Wénshūshīlì púsà liùzì zhòu gōngnéng fǎ jīng 文殊師利菩薩六字呪功能法經
Sūtra on the Efficacious Method of the Six-Syllable Spell of Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva
About the work
An anonymous short scripture (1 fasc.) on the practical efficacy of Mañjuśrī’s Six-Syllable Spell (liùzì zhòu 六字呪), comprising the recitation method, dietary preparation, and instructions for painting the icon used in the rite. Closely parallel — and probably an earlier or alternate redaction — of the 菩提流志 (Pútíliúzhì, Bodhiruci) translation Liùzì shénzhòu jīng T1180 (KR6j0405).
Abstract
The text opens with the Mañjuśrī six-syllable mantra in transcription (ǎn pó-jì tuó-nà mò 闇婆計陀那(上)摩) — a transliteration of the Sanskrit form oṃ vākye-da namaḥ (or, in the more common reconstruction, the ṣaḍakṣarī of Mañjuśrī). The remainder gives the practical vidhi: daily recitation of seven repetitions destroys karmic obstructions; recitation of one hundred and eight repetitions per day causes Mañjuśrī to appear to the practitioner at death; recitation of six-hundred-thousand repetitions yields full siddhi. Dietary preparation: vegetarian diet of milk-rice, gruel, barley-flour, or alms; thrice-daily ablution with three sets of clean robes. The text then prescribes the painting of a Mañjuśrī icon on white felt — without using glue (bù-yòng jiāo), the painter to take the eight precepts — seated on a lotus throne expounding the Dharma.
The text is so close to T1180 (KR6j0405) that it must either share a Sanskrit Vorlage with Bodhiruci’s translation or be a near-contemporary alternate rendering; Bagchi (Le canon bouddhique en Chine) and the standard Taishō apparatus treat T1179 as the older, perhaps anonymous-Sui rendering and T1180 as Bodhiruci’s revised version. The bracket given here brackets the inferred terminus ante quem at the Kāiyuán shìjiào lù of 730, which lists the work, and a Sui-Tang terminus a quo.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.