One of the words used to refer to a bodhisattva in Mahāyāna Buddhism is satpuruṣa (P. sappurisa). This word, meaning “good man,” is found already in early Buddhist texts, especially in verses. For example, in very early texts such as the Dhammapada it refers to the Buddha, and this usage is reflected in the Mahāvastu and other biographies of the Buddha.
Again, in the Sappurisa-sutta in the Majjhimanikāya, sappurisa refers to an outstanding monk who neither boasts about himself nor looks down on others, while in the Dīghanikāya and Saṃyuttanikāya it refers to a “stream-enterer.” This tradition of equating the satpuruṣa (sappurisa) with someone who is still on the path of training was also carried over in Abhidharma texts of the Northern tradition, such as the Mahāvibhāṣā and Abhidharmakośabhāṣya. At the same time, there are also instances, such as the Sappurisa-sutta in the Aṅguttaranikāya and some suttas in the Saṃyuttanikāya, in which this term refers to a lay Buddhist householder who gives alms to practitioners.
In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the satpuruṣa, who had been depicted either as a renunciant such as the Buddha and his disciples or occasionally as a layman, came to be used synonymously with kulaputra and bodhisattva and was also depicted in certain circumstances as a lay bodhisattva. This term is not found very often in early Mahāyāna scriptures, but subsequently seven bodhisattvas starting with Bhadrapāla developed into a tradition of sixteen satpuruṣa. That is to say, with the organization and popularization of Mahāyāna Buddhism the position of satpuruṣa also changed. These changes in usage mirror changes in the meaning of bodhisattva.
In this paper, focusing on the concept of satpuruṣa, I examine examples of the usage of terms such as bodhisattva and kulaputra through a comparison ranging from early Buddhism to Mahāyāna Buddhism. By doing so, I hope to clarify one aspect of how the transmission of Mahāyāna Buddhism evolved.
