Pútíchǎng suǒshuō yīzì dǐnglúnwáng jīng 菩提場所說一字頂輪王經

Sūtra of the One-Syllable Crown-Wheel-King Spoken at the Bodhi-Maṇḍa by 不空 Bùkōng (Amoghavajra, 譯)

About the work

A five-fascicle Esoteric scripture by Amoghavajra (不空) on the One-Syllable Crown-Wheel-King (yīzì dǐnglúnwáng 一字頂輪王 — Ekākṣara-uṣṇīṣa-cakra-rāja) — the cosmic-Esoteric deity whose practice centers on a single seed-syllable (ekākṣara) of supreme cosmic-protective power. The setting is the Bodhi-maṇḍa (the seat of awakening at Bodhgayā), where the Buddha is said to have preached this text.

Abstract

The text presents one of the principal Táng Esoteric uṣṇīṣa-cakra-rāja (Buddha-Crown Wheel-King) scriptures. The yīzì (one-syllable) form refers to the practice’s centering on a single cosmic bīja-syllable — variously identified as bhrūṃ, hrīṃ, or oṃ depending on the recension. The five fascicles cover the doctrinal framework, the sādhana practices, the offerings, and the protective-cosmic applications of the one-syllable practice.

The composition dates from Amoghavajra’s mature Cháng’ān period (746–774).

Translations and research

Reminder: AI generated list - beware of hallucinations. Corrections and additions welcome

No substantial secondary literature located. (The text is briefly discussed in Goble 2019 and in the Japanese Shingon uṣṇīṣa literature.)