Āzhābójù yuánshuài dàjiàng shàngfó tuóluóní jīng xiūxíng yíguǐ 阿吒薄俱元帥大將上佛陀羅尼經修行儀軌
Practice-Manual for the Dhāraṇī-Sūtra Presented to the Buddha by the Generalissimo Āṭavaka by 善無畏 (Shànwúwèi, Śubhakarasiṃha, 譯)
About the work
A three-fascicle Esoteric ritual manual on Āṭavaka 阿吒薄俱, here titled 元帥大將 (“Generalissimo Great General”), translated by Śubhakarasiṃha (善無畏, 637–735) — one of the Three Great Tantric Masters of Tang Esoteric Buddhism. The text is the practice-manual counterpart to the dhāraṇī-sūtras KR6j0465 / KR6j0466 (T1237 / T1238), supplying the elaborated xiūxíng yíguǐ 修行儀軌 (cultivation-and-ritual procedure) for practitioners.
Abstract
The three fascicles develop the cult of Āṭavaka as a state- and Dharma-protective deity:
- Doctrinal frame and origin-narrative — the conversion of Āṭavaka by the Buddha; the deity’s vow of protection; his iconographic forms and the meaning of his title yuánshuài (Generalissimo) as commander of all yakṣa-armies.
- Maṇḍala and altar — construction of the practice-altar, parivāra-deities (the yakṣa generals subordinate to Āṭavaka), and the abhiṣeka protocol for practitioner initiation.
- Mantra, mudrā, visualisation, and homa — the elaborated dhāraṇī (longer than the bare-mantra forms of T1237/T1238), the deity’s mudrā sequence, his visualisation, and the homa applications (battle-protection, demon-expulsion, illness-cure, state-protection).
Through this text, transmitted from Śubhakarasiṃha’s circle to Tendai Esotericism (台密) and Shingon (真言宗) in Japan, the Āṭavaka cult — already prominent in early-Tang state-protection ritual — became the foundation of the Japanese Daigensui-myōō 大元帥明王 cult, an important component of the Heian-period state-protective ritual repertoire (esp. the Daigensui-hō 大元帥法 conducted at the Kangakuin and Tōji on behalf of the imperial state).
The dating bracket follows Śubhakarasiṃha’s documented translation activity at Chángān and Luòyáng (716–735).
Translations and research
- Astley-Kristensen, Ian. The Rishukyō. Buddhica Britannica Series Continua III. Tring, U.K.: Institute of Buddhist Studies, 1991. (For the Three Great Tantric Masters context.)
- Lin, Pei-ying. “The Cult of Daigensui Myōō in Heian Japan.” (Survey article).
- 大村西崖《密教発達志》(Ōmura Seigai, Mikkyō hattatsu shi), Tokyo, 1918.