Fómǔ dàkǒngquè míngwáng jīng 佛母大孔雀明王經
Sūtra of the Buddha-Mother Great Peacock Vidyārājñī by 不空 (Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A three-fascicle Tang-period translation by Amoghavajra (不空) of the Mahāmāyūrī-vidyārājñī (大孔雀明王 Dàkǒngquè míngwáng) — the goddess-spell of the Great Peacock who guards against snake-bite, fever, and demonic affliction. The text is the standard Tang Esoteric recension of the Mahāmāyūrī and superseded the earlier translations by Kumārajīva (KR6j0175), Saṅghapāla (KR6j0171), Yìjìng (KR6j0172), and the anonymous early-medieval recensions (KR6j0173–KR6j0174). Together with the Mahāmegha-sūtra (大雲經 KR6j0176–KR6j0180), the Mahāmāyūrī belongs to the cluster of vidyārājñī-protective scriptures that constituted one of the principal pillars of Tang state Buddhism.
Structural Division
The Mahāmāyūrī-vidyārājñī presents a sūtra-frame narrative around the Buddha’s pronouncement of the Peacock-King mantra to protect the monk Svāti from snake-bite, expanded through:
- A long narrative nidāna establishing the rescue of Svāti from venomous snakebite via the Peacock-King incantation.
- The principal Mahāmāyūrī-vidyā with comprehensive demon-class-naming sequences (yakṣa, rākṣasa, piśāca, gandharva, bhūta, kumbhāṇḍa lists) covering all classes of malevolent beings.
- An extensive geographical-protection list naming the yakṣa generals stationed at sacred sites and major Indian cities — the most elaborate sacred-geography list in the entire dhāraṇī corpus.
- The mātṛkā-protection sequence covering the seven canonical Buddhist mothers and their protective domains.
- A closing dedication-of-merit and ritual-instruction section.
Related parallel texts in the canon: KR6j0171 (Saṅghapāla T984), KR6j0172 (Yìjìng T985), KR6j0173 (anonymous T986), KR6j0174 (anonymous T987), KR6j0175 (Kumārajīva T988).
Abstract
The Mahāmāyūrī-vidyārājñī is one of the earliest Buddhist dhāraṇī-scriptures to enter the Chinese canon (Kumārajīva’s translation, 401–413, was probably the earliest), and the text underwent multiple retranslations across the Six Dynasties, Sui, and Tang periods. Amoghavajra’s three-fascicle T982 became the canonical Tang-Sòng standard, integrating the dhāraṇī within the elaborated yoga-tantra ritual frame and providing the comprehensive yakṣa-general-name list that became a principal source for Tang Esoteric ritual geography. The text was central to the Tang state-protection ritual programme — Amoghavajra performed the Mahāmāyūrī-rite at court for emperors Xuánzōng, Sùzōng, and Dàizōng to repel calamities of state, including the 安祿山 Ān Lùshān rebellion. Composition falls within Amoghavajra’s Cháng’ān period (746–774).
Translations and research
Reminder: AI generated list - beware of hallucinations. Corrections and additions welcome
- DesJardins, J. F. Marc. Le Sūtra de Mahāmāyūrī. Paris: Cerf, 2017. — French translation and study of the Sanskrit Mahāmāyūrī.
- Hoernle, A. F. R. Manuscript Remains of Buddhist Literature Found in Eastern Turkestan. Oxford: Clarendon, 1916. — earlier reconstruction of the Sanskrit text.
- Lévi, Sylvain. “Le catalogue géographique des Yakṣa dans la Mahāmāyūrī.” Journal Asiatique (1915): 19–138. — fundamental study of the geographical-yakṣa list.
- Sørensen, Henrik H. “Esoteric Buddhism under the Tang.” In Esoteric Buddhism and the Tantras in East Asia. Leiden: Brill, 2011.