DESCRIPTION

Samantabhadra returns as the primary expositor of the eighth chapter in this assembly. A common theme in many sutras is the inclusion of a meditation on the mahāpuruṣa lakṣaṇa (auspicious characteristics) of the Tathāgata. Although the number of characteristics is traditionally thirty-two, as this is a chapter describing the ‘ocean of characteristics’ of Vairocana, a precise, numbered list of ninety-seven characteristics is given, which does, however, begin with thirty-two characteristics on the crown or uṣṇīṣa of the Tathāgata's head. The uṣṇīṣa, itself, is typically one of the thirty-two, pointing to the recursive nature of these characteristics.