佛教轉輪王神話的形象或者來自吠陀文化。從漢譯佛典研究，其形象後的觀念在早期經典已完整定型：以四德，七寶、主四天下，正法教化，從婆羅門君主轉向佛教的修行者。轉輪王剎帝利身份飽滿政治意義，透過與釋迦牟尼本生故事連結，飽滿宗教神聖明亮的形象。《佛般泥洹經》聯結轉輪王為佛陀前世的資糧位，本生事造經聖化與神化此結合的形象，同時也是宗教象徵的表達，解讀重點應注目在文本與教義中表達的觀念。《阿含經》中使用的轉輪聖王譬喻，暗示婆羅門的人間極貴、死生梵天（梵我合一）仍不離生死輪迴之苦，宣示只有修禪成佛才是最究竟的解脫。大乘經攝受阿含經中轉輪王的觀念，在比例開示，曉悟宗義的目的上，各種運用靈活運用，故事發展更細膩豐富，但因重視居士和主張十方佛，轉輪王即佛（佛前世、即將成佛）的身份特徵被菩薩取代，它的形象雖然更華麗，世間性格也更增強，且在成佛的意義上不再獨一無二，反而利於信仰佛教的帝王擷取，塑造帝王的神化聖化形象，成為其政權的基礎。《阿含經》中，始自剎帝利供養婆羅門的傳統變成一佛一輪王形式，而在《佛般泥洹經》中，轉輪王與佛不同世的同身，暗示轉輪王即佛的觀念，是在輪迴的宇宙觀裡被信仰。

The image of cakravartin in the Buddhist mythology may come from Vedic culture. According to previous studies of Chinese-translated Buddhist sutras, the concept of this term has long been fully defined in early sutras: a cakravartin, reigning over the world with four virtues and seven treasures and edifying the people by dharma, is a Brahmin king becoming a practitioner of Buddhism. Later as described in the text and doctrines of the Buddha-Parinirvana Sutra, that a cakravartin belongs to the kshatriya caste is full of political significance, and through the association with the Jataka tales of Shakyamuni Buddha, the image of a cakravartin exhibits its religious sacredness and brightness. The avadanas of cakravartin in the Hinayana Agama sutras suggest that either the highest class of the brahmins or the philosophy that Brahman and Atman are one and the same is still within samsara. The ultimate freedom from the samsara of life and death lies only in the practice of dhyana and attainment of Buddhahood. However, the Mahayana sutras, inheriting such a cakravartin concept in the Agama sutras, contain a more flexible and elaborate development of narratives for the interpretation and understanding of the Buddhist doctrines. Yet, due to the emphasis on laity and Buddhas of the Ten Directions, the feature of “cakravartin as Buddha” （Buddha’s past life or Buddha-to-be） is substituted by Bodhisattva with a more magnificent image and stronger worldly character. Moreover, since cakravartin is no longer unique in terms of attaining Buddhahood, the concept can easily be adapted by Buddhist monarchs, instead, to build up their own deified and sanctified images that are served as the foundation of regimes. To sum up, while the Vedic tradition that kshatriyas support brahmins is changed to “one Buddha and one cakravartin” in the Agama sutras, the Buddha-Parinirvana Sutra teaches that a cakravartin and a Buddha are one but only in different lives. This implication of the “cakravartin as Buddha” concept is thus believed in the Buddhist worldview of samsara.

佛般泥洹經; 轉輪王; 漢譯佛典; 轉輪王即佛; 象徵

Buddha-Parinirvana Sutra; Cakravartin; Chinese-translated Buddhist Sutras; cakravartin as Buddha; symbolic