Kǒngquè wáng zhòu jīng 孔雀王呪經
Sūtra of the Peacock-King Spell by 僧伽婆羅 (Saṅghapāla, 譯)
About the work
A two-fascicle Liáng-period (Southern dynasties) translation of the Mahāmāyūrī-vidyā by Saṅghapāla (僧伽婆羅) — the Funan-born trepiṭaka who served the Liáng emperor Wǔdì at the Shòuguāngdiàn 壽光殿 imperial translation bureau in Jiànkāng. The text is one of the earliest Mahāmāyūrī recensions in the Chinese canon (alongside Kumārajīva’s T988, KR6j0175) and predates Yìjìng’s later seventh-century retranslation (KR6j0172) and Amoghavajra’s eighth-century definitive recension (KR6j0167).
Abstract
Saṅghapāla (僧伽婆羅, ca. 460–524, Skt. Saṅghapāla / Saṅghavarman) was a Funan (扶南, Mekong delta) Buddhist monk who arrived at the Liáng capital ca. 503 and was assigned by emperor Wǔdì to lead the imperial translation bureau. His translation activity is documented in the Liáng gāosēng zhuàn 梁高僧傳 (KR6r0052) by 慧皎 Huìjiǎo and in 僧祐 Sēngyòu’s Chū sānzàng jì jí 出三藏記集 (KR6s0084). The Kǒngquè wáng zhòu jīng gives the standard early-medieval Mahāmāyūrī recension with the Svāti narrative nidāna, the principal vidyā, and an early form of the yakṣa-general geographical list — though substantially shorter than Amoghavajra’s expanded T982 list. Saṅghapāla’s translation enjoyed wide circulation in the Liáng-Chén-Sui and early-Tang periods before being progressively superseded by the later recensions; it remains valuable as a witness to the early-medieval Indic recensional history of the Mahāmāyūrī.
Translations and research
- DesJardins, J. F. Marc. Le Sūtra de Mahāmāyūrī. Paris: Cerf, 2017.
- Lévi, Sylvain. “Le catalogue géographique des Yakṣa dans la Mahāmāyūrī.” Journal Asiatique (1915): 19–138.
- Hoernle, A. F. R. Manuscript Remains of Buddhist Literature Found in Eastern Turkestan. Oxford: Clarendon, 1916.