Ananta
- It can also refer to
ananta
無辺・無量 (Skt, Pali; Jpn muhen or muryo )
Endless, eternal, boundless, limitless, infinite, or innumerable.
Anantacharitra ( Jpn Muhengyo) is the name of one of the four bodhisattvas who appear in the "Emerging from the Earth" (fifteenth) chapter of the Lotus Sutra as the leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth. Bodhisattva Anantacharitra is
translated as Bodhisattva Boundless Practices. Charitra means action, conduct, or good conduct. The "Introduction" (first) chapter of the Lotus Sutra refers to Anantamati, one of eight princes the Buddha Sun Moon Bright had fathered as a king before leaving secular life. Anantamati is translated as Immeasurable Intention.
Mati means intention, resolution, or mind. Ananta-nirdesha-pratishthana is the type of samadhi, or meditation, that Shakyamuni Buddha entered into before preaching the Lotus Sutra, according to the "Introduction" chapter of
the sutra. Ananta-nir-desha-pratishthana is interpreted in Kumarajiva's Chinese version of the Lotus Sutra as the samadhi of the origin of immeasurable meanings. Nirdesha means description, elucidation, or explanation, and pratishthana means basis, foundation, dwelling, or support.
