Chūshēng wúbiānmén tuóluóní jīng 出生無邊門陀羅尼經
Anantamukha-sādhaka-dhāraṇī Sūtra by 智嚴 (Zhìyán, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle early-Tang translation of the Anantamukha-sādhaka-dhāraṇī by Zhìyán (智嚴, fl. early 8th c.), the Khotanese (于闐) prince-translator. The text shares its Chinese title in full with Amoghavajra’s later T1009 (KR6j0202) — both bear the title Chūshēng wúbiānmén tuóluóní jīng, distinguished only by translator and date. CANWWW alt-title: Wúbiānmén tuóluóní jīng 無邊門陀羅尼經.
Abstract
Zhìyán was a prince of the Yútián 于闐 (Khotan) royal house who took monastic ordination and travelled to Chángān, where he served the Tang court as imperial translator. His most celebrated work is the present Anantamukha translation, made in 721 (玄宗 Xuánzōng Kāiyuán 9) and recorded in Kāiyuán shìjiào lù 開元釋教錄 — a date that puts him precisely in the generation between Bodhiruci II 菩提流志 (active 706–727) and Vajrabodhi 金剛智 (671–741, arrived 720). His translation thus represents the final pre-Esoteric phase of the Anantamukha tradition in Chinese, immediately preceding Amoghavajra’s eighth-century re-translation KR6j0202 within the systematic Tángmì programme. Listed at Nanjio 360. 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.
- Hidas, Gergely. Powers of Protection. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2021.
Links
- CBETA T19n1018
- Kanseki DB
- 智嚴 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (707) — 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.