Sutra on the Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā

The version copied here is a Chinese translation by Guṇabhadra (394–468), an Indian monk who was active during China’s Liu Song dynasty. In the sutra, Queen Śrīmālā expounds upon the virtue of the one-vehicle doctrine and the buddha-nature inherent to all beings. Prince Shōtoku (574–622) is said to have produced an annotated version of the sutra and delivered a sermon on it for Empress Suiko (554–628). The frontispiece features a painting in rich pigments of the prince’s sermon. The scroll is further decorated with mist-like trails of gold dust and paintings of scattered petals, which suggest a ritual in which flowers are tossed as offerings to Buddhist deities. Its ornateness is typical of decorated sutras produced in the early Kamakura period (1192–1333).

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.