Fó shuō Wúnéngshèng dàmíngwáng tuóluóní jīng 佛說無能勝大明王陀羅尼經
Sūtra of the Dhāraṇī of the Invincible Great Vidyārāja, Spoken by the Buddha by 法天 (Fǎtiān, Dharmadeva, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Esoteric dhāraṇī-sūtra translated under the early Sòng by Fǎtiān (法天, Skt. Dharmadeva, d. 1001) at the imperial Sūtra-Translation Institute (譯經院) in Kāifēng, established 982. The deity is Aparājita-vidyārāja 無能勝明王 (“Invincible Vidyārāja”) — the wrathful protector whose mantra cannot be defeated by any opposing force. Korean Tripiṭaka K1110; Zhōnghuá H1223. The text is the first of a small Aparājita cluster (T1233–T1236 = KR6j0461–KR6j0464), all by Fǎtiān.
Abstract
The text is framed in the standard Mahāyāna evaṃ mayā śrutam form: the Buddha at the assembly expounds the dhāraṇī of the Invincible Great Vidyārāja, declaring its protective and auspicious efficacy. The body gives the mantra in transliterated Sanskrit, the conditions and locations of its use, and the anuśaṃsā (benefits) — protection from hostile mantra and curse, defeat of enemy armies, illness-cure, demon-expulsion, and accomplishment of all worldly and supramundane siddhi. The text is paired with KR6j0462 (T1234) and KR6j0463 (T1235) — variant renderings of the same Aparājita-mantra-material — and with KR6j0464 (T1236), which treats the cognate Aparājita-Vajra-Fire aspect.
The dating bracket follows Fǎtiān’s documented translation activity at Kāifēng (980–1001).
Translations and research
- Sen, Tansen. Buddhism, Diplomacy, and Trade: The Realignment of Sino-Indian Relations, 600–1400. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2003 — on the early Sòng translation institute and Fǎtiān.
- Jan Yün-hua. “Buddhist Relations between India and Sung China.” History of Religions 6.1 (1966): 24–42; 6.2 (1966): 135–168.