Viśiṣṭacāritra

Viśiṣṭacāritra
Sanskritविशिष्टचारित्र
Viśiṣṭacāritra
Chinese上行菩薩
(Pinyin: Shàngxíng Púsà)
Japanese上行菩薩じょうぎょうぼさつ
(romaji: Jōgyō Bosatsu)
Khmerវិសិស្តចារិត្រ
(vi-ses-chaa-reut)
Korean상행보살
(RR: Sanghaeng Bosal)
TagalogBisistakalitla
Tibetanསྤྱོད་པ་ཁྱད་པར་ཅན་
Wylie: spyod pa khyad par can
VietnameseThượng Hạnh Bồ Tát
Information
Venerated byMahāyāna, Vajrayāna
Religion portal

Viśiṣṭacāritra (Sanskrit: विशिष्टचारित्र; also known as Superior Practice) is a bodhisattva mentioned in the 15th, 21st, and 22nd chapters of the Lotus Sutra. He is one of the four great perfected bodhisattvas who attends Gautama Buddha and protects the Lotus Sutra and its devotees. The other three are Anantacaritra, Visuddhacaritra, and Supratisthitacaritra; together they make up the four great primarily evolved bodhisattvas. Viśiṣṭacāritra is also believed to represent the "true self" characteristic of buddhahood, which is the selflessness of Nirvana.