Who’s who in Buddhism, part 6: the Sutra Audience

Reading Buddhist sutras can be a difficult exercise for those not familiar with the style. Nearly all sutras begin with the famous phrase “This is what I heard” or “Thus have I heard” implying the oral tradition from the earliest days of the Buddhist community. But, frequently the Mahayana sutras in particular tend to have large descriptions of attendees, both human and non-human, such as this excerpt from the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings:¹

Thus Have I Heard. Once the Buddha was staying at the city of royal palaces on mount Grdhrakuta with a great assemblage of great Bhikkhus, in all twelve thousand. There were eighty thousand Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas. There were gods, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, and mahoragas, besides all the bhikshus (monks), Bhiksunis (nuns), Upasakas (laymen), and Upasikas (laywomen). There were Great wheel rolling kings, small wheel rolling kings, and kings of the golden wheel, silver wheel, and other wheels; further kings and princes, ministers and people, men and women, and great rich persons, each encompassed by a hundred thousand myriad followers. They went up to the Buddha, made obeisance at his feet, burned incense, and scattered flowers. After they variously worshiped, they retired and sat to one side…

But who are all these groups? This post is a brief summary of who’s who in the sutra attendance, and in the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon.¹ This was inspired in large part by the visit I made to the Treasure Hall at Kofukuji Temple in Nara, Japan, plus my experiences with the related iPhone app.

So let’s look at the various attendees mentioned above and delve into who they are. I’ve added Japanese terms were possible since the topic was related to Japanese Buddhism in particular:

• Bhikkhus (biku 比丘) – Bhikkhus are the disciples of the Buddha who have taken monastic vows and are part of the Vinaya community that still exists today in many parts of the world.² In Sanskrit-linguistic terms, men and women of the Vinaya community are divided into:
• Bhikshus (biku 比丘) who are male
• Bhiksunis (bikuni 比丘尼) who are female
• Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas (bosatsu makasatsu 菩薩摩訶薩) – The Bodhisattvas are saintly beings in Mahayana Buddhism³ who are fully focused on the path toward Buddhahood, and have turned their practice outward to help and teach others along the way. The term Mahasattva is an honorific term for especially great, wise Bodhisattvas.
• Devas (gods) – In Hindu and Buddhist cosmology, the gods comprised a large, complex family of divine beings. Indra is the king of the devas, and is a protector of the Buddha. One can also attain rebirth as a deva if one lives an exemplary life, but like other states of rebirth, it is limited in span, subject to frustration and stress on some level or another. Many devas were disciples of the Buddha, just as people were. Among other types of devas or legendary creatures are:
• Dragons – These are serpents, and probably related to the Indian Nāga.
• Yakshas – These are nature spirits and vaguely analogous to similar creatures in Greek myths (e.g. nymphs, nereids, satyrs, etc).
• Gandharvas (kendatsuba 乾闥婆) – These are divine musicians and attendants to the gods. These are depicted here at Kofukuji Temple.
• Asuras (ashura 阿須羅) – These are divine beings constantly at war with the gods, particularly Indra. Sometimes they are compared to the Titans in Greek mythology. The most famous Asura is the one artistically depicted at Kofukuji, who repented his violent ways, and became a protector of the Buddha.
• Garudas (karura 伽樓羅) – These are mythical birds and servants of Indra. Like the mythical Roc, they are thought to be extremely large and eat dragons. At Kofukuji, the Garuda is depicted in more human-like form.
• Kimnaras (kinnara 緊拏羅) – Another type of musician and attendant to the gods. At Kofukuji, they are depicted as half-man, half beast with a third eye.
• Mahoragas (magoraga 摩睺羅伽) – This is a kind of snake spirit or demon shaped like a boa, that has also become a protector of the Dharma like other beings shown above. (big thanks to Rev. Stephen for finding this on Prof. Muller’s excellent Buddhism Online Dictionary).
• Wheel-turning Kings – In Buddhist thought, the king or ruler was a pillar of society. Texts like the Golden Light Sutra and others show that when the king is virtuous and upholds the Dharma, society prospers. The term “wheel-turning” is frequently used in Buddhism for teaching the Dharma, or keeping it going. Like a real wheel, if you don’t turn the wheel, it will slow down and eventually stop, until someone turns it again. So, kings who were virtuous and supported the Buddhist community earnestly turned the wheel too, in a sense. The emergence of a Buddha in the world is a big event in “turning the wheel”. The very first sermon of the Buddha, is also called the Sutra of the Turning of the Wheel, where the Four Noble Truths, the Middle Way and the Eightfold Path are all laid out.
• Upasakas (ubasoku 優婆塞) – These are laymen in Buddhism. The term, in a narrow sense, refers to one whose officially and publicly converted to Buddhism, taken the Five Precepts and so on.⁴
• Upasikas (ubai 優婆夷) – These are laywomen in Buddhism, but are otherwise indistinguishable from laymen. The Five Precepts apply equally to both.

So that’s a brief look at the Sutra audience. I may expand this later as I get more information, and tips and references by others are always appreciated. Thanks!

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. Past who’s who can be found here:

• Maitreya Bodhisattva
• The Medicine Buddha
• Fudo Myoo
• Kannon Bodhisattva
• Jizo Bodhisattva

¹ Frequently seen together with the Lotus Sutra. It’s often regarded as the Lotus Sutra’s “prologue”.

² In Japan, the situation gets muddied quite a bit though. Monks in Japan are not always the same as monks in the traditional Buddhist sense. For the purposes of this post though, Bhikkhus here are defined as members of the Vinaya proper.

³ The term Bodhisattva is also used in Theravada Buddhism as well, but refers strictly to the Buddha Shakyamuni himself in his previous lives while still seeking out Enlightenment. For example, see the Maha-Saccaka Sutta (MN 36):

“Before my Awakening, when I was still an unawakened Bodhisatta, the thought occurred to me…”

⁴ Sadly, despite years of following Buddhism, I have never actually been able to formally convert or take the precepts. Circumstances just haven’t worked out in my favor. Granted, it’s not strictly necessary, especially if one’s sincerely following the path, but someday it would be nice to actually take the precepts in a proper setting.