Fóshuō Fómǔ Bānruò bōluómìduō dàmíng guānxiǎng yíguǐ 佛說佛母般若波羅蜜多大明觀想儀軌
Ritual Manual for the Visualisation of the Great Mantra of the Buddha-Mother Prajñāpāramitā Spoken by the Buddha by 施護 (Shīhù, Dānapāla, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Northern Sòng Esoteric ritual manual translated by Dānapāla (施護, fl. 982 — d. 1017). Colophon: 西天譯經三藏朝奉大夫試光祿卿傳法大師賜紫臣施護奉詔譯. Alternate title 佛母般若波羅蜜多大明觀想. A Sòng counterpart to KR6j0369 (T1151, Amoghavajra’s earlier Tang manual on the same theme).
Abstract
The text states its programme directly: for the sake of all those who cultivate the supramundane supreme siddhi, the Buddha proclaims the method of visualisation of the Great Mantra (大明 = mahā-vidyā) of the Mother of the Buddhas, Prajñāpāramitā (普為一切修出世間最上悉地者宣說佛母般若波羅蜜多大明觀想法). It then gives the mahā-vidyā (mantra), the visualisation-procedure, and the goal-orientation. Compared with the Amoghavajra T1151 manual, Dānapāla’s version is shorter and more linear in structure, reflecting the early-Sòng Imperial-Translation-Bureau idiom and a different Indic source-text (likely a Pāla-period vidyā-sādhana of the Prajñāpāramitā goddess, contemporaneous with Dānapāla’s Indic provenance from Uḍḍiyāna). The text contributes to the Sòng-period revival of Esoteric Prajñāpāramitā-worship and provides additional liturgical material for the Buddha-mātṛ tradition.
Dānapāla arrived in Bianjing in 982 and remained at the Bureau until his death in 1017; this work falls in that period.
Translations and research
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2003.
- Bowring, Richard. “Brief Notes on the Sung Buddhist Translation Project.” Cahiers d’Extrême-Asie 7 (1993): 137–146.
Links
- CBETA T20n1152
- Kanseki DB
- 施護 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (1000) — 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.