The phrase ‘sa pthivīpradeśaś caityabhūto bhavet' in the Vajracchedikā: Notes on the cult of the book in Mahāyāna

Abstract

GREGORY SCHOPEN T H E P H R A S E 'sa prthiv?pradegag caityabh~to bhavet" IN T H E Vafracchedik~: N O T E S O N T H E C U L T O F T H E B O O K IN M A H A Y A N A * The phrase sa p.rthivrpradegag caityabhfito bhavet at Vajracchedik~ (= Vaj) 12 & 15c represents neither the sole, nor even, perhaps, the most important occurrence o f this curious formula. The Vaj occurrences are taken as the point o f departure for the present paper because they represent