महामेघसूत्र
Mahāmeghasūtra
འཕགས་པ་སྤྲིན་ཆེན་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།
'phags pa sprin chen po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo
The Great Cloud Sūtra (84000)
Text
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Description
Mahāmeghasūtra. (T. Sprin chen po'i mdo; C. Dafangdeng wuxiang jing/Dayun jing; J. Daihōdō musōkyō/Daiungyō; K. Taebangdǔng musang kyǒng/Taeun kyǒng 大方等無想經/大雲經). In Sanskrit, the "Great Cloud Sūtra"; it is also known in China as the Dafangdeng wuxiang jing. The Mahāmeghasūtra contains the teachings given by the Buddha to the bodhisattva "Great Cloud Secret Storehouse" (C. Dayunmizang) on the inconceivable means of attaining liberation, samādhi, and the power of dhāraṇīs. The Buddha also declares that tathāgatas remain forever present in the dharma and the saṃgha despite having entered parinirvāṇa and that they are always endowed with the four qualities of nirvāṇa mentioned in the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, namely, permanence, bliss, purity, and selfhood (see guṇapāramitā). The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra's influence on the Mahāmeghasūtra can also be witnessed in the story of the goddess "Pure Light" (C. Jingguang). Having heard the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra in her past life, the goddess is told by the Buddha that she will be reborn as a universal monarch (cakravartin). The sūtra is often cited for its prophecy of the advent of Nāgārjuna, as well as for its injunctions against meat-eating. It was also recited in order to induce rain. In China, commentators on the Mahāmeghasūtra identified the newly enthroned Empress Wu Zetian as the reincarnation of the goddess, seeking thereby to legitimize her rule. As Emperor Gaozong (r. 649–683) of the Tang dynasty suffered from increasingly ill health, his ambitious and pious wife Empress Wu took over the imperial administration. After her husband's death she exiled the legitimate heir Zhongzong (r. 683–684, 703–710) and usurped the throne. One of the many measures she took to gain the support of the people was the publication and circulation of the Mahāmeghasūtra. Two translations by Zhu Fonian and Dharmakṣema were available at the time. Wu Zetian also ordered the establishment of monasteries called Dayunsi ("Great Cloud Monastery") in every prefecture of the empire. (Source: "Mahāmeghasūtra." In The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, 500. Princeton University Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt46n41q.27.)
Citation
Mahāmeghasūtra [महामेघसूत्र]. 'phags pa sprin chen po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo [འཕགས་པ་སྤྲིན་ཆེན་པོ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ།]. [The Great Cloud Sūtra (84000)]. Translated by Surendrabodhi, Ye shes sde, Dharmakṣema. Kangyur, RKTSK 232 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=232&typ=1.
| Number | 232 |
|---|---|
| Canon | Sūtra |
| Sanskrit | ārya-mahāmegha-nāma-mahāyānasūtra (D) |
| Alternate Titles | 'phags pa sprin chen po zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo (A Bd Cz D Dk Gt He J Ng Np);'phags pa sprin chen po zhes bya ba thag pa chen po'i mdo (C Dd F H L N Pj Pz Q R S U V Z);'phags pa sprin chen zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i mdo (Ty);'phags pa sprin chen po zhes bya ba'i mdo;sprin chen |
| Alternate Titles - Sanskrit | ārya mahāmegha nāma mahāyāna sūtra |
| Alternate Titles - Devanagari | आर्य महामेघ नाम महायान सूत्र |
