Tathāgatapratibimbapratiṣṭhānuśaṃsasaṃvarṇana — Kinh Mô Tả Lợi Ích của Việc Tạo Hình Tượng Như Lai

Summary

In this sūtra, the Buddha Śākyamuni tells a group of monks how they should respond when asked about
the karmic benefits accrued by patrons who create representations of the Buddha. He explains five
kinds of benefits that such virtuous deeds bring.

Acknowledgements

This sūtra was translated from the Tibetan and introduced by the Alexander Csoma de Kőrös Translation
Group, which is comprised of Krisztina Teleki and Karma Dorje (Rabjampa). Beáta Kakas served as
Sanskrit expert and William Dewey served as the English-language editor.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of
the Buddha.

Introduction

In Describing the Benefits of Producing Representations of the Thus-Gone One, the Buddha Śākyamuni is residing
in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, when a large number of monks gather nearby
and begin discussing how one should respond when asked about the karmic benefits accrued by
creating representations of the Buddha. They approach the Buddha for guidance, and the Buddha
explains the five kinds of benefits that such virtuous deeds bring. First, he elaborates on the
excellent life circumstances such as happiness and fame that they will experience. Second, he
details the characteristics of physical beauty that they will gain. Third, he lists the kinds of
wealth they will accrue. Fourth, he states that the donor will become a universal emperor
enjoying all the advantages of that position. Fifth, he explains that the donor will be reborn
among the gods and enjoy all divine distinctions. The sūtra then concludes with the monks
rejoicing and praising the Buddha.

This English translation is based on the Tibetan version in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with
the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur
ma) Kangyur. There is to our knowledge no extant Sanskrit version of this sūtra. The colophon to the Tibetan translation states that it was translated by the Indian preceptor Dharmākara, the translator Bandé
Yeshé Nyingpo, and the chief editor Bandé Paltsek. As for the date of the Tibetan translation,
the text’s inclusion in the Denkarma
and Phangthangma imperial
catalogs confirms its provenance in the late eighth or early ninth century.

A Chinese version of this text is also extant with the title Zuofoxingxiang jing 作佛形像. While its translator is unknown and its date is uncertain, it is
mentioned in the Dongjin lu 東晉錄 (Record of the Eastern Jin, 317–420 ce). It
is also referenced in the Houhanshu 後漢書
(Book of the Later Han), which is the official dynastic history
of the Later Han dynasty 後漢 (25–220 ce) written by Fan Ye 范曄 (398–445). This indicates that the Chinese translation was
completed sometime before the late fourth or early fifth century.

A Mongolian translation of the text is also available in different versions of the Mongolian
Buddhist canon, which is based on the Tibetan.

There is, to our knowledge, no previous English translation of the text to date, nor any
translation into any other European language.

The Translation

The Noble Dharma Discourse

Describing the Benefits of Producing Representations of the Thus-Gone One

Homage to the Omniscient One.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was residing in Śrāvastī, in Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park.
At that time a large number of monks had gathered in the assembly hall and started the following
conversation: “Faithful brahmins or householders who remember what they are taught and have
become increasingly learned may ask you how to practice virtue. There may also be some who
delight in producing representations of the Thus-Gone One, who will come before us and inquire,
‘Respected ones, may we know how much benefit there is for donors when they produce a
representation of the Thus-Gone One?’ How can we then respond to them in accordance with the
Dharma when we do not know how much benefit results from producing a representation of the
Thus-Gone One? We should ask the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha—the omniscient,
all-seeing teacher who eliminates all doubts—about this point. Once the Blessed One teaches us,
we will comprehend it and can then explain it at length and respond to those faithful brahmins
and householders.”

Then that large number of monks went to the place where the Blessed One was staying, prostrated themselves
at the Blessed One’s feet, sat to one side, and asked the Buddha the following:
“Respected One, a large number of us monks just had the following conversation when we gathered
in the assembly hall: ‘Faithful brahmins or householders who remember what they are taught and
have become increasingly learned may ask us how to practice virtue. There may also be some who
delight in producing representations of the Thus-Gone One, who will come before us and inquire,
“Respected ones, may we know how much benefit there is for donors when they commission a
representation of the Thus-Gone One?” How can we then respond to them in accordance with the
Dharma when we do not know how much benefit results from producing a representation of the
Thus-Gone One? We should ask the blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfect Buddha—the omniscient,
all-seeing teacher who eliminates all doubts—about this point. Once the Blessed One teaches us,
we will comprehend it and can then explain it at length and respond to those faithful brahmins
and householders.’ Respected Blessed One, since we have come to you asking about these matters,
may we know how much benefit there is for donors when they produce a representation of the
Thus-Gone One?”

The Blessed One replied, “Monks, you have asked this to bring benefit to many beings, to bring
happiness to many beings and out of compassion for them, and to bring benefit and happiness to
gods and humans. You have thought to ask for clarification from the thus-gone, worthy, perfect
Buddha. Excellent! Excellent! For that reason, monks, listen to me very carefully, pay
attention, and I will teach you.

“Monks, a donor who produces a representation of the Thus-Gone One will enjoy the following five
benefits:
“One will live in a great palace, be regarded as fortunate, be free of poverty, and have great joy, longevity, fame, and happiness. Monks, this is the
first benefit for a donor who produces representations of the Thus-Gone One.

“One will also have riches, abundant wealth, prosperity, property, and many belongings. One will be self-sufficient and have many cherished possessions such as a great number of livestock, grain,
jewels, gold, treasuries, and storerooms; many horses, elephants, oxen, sheep, male and female
servants, employees, and laborers; and many ministers, friends, relatives, and kin. Monks, this
is the second benefit for a donor who produces representations of the Thus-Gone One.

“Monks, one will also have a beautiful body, a pleasant appearance, elegance, a golden
complexion, a head that is round
like a parasol, long arms, a broad forehead, unbroken eyebrows, a perfect set of limbs and
extremities, and be adorned with all sorts of ornaments. Monks, this is the third benefit for a
donor who produces representations of the Thus-Gone One.

“Monks, one will also become a universal emperor who has a fine retinue, the seven royal
treasures, and is surrounded by one thousand sons. All of one’s sons, wives, servants, and
caretakers will listen respectfully and follow one’s commands. Monks, this is the fourth benefit
for a donor who produces representations of the Thus-Gone One.

“Moreover, monks, after passing away, one will take a favorable rebirth among the gods in the
heavenly realms. After being born there, one will become an excellent king of the gods who will be venerated by the gods and goddesses. One will enjoy ten states: divine lifespan, divine complexion, divine power,
divine happiness, divine lordship, and divine form, sound, smell, taste, and touch. Monks, this
is the fifth benefit for a donor who produces representations of the Thus-Gone One.”

When the Blessed One had said this, the monks rejoiced in the Blessed One’s words and praised him.

Thus concludes The Noble Dharma Discourse “Teaching the Benefits of Producing Representations of the Thus-Gone
One.”

Colophon

This work was translated by the Indian preceptor Dharmākara and the translator Bandé Yeshé
Nyingpo. It was then revised and finalized by Bandé Paltsek.

Notes

Bibliography

ten states

gnas bcu po
གནས་བཅུ་པོ།

Bandé Yeshé Nyingpo

ban de ye shes snying po
བན་དེ་ཡེ་ཤེས་སྙིང་པོ།

Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park
jetavanam anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ
rgyal bu rgyal byed kyi tshal mgon med zas sbyin gyi kun dga’ ra ba
རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཚལ་མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན་གྱི་ཀུན་དགའ་ར་བ།