Fóshuō shíyīmiàn Guānshìyīn shénzhòu jīng 佛說十一面觀世音神呪經
Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on the Spirit-Spell of the Eleven-Faced Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara by 耶舍崛多 (Yēshèjuéduō, Yaśogupta, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle short sūtra on the Eleven-Faced Avalokiteśvara (Ekādaśa-mukha) — the earliest surviving Chinese translation of the Avalokiteśvara-ekādaśa-mukha-dhāraṇī, rendered into Chinese during the Northern-Zhōu Yǔwén 宇文 dynasty (557–581) by Yaśogupta (耶舍崛多), an Indian translator active at the Northern-Zhōu court c. 561–578. The colophon reads 周宇文氏天竺三藏耶舍崛多譯 — “translated by Yaśogupta, Indian Tripiṭaka master, under the Yǔwén-Zhōu.”
Abstract
The sūtra opens at Gṛdhrakūṭa near Rājagṛha (王舍城耆闍崛山中) with Avalokiteśvara surrounded by countless mantra-holding worthies (持呪賢聖). The bodhisattva discloses his Ekādaśa-mukha form and the corresponding hṛdaya-dhāraṇī. The eleven faces are described in detail (three peaceful, three semi-wrathful, three wrathful, one laughing, one crowning Buddha-face), each corresponding to the bodhisattva’s salvific operation in a different domain. The dhāraṇī itself, several worship formulae, and the worldly fruits of recitation (cure of disease, exorcism, escape from peril) follow. As the earliest Chinese witness of the Ekādaśa-mukha-dhāraṇī, the work is foundational; it predates the Tang revisions by Xuánzàng (玄奘, KR6j0277 = T20n1071) and Amoghavajra (不空, KR6j0275 = T20n1069), and it is the historical entry-point of the Ekādaśa-mukha cult into China. The Sanskrit Vorlage circulated in North India in the early sixth century alongside the Mahā-karuṇā-puṇḍarīka and the early Sahasrabhuja dhāraṇīs. CANWWW (T20N1070) cross-references KR6j0277 (T20N1071) and the Atikūṭa compendium (KR6c0098, T901, fasc. 4).
Translations and research
- Reis-Habito, Maria. Die Dhāraṇī des Großen Erbarmens. Nettetal: Steyler, 1993 — comparative treatment.
- Inagaki, Hisao. “Ākāśagarbha and Ekādaśamukha: Two Avalokiteśvara Forms in Early Chinese Buddhism.” (proceedings paper, 1985 / Eastern Buddhist).
- Soper, Alexander. Literary Evidence for Early Buddhist Art in China. Ascona: Artibus Asiae, 1959.
Links
- CBETA T20n1070
- Kanseki DB
- 耶舍崛多 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (570) — 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.