Ājiātuómì yīyìn qiānlèi qiānzhuǎn sān shǐzhě chéngjiù jīngfǎ 阿迦陀密一印千類千轉三使者成就經法
Esoteric Sūtra-Method of the Three Messengers Single-Mudrā Thousand-Type Thousand-Turning Accomplishment of the Agada-rahasya by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A short one-fascicle Tang Esoteric jīngfǎ (經法, “sūtra-method”) on the Three Messenger (三使者 sān shǐzhě = Skt. trī-dūta / cetaka) practice — a kriyā-tantra-class operative ritual employing three messenger-deities of Avalokiteśvara. The first part of the title 阿迦陀密 (Ājiātuómì) transliterates Skt. Agada-rahasya — “the Esoteric of the Agada” (medicinal-amṛta, Agada being one of Avalokiteśvara’s healing aspects). Translated by Amoghavajra (不空) at Daxingshan-si. Preserved only in the Wàn Xùzàngjīng (卍續藏經, X02n0190), not in the Taishō main canon — an important indicator of the relative obscurity of this particular Avalokiteśvara fǎ in the later transmission.
Abstract
The text opens with Avalokiteśvara rising from his seat in the great assembly, prostrating with the five members at the feet of the Buddha, and announcing: “I have a single mantra, a single mudrā, and three messenger-mantras — a vast accomplishment-method. May it benefit and bring tranquillity to the good men and women of Jambudvīpa…” The text expounds the yīyìn (一印, “single mudrā”) that combines all three messenger-mantras, the qiānlèi qiānzhuǎn (千類千轉, “thousand-types-and-thousand-turnings” — i.e., a thousand variant applications of the basic mudrā-mantra-pair), the iconographic specifications of the three messenger-deities, and the siddhi-applications.
The “thousand-turnings” register links this text to the broader Tang Esoteric “thousand-armed” / “thousand-eyed” Avalokiteśvara apparatus, but the present text is uniquely focused on the messenger-deity (cetaka, yakṣiṇī) operative form — i.e., commanding the messenger-deities to perform the operative ritual on the practitioner’s behalf. As one of the more obscure Tang Esoteric Avalokiteśvara fǎ-texts, the work is a valuable witness to the elaboration of the kriyā-tantra operative ritual repertoire.
Translations and research
- Strickmann, Michel. Mantras et mandarins. Paris: Gallimard, 1996 — Tang Esoteric cetaka-messenger ritual operations.
- Reis-Habito, Maria. Die Dhāraṇī des Großen Erbarmens. Nettetal: Steyler, 1993.