Toh 1134Praise of the Stūpas of the Eight Great Sites (2)
Pāli / Sanskrit:Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra
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An Exposition of the Scripture Praising the Stūpas of the Eight Sacred Sites (Part 2)
Background
The Aṣṭamahāsthānacaityastotra (Praise of the Stūpas of the Eight Sacred Sites) is recorded in the Tengyur, the commentarial canon of the Northern Tibetan tradition, and is a Buddhist literary work of profound value for spiritual history and Mahayana practice. The second part (Toh 1134) continues the work of praising the sacred sites believed to be connected with important events in the life of Buddha Shakyamuni.
The eight sacred sites (aṣṭamahāsthāna) recognized in the Mahayana tradition are places where the great events of the Buddha took place: from the place where Buddha Shakyamuni was born, attained awakening, and turned the precious Dharma wheel, to the place where the Buddha entered nirvana. Stūpas (caitya) were built at these sites to honor the Buddha and protect his sacred remains: relics, garments, bowl, and robe used by him.
This scripture is evidence of deep veneration for sacred sites and of faith in the merit of pilgrimage, beholding, and making offerings to these stūpas in the Mahayana tradition.
Main Content
The second part of the Praise of the Stūpas continues to extol the sacred qualities and surpassing merit of each stūpa at the important sites. These praises are not merely formal words of reverence, but profound declarations concerning the transcendent aspect of the Buddha and the immeasurable merit accumulated through these sites.
Each stūpa represents an aspect of the Buddha's awakening: rebirth in a royal family, the place where Buddha Shakyamuni was born under the name Siddhartha; the place of renouncing the palace to practice austerities; the place of setting the wheel of Dharma in motion at Sarnath; the place where the Buddha displayed the three wonders (marvelous miraculous powers); and the place where the Buddha entered nirvana at Kuśinagara. These praises express how the path of liberation is manifested through physical space, as these stūpas become symbols of spiritual transcendence.
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