u D a i s h i den ( Z G R 8:693b).
The Söjiin was part of a complex of buildings at Enryakuji first erected
in 853.
"Intendents" is bettö. Apparently, the Söjiin was chosen as the
site of the S h a r i e because it was continuously staffed and supported by
official patronage.
1 3
J i k a k u D a i s h i den states that the date of the observance ranged
from late spring to early summer, although the first S h a r i e was held in
the fourth month. It was attended by one hundred laymen, "lords of the
court, men from town and country" ( Z G R 8:693b).
14
T h e specific source of this quotation has not been satisfactorily
identified. The following sentence suggests that it may be a loose
paraphrase of elements collected from various texts.
15
T h e account of these struggles follows that in D a i h a t s u nehangyö
g o b u n , an appendix to the N i r v a n a Sütra that describes events
immediately before and after Säkyamuni's demise (T 12:909c 10a).
There, Aniruddha is identified as the disciple who deters the Celestial
Kings and the Dragon Kings.
16
Indra was granted one tooth so that it could be worshiped in his
heaven (T 12:910a).
1 7
The demon slipped into the vault that held the Buddha's remains
when Indra went in to take his tooth, and the demon stole two teeth
"when no one was looking" (T 12:910a).
18
Y a m a is the ruler of the underworld; see note following. The
Säkya are the Buddha's own clan.
The source here may be Makamayakyö (Τ 12:1014b-15a) or

Yugyökyö (in Jöagongyö, Τ l:29c 30b). Neither mentions King Yama, so
this may be a mistranscription of the name of one of the Indian kings
involved in the struggle. Doâ (Köshö) accepted the task of dividing the
relics into eight equal portions, but neither of the sütras cited above
mentions the spreading of honey or his generous weighing (BD 2:1063a).
20
"Destined task" ( k i e n ) is the Buddha's predetermined purpose for
coming into the world—to give his teaching to mankind—causally inter-
acting with the need of mankind for that teaching (BGD l:213c-d).
"Invincible body" is kongö f u e s h i n , an epithetic description of the
Buddha's Dharma body ( h o s s h i n : see 3.17 n. 11) meaning "firm and
impervious as a thunderbolt" (BD 2:1331b c). The point here is that the
presence of the Buddha's relics in the world may seem to be a contradic-
tion of the notion of his eternality, but the relics in fact represent one of
the many means through which he sought to save mankind.
21
Tamenori's point is that, though hundreds of years have passed
since the cremation of Säkyamuni, worship of his relics remains
efficacious.
22
O n Ganjin and Töshödaiji, see 3.5. Shödai senzai denki (1701)
says a S h a r i e was performed there on the fifth and sixth of the fifth
month, in Ganjin's memory ( D N B Z 105:95b). Henjö (816-890) was the
founder and first abbot of Gankeiji (also Gangyöji), familiarly
"Hanayama"; it was formerly his private residence, in Yamashina, near
the capital (BD 1:784a).
3.17 The Great P r a j n a Service 307
3.17 T H E G R E A T PRAJNÄ S E R V I C E AT DAIANJI

1
The establishment of Daianji was originally the project of Prince

2
Shötoku, and it was completed through the efforts of many emperors.
The prince wanted to build a temple in the village of Kumagori, but he
departed this world before it could be completed. Then, beginning with
Empress Suiko and continuing until Emperor Shömu, nine generations
of emperors and empresses inherited the project and saw it to
4
completion.
In the reign of Emperor Jomei a wide space by the Kudara River
was selected, and the Kumagori Temple was transferred to the site and
5
renamed Kudaradera. The officials in charge of the temple's construe-
tion cut down many trees from the shrine of the local deity and used
them in the building. The deity was enraged, and he spat out flames that
burned the temple.
7
Empress Kögyoku hastened the progress of the construction. In
the reign of Emperor Tenji a six-foot image of Säkyamuni Buddha was
made and installed in the temple. The emperor passed an entire night in
silent prayer, and the next morning two Celestials appeared and
worshiped before the image. They made offerings of magical flowers and
passed some time in reverent prayer. Then they told the emperor, "This
image is a perfect likeness of the real Buddha of Vulture Peak," and then
8
they rose into the sky and disappeared. When the image was dedicated,
purple clouds filled the sky and magical voices were heard singing in the
heavens.
In the reign of Emperor Tenmu the temple was moved and
9
reconstructed in Takaichi and renamed Daikandaiji.
10
In the reign of Emperor Monmu a pagoda was built. He wanted
to make another six-foot image of Säkyamuni, and so he prayed: "Help
me find a master craftsman!"
That night, a monk appeared in his dream and said, "The man who
made the first Buddha image was, in fact, an avatar, and he will not
come here a second time. No matter how skilled the craftsman, his
chisel may leave scars. No matter how masterful the painter, there may
be errors in the coloring. You should place a large mirror in front of the
image and pray to it. Without sculpting or painting, all three bodies of
the Buddha will be manifest. The form you will see is his Body of
Expedience; the reflection is his Body of Recompense; and when you
understand the emptiness of these, vou will possess his Dharma Body.
1
Nothing could be more meritorious!"
The king awoke and was filled with joy. Following the instructions
received in the dream, he placed a large mirror before the Buddha. He
invited five hundred monks into the hall and held a large offertory
service.
In the reign of Empress Genmei, in the third year of the Wadö era
[710], the image and the temple were moved and installed anew in the
capital of Nara. When Emperor Shömu inherited it, he made plans to
enlarge it. At this time there was a monk named Döji who was very wise
12
and who was held in high regard and venerated by the entire nation.
He had been in China in the first year of the Taihö era [701]. Now he
told the emperor, "I have been thinking of building a large temple, and I
13
have made drawings of the plans and designs of the Hsi-ming-ssu."
The emperor was very pleased. " M y wish has been fulfilled!" he
said, and in the first year of the Tenpyö era [729] he gave Döji a commis-
14
sion to rebuild the temple. He also granted Döji the rank of Risshi.
The Jetavana garden in Srävastl, in central India, was built on the model
of the palace in Tu§ita Heaven. The Hsi-ming-ssu in China was built on
the model of the Jetavana garden. And Daianji in Japan was built on the
15
model of the Hsi-ming-ssu.
In the fourteenth year [742] a great service of dedication was held.
In the seventeenth year of the Tenpyö era [745] the name "Daikandaiji"
was changed to "Daianji." Risshi Döji said, "This temple was burned
once before because trees from the shrine of the great deity Kobe in
16
Takaichi district were cut down. This god is a god of lightning, and
when he gets angry he spits out burning flames. The reconstruction has
continued through nine reigns. The site has been changed several times,
incurring great expense. Let us invoke the power of the Teachings to
please the deity and insure his protection for the temple," and so he
copied the Mahäprajnäpäramitä Sütra, and initiated this service. The
text of the sütra was read in alternation with performances of songs and
dances. The deity was pleased, and he became the protector of the
1
temple. This is recorded in the A n n a l s }
The Mahäprajnäpäramitä Sütra was first translated by Hsüan-
tsang "Tripitaka" during the reign of Emperor T'ai-tsung in the Lin-te
era, and when it was placed in the Chao-ming Hall, it emitted a bright
18
light.
In the sütra it is said: "Wherever this sütra may be placed, all the
Heavenly Dragons will come and join their hands before it and worship
19
it." It also says: "With the Dharma Rain, they will anoint all
poisonous dragons and free them from their deep suffering. Clearly,
3.17 The Great Prajnä Service 309
this is why the Buddha's Word can be used to quell the burning fires of
20
angry deities.
Notes
There is a lost Sekido-ke version preserved in Yamada's copy (see

Shüsei, pp. 293-94). Both the Maeda-ke and Töji Kanchiin bon have
the note "on the fifth and sixth days" following the section title.
2
The source for Tamenori's account of the early history of the
temple is D a i a n j i e n g i , compiled in 896 (GR 15:406-9). There is also an
earlier chronicle, D a i a n j i g a r a n e n g i n a r a b i n i r u k i shizaichö (compiled
747; GR 15:391-406). On the basis of their compilation dates, they are
known as the "Kanpyö e n g i " and the "Tenpyö e n g i , " respectively.
"Prince Shötoku" is here called Jögü Taishi (see 2.1).
3
Kumagori is in modern Ikoma-gun, northwest of Nara. A temple
called Gakuanji was later built on the site of the unfinished
Kumagoridera. Prince Shötoku died in 622.
4
In fact, Tamenori only describes the efforts of eight monarchs.
5
The Kudara River flows from Takaichi and joins the Hirose River
to form the Yamato River. One of Jomei's palaces was at Kudara, a site
near modern Kita-Katsuragi-gun, Nara-ken.
6
The Tenpyö e n g i says that the fire destroyed a nine-story pagoda
and the carved ornaments on the roof of the temple (GR 15:392a).
7
According to the Kanpyö e n g i , Jomei's dying wish was that his
wife, who succeeded him, should rebuild the temple. After her ascent to
the throne, she ordered the work to continue day and night (GR
15:407b).
8
"The real Buddha of Vulture Peak" refers to Säkyamuni.
9
Apparently the temple was moved to the site of each new ruler's
palace. This is seen as evidence of the close tie between the imperial
family and this particular Buddhist institution (Öta, N a n t o s h i c h i d a i j i
no r e k i s h i t o nenpyö, pp. 77-106). Remains of the palace of Tenmu and
Jitö have been found at Asuka, near Takaichi.
10
It was a nine-story pagoda (GR 15:408b).
11
T h e "three bodies of the Buddha" are defined in various ways.
The three listed here are a standard Mahäyäna group: öjin, the Buddha
manifest in human form to meet the needs of other sentient beings;
höjin, a Buddha who comes into being through the merit generated by
Bodhisattva practices, such as Amida; and h o s s h i n , the eternal,
universal Buddha (Taya, Bukkyögaku j i t e n , p. 384). The Kanpyö e n g i
has öjin, k e s h i n , and h o s s h i n , but both Sanböe texts replace k e s h i n with

the synonymous höjin.
1 2
A biography of Döji appears in Shoku N i h o n g i under the date of
his death in 744 ( K S T K 2:179). He is the patriarch of the Daianji branch
of the Sanron school. There is also a biographical sketch, accompanying
some of his poems, in Kaifüsö (Hayashi Kokei, ed., Kaifüsö shinchü, pp.
221-30).
q
The Hsi-ming-ssu (Saimyöji) was a major temple in Chang-an,

completed in 658 on a site selected by Emperor Kao-tsung with Hsüan-
tsang's approval (BD 2:428a). Döji returned from China in 718.
14
The date is in agreement with that in the Shoku N i h o n g i
On the Jetavana garden, see "Preface to the Second Volume,"
n. 13. Tu$ita ( T o s o t s u t e n ) is the fourth of the six desire heavens and the
dwelling place of Maitreya and other future Buddhas (BD 4:3953a 54c).
16
"The great deity Kobe" (Kobe myöjin) is worshiped at a shrine in
Shiki-gun, some distance from Kudara; Yamada thought there may have
been confusion in the naming of this deity as the responsible party
(Ryakuchü, p. 312). This speech, attributed to Döji here, does not
appear in either e n g i . Yamada suggested that there may have been
another work to which Tamenori may have referred. See the following
note.
17
It is this reference to " A n n a l s " ( e n g i ) , and the absence of any

mention of the rite in the surviving works cited above, that suggested to
Yamada the possibility of a missing source, a " D a i h a n n y a e e n g i " ; but no
such work is known. A stone inscription ( D a i a n j i h i m o n , dated 757, text
by Ömi Mifune) confirms that the original purpose of the rite as
conducted at Daianji was the prevention of natural disasters ( D N B Z
118:132a). No detailed description of the rite itself survives. Yamada
noted that E n g i s h i k i called for D a i h a n n y a e on the sixth and seventh
days of the fourth month, at which one hundred and fifty monks were to
take part in an abbreviated reading ( t e n d o k u ) of the sütra (Ryakuchü,
p. 312). Tendoku is a method for obtaining the meritorious effect of a
reading of an entire sütra by chanting only selected portions, usually the
title and a few lines from the beginning, middle, and end (BGD 2:989b).
This would be quite appropriate in the case of the Mahäprajnäpäramitä,
a six-hundred fascicle work that fills about 4,000 pages in three volumes
of the Taishö Daizökyö.
18
O n Hsüan-tsang, see "Preface to the Second Volume," n. 12.
T'ai-tsung, the second T'ang emperor, reigned 627-649; the Lin-te era is
664-665. The completion and presentation of the translation is recorded
in several of Hsüan-tsang's traditional biographies. In T a - t ' a n g t a - t z ' o -
en-ssu san-ts'ang f a - s h i h - c h u a n , for example ( T 50:276b), the sütra is
3.17 The Great Prajnä Service 311
said to have given off a bright light when it was placed in the "Chai-shou
Hall." I can find no mention of a "Chao-ming" Hall, but the name seems
to suggest a commemoration of this miraculous event.
1
This, and the following quotation, are loose adaptations of lines
in a chapter "On Worshiping the Sütra" in the Mahäprajnäpäramitä
Sütra (Τ 7:780c).
20
Tamenori equates the dragons in this passage with the fire-
breathing deity of Kudara, thus providing a scriptural basis for the
origin of the Daianji rite.
3.18 T H E A N O I N T M E N T OF T H E B U D D H A
1
The Anointment of the Buddha was observed in the Seiryöden for the
first time on the eighth day of the fourth month of the seventh year of
the Jöwa era [840]. Risshi Jöan officiated, having submitted a proposal
for the proper observance of the rite, based on the provisions in the
3
Scripture. At long last, the day had come for him to serve as master of
ceremonies. Later, the observance spread. This is recorded in A C o u r -
4
tier's D i a r y .
In the Sütra o n t h e A n o i n t m e n t of B u d d h a Images it is said: "All
the Buddhas of the ten directions were born on the eighth day of the
fourth month. Between spring and summer great numbers of all kinds of
living things are born. At that time it is neither too cold nor too hot, and
5
so everything is wholesome and harmonious." And, in the Sütra on t h e
A n o i n t m e n t of Images the Buddha said: "I shall now explain the prac-
tice of anointing images. Among all offertory acts, this is the most excel-
lent. To anoint a Buddha, perfume the water with many lovely scents
and bathe his image. As you scoop the water, chant this verse. [Those
who find this verse too hard to learn employ monks to chant it and to
sing hymns of praise.]"
I anoint all the pure wisdom, all the merit, and all the
splendor of all the Buddhas;
May all sentient beings be freed from the Five Pollutions,
And may they know the purity of the Tathägata's
6
Body.
This verse was uttered by the Tathägata Säkyamuni; Gyöki Bosatsu

composed this one:
If I do not now repay

My obligations to my mother
Who nursed me with her abundant breasts
Then when shall I?
For the years fly by as quickly
7
As the passing of one short night.
3.18 The Anointment of the Buddha 313
Notes
Although the Sekido-ke version is fragmentary, Yamada's copy of

it is complete (see Shüsei, p. 297).
2
The "Anointment of the Buddha" is K a n b u t s u . The custom of
washing images of the Buddha on the anniversary of Säkyamuni's birth
began in India, appeared in China in the second century, and was prac-
ticed widely there by the seventh and eighth centuries. The first
recorded Japanese observance of the eighth day of the fourth month as
the Buddha's birthday was a rite performed at court in 606, under Prince
Shötoku's supervision, according to the N i h o n s h o k i ( N K B T 68:186-87).
The term K a n b u t s u first appears in reference to the court observance of
840 in Shoku N i h o n köki ( K S T K 3:100). There are accounts of Heian-
period K a n b u t s u at court in Minamoto Takaaki's Saigüki and Öe
Masafusa's Gökeshidai ( S h i n t e i zöhö köjitsu sösho 2, pp. 207b-10a; 6,
pp. 88a-b). Early in the morning special robes for the emperor were laid
out, the screens of the Seiryöden (a hall in the inner, private quarters of
the imperial palace frequently used for court rituals) were lowered, and
the emperor's seat was prepared. An image of Säkyamuni was placed on
a pedestal, from which colored threads trailed into a basin of colored
water said to represent the divine waters in which the infant Buddha was
first bathed. Ecclesiastical and court dignitaries entered in procession.
Then the emperor scattered flowers over the image, and the presiding
monk bathed it with five scoops of the colored water. The emperor, his
ladies, and other courtiers then did likewise. Offerings were presented to
the presiding monk on behalf of all those attending, and then he led the
procession out again (see Yamanaka Yutaka, Heianchö no nenjü gyöji,
pp. 190-95). Similar rites were held in monasteries in the Nara period.
Eventually, the bathing of Buddha images on the Buddha's birthday
became a popular lay custom.
3
J ö a n (or Seian; 789?—844) is named in the Shoku N i h o n köki
account (see preceding note). He was a monk of the Hossö school and
was originally affiliated with Gangöji or Saidaiji but spent most of his life
practicing austerities on Hirayama in Ömi, where he is also said to have
founded several monasteries. He was appointed R i s s h i in 838 and
participated in the Butsumyöe at court that year (see 3.31). It is said
that he was particularly devoted to the sixteen-fascicle Sütra of t h e
B u d d h a s ' Names (Jüroku butsumyökyö). His biography appears in
Genkö shakusho ( K S T K 31:147). See also Takei Akio, "Butsumyöe ni

kansuru shomondai (1), in Döshisha D a i g a k u j i n b u n g a k u 135 (Oct.
1980), p. 33 and Hirabayashi Moritoku and Koike Kazuyuki, Gojüon'in
sögöbunin söreki söran, pp. 195-96.
4
The work referred to, Tenjö n i k k i , may be the lost work
mentioned only here and, with a brief quotation, in Shunki, the diary of
Fujiwara Sukefusa. The intent, however, may be to refer to court diaries
in general, such as those cited in n. 2.
5
The sütra named is K a n b u t s u zökyö (i.e., Kansen butsugyö zökyö).
There are two translations; Fa Chii's is quoted in F Y C L ( T 53:543a; see
Τ 16:796c for the original). Tamenori omits a few lines.
6
The sütra named is Yokuzökyö (i.e., Bussetsu yokuzö kudokukyö).
The quotation is a summary of the entire sütra, which is very short (T
16:798c-99b). The parenthetical note is Tamenori's. The verse is also
quoted in K u c h i z u s a m i (ZGR 32a:70a).
7
The attribution to Gyöki (see 2.2) is traditional. He is said to have
written this poem in 734, although it was given out as the work of
Empress Kömyö. It appears in Shüishü as Gyöki's work (Yamagishi,
Hachidaishü zenchü 1, p. 620; Taya Raishun, Wasanshi gaisetsu, pp.
64-67). Tamenori's citation of the poem here probably occurs by general
association with the subject of birthdays and the notion of worship as an
expression of gratitude. Still, it seems rather out of place.
3.19 T H E ORDINATION AT H I E
(Maeda-ke bon, Töji Kanchiin bon,

1
Sekido-ke bon, Tödaiji-gire )
The Srävaka Precepts were transmitted to this country long ago. Then
Dengyö Daishi went to China and studied both exoteric and esoteric
Buddhism. He received the Bodhisattva Precepts there, and when he
3
established the Tendai school, he adopted this form of ordination. In
the last year of the Enryaku era [806] he requested and was granted
4
annual stipends for yearly ordinands. In the last years of the Könin era
[810-824] he made this announcement: "The two great Masters of Nan-
yüeh and T'ien-t'ai received the Bodhisattva Precepts. This tradition
has been handed down continuously to this day. For this reason, all the
5
monks of our school should receive these precepts." He submitted a
request to this effect to the government, but he had difficulty in
obtaining a response. So the master brandished his brush and sent his
letters flying. He produced the K e n k a i r o n in three fascicles, and he
6
wrote many treatises in defense of his position. In the sixth month of
the thirteenth year of the Könin era [822], permission was granted in a
7
ministerial decree, and the new ordination platform was constructed.
This Mahäyäna ordination is praised in many sütras. In
Bonmökyö it is said: "Those who do not receive the precepts of the
Bodhisattva are no different from dumb beasts and are called ignorant
heretics. If a monk can convert one person and cause him to take the
Bodhisattva precepts, the merit thereby generated is greater than that in
the construction of eighty-four thousand stüpas. What then, indeed, if
8
two or three persons take the precepts, or ten thousand?" And in S h i n -
jikangyö it is said: "Those who uphold the Upper Precepts will attain
the status of Dharma-Kings, and they will lead all sentient beings.
Those who uphold the Middle Precepts will attain the status of Wheel-
Kings, and they will be rewarded with much happiness. Those who
uphold the Lower Precepts may even violate them and fall into the Evil
Realms, but since the powers of those precepts are excellent, they will
9
always reign as kings within those realms. They will surpass all their
comrades in reverence, and they will attain liberation in their hearts.
Therefore, all sentient beings should receive the Pure Bodhisattva
Precepts. Let the Bodhisattva Precepts be your rudder as you cross the
deep seas of life and death. Wield the Bodhisattva Precepts as a
liberating sword, to slash the bonds of craving and attachment to the
self. Let the Bodhisattva Precepts be your good medicine, purging all
1
the plagues and sufferings that evil demons inflict upon you."
The Bodhisattva Precepts are divided in three collections of pure
precepts. The first are "Precepts for Proper Behavior." They
countermand various evil practices. The second are the "Precepts for
the Good," which call for the cultivation of many good practices. The
third are the "Precepts for Saving through Compassion," which bring
11
about the salvation of all sentient beings. Thus be it known: the
inspiration to undertake the precepts of the Great Vehicle is far superior
12
to the attainment of the highest levels in the other two vehicles.
Long ago there was an a r h a t who employed an acolyte to carry a
sack containing his robes when he went traveling. For some time, this
acolyte had cherished the desire to become a Bodhisattva. The a r h a t
perceived this, and so he took the sack and carried it himself, plodding
along with it slung across his back. The acolyte reflected on the
difficulty of practicing the Way of the Bodhisattva and decided that he
would give it up. The a r h a t perceived this, and so he handed the sack
back to the acolyte and walked on ahead of him. The acolyte thought
this strange and asked him to explain his actions. "Until now you were
inspired by a great ambition," said the a r h a t , "and so you were superior
13
to me. But now, if you have given it up, you are inferior to me."
This shows that you should uphold the precepts as assiduously as
possible. The monks who were trapped in the grass were saved when the
king came along on his progress; and the monk who was suspected of the
14
theft of a jewel found it after the goose had died. A l l the Bodhisattva
Precepts of the Tendai and the Srävaka Precepts of the Southern
15
Capital are means through which the Buddha's Law is perpetuated.
This is proven in detail in many sütras, V i n a y a s , and treatises.
Prayers for abundant harvests are offered at the same time as the
ordinations every year. This is done on the basis of the Daiikyö, in
which it is said: "The ordination should be performed at the beginning
16
of the year." The Ministerial Edict of the Kashö era [848-851] calls
for the ordinations to be held on the third day of the fourth month, while
that of the Kanpyö era [889-898] says that they should be conducted
17
before the fifteenth day of the fourth month.
Notes
1
The Sekido-ke version is contiguous with the text of the preceding
section but breaks off at a point corresponding to "the second are. . ." in
the description of the "three collections of pure precepts." In addition,
two fragments of the Tödaiji-gire type have been identified. See Shüsei,
pp. 303-4.
2
The section title is " H i e no j u k a i , " but the ordination described is
the B o s a t s u k a i . Here, Tamenori discusses its relationship with other
forms of ordination and its application to Tendai monks; in 3.20 he is
concerned with the administration of the B o s a t s u k a i to laymen.
"Srävaka Precepts" (shömonkai) refers to the ordinations based on the
V i n a y a , viewed by Saichö as a Hmayäna practice inferior to the B o s a -
t s u k a i ordination. For a study of Saichö's views on ordination and their
role in the early history of the Tendai, see Groner, Saichö, especially
chapters 8-12.
3
Dengyö Daishi is Saichö (see 3.3). While in China, Saichö
received both exoteric ordinations (such as the B o s a t s u k a i ) and several
esoteric ordinations (see 3.27). The B o s a t s u k a i were administered by
Tao-sui at Lung-hsing-ssu on the second day of the third month of 805
(see Groner, Saichö, p. 49).
4
Enryakuji was granted imperial financial support for twelve
"yearly ordinands" ( n e n b u n d o s h a ) in 806. By providing for direct
support of the study and practice of Tendai, the state thus recognized
the school as a legitimate and independent entity (see Groner, Saichö,
pp. 68-71).
5
"The two great Masters of Nan-yüeh and T'ien-t'ai" are Hui-ssu
(525-577) and Chih-i, identified by the sites of the monasteries where
each resided. This "announcement" is recorded in E i z a n d a i s h i den
(Nakao, Josetsu, p. 429), but it is not quoted or mentioned in any of the
works of Saichö and his disciples that deal with his position on ordina-
tions. Groner says that the E i z a n D a i s h i den "quotation" may be an
"exaggerated dramatic rendering" of statements made by Saichö
(Groner, Saichö, p. 114). Tamenori somewhat abbreviates Saichö's
words.
The K e n k a i r o n is "a detailed refutation of the objections made by
Nara monks to Saichö's Shijöshiki" (Groner, Saichö, pp. 137, 148).
Shijöshiki was the main petition of several submitted by Saichö in 818
and 819 in his quest for Tendai n e n b u n d o s h a .
7
The decree is dated Könin 14.2.27 and is included in Ruijü
s a n d a i k y a k u ( K S T K 25:83). Permission for the construction of the
ordination platform was actually given one week after Saichö's death, in
the sixth month of 822. Until this time, there were only three ordination
platforms in Japan, all under the supervision of the Sögö; the construe-
tion of a platform at Enryakuji was therefore a great departure from
precedent, and the independence gained thereby for the Tendai insured
its preeminent influence for centuries to come.
8
Though Tamenori cites Bonmökyö, the passage is actually from
Yörakukyö (Τ 24:1021b), correctly identified in F Y C L (T 53:939b). Both
sütras discuss the Bodhisattva precepts and are often associated with
one another, so the confusion is, perhaps, not surprising. Tamenori's
editing of the original passage is similar to that in F Y C L .
Compare the similar statement in the "Preface to the Third
Volume," n. 12.
10
T h i s "quotation" is a simplified and abbreviated rendering of a
verse passage in Shinjikangyö (Τ 3:303b 4b). Tamenori omits the divi-
sion of the "Lower Precepts" into three subclassifications. An explana-
tion of the "Upper, Middle, and Lower Precepts" follows.
11
"Three collections of pure precepts" is sanju jökai; the three
subgroups are shöritsugikai, shözenbökai, and nyöyaku ujökai. This
classification appears in both Bonmökyö and Yorakkyö. The three
groups comprise a total of twenty-three precepts (five, eight, and ten).
12
T h e "other two vehicles" are the Srävaka and the
Pratyekabuddha "vehicles," considered inferior because they lead only to
the enlightenment of the practitioner, who does not undertake the vows
to save others (i.e., the nyöyaku ujökai) that are the hallmark of a
Bodhisattva. This sentence may also be read as an endorsement of
Saichö's rejection of the Hinayäna precepts in favor of those of the
Mahäyäna tradition.
The source of this story has not been identified.
14
Lines containing similar allusions appear in the ordination
certificate of Saichö's disciple Köjö (dated 823) and in later Tendai
certificates as well { T e n d a i kahyö, in D N B Z 125:162a; Chöya gunsai, in
K S T K 29a:403-4). Both stories are based on Daishögonron. In the first,
a group of monks are captured by bandits and tied up with stalks of live
grass. They refrain from cutting their bonds because to do so would
constitute the destruction of living things. When a king happens by on a
hunting excursion, he sets them free (T 3:368c 69a). In the second story,
a monk is accused of stealing a jewel that he knows to be in the nest of a
goose. His innocence is proven only when someone else kills the goose,
since he refuses to do so himself (T 3:319a-21a).
15
Here, Tamenori specifically associates the shömonkai with the
Nara schools. This statement would seem to be at odds with the posi-
tion taken a few lines earlier, or perhaps it reflects the notion that there
is really only one all-encompassing vehicle (ichijö).
1
F Y C L quotes a passage from Daiibarikyö (Τ 53:932b-c),
describing the desirable qualities of the "first month" in the same terms
used to recommend the fourth month in the quotation from K a n b u -
tsuzökyö in 3.18 (n. 5), but there is no mention there of the desirability of
holding ordinations at this time.
1
T h e edict of Kashö 3.12.14 (850) provided for two additional
Tendai n e n b u n d o s h a , fulfilling a request from Ennin, and specified that
they be ordained on the third day of the fourth month. The edicts of
Kanpyö 7.3.6 and 7.10.28 (895) specified that all ordinations be held
before the middle of the fourth month, when the annual retreat began
( K S T K 25:84-85, 79, 90).
The Fifth Month
3.20 T H E B O D H I S A T T V A O R D I N A T I O N AT H A T S U S E
1
Long ago, in the Year of the Rooster [601], there was a great flood, and a
very large tree was set adrift until it came to rest at Miogasaki in
2
Takashima District in Ömi Province. The house of a villager who cut
off one end of the tree suddenly burned down. The destruction spread,
and many villagers died. Investigations were conducted by each
household in which death struck, and in every case it was found that the
tree was the source of the curse. The surviving villagers would not go
near the tree.
Then a man called Izumo Ömitsu, who lived in Lower Kazuraki
3
District in Yamato Province, came to the village. When he heard about
the tree, he made a vow: "I shall make that tree into an Eleven-faced
4
Kannon." But he had no means of transporting it home with him, so he
left empty-handed. Then he received several encouraging omens, so he
gathered supplies for the journey and, taking several of his townsmen
with him, returned to the spot where the tree lay. It was so large that the
sight of it made them all feel weak and helpless, and some of them
wanted to go home right away. But they tied a rope around it, tried to
pull it, and were surprised to find that they could move it easily. Those
who saw them along the way were thoroughly amazed, and they stopped
their carts, got down from their horses, and joined in the work.
At last they reached the village of Taima in Lower Kazuraki in
5
Yamato. But means for the project were lacking; time passed, and
Ömitsu died. Eighty years elapsed, and the tree still had not been put to
good use. Then a plague struck the village of Taima, and there was great
suffering. It was said that the tree was to blame. The district governor
and the village headmen summoned Omitsu's son Miyamaro and ordered
him to do something about the tree, but he was unable to move it by
himself. In the Year of the Dragon [668?], Miyamaro and a group of
other villagers managed to remove it and cast it into the Hatsuse River
6
in Upper Shiki District.
There it lay for thirty years until a novice monk named Tokudö
7
heard about it. He thought, "There must be something divine about
this tree. I will make it into an Eleven-faced Kannon." In the fourth
year of the Yörö era [720] he moved it to the peak upon which
Hatsusedera now stands. But Tokudö was without means for
3.20 The Bodhisattva Ordination 321
completing the carving of the image. He grieved and lamented over this
for seven or eight years, constantly seating himself before the tree and
chanting: "May my worship of your wondrous power enable the image of
the Buddha to be formed'.
The Iitaka empress had not taken much notice of the project, but
she lent her support when the Fusasaki minister himself made a
9
contribution. In the fourth year of the Jinki era [727] the image was
completed and dedicated. It was two yards and three feet high. In a
dream Tokudö saw a deity who pointed to a peak in the north and said,
"A large rock lies buried at its base. Unearth it, bring it here, and place
the image of Kannon on it." Tokudö awoke, and he went and unearthed
the stone. It was eight feet wide and eight feet long. Its surface was flat,
like the palms of someone's hands. They placed the image of Kannon
upon it.
The C h r o n i c l e o f t h e I m a g e o f K a n n o n a n d M i s c e l l a n e o u s M a t t e r s ,
compiled in the fifth year of the Tenpyö era [733], tells about Tokudö
11
and Dömyö. The benefits produced by the image were widespread, and
12
reports of its miraculous powers reached as far as China.
The Bodhisattva Ordination is administered once each year under
this temple's auspices. Ordination masters and proxies are designated,
and devout laymen and laywomen gather to participate. There are
13
others who come simply to watch and listen.
The Bodhisattva Precepts are the first stage in becoming a
Buddha. I described them in the foregoing sections on the Convocation
14
and the Ordination. The Masters of T'ien-t'ai and Nan-yiieh
15
promoted this ordination; Ganjin and Dengyö fostered it here. Monks
stand on platforms to receive them, and in some places laymen may
receive them as well. In Bonmökyö it is said: "He who wishes to attain
the status of a King, or of a Wheel-King, or of the Hundred Ministers
should first receive the Bodhisattva Precepts. A l l the Buddhas will
16
rejoice m this." It also says: "Those who take the Buddha's precepts—
whether they are Kings or Princes or one of the Hundred Ministers or
clerks or monks or nuns or denizens of Brahma's worlds or of the Six
Desire Heavens or peasants or eunuchs or lascivious men and women or
slaves or spirits or Heavenly Guardians or animals or avatars—they
need only to hear the words of the ordinator and to accept the precepts
without discrimination, and they will be considered ordained. They will
17
be called The First Perfected."
On this basis, in both China and Japan generations of emperors
and empresses and gentlemen and ladies of good family, inspired with
faith, have asked monks to administer these precepts to them. Eunuchs
may be thought of as degenerates; lascivious women are sensual sinners.
Spirits and demons have fierce hearts; dumb animals dwell in ignorance.
But all have access to this blessing. What, then, of other kinds of
beings? You would do well to commission a monk to administer the
precepts to all those who have only limited knowledge, or who cannot be
inspired with faith, or have not the means to commission monks them-
selves, and you should encourage as many of them as possible to take the
precepts at this opportunity. At first they may not seem too pleased, and
they may even laugh scornfully at the idea, but if they can just hear the
Word they will be moved. Indeed, they should not hold such sceptical
views. In the everlasting, dark night of ignorance, these precepts will
cast a luminous light. For the journey down the long roads of life, the
18
Precepts will serve them as a trusty staff.
Notes
1
One fragment has been identified. In addition, a portion of this
section is quoted in Fusö r y a k k i , in reference to the origins of the
Hatsuse temple (see Shüsei, p. 309).
2
The first part of this section is devoted to an account of the
origins of the temple at Hatsuse (Hase) called "Hatsusedera,"
"Hasedera," or Chökokuji. The second part describes the tradition of
the administration of the B o s a t s u k a i to laypersons. In the Heian period,
Chökokuji was controlled by the Tödaiji, in Nara, so the B o s a t s u k a i
given there was probably not quite the same as that given monks at
Enryakuji (see 3.19). The text Tamenori cites as the basis for his
account of the origins of the temple, " K a n n o n no e n g i n a r a b i n i zöki"
(see n. 11) is lost, but his account bears considerable resemblance to that
in a later work, S h o j i e n g i shü { D N B Z 118:24-27), and to Sugawara
Michizane's Chökokuji e n g i m o n (dated 896; D N B Z 118:326-33). For a
modern history of the temple, see Tsuji Hidenori, Chökokuji shi no
kenkyü.
In this section, some dates are given according to their k a n s h i
designation, and this manner of dating may reflect that used in the lost
reference text. These dates are expressed in terms of the conjunction of
the signs of two cycles. For simplicity, I have translated only the second
element, which includes familiar animals of the zodiac. The date of the
flood given in the opening sentence { k a n o t o t o r i ) agrees with that in
Michizane's chronicle. Miogasaki is a cape on the west bank of Lake
Biwa. It was regarded as a supernatural place from early times and was
said to have been the site of the palace of the semihistorical Emperor
Keitai {Ryakuchü, p. 326; Takeshita, B u n g a k u i s e k i j i t e n , s h i k a hen,
p. 384a).
The texts vary on the form of the name. "Izumo" is probably

correct; the personal name should perhaps be "Ömizu" (Shüsei, pp. 309-
10).
4
Depictions of the "Eleven-faced Kannon" ( J u i c h i m e n K a n n o n )
originated in Indian esoteric iconography and are common in China and
Japan. The eleven countenances represent the Bodhisattva's capacity to
see all those who need her aid throughout the cosmos (BD 3:2206c-10a).
The Hatsuse Kannon is one of the most famous such representations in
Japan and is associated with the working of many miracles (see n. 12).
5
Taima is a very ancient Yamato place-name; the modern town of
this name lies between Osaka and Nara.
Michizane's account also has "in the seventh year . . . of the reign
of Emperor Tenji, the year of the dragon ( t s u c h i n o e t a t s u ) , " which
corresponds to the year 668. But if the year of the flood, a "year of the
rooster," was 601, a full eighty years had not yet passed (see N K B Z
21:187-89, nn. l a n d 24).
The temple is situated on a height overlooking the Hatsuse (Hase)
River where it descends from the Yamato Plateau into the Nara Plain, in
modern Sakurai, Nara-ken. The old place-name Shiki is still in local
use.
Tokudö's dates are unknown. S h o j i e n g i shü identifies him as a
native of Harima Province whose lay surname was Kara Yatabe. He is
said to have held the rank of Daisözu and to have lived at Köfukuji.
There is a biography of Tokudö in Honchö kösöden ( D N B Z 107:332b; see
also B D 4:3941b-42a). Here, he is identified as a novice monk ( s h a m i ) ,
suggesting a lack of formal ordinations or ties to a specific institution.
Perhaps these events took place early in his career.
Some translations of versions of this story suggest that Tokudö is
asking the tree to form itself into an image, but he may be praying for
the means to carve it himself. In both the Töji Kanchiin bon and the
Maeda-ke bon, the prayer is recorded in Chinese, suggesting that the
utterance is a spell or formula (see also McCullough and McCullough, tr.,
A T a l e of F l o w e r i n g F o r t u n e s , pp. 510-11).
9
The Iitaka empress is Genmei, who reigned from 707 to 715. The
"Fusasaki minister" is Fujiwara Fusasaki (681-737). According to
Michizane's chronicle, he met Tokudö on one of his tours of the province
of Yamato (where he was overseer of imperial estates) and reported
Tokudö's project to the empress, who granted her support ( D N B Z
118:329a).
10
Michizane's chronicle has 729 for the completion date ( D N B Z
118:329a). The height is two jö, three shaku.
1 1
A s noted above (n. 2), this work does not survive. Tsuji says that
Tamenori's account up to this point probably represents an accurate
summary of its contents (Tsuji, Chökokuji shi no kenkyü, pp. 173-74).

Dömyö has not been mentioned before this in Tamenori's account. His
name appears in the S h o j i e n g i shü version ( D N B Z 118:24) and in an
inscription on a pagoda at Chökokuji that he constructed in honor of
Emperor Tenmu. He is said to have assisted Tokudö in the founding of
the temple and the construction of the image. The chronicles differ in
their descriptions of the two monks' specific responsibilities. Dömyö
was formally affiliated with Köfukuji (KJJ 5:1183).
12
I n the "Tamakazura" chapter of Genji m o n o g a t a r i , Tamakazura
is advised by her nurse's son to seek the aid of the Hatsuse Kannon: "Of
all the Buddhas," he says, "that of Hatsuse in particular is known for
producing many miracles in Japan, and its fame has reached as far as
China" ( N K B T 15:466). In his commentary on G e n j i , the Kakaishö,
Yotsutsuji Yoshinari made this note on the passage: "The consort of
T'ang Emperor Hsi-tsung [reigned 874-888], Lady Ma t'ou, was
distressed by her ugliness. At the suggestion of an ascetic practitioner,
she faced east and prayed to the Hatsuse Kannon. Then, in a dream, a
monk appeared on a purple cloud and poured water from a jug onto her
head. When she awoke she found herself miraculously beautified. Later,
she sent an offering of jewels to Hatsuse, in gratitude" ( K o k u b u n
chüshaku zensho 3, pp. 227b 28a). Yoshinari gave no indication of the
source of this story. In addition, K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü and Uji shüi
m o n o g a t a r i both have versions of a story of a Chinese empress whose
prayers to the Hatsuse Kannon produced miracles ( N K B T 24:462 and
27:394). H a s e d e r a r e i g e n k i , compiled by the monk Gyöyö in 1435,
contains several more tales of miracles occurring in China and Korea
attributed to the benevolence of the Hatsuse Kannon ( D N B Z 118:334-
418, tales 6, 9,12, and 13 in the first fascicle).
13
"Ordination masters and proxies" is d e n k a i k o k k a i . Säkyamuni
is regarded as the true ordinator, so the presiding monk is called
d e n k a i s h i ("transmittor of the vows"), the Buddha's representative
(BGD 1:164a). The proxy is a monk who asks the ordinator to
administer the vows, and he acts on behalf of the ordinees as a group.
Something of the atmosphere of these occasions can be gathered from
Sei Shönagon's description of a pilgrimage to Hatsuse, in M a k u r a no
söshi ( N K B Z 11:251-57; Ivan Morris, tr., The P i l l o w B o o k of Sei
Shönagon, pp. 139-43).
14
See 3.5 and 3.19.
15
I n the first clause, and in referring to Dengyö Daishi (Saichö),
Tamenori alludes to the Tendai B o s a t s u k a i ordination. Saichö claimed
that the ordinations introduced by Ganjin should also be viewed as part
of this tradition. In fact, Ganjin's ordinations were based on the
S h i b u n r i t s u (the Dharmagupta V i n a y a ) (Groner, Saichö, pp. 182-83,
199-200, 202-3). See 3.19, n. 5 on "the Masters of T'ien-t'ai and Nan-

yüeh."
A king rules one land or continent; a Wheel-King rules many.
The "Hundred Ministers" ( h y a k k a n ) are the various officials of a
kingdom; the term is neither specific nor technical. The quotation is
from Bonmökyö, as quoted in F Y C L ( T 53:939c).
17
T h i s quotation from Bonmökyö is also in F Y C L ( T 53:937a).
"Brahma's worlds" { d a i b o n t e n ) here probably refers to the worlds of
form in general, in contrast to the "Six Desire Heavens" (see 3.4, n. 6).
Eunuchs (ömon) were used as inner palace guards in India (BGD 1:129b).
"Lascivious men and women" is i n n a n i n n y o . "Heavenly Guardians" is
kongöjin, i.e., shükongöjin; see 3.5, n. 12 on "deities who wield the light-
ning bolt." "Avatars" is h e n k e n i n , the temporary manifestations of
Buddhas or deities in human form. "The First Perfected" is d a i i c h i
shöjö.
There are lines similar to these last two sentences in Köjö's
ordination certificate (see 3.19, n. 14). The word used here for "precepts"
is m o k u s h a , an abbreviation of h a r a d a i m o k u s h a , from Sanskrit
prätimoksa. M o k u - is synonymous for "wood," and this pun is worked
into the metaphor of the staff.
3.21 T H E RICE D O N A T I O N
The rice donation is a practice that has been observed by the govern-
1
ment in this month for a very long time. Three hundred bushels of rice
from three selected provinces are distributed among those monks who
2
spend the period of retreat in the mountains surrounding the capital.
Chamberlains of the library act as couriers, making their deliveries to
3
the assigned locations. Private individuals, if so inspired, may also
make similar offerings.
Mountain hermitages are invariably destitute. In the spring the
bracken grows in thick profusion, but clouds on the peaks keep the
monks from gathering it. Before the nuts and fruits upon the trees can
ripen they are blown away in the forest gales. As the days lengthen, the
monks grow ever more exhausted from their chanting of sütras. The
rains fall in torrents and obliterate their tracks when they try to reach
the village to go begging. The sincere devotion of those who venture
across the raging rivers to bring them sustenance must be very deep!
The admiration of the monks for those who seek them out among the
towering peaks to bring these gifts must be very high! Every one of them
weeps grateful tears, and in a trice the starving looks upon their coun-
tenances are gone.
In the Ägama, when the Buddha discussed the offerings
appropriate to each season, he said: "Make your invitations and your
offerings to monks in accordance with the season. Even if I am not
present in the world to come, you will be duly rewarded for these deeds
4
by receiving everything you may need." This is the basis for the offering
of these gifts in the rainy season. In the sütra it also says: " A l l the
Buddhas will rejoice."
The merit of those who concentrate and meditate in tranquility is
very great indeed. In Höshakkyö it is said: "In ages to come there will be
those who hoard their goods and even deride those monks who depend
on charity. None of them will go to pay respect or worship at those
places where monks live in isolation from the world they despise, in
constant devotion to tranquil, diligent austerities. Worldly people think
only of worldly things, and never think about the world to come. But
those who recognize k a r m a in their past lives should be close to monks,
5
revere them, and honor them." This practice is observed in every house
of virtue in this land. You, too, should find yourself a monk who lives in
3.21 The Rice Donation 327
quietude, who is neither too familiar nor too aloof, with whom to
associate.
Notes
1
It is not known when the custom of sending imperial gifts of rice
(semai) to selected monasteries was begun. M o n t o k u j i t s u r o k u
(compiled 871-878) mentions the shipment of rice and salt from the
court to temples in the capital region in the sixth month of 857 ( K S T K
3:100). Göke s h i d a i and Saigüki confirm Tamenori's statement below
that private donations of rice and salt were also made at this time of year
(Zöho köjitsu zenshü 2, p. 235; 6, p. 134). Yamada suggested that
Tamenori's placement of this account in the fifth month is the result of a
confusion with the custom of shinkyü, the granting of rice and salt from
imperial stores to regions stricken by drought. That practice began in
the Nara period, was institutionalized under the Ritsuryö codes, and, in
the Heian period, became a ritual observed in the fifth month of each
year (Ryakuchü, p. 321; Hirokatsu Teiji, "Shinkyü," in N i h o n r e k i s h i
d a i j i t e n 11, pp. 276b c).
2
Göke s h i d a i and Saigüki both indicate that for this annual
distribution 150 k o k u of rice were regularly collected from Bizen
Province, 50 from Owari, and 50 from K i . During the Retreat (ango; see
also 2.4, n. 6), monks and nuns were expected to stay inside their temples
or in more secluded quarters and to devote themselves to intense
worship and study. Originally, this period of limited outdoor activity
may have been intended to prevent them from accidentally stepping on
and killing sprouting plants and newly hatched insects proliferating at
this time of year (BD l:79c-80c).
3
"Chamberlains of the library" ( F u m i d o n o no h i t o ) were courtiers
of the rank of kurödo and below who served in the Kyöshoden, the palace
library also known as the " F u m i d o n o " (KGD 6:176c). Göke s h i d a i and
Saigüki give examples of the precise distribution of delivery assignments
among these officers.
This passage bears some resemblance to a quotation in F Y C L ( T
53:886) from Zöichi agongyö, but the exact source has not been identified
(Shüsei, pp. 313,477).
5
This passage has not been found in "Hoshakkyö," i.e.,
Daihöshakkyö.
The Sixth Month
3.22 T H E S E R V I C E OF O N E
T H O U S A N D F L O W E R S A T TÖDAIJI
1
Tödaiji was established by Emperor Shömu. "If the project is carried

out under the exclusive auspices of the ruler," he said, "the people of the
nation will still suffer great hardships," and so the Council of State
issued his edict calling for patronage and distributed it to every province:
"Whether it is one tree, or one lump of clay, make your contribution in
3
accordance with your capacities." The compliance of the nation with
this edict was like that of grass bending in the wind. At the ground-
breaking ceremony, at which the hall's foundations were laid, the
emperor began by taking up a spade and digging into the earth. The
empress carried the overturned earth in her sleeve. Their ministers and
4
many others participated enthusiastically.
The Great Buddha was completed and all the halls and pagodas
were finished, but there was no gold anywhere in the land for their
5
decoration. The emperor prayed to the deity Zaö, of "Golden Peak":
"We have built a temple and created a Buddha for the sake of all sentient
beings in this world, but since there is no gold in our country, we cannot
properly complete this cherished project. We have heard that there is
gold in the mountain of which you are guardian. We pray that you will
6
let us have some."
Zaö responded with this revelation: "The gold in this mountain is
to be saved for the future world of Maitreya. I am only its guardian; I
cannot give you any. On the banks of the river in Shiga District in Ömi
Province lies a stone fished out by an old man many years ago. Make an
image of the Wish-granting Kannon, place it on this rock, and worship
Q
The stone was soon found, at what is now the Ishiyama Temple.
The image of Kannon was made, and prayers were addressed to it,
whereupon the emperor received word that gold had been discovered in
Mutsu Province. The era name was immediately changed to "Tenpyö
9
Shöhö."
When the temple was dedicated, Gyöki Bosatsu, the abbot Roben,
the Brahman Abbot, Buttetsu, the Old Man of Fushimi, the Old Man of
Konomoto—all of whom were said to be reincarnations of Buddhas—
and many others, natives of this land as well as those who came from
3.22 The Service of One Thousand Flowers 329
India, all came to assist the emperor. Many strange and wondrous
things happened, but they are all described elsewhere, so I will not retell
1
them. You may consult Shoku N i h o n g i and the A n n a l s of Tödaiji}
A great many Buddhist rites are observed at this temple every year,
and I cannot possibly include them all. In this month, the Service of One
12
Thousand Flowers is held. A great number of lotus flowers are offered
to the Buddha. In the sütra it is said: "If you gather flowers and scatter
them in the air as an offering to the Buddhas of the Ten Directions,
13
numberless good roots will be implanted." See what it says in
Gengukyö: "The monk Pu§padeva was the son of an elder. His physical
beauty was without equal. At his birth, many flowers fell out of the sky
and filled his parents' house. Delicious foods materialized on their
bejeweled floor whenever they wished for them. In a former life he was a
poor man. A number of monks came to his village in their wanderings,
and he was thrilled to see them. But he became anxious when he
thought about what he might offer them, for his house was completely
bare. So he went out to a spring amidst the fields and picked some
flowers, which he scattered over the monks. He prayed fervently, made a
wish, and then withdrew. For ninety-one k a l p a s thereafter he never fell
into the Evil Realms. Now he has met the Buddha once again and has
1 4
become an a r h a t . "
And in another sütra it is said: "The monk Vapu§män was born
with soft skin and a beautiful countenance. His father and mother
rejoiced at the sight of him, and everyone admired and adored him.
Long before, he was a man who went inside a stüpa and found a withered
flower. It was covered with dust and stained with mud. He picked it up,
brushed it off and made it clean again, and then he offered it and
withdrew. Through the merit of this act he was born repeatedly
thereafter in heaven or in the human realm, and he enjoyed many
pleasures in those realms. Then he heard the Buddha's words and
15
became a sage."
The reward for scattering flowers on monks was endless; how much
more so when they are offered to the Buddha! The effort to save a
withered flower yielded very good results; how much more so when the
flower is fresh! Utpalavarpä was blessed with a face as lovely as a flower
16
in every one of her rebirths. Lotus flowers sprang up in every one of
17
Mrgära-mäty's footsteps. These were all rewards for offerings of
flowers in their former lives. If you seek the blessing of wisdom and wish
to contact the Buddhas of the Ten Directions, recite this verse from the
K e g o n Sütra:
I scatter these flowers in the Ten Directions,

18
In offering to all the Tathägatas.
And if your inspiration should move you to offer a whole branch of bios-
soms, recite this verse from the L o t u s Sütra:
When your heart is in confusion,

Offer up a single flower;
You will then see within that flower
19
A l l the countless Buddhas, in succession.
Notes
Five fragments have been identified. A summary of the text of

this section up to a point corresponding to "so I shall not retell them"
appears in Tödaiji yöroku, in k a n b u n (see Shüsei, pp. 315-19; Tsutsui,
ed., Tödaiji yöroku, p. 45).
2
Shömu is identified as "the Celestial Emperor," A r n e no m i k a d o .
In 743 he made a vow to bring about the construction of a large image of
Vairocana Buddha, and the Kokubunji of Yamato Province was enlarged
to house it. In the first half of this section Tamenori relates some of the
events leading up to the dedication of the temple and its great image in
752. See also 3.2.
The full text of Shömu's c h i s h i k i m o n of Tenpyö 15.10.15 is in
Shoku N i h o n g i ( K S T K 2:175). The notion that the magnitude of
contributions should be in line with the donor's fiscal capacities is
repeatedly stated in scriptural discussions of religious offerings.
4
The ground-breaking ceremony of 747 is described in an inscrip-
tion at Tödaiji, the D a i b u t s u d e n h i m o n (Tsutsui, ed., Tödaiji yöroku,
pp. 33-35).
5
D a i b u t s u d e n h i m o n gives the tenth month of 749 as the date of
the completion of the casting of the image. It was customary to paint
images as well as parts of temple buildings with gold leaf. Gold, like
most other rare metals, is not found in significant quantities in Japan.
6
The deity Zaö was believed to be the guardian of treasures on
Mount Kinpu, also known as "Kane no mitake" ("Golden Peak"); he was
also thought to be a Japanese manifestation of the esoteric Buddhist
deity Vajrasattva (Zaö g o n g e n ) (BD 2:1420c-31b). The source for
Tamenori's quotation of the emperor's supplication cannot be identified.
It may be from a lost work. S h o j i e n g i shü contains similar lines ( D N B Z
118:31a); Tödaiji yöroku quotes Sanböe for this material (Shüsei,
p. 478).
7
In this Sonographic form ( N y o i r i n K a n n o n ) , the Bodhisattva is
shown holding the "wish-granting jewel" ( n y o i höshu; see 1.4, n. 5) in one
3.22 The Service of One Thousand Flowers 331
hand and the wheel of the Law (hörin) in the other. It is believed that
the Bodhisattva responds particularly to prayers for longevity, safe
childbirth, and the avoidance of natural disasters (BD 5:4133c 35c).
8
Ishiyamadera (in modern Ötsu-shi) was founded in 762 by Roben.
9
A t this time, Mutsu was a vast province comprising most of the
northeast coast of Honshu. The provincial governor sent nine ryö of
gold to the capital in the fourth month of 749 (Mayuzumi Hiromichi, ed.,
Nenpyö N i h o n r e k i s h i 1, p. 152). Until this time, era names consisted of
only two auspicious characters. In celebration of the discovery of gold in
749, Kanpö ("treasure received") was added to the era name already in
use, Tenpyö; later that year, this was changed again to Tenpyö Shöhö
("excellent treasure").
10
T h e dedication took place in the fourth month of 752. On the
legend of Gyöki's attendance and his revelation as an incarnation of
Manjusii, see 2.3. Roben (689-773) was Shömu's preceptor, a leading
participant in the drive for the construction of Tödaiji, and its first
Bettö. He was also responsible for increasing the prominence of the
Kegon school at this time. He was appointed Söjö in 773. It was said
that he was a reincarnation of Maitreya (Tsutsui, ed., Tödaiji yöroku,
p. 30; Nakao, N i h o n meisö j i t e n , pp. 188-90). The "Brahman Abbot" is
Bodhisena; see 2.3 about his revelation as a reincarnation of Samanta-
bhadra. Buttetsu was a monk of Annamese (Vietnamese) origin who
came to Japan with Bodhisena in 736 and taught Sanskrit at Daianji.
His contributions to the Tödaiji dedication ceremony include a set of
musical pieces called rin'yügaku, probably of Southeast Asian origin.
These contributions are mentioned in D a i a n j i b o d a i d e n r a i k i , a work
quoted in Tödaiji yöroku (Tsutsui, ed., pp. 54-55). "The Old Man of
Fushimi" ( F u s h i m i no o k i n a ) is also the subject of a story in D a i a n j i
b o d a i d e n r a i k i . An old man lay motionless and silent for three years on
a hillside near Sugawaradera, at Fushimi, in Nara. He was thought
insane; occasionally he was seen to lift his head slightly and to gaze
eastward. At a festive reception for Gyöki and Bodhisena at
Sugawaradera in 736, this mysterious man joined in the dancing.
Bodhisena identified him as an attendant who had served him in India.
His eastward glances were interpreted as omens for the Tödaiji construe-
tion, which was begun a few years later (see also Genkö shakusho, K S T K
31:224-25). "The Old Man of Konomoto" ( K o n o m o t o no o k i n a ) is iden-
tified with the mysterious old man who appeared before the Tödaiji on
the morning of the dedication ceremony with a sack full of mackerel and,
in accordance with a revelation in the emperor's dream the previous
night, was designated chief lecturer for the service. After the service, the
mackerel, given in offering, were found to have turned into the eighty
fascicles of the K e g o n Sütra (see also K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 12.7,
N K B Z 21:226-27). Note the resemblance of this legend to the plots of

2.1 (the beggar appointed lecturer) and 2.16 (the fish transformed into a
sütra).
11
T h e Shoku N i h o n g i record of the dedication is generally confined
to factual information ( K S T K 2:213-14). The "Annals of Tödaiji"
(Tödaiji no k i m o n ) mentioned here cannot be precisely identified. No
such work is included or mentioned in Tödaiji yöroku, which was
compiled in the early twelfth century, but other texts therein describe
the various miracles in detail.
12
According to the list of annual rites in Tödaiji yöroku, a "Service
of One Thousand Flowers" (Senke e) was regularly observed on the
twenty-third day of the sixth month in the Kensakudö. On the four-
teenth day of the same month, Tödaiji observed a Service of Ten
Thousand Flowers ( M a n k e e) on an even grander scale.
13
The source of the quotation has not been identified. Yamada
suggested that it may be from a text specially prepared for reading at the
Senke e itself, now lost (Ryakuchü, p. 340).
14
T h e story of Pu§padeva ( K e t e n b i k u ) in Gengukyö (Τ 4:359a-b) is
greatly abbreviated here to emphasize the element of the flower offering
and of the merit it produces.
15
The story of Vapu^män ( I t o k u b i k u ) comes from Senjü
hyakuengyö (Τ 4:235b-c). Like the previous story, it has been
abbreviated to emphasize the element of the flower offering. Vapu$män
was a disciple of Säkyamuni (KMJ 737b).
16 u
Here, Utpalavarnä is called K e s h i k i no n y o n i n " ("the woman
who was the color of the flower") (see "General Preface," n. 14; 3.13,
n. 11).
17
According to two related stories in Zöhözökyö, M^gära-mätf
(Rokumo b u n i n ) was the child of a female deer who drank an ascetic's
urine and subsequently gave birth to a beautiful human child. Wherever
the girl went, lotus flowers sprang up in her tracks. In a previous life, it
seems, she had scattered lotus petals over a pratyekabuddha, and this
was her reward. In the first Zöhözökyö version she is called Renge b u n i n ,
Rokunyo b u n i n in the second, and in the latter she is the mother of a
thousand lotus flowers that turn into valiant soldiers (T 4:451-53c). The
second version is quoted i n t o t o in F Y C L ( T 53:488c-89c). There are a
number of variants on this story; see BD 5:5060-61; K M J 772-74a;
Chavannes' translation, 1, pp. 80-84; 3, pp. 1-12. The Zöhözökyö stories
are also the basis for K o n j a k u m o n o g a t a r i shü 5, pp. 5-6 ( N K B T 22:352-
56).
18
The verse, from the sixth fascicle of the sütra (Τ 9:435a), also
appears in F Y C L (T 53:583b c).
19
The verse is from the second chapter of the sütra (Τ 9:9a).
3.23 The Manjusri Service 333
The Seventh Month
3.23 T H E M A N J U S R I S E R V I C E
The Manjusri Service originated in the inspiration of monks, and now it

1
is sponsored by the government. The [posthumously entitled] Zösöjö
Gonsö and the monk Taizen of Gangöji conducted it in many villages
and districts throughout the provinces of the capital region, gathering
2
rice and greens and offering them to the poor.
This practice is based on the text of the M o n j u hatsunehangyö:
"Any sentient being who hears the name of Manjusri shall be freed from
the sufferings of twelve hundred million k a l p a s of life and death; and if
he undertakes to make an offering, Manjusri will immediately manifest
himself and appear before him in the guise of a starving beggar, an
3
orphan, or an invalid.
After Gonsö's death, Taizen tried to continue this practice on his
own, though doing so only increased his grief for Gonsö. With the
support of the Ecclesiastical Bureau, he petitioned the government, and
on the twenty-fifth day of the second month of the fifth year of the
Tenchö era [828], a lengthy decree in several sections was issued. It
provided for annual observance of the service in the capital and in each
4
province of the seven regions, on the eighth day of this month.
The grant of rice to be made in each province is specified. The
governor and district administrators are allowed to add more when the
farmers of their districts can manage it. A l l arrangements are made
5
through the cooperation of the lecturers and readers with the governors.
In the capital, rice and salt are presented by each governor. Cash
contributions are collected from imperial princes and other members of
the nobility, as well as all the governors. Beggars are gathered in the
6
Töji and Saiji. First, a monk administers the Three Refuges and the
Five Precepts, and then he leads the congregation in singing the praises
7
of Bhai§ajyaguru and Manjusri. Each governor leads a separate group
of beggars through these rites.
No government can use its might to make its people offer charity,
but, as it says in the Zöhöketsugikyö: "Rather than practice charity by
yourself throughout your life, you would do better to encourage your
comrades to join you and to have each one contribute his small portion
of the whole and present it all at once to the poor, the aged, and the sick.
8
The merit from this will be far, far greater."
Some of the beggars present may be avatars of the Buddhas and

Sages of the Ten Directions; therefore, they are not to be looked down
upon. A l l are reincarnations of fathers and mothers of previous ages;
therefore, they must be shown compassion. That is why the Buddha
Säkyamuni called such persons "a field of merit," and that is why
9
Vimalaklrti distributed his jewels among them.
In the Ubasokukaikyö it is said: "As long as there are poor people,
let no one say he cannot be charitable. Even the poorest people in the
world must eat a small amount of food each day. Among all the poor,
0
beggars should be singled out for special charity."
And in the Sütra o n R e w a r d s it is said: "The giving of food
generates five kinds of merit, all at the same time. The first is in the
giving of life, because if people cannot eat they die. The second is in the
giving of color, because if people do not eat they become pale. The third
is in the giving of strength, because if people do not eat they grow weak.
The fourth is in the giving of contentment, because if people do not eat
they cannot feel content. The fifth is in the giving of speech, because if
people do not eat they do not have the strength to speak. Therefore, for
giving food you will receive the rewards of long life, exceptional strength,
11
splendid color, a luxuriant body, and marvellous speech."
In the Agongyö it is said: "He who has a happy youth but suffers in
old age does so because, in a former life, he generated merit while he was
young but committed sins when he grew old. He who suffers when young
but has a pleasant old age does so because, in his former life, he
committed sins when he was young but generated merit when he grew
12
old."
I have known people in this world who flourished at one time but
declined at another; it seemed to me that they were two completely
different people. But now, having heard the teachings of the Buddha, I
know that this was determined in their own hearts in their former lives.
You, with your healthy, rosy cheeks would do well to learn this lesson,
and you, with your tousled gray hairs and grizzled faces—you listen,
1
too! If someone comes to your gate and begs for food, do not fail to
give him something. If you see a sick person lying in the road, you must
14
do your best to care for h i m . The Buddha has discussed the rewards
for these deeds at length. Just look at what happened to Sudatta, and to
15
Jyotiska.
Notes
1
The section title does not mention a specific temple because the
service {Monjue) was observed nationwide. However, in this account
3.23 The Manjusri Service 335
Tamenori focuses on the observance in the capital, which was centered

at Saiji and Töji (see below).
On Gonsö, see 2.18. The honorary title of Söjö was conferred
shortly after his death. Very little is known about Taizen other than his
association with Gonsö and the M o n j u e . In an entry for the seventh
month of Tenchö 10 (833) in Shoku N i h o n köki he is named as the
leader of the M o n j u e in the capital, and the noble families supporting the
rite are also named ( K S T K 3:14). In the decree of 828 (see below, n. 4)
he is identified as a monk of Gangöji. (Taizen is not to be confused with
another monk of the same name who founded Kokugenji in Izumi
Province and whose biography appears in Honchö kösöden.)
3
M o n j u hatsunehangyö (i.e., M o n j u s h i r i hatsunehangyö) is a very
short sütra in which Säkyamuni describes Manjusri's activities in the
future, following his attainment of n i r v a n a . This passage ( T 14:481a b)
is also quoted at greater length in the decree of 828 (see n. 4);
Tamenori's abbreviated quotation is probably based upon this docu-
ment. This scriptural passage may be the basis of a number of stories in
which beggars are identified as manifestations of Manjusri, one instance
of which occurs in some biographies of Köya (see Hori Ichirö, Köya,
pp. 40-43).
4
The decree, in Ruijü s a n d a i k y a k u ( K S T K 25:53-54), is an act of
the Council of State. One village per district was to be designated as the
site of the service; in the capital, Töji and Saiji (see n. 6) were so desig-
nated. On the "Seven Regions," see 3.1, n. 4.
5
The original decree specifically called for joint planning between
the civil governors and the lecturers (köshi) and readers ( d o k u s h i ) .
6
These two temples stood at the right and left of the southern gate
to the capital at Kujö, the southernmost east-west avenue. The designa-
tions "East Temple" and "West Temple" are informal; both temples had
several formal names during their long histories. The construction of
both was completed in about 796. As the Shingon center in the capital
after 823, Töji prospered and greatly overshadowed Saiji in historical
importance (BD 2:1410b-lla; Kyöto-shi, ed., K y o t o no r e k i s h i 1, p. 366).
7
O n the "Three Refuges and Five Precepts," see 2.13, n. 3. The
decree for the M o n j u e specified that these should be administered to the
participants. Bhai§ajyaguru is probably invoked here as the eurer of the
sick.
Q
Zöhöketsugikyö is a spurious work, but Chih-i referred to it in

several treatises, and it was still used in the Tendai in Tamenori's time
( B S K D 7:57a-b). This quotation closely follows the original text ( T
85:1336b).
9
O n "a field of merit" ( f u k u d e n ) , see "Preface to the Third
Volume," n. 3. The poor are so designated in the section of the Zöhöke-
tsugikyö cited above. On Vimalaklrti (here, Jömyö), see 3.28. He was
known for his generosity as well as his wisdom and rhetorical skills. The
dispensing of his k e y u r a is described at the end of the fourth chapter of
the V i m a l a k l r t i Sütra (Τ 14:544a).
10
The sütra describes the ideal life of the religious layman.
Tamenori's quotation is close to the text of the original (T 24:1056a),
which is quoted in F Y C L ( T 53:888a).
11
The "Sütra on Rewards" (Fukuhökyö, i.e., Bussetsu j i k i s e g y a k u
gofukuhökyö, Τ 2:854c-55a) is a very short work quoted in its entirety in
F Y C L (T 53:611b). Tamenori gives a summary.
12
The quotation is from Zöichi agongyö (Τ 2:655c). Tamenori
paraphrases the original passage.
13
Tamenori uses a poetic figure, k a s h i r a no yomogi s h i r o k i
tomogara, to refer to elderly people with unruly white hair.
14
This is perhaps a reference to the story of Prince Shötoku's
encounter with the beggar on Kataokayama (see 2.1).
15
Sudatta (Shudatsu) is another name for Anäthapipcjada, donor
of the Jetavana garden. A passage in Zöhözökyö quoted in F Y C L ( T
53:714a) tells how he gave away all his wealth at his death and was duly
rewarded in his future lives. Jyoti§ka ( J u d a i , i.e., J u d a i g a ) was a wise
and wealthy elder of the city of Campä; his birth as such was a reward
for his generosity in former lives, according to Judaigakyö, quoted in
F Y C L (T 53:711b).
3.24 T H E R I T E FOR T H E D E A D [AND T H E CONFESSION] 1

ο
The Rite of the Dead was initiated in the age when the Buddha was in
3
this world. In the U r a b o n Sütra it is said: "When Maudgalyäyana
attained the Six Supernatural Faculties and wanted to try to save his
father and mother, to repay his obligation to them for having raised him,
he discovered that his mother had been reborn in the Realm of Hungry
4
Ghosts, where she suffered perpetual starvation. There was little left of
her but skin hanging on bones. Grieving and weeping, Maudgalyäyana
filled a bowl with rice and took it to her. She clutched the rice in her left
hand, picked up a tiny bit of it with her right hand, and was about to eat
it, but before she could put it in her mouth it turned to fire and then into
cinders, so she could not eat it.
"Lamenting and grieving, Maudgalyäyana reported this to the
Buddha, who said, 'Your mother's sins are very great. You cannot save
her through your own efforts. On the fifteenth day of the seventh
month, prepare a hundred delicacies and the Five Fruits and many other
good things, put them on trays, and offer them to the Buddhas of the
5
Ten Directions. On that day, all the Srävakas and Pratyekabuddhas
and Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages who have already sought and
attained those states will temporarily appear in the guise of monks, and
6
they will come and take the food. If you make this offering to these
monks while they are holding confession, your own father and mother in
this life and in seven other lives will escape the sufferings of the Evil
7
Realms.'
"On that day, Maudgalyäyana's mother was saved from one k a l p a
of suffering as a Hungry Ghost. Maudgalyäyana told the Buddha, ' M y
mother was saved through the power of the Three Jewels. What if all
your disciples in future worlds were to do this, too?'
"The Buddha said, 'Let monks and nuns, kings and princes, prime
ministers and counselors, chamberlains and officers and all the common
people and all those who practice filial piety observe a day of rejoicing on
this day when monks make their confession, and let them prepare
delicacies, place them in trays, and offer them to monks. Let them pray
that their parents in this life may live for one hundred years without
illness, that their fathers and mothers in seven other lives may be freed
from the sufferings of Hungry Ghosts, and that they may be granted the
pleasures of life in the Heavens. Those who cultivate filial piety must
reflect upon it day after day, and obligations must be repaid year after
,
year.
On this basis, this practice was observed in India and in China as
8
well. It is observed by the government as well as the private citizenry of
9
Japan.
See what the Buddha says in Shinjikangyö: "People commit many
sins on account of their children. They fall into the Three E v i l Realms
and suffer there at length. If their child is not a sage, and has no super-
human powers, he will not see their reincarnated state and will not know
how to repay his obligations. But if at some time that child should
remember these instructions and should generate merit in this way, then
a great golden light will shine into Hell, and from the midst of this light a
voice will call out to that father and mother and help them to remember
their former sins. One instance of repentance in their hearts will erase
10
all those sins and free them from their punishments." The feelings of a
parent for a child are especially deep, but the feelings of a child who
leads his parent out of Hell on this day can be no less extraordinary!
The Retreat ends on this day, and so the monks hold confession.
The courtyards before their halls are swept clean, and the monks gather
at the center of the grounds. They seat themselves in order of seniority
and conduct themselves in accordance with instructions set forth in the
1 1
Vinaya.
Some people prepare offerings and present them to the seated
monks at this time; among them are whittled willow twigs. In the
V i n a y a it says: "Monks are permitted to use willow toothpicks. This
12
has Five Benefits." Some come with packages of magnolia bark, dried
13
ginger, and myrobalan. In Fuhözökyö it is said: "Long ago, Bakkula
met a monk who had pains in his head. He gave him one myrobalan.
For ninety-one k a l p a s thereafter he received good rebirths and
experienced many pleasures, and in this life he lived one hundred and
14
sixty years without ever falling i l l . "
There are also those who prepared offerings of paper, ink, and
brushes. In Daijikkyö it is said: "If you make an offering of paper, ink,
and brushes to a monk, thereby enabling him to copy the sütras, you will
15
attain great wisdom." There are also those who give fans. In
Shöbönengyö it is said: "When you see a monk, spread a fan over him
and let him chant the sütras. At the end of your life you will be reborn in
the 'Heaven Where the Winds Blow/ where wonderful perfumes are
16
wafted in the air and unsurpassable pleasures abound." The rewards
for any act of giving are neither slight nor few, but among the many
kinds of giving, charity to monks generates the most excellent kind of
merit.
Notes
Both texts, as well as the Közanji text for this section (see below)
have this note (jishi ο k u w a e t e ) following the section title, but the
Maeda-ke bon has an incorrect character for the -shi of j i s h i (see Shüsei,
p. 325).
2
There is, in addition, the so-called Közanji bon, a full text for this
section in mixed script (see Shüsei, pp. 327-29; Kobayashi Yoshimi,
"Közanjizö Sanböe shishö itsubun," K a m a k u r a j i d a i g o kenkyü 1 [March,
1978]).
The name of the "Rite for the Dead," u r a b o n , is said to have been
derived from Sanskrit u l l a m b a n a . These rites are traditionally
performed in the middle of the seventh month to earn merit for the souls
of departed parents and ancestors. The rites certainly do have scriptural
and historical precedent in India, but the festival, as observed in China
and Japan, displays many elements that are accretions from Taoism and
the folk religions of both countries (see Fujii Masao, "Urabon to
minzoku," in Köza N i h o n no minzoku shükyö 2, Bukkyö minzoku,
pp. 121-42). Tamenori's claim that the rite originated in Säkyamuni's
time is supported by his scriptural citations, which follow.
4
Urabongyö is a very short sütra (Τ 16:779a-c); Tamenori's
paraphrase is a summary of the whole. On Maudgalyäyana, see "Preface
to the First Volume," n. 5. On the "Six Supernatural Faculties," see
"Preface to the First Volume," n. 3. On "Hungry Ghosts," see 1.2, n. 3.
Beings reborn in this hell are punished for their sins with insatiable
hunger and thirst. When they do find something to eat it turns into
flames and burns before they can swallow it.
5
The "Five Fruits" are (1) "fruits with pits" (jujubes, apricots), (2)
"fruits with edible skins" (pears, plums), (3) "fruits with hard shells and
soft centers" (walnuts, pomegranates), (4) "fruits with rough shells"
(pine nuts, acorns), and (5) "curved fruit" (beans) (BGD 1:356).
The use of the character bon as an abbreviation for the translitera-
tion of u l l a m b a n a in the sütra passage has perhaps led to this traditional
misinterpretation, "on trays"; "gather them at the time of u l l a m b a n a "
may be the original intent (Ryakuchü, p. 352).
6
The "Bodhisattvas of the Ten Stages" (jüji no bosatsu) are those
who have reached stages 41 through 50 of the 51 progressive stages
toward enlightenment. They experience (1) perfect joy and (2) purity;
they (3) emit bright light and (4) shine with wisdom; (5) ignorance is
overcome; (6) they see all their former incarnations; (7) they leave the
mundane world and the two lesser vehicles (i.e., srävaka and
pratyekabuddha) far behind; (8) they are immovable (there is no back-

sliding); (9) they have the capacity to preach all doctrines; and (10) they
spread their wisdom throughout the universe "like sweet rain falling
from the clouds" (BGD l:654b c).
7
The word for "confession," j i s h i , is a translation of Sanskrit
prauärana. The three month period of retreat ends on the fifteenth day
of the seventh month. Monks and nuns then convene and confess any
violations of their vows that may have been committed during the
retreat (BGD l:552d). An example of a manual for the conduct of j i s h i is
included in Tödaiji yöroku (Tsutsui, ed., Tödaiji yöroku, pp. 337-40).
The word used here for the "Three Evil Realms," sanzu, is a synonym for
san'akudö (see 1.2, n. 3).
8
According to C h i n g - c h ' u s u i - s h i h c h i , a description of customs and
annual events in the state of Ch'u in the sixth century, by Tsung L i n , the
first observance of a Buddhist rite for the dead probably occurred around
538 (Moriya Mitsuo, ed., K e i s o s a i j i k i , pp. 159-64). Ennin's diary
mentions an observance at the Tu t'o-ssu temple in 840 (Reischauer, tr.,
D i a r y : The R e c o r d of a P i l g r i m a g e to C h i n a in Search of the L a w , p. 268).
9
The earliest recorded observance in Japan occurred during the
reign of Saimei, in 657 ( N K B T 68:187, n. 19). Shömu gave the annual
observance an official basis in 735 (BGD 1:90). For additional descrip-
tions of Heian-period observances, see Ikeda Kikan, H e i a n j i d a i no
bungaku t o seikatsu, pp. 576-78.
10
Tamenori closely paraphrases a verse passage from a section of
Shinjikangyö on the "repayment of obligations" (T 3:302b).
11
"In order of seniority" is rö no t s u i d e . Rö refers to a year-end
festival of worship of ancestral gods. Hörö is a term for the number of
years (i.e., year-end festivals) passed since a monk's or nun's entry into
the order, and the basis for determining seniority (BGD 2:1448).
12
Willow twigs were one of the eighteen items of property
permitted a monk; they are also included among the approved imple-
ments of the bath in 3.4. Jüjuritsu (Τ 23:413c), quoted in F Y C L (T
53:1016b) lists "five benefits": removal of bad tastes from the mouth,
removal of bad odors, avoidance of colds, avoidance of fevers, and
prevention of respiratory disorders.
13
"Magnolia bark" ( h o h o no k a w a , from hoho no k i , i.e., m a g n o l i a
h y p o l e u c a ) was brewed and taken as an antidote for colds, headaches,
and nervous disorders (KGD 18:97a). The treatment of a mental
disorder with magnolia bark tea is mentioned in E i g a m o n o g a t a r i . (It
was not successful [NKBT 75:148; McCullough and McCullough, tr., A
Tale of F l o w e r i n g Fortunes 1, p. 174].) Dried ginger (kankö) was also
used in herbal medicine. M y r o b a l a n ( k a r i r o k u , from Sanskrit h a r i t a k i ,
i.e., t e r m i n a l i a c h e b u l a Petzius) is the fruit of a large deciduous tree
found in China and Southeast Asia. Its medicinal use is said to have
been introduced to Japan by Ganjin. The fruit is oval shaped and the
size of a date. It is very high in tannin and is eaten to regulate the
bowels (KGD 5:240d 41a; Watanabe, "Ganjin Wajö shörai no yakuhin,"
in G a n j i n Wajö, pp. 138-40).
14
The quotation is an abbreviation of a passage in Fuhözökyö (Τ
50:308a b) and also in F Y C L (T 53:615b). The name Bakkula (Hakkura)
appears in several other forms. He was one of Säkyamuni's disciples
(BD 5:4191b 92a; Edgerton, B u d d h i s t H y b r i d S a n s k r i t G r a m m a r a n d
D i c t i o n a r y 2, p. 397a).
15
Daijikkyö (i.e., Daihödö daijikkyö, Τ 13:206c) lists paper, ink, and
brushes as one of four kinds of ideal gift (also in F Y C L , Τ 53:886a).
Tamenori abbreviates the passage in Shöbönengyö (i.e.,
Shöbönenjogyö, Τ 17:131a; also in F Y C L , Τ 53:542b). The name
"Heaven Where the Winds Blow" (fügyöten) appears in the sütra, but I
have not found any other uses of this name.
The Eighth Month
3.25 T H E CONTINUOUS N E N B U T S U ON H I E
The Nenbutsu was introduced from China and practiced here first by
1
Master Jikaku in the seventh year of the Jögan era [865]. Among the
four types of meditation, this is the one called "continuous moving
2
meditation. When the cool mid-autumn wind is blowing and the clear
mid-month moon is shining, the meditation is begun at dawn, on the
eleventh day of the eighth month, and it continues without interruption
until the seventeenth. The two thousand monks of the monastery are
3
divided into four watches. Their bodies constantly circle the Buddha,
and all the sins of the body are negated. Their mouths constantly chant
the sütra, and all the transgressions of speech disappear. Their minds
4
constantly contemplate the Buddha, and all confusion comes to an end.
In the Amidakyö it is said: "Any devout man or woman who is
inspired with faith, remembers the name of Amida Buddha, and
meditates upon it intensely for one day, two days, three days, or as many
as seven days shall not falter even in the last moment before death, but
5
shall immediately be reborn in Paradise." The seven-day length of this
rite is based upon this passage.
Now, this Buddha made a great vow for the sake of all sentient
beings on this earth. The sentient beings of this earth have a great
6
affinity with this Buddha. At the sound of one utterance of his name,
sins from eighty billion k a l p a s of former life will be erased, and you will
be reborn in that land where your outstretched arms can reach beyond
7
the boundaries of a million billion lands. Those who want to reach the
Q
Pure Land must despise this world and pray for that one. Whether you
are standing or sitting, despise your body for all its sufferings. Whether
you are asleep or awake, pray for the joys of that other world. In the
morning, when you see the lovely flowers of spring, you should yearn for
the beauty of the Grove of Seven Rows, and in the evening, when you
hear the autumn wind, you should imagine the sound of the rippling
9
Waters of the Eight Good Qualities. At the end of each day let your
10
heart follow the setting sun into the west. There is no doubt about the
good effect of good intentions acted upon for one day or one instant.
Trust in this, and even punishments for the Five Transgressions will be
11
cancelled, and you will surely be reborn there.
3.25 The Continuous Nenbutsu on Hie 343
Notes
According to Ennin's biography ( J i k a k u D a i s h i den; see 3.16,

n. 2), he introduced the monks of Hieizan to the techniques for
meditating on Amida that he had learned at Wu t'ai in 851 (ZGR 8:693).
The Jögyö zanmaidö at Enryakuji became a center for these practices.
At Ennin's death in the first month of 864, he expressed the particular
wish that the "continuous nenbutsu" (fudan n e n b u t s u ) , one of the forms
of meditation that he had emphasized, be carried on without cessation.
In the eighth month of 865, Söö (831-918), who had been one of his
closest disciples, began an annual observance of the f u d a n nenbutsu in
Ennin's memory. Tamenori appears to have confused the two dates.
2
O n the "four types of meditation," see 3.3, n. 17. The "continuous
moving meditation" (jögyö z a n m a i ) consists of up to ninety days of
continuous circumambulation of an image of Amida while chanting his
name and mentally contemplating his Pure Land or his thirty Buddha
marks. The result of proper practice, as outlined by Chih i in M o - h o
c h i h - k u a n , is visualization of Amida himself. It is said that Ennin
taught a meditation technique that involved musical chanting according
to a score he had learned in China (BD 2:1834a 35a, 3:2596-70c).
3
The phrase mentioning the division into "watches" ( b a n ) appears
only in the Maeda-ke bon (Shüsei, p. 332). A note in the Töji Kanchiin
bon (apparently a copyist's) says that monks representing the three
factions on Hie (Tötö, Saitö, and Yokawa) each practiced the meditation
for one week, totaling three weeks of observance, although in China it
was literally practiced for three continuous weeks. In each watch of 500
monks were approximately 166 monks from each faction; they were
divided further into rotating groups, so that at any one time during the
period of observance thirteen of fourteen monks would actually be
engaged in the meditation.
This system is described in Öe Masafusa's account of the origins of
the f u d a n nenbutsu at Iwashimizu ( I w a s h i m i z u f u d a n nenbutsu e n g i ,
dated 1070; see Takahashi Keizö, ed., I w a s h i m i z u Hachimangü shiryö
sösho 2, pp. 41-43 or GR 15:63-64; Ryakuchü, p. 356). The Iwashimizu
f u d a n nenbutsu was introduced by monks of the Saitö faction.
4
Many sütras prescribe practices designed to purify and harmonize
the body, the mouth, and the mind (i.e., the physical person, his expres-
sive faculties, and his mental faculties) simultaneously (shingoigyö).
Chih-i incorporated this concept into the jögyö z a n m a i , in which the
movement of the body, the words spoken, and the images contemplated
in the mind all focus upon Amida. The similarity of this analysis to the
esoteric concept of harmonizing the body, the voice, and the mind to
achieve instantaneous enlightenment has been noted by many scholars.
5
This is a slightly abbreviated and edited version of the original
passage (T 12:347b). For example, the phrase "inspired with good faith"
is an addition. "Shall not falter" (tendö sezu, literally "without a falling
backward of the mind") and the term for "meditate intensely" ( i s s h i n
f u r a n ) are used here just as they appear in the sütra.
The term "great vow" ( d a i s e i g a n ) refers to Amida's promise to
save all sentient beings. In some later interpretations of Pure Land
thought, the term refers specifically to his forty-eight vows (the condi-
tions for his final acceptance of Buddhahood) as a group (BGD 2:923a;
B D 3:2891b c). "A great affinity" is d a i i n n e n . The idea is that there is a
relationship of mutual cause and effect between the sufferings of sentient
beings and Amida's very existence in this world; the sufferings of these
beings motivate him to strive for them and to create his Pure Land for
their sake. Other technical terms in Pure Land parlance refer to this
idea; Tamenori uses this one to create a balance with d a i s e i g a n .
7
A couplet in the verse-preface to Kanmuryöjukyö says that eighty
billion kalpas of sin are erased by one utterance of Amida's name ( T
12:340c). The latter half of this sentence is slightly less close to the line
in Amidakyö, on which it appears to be based; the original reads "A
million billion Buddha-lands to the west of here is a land called
4
Paradise'" (T 12:346c).
8
T h i s sentence uses the same terms as those in the formulaic
exhortation "Despise and reject this corrupt world; pray that you may
attain the Pure Land" ( o n r i e d o gongujödo); this phrase is particularly
familiar from its use in Genshin's Öjöyöshü (NST 6:10-11).
9
One of the features of Amida's Pure Land is a grove of trees in
seven rows (shichijü no h a y a s h i ) adorned with fabulous jewels and
stones (Amidakyö, Τ 12:346c). The Pure Land also has waters with eight
ideal characteristics ( h a c h i k u no n a m i ) : sweetness, coolness, softness,
lightness, purity, fragrance, gentleness in the throat, and gentleness in
the stomach (T 12:347c).
10
Amida's Pure Land lies in the west.
11
O n the "Five Transgressions," see "Preface to the First Volume,"
n. 6. The Maeda-ke and Töji Kanchiin texts differ in the wording of this
last sentence, which is slightly vague in both cases. The idea that even
the worst kind of criminal will be saved if he has faith in Amida is
fundamental Pure Land doctrine.
3.26 The Liberation of Animals 345
3.26 T H E L I B E R A T I O N OF A N I M A L S AT Y A H A T A
The Great Bodhisattva of Yahata was originally our nation's Sage

1
Emperor. In the Decree of the Council of the tenth year of the Könin
era [819] it says: "The High Priest Ömiwa Kiyomaro submitted a peti-
tion, to wit: 'This Great Bodhisattva is the Honda Emperor. Long ago,
during the reign of Emperor Kinmei, he made his first appearance, and
his shrine was established on the peak of M a k i in Usa District in Buzen
Province. Later it was moved to Mount Ogura in Hishikata. This is the
present Usa Shrine. In the third year of the Tenpyö era [731], in
response to a divine pronouncement, the government made an offering
2
of ritual papers.'"
And in the old chronicle submitted by the Kachi clan of Karashima
it says: "The Yahata Trinity was first called ' H i r o h a t a no Y a h a t a
1
Daimyöjin. It is now called ' G o k o k u Reigen I r i k i J i n z u Daijizaiö
Bosatsu.' In the fourth year of the Yörö era [720] there was a revolt in
Ösumi and Hyüga provinces. In response to prayers, the great deity
joined the troops of the government when they faced the enemy, and the
Priestess Karashima no Kachi Hazume also served. Once the enemy
3
had been attacked and overcome, the deity returned to the shrine."
Then, in an oracle, the deity said, "Many of the Hayato have been
slain. To counteract this sin, a service for liberating animals should be
4
held each year." On this basis, seashores and river banks in various
provinces were chosen as the site for the performance of this auspicious
ritual, the Liberation of Animals. Monks, laymen, and shrine officials of
the province of Yamashiro buy a great many fish that fishermen and
others who make their living from the sea are about to kill. Then the
5
monks chant spells and prayers and return the fish to the water.
As the Buddha said, there are no sentient beings that do not cling
to life. Their forms may vary, but the pains of the flesh are shared by all.
In Bonmökyö it is said: "Cultivate compassion, and set living creatures
free. A l l sentient beings of the Six Realms are our fathers and mothers
from former lives. If you kill them and eat them, you are killing and
eating your fathers and mothers. For this reason, always liberate living
things. If you see someone about to kill a dumb beast, you should use
6
some expedient means to save that animal."
And in Rokudojikkyö it is said: "Long ago, there was a man who
went to market and saw someone selling a turtle. He asked how much it
cost, and paid an exhorbitant price for it. He carried off his purchase
and released it in a stream, and as he watched it swim away, he was filled

with both joy and pity. Later, in the night, this turtle came knocking at
his door. In amazement, the man went out to have a look, and the turtle
said, Ί have been thinking about my debt to you for rescuing me and
setting me free. But there is no way to repay you. AU I can do is tell you
what I know: a great flood is about to occur. Prepare your boats
immediately/ The next morning the man went to the gate of the palace
and asked that the king be informed of this. Since this man was known
for his wisdom, the king took his advice and moved to high ground,
whereupon the flood waters burst forth. Later, the king made the man
prime minister. He led him by hand into the palace, and they sat next to
one another and held discourse on the Way." 7
In Zöhözökyö it is said: "Long ago there was an a r h a t . He had an
acolyte as his servant. One day he looked at the acolyte and realized that
the boy would die in seven days, so he released him from service. On his
way home the boy saw an army of baby ants caught in a stream, about to
perish, and he was very upset. He took off his cloak, filled it with mud,
and dammed the stream with it. He scooped up the baby ants and set
them on higher, dry ground. A l l of them were saved. Seven days later he
returned to his former place of service. His master, the a r h a t , was
amazed. He entered meditation and found that there was nothing more
to worry about. He realized that the power gained through the rescue of
8
the ants had served to extend the acolyte's own life as well."
If you want to make spiritual advancement, practice the liberation
of animals; the purchase of the turtle certainly yielded its reward. Those
who want to ensure long lives for themselves should practice the libera-
tion of the living; they can be sure of the same power that was attained
by the boy who rescued the ants.
Notes
This sentence identifies the chief deity of the Yahata (or Yawata)
Shrine at Usa, in Kyüshü, as " H i j i r i no m i k a d o , " i.e., the semihistorical
Emperor Öjin. His description as a "Great Bodhisattva" ( d a i b o s a t s u ) is
an early application of the h o n j i s u i j a k u doctrine (identifying native
deities as manifestations of Buddhist ones). According to N i h o n shoki,
Öjin was the son of Emperor Chüai. Öjin's mother Jingü Kögö ruled as
regent from Chüai's death in 201 until her own death in 269; Öjin then
ruled from 270 to 310. His tomb is at Honda in Habikino City, Ösaka-fu
(KJJ 2:316-17; N K B T 68:340, 362-63). Tamenori's account of the early
history of the shrine and its ritual "liberation of animals" (höjöe) closely
3.26 The Liberation of Animals 347
resembles the undated Höjöe engi in the records of the Iwashimizu

Hachimangü Shrine (a branch of the Usa Shrine), which quotes the
same documents as Tamenori does (Iwashimizu Hachimangü
Shamusho, ed., I w a s h i m i z u Hachimangü shiryö sösho 2, pp. 102-3).
2
The decree is quoted in the Höjöe engi (see above); it does not
appear in the official collections of such decrees. The name of the high
priest ( K a n n u s h i ) , Ömiwa Kiyomaro, appears in a slightly different form
in a decree issued at Dazaifu in 821 (Takeuchi Rizö, ed., D a z a i f u ,
D a z a i f u Tenmangü shiryö 1, p. 322). Members of the Ömiwa family
hereditarily served as priests at Usa. "The Honda Emperor" refers to
Öjin (see η. 1, above). Emperor Kinmei's rule is believed to have begun
in 531; N i h o n shoki gives 570 as the year of his death. The site of the
present Usa shrine was apparently once called " M a k i no mine." Three
peaks near Usa are known as "Hishigatayama" because of their
resemblance to the triform leaf of the plant of that name; one of these is
Ogurayama ( K a d o k a w a N i h o n c h i m e i d a i j i t e n 44, O i t a - k e n , p. 688). The
nature of the "divine pronouncement" is not recorded, but it would seem
to have been some kind of oracle. "Ritual papers" (gohei) are a typical
Shinto offering; strips of white or colored paper (or cloth) are tied to a
bamboo or wooden stand and placed upon an altar (Ono Sokyö,
"Heihaku," in Shinto j i t e n , pp. 549b 50b).
3
The work referred to as "the old chronicle" ( k o k i ) does not survive,
but it is quoted in the Höjöe engi. "Karashima" is a place-name in Usa;
the "Kachi" clan may have been of Korean origin, and its members
appear in Usa Shrine records as hereditary patrons (KJJ 2:559a-b). The
"Yahata Trinity" ( Y a h a t a sansho) includes Öjin, Jingü Kögö, and Chüai
(see η. 1). The Buddhist name of the deity means, roughly, a
Bodhisattva who employs the power of Buddhism to protect the state.
The revolt described here is recorded in S h o k u N i h o n g i ( K S T K 2:79-81),
but no mention is made there of the deity's participation in the struggle.
The governor of Ösumi was killed by rebellious members of an ethnic
group who inhabited the southern part of Kyüshü. This group, the
H a y a t o , had formally submitted to imperial authority at the end of the
fifth century; some of them had migrated to the K i n k i region, where they
served as palace guards. Ötomo Tabito was sent at the head of an army
to quell the rebellion, and he did so after three or four months of fighting
(KJJ 2:362-64; Inoue Tatsuo, "Hayato to gütei," in K o d a i no N i h o n 3;
Kyüshü, pp. 213-27).
4
This oracle (takusen) is quoted in the Höjöe engi.
5
Since Tamenori describes activities in Yamashiro, he would
appear to have the Höjöe of the Iwashimizu Shrine in mind. This shrine
was founded at Otokoyama as a branch of the main Usa Shrine in 859, at
the request of the monk Gyökyö. A Buddhist temple, Gokokuji, was
attached. These institutions received considerable imperial patronage

and were frequently visited by royalty (Nishida Masao, "Iwashimizu
Hachimangü,'' in Shinto j i t e n , p. 12).
6
This passage from Bonmökyö is quoted in the Höjöe engi almost
exactly as it appears here. The last sentence of Tamenori's version,
however, is not in the engi but appears in a quotation of the same
passage in F Y C L (T 53:780b).
In the case of this quotation, Tamenori's version is almost iden-
tical to that in the Höjöe engi. Both are much simpler and shorter than
the Rokudojikkyö version (T 3:15a-16a) quoted in F Y C L ( T 53:664b 65a)
(see also Chavannes' translation, 1, pp. 87-90). This would suggest
either that the engi itself was Tamenori's reference, or that he and the
anonymous engi author used the same references (perhaps F Y C L ) . This
story is obviously related to that of the young woman and the crab; see
2.13.
8
This story is presented exactly as it appears in the Höjöe engi,

which is also very similar to the F Y C L quotation (T 53:782c; see Τ
4:469c 70a for the original; Chavannes' translation, 3, pp. 41-42). In
F Y C L , this story immediately precedes the passage that is the basis of
Tamenori's version of the story of Jalavähana (see 1.7, η. 1).
3.27 The Anointment Initiation 349
The Ninth Month
3.27 T H E A N O I N T M E N T INITIATION AT H I E
When we inquire into the origins of this Anointment Initiation, we find

that Dengyö Daishi received it when he met Master Shun-hsiao in the
fourth month of the twenty-first year of the Chen-yuan era of the T'ang
1
[805] at the Lung-hsing-ssu in [Yueh] Province. In the ninth month of
the twenty-fourth year of the Enryaku era [805], having petitioned
Emperor Kanmu for permission, he conducted this initiation at
Takaodera, in Kiyotaki. The imperial decree stated: "The important
teachings of esoteric Buddhism have not yet been introduced to this
land. The Ajari has now introduced them. He is qualified to be the
3
teacher to the nation." He assigned an imperial representative to
4
oversee the service and selected master painters to paint the Buddhas.
Later, this rite was transferred to Hie, and it is held there as an
annual observance of that temple. In the first year of the Kashö era
[848], at the request of Jikaku Daishi, the government issued a decree
calling for the construction of the Söjiin and an Anointment Initiation
Hall, and it has been observed there continuously ever since, as a service
5
to the state.
A l l the teachings of the Tathägata are equal, but none leads faster
to the attainment of Buddhahood than this one. In order to explain it to
6
you in detail, I asked a monk of Hie to describe it. Initiates into this
teaching are anointed upon the head with water, and that is why it is
7
called "the Anointment Initiation." The basis of this practice is that
when Bodhisattvas become Buddhas, they are initiated by having water
8
poured upon their heads by the Tathägata. The Taizökai and Kongökai
9
initiations are administered in alternate years. Four persons called
"Priestly and Lay Guides" prepare and direct the initiate. Four persons
called "Anointers at the Gate" wait for him at the entrance to the temple,
and they pour water upon his head. Four persons called "Priestly and
Lay Cantors" chant incantations over the anointed one. Two persons
called "Blindfolder and Guide" cover the initiate's face with a red cloth
and take him by the hand to the platform. Four persons called "Guides
in the Throwing of the Flower" hand him the flower and have him throw
it on the Buddha images that are painted on the m a n d a l a . Eight persons
called "Readers of the Flower Sign" watch the flower as it falls and deter-
mine the Buddha thus designated. Four persons called "Designators of
the Secret Name" inform him of the name of the Buddha he has chosen.
10
A D a i a j a r i directs the whole rite.
If the Buddha designated is the Buddha Mahävairocana, the
initiate is seated on the Lotus Throne and they sing his praises; if the
Buddha designated is of another type, they sing his praises accord-
11
ingly. For this purpose, twenty singers are provided by the govern-
ment. In addition, the A j a r i provides thirty-four hymn singers. Eight
persons called "Bearers of the Tooth-twig" are employed within the
12
hall.
The pouring of water upon the head and the throwing of a flower
from the hand may seem very simple, but this is a teaching full of
mystery, and it is, indeed, a way to become a Buddha. This is also
observed at Töji and Hosshöji, where it has been conducted annually for
a very long time. Anyone may go to these temples and receive the initia-
3
tion there; so it is recorded, in the R e g u l a t i o n s .
Notes
The subject is the kanjö (a translation of Sanskrit a b h i s e k a ,

"anointment of the head"), an esoteric ritual of importance in both
Tendai and Shingon. Tamenori focuses on the Tendai kanjö; his
account of its transmission is based on E i z a n D a i s h i den (Nakao,
Josetsu, pp. 401-2; see also Groner, Saichö, pp. 52-61). Shun-hsiao
(Junkyö) took Saichö and his companion Gishin into the mountains
northeast of the Lung-hsing-ssu and initiated both of them in a private
chapel.
2
O n Takaodera, see also 3.12. According to E i z a n D a i s h i den,
Saichö asked permission to perform the kanjö on the twenty-fourth day
of the eighth month, received permission on the first day of the ninth
month, and performed the rite on the sixteenth. Eight monks, including
Gonsö (see 2.18) were initiated (Nakao, Josetsu, p. 409; Groner, Saichö,
pp. 66-67).
3
Tamenori excerpts a few lines and simplifies some terms from the
quotation of the document that appears in E i z a n D a i s h i den. The
"Ajari" is Saichö.
4
The "imperial representative" ( c h o k u s h i ) was Ono Minemori
(778-830), designated kengyö (supervisor or overseer) for this particular
ceremony. More than twenty painters ( e s h i ) were set to work under his
direction, and they produced a large image of Vairocana Buddha, a
"great map<Jala," and more than fifty pennants for the occasion (Kiuchi,
Dengyö D a i s h i no shögai t o shisö, p. 134; Groner, Saichö, p. 67).
3.27 The Anointment Initiation 351
On Jikaku Daishi (Ennin), see 3.16. Records of his petition and

the resultant decree of the Council of State are in Ruijü sandaikyaku
( K S T K 25:69-70). Ennin specifically stated that the kanjö would serve
to protect the state. Although Tamenori implies that the initiation
received by Saichö from Shun-hsiao and that received and instituted by
Ennin are one and the same, this was probably not the case. On the
Söjiin, see 3.16, n. 11.
6
This is the only time that Tamenori mentions what would seem to
be a live informant. The initiation described is the kechien kanjö in the
tradition introduced by Ennin. The object is the establishment of a
spiritual connection with a divinity of the esoteric pantheon. Both
monks and laymen were so initiated. The kechien kanjö is also called
töge sanmaya, "the flower-throwing purification," because the initiate
stands blindfolded on the ceremonial platform and throws a flower onto
a τηαηςίαΐα, thereby establishing a spiritual connection with the divinity
represented at the spot where the flower falls (BD l:892-97c).
7
I.e. kanjö.
8
A passage in the K e g o n Sütra (Τ 9:572b) may be the scriptural
basis cited here. Indian kings and princes were anointed with water at
their coronations, and the custom seems to have been carried into the
descriptions of the coronations of Bodhisattvas upon entry into the last
ten of the fifty-two stages toward Buddahood. The esoteric Buddhist
anointment, however, marks, ipso f a c t o , the annointed's attainment of
Buddhahood. In practice, the kanjö initiate is merely touched upon the
head with a ceremonial dipper that has been immersed in water (BD
l:811c 13c).
9
The Taizökai (garbhädatu, "womb realm") and Kongökai (vajra-
d h a t u , "diamond realm") are the two main forms of τηαηςίαΐα used in
esoteric Buddhism in Japan, representing two conceptions of the
universe and the symbolic positions of the many Buddhas within that
universe. The two types of initiation using these mangtalas were
apparently practiced alternately, without any implication of the supe-
riority of one over the other.
10
"Priestly and Lay Guides" is shinshi dözoku; "Anointers at the
Gate," monzen shasui; "Priestly and Lay Cantors," dözoku kaji;
"Blindfolder and Guide," fumen innyü; "Guides in the Throwing of the
Flower," j u y o m i k k e ; "Readers of the Flower Sign," kanke s h i i ; "Desig-
nators of the Secret Name," j u y o m i t s u g o .
11
Mahävairocana ( D a i n i c h i n y o r a i ) is the central Buddha of the
esoteric pantheon and is portrayed in the center of the m a n t f a l a s . The
"Lotus Throne" ( r e n g e no za) is the seat of honor on the initiation plat-
form. Designation of the central Buddha by the throwing of the flower
indicates an especially powerful and auspicious spiritual relationship,
and the initiate is granted this mark of honor and reverence accordingly.
It is not clear if it is the initiate or Mahävairocana whose praises are
sung.
12
T h e "Bearers of the Tooth-twig" ( s h i m o k u ) may be low-ranking
monks or acolytes who assist their superiors and the initiate in dressing
and purifying themselves before the rite. Elaborate toothpicks made of
various materials were actually a kind of ritual object (BD 3:2106b-8a).
13
B o t h the k e c h i e n kanjö and the denbö kanjö, another level of
esoteric initiation, were authorized at Töji in 843 at the request of the
monk Jitsue (786-847; a disciple of Kükai and his successor as abbot of
Töji). The Töji kanjö represents the continuation of Kükai's transmis-
sion. The Hosshöji kanjö was probably that of the Tendai tradition of
Ennin, as the monastery had close ties with the Sanmon faction on Hie
(BD 5:4617b). Decrees pertaining to both the Töji and Hosshöji kanjö
are in Ruijü s a n d a i k y a k u and N i h o n k i r y a k u ( K S T K 25:68-69; 11:34).
These rites are mentioned here because they are more accessible than
those of Enryakuji, the precincts of which were closed to women.
3.28 The V i m a l a k l r t i Service 353
The Tenth Month
3.28 T H E V I M A L A K l R T I S E R V I C E A T Y A M A S H I N A D E R A
Long ago, the Chief Courtier and Minister of the Center Kamatari lived
at a place called Suehara in the village of Yamashina in the district of Uji
1
in Yamashiro. He fell i l l , and for a long time he was unable to attend to
official duties. Then a nun from Paekche [named Hömyö] came to his
2
mansion. The minister asked her, "Do people in your country have this
sickness, too?"
"Yes, they do," she replied.
"What is the treatment?" he inquired.
"They make an image of Vimalaklrti, and when the V i m a l a k l r t i
3
Sütra is read, they are cured," she told him. So the minister set up a
chapel in his house, constructed the image, and held a series of readings
of this sütra. The nun was asked to serve as lecturer. On the first day
4
she lectured on the "Visitation" chapter. The minister was immediately
cured. He held the service again in the following year, and every year
thereafter.
5
His second son, Fuhito, succeeded him at a very early age. Even-
tually he rose in rank and became a minister. Then he too fell i l l . When
the nature of the curse was divined, it was found to have been caused by
the cessation of the services his father had conducted. Therefore, he
6
held a V i m a l a k l r t i Service. The site for the service was transferred
from the mansion at Suehara to the Hököji. From Hököji it was moved
8 9
to the Uetsukidera. Later, Lord Fuhito established the Köfukuji. The
furnishings of the chapel at Suehara in Yamashina were moved there
and incorporated in the building of the new temple, and that is why the
temple in Nara is known as Yamashinadera.
Hököji was first known to the people of that time as Nakatomidera.
After the Minister of the Center was granted the name Fujiwara, it
10
became known as Fujiwaradera. Thereafter, many generations of Sage
Emperors were born to women of this clan. Many generations of stal-
wart ministers have inherited the stewardship of the temple. Its
prosperity and the grandeur of its services must be credited to them.
Their contributions, from the noble members of the clan down to those
of the fifth rank who sew quilts as offerings to the monks, are recorded in
1 1
its A n n a l s and their A p p e n d i c e s .
Now then, this "Visitation" chapter tells how the Buddha called for
an investigation of Vimalakirti's illness. Vimalaklrti suffered this illness
12
temporarily as an expedient means. The king and his ministers and
countless numbers of others came to see him. To all of them he said,
"This body is like a dream and should not be thought of as real. This
body is like a cloud, and before long it will disappear completely. A l l of
you should reject this body and pray for that of the Buddha."
Then the Buddha sent Manjusri to visit Vimalaklrti. Vimalaklrti
anticipated this, and he emptied his room, leaving only one mat.
Manjusri arrived and said, "What is the cause of this illness? Has the
treatment had any effect? How can it be cured? The Buddha is
seriously concerned and wants to know."
Vimalaklrti answered, "I am ill because all sentient beings are i l l . If
all sentient beings are relieved, then I too shall be relieved. The illnesses
of Bodhisattvas arise from their great compassion."
Then Manjusri asked, "Why is this room empty and deserted?"
"The realms of all the Buddhas are likewise empty," answered
Vimalaklrti. And they continued to discourse in depth upon the
wondrous doctrines, which were manifested in many good signs. A l l
those who heard and saw them were deeply inspired with the desire to
attain enlightenment, and the wisdom of the Great Vehicle became
accessible to them.
Then Vimalaklrti arose from his sickbed and went with Manjusri
to see the Buddha.
Vimalaklrti was a Great Bodhisattva. This sütra explains the
nonsubstantiality of illness, and that is why it has this miraculous effect
when it is read.
Notes
Kamatari (614-699) was the progenitor of the Fujiwara clan. He

was instrumental in bringing about the downfall of the rival Soga clan
and the enactment of the Taika reforms. At his death Emperor Tenji
conferred upon him the title D a i s h o k k a n , the highest cap rank in the
system he himself had established. He was the only person ever to hold
the title, equivalent to "Senior First Rank." The k a b a n e Fujiwara no
ason was also conferred on Kamatari's line (until then called Nakatomi)
at his death. The exact location of Suehara is not known although
several places in Yamashina, southeast of the central part of Kyoto, have
been suggested as the possible site. Tamenori's account of the origins of
the V i m a l a k l r t i Service { Y u i m a e ) is quite similar to, but much more
3.28 The V i m a l a k l r t i Service 355
detailed than that in the Köfukuji e n g i of Fujiwara Yoshiyo, dated 900

( D N B Z 115:321-22). Another comparable account is in S h i c h i d a j i
j u n r e i s h i k i , by Öe Chikamichi, dated 1140 (see Shüsei, pp. 343-44).
There are also several different accounts of the founding of the Fujiwara
clan temple that later came to be called Köfukuji. In some accounts the
temple at Suehara is said to have been built by Kamatari's wife.
2
The nun's name appears in the Köfukuji e n g i ; it is omitted in the
Töji Kanchiin bon but appears in the Maeda-ke bon. A brief biography
of Hömyö appears in Genkö shakusho ( K S T K 31:260; see also K J J
6:1612b).
3
Here, the protagonist of the V i m a l a k l r t i Sütra is identified by the
transliterated form of his name, Y u i m a k i t s u , but the translation Jömyö
appears below in Tamenori's summary of the fifth chapter of the sütra,
and "Jömyö" was also used in 3.23 (see n. 9). He was a wealthy elder of
the city of Vaisali, and he earned a great reputation as an effective
debater who criticized Hinayäna and praised Mahäyäna doctrines and
practices (BD 5:4907c-8b).
4
The "Visitation" chapter ( M o n s h i t s u b o n , i.e., M o n j u s h i r i
m o n s h i t s u b o n ) is the fifth chapter of the sütra. Vimalaklrti was ill for
some time, and Säkyamuni, concerned about his faithful supporter, tried
to send several disciples and Bodhisattvas to inquire into his condition,
but they were all reluctant to confront Vimalakirti's sharp tongue.
Finally, Manjusri agreed to go. Tamenori provides a summary of what
passed between them below.
5
Fuhito (659-720) was actually about forty when his father died.
Fuhito was also an eminent statesman. Two of his daughters married
emperors, and thus he initiated the pattern of Fujiwara control of the
throne through marriage (KJJ 6:1543a-45b).
6
The word used here for "curse," t a t a r i , suggests a malignant
possession. Such afflictions were usually diagnosed and treated through
divination. Fuhito revived the Y u i m a e in 707. After his death, it lapsed
again, to be revived by his grandson Nakamaro (706-764).
The site of Hököji, also known as Nakatomidera, is unknown.
8
The site of Uetsukidera may have been near modern Koriyama.
According to Shoreishö, a Y u i m a e was held there in 708 (GR 15:22a).
9
Köfukuji was counted among the seven great Nara temples and is
still an important site in Nara, although it has suffered considerable
vicissitudes, including virtual destruction by fire at the hands of Taira
troops in 1180. While the capital was at Asuka, the Fujiwara established
their temple at a place nearby called Umayasaka, and it was known as
Umayasakadera. When the capital was transferred to Nara, the temple
was moved to its present site at Kasuga, near the new city, and was
renamed Köfukuji. In reference to its earliest site, it was familiarly
called Yamashinadera (Öta, N a n t o s h i c h i d a i j i no r e k i s h i t o nenpyö,

pp. 143 and p a s s i m ) .
10
T h e chronology here is slightly askew. Hököji did not exist until
long after Kamatari received the name "Fujiwara."
11
T h e work referred to ( E n g i n a r a b i n i zöki) may be to some work
other than Yoshiyo's engi, with much more detail (Ryakuchü, p. 376).
12
Here, the term "expedient means" (höben) refers to a deliberately
created opportunity for the demonstration of a particular philosophy in
a readily comprehensible manner. In the summary of the central action
of the "Visitation" chapter that follows, Tamenori paraphrases the
dialogue (see Τ 14:544-46a for the original). In this sentence he uses the
name Jömyö; in the summary he uses Yuimakitsu and Makitsu.
13
Here, the name reverts to Jömyö. Tamenori is no longer
paraphrasing the sütra. The identification of Vimalaklrti as a "Great
Bodhisattva" ( d a i b o s a t s u ) does not appear in the sütra but is based on
the observation that, though he remained a layman, his supernatural
powers and insights were tantamount to those of a fully enlightened
being.
3.29 The Service of Eight Lectures 357
The Eleventh Month
3.29 T H E SERVICE OF E I G H T L E C T U R E S AT K U M A N O
Deities inhabit Muro District in Ki Province. They are worshiped there

as the Kumano Dual Deities and the True Deity. The Dual Deities are
mother and daughter, and are called "Musubi-Hayatama." The third
deity is in an attached shrine and is said to be the original deity of this
1
mountain.
The Service of Eight Lectures is held in both the New Shrine and
2
the Old Shrine. The province of Ki lies adjacent to the Southern Sea;
the village of Kumano lies in the inland district. Mountains rise in range
upon range, and many rivers make the road to Kumano a long one.
Spring comes and autumn goes, but those who reach this place are few.
Those who live in the mountain shadows eke out their days by gathering
fruits and nuts. Those who live by the edge of the sea commit the sin of
catching fish. Were it not for these shrines, the service of Eight Lectures
probably would not be held there. Were it not for this service, they
probably would never have heard of the Three Jewels. The fact that the
Wondrous Doctrine has thus been introduced to this out-of-the-way
place, where it is hard for word to travel among even fifty people, must
3
surely be evidence of the work of Bodhisattvas.
The assignment of the various patrons' offices for the four-day
service is determined by those in attendance. The choice of Lecturers
and audience for the eight sessions is left to the discretion of the
4
assembled monks. Neither wooden nor metal begging bowls are used to
receive the offerings to the monks. Instead, they receive them in
hollowed pieces of wood and put them inside the bags they carry at their
waist. The monks who lecture do not wear their usual formal robes; they
5
appear in deerskin coats and leggings. No distinctions are made
between the elite and the lowly, or between the old and the young.
In Gengukyö the Buddha extolls the Five Charities. The good
fortune earned through them is limitless. The rewards are obtained
within this life. The five are: giving to those who come from afar, to
those who are far away, to those who are starving and weak, to those
6
who are ailing, and to those who know the Teachings. When we look at
the monks gathered in the Kumano courtyard for the offering, we see all
five kinds in this assemblage. They have traveled a long way to get here.
They must travel a long way to get home again. Those who have run out
of food are starving and weak. Those whose feet are swollen suffer great
discomfort. They chant the sütras and utter spells, so they know the
7
Teachings. So there is no doubt that the patrons will be rewarded with
great good fortune.
Also, in Ubasokukaikyö it is said: "When the Buddha practices
charity, he makes no distinction between good and bad people; nor does
he choose between the elite and the lowly; nor does he admonish the
8
recipients with harsh words." This is discussed in C h i d o r o n , too. There
was a certain elder who invited monks—but only old ones—to receive
offerings, in order of seniority. He did not invite acolytes. A number of
acolytes who had attained the state of a r h a t changed their form into that
of elderly monks and went to this elder's house. Their brows were as
white as snow; the wrinkles on their faces were like rippling waters.
Once they had taken their seats, they changed back into their natural
forms. The patron was shocked and ashamed. The acolytes explained to
him: "In your ignorance you made a distinction between good and bad
monks. A l l the waters of the sea cannot be swallowed in the mouths of
mosquitoes and flies. Nor can human faculties be used to take the
measure of the virtue of a monk. There is no such thing as superiority
9
and inferiority among the Three Jewels."
I am giving you many recommendations and admonitions. Pay
close attention! Cultivate impartiality in your heart and maintain
equality in your offerings. There is no other correct way!
Notes
"Muro no göri" comprised the southeast portion of the province of

K i , about half its total area, and now part of Wakayama-ken. The
Kumano "Dual Deities" ( K u m a n o ryösho) and the "True Deity" (Shöjo
i s s h o ) are worshiped at the Shingü ("New Shrine") and the Hongü
("Main Shrine") of Kumano, respectively. "Shöjo" in the name of the
"True Deity" (also called the "original deity," m o t o t s u k a m i ) , means
"Witness of the Truth" and has Buddhist overtones. This deity was
identified with Amida, while the "Dual Deities," Hayatama and Musubi,
were identified with Bhai§ajyaguru (Yakushi) and the Thousand-armed
Kannon, respectively. The "Dual Deities" tended to overshadow the
earlier deity from an early time, and so the Hongü came to be referred to
as an "attached shrine." A third shrine, at Nachi, is now included in the
tripartite Kumano group ( S h i n t o j i t e n , pp. 26-27). The Kumano shrines
were the destination for many high-ranking pilgrims in the Heian
period, despite their remote location. They were reached either by a
3.29 The Service of Eight Lectures 359
tortuous overland route through the mountains that stretch south from
Nara to the tip of the K i i Peninsula, or by sea from the west.
2
O n the origins of the "Service of Eight Lectures" (Hakkö) on the
L o t u s Sütra, see 2.18. Tamenori's account of the observance at Kumano
is the only detailed record in existence. As he describes it here, the
Kumano rite seems to be similar to the Hakkö said to have been
conducted by Köya at Rokuharamitsuji, since both were for the benefit
of and were attended by commoners. These rites lack the memorial
aspect of Gonsö's H a k k o and the related Shimotsukie of Hie (see 3.30).
As Tamenori suggests, one motive behind the Kumano rite was the
alleviation of the burden of the accumulated sins of local hunters and
fishermen (their sin was the killing of living things). The identification
of one of the Kumano deities as Kannon, who figures prominently in
several sections of the L o t u s Sütra, may also have been a contributing
circumstance (see also Takagi, H e i a n j i d a i hokke bukkyöshi kenkyü,
pp. 243-50; Tanabe, "The Lotus Lectures," pp. 406-7).
3
See η. 1. on the identification of the Kumano deities with
Bodhisattvas. "The Wondrous Doctrine" (myöhö) refers to the L o t u s
Sütra.
4
These details are indicative of the informality of the Kumano rite.
This sentence and the one preceding have parallel structures.
5
"Hollowed pieces of wood" is kinokö in the Töji Kanchiin bon,
mokusetsu in the Maeda-ke bon. These seem to be burls cut in half and
hollowed into bowllike shapes. Takagi observes that such rustic customs
as these were unique to the Kumano Hakkö. There is a suggestion here
of the influence of the ascetic Shugendö cult, particularly in the
ceremonial costumes.
6
The list of "Five Charities" (gose) from Gengukyö is quoted in
F Y C L ( T 53:823c).
7
The word for "spells" here is j u : dhärani, m a n t r a s , or other brief
chants.
8
Tamenori paraphrases the quotation in F Y C L ( T 53:878b). He
omits the list of five specific admonitions to the generous layman, an
outline of the proper manner of giving.
9
This story from D a i c h i d o r o n ( T 25:224a-25c) is quoted in F Y C L
(T 53:608b-9b; see also Lamotte's translation, 3, pp. 1393-1406). There
are a few differences of detail in Tamenori's version; in the sütra, the
acolyte's speech is in verse form.
3.30 T H E SERVICE IN T H E M O N T H OF FROST
The Service in the Month of Frost is held at Hie on the anniversary of

1
the death of the Great Master of T'ien-t'ai in China. The master was
the disciple of Master Hui of Nan-yiieh, and mentor to the rulers of both
2
the Ch'en and Sui dynasties. The Nan-yiieh master achieved the
Perfection of the Six Senses, while the T'ien-t'ai master attained
Wisdom in the Five Categories.
When the T'ien-t'ai master was born, a brilliant light filled the
room. Two monks suddenly appeared and said, "This child must
definitely become a monk," and then they disappeared. At the age of
seven he went to the temple, and upon one hearing he comprehended the
4
" F u m o n " chapter. At the age of eighteen he shaved his head and went
5
to Mount Ta-su. The Nan-yüeh master grasped his hand and said,
"Long ago at Vulture Peak we heard the L o t u s Sütra together, and now,
6
because of the everlasting bond we share, we have met here once again."
7
The T'ien-t'ai master perfected the L o t u s Meditations. His
wisdom and insight were deep and luminous; the skill of his speech knew
8
no bounds. There was no limit to his ability to expound the Teachings.
The Nan-yiieh master always had him lecture on the sütras in his place.
In a dream, the T'ien-t'ai master saw a monk on top of a tall mountain,
beckoning him. Later, when he went to Mount T'ien-t'ai for the first
time, the saintly monk known as the Bodhisattva Ting-kuang was
joyfully waiting to welcome him, and he looked just like the monk in the
9
dream. So he stayed and lived on that mountain. The emperor of the
Ch'en Dynasty took the Bodhisattva precepts from him and showed his
10
regard by granting him the title "Great Master Chih-che."
Whenever the master cleared his throat and began to expound
upon the scriptures, his disciple, Master Kuan-ting, took up his brush
and recorded his words on paper. The many works thus inscribed were
presented to the government and eventually spread throughout the
11
world.
On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the seventeenth
year of the K'ai-huang era [597] he told a provost, " M y life will soon
come to an end. When I hear the sound of the bell, my concentration
grows even deeper. Let it ring, then, until my breathing stops." He sat
upright, perfectly still. At death, it seemed as if he had entered medita-
tion. Clouds piled up and towered in the heavens, and the wind turned
bitter cold. The trees bowed low, and the streams whispered their
lament. For ten days the color in his face remained unaltered. Perspira-
tion came out of all the pores of his body, just as it had when he was
12
alive.
On each anniversary of his death, the government ceased its
normal activities. Couriers were dispatched with offerings for one
thousand monks. When the number of monks in the feast hall was
counted, it was found that there were one thousand and one. When
attendance was taken and all the monks' names were called out, the
correct number responded. When the offerings were distributed, there
was one monk too many. But when the ceremony came to an end, none
was empty-handed. Thus it was known that the master had been
13
present among the other monks. I need not describe all the miraculous
events that occurred. If you wish to know about all of them, you may
consult the texts in which they are recorded: you will find them in the
1 4
T'ang L i v e s of E m i n e n t M o n k s and in the Story of t h e S a c r e d P o r t r a i t .
Dengyö Daishi felt a deep obligation to the master. In the eleventh
month of the [seventeenth] year of the Enryaku era [798] he invited ten
great monks from the Seven Great Temples to a small room on Mount
15
Hie and held the Service of Ten Lectures for the first time. After ten
days, the services were concluded, and on the next day, the twenty-
fourth, the Offering to the Master was held. His sacred portrait was put
16
up in the hall, and offerings were laid before i t . As the offerings were
brought forward from the courtyard, tea was prepared and sweets were
served, just as offerings were made at T'ien-t'ai long ago. The profusion
of flowers and the billowing incense are reminiscent of the mists of
China. From time to time cymbals are struck, and the "Hymns to the
17
Portrait" are sung with great enthusiasm. Offerings are also made in
the same manner to all the Indian, Chinese, and Japanese patriarchs of
18
the various doctrines.
The "Hymns to the Portrait" were written by Yen, the Duke of L u ,
in honor of the T'ien-t'ai master; Master Chishö introduced them from
19
China. Chishö came from Sanuki Province. In a dream his mother
saw the sun enter her mouth, and afterward she found that she was preg-
nant. From early childhood he could read and chant the sütras. In the
Tenchö era [824-834] he went to Mount Hie. The abbot Gishin rejoiced
20
and gladly accepted him as his disciple. In the autumn of the third
year of the Ninju era [853] he went to China to search for the Teachings.
In the summer of the second year of the Ten'an era [858] he returned
21
and introduced the forms of worship he had learned.
Now, all temples that uphold the legacy of the T'ien-t'ai master
conduct lectures on the L o t u s Sütra and make many offerings to the
patriarchs. In Bonmökyö it is said: "On the anniversary of the death of
their parents, or of their masters or a j a r i s all Buddhists should chant
9
the sütras of the Great Vehicle and lecture and expound upon them."
This rite is observed on this basis, and out of the desire of many genera-
tions of the patriarch's disciples to repay their obligations to him.
Notes
1
The service (Shimotsukie) takes its name from a traditional one
for the eleventh month. The rite was also called a H o k k e jükö, or
"Service of Ten Lectures" on the L o t u s Sütra. The first jükö at Hie was
held by Saichö in 798, with lectures on each of the eight fascicles of the
sütra plus the "opening" and "closing" sütras (see 2.18, nn. 6 and 10).
The custom of commemorating the anniversary of the death of Chih-i in
this manner may have originated in China, but Gonsö's Iwabuchidera
Hakkö was perhaps also a model (see Groner, Saichö, p. 591).
2
"Master H u i of Nan-yiieh" ( N a n g a k u no Ε d a i s h i ) is Hui-ssu
(514-577; see also 3.19, n. 5). His biography precedes that of Chih-i in
Hsü kao-seng chuan ( T 50:562b 64a; see also Hurvitz, C h i h - i , pp. 86-99).
Chih-i attracted the attention of princes of both the Ch'en (557-589) and
Sui (581-617) courts while in residence at Wa-kuan ssu in Chin-ling
between 568 and 575. Tamenori's account of his life seems to be based
on the biography in Hsü kao-seng chuan ( T 50:564a-68a; see also Kyödo
Jikö, Tendai D a i s h i no shögai). As shown below, Tamenori may also
have referred to the biographies of Chih-i in Tendai ryöözu hondenshü,
compiled by Saichö (Dengyö D a i s h i zenshü 3, pp. 352-96).
3
"Perfection of the Six Senses" ( r o k k o n shöjöi) is defined in Chih-
i's Ssu-chiao-i as the purification of the six sources of error (i.e., the
faculties of seeing, hearing, smelling, and speaking, and the body and
mind). This attainment makes possible the further attainment of the
ten "degrees" or qualities of a Bodhisattva (T 46:779b). "Wisdom in the
Five Categories" refers to another spiritual level, gohon deshii, also
described by Chih-i in Ssu-chiao-i as five progressive modes of activity
in this world that are prerequisite to the attainment of the ten
Bodhisattva qualities. The five modes are: (1) sharing the joy that is
derived from grasping the essential principles of the Buddha's teachings,
(2) chanting the L o t u s Sütra with an understanding of both its implicit
and explicit meanings, thereby deepening perception, (3) preaching on
the basis of that perception, thereby inspiring others and earning merit,
(4) secondary cultivation of the Six Perfections, while perception
continues to deepen, and (5) primary (or perfect) cultivation of the Six
Perfections, with perfect perception fully attained. At this point the
Bodhisattva to be is "perfectly equipped for his own spiritual progress,
for saving others, and for contemplating his own mind" (Hurvitz, C h i h - i ,
pp. 368). Tamenori's application of these spiritual levels to Hui-ssu and
Chih-i may be fairly arbitrary; it may, on the other hand, be based on
some textual precedent. Yamada noted that the same ranks are given to
these two patriarchs in their biographies in F o - t s u t ' u n g - c h i , a work
compiled in 1269 (Ryakuchü, p. 388).
4
The " F u m o n " chapter (i.e., K a n z e o n bosatsu f u m o n b o n ) is the
twenty-fifth of the L o t u s Sütra.
Mount Ta-su (Taisosen) is in Honan. Chih-i spent the years 560
to 567 there under Hui-ssu's tutelage.
6
Hui-ssu's words follow the text in Chih-i's Hsü kao-seng c h u a n
biography. Note the similarity to Gyöki's verse in recognition of
Bodhisena (2.3, n. 18).
7
O n the " L o t u s Meditations" ( H o k k e z a n m a i ) , see 3.3, n. 17.
8
Yamada cited a similar passage in the later F o - t s u t ' u n g - c h i , but
this sentence may be based on a quotation attributed to Hui-ssu in
T e n d a i ryöözu hondenshü (Dengyö D a i s h i zenshü 3, p. 356).
9
This incident is recounted in both biographical sources. Very
little is known about Ting-kuang. (The name is mistranscribed in the
Maeda-ke bon.) Note the resemblance of this story to that of Ennin's
dream about Saichö (see 3.16, n. 7).
10
It was not a Ch'en emperor but the second Sui emperor, Yang-ti,
who received the Bodhisattva precepts from Chih-i in 591 and granted
him the title "Chih-che Tai-shih" (Chisha Daishi) (Kyödo, T e n d a i
D a i s h i no shögai, p. 187; Hurvitz, C h i h - i , p. 145). There is nothing in
the biographical sources Tamenori seems to have used that would
explain this error.
11
Kuan-ting (Kanjö, 561-632) was born in Ch'ang-an and was also
known as "the Ch'ang-an master." He became Chih-i's disciple in 584,
served as his chief amanuensis, and is regarded as his successor in the
T'ien-t'ai patriarchate. Kuan-ting himself wrote several treatises as well
f
as two important sources for the biography of Chih-i, K u o - c h i n g p o - l u ,
( T 46:793a 823c) and Sui T i e n - t ' a i C h i h - c h e T a - s h i h p i e h - c h u a n ( T
50:191a-97c). His own biography appears in Hsü kao-seng c h u a n ( T
50:584a-85b; see also Hurvitz, C h i h - i , p. 180).
12
T h i s description of Chih-i's death is faithful to those in all the
traditional biographies. He died on the twenty-fourth day of the
eleventh month, in 597.
1 *3
The account of this incident follows that in T e n d a i ryöözu

hondenshü (Dengyö D a i s h i zenshü 3, pp. 395-96).
14
The "T'ang L i v e s of E m i n e n t M o n k s " is the Hsü kao-seng c h u a n ;
the "Story of t h e S a c r e d P o r t r a i t " is "Ryööden," i.e., T e n d a i ryöözu
hondenshü. Only two of the original ten fascicles of the latter work
survive (Groner, Saichö, pp. 89-90, n. 9).
1 5
A s noted above, Saichö did hold a H o k k e jükö in 798, according to
E i z a n D a i s h i den (Nakao, Josetsu, p. 385) and other documents, but it
was in 801 that he invited the ten monks from Nara to participate in
what had become an annual rite (Groner, Saichö, p. 34). On the "Seven
Great Temples," see 2.18, n. 3. The "small room" seems to refer to the
hall called the Ichijö s h i k a n ' i n .
16
"The Offering to the Master" (Taishikü) was apparently a
ceremony added to the jükö to do further honor to Chih-i. A "sacred
portrait" (ryöözu) of Chih-i was brought back from China by Saichö;
ryöözu also refers to a group of portraits of all the Tendai patriarchs (see
n. 18, below).
1 7
The cymbals (nyöbachi) are a type that is perhaps of Central

Asian origin (KGD 15:526c). On the "Hymns to the Portrait" ( G a s a n ) ,
see n. 19.
In addition to Chih-i's likeness, Saichö acquired portraits of all
the Tendai patriarchs, and these too were displayed at the service. A
similar set of portraits (perhaps a copy of Saichö's set), dated to the
Heian period, survives at Ichijöji, in Hyögo Prefecture. It is registered as
a National Treasure.
19
The full title is C h ' e n - s u i e r h - t a i san-chao k u o - s h i h T ' i e n - t ' a i
C h i h - c h e T a - s h i h h u a - t s a n ( C h i n z u i n i d a i sanchö k o k u s h i T e n d a i
9
C h i s h a D a i s h i g a s a n ) . "Yen, the Duke of L u " ( G a n Rokö) s personal
name was Yen Chen-ch'ing (709-784). He was a skilled calligrapher and
a successful military commander, murdered in the aftermath of the An
Lu-shan rebellion by Li Hsi-lieh. The date of the composition of the
hymns is not known (Kondö Haruo, Chügoku g a k u g e i d a i j i t e n , pp. 107d-
8a). "Master Chishö" (Chishö Daishi) is Enchin (814-891); Tamenori's
brief biography of him follows. He is said to have written a commentary
on the hymns, but it is lost. A commentary by Genshin, with a full text
of the hymns, survives ( E s h i n sözu zenshü 2, pp. 243-57). Tamenori's
account of Enchin's life is probably based on Chishö D a i s h i den, by
Miyoshi Kiyoyuki (847-918), dated 902 (Chishö D a i s h i zenshü 4,
pp. 1364-80).
20
G i s h i n (781-833) was the disciple of Saichö who accompanied
him to China, received many of the same ordinations, and succeeded him
as head of the Tendai (BD l:516b-c).
21
Tamenori does not devote much space to Enchin, although his
career was a significant one in Tendai history. In 863 he established a
new Tendai initiation platform at Onjöji ("Miidera"), an old temple that
he had had reconstructed. He became its Bettö in 866, Abbot of the
Tendai in 868, and Sözu in the same year (BD l:308b 9b; Nakao, N i h o n
meiso j i t e n , pp. 29-32). Onjöji later became the center of the Jimon
faction of the Tendai, the bitter rivals of the Sanmon (Ennin's heirs).
99
The passage in Bonmökyö upon which this quotation appears to

be based (T 24:1006b) actually says that on the anniversaries of the
death of one's parents and siblings one should summon a monk and have
him lecture on the Bosatsukaigyö. The merit will accrue to the deceased.
The Twelfth Month
3.31 THE BUDDHAS'NAMES
The Service of the Buddhas' Names was first observed in the early years
of the Jöwa era [834-848], when Risshi Jöan suggested it to Emperor
1
Ninmyö. Later, it came to be observed throughout the land, in accord-
2
ance with imperial decrees. Risshi Jöan thought, "I shall make a copy
of the Sütra of the Buddhas' Names and portraits of all thirteen
3
thousand Buddhas and present them to the government." He copied
the sütra, and it was then divided up and sent to all the provinces. But
before he could paint all the Buddhas, Jöan died.
His disciple, the monk Kengo of Gangöji, wanted to complete his
master's project, so he painted the thirteen thousand Buddhas on
seventy-two sheets of silk and presented them to the government. That
of the palace was deposited in the imperial library, and the rest were
divided up among the various bureaus and provinces. This is recorded in
the R e g u l a t i o n s .
In the Sütra of the Buddhas' Names it is said: "If you hear the
names of the three generations of Buddhas of three k a l p a s , or if you copy
them or draw their images or offer them incense, flowers, entertain-
ments, or music and devote yourself to their worship, the merit will be
limitless, and you will come into contact with the Three Jewels in every
life hereafter. You will not encounter the Eight Obstructed Realms.
When you worship, concentrate in your mind and express with your
voice the same thought: Ί am now worshiping all of the Buddhas. May I
be free of the sufferings of the Three E v i l Realms, may the nation
prosper and its people be at peace, and may good roots be fostered
among those who hold heretical views. I pray that all sentient beings
5
may be reborn in the land of the Buddha of Endless Life.'"
It also says: "When you hear the names of the Buddhas,
concentrate and pray to them. You need not fear that you will go astray.
The sins you have accumulated in countless k a l p a s will be erased."
Those who cannot chant all the names themselves should rely upon this
6
text.
Usually, when a Service of the Buddhas' Names is to be held,
monks are commissioned as lecturers. Officers of the government give
them offerings of thick cotton padding, and, according to established
7
custom, privately contributed robes are presented to them. In the
Agongyö it is said: "When it is cold, give offerings of warm clothing to

monks. If you give them joy in accordance with the seasons, in future
8
lives you too will be rewarded in accordance with your wishes." The
merit earned through any gift of clothing is not inconsiderable; how
much greater, then, is the merit in gifts of clothing to a monk! That is
why Sänakaväsin was clad in robes as soon as he was born, and [the nun]
Sukla had robes before she was reborn into this life. In both cases, they
9
had presented robes to monks in their former life. Also, Gautaml wove
a robe with her own hands and presented it to the Buddha, whereupon
the Buddha said: "If your obligation moves you to give this to me, the
merit will surely be yours, but if out of the purity of your heart you were
10
to give robes to all the monks, the merit would be even greater!"
It seems that this Service of the Buddhas' Names was observed in
China as well. We know this from a poem by Chii i, which says:
With but one burner for incense and one lone candle,
The white-haired monk passes each night, worshiping
the Sütra of the Buddhas' Names.
Notes
1
Tamenori's source of information on the service, the Butsumyöe,
is a decree of the Council of State dated 871, in Ruijü s a n d a i k y a k u
( K S T K 25:46). On Jöan, see 3.18, n. 3. Ninmyö is identified here as "the
Fukakusa emperor." Ruijü k o k u s h i , a work compiled in 892, records
even earlier observances of Butsumyöe, including one conducted by
Chökei (or Chöe, ?—826), Gonsö, and Kükai in the Seiryöden on the
twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month, in 823. The basis of that rite
was the D a i z u hökö sänge metsuzai shögon jöbutsukyö, or " D a i z u
hökökyö" In the observances conducted in 830, this text had been
replaced by the Butsumyökyö, which became the standard Butsumyöe
text ( K S T K 6:223). Shoku N i h o n köki records a three-night "worship of
the Butsumyökyö," beginning on the twentieth day of the twelfth month
in 835 ( K S T K 6:223). However, this account calls the three-night service
in the Seiryöden that began on the fifteenth in 838 "the first 'Buddhas'
Names Rite of Repentance' (Butsumyö senge) to be conducted in the
inner palace" ( K S T K 3:81). Jöan and four other monks were the
officiants.
2
I n 846 a decree from the Council of State called for the annual
observance of Butsumyö senge in every province for three days, from the
fifteenth through the seventeenth days of the twelfth month. Another
decree, in 853, changed the dates to the nineteenth through the twenty-
first (Ruijü s a n d a i k y a k u , K S T K 25:46-47).
3
O f several works known as Butsumyökyö, two were commonly
used in Japan. A sixteen fascicle version containing 13,000 Buddhas'
names is mentioned in two Chinese catalogs, but it does not survive in
the Chinese or Korean canons. A sixteen fascicle Butsumyökyö was in
Japan as early as 769, according to Shösöin records, but it was subse-
quently lost. This was probably the version used and copied by Jöan. In
the early tenth century, the rite was conducted with a "Sütra of Three
Thousand Buddhas* Names." This was actually a compendium of three
sütras, each of which lists the names of one thousand Buddhas of the
past, present, and future (T 14:365a-99a). Tamenori's quotations below
are from the first two of these (Ryakuchü, p. 395; B S K D 9:340; Ishida,
Shakyö y o r i m i t a r u Narachö Bukkyö no kenkyü, appendix, p. 94; Tokyo
Daigaku Shiryö Hensanjo, ed., D a i N i h o n k o m o n j o , [first series] 17,
p. 46).
4
Other than the decree of 871 cited by Tamenori, a biography in
Honchö kösöden is the only source of information about Kengo ( D N B Z
102:825). It says that he was a Hossö monk who studied Yuishiki
doctrine under a monk named Jöshu at Hirayama, and that he made his
initial request for the distribution of the portraits of the Buddhas in 868.
The decree of 871 also records the precise disposition of the 72 sheets of
silk (fu) on which the thirteen thousand Buddhas were portrayed. The
Council of State and the imperial library each kept one copy; one went to
the Dazai Kannonji, another to the Usa Hachiman Shrine, and the rest
were distributed one by one to each province. The paintings were in use
in the Butsumyöe at court through the Heian period. Though the
Butsumyöe was first held in the Seiryöden, other halls were used at
various times. The Buddha image used by the emperor in daily worship
was set before the painting, and receptacles for incense and flowers and
"Hell-screens" were also brought into the hall. Courtiers entered in
procession, and then the monks selected to lead the service began the
chanting of the names of the Buddhas, which continued through the
three watches of the night (Yamanaka, Heianchö no nenjü gyöji,
pp. 278-79).
5
This quotation is a paraphrase of the opening section of the first
of the three sütras (Τ 14:365a-b). The "three generations of Buddhas of
three k a l p a s , " as noted above, are those of the past, present, and future
ages (kako shögongö, genzai genkö, m i r a i shöshukukö). The "Eight
Obstructed Realms" ( h a c h i n a n ) are realms of existence in which
enlightenment is unattainable. These realms are (1) in hell, (2) among
dumb beasts and (3) Hungry Ghosts, all of whom are overwhelmed by
extreme suffering and cannot seek out enlightenment; (4) in the heavens
and (5) in the "outer realms" (the continent lying to the north of Mount
Sumeru, where life is so long and so pleasant that it is mistaken for
N i r v a n a , and so enlightenment is not sought; (6) among the deaf, dumb,
and blind, who cannot hear or see the Buddha or discuss his teachings;
(7) among those entrapped by "worldly wisdom," ignorance of the truth,
and adherence to non-Buddhist views; and (8) among those born before
or after the Buddha's appearance in this world (BD 5:422lc-22b). On the
"Three Evil Realms" (sanzu), see 1.2, n. 3. The "Buddha of Endless
Life" (Muryöjubutsu) is Amitäyus (Amida).
6
This is a paraphrase of the concluding portion of the second sütra
(Τ 14:383b). The point of Tamenori's comment is that auditors of the
rite earn merit just as practitioners do.
7
Formal presentations of cotton garments and silk robes were made
during the rite itself (Yamanaka, Heianchö no nenjü gyöji, p. 279).
The passage, quoted from Zöichi agongyö in F Y C L ( T 53:886a),
continues with instructions for the giving of light garments, water, fans,
and other cooling things in the summer. The Maeda-ke bon includes
these lines in its quotation (Shüsei, pp. 353-54). These are not, however,
appropriate to the Butsumyöe, conducted in the twelfth month.
Sänakaväsin (Shönawashu) was a disciple of Änanda and one of
the five masters who transmitted Säkyamuni's teachings following his
death. His name means "clad in flaxen robes," and it was said that he
was so clad from birth to death as a reward for good deeds in his former
lives (BD 3:2746c-47a; Fuhözö innenden, Τ 50:303b-4c). For Sukla, both
Sanböe texts read "Senbyaku b i k u " ("the monk Senbyaku"), but this is
probably a reference to the nun known as Byakujö b i k u n i . F Y C L ( T
53:557c) quotes a passage in Hyakuengyö (Τ 4:239b-c) in which
Säkyamuni explains that this nun was so adorned because, in a former
life, she had given cotton cloth to a Buddha and his disciples.
10
O n Gautama (Kyödonmi), see 3.7, n. 10. The Töji Kanchiin bon
is missing lines here, and the effect is to render the Buddha's response
meaningless. The Maeda-ke bon paraphrases the passage that F Y C L ( T
53:607c) quotes from Gengukyö (Γ 4:434a).
11
The same first lines of Po Chii-i's poem in fascicle 35 of H a k u s h i
monjü can be found in Wakan röeishü ( N K B T 73: 147, 297), grouped
with three other poems on the theme of "the Buddhas' names." Po Chü-
i's poem is satirical. While it does provide evidence of Chinese worship
of the sütra, Tamenori could have found more concrete proof in F Y C L
( T 53:920b): in a quotation from the Hsü kao-seng chuan biography of
the monk Te-mei (564?-637; see Τ 50:696c-97c) it is said that he went to
T'ai-po-shan and chanted a twelve-fascicle "Sütra of the Buddhas'
Names" shortly after taking his vows. Other documents show that year-
end purifications using "Buddhas' Names" sütras began in China during
the Eastern Chin Dynasty (317-419) (BD 5:4478c 79a).
Verse 371
VERSE
In praise I sing:
When I rejoice in your planting of good roots,

My own merit is increased.
Whether I myself worship,
Or witness worship from afar and rejoice therein,
If my heart is as one with the worshiper,
I will be rewarded in just the same way as he.
We will both be imbued with the same scent of incense;
We will both be illuminated by the light of
the same candle.
My princess has been raised in deep seclusion,

And does not know the world outside.
Her thoughts turn constantly to other distant worlds
While, before her eyes, she sees how things are here and
now.
I have recorded all manner of public and private rites and
ceremonies of Buddhism in China and Japan.
For learning about all these admirable things without
stepping beyond her door,
Nothing can be better than this present volume.
When Maitreya practiced the Five Penances,

He explained the Expedient of Rejoicing in the works of
1
others ;
And Samantabhadra made Ten Vows;
Among them, we should particularly rely upon his
2
promise of Merit in Rejoicing.
The endeavors of monks are myriad, and all are

admirable—
How very admirable indeed!
Notes
1
The "Expedient of Rejoicing" is z u i k i höben. In M o - h o c h i h - k u a n ,
Chih i cited the example of Maitreya and other Buddhas and Bodhisatt-
vas in proposing five purifying activities that counteract specific sins.
These are to be practiced in tandem with devotions based on the L o t u s
Sütra. "Rejoicing" in the merit cultivated by others ( z u i k i ) is one of
these practices, intended to erase the effects of the sin of envy. A l l five
practices are described as "auxiliary means" (betsu höben), i.e., practices
that are to accompany the main practice of the four types of meditation.
This is probably the origin of the term as Tamenori uses it. Z u i k i höben
is also one of the nine activities a Bodhisattva vows to cultivate; he
promises to take joy even in the most minor meritorious acts of others
(BD 2:1165a b; 1:706b).
2
In the last section of the forty-fascicle version of the K e g o n Sütra,
Samantabhadra makes ten great vows. Among them is the vow to take
joy in the merit generated by all Buddhas and all beings in all realms (T
10:845a-b). This is a fitting idea with which to close the text.
List of Names, Titles, Terms, and Passages
Items are listed in alphabetical order. Titles of texts are in italics. Items
from the texts of Sanböe are reproduced as in the Töji K a n c h i i n b o n i f y
unless otherwise marked (jf!)) for the Maeda-ke bon or (cfl) for the
Tödaiji-gire. (Calligraphy by Omote Ikuko.)
A
Abidatsuma daibibasharon Amabenomine >iMp
Arne no mikado
f
Agata 3£ ?
Agon Amida Hfän
Agon'e Anahobe Hashihito
Agongyö
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Aida % f
Â*)3 1V 3 A M
Aikuögyö Μ % i &
AiZenshi A'nan P^T|t
ajari W M $ [ Anaritsu
Ajaseo juketsukyö
Anna
ΒAkashi no nyüdo ango
akudö ,? 1£ Angoe
Akuyü taishi AnLu-shan 5r-i$ J--
373
374 List of Terms
Arai Hakuseki i f t ^ r fe TS Bidatsu $CÜL
araki tsukai Binzuru -3?IJt
Asa H f c biriya haramitsu BK#! 3)3 || £
Asagao Bishukatsuma flit i
Ashikaga Biwa[kö] Ιέ
Ashüda MtöfS bodai
ason bodaidö * * l i t
Asuka 0. $} bodaiju
Asukadera Bodaijuin 4-&Ji:]ffc

Ato ffitfi Bodaijushin zennyoten
Atobe Kf**JJ
θ $ φ 1 2 : 4 ( A t sbon
u t aJt\
myöjin^^ j J
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V7 Χ|>φ Atsuta no daijin J bonbu A
ayashiki 7 ^ x< ^ bonbu no sö
f A-yii wang-ssu ψ\ \ £ < Bonmökyö [rushanabussetsu bosatsu

shinjikaibon daijü ]
bai höyö üj| ^
ban 4e^ bonnö JltÄ
Baramon Söjö . . . Bodai Bon'ö %ί
ÄlflflliE - bon'on höyö ^J^ '^^

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betsu höben bosatsu %
bettö #J ^ bosatsukai % 1$L &
M^BibashibutsuSft^/ Bosatsu Senkyö %r%i%fä
List of Terms 375
Bosatsu toshin shigako kitö innengyö Ch'an ίψ
Ch'ang-an 4r
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Bosatsu zökyö C/1 ang-ch ing-chi
bukkai 4<&ff Chao-ming [tien]
bukkoku f<71!3
Ch'en P£
buppö 1 $ vk
Chen-kuan ^ DL
Bussetsu jikisegyaku gofukuhökyö
Chen-yen Ä
Chen-yüan ^ 7C
Bussetsu Senjikyö
Chen-sui e r h - t a i san-chao kuo-shih
Bussetsu yokuzö kudokukyö T ' i e n - t ' a i C h i h - c h e h T a - s h i h hua-
tsan ( C h i n z u i n i d a i sanchö kokushi
Tendai Chisha D a i s h i gasan)
busshin \$
busshö jöjü
Butsuhongyökyö chi Φ
Butsumyöe i% ^ Chia-ts'ai 152. j£
Butsumyökyö ffi %>fä Chi-chu-ching li-ch'an-i
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Buttetsu $ *$ Chidoron %>jj[$&
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byakugai £3 X Ch'ien Hung-shu, prince of Wu-yüeh
Byakujö bikuni Ö £C it
byakushibutsu Chihara
Chih-che
c
Chich-che Tai-shih (Chisha Daishi)
Chai-shou [tien]
376 List of Terms
Chih-i t§f% chöja -J^ %
Chih-sheng ^ • J f Chökei (Chöei) -ft ,4'
Chikö Chökokuji -ft ^ ^

Chikurinji Chökokuji engimon -ft ^
Chikuzen i& #J chokushi

Chin • f Chömei -ft i3 ö
[Ching-]ai j $ f t chöju J|Ä
Chou ^
Ching-ch'u sui-shih chi [Keisosaijiki]
Chöwa ft ^
Chöyagunsai $fl ffjSf $ i

Chingen 4|
chöyö i i ^ ^
Ching-kang pan-jo-ching chi-yen-chi
Ch'u ^
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Chüai 4 + %
Ch'ing-lung-ssu f f£ 3
Chuang-tzu ifi 5
Ching-1 'u l u n 7 •f i. f§
chüdö ^ 34.
Chin-kung-ming-ching hsüan-i
Chügüji
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Chin-ling 4>| £
chü ο uku
Chi-sen-chou san-pao kan-t'ung-lu
Ch'u san-ts'ang chi-chi

chishikimon titi ^
Chishö Daishi Chüsonji
Chishö Daishi den % t£ Λ £f 4# D
ChiShu-yeh Daiaidö AîlL
Chiwara Daianji X ^
List of Terms 377
Daianji bodai d e n r a i k i Daihöben butsu höongyö
Daianji engi X ^ ^f HcA^ Daihödö daijikkyö
Daianji garan engi n a r a b i ni r u k i

shizaichö Daihöshakkyö X ^ ff:
Daiifbarijkyö JA*??**!]**.
daiichi shöjo $ > f"
Daianji h i m o n A ·φ· ^t" ϊ ί ^
daiinnen X 19
Daiajari XKTW^l
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daiji X *
daibonten
Daijikkyö X ^jft
daibosatsu A «
Daijö X ^
D a i b u t s u d e n h i m o n 3\ή$7Α%%%
Daichidoron Χί? Dai/o dai/ä ;ϊζο jüringyö

A £ A * t & $ + #&
daidan'ochi X i t ^ $
Dai/o hon/o shinjikangyö
Daigo fcMty
X£
Daigoji Λ β 5 5 ί
Daikandaiji ΧΐΓ X
Daigokuden Xi4>fft
Daikakuji X 5£ -f
Daihannyae engi Χ <β j£
Daikengo baramon engikyö
D a i h a t s u nehangyö Α AÄ. > JHR f&
χ s 1a ja&
D a i h a t s u nehangyö gobun
daimyö X &
Dainichi nyorai Χ Θ ί0 ^
daihi X&
Dai N i h o n k o k u hokke genki
Daihiji λ ? Η
Dai N i h o n k o k u sokusan'ö Shötoku
Daihikyö X ?Jlrif. T a i s h i hösan
Daihishin darani
378 List of Terms
Dai N i h o n shi Α β #0£. Dazaifu A ^ /ft
Dairon Α*φ Dazai Kannonji Λ 1 ^SS.'i'
Dairyö A Denböe ί?£
Daisaie A#^(jij) denbö kanjö \ % i£ 7f
daiseigan Α ψ Jf Dengyö Daishi 4 £ #tX £f
Daise Taishi Aj£A ^ denkaikokkai 4 ? Ζ Ά
daisha A denkaishi 4$ $ £<p
Daishögonron A do g
Daishokkan A#St^£ Döchü jJLitb
daisojo X H? JE. Dögon it ί£
daisözu A^HMfJ döhö hakkö \*\ yk
daitoko A | , % DöinKinkata ;
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daiwajö A^p fa) döji i 3
D a i z u hökö sänge metsuzai shögon Döji

jöbutsukyö (Daizu hökökyö)
döjö xlL>^
döju 3Sjti$
Dajöhöö gojukai k i Döki 11•
dokushi i k .
Dandoku Jitä
Dömyö illfl^
dan haramitsu >/£ Ä ^
danna haramitsu #p # |ä ^ Dörin'ö
dan'ochi (dan'otsu) dönin illA
darani döshi ai&f

Dasha döshi a|L ^
List of Terms 379
1iL?iDöshö J Enbudai S f l i i Ä
O0•^dözoku kaji i £ f $ S Enchin l B J ^
engaku $c ψ
Ε
engi
] $fe [picture
/Engl n a r a b i n i zöki]
e [wisdom]
eari ^ >Nf Engishiki
Echigo Engyö ]git

Echin Ennin lf] /f~
Echizen En no gyöja Vkfäjk
Edoi no Nimaro ? ^ Ί&,Μ• & Ε no ubasoku ?JM#^ £
Eiei Enryaku
Eigakuyöki 3£ί& Enryakuji
Egi En'yü fljfj*
f##5 Eiga m o n o g a t a r i ^ j£- En'yüinjukai no ki
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Eikan ;Kfe Etchü
Eikö eyami
£ί>αη Z)aw/1i den Ov X £f
f i < E j if c t f O | Ö& £ 0
emaki ^ FaChü
en i|c Fa-hsiang (Hossö) i

380 List of Terms
F a - h u a san-mei c h ' a n - i Fujiwara Koretada (Koremasa)
Fa-yüan c h u - l i n Fujiwara Michinaga jJ&ÂJMk

Fo-lung-ssu (Butsuröji) jφfH Fujiwara Mitsuaki % Η
F0-teu Vung-chi \f 7M<Mi Fujiwara Morosuke PkM^fffi
fu Μ Fujiwara Mototsune 3£
fiidan nenbutsu ^ H/p& ^ Fujiwara Norikane J}&^ fc ^
Fugen -# ^ Fujiwara Sukefusa jj&y?* lf Λ
fugyöten Fujiwara Tadanobu |^ ^5
Fuhözö innenden ίί 0 |# 4^ Fujiwara Tamemitsu 7L
Fuhözökyö täykj&ft Fujiwara Teika t & M Κ ^
Fuji Fujiwara Tokihira f
Fujitsubo Fujiwara Yorimichi 0
Fujiwara Arikuni jpjbyifc ^| l^j Fujiwara Yoritada #S ^
Fujiwara Fuhito jj&y& >F £ tS ^ Fujiwara Yoshichika Ä
Fujiwara Fusasaki fflk&^lfä Fujiwara Yoshiyo Ι&Λ^ & t£
Fujiwara Junshi jj3MMÄ } Fujiwara Yukinari jjfcjfr \ f ^
Fujiwara Kaishi jfc Fujiwaradera 2j
Fujiwara Kamatari Fujiwara no ason
Fujiwara Kaneie Fukakusa )1^
Fujiwara Kanesuke fukuden /f 12
Fujiwara Kenshö jfc *1 BS Fukudengyö /ff ffi |£
Fujiwara Kiyokawa rf" > •J" Fukuhökyö ffcfä
Fujiwara Kiyosuke & /fc F u k u r o söshi $ Zf- «J

List of Terms
fukuzö no chi 5£ fa ge
fumeninnyu ft gedö
fumidono no hito Genban
Gengenshü t, £
F u m o n [bon] ·%· f ^ Λ
Gengukyö $T ÄÄ
Fumyö
Geri/i monogatari >Λ£ ft
y
Funbetsu k u d o k u r o n JQ^ft\ J# t ^ l ^
Geri/i monogatari emaki
fusatsu ^ $ί
Fuse Genjö Sanzö e £ $C tft
Fushimi no okina 7 *> $ / j§ Genkö shakusho 7L %-%Ks%r
Fushö -f ** Genmei 7L 8^
Fusö meigaden Genshin
FusOryakki ^Χ^ΈΜ1> Gentö έ ^
genzai genkö XJL & ^?

G
Gi Ä
Gakö b e n r a n
Giba $ *?(tf.w;
Gakuanji %
Giiki %h&k
gakudösha j|L%
Gikaku
Gangöji 7 L % t %
Gishin j£
Gangöji garan engi
go
Gangyöji (Gankeiji) fLj%L *θ gobunhosshin j?L4H£ Jjjf
Ganjin
Ä
Gödanshö iX.%&i /
ganmon (Ganmon) ]f& gogen Λ θ &
Gasan £rif gogyaku no tsumi - 1 3 ^ ^ |^

382 List of Terms
gohei Guze bosatsu * K i t *
gohon deshii JZLXTV % *? ^47 guzei 5
Goichijö ί£ Gyöhyö
gokai i jj£ gyöja (Gyöja) ίΤ;£
gokaku i fδ : Gyöki (Gyögi)
Gyökyö iJl*:
Gokokuji if a ^ gyönin ^ TA
Gokoku Reigen Iriki Jinzu Daijizaiö Gyöyö

Bosatsu
If Sf JS*Ä«*+iÄXlliEii
Η
Gokurakubö t& ψ %
hachijisshugö \ &Ά?Γ
gokusotsu ^ 4^
hachikai s \ i k
gon no kami if ^
hachiku no nami / >^
Gonrin'ö 4£$ίίΧ
Hachiman
gonshaku ^ffÜ
hachinan
Gonfo
Hachiokadera
Gonsö fflifi
hachisaikai \ $f
Gosaie ftj tf^GW
Hakkö[e]
gose i i f e
Hakkura
Goshirakawa ^£ Ö ;>*]
H a k u s h i monjü ^vj A
goshö i
Hamishiro
goshuhosshin i ^ ί . 7έ ^
Hanayama ^-L/
goshushin i^jLJf'
hangyöhanza zanmai
goyoku ÜL/&t
gugan Âyil hannya haramitsu -%%3σ 'Λ&'^ί

List of Terms 383
Hannya haramitta shingyö Hiden'in & ffl fäL
Hie *&3fo
1
Hannya shingyö ^S.
Hie no Daishi £ C & / A fr^
Hannyatai ^
Hienojukai £ #
haradaimokusha 7% | i 4 & A A
Higashiyama Gobunko
haramitsu ~/%$k%
Harana koku ^ $
Hi o ^ ε ί ί :
g
Harima
higyöhiza zanmai ^ Μ ί
Hase ^
hijiri $1
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Hasedera /*Mj
Hijiri no mikado
Hasedera reigenki
hijö # f
Hashinokuö 7##ΓίΙ.£
Hikaru Genji jt> '/$!- &
Hata 4^
Himitsu mandarakyö fuhöden
Hata Kawakatsu
Hatsuse /fa7$i
hina matsuri
Hatsusedera ^ >IÄ•^
Hi no miya A 0 ΊΓ
Hayato d| A(jfiD
hiragana f1 >}X ^7
Heian
Hirayama f" ^
Heifee monogatari ^f $ 4#£ a~
Hirohata no Yahata Daimyöjin
heihaku
Heng [shan] (Közan) jfj"
henge no hito (henkenin) ί6A Hirose
Henjö Hishigatayama ^
hentai kanbun j£ Jt A hisöhihisöjojö # ^ ^ A A A .

384 List of Terms
Hitokotonushi — if £ Hokke sanmaidö [zanmaidö]
Hiyukyö Φ *fcfa * f Art*

,
>£; /ΑςHokke senbö
Hizen
ö
Hokke zanmai ^ -= ^
höben 35 j j ^
[Hokke zanmai no gyöhö ikkan]
Höbutsushü %l
hohonokawa $h S $
Hokkiji <^^^
höjiki v&4t :
Hököji ΑΦ%
höjin Ifcjf
Hökökyö i T y f *1
Höjöe $K±4^
Hökü ;£ £
Hojöeengi i££>^fc£&
ψHökyöingyöki
Höjöki % XiCi
hömi
Hökei nyorai 1f4Û^
8$Hömyö
höki £§L
Honan < T$j
Höki ^ $g
Honchö hokke genki
Hokkedö 7 £ j£
Hokke e ;&ί£^
Honchö kösöden ^ Ä flM^
Hokke hakkö ^
Honchö monzui J£\$ft JC
Hokke hakkö engi
3$ ^ 51jtHonchö reisö
Honchö s h i r i n ^ $j ^
Hokkeji ykfc><%;
Honda ^ f f l
Hokke jükö 7 £ £ + Ü
Honen ^£
Hokkekyöfu 7 k & ¥ t &
H o n e n Shönin den yfz i-Alf

Hokkekyö gisho $ jfcjiL
Hongü
Hokke metsuzaishiji
>£ ^ 7 A W * 4 honji suijaku Α ίh ifc
List of Terms 385
hö no aji ο hodokoshite Hsiao-yao yung *tili*

Hsieh Ling-yun ϋ^ΊΤ^ί,
Höongyö IfR
Hsi-ming-ssu (Saimyöji) 3δ 8JJ ^f"
Höonjurin
Hsing-shih-ch'ao 47
Hörenji
Hsing-man (Gyöman) tfyffj
Hori Naonori (Chökaku) /ξ J ^
Hsi-tung
hörin y k f y q
Hsüan-tsang £
hörö yijjbj
Hui-chang
Höryüji
Hui-chiao 3£
höshaku ff ^ Hui-kuo
Höshibon «σ Hui-ssu ίί
Höshö nyorai ^1$Η1ν ^ [Hui ]yuan
Hosokawa Hunan >J4 ff?
Höshakkyö *ψ •f! hyakkan ^ *fT
hosshin > £ J% Hyakuengyö 13
Hosshin wakashü »^ 4 υ ?Λ ^ Hyüga 0 fg
Hosshöji >£ &^ Hyügadera Β <f
Hossö y££S
I
Hotaru ^
ichijö — £
hotoke ni nam michi {$7 — $0 71/ili
Λ
Ichijö ^
hotoke no tsukai
4A) t φ ;Φ y ^ ( ί ί ) Ichijöji ^ ^
ifou Hem shu jfc J J 4? ichijö no gi * ^ / j%
höyö Ichijö shikan'in - ah
Hsiang shan ssu ^ - J - J Ichi no hijiri ip 0>

386 List of Terms
Ieharadera ifcffi - 0 Iwabuchidera no engi
Iga
Iga no taome Iwashimizu *K
I w a s h i m i z u fudan n e n b u t s u engi
Iitaka JjJk$Q
Ikaruga JtlXjQj
Izagawa 2p /'(
Ikeiki
Izu 4f 51
Ikeishi %}%ί*\
Izumi ^ ^
Ikeshiridera > £ j£ 4f
Izumi Shikibu £0 Ä £f3
1k0 e t !
/zumi S h i k i b u shü 4Ό ^ ^
Ikomadera 4L,£ ^
Izumo Ömitsu $ Χ 7Κ Iffi
Imameki no chüjö >Xît /
fit(*)• A#ttf(ffl• Izu Öshima ί 5. X %j
imoi ο tamote
/ * 7 (*J ***(ft;•
J
ina J##j3 Jake
inga 0 jaken JL
innan, innyo - Y^-ic Jakunin X*
Ippyakunijüshishu Taishi wasan Jibu &4fl

jido fi/Jt
Ishiyama[dera] JJ <f* Jôû zöshi PÜLUKf-fä

isshin furan - ! vi* ^ jikai haramitsu ^ tf£ |S ^
isshö sekai · J t£ 3!^ Jikaku Daishi & $f Λ 4φ
Itokubiku $i.i&J£.ic JifcaÄu D a i s h i den & J|
Iwabuchidera y& >Wf 0 jikyösha $<j[$tjfr
List of Terms 387
Jimon Jögü Tais/w den hoketsuki
Jinganji
Jögu Taishi gyoki
Jingoji $ît^
Jingo Keiun f$ ϊ \ ^
jögyö zanmai ψ IΤ - Ξ .
JingüKögö
Jögyö zanmaidö % 1Τ — ^
Jingü zen'in *ψ
Jomei >£fejj
Jinki <Mf &
Jömyö
Jiö
Jörakue
jishi [o kuwaete] >ÖP β
Jöshin nyorai ^ ^ -iri7 ^
Jitchü ^ ,^
Jöshü
Jitö i^ft, 7
Jötai ^ *f
Jitsue f^
Jöwa 7f\$v
jizai $
jöza zanmai 1$ Ξ^}^
jö X
ju /L
Jöagongyö *&f$£fe
Judaifga] ^ M i 2
Jöan (Seian) -ff 4r
Judaigakyö
Jöbon'ö ?fjfci
jugonshi fL^tf
jöbutsudö \
Jüichimen Kannon — 87$1?,
Jödo Shinshü y^t
jüji n o bosatsu f1 / p
Jöei ^ *k.
Jüjuritsu -j i $ l $
Jöfugyö bosatsu $7 # ^
jukai
Jögan ^
jüke 4±£
Jögüki J^îZ! Juki
Jögü Taishi -h t^^ Jukö

388 List of Terms
jükö + i# kaikechikyö 1
fä&bt
Ju-man -£t7;i§ Kaimyö & Β$

jüni innen -f* Kairakoku SIL Α Ä Ö
Junna kaishi
Junnain y % ^ 0 } % , kaishi (preceptor) )j£ fcf

Junnain bettö y\ 4 F&^'J ^ kaji
Junnin y%h~ Kakaishö y*J fätJT
Jüroku butsumyökyö - f 7 ^ ^ ^ | £ kakikudashi 4£ Τ
jürokue -f" Kafco genzai ingakyö
Jushin
juyo mikke ί -£ ΐ & kako shögongö £ ίί >fe if
juyo mitsugo j % - | j £ ^ Kakunyo ^^TD
jüzen no michi "f £ J i l L kami
Kamo *Jfj£, ΑΠΑ, ^

κ
Kamo no Ε no kimi $Ό yΧ^
kabane *ftL Kamo no Chömei ^
Kachi ^ kanamajiri i2L & ^
kaeriten Kanazawa >^>X,
Kaga JJulg Kanazawa bunko &if\$iM-
Kai ψ 5? Kanbutsu :Mi%3
K a n b u t s u zökyö y%täi&$L
Kai-huang ft3 1? Kanchiin fjMfiTtt,
kaiin liftftfcj Kanchö
kai,jö,e $^ Kaneakira
List of Terms 389
Kane no mitake Λ 5 J ~L 9 >f kanoto tori ^ §
Kanfugen bosatsugyöhökyö Kanpö [era] ^ ^
Kanpyö [era] J? f
Kanfugengyö
Kanpyö nyüdö jJT, •f Ά i l l
Kangakue %1Ψψ
Kansen butsugyö zökyö
Kangen §Ä ^
Kangon S I L ^
kanshi *f" ^
Kanimanji
Kanshin ^ ί^
kanji y% %
Kanzeon bosatsu fumon bon
kanjö firs
kanke shü 41 7c "TWA

Kao-seng chuan vhW\fy
kankö ^%
Kao-tsung ^ ^s
Kanmu yfjl
Karakuni Hirotari j f t g| $ ^
Kanmuryöjukyö $ί &y JT ^
Karashima no Kachi Hazume
Kanna % 4>Ό
kannen J J L ^
Kannon %%s^k KaraYatabe ^ ^ W<p
K a n n o n darani f& Üyß karinoato fl l ) J y l t
Kannongyö %JL % |£ kariroku i*] ^ #0
K a n n o n no engi narabi ni zöki karitsukai ί '/ 7 ί t: 0#fc(5O
minimi Kariya Ekisai l^^sfft £
Kasagidera ;£ J£ |f
K a n n o n riyaku shü
N
kasa no yamai ^ ^
kannushi fφ£
K a n n y o öjögi % & r k t± ίί Kashihara ^Jbifc

390 List of Terms
kashira no yomogi shiroki tomogara Kenchü mikkan
Kengo m f
Kengyö
Kashiwade \$r
Kenkairon
Kashö f b
Kenkairon engi ff t& i^tf^
Kashö (Mahäkäsyapa) i£g ^
Kensakuin U t a
Kasuga ^sE/
Kensei shishi ^f"^f^
Kasugayama
Keshiki no nyonin
katakana ) \ J & j b
keshin yf£ -If
Kataokayama )j )£] Jv
keshu jClL(tf\)
Katsuragi (Kazuraki) ^
Ketenbiku &X J*,-fc(JD
Kawachi F*3
Ki
Kawachi Amano Kongöji
Kichijö keka $ 'fä-iiL
Kichijösöji
Kawaru &-£f\
kidendö Jfc^jjL
Kazan fcdj
kien * * * *
Kazuraki (Katsuragi) ^ ^
kimikikitore % J * h 1/
Kazurakidera %j 7f\ -^
kechien kanjö >ΝΜ& ί$ Τίί kin ή"

Kegon fcjfc. Kinai &
Kegon'e ; f ö ^ X ^ Kinmei ^HjJ
Keisokusen $% J-J kinokö * 0 i ^ f
Keitai « f f Kinpu
,
keka \ 4 - 1 S l Kinshi Naishinnö ία 3Ϋ1$Ιί
List of Terms 391
K o k i n wakashü ^ -fX-J^
Kinunui Tomo Miyatsuko Gitö
Kökö jt #
% ^ $4%%Köko gafu J
Kishi [Naishinnö] «5
Kokonchomonjü f f \ ^jc "5
Kita no dö iL J
koku y&
Kiyotaki
S1Kokubunji ^ 5
kö i p
vJ Kokugenji 13
Kobe myöjin ^ £ß Hj^ /?^
H £kokuhö 1
Köbö Daishi 5Α# Λ
Kokushi lS>f
Köchi Bosatsu
Kokushi [kuni no tsukasa] !§]
Kodokuen <SM$
Koküzö j L % f a
Köfukuji i§?tf3|<j-
Koküzö bosatsu nöman shogan
Köfukuji engi %P $4) <f ffyfct,
saishöshin d a r a n i gumonjihö
Kogimi ^
Kögyö
Kögyoku %täi
Komadera
kögö t.
Kömyö [Kögö] fl^ jt fa
Köhö 1
Kongöbuji J ^ \J
Koji Ono Nakahiro
/$H*M if JjfKongökai kanjö
Konjaku monogatari shü
Köjö
Koken Kongo fueshin ^H | * f (fj)
Koki Kongo h a n n y a haramitsukyö

A
K o k i n hichü shö £ $f
392 List of Terms
Kongo hannyakyö shügenki Közanji bon ^ vlv ^
Közeikyöshö Α$?ίΑ/
kongöjin &Μ*Ϊ Kuan-ting if TS
Kongo misshaku /^fl'J % iJL K u a n - y i n hsüan-i %%Τ%Γ j \
Konkömyökyö /&>$L Kubarabiku jf
Konkömyö saishöökyö Kubiki ffp&
Kuchizusami ^ϋ£.
Könin JA ^ Kudara § ^
Konomoto [no okina] J 6 /V^f Kudaradera §
Konpon chüdö f& ^ ^ ^ 7

kudoku Päffe
Konponsetsu issai ubu binaya yakuji Kuhin
Kuhinda baramon daijin
Konrin'ö fcföi-
Kujakuö jinjukyö 1W)&

Kontaiji
Korehito A+i Kujakuö n o j u 3 L %. iL /L
Köryüji Kujakuö zöjinju ?L^Z^N^^L
Kose Sanjö Daifu Kujö Λ |
Koshi no fuhito 5JL Xu/o nen/ΰ Χ ^ 11 ^
Köshi ülftj» Kükai ί
Köshö - #4£ Kükai Sözuden ^2Μϊ%$\%
koto ^ Kumagori /ίί.
Köya (Küya) J[ ^ Kumano X* 5^
Köyasan % I ^ U j Kumano ryösho fft iig
Közanji % Kunkai 3 I # M
List of Terms 393
S yf1 © £ Kuo-ch'ingpo-lu fr Li Shan •£
kuraki michi H^f * L i - t a i san-pao-chi J£ —
kuraki yori kuraki ni irite Lo-wei
Lo-yang
kurödo ^ A Lu A
KurokawaHarumura ,*, / Lung-hsing-ssu ίί Q %
Kuru jt$tf Lung-men f I f]
Kushinajö i% Τ ^Χ/^ Lu-shan
?&/£ kutöten
N *J i
Μ
kuyö shögon /(3j±^f£
Kuzö hiyukyö % Pjfe Maboroshi IS]
kyaku Maeda-ke bon 1ί W &
Kyöbon[hadai] fi&lfoÄfll Maeda-ke itsubun Iß "0E7 ^Ü^j^
f r f i M Kyöchinnyo f 4 l JMaeda Tsunanori (Shöun)
Kyödonmi f47 £fc
magun
kyögen kigo | JE ΊΓ Ü
Kyökai ^ £ Makadaiba W i * . ;*(ft;
r4^ $J Kyöshoden Makadakoku
Makahara >^W«Ä(Ä
L
Makamayakyö i*} $ iß |£
?!IflPjfcLiehyu-k'ou Makasatta # tq β ί * ( Ι ί ;
Li Han # |& maki
LiHsi-lieh Makinomine .8^ί$ς/ ^
Lin-te Makitsu i%
394 List of Terms
Makura no söshi fä^- -J Minamoto Tadamoto J & f f i
Mandöe 7) Minamoto Takaaki % B%
Mansei Minamoto Tamenori %:
man'yögana Ζ Minamoto Toshiyori j£ % 1
Man'yöshü 7) % ^ Ming
mappö %^ Ming-hsiang chi
Mareisen Μ $@ vJL/ (jßj Ming-pao chi % ^ R l cL
Mashi ^ Minma -H-,?
masse ^ t£ Mino X 7Jk
Ma-t'ou ,Sj ifj Minori >i
Matsuo no kimi ¥£i!!kß£ Miogasaki ü. £lf £ If ( #j)
Meisöden fä]t§ mirai shöshukukö ^ ^ >f[ ^ £p
Meng-chiu (Mögyü) f< $ Miroku bosatsu 5 ί|
Mibu Mirokue 5$f4^
Michinoku f£ Miroku geshökyö jfi ^ Τ 'ÜL

Miidera ^ 1$ r$ Mirokuji
Mikawa Mitani no sato fOÛ^X- ^
Mikoshi mitsu >^ "
Mimakawa i&p ; J" Mitsu iL > £
Mimasaka X ilF Miyamaro ^Λ
Minamoto 7Jfr Miyoshi Kiyoyuki iL ;1H J
Minamoto Hideaki >·# 31 äjj Mizoü innengyö £ 1^ |&
Minamoto Masayori i$ f Mizukagami 3Κ>ί&
Minamoto Shitagö i ^ / f H Mizutori rJCJfX.

List of Terms 395
Mo-ho chih-kuan J ^ ^ j t %\ munashiki oshie 2 ( ί %K

Mokuren fi !£, Murakami fäX
mokusetsu ψ AMurasaki Shikibu
mokusha X ] $ ^ ßßMuro [no göri
monjöshö X ^ - ^ L f Muryögikyö ,i?>- ^
Monjue Χϊ^ψ Muryöjubutsu
Monju hatsunehangyö Muryöjukyö Ms^kÜftf
Musubi Hayatama £5 ^ i
Monjushiri hatsunehangyö Mutsu
Myöanji ή-
myöhö +^<£
Monjushirimongyö X ffi SfîJ f ^ f
myöjö fl^ §
Monjushiri monshitsubon
Monmu
4gTNachi #p
monogatari
Nagai no jijü
Mononobe Moriya <f J§>
Monshitsubon fflfc xra

Nagarayama
Montoku j i t s u r o k u X f & % £fc
Nakachimaro f ^ A<
monzenshasui f ^ t i > % ^
Nakatomi ί£
mori (yashiro) #i
ψ SNakatomidera
"Morokoshi no öjöden" ik >JL ]% Nakatomi Katsumi *f7 SL JÜ^
mototsukami 7
JvNakayama Tadachika «f
Mou-hsien namubutsu
396 List of Terms
Nangaku no e daishi Nien &
Nigatsudö — 1st
Naniwa ftt^t
Nihongi Q
N a n t e n j i k u B a r a m o n Söjö hi
N i h o n kiryaku β ^^cHS-S-
N i h o n k o k u genpö zen'aku ryöiki
Nantöin vfj
Na'nyo
N i h o n k o k u meisöden
Nan-yüeh ^ Ä 7
Naoyo J$[ *t£

Nihonkoku sandai j i t s u r o k u
Nara -^fc. £g ^
Nara no Iwashima ^ ^ Ji ^ ( fä)

N i h o n kösöden yömonshö
Nara sakaguchi ^ iv£ ο
nehan $
N i h o n öjögokuraku ki
Nehan'e >£<$Mh
Nehangyö >f^£f
N i h o n ryöiki Ή fcy$[ % i &
nenbutsu ^j|7
N i h o n shoki E] ^ # 4£
nenbundosha %^J%^
Ninchü ^ . v j
nenjügyöji \ ή7 \ %
Ninju j ~ J f
Nenjü gyöji goshöjimon
Ninmyö
Ninnaji ]~-%XJ %
]
Nenjü gyöjishö %r ^ \ Τ ^ t f
ninniku haramitsu ^ ^
Nenzenshi ZA&f-tf ( & & f t f ) %
Ninniku sennin /?L >J Jj A
Nichien f l i L .
Ninnö hannyaharamitsukyö
Nichira 0 H
List of Terms 397
Nin'yö 4-*|f Ökagami uragaki Α 4& J | ^
Nodera % Okamoto !ζ| ^
Nödera Okisome no Omi Taime
nori no utsuwamono J ^ (. ft J
Noto okurigana üL iit
nyöbachi Ökutsumara t&ff Jg
nyoi höshu 1 £ ,^ f f ^ Ökutsumarakyö >K |5 J£
Ömi ÜL >i
Nyoirin Kannon ΊΐΏ %
Ömine A ^
nyoishu ^TO
nyorai ^ Ömi no Mifune (Genkai)
nyoraishi £0 ^ tf
nyöyaku ujökai ff $ Ömiwa Kiyomaro A it ? | * Ά .
Nyühokkai bon Α if χ& Onjitsu sennyoku shusökyö
Ο Onjöji
Obitoke-chö ^^®T Onodera 4^ ff <f
Öe Chikamichi A Ono Imoko J^ ?H£< 3

Öe Masafusa A Hl Ono Minemori Ψ ff
Öe Mochitoki Λ >X »< ^ Ono no Ason Niwamaro
Öe Tadamichi Α >X
Ogura[yama] J > Ov Ononomiya nenjü gyöji
Öjin
Öjöyöshü \ * L % % % onriedo gongujödo #iM|kX
Ökagami A^jJL onshitsu (onjitsu, unshitsu) >^ j[

398 List of Terms
On'yöji Ptf**p Po-shih Lo-chung chi-chi
Öshajö
Ösumi
R
Ötaki ΧΜ
Otokoyama % 1Κί Raetsuki ^
Ötomo ; M - f rakei
Rakei sennin
Ötomo Komaro A4 Ϋ ^
-^f7rakushoku ;S
Ötomo Tabito Λ Λ
/^tfifi/tyRanshöshö
Ötori Λ,I
Reizei
Otsunu (Otsuno, Ozuno, Shökaku)
R e k i d a i köki
XRenge bunin ^Χ
Öwake no Ökimi A/51] i
N
renge no za J M 3 1 7 £ .
Owarida J ^? W
Rengeshiki £ ? έ
rin'ö (rinnö) iL
Ρ
rin'yügaku ;ff g ^
Ραι Hsiang-shan shih-chi
Risshi
PaiP'u-tzu ^ t t i Ritsu
Pan-jo (hannya) #3: ^ Roben & ff
Pao-ch'ang If rokkonnotsumi y \ J
| f
Pao-ying chi fi & yf J[rokkon shöjöi Λ ,f & 7^ &
pien-wen ^ X Λ >Ä ItRokuharamitsuji ^ -
Pin Yang f f t Rokumo bunin ^ f ^ A
Po Chü-i (Pai Chü-i) & |7 Rokunyo bunin

List of Terms 399
Rokuon fC Saeki 42./6
rokusai A 7~s $ [ $ ) Saga JiJcJ^
Rokusokuö JvL)i_ £ Sagara[ka] ;fä $
roku tsü iÄ Saichö 7(k / jt^
rokuyokuten Ά '^κ Χ Saidaiji i& A -
rönin / &A Saidaiji den'en mokuroku
rönotsuide Hf ^ \>%
Ruijü kokushi II |£ lg ^ Saigüki £7 !& 12.
Äuiyö kudaishö #£ ^ ^ S ^ / S a i i k k i i£7:MsU&
Äai/ü sandaikyaku $: fj |j< i L 4 \ ^ Saiin >£7 PJL
Rusui },^K Saiji & <f
ryö £| Saijiin )fayv}/L
Ryögen }fo saikai $f •f$.
ryöözu &&|fi(]ß) Saikö ^F#T
Ryösö Saimei W!
Ryüfukuniin } k ^ % 0 % Saishöe
Saishöökyö jff £ jjtfi

ryüge san'e ft 76 . Ξ / ^
Saisö
Ryüju bosatsu no jüni r a i h a i
Saitö Φ
Ryüju Bosatsui Sendakaö seppö yöge Sakamoto ^
Sakarabi $Β!0$£Ε
ryüö ffci
sanbö iL
sadamete shirinu Α^Π 3 Sanböekotoba iL ^ F ^ l * !

400 List of Terms
san daiasögi i A ΐ Γif Sanzö höshi £
Sandai j i t s u r o k u jL Κ sanzu ÜLi£l
san'e (sänne) X. Sapada $ b i ^ i l
Sanetaka köki j^f&fcit, saru h
sangai iL. ^ saruhijiri
san gaku ÜL ^ Sasanami 1 3b %
sänge höyö %Κ Je > £ 4r Sassha nikengyö fkilL7i$&fä
Sangokudenki 2- )SJ f j| i£ Satta öji jf jr£ £ ^ 5
Sangö s h i i k i ^ If sechinichi | Irl
Sanjönishi Sanetaka ^ \& X Seiganji fjfS^
sanjujökai ^ |£ 7# £ Seiryöden 7%)&Μ%
sanjünisö jEL f jx ^@ Seishi JEL 5

:
sanjüsanten iL "f iL X SeiShönagon ΜΛΐ$\*
sanki iL Seiwa )if^tJ
sanmai i L 9 ^ Sekido-ke bon M 7 7
sanmaijö Ζ. Sekiken 1 ^ £
Sanmon ^?5 semai ^ffe ^
sanmyö iL tf\ Semu ^L
Sanne jöichiki ^ j j ^ Sen §j&
San-pao-chi £ % it> Senbyaku biku
Sanron S- i$f Sendakaö /f3f^$g£

santan %Hi fK Sendankö
Sanuki %Ht^ Senjü hyakuengyö
sanzendaisekai 2 -f A i£ Senju n o j u ^f- / %>

List of Terms
Senju sengen kanzeon bosatsu ködai shami >χ ffi

enman muge d a i h i s h i n daranikyö
shamon y&
Shan t'ao 4#
Senke e f fc^h Shantung vb Jfl
senmyötai t %4 fa Shararin :/]f H: # fc
sennin shari 4M J
sennin no miyako /fJjA J

Shari bosatsu 5f
sen ο motomuru \ Jj 7 ^ Η A; 1/ Sharie 4 N ^ " J ^
senpu Shariji 4^ Jf
senrei no kutsu /(iL ^ jlT shi
Senshösen f 1b 5? J-< shiawase i ^ y ^
Seson -φ if ShibaTattö *]&)2£$
Sessen döji # v b # -5 shi ben >2E7^f
setsuwa bungaku ^ ) L i & X c3p Shibiö 7

/ HKli
Settsu shibu deshi -J• (jftj

A
Seyakuin i&£ ]% Shibunritsu VZ'/ft^
Sezoku genbun Utt&i&j(^ shichidaiji A
shaba sekai 3£ fi Shichidaiji junreiki
Shaekoku
shaku A Shichidaiji j u n r e i shiki
Shakuhara #f>Ä Jfc
shakujö höyö ^ 7£ 4r Shichidaiji nikki

-fc A 3 a |&
Sftafcu N i h o n g i K f l
shakutö ^ shichijü no hayashi -fc: £ y ^

402 List of Terms
shichi shu no michi -t: J? J iJL ShinGangöji 7C%&%
Shidaiten'ö (Shidaitennö) γ£7 Α Χ £ shingoigyö
Shiga ^ shingon, Shingon %~ %
Shingon'in JL %
Shigisan engi ή &^Γ^ Η^Λί' Shingon'in no mishuhö
shiharai }/Hiffk &
Shih chi 3ti & Shingü
Shih-tsung -ftf ^ Shinjikangyö $ί
Shih-tung 6f jft shinkyü (shingö) |^|^
Shijöshiki ΠΕ7^^: ^ shinnan shinnyo \% j$?-ic
shijü no toga V£7 JL J i ^ L i) ° N

Shinran
shijüzai V2H7 J[. |f Shin sanböekotoba $ff 2- ^ Η Ρ ί ί
Shikama S h i n s e n röeishü fff$lt&%
STuTea wakashü iC fa^X^ Shinshi jf ^
shiki &|&(ID shinshi dözoku Ü ^ i§ ^
shikibu no jö ίΚ^β ^ Shm shäi wakashü
shikikai mushikikai £ 3p &
shima £7 ^ Shintö ίφηΙ.

Shiman biku J & £H jr. Shinzei 4
shimoku /f\ shion
Shimotsuke Τ ff Shiriguta /7^'J^ ^
Shimotsukie ft $ ^ shishimura I^J (iJ
Shinano f έ '/Μ. shishinoza |tß- 3 J Μ
2 :
Shinbasharon %% 4 &$$ shishi shushöhöza 3j ^ ffi&fä
List of Terms 403
Shishü h y a k u i n n e n shü S h o k u shikashü
Shöman JJf^p
shishu zanmai V31flL JL BJj^
Shömangyö
Shitennöji ^ X i ^
Shömangyö gisho #H$f£&JiL
shiun
Shöman shishiku ichijö daihöben
Shöba l ^ y A hökökyö
Shöbinzuruhö e
shöbö JE >£
Shömitsu Jj^$
Shöbönenjokyö IE
shömon F "3
Shödai senzai denkt
9
shömonkai ^j* ) ^
shödö bungaku v&^Si^
Shömu
shögaku iE ^
Shönawashu ijß >f1^
Shögatsu iE ^
Shoreishö f y ] \ψ\ i f
shögun ^ Bp
shöritsugikai ij£ £
Shöhara -£ Ii
shöshin 4j
Shöhö JJ&1£
Shösöin JE^fö
Shöjari sennin &f] ^ ^ A
Shötoku
engl shü % tffcfe
Shötoku fukudengyö
shöjin fä3&
shöjin haramitsu 3fä 31t >Ä Ä $ shötoku muryö Η. ^

7
shöjo issho ilMA—^/f Shötoku Taishi ^ jfeA^-
shöke Shötoku T a i s h i den \ j& A - 3
Shoku Nihongi ^ )3 ^£cl Shötoku T a i s h i d e n r y a k u
Shofcu N i h o n köki hl j£ ^
404 List of Terms
Shötoku T a i s h i H e i s h i d e n zökanmon söan
Soga Iname J f c ^ #S Ö
N
£j Shöyüki*?J J£
sögana 3p
jßfίshözenbökai ;h|£
SogaUmako |£*fcJ&* 3
ή' %YShüchüshö
Sögiritsu
Shudaeten f )*^X(fi)
Sögö 4t
Shudama fäf&jf
Sögö b u n i n shöshutsu
Shudana $I:Mß(&
sogösho W*fl#r
Shudashuma JfFfc$i#
Söjiin 3g i$pjk
Shudatsu ^ Ü i L
Söjin ^ jjt
Shugendö /i^K&fcit
söjö i.
shugyöja j\ffä£
Sökami 5^-fc-
Shüishü (Shüi wakashü)
Sone Yoshitada i f / f H * i $;
Shüissai f u k u t o k u zanmaikyö Sonkeikaku îffcflfl
sono engi ^
shukke dt ^ sono shiki J£• ^
Shükongöjin f M N I ' J ?t S o n p i b u n m y a k u j£ Jf-^M^
Shuman Sonshi <^ 3
Shumi tökö nyorai Söö *S>&
Söraku $%>fe
Shunigatsu >f^— $
sora ni shirinu ^ — 5^
Shunki ^M<j
Shun-hsiao (Junkyö) ;ι| % ΐ& Sore y ν (*; 4* (* ;
Shutsuyökyö Ä Soren ^ i3L

List of Terms 405
Ssu-chiao-i Tachibana Koreyori
Ssu-fen-lü shan-fan pu-chüeh hsing- TachibanaMoroe fö\i%JL

shih-ch'ao
Tachibana Naramaro & 7?
Su chang jE£ & Tachibana no Iwashima
Suehara Tado
Tahö
suenoyo X J tt T'ai-po-shan A&
Sufukuji ί£ ί Α · ^ Taihö X$
Sufukuji engi sj\ •$f $£<^& Taima ^jfo
Sugawara Michizane ^ ^ jjJL <$k T'ai-ping k u a n g - c h i f J% i&
Sugawaradera Taira Shigehira f JLtfft
sugoroku XX, A Taira Yasuyori f J&!fä
sui Taishaku fXMO f*f(ft)
Sui T'ien-t'ai Chih-che Ta-shih p i e h - T a i s h i d e n gyokurinshö
chuan
Suiko T a i s h i d e n kingyokushö
Sukitadera (Suitadera) ^Jfl ffl -6"

Taishi Höötei setsu
SungKang ^ ^ r - A ! f i t
Sung kao-seng-chuan 1^$} V$ h%
Suruga Λί>*Γ(#1) Taishikü X*p4*

Sushun Taishi Shudainakyö
Suzaku ^ 41
T'ai-tsung A^
τ
T'ai-tzu ch'eng-tao ching
Tachibanadera
406 List of Terms
Taizen %t>^- Tao-hsüan
Taizökai kanjö Jj & ^ > % II Tao-sui (Dösui)
Tajihi Hironari f
9 Ä Ta-su (Taiso[sen]) X j£
Takahashi no Muraji Azumahito Ta-t'ang hsi-yü-chi JKJ& VS7 £ 2 £

**feil* Λ Ta-Vang ta-tz'o-en-ssu san-ts'ang fa-
shih-chuan
Takaichi ^ ψ
A# Α&&£.ξ-
Takakamo no Ason
tatari ,f;
te
Takamadoyama ifi vb
Techii no yama
Takano 7^
Techirin'ö ffijfäi.
Takao
Te hsüan f&£
Takaodera
Teiki Abe no sumeramikoto
Takaosanji T?J i£ vb
Takasamaro tJL
Te-mei
Takashima 7§
Ten'an
takusen φ& 5Γ
Tenchiin XWjfL
Tamakazura £^
Tenchö A |
Tamamushi no zushi £ >U 5"
Tendai Λ £
tamanoonna i J ic
Tendaie X^4^
Tamatsukuri £: i ^ L
Tamenori no ki 7 ^6
Tendai ryöözu hondenshü
Tamenori shü ,£} ^
T'ang # tendoku J ^ Ä ^
T'ang Lin / £ ί & tendösezu jM^ll ΈΓ X

Tao-chen 3&jf^ tengen XSß;
List of Terms 407
Tengen X 7L Tödaiji-gire
Tengizenshi Λ ΙϊΙ|^ Tödaiji no kimon jjl X ^ i&
Tenji Tödaiji yöroku f λ| $^
Tenjönikki f i H ^ Tö Daiwajö töseiden
Tenjukoku [mandara]
Todöin |&
Tenmu X A töge sanmaya fäj^L ^ ft§ if β
tennin X A. Töji ^
tennyo X ^T TöjiKanchiinbon ^ ^^jL^ffiih

Tennyo jöbutsukyö jM? 4$^ Tokio Shinnö ^ i Ä f & i -
Tennyo shingyö % Tökondö JMMT

Tenpyö Χ τ Tokudö f$g3jL
TenpyöHöji Χ f ψ Tokugawa j&'l
Tenpyö Shöhö K f W f Tomidera ^Α θ
tenrin shöö $£$ίβ Tomilchihi ÜJLf^
Tenryaku XjH Tomi no amadera ^ 3> §
tenshi X 3" Tömitsu ijL$J
Ten'yaku no kami Φ 9j£ Töriten ,

Jv5 * J X
tera ^ Tosa no otodo
T'ien t'ai X, ^
Töseiden emaki täj$>
T'ien-t'ai ssu-chiao-i Χ ^ λ£7 ;fJCjl,
Töshikaden
Ting-kuang ^.it
"toshi no naka no matsurigoto no
Tödaiji $ Λ | kami"
Tödaiji fujumonkö
Töshödaiji frt&yi%
408 List of Terms
Tosotsuten £ß3f*X Udasen'ö Tfe £ £

Tötö &ΐ£ Uetsukidera
tötoki michi ^% Uhara(Ubara) f %$($J
Tötömi ÜL yX~ uhatsuke
Toyo f Uhatsurake
Uhatsurake b i k u n i honjökyö
toyoashihara no mizuho kuni
Uji f ;#
Toyobuku jtifc
CT/'i shüi monogatari
Tsu
Tsuchimaro ^ L A , Umayado Toyotomimi no Miko

tsuchinoe tatsu J\fc ; f c / * j | ü M <?> * - ( « 3;
tsuchinoe tora J \ χ 7 Umayasaka iÄ.
Tsukai Maro >fjÂ> Umayasakadera T^.tÄ'f"
tsuki ni norite $ x f" urabon 1£»
Tsukushi %J% Urabongyö Qfä
TsungLin %\% Usa f ji.
Tsuruga &Y Usa Daijingüji f i £ A # ^ ^
Tun-huang %<$f Usa Hachiman [Daijingü]
Tu-t'o-ssu JtiJt^T
Usö
u
utaawase
ubasoku 4
Uta no tsukasa fti. ^?}
Ubasokukaikyö ί £ 3? j£ jflo Utsuho monogatari
Uda f #
List of Terms 409
w Yakuö
Wadö Yakushiji
wajö Jt Yakushi nyorai
waka ^XJ^X Yakushi ruri nyorai hongan

kudokukyö
A
Waka dömöshö iV%Ki%% f
Wakan röeishü jfO 7% j$ **Mk

Yamada Jj \2
Wake Hiroyo # 3 0 ^ A t £
Yamada Yoshio ®^"^)έ
Wake Kiyomaro :fa It 7f fa g
Yamamura J-j
WakeMatsuna
Yamashina JL/ $ψ
Wamyö ruijushö JfV Λ7 ffißf
Yamashinadera djf&^j-
Wamyöshö 9a jf
Yamashiro ίΜς
Wang-sheng li-tsan chieh
Yamato Χ ^Π
ya7nongyö ^ RJJ*£
Wani £ i-
Yang
Wen-hsüan
Yang ^|
Wu
Yang-chou
Wu t'ai J L 1:
Yang-sheng lun
Wu tsung Ä ^
yashiro tfi
Wu-yin ^ ?&
Yashö ¥ftfc(*U
Wu yüeh •^TAJ?•
Yen Chen-ch'ing $$#9
Y
Yen Chih-t'ui I *-
Yahata (Yawata) > \
Yen-shih chia-hsün (Ganshikakun)
Yahata no Daijinji \ t& °> Χ <f
Yahata sansho ^Ψ&.£-^Γ Yöhiken'ö \$W£2-

410 List of Terms
Yokawa >β|;ΐ| Ζ
Yöken'ö ^ £ Zaö [gongen] fä^fät^
Yokuzö kudokukyö y ^ f a f i Ifafä Zengi 4^Ä
Yokuzökyö >JfrJ&#t zenjishiki -^ £ tSÜi,
Yömei $ P$ zenjö haramitsu %%/L7M j & ^
Yörakukyö ί^ί&Μ zen,nu 49/^.
Yörö Zenshin !\i
Yoshino Î? Zenshin \έ
YoshishigeTamemasa ßîtk&l'tK Zenshüsaitaku shiawase

Yoshishige Yasutane y&täftl
Yotsutsuji Yoshinari \£7 i£_ 4| ^ Zentsüji iL *vf

Yözei zen'yü
Yueh Zen'yü Taishi 4 A X ^
Yugaron £$u20i& Zenzai döji 4?- ?ί 4 5
Yugashijiron iîSöfcf Zenzai emaftt i ^ &
Yugyökyö iSlT^£ Zöhiyukyö #fc#ufcf£
Yuiebutsu #£#JJ# zöhö ί
Yuimae *tjf #^ Zöhöketsugikyö :

h%. ) k A % & $ L
Yuimakitsu fttjfifr Zappözökyö
Yuimakyö gisho |fc JylL Zöichiagongyö Ϊ<Φ ~ Ρ Γ φ β
yuina $ £ # ß Zösöjö jtf fif £
Yuishikiron Zö£ö enmyö kudokukyö
Yumedono
Yüryaku i$Lfi& zöyaku JifS:

List of Terms 411
zuiki %
zuiki höben ft! 1 ^
zuiki kudoku Pif_lF tfi \%
Z u i k i kudoku bon f& &
zuimen (zuimin) (?ütBft

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Index
The page numbers in bold type indicate primary references to the entry
in the translated text of Sanböe.
A "Anointment of the Buddha, The"

(Kanbutsu), 312
affinity (en ), 50, 61 Anzai Kakushö, 25
Agongyö: see Zöichi agongyö artificial flowers, 269
Ajantä jätaka paintings, 55 Asoka, King, and jätaka stüpas, 56,
Ajätasatru, King, 299 148η. 12,157η. 14; patronage of
Äkäsagarbha meditation, 288 mendicants opposed by ministers
Amabenomine, 230 of, 187n. 41, 243; and Upagupta,
Amarävati jätaka carvings, 55 245n. 10
Amida Buddha, "Buddha of Endless Atsuta, Great Deity of (Atsuta no
Life," 366; "great vow" and "great daijin; A t s u t a myöjin), 276-77
affinity" of (daiseigan, daiinnen), Aurangabad jätaka depiction, 55
342; image of, 13; nenbutsu, 17, 342; A yü wang ssu, 56
worshipped at Kangakue meetings,
16,295
Amida Sütra (Amidakyö), 342;
chanting of, 262; copying of, 13 Β
Amrapäli, 260
Anahobe Hashihito, 174 Bakkula (Hakkura), 338
Änanda, 131η. 8,162,165,168η. 7, Barabudur jätaka carvings, 55
245η. 10, 261, 272-73, 300, 369η. 9 "Bath, The" (onshitsu, onjitsu,
"Änanda Rite of Penance at Saiin, unshitsu), 260-62
The" (Saiin no A'nan keka), 272- beggars, 333-34
75 Bhai§ajyaräja (Yakuö), 166
Angoe: see "Service of the Retreat, Bhai§ajyaguru (Yakushi nyorai), 254,
The" 333, 358n. 1
Angulimäla (Shiman biku, Kubara Bharhut jätaka friezes, 55
biku, Ökutsumara), 113n. 10, 242 Bidatsu, Emperor, 174
animals, liberation of, and their Bimbisära, King, 243
gratitude, 59,68, 221-22; at Yahata, Biographies of Famous Monks of
345-46 Japan (Nihonkoku meisöden), 192,
Aniruddha, 300 1 9 5 n . l 2 , 1 9 6 n n . l 5 2 0 0 , 1 6 , 1 9 9 n . 6,
"Anointment Initiation at Hie, The" 201n. 15, 202n. 20
(Hie no kanjö), 73-74, 349-50 biography, in Sanböe, 64-65, 73, 77
427
428 Index
Bodhgaya Monastery, 166; described Bussetsu Senjikyö, 58,162-63 passim

by Hsüan-tsang, 169n. 14 Butsuhongyökyö, 79, 294n. 15
Bodhidharma, 32,187n. 41 Butsumyöe: see "Service of Buddhas'
Bodhisattva, and "Bodhisattvas of the Names, The"
Ten Stages," 337; and Mahäyäna Butsumyökyö, 367n. 1, 368n. 3
idealization of self-sacrifice, 47; use Butsumyö senge: see "Buddhas'
of term in first volume, 53 Names Rite of Repentance"
Bodhisattva monks, 70, 241; see also Buttetsu, 202n. 17, 328
Buddhist monks; Srävaka monks byakushibutsu: see self-enlightened
"Bodhisattva ordination at Hatsuse," sage[s]
321-22
Bodhisattva precepts (Bosatsukai),
272, 274n. 4, 315-18 passim,
321-22, 324n. 15, 325n. 18, 360; c
see also Eight Precepts; Five
Precepts; Forty-eight Minor Cakrävada Mountains (Techii no
Precepts; precepts; Srävaka yama), 120
precepts; Ten Major Precepts campaka flower, 242
Bodhisena ("The Brahman Abbot"), candles: see lights, offering of
31, 198, 201nn. 15, 17, 328 Candraprabhä (Usö), 93
Bonmökyö, 265, 315, 321, 325n. 16, cause and effect, patterns of, in
345, 361 jätakas, 51-52; in Sanböe, 48-49, 50,
Bosatsukaigyö, 365n. 22 60, 62, 64, 66, 69, 72, 77
Bosatsu senkyö: see Bussetsu Senjikyö census, of monks and nuns, 266
Brahma, 140,161,174, 276; "Brahma's charity, 52, 59, 78; "Five Charities,"
Heaven," 261; heavenly eye of 357; "perfection of," 107-9;
(tengen), 101 propagation of teachings as a form
Buddha, eternality of, 49-50; marks of, 283; to beggars, 333-34; to
and signs of, 48; previous lives of, as clergy, and benefits of, 70, 78, 249,
subject of tales of first volume, 51 256,326-27
"Buddhas' Names Rite of Repentance" chi, chie: see wisdom
(Butsumyö senge), 367nn. 1, 2 Chidoron: see Daichidoron
Buddhism, eastward movement of, 61, Chien-chen: see Ganjin
64, 302; emphasis on legitimate Ch'ien Hung-shu's jätaka stüpas, 56,
transmissions and lineages, 78; 85η. 32
esoteric, 67, 68, 74-75; foes of, 66; in Chih-i ("Master of T'ien-t'ai"), 78, 254,
China, 165-67; introduction of, to 255, 258n. 14, 298n. 12, 315, 321,
China and Japan, 167,172n. 27, 335n. 8, 343nn. 2, 4; biographies of,
174,181n. 7; respect for living 361, 363n. 11, 372n. 1; discussion of
things, 59, 69, 78 "Six Perfections" jätakas in his Ssu-
Buddhist literature, Chinese, 53-54, chiao-i as model for Tamenori, 53;
63, 226n. 14, 262 and "five periods" of Buddhist
Buddhist monks, praiseworthiness of, teachings, 60,167n. 5; life and
241-43; types of, 69-70, 241; see also career, 360-61; and "The Service
Bodhisattva monks; Srävaka monks in the Month of Frost," 360-61
Buddhist texts, rewards for devotion Chikö, 66,198, 201nn. 9,10
to, 67,68 China, Buddhism in, 61, 78,165-67
Index 429
Ching-ai, 166 D a i h a t s u nehangyö ("Nehangyö"), 56

Uhingen, 30, 39η. 70 Daihikyö, 81η. 2, 242
Ch'ing-lung-ssu, 288 Daihöbenbutsu (Höongyö), 57,120,
Ching-lü i - h s i a n g , 54 121nn. 4, 5, 6,122n. 13,133,
Chishö Daishi (Master Chishö): see 133n. 2,134nn. 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 273
Enchin 75 passim
Chökokuji: see Hatsuse Daihödö daijikkyö, 134n. 5, 242,
Chökokuji engimon, 322-33 passim 246n. 17, 338, 341n. 15
Chuang-tzu, 95n. 1, 297n. 2 Daiibarikyö (Daiikyö), 96n. 7, 250n. 7,
Chügüji, 179 316
Chü i: see Po Chü i Daiikyö: see Daiibarikyö
cloud of five colors, 191,194η. 5 Daijikkyö: see Daihödö daijikkyö
"Colleagues' Service of Eight Lectures" Daijöhonjö shinjikangyö (Shin-
(Döhö hakkö), 236; see "Service of jikangyö), 79,124n. 3, 217n. 2,
Eight Lectures, The" 243n. 2, 244n. 3, 294n. 14, 315, 338,
confession (jishi), 337 340n. 10
"Continuous Nenbutsu on Hie, The" Daikakuji, 272, 274n. 5
(Hie no fudan n e n b u t s u ) , 342-44; Daikandaiji, 188n. 47, 307, 308: see
at Iwashimizu, 343n. 3 also Daianji
"Convocation, The" (Fusatsu), 181n. 8, D a i N i h o n k o k u hokke g e n k i (Honchö
265-66, 321 h o k k e genki, Hokke g e n k i ) , 30,
Council of State, decrees of, 328, 39n. 70, 204n. 1, 215n. 1, 216n. 1,
351n. 5, 367nn. 1, 2 219n. 1, 222n. 1, 231n. 1, 233n. 1,
crab, released by Okisome no Omi 304n. 2
Taime, 221-22 D a i N i h o n k o k u sokusan'ö Shötoku
T a i s h i hösan, 32
D a i r o n : see D a i c h i d o r o n
D Daishögonron, 227n. 15, 318n. 14
Dajöhöö gojukai no ki, 21-22
Daianji, 68,188n. 47, 201n. 9, 203, Darujaka Mountains, 149,151,155,
234-36; construction of, 307; Great 156n.3
Prajnä Service (Daihannyae), 307- dan haramitsu: see "perfection, of
9, 33In. 10; Nantöin of, 225; plan of charity"
monks' quarters, 237n. 2; "sütra Deer King jätaka, 55, 59,135-36
fund" of, 68, 224 Deer Park (Rokuon), 136,137n. 11,
Daichidoron (Chidoron, Dairon), 168n.7
97n. 14,103n. 1,105n. 9,108, Denböe: see "Service of the Propaga-
109nn. 1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 111, 112nn. 5, 7, tion of the Teachings at Shiga, The"
8, 9,113n. 10,115,116n. 4, 117n. 9, Dengyö Daishi: see Saichö
123,125nn. 8, 9,136n. 1,137nn. 2-8, Devadatta, 54,122n. 13,134n. 10,
10,142n. 3,156n. 2,168nn. 7, 8, 136n. 1,137n. 7, 239n. 11
244n. 7, 245n. 10, 283, 358; cited as "Devadatta" chapter [of Lotus Sütra],
source in first volume, 57; and 239n. 11: see Lotus Sütra
jätakas illustrating "the Six Perfec- Dhärani of the Peacock King (Kujakuö
tions," 52-53 no j u ) , 191,194n. 5
D a i h a n n y a haramittagyö: see Dhärapi of the Thousand-armed
Mahäprajnäpäramitä Sütra Kannon (Senju no j u , S e n j u d a r a n i ,
430 Index
Daihishin darani), 212, 213n. 2, Eight Ritual Precepts (hachisaikai),

214n. 8 181 n. 8
Diamond Sütra (Kongo hannya Eighty Signs (hachijisshugö), of
haramitsukyö), 68, 225, 226n. 14 Buddha, 101,104n. 3; see Thirty-
discipline, 52,124n. 5; "perfection of two Marks
(jikai haramitsu), 110-13 Eikö, "of Daianji," 68, 69, 76, 234-39
Dögon, 178 E i z a n Daishi den, 256n. 2, 289n. 3,
Döji, 201n. 9, 308 317n. 5, 350nn. 1-3, 364n. 15
döjö, 200n. 5 Eleven-Faced Kannon (Jüichimen
"Doli Service,* 291; and doll festival, Kannon), 320, 323n. 4
33, 293n. 10 en: see affinity
Dömyö, 321 Enchin (Chishö Daishi), 75, 78, 361,
Dona, 303 364n. 21; biography of, 364n. 19
Döshö, 192,196n. 13, 200n. 4 engaku (pratyekabuddha): see self-
dove and hawk, 102,105n. 9,107-8 enlightened sage[s]
Dragon King(s), 119,120,122n. 9, 303, engi: see origin tales
305n. 15; daughter of (Näga-girl), Enlightenment, Tree of (bodai no ki
239n. 11; Gopäla, 106n. 13 döju), 94,100η. 30, 101, 103n. 2
Ennin (Jikaku Daishi), 272, 274n. 4;
biographies of, 39n. 70, 75, 78,
Ε 304n. 2, 343n. 1; and kanjö, 349,
351nn. 5-6, 352n. 13; and nenbutsu,
e: see wisdom 342, 343n. 1; and worship of relics,
earth, movements of, attest death of 302, 304n. 2, 340n. 8
future Buddha, 108, 109n. 5, 133, Ε no ubasoku, 64, 66,191-96
134n. 8,145; attest generous acts of En no gyöja, 30; see also Ε no ubasoku
future Buddha, 152,156n. 7 Enryakuji, 16, 22, 78; esoteric initia-
eastward movement of Buddhism tion (kanjö) at, 73-75; rites at, 254-
("manifest destiny"), 61, 64, 302 59,302-6,342-44, 349-52, 360-65;
effort, 52; "perfection of" (shöjin see also Hie, Mt.; Tendai school;
haramitsu), 118-22,136n. 1 Saichö
Egi, 210,211η. 6 En'yü, Emperor, 7, 9,11,14; takes
Eguchi Toshio, 25 Buddhist vows, 21; wives of, 8,10,
Eiei, 265, 266n. 4 14
Eigaku yöki, 257n. 9; mentions Sanböe En'yüin j u k a i no ki, 21-22
söan, 22-23 esoteric Buddhism, 68,195n. 9,
Eiga monogatari, 8, 31; Buddhist rites 245n. 10; anointment initiation
described in "Utagai" chapter, 31, (kanjö), 73-74, 349-52; Dhärani of
284n. 10, 340n. 13 the Peacock King and Ε no
Eigen,25 ubasoku, 191; Kükai learns Shingon
Eight Precepts (hachikai), 273, teachings in China, 288; TamenorTs
275n. 18; see also Bodhisattva attitudes toward, 74-75, 349
precepts; Five Precepts; Forty-eight esoteric texts, rewards for devotion to,
Minor Precepts; precepts; Srävaka 68,191,194n. 5
precepts; Ten Major Precepts Etatsu, 299, 301n. 2
Eight Obstructed Realms (hachinan), Evil Realms (akudö): see Three Evil
366, 368n. 5 Realms (san'akudo)
Index 431
expedient means (höben), 4, 48, 49, Four Celestial Kings (Four Guardian
354, 356η. 12, 372η. 1 Kings, Shidaiten'ö), 66, 68,140,
Expedient of Rejoicing (zuiki höben), 142n. 8,176,181n. 8,184n. 21, 224,
48, 80, 371, 372η. 1 261, 303; Temple of, (Shitennöji),
176,179, 184n. 24
Four Classes of disciples, 272, 275n. 14
F Four Elements, 260, 262n. 5
Four Forces of Evil (shi ma), 101,
Fashionable Captain, The, 5, 34n. 6, 103n. 2
93, 99n. 22 Four Great Prohibitions (shijü no
Fa-yüan chu-lin (FYCL), 43, 44,54, toga), 102,105n.6, 255
58, 79, 81n. 1 and passim in notes Four Modes of Expression (shi ben),
"Feast, The* (Gosaie), 86n. 46, 251- 101,104n. 3
53, 286, 287nn. 6-7 Four Obligations (shion), 216, 217n. 2
"field(s) of merit" (fukuden), 244n. 3, four types of meditation (shishu
334, 336n. 9 zanmai), 255, 258n. 17, 342; see also
filial piety, rewards for, 67 Lotus meditations
Five Charities (gose), 357, 359n. 6 fudan nenbutsu (continuous
Five Cravings (goyoku), 101,103n. 2 nenbutsu), at Enryakuji, 342,
Five Dharma Bodies (goshushin), 270, 343n. 1; at Iwashimizu, 343n. 3
271n. 9 Fuhözö innenden, 168η. 9, 248η. 28,
Five Fruits, 337, 339n. 5 369η. 9
Five Grains (gokaku), 251, 252n. 8 Fuhözökyö, 248, 338, 341η. 14
Five Modes of Vision (go gen), 101, Fujiwara family, 77, 353
104n.3 Fujiwara Fuhito, 284n.l0, 291, 353
"five periods" of Buddhist teachings, Fujiwara Kaishi, 7
60 Fujiwara Kamatari, 291, 353
Five Penances, 371 Fujiwara Kenshö, 31, 34n. 6, 286n. 2
Five Pollutions, 93, 97n. 15,178, 312 Fujiwara Michinaga, 19, 21, 284n. 10
Five Precepts (go kai), 161,163n. 10, Fujiwara Mitsuaki, 8,10
221,222η. 3,333; see also Fujiwara Norikane, 31, 283n. 2
Bodhisattva precepts; Eight Fujiwara Sanesuke, 8,10,11, 86n. 46
Precepts; Forty-eight Minor Fujiwara Tadanobu: see Matsuo no
Precepts; precepts; Srävaka kimi
precepts; Ten Major Precepts Fujiwara Yorimichi, 19
Five Transgressions (gogyaku no Fusatsu: see "Convocation, The"
tsumi), 102, 105n. 6, 255, 342 Fusö ryakki, 29, 30-31, 38n. 67,
flowers, offerings of, and merits, 47, 196n. 13, 229n. 1, 233n. 1, 283n. 3,
78, 255, 329-30; artificial, 269, 284n. 7, 287n. 3, 322n. 1
270n.3
forbearance, 52,133; "perfection of,"
(ninniku haramitsu), 114-17 G
Forty-eight Minor Precepts, 265,
267n. 11; see also Bodhisattva Gakuanji, 309n. 3
precepts; Eight Precepts; Five Gangöji, 179,186n. 37,188n. 46,
Precepts; precepts; Srävaka 196n. 13,197, 200n. 7, 201n. 9, 208,
precepts; Ten Major Precepts 313n. 3, 366
432 Index
Ganjin (Chien-chen), 56, 78, 85n. 30, Lectures, The"

265-68, 304nn. 2,5, 306n. 22,321, hannya: see wisdom
324n. 15, 341n. 13; biographies of, hannya haramitsu: see "perfection, of
266η.2 wisdom"
ganmon (prayer of intercession), for Hasedera (Hase temple): see Hatsuse
Sonshi by Yasutane, 11-13, (Hatsusedera)
36nn. 24-25 Hasedera reigenki, 324n. 12
Gautaim (Mahäprajäpati, Kyödonmi), Hatsuse (Hatsusedera), 30, 78, 320-
272, 274η. 10, 367 25; miracles attributed to Kannon
Gaväippati, 241, 244η. 7 of, 321, 324n. 12
Gengukyö, 96η. 9,112η. 5,121η. 4, Hashikawa Tadashi, 33, 40n. 88
134ηη. 2-4, 7,10,146η. 2,172η. 26, Heart Sütra, The (Hannya shingyö),
205η. 9, 247η. 26, 263η. 8, 329, 357, copying of, 13, 279; darani
359η. 6, 369η. 10 (dhärani) of, 67, 210n. 5, 218-19,
Genji monogatari, 5, 9,10, 33, 98η. 19, 219n. 4; recitation of, 279; rewards
239ηη. 11, 13, 324η. 12 for recitation of, 67, 210
Genjö Sanzö e, 148η. 12,169η. 13, hentai k a n b u n , 24
170η.14 Hie, Mt., 71, 74, 277, 342, 343n. 3, 349,
Genkö shakusho, 187η. 41, 267η. 9, 360-61; closed to women, 303; see
287η. 3, 301η. 2, 314η. 3, 355η. 2 also Enryakuji; Tendai school
Genmei, Empress ("The Iitaka "Himalaya Boy" jätaka (Sessen döji),
Empress"), 230, 308, 321 54, 55, 59, 84n. 25, 139-43,166,
Genshin, 22, 33, 34n. 6, 95n. 2, 344n. 8, 283; in D a i h a t s u nehangyö, 56;
364n. 19 painting on Tamamushi no zushi,
Gikaku, 67,210 56
go, 4, 34n. 5, 45,93; "Go-Playing Monk Hina m a t s u r i , 293n. 10
of Yamashiro Province, The," 215 Hitokotonushi, 191,192,195n. 9
Gödanshö, 15,19, 22, 37nn. 32, 40 höben: see expedient means
Göke s h i d a i , 313n. 2, 327nn. 1-3 Höbutsushü, 30, 39n. 71, 231n. 1
Gonsö, 68-69, 234-39, 333, 335n. 2, Höjöe, 59, 68,129n. 1, 222n. 5, 345-
350n. 2, 367n. 1 48
Gosaie: see "Feast, The" Höjöe engi, 347-48 passim
Govinda jätaka (Kuhin, K u h i n d a Hokkedö (of Enryakuji) (Hokke
baramon daijin), 58, 126-27 sanmaidö), 254, 257n. 10
Gjdhraküta: see Vulture Peak Hokke e (Lotus Service), at Takao, 31,
Great Buddha of Tödaiji, 200n. 8, 328, 75, 288-90
330n. 5 Hokke genki: see D a i N i h o n k o k u
"Great Prajnä Service at Daianji, The" hokke genki
(Daianji no Daihannyae), 307-11 Hokke hakkö: see "Service of Eight
Gyöki, 23, 64, 66-67, 197-202, 221- Lectures, The"
23, 236, 239nn. 9,13, 312, 314n. 7, Hokke jükö: see "Service of Ten
328, 331n. 10; biographies of, Lectures, The"
39n. 70,199, 200n. 5, 201n. 9 Hokkeji, 79, 291, 293n. 6; see also
u
K e g o n Service at Hokkeji, The"
Η Hokkekyö g i s h o , 189n. 48
Hököji, 188n. 47, 353, 355n. 7
Hachiokadera (Köryüji), 179 Hömyö, 353, 355n. 2
Hakkö (Hakköe): see "Service of Eight Honchö hokke genki: see Dai
Index 433
Nihonkoku hokke genki "Iitaka Empress, The": see Genmei,

Honchö kösöden, 205n. 6, 226n. 12, Empress
323n. 7, 368n. 4 Ikeshiridera (Hokkiji), 179
Honchö monzui, 12, 14, 21, 22, [Illustrations of\ the Three Jewels, 27;
37nn. 31, 41, 281n. 8, 297n. 7 see Sanböe
Honchö reisö, 22 Imoko: see Ono Imoko
Honchö shirin, 22 impermanence, imagery of, 41, 91,
honji suijaku doctrine, 346n. 1 95nn. 1, 4
Höongyö: see Daihöbenbutsu höongyö incense, offerings of, 47, 78, 269
Höryüji, 179,188n. 7; dioramas, Indra (Taishaku), 107-8,109n. 4,140,
293n. 10; door panels depicting 153,156n. 9,161,163n. 8,174, 249,
biography of Prince Shötoku, 250n. 7, 276, 283, 285n. 16, 303;
35n. 10; Tamamushi no zushi, 56 Seven Jewels of, 261, 263n. 6
Höshakkyö (Daihöshakkyö), 326 Ippyakujünishu Taishi wasan, 32
Hosshin wakashü, 10, 36n. 25 Ishiyamadera (Ishiyama Temple), 277,
Hosshöji, 11,13; kanjö at, 75, 350, 278n. 10, 328
352n.13 Iwabuchidera, 235, 238n. 4; "Annals
Hossö (Fa-hsiang) school, 196n. 13, 0Γ (Iwabuchidera engi), 68, 236,
200n. 4, 245n. 10, 313n. 3, 368n. 4 238n. 4; and "Service of Eight
Hsi-ming-ssu, 308 Lectures, The," 236
Hsing-man, 254, 257n. 7 Izumoji Osamu, 33, 40n. 89, 85n. 37
Hsüan-tsang, 54,116n. 4,147n. 12,
148n. 12, 169nn. 13-14, 308;
biographies of, 310η. 18; called
"Tripitaka," 166,169n. 13; and J
Döshö, 196n. 13; see also Ta-t'ang
hsi-yü-chi Jakunin, 32
Hsü kao-seng-chuan, 170n. 16, Jalavähana jätaka (Rusui chöja), 55,
264n. 12, 361, 362n. 2, 363nn. 6,11, 57, 59, 84η. 25, 128-31, 348η. 8
14, 369n. 11 Jambudvipa (Enbudai), 119,122η. 11,
Hui-ch'ang emperor: see Wu tsung, 126, 177
Emperor jätakas, emphasis on self-sacrifice, 59;
Hui-kuo, 245n. 10, 288, 290n. 9 in Asian art, 54-57, 84n. 25; in
Hui-ssu ("the Nan-yiieh Master"), Chinese Buddhist literature, 53-54;
185n. 32, 315, 317n. 5, 321, 360, in Japanese Buddhist literature and
362n. 2 art, 54-56; in Mahäyäna tradition,
Hui-yiian (of Ching ying ssu), 166, 52-53, 82n. 6; and motifs of tales in
170n.16 first volume, 58-60; origins of, 51;
Hungry Ghosts, 112n. 3, 337, 339n. 4, Pali collections, 82nn. 5-6;
368n. 5 protagonists identified as
Hyeja, 177 Säkyamuni Buddha (Tathägata) in
"Hymns to the Portrait" (Gasan), 361 former lives, 53, 60; and "the Six
Hyügadera, 179 Perfections," 51, 52-55; villains in,
122n. 13
Jetavana garden, 166,169n. 13, 272,
ι 299; as model for Daianji, 308
Jewel-Haired Tathägata (Hökei
Ichijö, Emperor, 14 nyorai), 129,130n. 5
434 Index
j i k a i haramitsu: see discipline; "perfec- Kanbutsu: see "Anointment of the

tion, of discipline" Buddha, The"
Jikaku Daishi: see Ennin Kanchö, 21
Jikaku Daishi den, 304-5 passim Kaneakira, Prince, 23
Jingoji, 75, 289n. 3 Kangakue, founding of, 16, 37n. 34,
Jiö, 208 100η. 30, 281n. 8, 295-98; unique-
Jivaka, 243, 248n. 29, 260, 262n. 4, 300 ness of Tamenori's account of, 73
jö (concentration), 104n. 3,124n. 5 74
Jöan, 312, 313n. 3, 366 Kangon, 31
Jögüki, 180,190n. 49 kanjö, 73-75; conducted by Saichö at
Jögü Shötoku Taishi Höötei setsu, Jingoji, 237n. 4; at Enryakuji, 349-
180n. 5 52; at Töji and Hosshöji, 350,
Jögü Taishi, 174,179,180n. 2, 352n.13
189n. 48, 309n. 2; see also Shötoku, Kanmuryöjukyö, 100η. 28, 106n. 11,
Prince 244n. 5, 344n. 7
Jögü Taishi den hoketsuki 180
t Kannon, 12, 241, 244n. 6; and blue
Jögü Taishi gyoki, 32, 40n. 82,167n. 1, lotus, 12In. 8; Bodhgaya images,
174,180n. 1,182n. 11,183n. 18 166; described by Hsüan-tsang,
jögyö zanmai: see "meditation, 169n. 14; "Eleven-Faced" Kannon of
continuous moving" Hatsuse, 320-22, 323n. 4; image of,
Jörakue, 278nn. 4-5 13; and Prince Shötoku, 174, 176,
Jyoti?ka (Judaiga), 334, 336n. 15 180n. 4,185n. 27; rescuer of those in
Jüjuritsu, 105n. 7, 262, 264n. 14, peril, 68, 229n. 1, 233n. 4;
340n.12 "Thousand-armed," 212-14, 358n.
jukai: see ordination 1, 359n. 2; "Wish-granting," image
Jukö, 276-77, 278n. 5 of, 328, 330n. 7
Junna, Emperor, 272, 273n. 2, 287n. 4; Kannon darani (Kannon dhärani), 67,
"consort of" (Seishi), 272 212-14
Junnain, 272, 273nn. 2, 7 Kannon Sütra (Kannongyö), 302,
Jushin, 30 304η. 6
Kapilavastu (Kairakoku), 158,162n. 2,
199, 202n.l8, 204, 269
κ Karakuni Hirotari, 191,194n. 6
karma and retribution, 49, 52, 65, 67
kaeriten, 25, 26 Käsyapa, 70,102,165, 241; see
kai: see discipline Mahäkäsyapa
Kaimyö, 203, 205n. 6 Käsyapa Buddha (Kashöbutsu), 291,
Kako genzai ingakyö, 5 294η. 12
Kakunyo, 32 Kasuga Kazuo, 33
Kali, King (Kariö), 114-15,116n. 5 Kataokayama, 178
Kalmäsapada (Rokusokuö), 110-11, Kaundinya, 94,100η. 31,117n. 8
112η. 6,113η. 10 Kazan, Emperor, 10,11
kalpa (kö),92, 96η. 11 Kazuraki, Mount, 191
kalyänamitra: see worthy teachers kechien kanjö: see kanjö
,
Kamo Shrine, Priestess of (Saiin), 7, Kegon e: see "Kegon Service at
10; Sonshi named as, 7 Hokkeji, The"
kanamajiri, 24 Kegon school, 245n. 10
Index 435
"Kegon Service at Hokkeji, The" Köya (Küya), 16-17, 245η. 10, 335η. 3;
(Hokkeji no Kegon'e), 291-94; and and Hakkö, 359η. 2
doll festival, 33 Köya rui, 17
Kegon Sütra, 65, 67, 79,165,167n. 3, Közanji, 85n. 32; Közanji text frag-
172n. 22, 203-4, 204n.3, 282; and ment of Sanböe tale 3.24, 339n. 1
story of Sudhana, 291-94, 329, K§änti jätaka (Ninniku sennin), 52,
331n. 10, 351n. 8, 372n. 2 54, 55, 59, 84n. 22, 97n. 12, 114-
Kengo, 366, 368n. 4 17; variants of, 116η. 4.
Kenkairon, 315, 317n.6 Kuan-ting, 360, 363η. 11
Kichijö keka: see Penance of Kuchizusami, 18-19, 271η. 9, 314η. 6
SrTmahädevT kudoku: see merit
Kinpu, Mount (Kane ni mitake, Kükai (Köbö Daishi), 54, 78, 245η. 10,
Mitake), 191; Zaö, deity of, 328 288-90, 304η. 2, 352η. 13, 367η. 1;
Kinshi Naishinnö, 14 biographies of, 31, 75, 289η. 4; and
Kinunui Tomo no Miyatsuko Gitö, Gonsö, 237-38, 238η. 4
206-7 Kumano, deities of, 357, 358n. 1;
Kishi Naishinnö, 18 "Service of Eight Lectures" at,
Köbö Daishi: see Kükai 357-58
Köchi, 302, 304n. 5 kutöten, 25, 26
Köfukuji, 77, 266n. 4, 278nn. 4, 8, kyögen kigo ("wild words and fanciful
289n. 2, 324n. 11, 353, 355n. 9; phrases"), 74, 95n. 2
almshouse and dispensary of Kyökai, 63-64,180,199
(Hiden'in and Seyakuin), 291; see
also Hököji; Yamashinadera
Koizumi Hiroshi, 27, 29, 30, 38n. 61 L
Koji Ono Nakahiro, 192,196n. 15,199
Kokonchomonjü, 19
Kokubunji, 267n. 9, 291, 293n. 6, lecturer (köshi), 198, 201n. 15, 286,
330n. 2 287n. 7
Koküzö ritual, 238n. 4, 288, 289n. 8 "Liberation of Animals at Yahata,
Kömyö, Empress, 79, 236, 239n. 13, The" (Yahata no höjöe), 345-48
291, 292n. 2, 293n. 6, 314n. 7 lies, precept forbidding, 110-11,
Kongöbuji, 288, 301n. 2 112nn. 8-9
Kongökai initiation, 349, 351n. 9 lights, offering of, 47; Mandöe, 78,
Konjaku monogatari shü, 31, 32, 299-301
196n. 13, 206n. 2, 210n. 2, 215n. 1, "Lion [Who Held Firmly to his Vows]
216n. 1, 219n. 1, 225n. 1, 229n. 1, jätaka (Kensei shishi), 55, 57, 59,
231n. 1, 233n. 1, 301n. 3, 324n. 12, 84n. 25, 132-34
331n. 10, 332n. 17 Lion's Seat, 251, 252n. 3
Konkömyökyö, 130n. 1,146n. 2 Lotus meditations (hokke zanmai): see
Konkömyö saishöökyö ("Saishöökyö"), meditation
56, 57,129-31 passim, 146-47 "Lotus Service at Takao, The" (Takao
passim, 184η. 21; and Gosaie, 251- no Hokke e), 31, 288-90
53 passim; and Saishöe, 286-87 Lotus Sütra, 49, 65,67,68, 79,
passim 106nn. 11,12,165,167n. 5,
Korehito, Prince, 14 168nn. 5-7,172n. 23,187n. 40,192,
koto, 4, 45, 93 203, 208, 217n. 3, 238n. 6, 244n. 8,
436 Index
245η. 10, 246nn. 20-21, 247η. 23, Magic Pearl (nyoishu), 118,121n. 5
248η. 32, 254, 256η. 2, 257η. 10, Mahäkäsyapa, 168nn. 7,9,169n. 12,
258η. 20, 259η. 23, 272, 274η. 3, 277, 244n. 7, 273, 275n. 16; see Käsyapa
277η. 1, 285η. 16, 294η. 15, 330, Mahäprajäpäti, 263η. 10, 274η. 10
359η. 2, 360-61, 362ηη. 1, 3; copying Mahäprajnäpäramitä Sütra
of, 13, 216, 218, 232-33, 277; copy (Daihannya haramittagyö), 168η. 6,
shrinks to fit sütra box, 67, 216; 308,310η. 17,311η. 19
copy turns into fish, 68, 230-31; Mahäsattva jätaka, 54-59 passim,
"Devadatta" chapter of, 11-12, 84η. 25, 85η. 28, 109η. 2, 144-48,
239n. 11; and "firewood procession" 156η. 2; in Konkömyö saishöokyö,
hymn, 236, 239nn. 11,13; "Fumon" 56; painting on Tamamushi no
chapter of, 360, 363n. 4; and zushi, 56,147nn. 2, 4,6; stüpa
Kangakue, 295-96; on building described by Hsüan-tsang, 146,
stüpas, 280, 281n. 8; Opening' and 147n. 12
'Closing' sütras of, 13, 36n. 25, 236, Mahätyägavat, Prince, jätaka, 52, 55,
239n. 10, 362n. 1; Prince Shötoku's 57, 59, 84n. 25, 118-22
commentary on, 179,185n. 29, Mahäyana Buddhism, jätakas in, 52-
189n. 48; Prince Shötoku's copy 53; scriptures, 165, 167n. 5, 228-29,
sought in China, 177-79; punish- 243n. 2, 255
ment for disrespect to, 67, 215; Maitreya, 70, 80,133,134n. 10, 241,
quotations and allusions in 282, 284n. 10, 328, 371; image of,
Sanböe, 30, 42, 95n. 3,99n. 26; 175, 284n. 8
rewards for devotion to, 67, 68; Makura no söshi, 18, 33, 324n. 13
"Taking Joy in the Merit of Others" mandala (Taizökai and Kongökai),
chapter of, 288, 290n. 14; "The 349, 351nn. 9, 11
Preacher" chapter of, 288, 290n. 15; Mandöe: see lights, offering of;
see also "Lotus Service at Takao, "Service of Ten Thousand Lights at
The"; "Service of Eight Lectures, Yakushiji, The"
The"; "Service of Ten Lectures, Manke e: see "Service of Ten
The" Thousand Flowers, The"
Lotus Throne, 350, 35In. 11 Manjusn, 70,172n. 22, 241, 255, 333;
Lu, Mount, 178,186n. 37, 262, and Gyöki, 199,199n. 2, 293n. 9;
264n. 12 "Manjusn Service, The" (Monjue),
"'Lump Nun' of Higo Province, The," 75, 333-36; and Vimalakirti, 354
64-65, 67, 203-5; and Sonshi, mappö: see "Period of the Declining
36n.20 Teaching"
Lung-hsing-ssu, 265, 266n. 3, 317n. 3, Matsuo no kimi (Fujiwara Tadanobu),
349, 350n. 1 19
Lung-men "Pin Yang" cave jätaka Matsuura Teishun, 214n. 8, 23In. 2
carvings, 55-56 Maudgalyäyana, 79,101,104n. 5, 241,
299; and "Rite for the Dead, The,"
337-41
Μ Mäyä, 122n. 13,162,163n. 11, 272,
274n. 10
Maeda-ke bon (copy of Sanböe), 25-30 medicine, Ganjin's knowledge of, 265,
and passim in notes 267n. 7; offerings to monks, 338,
Maeda Tsunanori (Shöun), 25 340nn. 12-13
Index 437
meditation, 52; "continuous moving" Mrgära-mätr (Rokumo b u n i n ) , 329,

(jögyö z a n m a i ) , 342, 343nn. 2, 4; '332n.17
four types of, 255, 258n. 17, 342;
"Lotus Meditations," 258n. 17, 360;
"perfection of," 123-25
merit, of becoming a monk or nun, 45, Ν
92, 97n. 12; equality of practices
generating, 76; and kudoku, 47; Nagai C h a m b e r l a i n , The (Nagai no
"Merit in Rejoicing" (zuiki kudoku), jijü), 5, 34n. 6, 93, 99n. 22
48, 80, 371-72 Nägärjuna (Ryüju bosatsu), Twelve
Minamoto Masayori, 30 Hymns of, 296, 298n. 11; verse by,
Minamoto Shitagö, 14-15,18, 34n. 7, 4, 6, 27, 34n. 2, 52, 94, 99n. 23
37n. 31, 95n. 2 Nakagawa Chüjun, 33
Minamoto Tadamoto, 14 Nakatomi Katsumi, 175,182n. 14,
Minamoto Tamenori, life and works, 183n. 16
13-22, 94, 95n. 2; intentions and Nanda (Sundarananda), 261, 263n. 10
design of Sanböe, 3-7, 22-23, 26, 29, Naniwa, 178,198; canal, 175
34n. 2, 44-58 passim; sources and Nantöin, 225
citation, 41-44, 63-69, 72-76, 81-82 Nan-yüeh, Master of: see Hui-ssu
passim; see also Sanböe Nara no Iwashima, 224-27
Ministry of Ceremonials (Shikibu), 20 Nehan'e: see " N i r v a n a Service at
miracles, and miraculous rewards, 61- Yamashinadera, The"
63; tales of, 63-64, 66-68 nenbundosha, 317n. 4, 319n. 17
Mirokue, 284n. 10 nenbutsu, "continuous," at Enryakuji,
Miyata Hiroyuki, 25 342-44; promoted by Köya, 17, 33
M i z u k a g a m i , 30 nenjü gyöji (annual rites), 71, 72,
M o - h o c h i h - k u a n , 60,104n. 5, 86n. 46; Nenjü gyöji e m a k i , 252n. 6;
106n. 16,141n. 2,164 η. 1,167n. 3, Nenjü gyöjishö, 278η. 8
168n. 7,172n. 23, 255, 258n. 18, New Year Rites (Shushögatsu), 249-
271n. 10, 285n. 16, 343n. 2, 372n. 1 50
monjöshö, 14,15 Nichien, 85n. 32
Monjue: see Manjusri Nichira, 174,181n. 10,182nn. 10-11
Monju hatsunehangyö (Monjushiri Nihongi: see N i h o n shoki
hatsunehangyö), 333, 335n. 3 Nihon kiryaku, record of Sonshi's
monks; see Bodhisattva monks; death, 11; kanjö decrees, 352n. 13
Buddhist monks; Srävaka monks N i h o n k o k u genpö zen'aku ryöiki
monogatari, 34n. 5, 93; illustrated (Nihonkoku zen'aku ryöiki): see
(emaki), 4, 6-7; Tamenori's attitude N i h o n ryöiki
toward, 3-5, 45 N i h o n k o k u meisöden: see B i o g r a p h i e s
Mononobe Moriya, 175,182n. 14, of Famous M o n k s of J a p a n
184n. 22, 240, 240n. 2; and family, N i h o n k o k u sandai j i t s u r o k u (Sandai
183nn. 16,19 jitsuroku), 272, 273n. 2, 274n. 8,
Mori Masato, 33, 40n. 89, 81n. 1, 304-5 passim
156n. 2 N i h o n kösöden yömonshö, 29, 31
Moriya, Great Chieftain: see N i h o n öjögokurakuki, 13,17, 23, 30;
Mononobe Moriya biography of Gyöki, 200nn. 5-7,
Mfga jätaka, 55, 84n. 25 201n. 9; 304nn. 2, 8
438 Index
Nihon ryöiki (Ryöiki), 3, 6, 29, 30, 32, orthography, of Sanböe texts, 24-25
39n. 70, 49, 67,180,189n. 48,192-
237 passim; Maeda-ke itsubun,
81n. 2; and tales of second volume, Ρ
63-69
Nihon shoki (Nihongi), 64,173n. 27, Paekche, 167, 174-79 passim, 181n. 10,
194n. 6, 195n. 9, 200n. 8; on Höjöe, 184n. 27, 210,210η. 2,353
346-47 passim; on Prince Shötoku, Päli jätaka, 82nn. 5-6,137nn. 2, 5, 7,
180-90 passim, 313n. 2 156n. 2, 162n. 2
Nine Lotus Stages, 94,100η. 28 Penance of $rimahädevi (Kichijö
n i n n i k u haramitsu: see "perfection, of keka), 251, 252nn. 6,8
forbearance" "perfection, of charity" (dan
Nin'yö, 225, 226n. 12 haramitsu), 107-9; "of discipline"
"Nirvana Service at Yamashinadera, (jikai haramitsu), 110-13; "of
The" (Yamashinadera no Nehan'e), effort" (shöjin haramitsu), 118-22,
276-78 136n. 1; "of forbearance" (ninniku
Nirvana Sütra, 124n. 2,141-43 haramitsu), 114-17; "of medita-
passim, 171nn. 19-20, 245n. 10, tion" (zenjö haramitsu), 123-25;
268n. 12, 276-78 passim "of six senses" (rokkon shöjöi), 360,
nuns, Buddhist, 65-66, 79, 353, 362n. 3; "of wisdom" (hannya
355n. 2; encouraged by Utapalvarna, haramitsu), 126-27; see also "Six
291; order initially opposed by Perfections, The"
Säkyamuni, 272-75 "Period of the Declining Teaching"
(mappö), 45, 70, 81n. 2; see also
Ο "Three Periods, The"
"Period of the Imitated Teaching"
Öe Chikamichi, 31,188η. 46, 355η. 1 (zöhö), 44, 62, 92, 96n. 6, 254; and
Öe Mochitoki, 19-20 introduction of Buddhism to China
Offering to the Master (Taishikü), 361, and Japan, 167; see also "Three
364n. 16 Periods, The"
Öjöyöshü, 22, 33,142n. 3, 344n. 8 "Period of the True Teaching" (shöbö),
Ökagami, 8, 22, 29, 30,142n. 3; 58-59; and admission of women to
Ökagami uragaki, 142n. 3 clergy, 77, 272, 274n. 3; see also
Okisome no Omi Taime, 221-23 "Three Periods, The"
Old Man of Fushimi, 328, 331n. 10 p i e n - w e n , 54, 83n. 13
Old Man of Konomoto, 328, 331n. 10 Pin<J01a, 261, 263n. 7; Pindola-
Ömi Mifune (Genkai), 56, 310n. 17 bhäradväja jätaka, 116η. 4
Ömiwa Kiyomaro, 345, 347n. 2 Po Chü i, 16, 74, 98n. 19,100η. 30, 295,
Onjöji (Miidera), 283n. 3, 364n. 21 297-98 passim, 367, 369n. 11
Ono Imoko, 177,185n. 30 poetry contests (utaawase, shiawase),
Ono no Ason Niwamaro, 212-13 14,18,19, 21
ordination (jukai), 9; at Hatsusedera, Prabhütaratna Buddha
320-25; at Hie (Hie no jukai), 315- (Prabhütaratna-tathägata), 130η. 5,
19; types of, 78 255
origin tales (engi), 76-77, 87n. 49, prajnä: see wisdom
310n. 17 Prajhä sütras, power of, 225
Index 439
Prasenajit, King (Hashinokuö), 93, Risshi, 286, 287n. 7

98n. 16, 279, 281n. 6 "Rite for the Dead, The" (Urabon),
pratyekabuddha (engaku, 337-41
byakushibutsu): see self- "Rites of Penance at Hie, The" (Hie no
enlightened sagefs] senbö), 254-59
precepts, Buddhist, adherence to, 69, Ritsu school, 245n. 10, 267n. 8.
78; "three collections of," 316, Roben, 278n. 10, 328
31811.11; "Upper, Middle, and Rokudojikkyö, and jätakas illustrating
Lower," 315, 318n. 10; see also "the Six Perfections," 52; source of
Bodhisattva precepts; Eight tales of first volume, 57-58,108,
Precepts; Five Precepts; Forty-eight 109nn. 3, 7,112n. 5,116n. 4,120,
Minor Precepts; Srävaka precepts; 121n. 4,136,136n. 1, 137nn. 2, 4-8,
Ten Major Precepts 155-57 passim, 162-63 passim,
Pure Land Buddhism, 16,17; Amida's 172n. 23, 345, 348n. 7
Pure Land, 342-44 passim roku haramitsu: see "Six Perfections,
purifying rites (jizai), 249-50 The"
Pu§padeva (Keten biku), 329, 332n. 14 Ruijü sandaikyaku, 253n. 14, 286n. 2,
287n. 4, 317n. 7, 335n. 4, 351n. 5,
352n. 13, 367n. 1
Q Ryögen, 12, 22
Ryöiki: see Nihon ryöiki
quotations, use of in Sanböe, 41-44
s
R
sacrifice, in jätakas, 51, 59; in Sanböe,
48
Räjagfha (Öshajo, Raetsuki), 96η. 8; Sadäparibhüta (Jöfugyö bosatsu),
elder of, 92, 261 115η. 3, 242, 247η. 23
Realm of Hungry Ghosts, 337, 339n. 4 Sadäprarudita (Jötai), 166,171η. 22
Record of Travels to the Western Saga, Emperor, 14, 272, 273η. 2,
Regions (Saiikkii): see Ta-t'ang hsi- 290η. 11
yü-chi Saichö (Dengyö Daishi), 23, 33,
Regulations (kyaku), 251, 253n. 14, 366 39η. 70, 40η. 88, 74, 78, 254-59,
Reischauer, E. 0., 304-6 passim 288, 289ηη. 3, 9, 302, 304ηη. 2, 5, 7;
Reizei, Emperor, 7,10,11, 93 biographies of, 256η. 2; and
Rekidai köki, 29, 38n. 63,96n. 6 Buddhist ordinations, 315,
relics, 102,175,182n. 13; struggle for 317nn. 2, 3, 5-7, 318nn. 12,14; and
Säkyamuni's, 303; worship of, 302 kanjö, 349; and "The Service in the
"Relics Service at Hie, The" (Hie no Month of Frost," 361, 362nn. 1-2,
Sharie), 302-6; at Töshödaiji, 364nn. 15-16,18, 20; and yearly
Hanayama, etc., 303, 304n. 2 ordinands, 315, 321, 324n. 15
retreat (ango), 203, 205n. 6, 325, 326, Saigüki, 313n. 2, 327nn. 1-3
327n. 2, 338 Saiin: see Kamo Shrine, Priestess of
"Rice Donation, The" (Semai), 326- Saiin, and "Änanda Rite of Penance,"
27 272-75
440 Index
Saijiin, 272 and jätakas, 50-60 passim; and later

Saishöökyö: see Konkömyö saishöökyö works, 30-32 passim; Maeda-ke
"Saishö Service at Yakushiji, The" bon, 25; major themes in, 47-50, 58-
(Yakushiji no Saishöe), 286-87 63, 67, 70-72; miracle tales in, 66-
Säkyamuni Buddha, 5, 70,101, 68; origin tales in, 76-79; quotations
103nn. 1-2, 104n. 5,105n. 7, and allusions in, 41-44; structure
106n. 11,199, 202n. 18, 245n. 10, and contents, 27, 45-46, 72, 94,
305n. 15, 312, 313n. 2, 334, 335n. 3; 99nn. 25-26; texts of, 6-7, 22-30,
anniversary of birth, (kanbutsu), 339n. 2; title, 27-30, 94; verses in,
312, 313η. 2; anniversary of death, 60, 69, 79-80
181n. 6; date of death, 38n. 63, 44, Sanböekotoba, 29; see Sanböe
81n. 2, 92, 96n. 6; death (Nirvana) Sanböe ryakuchü (Ryakuchü), 27, 32,
of, 276, 277nn. 1-2; disciples of, 38-40 passim, and passim in notes
122n. 13, 163n. 11,168n. 7, 241, Sanbö monogatari, 29
243n. 2, 244n. 7, 246n. 21, 247n. 27; Säfichi, jätaka carvings on "Great
events after death of, 102,106n. 15, Stüpa" at, 55
165,168n. 7, 241, 273, 302-3; former Sanetaka köki, 29
lives depicted in jätakas, 51, 52, 53, Sangö shiiki, 54, 289n. 8
60, 108, 111, 113n. 10,115, 120,123, Sankhäcärya jätaka, 55, 58,59, 123-
126,129, 133,134n. 10,136, 136n. 1, 25
137nn. 3, 5, 7,141, 146,155, sanki: see "Three Refuges, The"
157n. 12, 163n. 11, 164,171n. 21, sanne: see "Three Great Services,
247n. 23; gives instructions for rites The"
for the dead, 337; images of, 102, Sanron school, 201nn. 9-10, 245n. 10,
106n. 15,174, 307; opposes admis- 310n.12
sion of women to Buddhist orders, Säriputra, 70,102,105n. 9, 204,
272-73; relics of, 102,175, 302-3; 204n. 8, 241, 244n. 7, 247n. 26, 261
sends Manjusri to visit Vimalaklrti, Sattva, Prince (Satta öji), 144-46,
354; teachings of, 165,169n. 9, 240, 147n. 2; see also Mahäsattva jätaka
245n. 10 Second Month Rites, 269-71
Säla trees, grove of (Shararin), 102, Seiryöden, 86n. 46, 312, 313n. 2,
106n. 15, 276 367n. 1
Samantabhadra, 80, 241, 244n. 6, 255, Seishi, 273n. 2
258n. 18, 331n. 10; Ten Vows of, Sei Shönagon, 18, 33, 324η. 13
371, 372n. 2 Sekido-ke fragment of Sanböe, 24 and
Samantabhadra Sütra, 255, 258n. 16 passim in notes
Samantaprabha (Samantaprabhäsa, self-englightened sage[s]
Fumyö), 166,172η. 23 (byakushibutsu, engaku,
Sanböe ([Illustrations of] the Three pratyekabuddha), 132, 134n. 3, 279,
Jewels), 3,4,13,14,15,16,17,19, 280, 281n. 6, 337, 339n. 6
20, 21, 33, 41, 49, 81; biographies in, Semai: see "Rice Donation, The"
64-66; citation of sources in, 42, 46, Senjü hyakuengyö, 96n. 8, 205n. 10,
58-59, 63-64, 73-74; date of 247n. 25, 270n. 5, 331n. 15
composition, 3, 20, 26, 44, 81n. 2, 95, Senke e: see "Service of One
96n. 6, 240; and Fa-yüan chu-lin, Thousand Flowers at Tödaiji, The"
43, 44 and passim in notes; illustra- senmyötai, 24, 25
tions with, 3, 4-7, 27, 29, 205n. 11; Senshi Naishinnö, 10, 36n. 25
Index 441
"Service in the Month of Frost, The" Shingon'in, 252n. 6, 288, 290n. 10

(Shimotsukie), 360-65 Shinjikangyö: see Daijöhonjö
"Service of Eight Lectures, The" shinkjikangyö
(Hakköe, Hokke hakkö), 69, 236, Shinran, 32
237η. 1, 238nn. 4, 6, 7, 239nn. 9, 13, Shin Sanböekotoba, 32
289n. 2, 290n. 1; at Kumano, 357- Shishü hyakuinnenshü, 30
59 Shitagö: see Minamoto Shitagö
"Service of One Thousand Flowers at Shitennöji, 179
Tödaiji, The" (Tödaiji no Senke e), shöbö: see "Period of the True
328-32 Teaching"
"Service of Ten Lectures, The" (Hokke Shöbönengyö: see Shöbönenjokyö
jükö), 235, 361, 362n. 1, 364n. 15; Shöbönenjokyö, 96η. 5, 338, 340η. 10
see also "Service in the Month of S h o h o n taishö Sanböe shüsei (Shüsei),
Frost, The" 27, 33, 35n. 10, 38-40 passim, and
"Service of Ten Thousand Flowers, passim in notes
The" (Manke e), 332n. 12 Shoji engi shü, 238n. 7, 278n. 5,
"Service of Ten Thousand Lights at 322n. 2,323n. 7, 324n. 11
Yakushiji, The" (Yakushiji no shöjin haramitsu: see "perfection, of
Mandöe), 299-301; see also lights, effort"
offering of Shoku Nihongi, 24, 64,185n. 31,192,
5
"Service of the Buddhas Names, The" 196n. 15,199n. 2, 200nn. 4-5,
(Butsumyöe), 86, 313n. 3, 366-70 202n. 19, 266nn. 2, 4, 291, 292n. 3,
passim; in China, 367, 369n. 11 293n. 5, 310nn. 5,12,14, 329,
"Service of the Propagation of the 330n. 3, 332n. ll,347n. 3
Teachings at Shiga, The" (Shiga no Shoku Nihon köki, 289n. 4, 313nn. 2,
Denböe), 282-85 3, 335n. 2, 367n. 1
"Service of the Retreat, The" (Angoe), Shömangyö (Shöman shishiku ichijö
203, 205n. 6 daihöben hökökyö), 98η. 16; see also
setsuwa bungaku (tale literature), 30 Srlmälä Sütra
Seven Enlightened States (shichishu Shömu, Emperor, 200η. 8, 216,
no michi), 115,116n. 7 216η. 1, 224, 251, 253η. 13, 292η. 2,
Seven Great Temples (shichidaiji), 307, 308, 328, 330η. 2, 340η. 9
234, 237n. 3, 361 Shötoku, Empress, 228, 229η. 2, 251,
Seven Illusions (shichi zuimin), 115, 253η.13
117n. 7 Shötoku, Prince (Shötoku Taishi,
Sezoku genbun, 19 Umayado), 61, 69, 174-90, 240,
Sharie: see "Relics Service at Hie, 240n. 1, 307, 309nn. 2-3, 313n. 2,
The" 336n. 14; biographies of, 6, 23, 29,
Shibunritsu, 249, 250n. 5, 324n. 15 30, 32, 33, 35η. 10, 39η. 82, 40ηη. 83,
Shichidaiji j u n r e i s h i k i , 31, 39n. 77, 88, 64, 66,190η. 49
201n. 15, 355n. 1 Shötoku Taishi: see Shötoku, Prince
Shiga, 282-85 Shötoku Taishi denfryaku], 64,180-90
Shimotsukie: see "Service in the passim
Month of Frost, The" Shötoku Taishi eden, 35n. 10
Shingon (esoteric teachings), 288, Shötoku Taishi Heishiden zökanmon,
289n. 9; Shingon school, 39n. 81, 190n. 49
75, 289n. 4, 290n. 12 Shöyüki, 8
442 Index
Shüchüshö, 29, 31, 38n. 63, 286n. 2 Srigupta, 102,105nn. 7, 9, 227n. 15

Shüishü (Shüi wakashü), 22, 95n. 2, Srimahädevi (Kichijö), 251, 252nn. 6-7
187 n. 41, 202n. 18, 314n. 7 Srlmälä (Shöman), 93,98η. 16
shukke, 8-11, 45,97nn. 12,13 Srlmälä Sütra, 177,179,185η. 29,
Shüshö, 31 189η. 48
Sibi jätaka (Shibiö), 52, 54, 55, 56, 59, Srutasoma jätaka (Shudama,
84nn. 22, 25, 97n. 12, 107-9, S h u d a s h u m a , Fumyö), 52, 55, 59,
142n. 3, 156n. 2 110-13, 172n. 23
Sibi, land of (Shöhara), 149,155n. 2 S s u - c h i a o - i , and "Six Perfections"
Silla, 174,179,181n. 9 jätakas, 53, 362n. 3
sins of the six fundamental sources Story of the Sacred P o r t r a i t see
(rokkon no tsumi), 255, 258n. 20 Tendai ryöözu hondenshü
Six Desire Heavens, 261, 263n. 6, 321, stüpas, construction of, 78, 279-81;
325n. 17 and jätaka heroes, 116η. 4, 147η. 12,
"Six Perfections, The" (roku 155,157η. 14,163η. 11
h a r a m i t s u ) , 51, 52-53,164n. 1, Sudäna jätaka, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59,
362n. 3; see also "perfection"; "Six 84ηη. 22, 25, 85η. 28,109η. 1, 149-
Stages" 57
Six Ritual Days (rokusai), 174,181n. 8 Sudatta (Anäthapin<Jada, S h u d a t s u ) ,
"Six Stages" (rokudo), 52,164,164n. 1 169η. 13, 204, 243, 248η. 29, 334,
Six Supernatural Faculties (roku tsü), 336η. 15
101, 102, 104nn. 3, 5, 168n. 7, 241, Suddhäväsa (Shudaeten), 261, 263η. 8
244n. 5, 291, 337 Suddhodana, King, 94,100η. 31,
Six Watches, 273, 275n. 18 122η. 13, 162,163η. 11
Soga Umako, 175,182n. 12,183n. 19, Sudhäna (Zenzai), 79, 87η. 50,166,
184n. 25,186n. 33,187n. 41, 172η. 22, 291, 292, 293ηη. 9-10
188n.46 Sufukuji (Söfukuji), 282-84 passim
Sögiritsu, 249, 250n. 5 Suiko, Empress, 61,176,177,179,
Söjiin, 302, 305nn. 11-12, 349 184n. 26, 188n. 47, 189n. 48, 206n. 2,
Sonkeikaku Library, 25 307
Sonshi Naishinnö, 3-4, 6, 7-13 passim, Sukla (Byakujö bikuni), 367, 369n. 9
14,17, 21, 22, 23, 26, 29, 36n. 20, 41, Sütra of the Buddhas' N a m e s , 313n. 3,
43, 44, 45, 47, 49, 59, 71, 72, 75-81, 366
93-94, 97n. 15 Sütra of the Thousand-armed
Sorceress of Iga, The (Iga no taome), 5, K a n n o n , 212, 213n. 2
34n. 6, 93, 99n. 22 Sütra on B a t h s and B a t h i n g for the
Soren, 286, 287n. 3 Clergy, 260
Srävaka monks, 70, 241, 243n. 2, 337; Sütra on E a r n i n g M e r i t for the Exten-
see also Bodhisattva monks; sion of Life through Stüpa Building,
Buddhist monks 279
Srävaka precepts (shömonkai), 315, Sütra on Rewards (Bussetsu
316, 317n. 2; see also Bodhisattva jikisegyaku gofukuhökyö,
precepts; Eight Precepts; Five Fukuhökyö), 334, 336η. 11
Precepts; Forty-eight Minor Sütra on the A n o i n t m e n t of Buddha
Precepts; precepts; Ten Major Images (Kanbutsu zökyö, K a n s e n
Precepts butsugyö zökyö), 312
Srävasti (Shaekoku), 92,96n. 9,167, Sütra on the A n o i n t m e n t of Images
169n. 13, 172n. 25, 204, 301n. 4, 308 (Bussetsu yokuzö kudokukyö,
Index 443
Yokuzökyö), 312 Taxila jätaka frieze, 83n. 20

Sütra on the Life of the Nun teachings, Buddhist, 46-60, 68, 71, 76,
Utpalavarnä, 79, 291, 293n. 11 93, 94,165-67, 241, 349
Sütra on the Transformation of Te hsüan, 225, 226n. 14
Women into Buddhas, copying of, Tenchiin, 236
13 Tendai ryöözu hondenshü (Story of the
Syäma jätaka, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, Sacred Portrait), 361, 362n. 2,
83η. 20, 84ηη. 22, 25, 85η. 28, 158- 363nn. 8,13,14, 364n. 14
63 Tendai school, 49, 53, 71; esoteric
practices in (Taimitsu), 75, 349-52
passim; see also Chih i; Enchin;
Τ Ennin; Enryakuji; Hie, Mt.; Saichö
Ten Directions, 140,143n. 8, 270;
Tachibanadera, 177,179,185η. 29 Buddhas of the, 329, 337; Sages of
Tachibana Koreyori, 20 the, 334
Tachibana Masamichi, 15 Ten Good Practices, 158,161,162n. 5;
Tachibana Naramaro, 282, 284n. 10 see also Ten Good Ways
Taira Yasuyori, 30 Ten Good Ways (jüzen no michi), 111,
Taishiden gyokurinshö, 29,169n. 10, 112n.9
206n. 1 Tenji, Emperor, 282, 283nn. 3-4, 307,
Taishiden kingyokushö, 29, 38n. 66 323n. 6, 354n. 1
Taishiku: see Offering to the Master Tenjukoku tapestry, 187n. 42,188n. 47
Taishi Shudainakyö, 57,155-57 Ten Major Precepts, 265, 267n. 11; see
passim also Bodhisattva precepts; Eight
T'ai-tzu ch'eng-tao ching (pien-wen), Precepts; Five Precepts; Forty-eight
54, 83n. 13 Minor Precepts; precepts; Srävaka
Taizen, 333 precepts
Taizökai initiation, 349, 351n. 9 Tenmu, Emperor, 286, 286n. 2, 307,
Takahashi Nobuyuki, 27, 29, 30 309n. 9, 324n. 11
Takahashi no Muraji Azumahito, Ten Stages (of Bodhisattvas), 337,
218-19 339-40n. 6
Takaodera (Takaosanji, Jingoji), 349; Ten Vows of Samantabhadra, 371,
and Hokke e (Lotus Service), 31, 75, 372n.2
288-90 Thirty-two Marks (sanjünisö) of
Takase Shögon, 25 Buddha, 101,104nn. 3-4, 261,
Tamamushi no zushi jätaka paintings, 263n. 10; see also Eighty Signs
56,142n. 2,143nn. 11,12 Three Ages, Buddhas of the, 265,
Tamenori: see Minamoto Tamenori 267n. 11,296, 298n. 10
T'ang Lives of E m i n e n t Monks: see Three Assemblies of the Dragon
Hsü kao-seng-chuan Flower (ryüge san'e), 296, 298n. 13
Tao-chen, 262, 264n. 12 Three Bodies of the Buddha, 307-8,
Tao-hsüan, 56, 202n. 17, 270n. 4 309n. 11
Tao-sui, 254, 257n. 6, 317n. 3 Three Evil Realms (san'akudö, sanzu),
Ta-t'ang hsi-yü-chi, 54,116n. 4, 110, l l l n . 3,133,162, 242, 265, 277,
138n. 11,141n. 2, 147nn. 11,12,155, 329, 338, 366
157n. 14, 163n. 11, 169n. 12 "Three Great Services, The" (san'e,
"Tathägata of today": see Säkyamuni sanne), 31, 286, 287n. 6; see "Feast,
a
Buddha The" (Gosaie); Saishö Service at
444 Index
Yakushiji, The"; "Vimalaklrti Tokudö, 320-21, 323nn. 7-9, 324n. 11

Service at Yamashinadera, The"; Tomi Ichihi, 176,184n. 23
see also Köfukuji; Yakushiji toothpicks, 338, 340n. 12, 350, 352n. 12
Three Insights (sanmyö), 241, 244n. 5 Tosa Lord, The (Tosa no otodo), 5,
"Three Jewels, the (sanbö), 94,175, 34n. 6, 93, 99n. 22
176,183η. 19,191, 200, 217η. 2, Töshödaiji, 265, 267n. 8
267η. 11, 272, 337, 357, 366; defined, transmigration, 51
27; equality of, 70, 241, 358; and Träyastriipsa heaven (Töriten,
structure and content of Sanböe, Sanjüsanten), 102,106η. 15,129,
45-46 167, 172η. 26, 261, 263η. 6
Three Jewels, The: see Sanböe truthfulness, vows of, 69,110-11,
Three Modes of Training (san gaku, 112nn. 8-9
kaijö, e), 101,104n. 3,124n. 5, 270 Tun-huang, jätaka cave paintings at,
"Three Periods, the" (sanji), 27; 44-45, 55, 84n. 25; p i e n wen found at, 54
58, 62, 82n. 3, 94, 96n. 6, 99n. 25; Tu§ita Heaven (Tosotsuten), 263n. 6,
and structure and content of 308, 310n. 15
Sanböe, 45-47; see also "Period of Twelve Causes and Conditions (jüni
the Declining Teaching"; "Period of innen), 128,130η. 5
the Imitated Teaching"; "Period of
the True Teaching"
"Three Refuges, the" (sanki), 27, 46, υ
94,183n. 19, 221, 222n. 3, 333
three worlds (sangai), 102,105n. 10 ubasoku (upäsaka), 193η. 2, 284η. 5;
T'ien-t'ai, Master of: see Chih-i see Ε no ubasoku
T'ien-t'ai Mountains, 254, 256n. 6, 302, Ubasokukaikyö, 334, 358
304n. 8, 360 Udäyi, King (Udasen'ö), 93
T'ien-t'ai school, 255, 363n. 11; see also Uetsukidera, 353
Tendai school Uji shüi monogatari, 324n. 12
T'ien-t'ai ssu-chiao-i, 53 Umayado, Prince: see Shötoku, Prince
tigers, in Mahäsattva jätaka, 144-45 Umayado Toyotomimi no Miko: see
Ti-kuan, 53 Shötoku, Prince
Ting-kuang, 360 University, Imperial, 14, 295, 296n. 1
Tödaiji, 21, 24, 30, 239n. 9, 291, Urabon: see "Rite for the Dead, The"
301n. 2, 322n. 2; dedication Urabon Sütra (Urabongyö), 337,
ceremony, 31, 79,198-99, 201nn. 15, 339η. 4
17, 328-32; "Service of Eight Utpalavar1?ä (Rengeshiki, Uha-
Lectures" at, 236; "Service of One tsurake), 78, 79,93, 97n. 14, 291-
Thousand Flowers" at, 289n. 2, 92, 293n. 11, 329, 332n. 16
329-32
Tödaiji fujumonkö, 54
Tödaiji-gire (copy of Sanböe), 24, 25 V
and passim in notes
Tödaiji yöroku, 31; and date of first Vaisravapa, 251, 252n. 7
Hakköe, 238n. 7, 239n. 9, 330-32 Vajrapäpi (Kongo misshaku), 266,
passim, 340n. 7 267n. 12
Töji, 24, 75, 333, 335n. 6, 350, 352n. 13 Vapu^män (Itoku biku), 329, 332n. 15
Töji Kanchiin bon (copy of Sanböe), Vimalaklrti (Yuima, Yuimakitsu,
24, 25-30 and passim in notes Jömyö), 77, 353-54, 355n. 3,
Index 445
356nn. 12-13 Nonmatter," 114,116n. 6

Vimalaklrti Sütra (Vimalaklrti World-saving Bodhisattva (Guze
nirdesa), 77,189n. 48, 298n. 12, bosatsu), 174,180n. 4
336n. 9, 353, 355n. 3, 356n. 13; World-saving Kannon: see Kannon
"Visitation" chapter ([Monjushiri] worthy teachers (kalyänamitra,
monshitsubon), 353-54, 355n. 4, zenjishiki), 79, 80, 87n. 50, 291, 292,
356n. 12 293n. 9
" Vimalaklrti Service at writing implements, as offerings to
Yamashinadera, The" (Yuimae), 77, monks, 338, 341n. 15
286, 287nn. 6-7, 353-56 Wu-t'ai, Mount 302, 304n. 8, 343n. 1
Vinaya, 317n. 2, 338 Wu-tsung, Emperor, 166,171n. 18,
Vipasyin Buddha (Bibashibutsu), 261, 305n. 9
263n. 8, 269, 300
Visvakarman (Bishukatsuma), 107,
109n. 4 Y
Vulture Peak (Washi no mine,
Grdhraküta), 165, 168n. 7,199, Yahata (Yawata) Shrine, 254, 345,
202n. 18, 244n. 7, 307, 309n. 8, 360 346n. 1
Yakushiji, 30, 31,180,197,199n. 2,
286-87, 289n. 2, 299-301
w Yama, King, 68,198, 224-25, 303,
305n. 18, 306n. 19; couriers of, 198,
Waka dömöshö, 31, 283n. 2 201n. 12, 224-25, 226nn. 6,11;
Wakan röeishü, 22, 95n. 1, 98n. 19, golden tablet of, 249, 250n. 7
100η. 30, 297nn.5,8, 369n. 11 Yamada Yoshio, 25, 27, 29, 30, 32-33,
Wake family, 288, 289n. 3 38n. 60,142n. 3, 270n. 2, 310n. 17,
washing of images, 312-14 363n. 8
Waters of Eight Good Qualities, 342, Yamashinadera (Köfukuji), 77,179,
344n. 9 188n. 45, 355-56n. 9; established by
Wheel-King (rinnö), 242, 246nn. 12, Fujiwara, 353; Nirvana Service at,
14, 251, 280, 281n. 6, 321 276-78; Vimalaklrti Service at,
White Crane Grove, 106n. 15,165, 353-56; see also Köfukuji; Hököji
168n. 7 Yang, Emperor (Sui), 171n. 17,
wisdom (prajnä, chi, e, hannya), 52, 363n.10
123,124nn. 5-6; "perfection 0Γ Yasuda Naomichi, 35n. 10, 39nn. 69,
(hannya haramitsu), 126-27; 81
"prajnä doctrine of nonsubstan- Yasutane: see Yoshishige Yasutane
tiality," 59,165,168n. 6,172n. 22; yearly ordinands (nenbundosha), 315,
"Wisdom in the Five Categories" 317n. 4, 319n. 17
(gohon deshii), 360, 362n. 3 Yen Chen-ch'ing (Duke of Lu), 361,
Wish-granting Kannon (Nyoirin 364n. 19
Kannon): see Kannon Yokawa, 23, 95n. 2, 343n. 2
women, and Buddhism, 36n. 25; Yömei, Emperor, 174,175,180nn. 3, 5
limited access to Buddhist institu- Yoshida Köichi, 25, 38n. 56
tions, 70-71, 75, 303, 352n. 13; in Yoshino, 230
Nihon ryöiki, 65; in second volume, Yoshishige Tamemasa, 19
65-66; in third volume, 77 Yoshishige Yasutane, 12,15,17,19, 30;
"World of Matter and World of and Kangakue, 16, 296n. 1, 297n. 7;
446 Index
and N i h o n öjögokurakuki, 13, 17, Zenshin (alternate name for Syäma),

30; and Sanböe, 22, 23, 281n. 8; and 158,162n. 4
Sonshi, 11-13 Zenshin (nun), 182
Yuimae: see " V i m a l a k i r t i Service at Z e n z a i döji, 293n. 9
Yamashinadera, The" Z e n z a i döji e m a k i , 293n. 10
Yumedono, 177-78,180n. 4,186n. 33 zöhö: see "Period of the Imitated
Yün-kang jätaka friezes, 55 Teaching"
Zöhöketsugikyö, 333, 353n. 8
Zöhözökyö, 332n. 17, 346
Ζ Zöichi agongyö (Agongyö), 96η. 11,
106η. 15, 262, 264η. 14, 270η. 4, 334,
336η. 12, 367, 369η. 8
Zaö (gongen), 328 zuiki, 47-48, 79, 372η. 1
zenjishiki: see worthy teachers zuiki höben (expedient of rejoicing),
zenjö h a r a m i t s u : see "perfection, of 48, 80, 371-72
meditation" z u i k i k u d o k u , 48, 80, 371-72

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(Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies) Edward Kamens-The Three Jewels - A Study and Translation of Minamoto Tamenori's Sanboe-Univ of Michigan Center For (1988)

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The Three Jewels

Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies

Center for Japanese Studies

Center for Japanese Studies

Center for Japanese Studies

Cover design by Sue-Ellen Feinberg

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data

Kamens, Edward, 1952

(Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies; no. 2)

Printed in the United States of America

Chapter 1: A Short History of Sanböe 3

Chapter 2: A Reading of Sanböe 41

The First Volume: The Buddha 101

Preface to the First Volume 101

1.13 Syäma 158

The Second Volume: The Teachings 165

Preface to the Second Volume 165

The Third Volume: The Clergy 241

Preface to the Third Volume 241

3.11 The Saishö Service at Yakushiji 286

List of Names, Titles, Terms, and Passages 373

Select Bibliography 413

Works in this list do not appear in the bibliography.

B D Mochizuki, Shinkö. Bukkyö d a i j i t e n . 10 vols. Rev. ed. Tokyo: Sekai

B G D Nakamura, Hajime et al., eds. Bukkyögo d a i j i t e n . 3 vols. Tokyo:

B S K D Ono, Genmyö, ed. Bussho kaisetsu d a i j i t e n . 12 vols. Tokyo: Daitö

D N B Z Bussho Kankökai, ed. D a i N i h o n bukkyö zensho. 150

F Y C L Tao shih. Fa-yüan c h u - l i n . Τ #2122 in Τ 53:269-1030.

GR Hanawa, Hokiichi, ed. Gunsho ruijü. 19 vols. Tokyo: Keizai

K G D Nihon Daijiten Kankökai, ed. K o k u g o d a i j i t e n . 20 vols. Tokyo:

K J J Takeuchi, Rizö, Yamada Hideo and Hirano Kunio, eds. K o d a i

K M J Akanuma, Chizen. I n d o bukkyö koyü meishi j i t e n . 1931. Reprint.

KSTK Kuroita, Katsumi, ed. Shintei zöho kokushi taikei. 60

N K B T N i h o n koten bungaku t a i k e i . 100 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten,

ΝΚΒΖ N i h o n koten bungaku zenshü. Tokyo: Shögakukan, 1970-76.

NST N i h o n shisö t a i k e i . 56 vols. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 1970-.

Ρ J Cowell, Ε. B., ed. T h e J a t a k a , o r Stories of the B u d d h a ' s F o r m e r

Ryakuchü Yamada, Yoshio, ed. Sanböe ryakuchü. 1951. Reprint. Kyoto:

Shüsei Koizumi, Hiroshi, and Takahashi Nobuyuki, eds. Shohon taishö

STD Fujiwara, Yüsetsu, ed. Shötoku T a i s h i den. 2 vols. 1942. Reprint.

Τ Takakusu, Junjirö, and Watanabe Kaigyoku, eds. Taishö shinshü

Sanböe is a title frequently cited in studies of premodern Japanese

given in the Japanese order, i.e., family name preceding personal

In the winter of 984, Minamoto Tamenori, Provisional Governor of

In his "General Preface" Tamenori justified the plan of his book by

Whether you look at what is shown in the pictures,

Then there are the so-called m o n o g a t a r i , which have such an

human feelings and ramble on and on with meaningless

The attitude Tamenori reveals here is typical of the distrust of fiction

favored form of devotional offering in Heian society. But the Japanese

include r a k u s h o k u , an initial, partial vows-taking (like Sonshi's) by

The act of shukke was understood as a symbolic renunciation of

tonsure, or perhaps even earlier—she had devoted herself to worship of

Minamoto Tamenori was in the middle of his career as a scholar-

Emperor Ichijö (980-1011; reigned 986-1011) is said to have admired

literature, perhaps largely through their own efforts. Some of them

demonstrating the nenbutsu (the invocation of the name of Amida

Tamenori was invited to an utaawase (a contest for the writing of

Nobegoto ni h a n a ο shi oreba

In every field I've plucked a flower,

K u c h i z u s a m i was written on commission, or on request, as was

The crane, returning to Mount Sung,

Yasutane's nephew, Yoshishige Tamemasa, protested: the words "the