諸經要集 3.22

3.22

Commentary: The reasons for their erection and construction as cited above from the sūtras and treatises are already understood. Yet what the meaning of a stupa is, how many types there are, and whether those for whom they are built include ordinary people are not yet known. The answer is: Sanskrit and Chinese differ, and the translations were made earlier and later, leading to many names and erroneous or correct texts. What is called a *ta* (stupa) is sometimes called a *tapoba* (*thūpa*), translated here as 'square mound'; sometimes called a *caitya*, translated as 'a place that eliminates evil and gives rise to goodness'; or sometimes called a *dousoupo*, translated here as 'guardian of praise', like a person praising and protecting the praised. The correct pronunciation in western Sanskrit is *stūpa*, translated here as 'temple'. A temple (*miao*) implies form (*mao*), that is, a spirit temple. Erecting a stupa has three purposes: first, to manifest the superiority of the person; second, to inspire faith in others; third, to repay kindness. If it is an ordinary bhikṣu who possesses virtue and renown, a stupa may also be erected for him; for others, it is not permissible. If caityas are established, there are four types: first, the place of birth; second, the place of attaining the Way; third, the place of turning the Dharma wheel; fourth, the place of nirvāṇa. At the places where Buddhas are born and where they attain the Way, caityas are definitively established. The birth must take place under an Aśoka tree, translated here as the sorrowless tree; this is the place where the consort gave birth to the crown prince, and so this tree is designated as the caitya of the birth site. The Tathāgata attained the Way beneath the Bodhi tree, and so beneath this tree is designated as the caitya of the site of attaining the Way. The places where the Tathāgata turned the Dharma wheel and entered nirvāṇa—these two have no fixed form. When he first turned the Dharma wheel for the five bhikṣus, it was in the Deer Park, measuring twenty-five fathoms on each side. A fathom is eight feet. Because people of antiquity were large in stature, one fathom was eight feet, totaling two hundred feet. Nowadays, people in India erect turning-the-Dharma-wheel shrines in many places: they select a fine location and, according to these measurements, erect three pillars and install three wheels to represent the marks of the Buddha's three turns of the Dharma wheel in the past, designating this site as the caitya of turning the Dharma wheel. The place where the Tathāgata entered nirvāṇa and the relics were enshrined is designated as the caitya of nirvāṇa. At present, a monastery named Nirvāṇa Monastery has been established there; this is fixed. If stupas are erected wherever relics are, they are not fixed. These four are called *stūpa*.