Dàrì rúlái jiànyìn 大日如來劍印
The Sword-Mudrā of the Mahāvairocana Tathāgata
About the work
A very short anonymous Esoteric ritual text in one fascicle giving the sword-mudrā (劍印 jiànyìn) of Mahāvairocana — a single mudrā-mantra-visualisation triplet drawn from the Garbhadhātu mandala practice. Printed in the Taishō under T18n0864A (paired with KR6j0023, which is T18n0864B = Yìcāo’s Tāizàng jīngāng jiàofǎ míngháo).
Prefaces
The text opens directly with the mudrā-instruction:
二手當心合掌，窟二頭指中節橫相跓，以二大母指並押二頭指上節如劍形。結此印即觀自心中有八葉蓮華，於華中想阿上字放金色光與印相應 […]
— “With the two hands joined in the heart-añjali, hollow the index fingers at the middle joints horizontally, and press the two thumbs against the upper joints of the index fingers, forming the shape of a sword. Forming this mudrā, contemplate the eight-petal lotus in the centre of one’s heart; in the lotus visualise the syllable A radiating golden light corresponding to the mudrā […]“. The accompanying mantra follows in the body of the text.
Abstract
A brief mudrā-mantra-visualisation triplet text presenting the sword-mudrā as a stand-alone Esoteric practice. The “sword” iconography is associated with Mañjuśrī in his Esoteric form as the wisdom-sword that cuts ignorance — but here is associated with Mahāvairocana himself as a representation of the prajñā aspect of the dharmakāya. The visualisation integrates the eight-petal lotus (the padma of the heart) with the syllable A — the standard a-ji-kan visualisation — and the sword-shape mudrā.
The text’s brevity and anonymous transmission place it among the working short ritual texts of the late-Tang to Sòng Esoteric tradition. It is preserved in the Taishō as a textual unit because the Korean Tripiṭaka witness already separated it as a distinct text, despite its brevity.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.