Qījùzhī fómǔ suǒshuō Zhǔntí tuóluóní jīng 七俱胝佛母所說准提陀羅尼經
Cundī-Dhāraṇī Sūtra Expounded by the Mother of Seven Koṭi-Buddhas by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric dhāraṇī-sūtra on Cundī translated by Amoghavajra (不空) — one of three Tang recensions of the Cundī-dhāraṇī (the others being KR6j0282 by Vajrabodhi and KR6j0284 by Divākara). The colophon carries Amoghavajra’s full senior-court titles, indicating final canonical recension after his settled position at the Dàxìngshànsì 大興善寺 under 肅宗 Sùzōng / 代宗 Dàizōng.
Abstract
The opening situates the discourse at the Jetavana (逝多林) of Anāthapiṇḍada near Śrāvastī (名稱大城). The Buddha, contemplating future beings, expounds the Cundī-dhāraṇī as transmitted by the seven koṭi of buddha-mātṛ. Amoghavajra’s rendering refines the Sanskrit transliteration of the dhāraṇī (his Vorlage differs slightly from Vajrabodhi’s), and adds more detailed ritual prescriptions: the cundī-yantra (a circular diagram with the deity at the centre), the visualisation of the eighteen-armed Cundī seated on a lotus surrounded by attendants, the abhiṣeka-procedure, and the homa operations. The text is the most influential of the Tang Cundī recensions and has remained the principal reference for the Cundī-cult down to modern East-Asian Buddhism. CANWWW (T20N1076) cross-references KR6j0282 and KR6j0284.
Translations and research
- Gimello, Robert. “Icon and Incantation: The Goddess Zhunti.” In Images in Asian Religions, 2004.
- Strickmann, Michel. Mantras et mandarins. Paris: Gallimard, 1996.
Links
- CBETA T20n1076
- Kanseki DB
- 不空 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (750) — 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.