Pǔxián jīngāng sàduǒ lüè yúqié niànsòng yíguǐ 普賢金剛薩埵略瑜伽念誦儀軌
Abridged Yoga Recitation Ritual Manual of Samantabhadra-Vajrasattva by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A short one-fascicle Tang Esoteric abridged yíguǐ on Samantabhadra-Vajrasattva (普賢金剛薩埵 Pǔxián Jīngāngsàduǒ) — i.e., Vajrasattva in his Samantabhadra-emanation form, the central figure of the Mahāsukha-Vajrasattva cycle. Translated by Amoghavajra (不空). The opening line declares the text’s purpose: “I now expound the Samantabhadra-bodhisattva-kāya-vāk-citta-vajra-japa-fǎ…” (我今說普賢菩薩身口意金剛念誦法 — “the vajra-recitation-method of the body-speech-mind of Samantabhadra”). The compactness (lüè 略) of this text makes it useful as a portable practice manual, complementing the longer Samantabhadra yíguǐ of KR6j0337 and KR6j0338.
Abstract
The text expounds the operative procedure in the Pañca-vajra-japa (五金剛念誦, “five vajra-recitations”) framework, organised by the three mysteries (三密, tri-guhya: body, speech, mind) of Samantabhadra-Vajrasattva. The kāya-vajra (body-vajra) is the deity-visualisation; the vāk-vajra (speech-vajra) is the mūla-mantra recitation; the citta-vajra (mind-vajra) is the contemplative-meditative absorption in the deity-form. The text guides the practitioner through the japa (recitation) of all three vajras, integrating them into a unified daily practice. The Pañca-vajra-japa framework is one of the most important Tang Esoteric soteriological apparatuses, deriving from the doctrine of the Three Mysteries (三密) introduced in the Mahāvairocana-sūtra and developed into the Vajraśekhara yoga-tantra.
Translations and research
- Astley-Kristensen, Ian. The Rishukyō. Tring: Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1991.
- Abé, Ryūichi. The Weaving of Mantra: Kūkai and the Construction of Esoteric Buddhist Discourse. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999 — Three-Mysteries doctrine.
Links
- CBETA T20n1124
- 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.