Píshāmén tiānwáng jīng 毘沙門天王經
Sūtra of Vaiśravaṇa, the Heavenly King (Skt. Āṭānāṭiya-masūtra) by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle scripture on Vaiśravaṇa 毘沙門天王 — the northern Heavenly King (Lokapāla of the north) and chief of the Four Heavenly Kings — translated by Amoghavajra (不空). This is the first of the two parallel Vaiśravaṇa-sūtra renderings preserved in the Taishō, the second being KR6j0473 (T1245) by Fǎtiān. Sanskrit affiliation in canwww: Āṭānāṭiya-masūtra (also Āṭānāṭikasūtra) — the early-Buddhist scripture (cognate with the Pāli Āṭānāṭiyasutta in the Dīghanikāya) in which the four Lokapālas teach a protective verse-formula for the use of bhikṣus. Korean Tripiṭaka K1307; Zhōnghuá H1433; Nanjio 0974a.
Abstract
The text re-presents the early-Buddhist Āṭānāṭiyasutta material — Vaiśravaṇa’s protective verse-formula — in the form of an Esoteric jīng with strong dhāraṇī-character. The deity expounds his own protective rite, names his retinue (the various yakṣa-generals and their hosts, who are pledged to defend the practitioner), gives the protective mantra, and describes the conditions under which it is to be invoked: protection on travel, in armed conflict, against demonic affliction, and for the security of the state. Together with KR6j0473 (Fǎtiān’s parallel rendering, T1245) and the cluster of associated ritual manuals KR6j0475–KR6j0478 (Amoghavajra’s four short Vaiśravaṇa-protection texts, T1247–T1250), this text constitutes the principal Sinitic basis for the Vaiśravaṇa state-protection cult that flourished in Tang China and was transmitted to Heian Japan as the Bishamonten 毘沙門天 cult. The dating bracket follows Amoghavajra’s translation activity at Chángān (746–774).
Translations and research
- Goble, Geoffrey C. Chinese Esoteric Buddhism: Amoghavajra and the Ruling Elite. New York: Columbia University Press, 2019 — extensive treatment of Amoghavajra’s Vaiśravaṇa rituals as state-protective practice.
- ten Grotenhuis, Elizabeth. “Bishamonten.” In her Japanese Mandalas: Representations of Sacred Geography, Honolulu, 1999.