Dédào tīdèng xízhàng jīng 得道梯橙錫杖經
The Sūtra of the Khakkhara as the Ladder to the Way translator unknown (失譯, 譯)
About the work
T785 in one fascicle is an anonymous Chinese rendering placed by the Taishō editors in the broad Han to Six Dynasties period. The title — 得道梯橙錫杖 (dédào tīdèng xízhàng) — names the khakkhara / khakkharaka (Skt., Pāli) — the monk’s tin-headed staff with metal rings at the top, traditionally carried by Buddhist monks on alms-rounds — as a “ladder to the way” (dédào tīdèng: “obtain-the-way ladder-step”). The text expounds the symbolic and ritual significance of the staff.
Abstract
The Buddha addresses the monastic saṅgha on the proper construction, ritual significance, and use of the khakkhara — the wooden staff with a metal head bearing rings (typically four or six) that jingle as the monk walks. The narrative treats the staff allegorically: each component is associated with a doctrinal category. The four (or six) rings represent the four noble truths (or six perfections); the metal head represents prajñā (cutting through ignorance); the wooden shaft represents śīla (the firm support of practice); the act of striking the staff on the ground at the alms-house gate signifies the request for alms without the breach of monastic decorum that calling out would entail. The text accordingly establishes the khakkhara as one of the canonical saṃghāṭa — the equipment of the renounced monk — alongside the three robes and the alms-bowl.
The genre is the vinaya-doctrinal short sūtra on a particular monastic implement, parallel to texts on the proper use of the alms-bowl, the proper donning of the robes, etc. The Sanskrit / Pāli original is not securely identifiable; the khakkhara-doctrine is touched on in the Vinaya of multiple schools but a free-standing sūtra devoted to the staff is rare. The text provides Chinese audiences with a stand-alone exposition of the staff-symbolism and was widely used in Chinese monasteries (especially in Chán contexts where the xízhàng retained ritual prominence).
Translations and research
No standalone Western translation located. For the khakkhara in Buddhist material culture see:
- Schopen, Gregory. “Marking Time in Buddhist Monasteries,” in Buddhist Monks and Business Matters (Honolulu, 2004). (Background on monastic implements.)
- 平川彰 Hirakawa Akira. 『律蔵の研究』. (For the khakkhara in vinaya literature.)
Links
- CBETA online
- Dazangthings date evidence (420): [ T ] T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014. Dazangthings
- Kanseki DB