Samyaksambuddha, Samyaksaṃbuddha, Samyanc-sambuddha: 9 definitions
Introduction:
Samyaksambuddha means something in Buddhism, Pali, Hinduism, Sanskrit. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
In Buddhism
Mahayana (major branch of Buddhism)
Samyaksaṃbuddha (सम्यक्संबुद्ध) is a synonym for the Buddha according to the 2nd century Mahāprajñāpāramitāśāstra (chapter IV).
Why is he called A lo ho (Samyaksaṃbuddha)?
1) Samyak means perfectly, sam means fully, and budh means understanding. The expression thus means “He who understands all dharmas perfectly and completely”.
2) Furthermore, he knows that all the dharmas are truly unchangeable (abhedya), without increase or decrease. Why are they unchangeable? When the functioning of the mind (cittapravṛtti) is stopped (sthita) and destroyed (niruddha), when the path of speech (abhilāpamārga) is cut, he understands that dharmas are motionless (acala), like nirvāṇa itself. This is why he is called Samyaksaṃbuddha.
3) Finally, the languages (adhivacana) of all the universes (lokadhātu), the ten directions (daśadiś), the languages of beings (sattva) in the six destinies (gati), the history of previous lives of beings and their birthplaces in future generations, the natures of the mind (citta-lakṣaṇa) of all beings in the ten directions, their fetters (saṃyojana), their roots of good (kuśalamūla) and their outcome (niḥsaraṇa): all the dharmas of this kind he knows in detail. This is why he is called Samyaksaṃbuddha
Samyaksaṃbuddha (सम्यक्संबुद्ध) refers to the “perfectly awakened one”, according to the Gaganagañjaparipṛcchā: the eighth chapter of the Mahāsaṃnipāta (a collection of Mahāyāna Buddhist Sūtras).—Accordingly, “What then, son of good family, is the recollection of the dharma (dharmānusmṛti), which is authorized by the Lord for the sake of the Bodhisattvas? [...] The Bodhisattva, knowing that all dharmas are not originated because of their intrinsic nature, attains the tolerance that all things are unborn. This state of being is the true dharma. [...] He who understands thus understands all dharmas, since it is the way in which the people on the path of training or on the path beyond training, the isolated Buddhas (Pratyekabuddha), the Bodhisattvas, and the perfectly awakened one (samyaksaṃbuddha) understand all dharmas. Such concentration is the liberation of all the holy, and in that there is no involvement with any dharma. The absence of involvement with any dharma is the recollection of the dharma, which is authorized by the Lord”.
Saṃyaksaṃbuddha (संयक्संबुद्ध) refers to the “perfectly awakened ones”, according to the Vajratuṇḍasamayakalparāja, an ancient Buddhist ritual manual on agriculture from the 5th-century (or earlier), containing various instructions for the Sangha to provide agriculture-related services to laypeople including rain-making, weather control and crop protection.—Accordingly, [After the Vajrapāṇi asked the Bhagavān for instructions for protection of crops]: “Then the Bhagavān addressed Vajrapāṇi, the Lord of the Guhyakas, ‘Vajrapāṇi, there is the dhāraṇī called the Nāga Assailing and Impeding Vajra, that is the seal of the heart of the Tathāgatas , uttered by former Tathāgatas, Arhats and Perfectly Awakened Ones (saṃyaksaṃbuddha). I will also utter it now. By this there will be a rapid guarding of all crops for the sake of warding off damage. [...]’”.
Samyaksambuddha (सम्यक्सम्बुद्ध) refers to the “perfect Buddhas”, according to the Tattvaratnāvalī (“a jewel garland of true reality”)—the title of one of the 26 texts revolving around the theme of amanasikāra (“non-conceptual realization”) ascribed to Maitrīpa (c. 986–1063)—an influential late Indian Buddhist master who helped bring Mahāsiddha-style Mahāmudrā teachings into a monastic Mahāyāna scholastic setting.—Accordingly, [while describing the “superior (adhimātra)” philosophy of Śrāvakayāna]: “[...] Others say, however, that even the inferior Śrāvakas among sentient beings will become perfect Buddhas (samyaksambuddha), as it has been said: ‘All will be Buddhas. One does not find anybody on earth who is not suitable; therefore, one should not be disheartened in the pursuit of perfect enlightenment’. They think that even those with the fixed potential [of an inferior Śrāvaka] depend a little upon the Buddha. The average [Śrāvakas] are future Pratyekabuddhas, and the superior [Śrāvakas] will be Buddhas after four immeasurable eons. [...]”.
Mahayana (महायान, mahāyāna) is a major branch of Buddhism focusing on the path of a Bodhisattva (spiritual aspirants/ enlightened beings). Extant literature is vast and primarely composed in the Sanskrit language. There are many sūtras of which some of the earliest are the various Prajñāpāramitā sūtras.
Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana or tantric Buddhism)
Samyaksambuddha (सम्यक्संबुद्ध) or Samyaksambuddhatva refers to “A perfect Buddha”—A Buddha who teaches the Dharma and brings it into a world, as opposed to a Pratyekabuddha, who does not teach the Dharma or bring it into a world.—Samyaksaṃbuddha in Tibetan: ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས། (yang dag par rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas)
Tibetan Buddhism includes schools such as Nyingma, Kadampa, Kagyu and Gelug. Their primary canon of literature is divided in two broad categories: The Kangyur, which consists of Buddha’s words, and the Tengyur, which includes commentaries from various sources. Esotericism and tantra techniques (vajrayāna) are collected indepently.
Languages of India and abroad
Sanskrit dictionary
Samyaksaṃbuddha (सम्यक्संबुद्ध).—m. (= Pali sammā-saṃ°), a perfectly enlightened one, a Buddha: passim, e.g. Mahāvyutpatti 5; Mahāvastu i.80.4; 96.9, 12; Senart, i note 404, alleges that this stem is used for samyaksaṃbodhi; most of his instances are dubious or false (e.g. his two Saddharmapuṇḍarīka citations are read °buddhatvaṃ, not °buddhaṃ, in KN); but in Mahāvastu ii.311.8 the mss. are cited as reading °buddhāye (dat., = °bodhaye; prose).
Samyaksambuddha (सम्यक्सम्बुद्ध):—[=samyak-sambuddha] [from samyak > samy-añc] mfn. one who has attained to complete enlightenment (said of the Buddha), [Kāraṇḍa-vyūha]
Samyaksaṃbuddha (सम्यक्संबुद्ध):—adj. vollkommen erleuchtet, Bez. Buddha's [WASSILJEW 223.]
Samyaksaṃbuddha (in Sanskrit) can be associated with the following Chinese terms:
1) 三耶三佛 [sān yé sān fú]: “(Skt. samyak-saṃbuddha)”.
2) 三耶三佛陀 [sān yé sān fú tuó]: “(Skt. samyak-saṃbuddha)”.
3) 三藐三佛 [sān miǎo sān fú]: “*samyak-saṃbuddha”.
4) 三藐三佛陀 [sān miǎo sān fú tuó]: “perfectly and fully enlightened buddha”.
5) 三藐三沒馱 [sān miǎo sān méi tuó]: “samyak-saṃbuddha”.
6) 三那三佛 [sān nà sān fú]: “samyak-saṃbuddha”.
7) 佛世尊 [fú shì zūn]: “world-honored Buddha”.
8) 佛如來 [fú rú lái]: “Buddha-tathāgata”.
9) 平等覺 [píng děng jué]: “perfect enlightenment”.
10) 正徧智 [zhèng biàn zhì]: “omniscience”.
11) 正徧知 [zhèng biàn zhī]: “omniscience”.
12) 正等覺 [zhèng děng jué]: “perfect enlightenment”.
13) 正等覺無畏 [zhèng děng jué wú wèi]: “fearlessness with respect to asserting that I am completely and perfectly enlightened with respect to all phenomena”.
14) 正覺 [zhèng jué]: “correct awakening”.
15) 正遍知 [zhèng biàn zhī]: “correct peerless enlightenment”.
16) 等正覺 [děng zhèng jué]: “perfect supreme enlightenment”.
Note: samyaksaṃbuddha can be alternatively written as: samyak-saṃbuddha; samyak-saṃbuddhaḥ.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches (+0): Samyanc, Sambuddha.
Starts with (+0): Samyaksambuddhatva.
Full-text (+43): Samyaksambuddhatva, San miao san fu tuo, Arhatsamyaksambuddha, San ye san fu tuo, Zheng bian zhi, San miao san mei tuo, San na san fu, Ru lai ying zheng bian zhi, Zheng bian jue, Ru lai ying zheng deng jue, Tam da tam phat, Tam mieu tam phat, Tam na tam phat, San miao san fu, San ye san fu, Tam da tam phat da, Tam mieu tam mot da, Shi hao, Zheng deng jue, Ten Buddha Titles.
Relevant text
Search found 21 books and stories containing Samyaksambuddha, Samyak-sambuddha, Samyak-saṃbuddha, Saṃyak-saṃbuddha, Samyaksaṃbuddha, Saṃyaksaṃbuddha, Samyaksambuddhas, Samyañc-saṃbuddha, Samyanc-sambuddha, Saṃyañc-saṃbuddha; (plurals include: Samyaksambuddhas, sambuddhas, saṃbuddhas, Samyaksaṃbuddhas, Saṃyaksaṃbuddhas, Samyaksambuddhases). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
Karandavyuha Sutra (by Mithun Howladar)
Chapter 5 - Mahāvidā-upadeśa < [Part Two]
Chapter 8 - Śiṣkhāsnvaronama < [Part Two]
Chapter 7 - Kulapūtra Maheśvara Nivyūha < [Part Two]
Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra (by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön)
Part 4 - Why is the Buddha called Samyaksaṃbuddha < [Chapter IV - Explanation of the Word Bhagavat]
II. The three faculties of understanding according to the Mahāyāna < [Part 3 - The three faculties of understanding]
The Dhvajāgrasūtra < [Part 1 - Position and results of the recollections]
Taisho: Chinese Buddhist Canon
Chapter 1: Awakening the Mind and Making Offerings < [Part 190 - The Abhinishkramana-sutra]
Chapter 3: Offering of the Resolve (Part II) < [Part 190 - The Abhinishkramana-sutra]
Chapter 85: The Buddha's Seven Weeks of Meditation < [Part 190 - The Abhinishkramana-sutra]
The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (by Rajendralala Mitra)
Page 259 < [The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (pages)]
Page 319 < [The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (pages)]
Page 93 < [The Sanskrit Buddhist Literature of Nepal (pages)]
Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra (by Robert A. F. Thurman)
Lord Hayagriva in Sanskrit Literature (by Anindita Adhikari)
History and Temples < [Chapter 6]