Praise You as I Should

While hymns of praise ( stotra/stuti/stava ) exist as an independent category of Buddhist literature, they also occur within other genres of texts like Mahyna Buddhist stra s. In this chapter, Craig explores how verses of praise are utilized in the Supupacandra chapter of the Samdhirjastra in relation to its conception of the preacher of the dharma ( dharmabhaka ). The chapter argues that the Samdhirjastra utilizes stotra s in a didactic manner to convey to the stra 's audience its normative vision of the ideal dharmabhaka as fundamentally worthy of praise because of embodying Buddhist virtues (e.g., the six pramit s); preaching Buddhist doctrines (e.g., the eightfold path); and being one whose very presence is both a blessing to others and enough to set them on the path to awakening. Building on the work of Yigal Bronner and Hamsa Stainton, the chapter demonstrates that the flexibility of the stotra genre is integral to its appearance in Mahyna stra s, which often aim to be encyclopedic and inclusive of all genres of Buddhist literature. Furthermore, it argues that Buddhists (and Jains), who composed some of the earliest stotra s, did not just expand the range of subjects appropriate for stotra s, but rather created the range of subjects appropriate for them.