Toh 44-42Chapter 42: The Teaching on Samantabhadra's Practice
Pāli / Sanskrit:kun tu bzang po'i spyod pa bstan pa'i le'u/
Save your scripture progress
Create a free account to save scriptures, track progress, and continue your daily learning path.
Exposition: Chapter 42 — The Teaching on the Practice of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra
Context
This Chapter 42 is found in volume 44-42 of the Kangyur—the collection of canonical scriptures in the Northern Tibetan tradition. It is the concluding section of a great sutra, in which the Blessed Buddha teaches the path of practice of Bodhisattva Samantabhadra ("Universal Worthy" in Chinese).
Samantabhadra is one of the most widely revered bodhisattvas in the Mahayana, often venerated together with Bodhisattva Manjushri in relation to the three Buddhas: the Buddha of the Past, the Buddha of the Present (Shakyamuni), and the Buddha of the Future. Samantabhadra’s practice (spyod pa) is no ordinary activity, but a wondrous path of cultivation encompassing innumerable aspirations for bodhi and boundless deeds of compassion.
The setting of this sutra is the Buddha teaching bodhisattvas, devas, and the assembly of disciples, revealing how a bodhisattva practices in order to attain perfect awakening, not for oneself alone but for all sentient beings.
Main Content
The teaching on Samantabhadra’s practice focuses on the ten great aspirations (dasa maha-pranidhana) and innumerable Dharma practices. According to the Northern Tibetan tradition, these are not separate actions, but the complete fulfillment of the bodhisattva path.
This practice includes: venerating the Buddhas (puja), maintaining complete mindfulness, repenting of past transgressions, rejoicing in the virtuous deeds of sentient beings, requesting that the Dharma wheel be turned, supplicating the Buddhas to remain in the world, dedicating all merit entirely to the awakening of innumerable sentient beings, and finally aspiring to be born in the Pure Lands in order to continue serving others.
A prominent feature is the teaching on “realms” (Buddhaksetra): Samantabhadra does not practice merely to attain Buddhahood in a single realm, but aspires to create countless Buddha realms, each with its own distinctive qualities, where all sentient beings have the opportunity to attain awakening. This is an expression of the boundless compassion and boundless wisdom of the bodhisattva path.
The sutra teaches that those who train in this practice will be protected by the Buddhas,
🌏 The Buddhist canon is vast — some sūtras (such as comparative Vinaya across schools, or untranslated Tibetan-canon texts) have to this day NEVER been translated into Vietnamese or English by anyone, scholars included. Rather than leave it blank, Inti AI offers a FAITHFUL summary grounded in the tradition — from the sūtra's title, origin and essence — so you can still reach this rare part of the treasury. Whenever an original translation exists, the app shows the original first.
Translations belong to the translator/source credited above. The bilingual compilation, presentation, and AI translations compiled by Inti are © Inti Foundation. Please attribute when quoting; do not bulk-copy or use commercially without permission.