Shèng Huānxǐtiān shì fǎ 聖歡喜天式法
Method of the Rite for the Holy Joyful-Heaven by 般若惹羯羅 (Bō-rě-rě-jié-luó, Prajñācakra, 撰)
About the work
A short one-fascicle Esoteric manual composed (撰) by Prajñācakra (般若惹羯羅), an Indian Tantric master active in late-Tang Cháng-ān. The text is a four-quadrant cosmological deployment of the Joyful-Heaven (歡喜天 / Vināyaka) deity, in which a square earth-board (七寸四方) and a round heaven-board (三寸圓 / 四寸圓) are constructed of pure white wood and used as the substrate for a four-direction maṇḍala.
Abstract
The rite begins with the construction of a yantra-board pair — heaven (round, three or four cùn) and earth (square, seven cùn) — from milk-tree wood (有乳木) and fragrant wood (香木), made on an auspicious day in conditions of strict purity. The four cardinal directions of the earth-board are then assigned a seed-syllable that produces a directional manifestation of the deity:
- East: 唵 oṃ → Sun-king Joyful-Heaven (日王歡喜天), red-faced, fierce-mien, holding vaiḍūrya and vajra-single-prong, on a green stone — under retinue of Wú-yōu 無憂 the great general and seven asaṃkhyeya hosts.
- South: 爾 ni → Love-king Joyful-Heaven (愛王歡喜天), priestly form with elephant-trunk eyes-and-mouth, holding modaka-cake and mūlaka-radish, on red stone — under Xiàng-tóu 象頭 (Elephant-Head) general and 18 koṭi hosts.
- West: 頡哩 hrīḥ → Moon-Loved Joyful-Heaven (月愛歡喜天), as a beautiful woman with flower-garland holding mirror, foot on jewel-box — on a tiger-skin under Yán-jì 嚴髻 great general and 104,000 koṭi hosts.
- North: 忙 maḥ → Discussion Joyful-Heaven (議特歡喜天), blue-bodied like Kauśika (= Indra), bearing twin sword-mudrās at the waist.
The rite teaches the practitioner to consign offerings to the appropriate quadrant according to whether the goal is śāntika (E), pauṣṭika and vaśīkaraṇa (S), affection (W), or abhicāra (N). It is a compact theoretical statement of the four-fold deployment of one and the same deity — the four operative aspects of the Tángmì karma-quartet displayed on the four directions of a single maṇḍala.
Dating bracket: late Tang, after the Bùkōng / Hánguāng transmission and before the Huìchāng persecution (780 – 850).
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.