Xiánjié shíliùzūn 賢劫十六尊
The Sixteen Worthies of the Bhadrakalpa (anonymous)
About the work
A one-fascicle anonymous Esoteric reference text giving the iconographic-mantric specifications of the sixteen Bodhisattvas of the Bhadrakalpa (xiánjié shíliùzūn — the sixteen great Bodhisattvas of the present “fortunate aeon”). These sixteen are a sub-group within the Vajradhātu mandala — the four Vajra-bodhisattvas of each of the four directions (4 × 4 = 16) — though the text identifies them with the sixteen great Bodhisattvas of the Bhadrakalpa, drawing on the older Mahāyāna Buddhāvataṃsaka / Bhadrakalpika tradition.
Abstract
The text gives a working iconographic-mantric reference for the sixteen Bodhisattvas: each has a bīja, a mudrā, an iconographic colour and posture, and an associated mantra. The sixteen are: (in the eastern Vajra-family) Samantabhadra, Maitreya, Mañjuśrī, Sarva-mala-nirgata; (in the southern Jewel-family) Akṣayamati, Pratibhāna-kūṭa, Akāśagarbha, Sumaṅgala; (in the western Lotus-family) Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Brahma-mati, Dhāraṇi-svara-rāja; (in the northern Karma-family) Vajra-saṃgha, Tatra-padma, Sarva-saṃgha-rakṣaka, Vajra-deva.
The composition is anonymous and conventionally dated late Tang to Sòng (8th–10th c.).
Translations and research
- Snodgrass, Adrian. The Matrix and Diamond World Mandalas in Shingon Buddhism. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1988.