Fó shuō huājī lóugé tuóluóní jīng 佛說花積樓閣陀羅尼經
Sūtra of the Dhāraṇī of the Flower-Heap Pavilion by 施護 (Shīhù, Dānapāla, 譯)
About the work
A one-fascicle Northern-Sòng translation by 施護 Shīhù (Dānapāla; arrived Kāifēng 980; died c. 1017) — but in this colophon his title is given as 試鴻臚少卿傳法大師 (a transitional title-form he held in the late tenth century). The Taishō editors mark the parallel “[Nos. 1356–1358]” — i.e. the work is the Sòng re-translation of the Puṣpa-rāśi-cluster also represented by KR6j0586 (Wú, 支謙 Zhīqiān), KR6j0587–KR6j0588 (anonymous-Eastern-Jìn). Note the addition of lóugé 樓閣 (“pavilion”) in the Sòng title — this likely renders the Indic kūṭāgāra, indicating that the dhāraṇī is to be installed in a vimāna-type structure.
Abstract
The frame: the Buddha at Lake Anavatapta in the aśīta-saraka (無熱惱) dragon-king palace, with 450 bhikṣus and 1,000 bodhisattvas all of one-life-remaining, headed by Shīzǐ yóuxì 師子遊戲 (Siṃha-vikrīḍita) — note that this is the Sòng equivalent of the Shīzǐ Fènxùn of KR6j0587/KR6j0588, reflecting Shīhù’s preference for vikrīḍita over vikrama. The merit-of-offering analysis follows the established pattern; the Buddha pronounces the Huājī lóugé dhāraṇī. Shīhù’s transcription is more conservative of Sanskrit phonetic detail than the earlier renderings — the Indic Puṣpa-rāśi-vimāna-dhāraṇī (?) is recoverable in places where the older versions had been simplified.
The text is one of the smaller Sòng-Institute exemplifications of how older parallel-translation clusters were treated: rather than choosing one of the existing versions for canonical inclusion, the Institute produced a fresh rendering that could stand alongside the existing versions and provide an updated phonetic baseline. Nanjio N0885.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.