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佛說一髻尊陀羅尼經

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Text ID
KR6j0320
Date
746–774
Dynasty
唐

Fóshuō yījìzūn tuóluóní jīng 佛說一髻尊陀羅尼經

Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Single-Topknot Honoured-One Spoken by the Buddha (Ekajaṭā-dhāraṇī-sūtra) by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)

About the work

A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric dhāraṇī-sūtra on Ekajaṭā (一髻尊 Yījìzūn, “The Single-Topknot Honoured-One”) — a wrathful protector-goddess of the Tibetan-Indian Vajrayāna pantheon, here under her blue-Tārā (Nīla-Tārā / Ugra-Tārā) emanation. The deity Ekajaṭā (“She of the Single Matted Topknot”) is one of the principal wrathful retinue-deities of Avalokiteśvara-Tārā in Indian Tantric Buddhism, conventionally depicted with a single matted jaṭā topknot, blue body, and ferocious expression. Translated by Amoghavajra (不空).

Abstract

The discourse is set at Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa (鷲峯山) outside Rājagṛha (王舍大城), with innumerable bodhisattvas attending. Avalokiteśvara, accompanied by an innumerable retinue of vidyādhara sage-ones, comes to the Buddha, prostrates with the five members at the Buddha’s feet, circumambulates the Buddha three times, and takes a seat on one side. Ekajaṭā then enters the assembly and announces her mūla-dhāraṇī and the operative ritual procedure for her cult. The text expounds the iconography of the deity (single matted topknot, dark-blue body, holding the kartṛkā curved knife and the kapāla skull-cup, treading on a corpse), the mūla-mantra, the vidyā-formulae, the maṇḍala-arrangement, and the siddhi-applications — particularly the wrathful applications: the destruction of obstacles, the subjugation of malevolent beings, and the protection of the practitioner from supernatural attack.

The text is one of Amoghavajra’s translations of the Indic yoga-tantra-class wrathful Avalokiteśvara-retinue material, parallel to the other wrathful-emanation translations he produced (Parṇaśavarī KR6j0308, etc.). It is a key witness to the Tang Esoteric reception of the developed Indian Tantric goddess-pantheon.

Translations and research

  • Bühnemann, Gudrun. “The Goddess Mahācīnakrama-Tārā (Ugra-Tārā) in Buddhist and Hindu Tantrism.” BSOAS 59 (1996): 472–493 — Ekajaṭā / Ugra-Tārā discussion.
  • Mallmann, Marie-Thérèse de. Introduction à l’iconographie du tântrisme bouddhique. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1975.

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