Fó shuō bā dà língtǎ mínghào jīng 佛說八大靈塔名號經
Sūtra on the Names of the Eight Great Reliquary Stūpas Spoken by the Buddha by 法賢 (Fǎxián / Tiānxīzāi, 譯)
About the work
A one-juǎn Northern-Sòng translation of an Indian Buddhist sūtra giving the canonical names of the eight great pilgrimage stūpas of the Buddha. The Sanskrit title is Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityavandanāstava (with alternative Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra and Kāyatrayastotra). Translated by 法賢 Fǎxián.
Structural Division
CANWWW (T32N1685) lists no internal sub-divisions and no related-text pointers.
Abstract
The text is a brief sūtra in which the Buddha is represented as enumerating the eight great pilgrimage stūpas, naming each in turn: (1) at Lumbinī, where he was born; (2) at Bodh Gayā, where he attained enlightenment; (3) at Sārnāth, where he first turned the Wheel of Dharma; (4) at Śrāvastī, where he performed the great miracles; (5) at Saṃkāśya, where he descended from the Trāyastriṃśa heaven; (6) at Rājagṛha, where he tamed the rebellious Devadatta; (7) at Vaiśālī, where he announced his approaching parinirvāṇa; (8) at Kuśīnagara, where he entered parinirvāṇa.
This canonical eight-pilgrimage tradition was central to Indian Buddhist lay devotion and to the practice of tīrthayātrā (pilgrimage). The Sanskrit original is preserved in fragmentary Central Asian witnesses; the Tibetan translation also survives. The Sòng translation is bracketed by Fǎxián’s career, 982–1000.
The Taishō uses 高麗 as base. The text and its companion KR6o0139 Bā dà líng-tǎ fàn zàn (Harṣa’s Stotra) form a closely linked pair: a sūtra giving the names of the eight, and a hymn praising them.
Translations and research
- Schopen, Gregory. Bones, Stones, and Buddhist Monks. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 1997. — Background on Buddhist pilgrimage and stūpa-cult.
- Trainor, Kevin. Relics, Ritual, and Representation in Buddhism. Cambridge UP, 1997.
- Strong, John S. Relics of the Buddha. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2004.
- No substantial dedicated secondary literature on this specific text located.
Other points of interest
The eight-pilgrimage tradition is one of the enduring features of Buddhist piety — the aṣṭamahāsthāna circuit remained the standard pilgrimage route through the medieval Indian period and continues to be observed in modern Buddhist practice.
Links
- CBETA
- DILA Authority (Fǎxián): A000146
- Dazangthings date evidence (1001): [ 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. https://dazangthings.nz/cbc/source/1/