Bhaiṣajyarāja

This article is about the Medicine King Bodhisattva. For the Medicine Buddha, see Bhaisajyaguru.

Bhaiṣajyarāja (Skt: भैषज्यराज; Traditional Chinese: 藥王; Simplified Chinese: 药王; pinyin: yào wáng; Japanese: 薬王 Yakuō; Vietnamese: Dược Vương Bồ Tát), or Medicine King, is a bodhisattva mentioned within the Lotus Sutra and the Bhaiṣajyarāja-bhaiṣajyasamudgata-sūtra (Chinese: 佛說觀藥王藥上二菩薩經; Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on Visualizing the Two Bodhisattvas Bhaisajyarāja and Bhaisajyasamudgata).^[1][2][3] In chapter 23 of the Lotus Sutra (The Bodhisattva Bhaiṣajyarāja), the Buddha tells the story of the 'Medicine King' Bodhisattva, who, in a previous life, burnt his body as a supreme offering to a Buddha.^[4][5][6] He is said to have been reborn over a period of numerous lifetimes healing and curing diseases, and is a representation of the healing power of the Buddha.

Bhaiṣajyarāja
Sanskrit	भैषज्यराज Bhaiṣajyarāja
Chinese	(Traditional) 藥王菩薩 (Simplified) 药王菩萨 (Pinyin: Yàowáng Púsà)
Japanese	薬王菩薩（やくおうぼさつ） (romaji: Yakuō Bosatsu)
Korean	약왕보살 (RR: Yagwang Bosal)
Tagalog	Bhaisakyalaja
Thai	พระไภษัชยราชโพธิสัตว์
Vietnamese	Dược Vương Bồ Tát
Information
Venerated by	Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna
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Medicine King Bodhisattva is also found in The High King Avalokitesvara Sutra.

Together with Supreme Medicine Bodhisattva, Sunlight Radiance Bodhisattva, Moonlight Radiance Bodhisattva and the Twelve Great Yaksa Generals, he forms the retinue of Lapis-lazuli Medicine Buddha.^[7]

Notes

1. Buswell, Robert Jr; Lopez, Donald S. Jr., eds. (2013). Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. p. 109. ISBN 9780691157863.
2. Watson, Burton (tr.) (2009). The Lotus Sutra and Its Opening and Closing Chapters. Tokyo: Soka Gakkai. ISBN 978-4-412-01409-1, pp. 321-330
3. Kern, H. (tr.) (1884). Saddharma Pundarîka or the Lotus of the True Law. Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXI, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. Williams 1989, p. 160.
5. Benn 2007, p. 59.
6. Ohnuma 1998, p. 324.
7. Net, True Buddha School. "Medicine Buddha-真佛宗TBSN". True Buddha School Net - TBSN (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2021-05-27.

References

• Benn, James A (2007), Burning for the Buddha, University of Hawaii Press, ISBN 978-0824823719
• Ohnuma, Reiko (1998), "The Gift of the Body and the Gift of Dharma", History of Religions, 37 (4): 323–359, doi:10.1086/463513, JSTOR 3176401, S2CID 161648919
• Williams, Paul (1989), Mahāyāna Buddhism: the doctrinal foundations, 2nd Edition, Routledge, ISBN 9780415356534^{[permanent dead link]}
• Yün-hua, Jan (1965). Buddhist Self-Immolation in Medieval China, History of Religions, 4 (2), 243-268

External links

• SGI Library Online — The Soka Gakkai Dictionary of Buddhism