The ''Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra'' (, '' of Queen Śrīmālā'') is one of the main early Mahāyāna Buddhist texts belonging to the

Tathāgatagarbha sūtras The Tathāgatagarbha sūtras are a group of Mahayana sutras that present the concept of the "womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the tathāgata, the buddha. Every sentient being has the possibility to attain Buddhahood because of the ''tathāgata ...

that teaches the doctrines of

Buddha-nature Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...

and "One Vehicle" through the words of the Indian queen Śrīmālā. After its composition, this text became the primary scriptural advocate in India for the universal potentiality of

Buddhahood In Buddhism, Buddha (; Pali, Sanskrit: 𑀩𑀼𑀤𑁆𑀥, बुद्ध), "awakened one", is a title for those who are awake, and have attained nirvana and Buddhahood through their own efforts and insight, without a teacher to point out ...

History

Brian Edward Brown, a specialist in Buddha-nature doctrines, writes that the composition of the ''Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra'' occurred during the Īkṣvāku Dynasty in the 3rd century CE as a product of the

Caitika Caitika () was an early Buddhist school, a sub-sect of the Mahāsāṃghika. They were also known as the Caityaka sect. The Caitikas proliferated throughout the mountains of South India, from which they derived their name. In Pali writings ...

schools of the

Mahāsāṃghika The Mahāsāṃghika (Brahmi: 𑀫𑀳𑀸𑀲𑀸𑀁𑀖𑀺𑀓, "of the Great Sangha", ) was one of the early Buddhist schools. Interest in the origins of the Mahāsāṃghika school lies in the fact that their Vinaya recension appears in se ...

s. Alex Wayman has outlined eleven points of complete agreement between the Mahāsāṃghikas and the ''Śrīmālā'', along with four major arguments for this association. Anthony Barber also associates the earlier development of the ''

Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra The ''Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra'' is an influential and doctrinally striking Mahāyāna Buddhist scripture which treats of the existence of the "Tathāgatagarbha" (Buddha-Matrix, Buddha-Embryo, lit. "the womb of the thus-come-one") within all sent ...

'' with the Mahāsāṃghikas, and concludes that the Mahāsāṃghikas of the Āndhra region were responsible for the inception of the Buddha-nature doctrine. In the 6th century CE, Paramārtha wrote that the Mahāsāṃghikas revere the sūtras that teach the Buddha-nature doctrine.

Translations

The ''Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra'' was translated to Chinese in 436 CE by

Guṇabhadra Gunabhadra (394–468) ( sa, गुणभद्र, ) was a monk and translator of Mahayana Buddhism from Magadha, Central India. His biography is contained in the work of a Chinese monk called Sengyou entitled ''Chu sanzang ji ji''. Life Gun ...

(394-468) and later by Bodhiruci (672-727). A complete Sanskrit original is no longer extant, but extensive quotations are found in the Sanskrit text of the ''

Ratnagotravibhāga The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (Sanskrit, abbreviated as RGV, meaning: ''Analysis of the Jeweled Lineage, Investigating the Jewel Disposition'') and its ''vyākhyā'' commentary (abbreviated RGVV to refer to the RGV verses along with the embedded comm ...

'' as well as some recently discovered fragments conserved in the

Schøyen Collection __NOTOC__ The Schøyen Collection is one of the largest private manuscript collections in the world, mostly located in Oslo and London. Formed in the 20th century by Martin Schøyen, it comprises manuscripts of global provenance, spanning 5,000 y ...

. It was later translated into English by Alex and Hideko Wayman as ''The Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala''.

Content

The ''Śrīmālādevī Siṃhanāda Sūtra'' teaches the reality of an ultimate, immaculate consciousness within each living being, which is the Buddhic "

Dharmakāya The ''dharmakāya'' ( sa, धर्म काय, "truth body" or "reality body", zh, t=法身, p=fǎshēn, ) is one of the three bodies (''trikāya'') of a buddha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The ''dharmakāya'' constitutes the unmanifested, "inconc ...

" (essence of Truth), which is yet temporarily sheathed in obscuring defilement. This Dharmakāya, when viewed as intrinsically free from spiritual ignorance, is said to constitute eternity, bliss, the self, and purity in their perfect state. The use of the word "self" in this sutra is in a way unique to this class of sutra. The great Queen Śrīmālā, who according to this text is empowered by the Buddha to teach the Dharma, affirms: The scripture, which was extremely influential by way of clarification of the Tathagātagarbha view of

Śūnyatā ''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, wikt:शून्यता#Sanskrit, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā) pronounced in English as (shoon-ya-ta), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is a Buddh ...

, insists that the ultimately correct understanding of emptiness is that the Tathāgatagarbha is empty of all knowledge that is not liberation, whereas, in contrast, the qualities which characterise a Buddha are not empty of inconceivable virtues. An alternative title offered by the Buddha for this sutra expresses this idea of an ultimate meaning to the emptiness doctrine: "The True Revelation of the Buddha's Intention when Teaching Emptiness." The sūtra has, furthermore, significantly contributed to the Mahāyāna notion of the permanent, steadfast and eternal Tathagātagarbha, which is nothing less than the perfect Dharmakāya temporarily concealed by (ultimately unreal) mental contaminants. There is some debate as to whether or not the Tathagātagarbha constitutes true self or not, but this is explicitly refuted in the text:

Notes

Sources

* * * * * *

Bibliography

* Paul, Diana (1979). 'The Concept of Tathāgatagarbha in the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra (Sheng-Man Ching)'. Journal of the American Oriental Society 99 (2), 191–203 * Mark Dennis (trans.)
Prince Shōtoku's Commentary on the Śrīmālā-sūtra
Berkeley, Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2011. *King, Richard (1995). Is "Buddha-Nature" Buddhist? Doctrinal Tensions in the Śrīmālā Sūtra: An Early Tathāgatagarbha Text, Numen 42 (1), 1-20

External links

Digital Dictionary of Buddhism
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Appreciation of the Nirvana Sutra and Tathagatagarbha teachings
Mahayana sutras Yogacara Shentong