Three Dharma seals' (dharmamudrā trilaksanā) : The Origin and Aspects of Developments of three Phrases in Classical India

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  • 「三法印」(dharmamudrā trilaksanā) : 古典インドにおける三句の發端と展開の諸樣相
  • 三法印(dharmamudra trilaksana) : 古典インドにおける三句の發端と展開の諸樣相
  • サン ホウイン(dharmamudra trilaksana) : コテン インド ニ オケル サンク ノ ホッタン ト テンカイ ノ ショ ヨウソウ
  • 「三法印」(dharmamudrā trilaksanā) : 古典インドにおける三句の発端と展開の諸様相

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Abstract

In the cultural sphere of the Pāli canons the three sutta-phrases that have been transmitted are "all compounded things are impermanent" (Pāli : sabbe sankhārā aniccā), "all compounded things are suffering" (sabbe sankhārā dukhā), and "all dhammas are without a self" (sabbe dhammā anattā), which originate from the words of the Buddha (see the Dhammapada, vv. 277-279 in the Chap. XX 'magga'). As is known from the appearance of these three phrases among the sayings of Aññā-Kondañña (see the Theragāthā, vv. 676-678), who would become the Buddha's first disciples at the time of his first sermon, the Pāli transmission of the three phrases has been believed to the present to possess the three marks (tilakkhana) of the Buddha's teaching for those following his path. On the contrary, in the Chinese linguistic cultural sphere the three phrases "all conditioned things are impermanent" (Skt. : sarvasam skārā anityā), "all dharmas are without a self" (sarvadharmā anātmānah), and "nirvān a is peace" (śāntamnirvānam) have their source in the Buddha's words and are sūtra-phrases used by the Buddha's disciples led by Ānanda soon after his parinirvān a as part of a new trend of thought from "all is suffering" to "nirvān a is peace" (see the Sam yuktāgama, No. 262). These three phrases were fixed during the first period of translation in China of the Āgamas and the Sarvāstivādin Ābhidharmic literature from around the end of the 3rd century to the first half of the 4th century. Concerning the term 三法印, the original Sanskrit is, as far as we know, a newly coined word, dharmamudrā trilaks an ā, used by the Buddhist poet Mātr cet a to poetically evoke non-self, momentariness, and peace in the first verse of the sixth chapter Avivādastava of the Varm ārhan astotra in about the 2nd century.

Journal

  • 東方學報

    東方學報 88 442-423, 2013-12-20

    Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University

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