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寶幢如來

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: Ratnaketu Tathāgata

Senses:

  • 'Jewel Banner.' Tbt. rin po che'i tog. 寶幢佛, 寶星佛. The Buddha occupying the eastern direction in the center court of the eight-petaled lotus 中臺八葉院 in the Garbhadhātu maṇḍala 胎藏界曼荼羅. Seed syllables: a, raṃ. Secret name 密號: *Puṇya-saṃbhāra-vajra 福聚金剛. His body is the color of sunlight 身色如日暉, otherwise described as the reddish white brilliance of the sun when it first appears at dawn 如朝日初現赤白相輝之色 (hence the association with the eastern direction). Seated on a jeweled lotus 寶蓮華, his right hand is the wish granting mudrā 與願印 (Skt. varadamudrā) while his left hand clutches the corner of his kāṣāya 袈裟 to the left of his chest. His mudrā is the lotus añjali 蓮華合掌. His mantra 眞言 is namaḥ samantabuddhānāṃ raṃ raḥ svāhā. The Darijing shu 大日經疏 (T 1786; fasc. 4) explains that Ratnaketu represents the production of bodhicitta 發菩提心. Just as a general requires a banner 幢旗 when commanding his masses to defeat the enemy and acquire great fame, so too is it with the myriad deeds 萬行 of the Tathāgata: his banner of wisdom and vows 智願 defeated the four Māra-armies 四魔 under the Bodhi Tree 菩提樹. He corresponds to Akṣobhya Tathāgata 阿閦如來 in the Vajradhātu 金剛界. 〔大日經 T 848.18.36c9〕

    References:

    Somekawa, Eisuke, Michihiko Komine, Tenyū Koyama, Hisao Takahashi, and Takayuki Hirosawa. 1993. Mandara zuten曼荼羅図典 . Tokyo:  Daihōrinkaku.

    [Jeffrey Kotyk; source(s): Hirakawa, Foguang, Mahāvyutpatti, Monier-Williams, Ui, Nakamura]
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    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 968

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 1246a

    Fo Guang Dictionary 6760

    Ding Fubao

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)4633c,4621c

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 1585-1

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    The rights to textual segments (nodes) of the DDB are owned by the author indicated in the brackets next to each segment. For rights regarding the compilation as a whole, please contact Charles Muller. Please do not reproduce without permission. And please do not copy into Wikipedia without proper citation!

    Entry created: 2001-09-08

    Updated: 2016-05-01