AMITĀYUS

 

AMITĀYUS, Sanskrit name of one of the transcendental Buddhas, the so-called Dhyāni-Buddhas, of later Buddhism. He became associated with Sukhāvatī, the Pure Land or paradise of the west. Of a Late Khotanese poem in praise of Amitāyus (in Late Khotanese, Armyāya) thirty-six out of an original total of sixty verses are extant (published in transcription by H. W. Bailey in Khotanese Texts IV, Cambridge, 1961, pp. 36-37; tr. and commentary, pp. 129-35). 

Bibliography:

Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, ed.

G. P. Malalasekera, I, fasc. 3, Sri Lanka, 1964, s.v. Amita (pp. 434-63).

Hôbôgirin, ed.

S. Lévi, J. Takakusu, and P. Demiéville, fasc. 1, Tokyo, 1929, s.v. Amida (pp. 24-30).

(R. E. Emmerick)

Originally Published: December 15, 1989

Last Updated: August 3, 2011

This article is available in print.
Vol. I, Fasc. 9, p. 973

Cite this entry:

R. E. Emmerick, “AMITĀYUS,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/9, p. 973, available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/amitayus (accessed on 30 December 2012).