Zhǒngzhǒng zá zhòu jīng 種種雜呪經
Sūtra of Various Miscellaneous Dhāraṇī by 闍那崛多 (Jñānagupta, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle anthology of dhāraṇī produced by 闍那崛多 Jñānagupta during his Northern-Zhōu period — i.e. between his arrival at Cháng’ān in 559 and the persecution of 574/Northern-Zhōu Wǔdì’s reign that drove him to Türkic lands. The colophon reads “周宇文氏天竺三藏闍那崛多譯” — “translated under the Yǔwén-clan Zhōu by the Indian tripiṭaka-master Jñānagupta” — fixing the translation to the Northern-Zhōu period proper, the catalog dating “北周” therefore being correct.
Abstract
The work gathers six dhāraṇī excerpted from the Lotus Sūtra 法華經 — those pronounced by the bodhisattvas Bhaiṣajyarāja (藥王) and Pradānaśūra (勇施), the vaiśravaṇa-king, the dhṛtarāṣṭra-king, and the rākṣasī-mothers — followed by additional miscellaneous dhāraṇī. Each spell is given in transcription with double-syllable phonetic markers (èrhé 二合) and fǎnqiè glosses, the typical Jñānagupta convention. The selection differs from 鳩摩羅什 Kumārajīva’s Lotus (T262) in transcription detail, providing important comparative material for the textual history of Lotus dhāraṇī.
The text is recorded in the Lìdài sānbǎo jì 歷代三寶紀 under Jñānagupta’s Northern-Zhōu translations; it figures in the same group as his shorter dhāraṇī-anthologies and his vidyā-translations such as KR6j0570 (T1340 Dà fǎjù tuóluóní jīng) and KR6j0571 (T1341 Dà wēidé tuóluóní jīng) of the Suí period. Nanjio omits a separate number for it. The Goryeo, Sòng, Yuán, Míng witnesses agree.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.