Digital Dictionary of Buddhism

DDB Top Page 
 
 
  XML source

龕

Pronunciations

Basic Meaning: (Skt. stūpa)

Senses:

  • A shrine; a cabinet, box; a coffin (for a monk); to contain. (Skt. guhā, gaha; Tib. gtsang khang phyur bu). The basic meaning of this term in the context of East Asian Buddhism is stūpa, or more specifically, the space within a stūpa where relics of the Buddha or an eminent monk are enshrined. By extension, it comes to refer to stūpa-shaped coffins that are used in the funerals of monks and lay people, and to the stūpa-shaped niches or alcoves that are used to enshrine a variety of Buddhist images (e.g bodhisattvas, ancestral teachers, devas). Because those images are the foci of prayers and offerings, the alcoves 龕 that house them may aptly be called 'altars.' The Sacred Monkʼs altar 聖龕 found in the saṃgha halls 僧堂 and meditation halls 禪堂 of Zen monasteries is usually a roofed alcove that is enclosed on three sides and has a stūpa-shaped opening in front. 〔瑜伽論 T 1579.30.533b16; 佛祖歷代通載 T 2036.49.655b26〕 [Griffith Foulk, Charles Muller]
  • CJKV-E
  • Search SAT
  • Search INBUDS Database

    • Feedback

    [Dictionary References]

    Bukkyō jiten (Ui) 162

    Bulgyo sajeon 14a

    Zengaku daijiten (Komazawa U.) 174c

    Iwanami bukkyō jiten 136

    Zenrin shōkisen (Mujaku Dōchū) 761/766

    Japanese-English Zen Buddhist Dictionary (Yokoi) 143

    Bukkyōgo daijiten (Nakamura) 202a

    Fo Guang Dictionary 6910

    Ding Fubao {Digital Version}

    Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa) 1305

    Bukkyō daijiten (Mochizuki) (v.1-6)465b

    Bukkyō daijiten (Oda) 233-3

    Sanskrit-Tibetan Index for the Yogâcārabhūmi-śāstra (Yokoyama and Hirosawa) {Digital Version}

    Copyright provisions

    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: 2002-07-30

    Updated: 2009-08-25