Dàjíxiáng tiānnǚ shíèr xiè yībǎibā míng wúgòu dàshèng jīng 大吉祥天女十二契一百八名無垢大乘經
Stainless Mahāyāna Sūtra of the Twelve Mudrās and One Hundred and Eight Names of the Great Auspicious Goddess (Skt. Śrī-mahādevī-vyākaraṇa-sūtra) by 不空 (Bùkōng, Amoghavajra, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Esoteric scripture on ŚrīMahādevī translated by Amoghavajra (不空). Where KR6j0480 / KR6j0481 (T1252a/b) treat the goddess’s twelve names, this T1253 expands the cult to the standard Indian aṣṭottara-śata-nāma (one-hundred-and-eight names) plus a sequence of twelve mudrās — making it the most extensive of the Mahāśrī cycle in the Sinitic canon. Sanskrit affiliation in canwww: Śrī-mahādevī-vyākaraṇa-sūtra. Alternate title 大吉祥經. Korean Tripiṭaka K1284; Zhōnghuá H1406; Nanjio 0959.
Abstract
The text combines two elements of Indian Lakṣmī worship: the aṣṭottara-śata-nāma (the recitation of 108 names is the standard Indian stotra-format for major deities), and a sequence of twelve hand-postures (mudrās) by which the practitioner identifies with successive aspects of the goddess. The framing-narrative is the goddess’s own vyākaraṇa (prophetic explanation) of her name-list and ritual programme, declared before the Buddha. The text is the most theoretically complete of the Mahāśrī materials in the Sinitic canon and was widely recited in Tang and later monastic and domestic auspicious-ritual practice. Date: Amoghavajra’s Chángān activity, 746–774.
Translations and research
- See KR6j0480.