A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.140

v2.c19.s6.t4.140

The **Daśabhūmaka or Daśabhūmika-Sūtra or Daśabhūmīśvara**, ¹ is also regarded as a portion of the Avataṁsaka, but it is found just as frequently as an independent work. The subject-matter of this work is a discourse on the ten steps (daśabhūmi) by which Buddhahood may be attained. The speaker is the Bodhisattva Vajragarbha, who gives himself up to a deep meditation in a vast assembly of gods, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and is then invited by Śākyamuni to explain the “ten steps,” while rays of light emanate in all directions from all the Buddhas present. Chapter I also contains Gāthās (in Sanskrit, not in the Gāthā dialect), though the actual treatise on the Bhūmis is entirely in prose. The doctrine of the "ten steps" is to be found in an earlier form in the Mahāvastu, but in the Mahāyāna it is a principal feature,¹ and the Daśabhūmaka is the most important work which treats of this doctrine. It was translated into Chinese in 297 A. D. by Dharmarakṣa.²