Āzhāpójū guǐshén dàjiàng shàngfó tuóluóní shénzhòu jīng 阿吒婆拘鬼神大將上佛陀羅尼神呪經
Spirit-Dhāraṇī Sūtra Presented to the Buddha by the Demon-Spirit Great General Āṭavaka by 失譯 (anonymous translator)
About the work
A one-fascicle anonymous (失譯) dhāraṇī-sūtra on Āṭavaka 阿吒婆拘 (also 阿吒薄俱, 阿吒婆𤘽) — the yakṣa-general well attested in early Buddhist literature as one of the Sixteen Yakṣa Generals and as a major demon-king who, in the standard narrative, is converted by the Buddha and becomes a protector of the Dharma. Korean Tripiṭaka K0442; Zhōnghuá H0484; Nanjio 0474. CANWWW (T21N1237) records this text as related to KR6j0466 (T1238).
Abstract
The frame: the demon-spirit great general Āṭavaka approaches the Buddha and respectfully presents (上佛 shàngfó, “presents to the Buddha”) his own protective dhāraṇī, vowing to use it for the protection of the Buddha-dharma and its practitioners. The Buddha accepts and confirms the dhāraṇī’s efficacy. The text gives the mantra in transliterated Sanskrit, the iconography of Āṭavaka and his retinue, and the ritual conditions under which the dhāraṇī is to be invoked — protection from demonic attack, illness, and hostile forces. Together with KR6j0466 (T1238) — its near-parallel and likely a different recension of the same Indian source — the text is one of the early Chinese vehicles for the Āṭavaka cult, which became important especially in Japan as the Atavaka 阿吒婆拘 / 大元帥明王 (Daigensui-myōō) cult of the Mikkyō state-protective rituals.
The dating bracket is conservative: the un-attributed guǐshén dàjiàng dhāraṇī-texts of this kind generally entered the Chinese canon in the period from the Six Dynasties through the early Tang.
Translations and research
- DeCaroli, Robert. Haunting the Buddha: Indian Popular Religions and the Formation of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004 — on the absorption of yakṣa-cults into Buddhist orthodoxy.
- Sundberg, Jeffrey. “The Cult of Atavaka in Japan.” (Survey article in Pacific World 3rd ser.).