Wúliàngmén pòmó tuóluóní jīng 無量門破魔陀羅尼經
Sūtra of the Boundless-Gate Māra-Crushing Dhāraṇī (Anantamukha-sādhaka-dhāraṇī) by 功德直 (Gōngdézhí, 譯) with 玄暢 (Xuánchàng, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle translation of the Anantamukha-sādhaka-dhāraṇī completed in 462 at Chánfángsì 禪房寺 in Jīngzhōu, in the Liu-Sòng Xiàowǔdì Dàmíng 6 era. The Western-Region monk Gōngdézhí (功德直, Sanskrit name uncertain — possibly Guṇadhi) produced the base translation; the Liu-Sòng monk Xuánchàng (玄暢, 416–484) edited and polished the diction (cízhǐ wǎnmì 辭旨婉密). The variant title 無量門 Wúliàngmén matches Zhī Qiān’s KR6j0204; the pòmó 破魔 (“Māra-crushing”) qualifier highlights the demon-quelling efficacy of the dhāraṇī. CANWWW also gives the alt-title Pòmó tuóluóní jīng 破魔陀羅尼經.
Abstract
The collaboration documented in Chū sānzàng jì jí 出三藏記集 (T55 no. 2145, p. 106c) records that Xuánchàng — by then a major figure in Liu-Sòng / S. Qí Buddhism — invited Gōngdézhí (whose Sanskrit was native but whose Chinese was apparently inadequate for polished literary rendering) to translate this dhāraṇī-sūtra and the Púsà niànfó sānmèi jīng 菩薩念佛三昧經 (T414); Xuánchàng then performed the literary editing. The collaboration model — trepiṭaka + Chinese editor — was characteristic of fifth-century Chinese Buddhist translation practice and is discussed in the Chū sānzàng jì jí preface. The text’s vocabulary preserves both the early-Chinese dhāraṇī-idiom and the literary refinement that Xuánchàng’s editing brought; it occupies a transitional position between Zhī Qiān’s third-century pioneer translation KR6j0204 and the more mature Buddhabhadra and Guṇabhadra recensions.
For the full Anantamukha translation cycle, see KR6j0202.
Translations and research
- Inagaki, Hisao. The Anantamukha-nirhāra-dhāraṇī Sūtra and Jñānagarbha’s Commentary. Kyoto: Nagata Bunshōdō, 1987.
- Funayama, Tōru. “The Acceptance of Buddhist Precepts by the Chinese in the Fifth Century.” Journal of Asian History 38.2 (2004): 97–120. — context for fifth-century Liu-Sòng translation collaboration.
Links
- CBETA T19n1014
- Kanseki DB
- 功德直 DILA
- 玄暢 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (462, 470) — T = CBETA [Chinese Buddhist Electronic Text Association]. Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經. Edited by Takakusu Junjirō 高楠順次郎 and Watanabe Kaigyoku 渡邊海旭. Tokyo: Taishō shinshū daizōkyō kankōkai/Daizō shuppan, 1924-1932. CBReader v 5.0, 2014.