The “Visit of Indra to the Buddha” in the Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka

Abstract

The Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka is a Mahāyāna scripture created around the 4th century. Chapter 6 of this sūtra contains a scene extremely similar to the famous narrative called the “Visit of Indra to the Buddha.” While this scene generally follows the outline of the the “Visit of Indra to the Buddha” found in the Āgamas, Nikāyas and Buddha’s Biography, the gathering of the bodhisattvas of the ten directions and the manner of preaching are distinctive. This paper aims to clarify the reception and characteristics of the “Visit of Indra to the Buddha” in the Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka. The results are as follows.

In the context in which the the “Visit of Indra to the Buddha” appears, the Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka asserts that all the many bodhisattvas who come from the ten directions are able to attend the Tathāgata’s preaching assembly. To support this, we can speculate that the “Visit of Indra to the Buddha,” in which all who gathered were able to enter an expanded the Indasāla-guhā （Skt. Indraśaila-guhā）, was incorporated into the Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka. Furthermore, in incorporating this narrative, the sūtra seems to have modified the manner of preaching to legitimize Śākyamuni’s preaching with the transformation body and a single sound （ekapada）.