Toh 239The Sūtra of the Ten Wheels of Kṣitigarbha

Exposition of the Sūtra of the Ten Wheels of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva

Background

The Sūtra of the Ten Wheels of Kṣitigarbha (Daśacakrakṣitigarbhasūtra) is an important scripture in the Northern Mahāyāna canon, especially revered in Tibetan Buddhism and ancient Chinese Buddhism. This sūtra is recorded in the Kangyur—the sūtra section of the Tibetan Buddhist canon—in order to reveal the great activity of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, the bodhisattva whose compassion is profound toward all sentient beings, especially those in the realms of hell.

The symbolism of the “ten wheels” represents ten aspects of teaching and different manifestations of bodhisattva wisdom, enabling Kṣitigarbha to reach and instruct sentient beings throughout all realms of existence, from the highest heavens to the lowest hells. This is the immeasurable activity of a bodhisattva who has vowed, “Until the hells are empty, I will not become a Buddha” (prajñapti—not entering nirvana until all sentient beings have been liberated).

Main Content

The Sūtra of the Ten Wheels of Kṣitigarbha presents the way Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva employs ten kinds of wheels—or ten aspects of awakened wisdom—to practice and teach. Each wheel represents a dimension of bodhisattva activity: from the ability to understand the most complex negative karma of sentient beings to the ability to create the most suitable skillful means to liberate them from suffering.

The specific content of this sūtra has not yet been fully translated into common Vietnamese, but according to the general context of the Kṣitigarbha scriptures in the Mahāyāna tradition, this sūtra emphasizes that Kṣitigarbha is not a passive bodhisattva who merely sympathizes with suffering, but an active bodhisattva who employs wisdom and transcendent power to teach proactively.