Zhòu sān shǒu jīng 呪三首經
Sūtra of Three Spells by 地婆訶羅 (Dìpóhēluó, Divākara, 譯)
About the work
A short Táng-period collection of three spells, translated by the Indian master 地婆訶羅 Divākara (Dìpóhēluó; 613–687), active at Cháng’ān between his arrival in Yìfèng 儀鳳 1 (676) and his death in Chuígǒng 垂拱 3 (687). The dating bracket follows his Cháng’ān years.
Abstract
The text comprises three named vidyās: (1) the Mahā-cakra-vajra-dhāraṇī (大輪金剛陀羅尼) — a “maṇḍala-entry” spell prescribed for those who must enter a maṇḍala but cannot do so in person, recited 7 × 3 = 21 times to obtain the merit of having received initiation; (2) the Sūryaprabha-bodhisattva-vidyā (日光菩薩呪), which annuls karmic obstructions and repels demons, recited at the three day-watches with prostration; (3) the Mārīcī-vidyā (摩利支天呪), recited 108 times at each of the three day-watches for personal protection. The text is unusual in giving three discrete vidyās with their independent ritual programmes in a single short scroll, and is one of the earliest Chinese witnesses of the Mārīcī cult, which became enormously important in later East Asian tantric Buddhism.
The interlinear notes — for example “誦此陀羅尼三七遍即當入一切漫荼羅 (壇也)” (“recite this dhāraṇī twenty-one times and one is thereby entered into all maṇḍalas [i.e. tán (altar)]”) and the long gloss on the prerequisites for mudrā-and-mantra practice — are characteristic of Divākara’s didactic translation style and his attention to Chinese readers’ practical questions. Nanjio N0786.
Translations and research
- Hall, David A. The Buddhist Goddess Marishiten: A Study of the Evolution and Impact of Her Cult on the Japanese Warrior. Folkestone: Global Oriental, 2014. — treats T1338 among the early Mārīcī sources.