I
I was recently surprised to find, in Anderson’s catalogue of Japanese
and Chinese paintings in the British Museum, this remarkable
statement:—“It is to be noted that in Japan the figure of the Buddha is
never represented by the feet, or pedestal alone, as in the Amravati
remains, and many other Indian art-relics.” As a matter of fact the
representation is not even rare in Japan. It is to be found not only
upon stone monuments, but also in religious paintings,—especially
certain kakemono suspended in temples. These kakemono usually display
the footprints upon a very large scale, with a multitude of mystical
symbols and characters. The sculptures may be less common; but in Tōkyō
alone there are a number of _Butsu-soku-séki_, or “Buddha-foot stones,”
which I have seen,—and probably several which I have not seen. There is
one at the temple of Ekō-In, near Ryōgoku-bashi; one at the temple of
Denbō-In, in Koishikawa; one at the temple of Denbō-In, in Asakusa; and
a beautiful example at Zōjōji in Shiba. These are not cut out of a
single block, but are composed of fragments cemented into the irregular
traditional shape, and capped with a heavy slab of Nebukawa granite, on
the polished surface of which the design is engraved in lines about
one-tenth of an inch in depth. I should judge the average height of
these pedestals to be about two feet four inches, and their greatest
diameter about three feet. Around the footprints there are carved (in
most of the examples) twelve little bunches of leaves and buds of the
_Bodai-jū_ (“Bodhidruma”), or Bodhi-tree of Buddhist legend. In all
cases the footprint design is about the same; but the monuments are
different in quality and finish. That of Zōjōji,—with figures of
divinities cut in low relief on its sides,—is the most ornate and
costly of the four. The specimen at Ekō-In is very poor and plain.
The first _Butsu-soku-séki_ made in Japan was that erected at Tōdaiji,
in Nara. It was designed after a similar monument in China, said to be
the faithful copy of an Indian original. Concerning this Indian
original, the following tradition is given in an old Buddhist
book:[1]—“In a temple of the province of Makada [_Maghada_] there is a
great stone. The Buddha once trod upon this stone; and the prints of
the soles of his feet remain upon its surface. The length of the
impressions is one foot and eight inches,[2] and the width of them a
little more than six inches. On the sole-part of each footprint there
is the impression of a wheel; and upon each of the prints of the ten
toes there is a flower-like design, which sometimes radiates light.
When the Buddha felt that the time of his Nirvâna was approaching, he
went to Kushina [_Kusinârâ_], and there stood upon that stone. He stood
with his face to the south. Then he said to his disciple Anan
[_Ânanda_]: ‘In this place I leave the impression of my feet, to remain
for a last token. Although a king of this country will try to destroy
the impression, it can never be entirely destroyed.’ And indeed it has
not been destroyed unto this day. Once a king who hated Buddhism caused
the top of the stone to be pared off, so as to remove the impression;
but after the surface had been removed, the footprints reappeared upon
the stone.”
[1] The Chinese title is pronounced by Japanese as _Sei-iki-ki_.
“Sei-iki”(the Country of the West) was the old Japanese name for
India; and thus the title might be rendered, “The Book about India.” I
suppose this is the work known to Western scholars as _Si-yu-ki_.
[2] “One _shaku_ and eight _sun_.” But the Japanese foot and inch are
considerably longer than the English.
Concerning the virtue of the representation of the footprints of the
Buddha, there is sometimes quoted a text from the
_Kwan-butsu-sanmai-kyō_ [“Buddha-dhyâna-samâdhi-sâgara-sûtra”], thus
translated for me:—“In that time Shaka [“Sâkyamuni”] lifted up his
foot…. When the Buddha lifted up his foot all could perceive upon the
sole of it the appearance of a wheel of a thousand spokes…. And Shaka
said: ‘Whosoever beholds the sign upon the sole of my foot shall be
purified from all his faults. Even he who beholds the sign after my
death shall be delivered from all the evil results of all his errors.”
Various other texts of Japanese Buddhism affirm that whoever looks upon
the footprints of the Buddha “shall be freed from the bonds of error,
and conducted upon the Way of Enlightenment.”
[Illustration: S’rîpâda-tracing at Dentsu-In, Koishikawa, Tōkyō]
An outline of the footprints as engraved on one of the Japanese
pedestals[3] should have some interest even for persons familiar with
Indian sculptures of the S’rîpâda. The double-page drawing,
accompanying this paper, and showing both footprints, has been made
after the tracing at Dentsu-In, where the footprints have the full
legendary dimension, It will be observed that there are only seven
emblems: these are called in Japan the _Shichi-Sō_, or “Seven
Appearances.” I got some information about them from the
_Shō-Ekō-Hō-Kwan_,—a book used by the Jodo sect. This book also
contains rough woodcuts of the footprints; and one of them I reproduce
here for the purpose of calling attention to the curious form of the
emblems upon the toes. They are said to be modifications of the
_manji_, or svastikâ, but I doubt it. In the
_Butsu-soku-séki_-tracings, the corresponding figures suggest the
“flower-like design” mentioned in the tradition of the Maghada stone;
while the symbols in the book-print suggest fire. Indeed their outline
so much resembles the conventional flamelet-design of Buddhist
decoration, that I cannot help thinking them originally intended to
indicate the traditional luminosity of the footprints. Moreover, there
is a text in the book called _Hō-Kai-Shidai_ that lends support to this
supposition:—“The sole of the foot of the Buddha is flat,—like the base
of a toilet-stand…. Upon it are lines forming the appearance of a wheel
of a thousand spokes…. The toes are slender, round, long, straight,
graceful, _and somewhat luminous_.”
[3] A monument at Nara exhibits the _S’rîpâda_ in a form differing
considerably from the design upon the Tōkyō pedestals.
[Illustration: Left: S’rîpâda showing the svastikâ (From the
Bukkyō-Hyakkwa-Zensho)
Right: (From the Shō-Ekō-Hō-Kwan)]
The explanation of the Seven Appearances which is given by the
_Shō-Ekō-Hō-Kwan_ cannot be called satisfactory; but it is not without
interest in relation to Japanese popular Buddhism. The emblems are
considered in the following order:—
I.—_The Svastikâ_. The figure upon each toe is said to be a
modification of the _manji_;[4] and although I doubt whether this is
always the case, I have observed that on some of the large kakémono
representing the footprints, the emblem really _is_ the svastikâ,—not a
flamelet nor a flower-shape.[5] The Japanese commentator explains the
svastikâ as a symbol of “everlasting bliss.”
[4] Lit.: “The thousand-character” sign.
[5] On some monuments and drawings there is a sort of disk made by a
single line in spiral, on each toe,—together with the image of a small
wheel.
II.—_The Fish_ (_Gyo_). The fish signifies freedom from all restraints.
As in the water a fish moves easily in any direction, so in the
Buddha-state the fully-emancipated knows no restraints or obstructions.
III.—_The Diamond-Mace_ (Jap. _Kongō-sho;_—Sansc. “Vadjra”). Explained
as signifying the divine force that “strikes and breaks all the lusts
(_bonnō_) of the world.”
IV.—_The Conch-Shell_ (Jap. “_Hora_”) or _Trumpet_. Emblem of the
preaching of the Law. The book _Shin-zoku-butsu-ji-hen_ calls it the
symbol of the voice of the Buddha. The _Dai-hi-kyō_ calls it the token
of the preaching and of the power of the Mahayana doctrine. The
_Dai-Nichi-Kyō_ says:—” At the sound of the blowing of the shell, all
the heavenly deities are filled with delight, and come to hear the
Law.”
V.—_The Flower-Vase_ (Jap. “_Hanagamé_”). Emblem of _murō_,—a mystical
word which might be literally rendered as “not-leaking,”—signifying
that condition of supreme intelligence triumphant over birth and death.
VI.—_The Wheel-of-a-Thousand-Spokes_ (Sansc. “Tchakra “). This emblem,
called in Japanese _Senfuku-rin-sō_, is curiously explained by various
quotations. The _Hokké-Monku_ says:—“The effect of a wheel is to crush
something; and the effect of the Buddha’s preaching is to crush all
delusions, errors, doubts, and superstitions. Therefore preaching the
doctrine is called, ‘turning the Wheel.’”… The _Sei-Ri-Ron_ says: “Even
as the common wheel has its spokes and its hub, so in Buddhism there
are many branches of the _Hasshi Shōdo_ (‘Eight-fold Path,’ or eight
rules of conduct).”
VII.—_The Crown of Brahmâ_. Under the heel of the Buddha is the
Treasure-Crown (_Hō-Kwan_) of Brahmâ (_Bon-Ten-O_),—in symbol of the
Buddha’s supremacy above the gods.
But I think that the inscriptions upon any of these _Butsu-soku-séki_
will be found of more significance than the above imperfect attempts at
an explanation of the emblems. The inscriptions upon the monument at
Dentsu-In are typical. On different sides of the structure,—near the
top, and placed by rule so as to face certain points of the
compass,—there are engraved five Sanscrit characters which are symbols
of the Five Elemental Buddhas, together with scriptural and
commemorative texts. These latter have been translated for me as
follows:—
The HO-KO-HON-NYO-KYO says:—“In that time, from beneath his feet, the
Buddha radiated a light having the appearance of a wheel of a thousand
spokes. And all who saw that radiance became strictly upright, and
obtained the Supreme Enlightenment.”
The KWAN-BUTSU-SANMAI-KYO says:—“Whosoever looks upon the footprints of
the Buddha shall be freed from the results even of innumerable
thousands of imperfections.”
The BUTSU-SETSU-MU-RYO-JU-KYO says:—“In the land that the Buddha treads
in journeying, there is not even one person in all the multitude of the
villages who is not benefited. Then throughout the world there is peace
and good will. The sun and the moon shine clear and bright. Wind and
rain come only at a suitable time. Calamity and pestilence cease. The
country prospers; the people are free from care. Weapons become
useless. All men reverence religion, and regulate their conduct in all
matters with earnestness and modesty.”
[Commemorative Text.]
—The Fifth Month of the Eighteenth Year of Meiji, all the priests of
this temple made and set up this pedestal-stone, bearing the likeness
of the footprints of the Buddha, and placed the same within the main
court of Dentsu-In, in order that the seed of holy enlightenment might
be sown for future time, and for the sake of the advancement of
Buddhism.
TAIJO, priest,—being the sixty-sixth chief-priest by succession of this
temple,—has respectfully composed.
JUNYU, the minor priest, has reverentially inscribed.