Edo Jobutsu

The latter include the 48 vows of Amida Buddha in the Muryoju Sutra, the 500 Great Vows of Shaka Buddha in the Saddharma Prayer Sutra, the 12 Great Vows of Medicine Buddha in the Medicine Vow Sutra, and the 10 Great Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva in the Avatamsaka Sutra. The original vows of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are established with the intention of saving all living beings, but there are two types of original vows: the Pure Land Vow, which aims to purify each Buddha's land and save all living beings, and the Impure Land Vow, which aims to attain Buddhahood in this actual impure world and save all living beings. For example, Amida's 48 vows are the former, and Shaka's 500 Great Vows are the latter. Among the original vows of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Amida's 48 vows have long been well known along with the development of Pure Land Buddhism, and the 18th vow, which says, "If all living beings sincerely believe and desire to be born in my Pure Land, and cannot save those who recite the Nembutsu just ten times, they will not become Buddhas," has been called the vow for rebirth through Nembutsu since ancient times, and is known as the royal vow because it is the most important original vow.

*Some of the terminology explanations that refer to "Edo Jobutsu" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…後者には，《無量寿経》に説く阿弥陀如来の四十八願，《悲華（ひけ）経》に説く釈迦如来の五百大願，《薬師本願経》に説く薬師如来の十二大願，《華厳（けごん）経》に説く普賢菩薩の十大願などがある。仏･菩薩の本願は生きとし生けるものの救済を本意として立てられているが，おのおのの仏国土（ぶつこくど）を浄（きよ）めて衆生を救済しようとする浄仏国土（じようぶつこくど）の本願と，現実のこの穢土（えど）で成仏して衆生を済度しようとする穢土成仏の本願とがあり，たとえば弥陀の四十八願は前者，釈迦の五百大願は後者にあたる。諸仏諸菩薩の本願のうち，弥陀の四十八願は浄土教の発展とともに古くからよく知られ，とくに〈一切の生あるものが，至心に信楽（しんぎよう）して私(弥陀のこと)の浄土に生まれようと欲し，わずか十声の念仏でも唱えた人を救済できないならば，仏とはならない〉という第十八願は古来念仏往生の願ともいわれ，最も重要な本願なので王（おう）本願と称されている。…

※「穢土成仏」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報