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 Wǔ-Zhōu and Kāiyuán courts (693–727).
Translations and research
Reminder: AI generated list - beware of hallucinations. Corrections and additions welcome
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.