Mǎtóu Guānyīn xīn tuóluóní 馬頭觀音心陀羅尼
Heart-Dhāraṇī of the Horse-Headed Guānyīn (translator unknown)
About the work
A short one-fascicle anonymous xīntuóluóní 心陀羅尼 on the Hayagrīva (馬頭) Avalokiteśvara, preserved in the Taishō at T20n1072B as a brief witness immediately following 不空 Amoghavajra’s full Hayagrīva yíguǐ (KR6j0278 = T20n1072A). The text is anonymous; the dynasty is conventionally Tang, given the iconographic vocabulary and the use of “馬頭” (the standard Tang Chinese rendering of Hayagrīva) without the late-Tang esoteric variants.
Abstract
The text gives only the hṛdaya-dhāraṇī of Hayagrīva together with brief recitation instructions. It is an extract or condensation from the larger Hayagrīva ritual cycle (KR6j0278), suitable for liturgical use without the full yíguǐ apparatus. The translator’s anonymity and the work’s brevity place it in the genre of the practical extract-text, distributed widely outside the courtly Tángmì translation channels. Cross-reference: KR6j0278 (Amoghavajra’s full Hayagrīva manual), KR6j0280 (Hayagrīva-image method), KR6j0281 (Hayagrīva-receive-Dharma altar).
Translations and research
- Linrothe, Rob. Ruthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities. Boston: Shambhala, 1999.