The story of the Dragon-king’s daughter, which appears in Chapter 11 of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra, is generally considered to teach the doctrine that women can attain Buddhahood suddenly only through sūtra worship, not by practicing the usual bodhisattva path. However, a close reading of the original text shows that this is not the case. In the story, the Dragon-king’s daughter, who has attained the tenth stage of the bodhisattva path, denies that she can attain Buddhahood suddenly. This paper examines the actual meaning of the doctrine of the rapid attainment of Buddhahood, and thereby provides a new interpretation of the story.
In fact, the authors of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra assert that bodhisattvas, after having practiced the path for three kalpas and attained the tenth Bodhisattva-stage, should then worship the sūtra in order to attain Buddhahood rapidly.
