敦煌石窟大势至菩萨造像管窥

摘要

Mahastamaprapta is an eka-jāti-pratibaddha bodhisattva of sukhavati and illuminates the entire world with his light of wisdom and guides all sentient beings.Legend has it that his bodhi-manda used to be located in the Lang Mountain of Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China.Since Tang Dynasty, frescos and sulptures have been made of Mahastamaprapta in Dun-huang caves, but from the sculptures the kundikāin the mound of flesh on his head which is recorded in the Buddhist sutras is missing and yet there are kundikāin the frescos.Mahastamaprapta's frequent appearance in sutra frescos that express the concept of pure land have a social implication of guiding people and cultivating human beings.%大势至菩萨为净土极乐世界的一生补处菩萨，以智慧之光遍照世间，教化众生；据传其道场在中国江苏省南通市的狼山。敦煌石窟唐代以来绘制有大势至菩萨的壁画和塑像，但塑像没有佛经经文中所记载的头上肉髻中的宝瓶，而壁画中都有宝瓶。大势至菩萨像频频出现在表现净土思想的经变画中，有化世导俗的社会意义。