Lígòu huì púsà suǒwèn lǐfó fǎ jīng 離垢慧菩薩所問禮佛法經
Sūtra of the Bodhisattva Spotless-Wisdom’s Questions on the Method of Worshipping the Buddha translated by 那提 Nàtí / Punyodaya (譯)
About the work
The Lígòu huì púsà suǒwèn lǐfó fǎ jīng (T487) is a one-fascicle Mahāyāna sūtra by the Tang translator 那提 Nàtí. The bodhisattva Lígòu huì 離垢慧 (“Spotless Wisdom”; Sanskrit Vimalaprajñā) interrogates the Buddha on the proper method of worship — the doctrinal kernel concerns the relationship between physical worship of the Buddha-image and the realization of the Buddha’s dharmakāya.
Prefaces
The text opens with rúshì wǒwén. The colophon attributes the translation to Nàtí of the Tang.
Abstract
This is one of Nàtí’s three surviving translations (cf. Shīzǐ zhuāngyán wáng púsà qǐngwèn jīng KR6i0115), produced before his diplomatic departure for South Asia in 663 CE. The text addresses the prima facie tension between Mahāyāna doctrine of the dharmakāya (the Buddha as eternal dharma-body) and the practical need for embodied Buddhist worship-practices. The Buddha’s response in this text articulates the standard Mahāyāna doctrine that physical worship is the upāya (skillful means) by which beings ascend to realization of the dharmakāya.
Translations and research
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu, 2003.