Toh 1123Praise of the Three Bodies
Pāli / Sanskrit:Kāyatrayastotra
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EXPLANATION OF THE SCRIPTURE PRAISING THE THREE BODIES OF THE BUDDHA
Context
The Kāyatrayastotra (Praise of the Three Bodies of the Buddha) is found in the treatise collection of the Northern Transmission canon. It is a work in the genre of devotional praise (stotra) intended to develop faith and a profound understanding of the nature of the Buddha’s three bodies (trikāya). In the Mahayana tradition, especially in the Northern Transmission, the concept of the Three Bodies of the Buddha is central to Buddhist understanding of the nature of absolute awakening.
These Three Bodies are: the Dharmakāya, the transcendent, inexpressible nature of all buddhas; the Sambhogakāya, the perfect body of enjoyment, manifesting in pure form for noble bodhisattvas; and the Nirmāṇakāya, the manifold emanation body appearing throughout the realms in order to liberate beings. This scripture was composed to evoke deep reverence and trust in these Three Bodies, thereby establishing a foundation for the practice of the entire Mahayana path.
Main Content
This work of praise presents the boundless characteristics and qualities of each Body of the Buddha, thereby developing an understanding of the complete structure of buddhahood. The Dharmakāya is honored as invisible, formless, beyond all concepts, and the innate source of all teachings and all perfect qualities of the Buddha. It cannot be expressed in speech or imagined by the mind, yet it is the transcendent presence of Ultimate Truth.
The Sambhogakāya is described as perfect and complete in every respect, manifesting with wondrous beauty and radiance, teaching the profound Dharma to bodhisattvas of the higher bhūmis. This is the body that noble bodhisattvas behold in pure buddhafields, where they learn the Dharma.
The Nirmāṇakāya is praised as immeasurable, countless emanations appearing throughout the realms of the ten directions in forms suited to the needs of beings, from a Buddha to an arhat, from a king to an ordinary person, in order to guide all beings out of suffering.
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