Fó shuō huájī tuóluóní shénzhòu jīng 佛說華積陀羅尼神呪經
Sūtra of the Divine Spell of the Flower-Heap Dhāraṇī by 支謙 (Zhīqiān, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Wú-period translation by 支謙 Zhīqiān, the colophon naming him “吳月支國居士支謙譯” — “Wú-period jūshì of the Yuèzhī country Zhīqiān”. The Taishō editors mark the parallel “[Nos. 1357, 1359]” — i.e. paired with KR6j0587 (anonymous, attached to the Eastern Jìn catalog) and KR6j0589 (Northern Sòng, 施護 Shīhù), all renderings of the same Indic Puṣpa-rāśi-dhāraṇī. (The interrelated KR6j0588 Huājù T1358, also anonymous-Eastern-Jìn, treats a closely related dhāraṇī under a different title.)
Abstract
The Buddha sits at the dragon-king palace of Lake Anavatapta (阿耨達池) with 500 bhikṣus and 1,000 mahāsattvas, all “of one-life-remaining” status. The bodhisattva Shīzǐ wēi 師子威 (Siṃha-tejas) rises and asks: how great is the merit of one who makes offerings to the Tathāgata? The Buddha’s reply is the Huájī (Flower-Heap) dhāraṇī, prescribed for those whose principal goal is comprehensive memory (dhāraṇī-as-mnemonic): the holder is granted single-hearing eka-śravaṇa-retention, freedom from rebirth in the perilous courses, freedom from low-caste birth, never-ending boundless eloquence, and — crucially — the boon of seeing the Tathāgata in dream while reciting the spell during the bright fortnight (8th–15th) of months 3, 4, and 9. The transcription of the dhāraṇī (dù-luó-mí / tuó-luó-mí / tuó-luó-ní…) is in early Wú-period style, with double-and-single-character glosses (chíyéfǎn, zhīyífǎn) for the unfamiliar Indic phonetic values.
The text is recorded in the Chū sānzàng jì jí among Zhīqiān’s translations. Its Lake-Anavatapta setting is unusual — most contemporary Chinese dhāraṇī sūtras are set at the Jeta-grove or Vulture-Peak — and may reflect a distinct Indic textual tradition. Nanjio N0346.
Translations and research
- Nattier, Jan. A Guide to the Earliest Chinese Buddhist Translations. Tokyo: IRIAB, Soka University, 2008. — for Zhīqiān’s profile.