Dàshèng Wénshūshīlì púsà zànfó fǎshēn lǐ 大聖文殊師利菩薩讚佛法身禮
The Great Holy Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva’s Hymn-and-Rite of Veneration of the Buddha’s Dharma-Body by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A short one-fascicle liturgical hymn-and-ritual on the Buddha’s Dharma-body (fǎshēn lǐ) as praised by Mañjuśrī, translated by Amoghavajra (不空, 705–774). The Taishō header notes that the text is excerpted from the Dàshèng yīqiè jìngjiè zhìguāng míng zhuāngyán jīng 大乘一切境界智光明莊嚴經 (T357 Sarva-buddha-viṣayāvatāra-jñānālokālaṃkāra-sūtra) — i.e., it is a liturgical extract reframed as a self-standing veneration-rite.
Abstract
The colophon gives Amoghavajra’s full elevated titulature: 大廣智三藏沙門不空奉詔譯. The text opens with a brief preface stating the imperial framework: 「皇帝以深仁馭宇。大明燭物。普灑甘露。沃…」 (“The Emperor, with his deep benevolence, rules the world; his great brightness illuminates all things; he universally sprinkles the amṛta of compassion…”). This preface frames the text as a court-imperial rite of homage, suitable for use in formal Esoteric ceremonies of the Táng court.
The body of the text presents Mañjuśrī’s hymn of the Buddha’s dharma-kāya — the absolute body of all Tathāgatas — followed by a sequence of veneration-formulas. The practitioner makes formal prostrations (lǐ 禮) in conjunction with the recitation of each verse, the standard architecture of the prati-mokṣa + zàn genre of Táng-Esoteric liturgical literature.
The dating bracket follows Amoghavajra’s translation activity at Cháng’ān (746–774).
Translations and research
- Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019.
- Birnbaum, Raoul. Studies on the Mysteries of Mañjuśrī. Boulder: Society for the Study of Chinese Religions, 1983.
Links
- CBETA T20n1195
- 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.