Jīngāng shòumìng tuóluóní niànsòng fǎ 金剛壽命陀羅尼念誦法
Recitation Method of the Vajra-Longevity Dhāraṇī (Vajra-āyuṣ-dhāraṇī-japa-fǎ) by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric niànsòngfǎ on the Vajra-Longevity Dhāraṇī (金剛壽命陀羅尼 Jīngāng shòumìng tuóluóní = Vajra-āyuṣ-dhāraṇī) translated by Amoghavajra (不空). The “Vajra-Longevity” of the title refers to the longevity-prolongation aspect of the Esoteric āyuṣ-cycle, here in its Vajrayāna-class form — i.e., the practice for the prolongation of life through the recitation of the dhāraṇī of the Buddha Aparimita-āyuṣa (无量壽 Wúliàngshòu = Amitāyus). Companion to KR6j0349 (T1134A) and KR6j0350 (T1134B) — all three texts are Amoghavajra’s Vajra-āyuṣ-dhāraṇī materials in different operative forms.
Abstract
The text expounds the operative procedure for the Vajra-āyuṣ-dhāraṇī practice: the deity-visualisation of the Vajra-āyuṣ (the longevity-Buddha in his Esoteric form, identified with Amitāyus), the mūla-mantra (a long Aparimita-āyuṣa-dhāraṇī in transliterated Sanskrit), the vidyā-formulae, the mudrā-repertoire, and the siddhi-applications — particularly the prolongation of life and the avoidance of premature death. The text is one of the principal Tang Esoteric witnesses to the āyuṣ-cycle, paralleling the larger Aparimita-āyuṣ sūtras translated in earlier and contemporary Chinese versions.
The Vajra-āyuṣ / Esoteric longevity cult had particular importance in the Tang court — successive emperors patronised it for the prolongation of imperial reign — and Amoghavajra’s translation reflects the imperial-Esoteric synthesis characteristic of his career.
Translations and research
- Strickmann, Michel. Mantras et mandarins. Paris: Gallimard, 1996.
- Orzech, Charles D. Politics and Transcendent Wisdom. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998.
Links
- CBETA T20n1133
- 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.