Fó shuō Dàjíxiáng tiānnǚ shíèr mínghào jīng 佛說大吉祥天女十二名號經
Sūtra of the Twelve Names of the Great Auspicious Goddess, Spoken by the Buddha (Skt. Mahāśrīsūtra) by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Esoteric scripture on ŚrīMahādevī 大吉祥天女 (Skt. Mahāśrī, also Mahālakṣmī) — the Indian goddess of fortune and auspiciousness, here in her Buddhist form — translated by Amoghavajra (不空). This is the first of the two parallel renderings preserved as T1252a/b (KR6j0480 / KR6j0481); both bear the same title but are textually distinct and were retained as parallel recensions. Sanskrit affiliation in canwww: Mahāśrīsūtra. Alternate title 吉祥天女十二名號經.
Abstract
The text gives the twelve auspicious epithets (十二名號) of the Great Auspicious Goddess together with the rite for their recitation. The list of twelve names enumerates her successive aspects of beauty, prosperity, sovereignty, and the bestowal of wealth — each name is given in Chinese gloss with its Sanskrit transliteration and a brief explanation of the corresponding anuśaṃsā (benefit) accruing to the practitioner. Recitation of all twelve names is held to confer comprehensive auspicious blessings: prosperity, longevity, beauty, santāna (offspring), removal of obstacles, and the goddess’s continued protection. The text is a principal vehicle for the Lakṣmī-cult in Sinitic Buddhism and was widely recited in Tang and later domestic ritual practice.
The dating bracket follows Amoghavajra’s Chángān activity, 746–774.
Translations and research
- Sastri, P.S. The Goddess Lakṣmī. (Sanskrit-source survey.)
- Faure, Bernard. The Fluid Pantheon: Gods of Medieval Japan. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2015 — for the goddess’s reception in Japanese Mikkyō as Kichijōten 吉祥天.