The Sanjō Wasan (三帖和讃) is a collection of three Japanese hymns written by
Jōdo Shinshū
, also known as Shin Buddhism or True Pure Land Buddhism, is a school of Pure Land Buddhism. It was founded by the former Tendai Japanese monk Shinran.
Shin Buddhism is the most widely practiced branch of Buddhism in Japan.
History
Shinran ( ...
founder,
Shinran
''Popular Buddhism in Japan: Shin Buddhist Religion & Culture'' by Esben Andreasen, pp. 13, 14, 15, 17. University of Hawaii Press 1998, was a Japanese Buddhist monk, who was born in Hino (now a part of Fushimi, Kyoto) at the turbulent close of ...
. Alternative English titles have been given such as the "Three Eulogies" and "Three Pure Land Poems." The Sanjō Wasan was formally designated a
National Treasure
The idea of national treasure, like national epics and national anthems, is part of the language of romantic nationalism, which arose in the late 18th century and 19th centuries. Nationalism is an ideology that supports the nation as the fundame ...
of Japan.
The text consists of the Jōdo Wasan (浄土和讃 Hymns of the
Pure Land
A pure land is the celestial realm of a buddha or bodhisattva in Mahayana Buddhism. The term "pure land" is particular to East Asian Buddhism () and related traditions; in Sanskrit the equivalent concept is called a buddha-field (Sanskrit ). Th ...
Amitābha Buddha
Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana, Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, Vijñāna, discernment, Saṃjñ ...
(3-50)
*Hymns on the Larger Sutra (51-72)
*Hymns on the
Contemplation Sutra
The ''Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra'' (Sanskrit; , ''Guan-wuliangshou-jing;'' Vietnamese: Phật Thuyết Kinh Quán Vô Lượng Thọ Phật; English: ''Sutra on the Visualization of he BuddhaImmeasurable Life'') is a Mahayana sutra in Pure Land Bu ...
The Kōso Wasan is composed of 119 verses, classified as follows:
*
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
Bodhisattva (1-10)
*
Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; floruit, fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential bhikkhu, Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who ...
Bodhisattva (11-20)
*Master
Tan-luan
Tánluán (, 476–542) was a Chinese Buddhist monk. He is credited by Hōnen as the founder of Pure Land Buddhism in China. He is also considered the Third Patriarch of Jōdo Shinshū, a popular school of Buddhism in Japan.
Tanluan was ori ...
Shandao
Shandao (; ja, Zendō; 613–681) was an influential writer for the Pure Land Buddhism, prominent in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan. His writings had a strong influence on later Pure Land masters including Hōnen and Shinran in Japan. The Samg ...
(62-87)
*Master
Genshin
, also known as , was the most influential of a number of scholar-monks of the Buddhist Tendai sect active during the tenth and eleventh centuries in Japan. Genshin, who was trained in both esoteric and exoteric teachings, wrote a number of tre ...
The Shōzōmatsu Wasan is composed of 116 verses, classified as follows:
*Hymn on the Prophetic Dream (Prefatory Hymn) (1)
*Pure Land Hymns on the Right, Semblance, and Last Dharma Ages (2-59)
*Hymns on the Offense of Doubting the Primal Vow (60-82)
*Hymns in Praise of
Prince Shōtoku
, also known as or , was a semi-legendary regent and a politician of the Asuka period in Japan who served under Empress Suiko. He was the son of Emperor Yōmei and his consort, Princess Anahobe no Hashihito, who was also Yōmei's younger half-s ...
(83-93)
* Gutoku’s Hymns of Lament and Reflection (94-109)
*Hymns on Zenkō-ji (Also called the "Additional Hymns of Lament on the Term Hotoke") (110-114)
* Section on Jinen Hōni (and Concluding Hymns) (115-116)