http://buddhaonthewall.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/blue-lotus-Buddha-diamond-sutra-quote1280-1.jpg

http://buddhaonthewall.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/blue-lotus-buddha-diamond-sutra-quote1280-2.jpg

http://buddhaonthewall.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/blue-lotus-buddha-diamond-sutra-quote1024.jpg

http://buddhaonthewall.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/blue-lotus-buddha-diamond-sutra-quote800.jpg

This is what I call as a Wallpaper with a Quote ( I know it doesn’t rhyme !. But it sounds cool erm atleast to me :P. Ok ! Ok ! Bad Joke !!!)

So we have here a bluish background wallpaper, with a Statue of the Buddha, and a Lotus.  Lotuses have unique names in Sanskrit, based on their color. A blue lotus, that we have in the wallpaper  is specifically called as a “ Utpala – उत्पल ” in Sanskrit.

The quote given in the wallpaper is from the Diamond Sutra, whose proper title is “वज्रच्छेदिका प्रज्ञापारमिता सूत्रम् –  vajracchedikā  prajñāpāramitā sūtram” . Fully translated into English as the “Diamond Cutter Perfection of Wisdom Sutra”. Since people like to abbreviate things, it has become popularly known as “Diamond Sutra”.

If you notice closely,  some fading Devanagari text can been near the Statue of the Buddha. It is “supposed” to be the Devanagari version of the quote. But  it has not been input correctly.  It looks like somebody messed-up with the devanagari text, while typing it using a “Phonetic Keyboard”. :)

The Given Quote is :

( atha khalu bhagavāṁstasyāṁ velāyāmime gāthe abhāṣata- )

ye māṁ rūpeṇa cādrākṣurye māṁ ghoṣeṇa cānvaguḥ

mithyāprahāṇaprasṛtā na māṁ drakṣyanti te janāḥ

dharmato buddho draṣṭavyo dharmakāyā hi nāyakāḥ

dharmatā ca na vijñeyā na sā śakyā vijānitum

( अथ खलु भगवांस्तस्यां वेलायामिमे गाथे अभाषत – )

ये मां रूपेण चाद्राक्षुर्ये मां घोषेण चान्वगुः

मिथ्याप्रहाणप्रसृता न मां द्रक्ष्यन्ति ते जनाः

धर्मतो बुद्धो द्रष्टव्यो धर्मकाया हि नायकाः

धर्मता च न विज्ञेया न सा शक्या विजानितुम्

(Then, At that time, the Lord uttered these verses)

[ See translation in the wallpaper ;) ]

Let us see what exactly leads to the utterance of this Gatha by the Bhagavan:

[The Lord Spoke: ] “Subhüti, what do you think about this? Is one to be viewed as the Tathägata due to perfect marks?” Subhüti replied, “Bhagavän, it is not so; one is not viewed as the Tathägata due to perfect marks.” The Bhagavän said, “Subhüti, it is so; it is so. One is not viewed as the Tathägata due to perfect marks.

Subhüti, if one were viewed as the Tathägata due to perfect marks, even a chakravartin king would be the Tathägata; therefore, one is not viewed as the Tathägata due to perfect marks.” Then, the venerable Subhüti said to the Bhagavän, “Bhagavän, as I understand the meaning of what the Bhagavän has said, one is not viewed as the Tathägata due to perfect marks.”  (Diamond Sutra, FPMT Translation)

But, when I checked  with the Chinese Version by Master. Hsuan Hua along with the Commentary, I got this: (Actually, I checked this first. Since it didn’t match up quite well with the  Sanskrit Version at Uwest Digital Sanskrit Canon, I referred the FPMT Version)

Subhuti, what do you think? Can one contemplate the Tathàgata by means of the thirty- two marks? Subhuti said, “So it is, so it is, World Honored One. One can contemplate the Tathàgata by means of the thirty- two marks

The Buddha said, “Subhuti, if one could contemplate the Tathàgata by means of the thirty- two marks, then a Sagely Wheel- turning King would be a Tathàgata. Subhuti said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, as I understand what the Buddha has said, one should not contemplate the Tathàgata by means of the thirty- two marks.

Now, you see the difference, don’t you ? Subhuti says “Yes” in Sanskrit but “No” in Chinese ! . There is some variations in the text. But I think it is more important to get the main point: “The Buddha cannot be seen based on external marks“. The minor details don’t matter [for practice]. That said:  I am academically interested in the reason for this variation, though ;) .  I have posted a topic about this here:

http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/index.php?showtopic=90193&pid=1210116&st=0&#entry1210116

Back to the wallpaper business. You can see, that there are two versions from 1280 x 1024 resolution. One is the original version as provided by the site. This is the first file. But it was slightly different from the 1024 x 768 resolution. So,  I scaled-up the 1024 version to 1280 using photoshop. This is the secone one :)

Posted in buddha, Sutra Tagged: buddha, buddha statue, buddhism, diamond sutra, lotus, mahayana, mahayana sutra, vajracchedika, wallpaper, wallpapers