Jīngāng shòumìng tuóluóní jīngfǎ 金剛壽命陀羅尼經法
Sūtra-Method of the Vajra-Longevity Dhāraṇī (Vajra-āyuṣ-dhāraṇī-sūtra-vidhi) by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Tang Esoteric jīngfǎ (經法, “sūtra-method”) companion text on the Vajra-Longevity Dhāraṇī translated by Amoghavajra (不空) — companion to KR6j0348 (T1133, the niànsòngfǎ form) and KR6j0350 (T1134B, the jīng form). The colophon: 特進試鴻臚卿大辨正廣智三藏奉詔譯 — using a slightly different titulature for Amoghavajra. The Taishō head-note: No. 1134A [cf. Nos. 1133, 1134B].
Abstract
The text presents the sūtra-method form of the Vajra-āyuṣ-dhāraṇī — i.e., the dhāraṇī presented as a self-contained sūtra-text with the standard evaṃ mayā śrutam opening, the discourse-narrative-frame, and the doctrinal-and-soteriological expansion. This jīngfǎ form complements the more compact niànsòngfǎ form of KR6j0348: while T1133 focuses on the operative recitation procedure, T1134A presents the doctrinal framework that authorises and contextualises the practice. The text expounds the Vajra-āyuṣ-dhāraṇī, the vidyā-formulae, the mudrā-repertoire, the iconographic specifications, and the siddhi-applications, with particular emphasis on the causal-and-resultant structure of the longevity-prolongation practice (the recitation generates puṇya-merit which counters the karmic causes of premature death).
Translations and research
- Strickmann, Michel. Mantras et mandarins. Paris: Gallimard, 1996.
- Liu Shu-fen 劉淑芬. Zhōngguó Tángmì. Shanghai: Shànghǎi gǔjí chūbǎnshè, 2011.
Links
- CBETA T20n1134A
- 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.