One Page from the Ksitigarbha-Bodhisattva-Pranidhana-Sutra (Sutra of the Oath of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha)

Artists

Description

Originally a section of a handscroll, or possibly a page from an accordion-fold album, this calligraphic work represents text from a Buddhist sutra, specifically, text from the Ksitigarbha-bodhisattva-pranidhana-sutra (Sutra of the Oath of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha). The vertically oriented, rectangular sheet of indigo-dyed paper boasts seven columns of text, each column with twenty characters written in gold ink. The text columns have been demarcated with faint lines in gold ink along their tops, bottoms, and sides. The characters are written in regular script (Chinese, kaishu), though they exhibit a slightly more cursive quality than do characters in Buddhist sutras from the fourteenth century and earlier. The text can be translated as follows: At that time, Ksitigarbha, the Bodhisattva of Great Being [Bodhisattva Mahasattva], kneeling in the barbarian fashion and joining his palms, humbly addressed the Buddha, saying: "O World-Honored One: I do but beg the World-Honored One not to be concerned. For, if in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman who shall, with respect to the Buddhadharma, for but a single moment of thought render humble respect, I will also, by a hundred thousands of means, rescue and deliver that person from the midst of birth and death, speedily enabling him to gain deliverance. How much the more shall this be true of one who, hearing of wholesome matters, shall cultivate (wholesome) conduct from moment to moment! For (such a person shall quite) naturally, on the unexceeded Path, forever be free of backsliding. When he was pronouncing these words, in the assembly there was a bodhisattva named Akasagarbha, who humbly addressed the Buddha, saying: "O World Honored One! I myself, arriving in Trayastrimsa, heard the Thus Come One praising the incalculability of the magical powers of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. If in ages to come there be a good man or a good woman, or, for that matter, …

Dimensions

indigo paper: H. 38.2 x W. 19.3 cm (15 1/16 x 7 5/8 in.) backing paper: H. 40.5 x W. 21.6 cm (15 15/16 x 8 1/2 in.) silk mounting: H. 43 x W. 23.9 cm (16 15/16 x 9 7/16 in.)

Provenance

Gregory (1922-1988) and Maria C. Henderson (1923-2007), Medford, MA (by 1969-1988), inherited; by Maria C. Henderson, Medford, MA (1988-2008), sold; to Harvard Art Museums, 2008.