City of Fragrances
City of Fragrances
衆香城・香城 (Skt Gandhavati; Jpn Shuko-jo or Ko-jo)
A city mentioned in the Wisdom sutras where Bodhisattva Dharmodgata lived and preached on the perfection of wisdom. According to the Larger Wisdom Sutra, when Ever Wailing (Skt Sadaprarudita) was seeking the teaching of the perfection of wisdom, he heard of Bodhisattva Dharmodgata who was preaching on it in the City of Fragrances, five hundred yojanas to the east. On the way, Ever Wailing, poor and having nothing to offer the bodhisattva for his sermon, expressed a desire to sell his body in a marketplace to obtain money. Thereupon the god Shakra assumed the form of a Brahman and appeared to Ever Wailing in order to test his resolve to seek the Law. Shakra told him that he wanted a human heart, blood, and marrow to perform a ritual. Overjoyed, Ever Wailing cut his flesh and broke open his bones to sell his blood and marrow. Seeing this, the daughter of a wealthy householder stopped him, volunteering to provide any offerings.
See also; Ever Wailing
