Sadāparibhūta (Bodhisattva Never Despising)

The account is presented in Chapter 20 of the Lotus Sūtra (Saddharmapuṇḍarīka) as an avadāna or past-life tale told by Shakyamuni Buddha. In the narrative Sadāparibhūta lived during the ‘Middle Period of the Law’ under a Buddha called Awesome Sound King (威音王如來) and made it his practice to pay homage to every monk, nun, layman and laywoman he met, proclaiming that they would become Buddhas. When other Buddhists criticized and physically assaulted him (striking him with sticks and stones) for predicting others’ Buddhahood, he persisted in his reverence and refrain, shouting from a distance that he did not despise them and that they were to become Buddhas. The sutra identifies this bodhisattva as a past-life manifestation of Shakyamuni who, through hearing the Lotus Sutra and accumulating merit over inconceivable rebirths, eventually attained perfect enlightenment.

Canonical sources supplied do not provide an iconographic or bodily description of Sadāparibhūta. The textual portrayal emphasizes his conduct: repeatedly bowing in obeisance to those he met, speaking words of praise and prediction of Buddhahood, and continuing these acts even when physically attacked. Thus the narrative image preserved in the sources is behavioral rather than morphological — a humble, reverent wanderer whose identity is conveyed through persistent gestures of homage and speech rather than specific clothing, attributes, or physical features.

The Lotus Sūtra attributes to Sadāparibhūta ethical-soteriological efficacy rather than overt supernatural powers: his unwavering practice of honoring others and proclaiming their future Buddhahood functions doctrinally to accrue merit, purify the six sense faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind), and ultimately lead to Buddhahood after inconceivable rebirths. The narrative frames these outcomes as karmic and soteriological consequences of faithful practice and of upholding the Lotus teaching; they are presented as the benefits that accrue to both the bodhisattva and to those who preserve the sutra rather than as combat or magic-like abilities.