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佛頂尊勝陀羅尼經

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Text ID
KR6j0144
Date
683–683
Dynasty
唐

Fódǐng zūnshèng tuóluóní jīng 佛頂尊勝陀羅尼經

Sūtra of the Buddha-Crown Victorious Dhāraṇī (Skt. Uṣṇīṣavijaya-dhāraṇī-sūtra) by 佛陀波利 Fótuó Bōlì (Buddhapāli, 譯), with 順貞 Shùnzhēn (筆受) and imperial-court personnel

About the work

A one-fascicle Esoteric dhāraṇī scripture translated by Buddhapāli (佛陀波利) at Cháng’ān in 683 CE (Yǒngchún 永淳 2). The Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī — the “Buddha-Crown Victorious Dhāraṇī” — is one of the most popular and widely-recited dhāraṇīs in East Asian Buddhism, with a long history of liturgical and devotional use.

Abstract

The Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī originates in the Indian Buddhist dhāraṇī-collection literature and is associated with the cosmic-protective Buddha-Crown / uṣṇīṣa tradition. The narrative frame: a Tuṣita-heaven prince called Sucandra will die in seven days and be reborn in seven successive evil destinies; Indra asks the Buddha for a remedy; the Buddha teaches the Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī, recitation of which extinguishes the karmic causes of the seven evil rebirths and confers long life. The dhāraṇī’s protective, life-extending, and karma-purifying functions made it one of the most widely-recited Buddhist mantras in East Asia.

The Buddhapāli translation (T967) is the first of four major Táng Chinese translations of the Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī, the others being Dù Xíngyǐ’s T968 (KR6j0145), Divākara’s T969 (KR6j0146) and T970 (KR6j0147), and Yìjìng’s T971 (KR6j0148). These four translations document the intense Táng interest in the dhāraṇī — likely the most-translated single dhāraṇī of the Táng period.

The translation date is 683 CE, with collaborators including Shùnzhēn (順貞) and the imperial-court personnel.

Translations and research

  • Copp, Paul. The Body Incantatory: Spells and the Ritual Imagination in Medieval Chinese Buddhism. New York: Columbia UP, 2014. — Detailed treatment of the Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī tradition.
  • Reis-Habito, Maria. Die Dhāraṇī des Großen Erbarmens des Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. Nettetal: Steyler, 1993.
  • Sørensen, Henrik H. “The Cult of the Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī in Medieval China.” In Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia (Brill, 2011).

Other points of interest

The Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī was one of the most epigraphically attested Buddhist mantras in Táng and Sòng China, frequently inscribed on stone columns (jīngchuáng 經幢) erected at temples, monastery courtyards, and along pilgrim routes — particularly the many pillars known as Zūnshèng-chuáng 尊勝幢 or fódǐng zūnshèng-chuáng 佛頂尊勝幢. Several thousand such stone columns survive from the Táng-Sòng period as material witnesses to the dhāraṇī’s widespread popularity.

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