Píjùzhī púsà yībǎibā míng jīng 毘俱胝菩薩一百八名經
Sūtra of the One-Hundred-and-Eight Names of the Bodhisattva Bhṛkuṭī (Bhṛkuṭī-aṣṭottara-śata-nāma-sūtra) by 法天 (Fǎtiān, Dharmadeva, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Northern Sòng aṣṭottara-śata-nāma hymn-sūtra to Bhṛkuṭī (毘俱胝 Píjùzhī, “the Frowning One” — a wrathful retinue-deity of Avalokiteśvara, depicted with three eyes and a frowning expression, holding the triśūla trident) translated by Dharmadeva (法天). The deity Bhṛkuṭī, like Tārā, is one of the principal female emanations of Avalokiteśvara in Indian Tantric Buddhism, conventionally pictured as the wrathful counterpart to Tārā’s peaceful aspect. The text is parallel in form to the Tārā aṣṭottara-śata-nāma texts (KR6j0314–KR6j0316) translated in the same Sòng Yìjīngyuàn programme.
Prefaces
The opening namaskāra: 歸命一切如來應供遍知覺。我今說此一切如來心真言。若有天人持明仙眾。歸命供養… — “I take refuge in all Tathāgatas, Arhats, Samyak-sambuddhas. Now I shall expound this hṛdaya-mantra of all Tathāgatas. If there be devas, humans, vidyādharas, or ṛṣis who take refuge and make offering…”
Abstract
The text expounds the one-hundred-and-eight names of Bhṛkuṭī in aṣṭottara-śata-nāma-stotra form. Each of the deity’s epithets — Bhṛkuṭī, Trinētrā (“Three-Eyed”), Triśūla-pāṇi (“Trident-Bearer”), Mahā-yakṣiṇī, Vajra-vidyā-rāñjī, etc. — is given as a namaskāra invocation. The text catalogues the iconographic specifications (the deity’s three eyes, frowning expression, trident, and her position in the Avalokiteśvara kalpa-rāja maṇḍala), the mūla-mantra and the secondary vidyā-formulae, and the siddhi-applications particularly for the wrathful operations: protection against malevolent spirits, the binding of demons, and the destruction of supernatural obstacles.
The text is one of the principal Sòng-period Bhṛkuṭī witnesses and provides the canonical reference for the Bhṛkuṭī cult that, while less prominent than the Tārā cult in the Chinese tradition, was a continuing presence in the Sòng-period Esoteric devotional repertoire.
Translations and research
- Mallmann, Marie-Thérèse de. Introduction à l’iconographie du tântrisme bouddhique. Paris: Maisonneuve, 1975 — Bhṛkuṭī iconography.
- Bühnemann, Gudrun. “Buddhist Deities and Mantras in the Hindu Tantras.” Indo-Iranian Journal 42 (1999): 303–334.
Links
- CBETA T20n1114
- Kanseki DB
- 法天 DILA
- Wikipedia (English)
- Dazangthings date evidence (980) — 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.