Dàbǎo guǎngbó lóugé shànzhù mìmì tuóluóní jīng 大寶廣博樓閣善住祕密陀羅尼經
Sūtra of the Secret Dhāraṇī of the Vast Great-Jewelled Pavilion of Auspicious Dwelling by 不空 (Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A three-fascicle Tang-period translation by Amoghavajra (不空) of the Mahā-vipula-mahā-maṇi-vimāna-supratiṣṭhita-guhya-dhāraṇī-sūtra — the “Vast Great-Jewelled Pavilion” dhāraṇī-sūtra. The text presents an extensive uṣṇīṣa / vipula-prāsāda dhāraṇī together with an elaborate sūtra-frame narrative of cosmic-Buddha visions, jewelled-pavilion architectural visualisations, and the systematic generation of merit-empowered dhāraṇī-recitation practice.
Abstract
The Vipula-prāsāda sūtra constitutes one of the most expansive single-dhāraṇī scriptures in the Esoteric corpus. Its central vipula-prāsāda dhāraṇī — the “Vast-Pavilion” mantra — is associated with the visualisation of the cosmic prāsāda / vimāna (jewelled pavilion / palace) of all Buddhas, in which the practitioner mentally constructs a vast multi-levelled pavilion adorned with the seven jewels and inhabited by the Buddha-deities of all the cardinal and intermediate directions. The text is one of three principal Chinese recensions: Amoghavajra’s T1005A (this text), Bodhiruci II’s T1006 (KR6j0199), and the brief fànběn T1005B (KR6j0198). Composition falls in Amoghavajra’s Cháng’ān period (746–774).
Translations and research
- Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection: The Buddhist Tradition of Spells in the Dhāraṇīsaṃgraha Collections. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021. — for the vipula-prāsāda dhāraṇī corpus.
- Hidas, Gergely. Mahāpratisarā-Mahāvidyārājñī: The Great Amulet, Great Queen of Spells. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 2012. — comparative material for related dhāraṇī sūtras.