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 The text is the standard Tang Esoteric recension of the Mahāmāyūrī and superseded the earlier translations by Kumārajīva (KR6j0175), Saṅghapāla (KR6j0171), Yìjìng (KR6j0172), and the anonymous early-medieval recensions (KR6j0173–KR6j0174).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
- 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.