Jīngāng wáng púsà mìmì niànsòng yíguǐ 金剛王菩薩祕密念誦儀軌
Esoteric Recitation Ritual Manual of the Bodhisattva Vajra-King (Vajra-rāja-bodhisattva-guhya-japa-vidhi) by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric yíguǐ on the Vajra-King Bodhisattva (金剛王 Jīngāng wáng, Vajra-rāja) — one of the sixteen bodhisattva-vidyā of the Vajraśekhara maṇḍala, presiding over the Akṣobhya family of the vajra-mukha (vajra-mouth) quarter. Translated by Amoghavajra (不空). The text is one of the principal Tang Esoteric yíguǐ on the sixteen bodhisattva-vidyā of the Vajraśekhara maṇḍala, complementing the corresponding yíguǐ on the other bodhisattva-vidyās in Amoghavajra’s translation programme.
Abstract
The text expounds the operative procedure for the Vajra-rāja-bodhisattva-sādhana: the deity-visualisation (the Vajra-King in his standard Vajraśekhara-iconographic form, holding the vajra-aṅkuśa — vajra-hook — by which he draws all sentient beings to liberation), the mūla-mantra, the vidyā-formulae, the mudrā-repertoire (the principal vajra-aṅkuśa-mudrā and its secondary forms), the abhiṣeka sequence, the homa offerings, and the siddhi-applications. The Vajra-rāja is doctrinally significant as the vajra-emanation of upāyapāramitā (skilful-means-perfection) — the Bodhisattva’s compassionate ability to draw sentient beings towards liberation by every available means.
Translations and research
- Astley-Kristensen, Ian. The Rishukyō. Tring: Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1991.
- Toganoo Shōun 栂尾祥雲. Mandara no kenkyū 曼荼羅の研究. Wakayama: Mt. Kōya University, 1933 — Vajraśekhara maṇḍala iconography.
Links
- CBETA T20n1132
- 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.