Fóshuō Wénshūshīlì fǎbǎozàng tuóluóní jīng 佛說文殊師利法寶藏陀羅尼經
Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on the Dharma-Treasury Dhāraṇī of Mañjuśrī by 菩提流志 (Pútíliúzhì, Bodhiruci, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Esoteric Mañjuśrī sūtra translated by Bodhiruci (菩提流志, 572–727), centred on a dhāraṇī called the Dharma-Treasury (fǎbǎozàng 法寶藏). The text is paired in the Taishō with a parallel re-edition T1185B (KR6j0411) under the alternate title Wénshūshīlì bǎozàng tuóluóní jīng — also attributed to Bodhiruci — which carries the subtitle 亦名文殊師利菩薩八字三昧法 (“also called the Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva Eight-Syllable Samādhi Method”), making clear that this is a member of the Eight-Syllable Mañjuśrī cycle (cf. KR6j0409).
Abstract
The framing narrative places the assembly in the Tuṣita Pure Abode (淨居天宮), with countless bodhisattvas and Pure-Abode devas surrounding the Buddha. The Buddha enters a samādhi called Yǎnguāng 演光 (“Diffusing Light”), and from his crown emanates a vast multi-coloured radiance which circles the world-systems and returns to envelop Mañjuśrī. Mañjuśrī then enters his own samādhi, the Dhāraṇī-self-mastery King (陀羅尼自在王), and emanates light from his mouth which enters the head of the Vajra-Secret-Trace Bodhisattva (金剛密迹主菩薩 = Vajra-guhyaka). Vajraguhyaka rises and asks the Buddha for the dhāraṇī’s exposition; the Buddha grants the request, and the fǎbǎozàng dhāraṇī follows.
The dhāraṇī is the Mañjuśrī eight-syllable form (or close variant) — oṃ a vī ra hūṃ kha ca raḥ — together with its standard vidhi: visualization, mantra-recitation cycles, mudrā, and the painting of an icon of Mañjuśrī. The text is paired with KR6j0411 which, despite a slightly different title, reproduces the same opening narrative almost verbatim — they are evidently two recensions of one 菩提流志 translation.
The bracket given here follows Bodhiruci’s documented activity at the WǔZhōu and Kāiyuán courts (693–727).
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.
Links
- CBETA T20n1185A
- Kanseki DB
- 菩提流志 DILA
- Dazangthings date evidence (720) — 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.