Shèng Jīngāngshǒu púsà yībǎibā míng fànzàn 聖金剛手菩薩一百八名梵讚
Sanskrit-Praise of the Holy Bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi in One-Hundred-and-Eight Names (Ārya-Vajrapāṇi-aṣṭottara-śata-nāma-stotra) by 法賢 (Fǎxián, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Northern Sòng fànzàn (梵讚 — Sanskrit-transliteration praise-hymn) of the Vajrapāṇi-aṣṭottara-śata-nāma-stotra translated by Fǎxián (法賢). The text is parallel in form to the Tārā fànzàn of Dānapāla (KR6j0316, T1107) — a phonetic-Sanskrit transliteration that preserves the original Sanskrit metre and syllabic structure. The colophon: 西天譯經三藏朝散大夫試光祿卿明教大師臣法賢奉詔譯.
Prefaces
The text is structured into multiple huì (會, “assemblies”). The opening section is marked: 第一會 — “First Assembly” — i.e., the first division of the praise.
Abstract
The text preserves the Sanskrit-original form of the Vajrapāṇi-aṣṭottara-śata-nāma-stotra: each of Vajrapāṇi’s one-hundred-and-eight names is transliterated phonetically. As a vorlage-witness it preserves the Sanskrit form of the praise-hymn as it circulated in the late-tenth-century North Indian Tantric tradition. The praise is structured into multiple huì (assemblies), each presenting a sequence of epithets focused on a particular aspect of Vajrapāṇi’s character (his peaceful-bodhisattva form, his wrathful-bhairava form, his role as protector of the Dharma, his role as Esoteric Master, etc.). The text complements the parallel Sòng-period Vajrapāṇi kalpa-rāja of Dharmadeva (KR6j0344, T1129).
Translations and research
- Linrothe, Rob. Ruthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist Art. London: Serindia, 1999.
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2003.
Links
- CBETA T20n1131
- Kanseki DB
- 法賢 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (1001) — 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.