Dàshèng mìyán jīng 大乘密嚴經
Mahāyāna Sūtra of the Densely-Adorned [Buddhaland] (Ghanavyūhasūtra) translated by 地婆訶羅 (Divākara, 譯)
About the work
T681 in three fascicles is the earlier of the two extant Chinese translations of the Ghanavyūha-sūtra (Tib. Stug-po bkod-pa’i mdo) — a late Mahāyāna sūtra, mid-to-late seventh century, that fuses Yogācāra (ālayavijñāna, three self-natures) with Tathāgatagarbha doctrine and depicts the Ghanavyūha (“densely-adorned”) buddhaland as the locus of perfect Buddha activity. Translated at the Eastern capital Luòyáng 洛陽 by Divākara (613–688), a Central-Indian translator active under Emperor 高宗 Gāozōng and Empress 武則天 Wǔ Zétiān, between his arrival in 676 and his death in 688. The opening colophon reads “唐天竺三藏地婆訶羅奉制譯” and the sūtra is divided into eight chapters (pǐn 品) — Mìyánhuì pǐn 密嚴會品, Miàoshēnshēng pǐn 妙身生品, etc.
Abstract
The Ghanavyūha-sūtra is doctrinally a key bridging text between Yogācāra Vijñaptimātra and Tathāgatagarbha thought, integrating the ālayavijñāna (賴耶識) of Yogācāra with the womb-of-the-tathāgata (如來藏) and amalavijñāna (無垢識) — anticipating later combined Yogācāra–Tathāgatagarbha syntheses such as the Awakening of Faith tradition. The sūtra’s title derives from the dense (“ghana”) array of jewels and ornaments depicting the perfected buddhaland of Buddha-activity. The buddhaland Ghanavyūha is described as transcending the realms of desire, form, and formlessness — as the field of the unobstructed Buddha-activity that is the proper locus of the awakened mind.
The sūtra is preserved in two Chinese versions: this earlier rendering (T681) by Divākara and a later version by Amoghavajra (KR6i0360 / T682, also in three fascicles) in 765 CE. Comparison shows the 不空 version is closer in tone to the developing tantric register, while 地婆訶羅’s is more sūtra-style and aligned with the Yogācāra exegesis of the period. The Tibetan witness is the closest extant parallel.
Related canonical texts: alternate version KR6i0360 (T682, by Amoghavajra); commentary KR6i0361 (X368 Dàshèng mìyán jīng shū 大乘密嚴經疏 by 法藏 Fǎzàng).
Translations and research
- Suzuki, Daisetz T. Studies in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. London, 1930 (treats the Ghanavyūha as a doctrinal companion to the Laṅkāvatāra).
- Lévi, Sylvain. Mahayanasutralankara. Paris, 1907–1911 (Indian-side comparanda).
- Zhang, Wenliang 張文良. “Daijō mitsugongyō no shisōshiteki kōsatsu” 大乗密厳経の思想史的考察. Tōhō Bukkyō 26 (1972).
No book-length English translation located.
Other points of interest
The sūtra is repeatedly cited in [[KR6q0092|Zōngjìng lù 宗鏡錄]] (T2016, by 延壽) — where the Ghanavyūha doctrine of the amalavijñāna and the ālayavijñāna-as-Tathāgatagarbha is one of the principal doctrinal pillars of 延壽’s synthesis of Chán and the doctrinal schools.