Jīngāngdǐng jīng Duōluó púsà niànsòng fǎ 金剛頂經多羅菩薩念誦法
Recitation Method of the Bodhisattva Tārā from the Vajraśekhara-sūtra by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric niànsòngfǎ (念誦法, “recitation method” — i.e., a sādhana manual) on Tārā (多羅 Duōluó), drawn from the Vajraśekhara cycle (KR6j0024 family) and translated by Amoghavajra (不空). The opening verses position the text as a yoga-tantra-class sādhana: Tārā is invoked as the female emanation of Avalokiteśvara’s compassionate activity, the “Sovereign of the Yoga” (瑜伽自在王). This is one of the earliest Chinese-canonical Tārā sādhana-manuals in operative form, predating the more elaborate Sòng-period Tārā translations.
Abstract
The text opens with a dedicatory verse in the gāthā form: 「歸命瑜伽自在王，善住如幻三昧者，普於淨染諸剎海，能示種種隨類身」 — “I take refuge in the Sovereign-King of Yoga, who abides well in the illusion-samādhi, who pervades the pure-and-defiled ocean of kṣetras and manifests every kind of body in response to every kind of being.” The verses praise Tārā as the universal mother (jagad-mātṛ) of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the cintāmaṇi-jewel of the Mahāyāna, and the embodiment of the perfected prajñā-pāramitā.
The text expounds the sādhana-procedure for Tārā: the visualisation of the deity (green-bodied, holding the utpala-lotus, seated in lalitāsana), the mūla-mantra (oṃ tāre tuttāre ture svāhā) and its variant forms, the mudrā repertoire, the abhiṣeka sequence, the homa offerings, and the siddhi-applications (cure of disease, accumulation of merit, attainment of bhūmi-stages, success in soteriological practice). As a Tang Esoteric Tārā sādhana it is a foundational text for the East Asian Esoteric Tārā cult, complementing the later Sòng-period Tārā translations (KR6j0313–KR6j0319 T1104–T1109).
Translations and research
- Beyer, Stephan. The Cult of Tārā: Magic and Ritual in Tibet. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973 — comprehensive study of the Tārā cult, with discussion of the East Asian variants.
- Wilson, Martin. In Praise of Tārā: Songs to the Saviouress. London: Wisdom, 1986.
- Bühnemann, Gudrun. “The Goddess Mahācīnakrama-Tārā (Ugra-Tārā) in Buddhist and Hindu Tantrism.” BSOAS 59 (1996): 472–493.
Links
- CBETA T20n1102
- Kanseki DB
- 不空 DILA
- Wikipedia
- 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.