Fó shuō Zhìguāng miè yīqiè yèzhàng tuóluóní jīng 佛說智光滅一切業障陀羅尼經
Sūtra of the Dhāraṇī of the Light of Knowledge for the Extinction of All Karmic Obstructions
by 施護 (譯)
About the work
A short single-juan dhāraṇī-sūtra translated at the Sòng 譯經院 by 施護 Shīhù (Dānapāla, d. 1017). CANWWW restores the Sanskrit title as Jñānolkā-nāma-dhāraṇī-sarvadurgati-pariśodhanī(sūtra) — exactly the same Sanskrit base text underlying KR6j0629 (T1397) by 提雲般若 Devaprajñā some three centuries earlier. The Sòng version is a fresh translation of the same Indian vidyā. CANWWW alt-title 智光滅業障經.
Abstract
The Buddha is in the Sun-and-Moon Devaputra’s palace (日月天子宮 — i.e. the Sūrya/Candra-deva palace), with multiple Tathāgatas present: Zhìguāng 智光 (Skt. Jñāna-prabha / Jñānolkā), Zhēnshí 真實, Jīnguāngjù 金光聚, Shēnshēn shēngwáng 甚深聲王, Fènnù 忿怒, Bǎoyuè 寶月; together with the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra, Mañjuśrī, Chídìwáng 持地王, Vajrapāṇi, and others. The Buddha pronounces the Jñānolkā-dhāraṇī, which expunges all karmic obstacles and purifies beings of all unwholesome destinies. The Sanskrit Jñānolkā-nāma-dhāraṇī survives in Sanskrit manuscript and in Tibetan canonical translation. Recorded in the Dàzhōngxiángfú fǎbǎo lù; Nanjio N0835. The dating window 982–1017 covers Shīhù’s translation career at the Sòng 譯經院.
Translations and research
- Hidas, Gergely. “Sanskrit Jñānolkā manuscripts,” various publications in Indo-Iranian Journal and the Journal of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies. — for the surviving Sanskrit witnesses.
- Skorupski, Tadeusz. The Sarvadurgatipariśodhana Tantra: Elimination of All Evil Destinies. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1983. — for the broader Sarva-durgati-pariśodhana literary cluster, of which the Jñānolkā is a key satellite text.
Other points of interest
The pair T1397 / T1398 = KR6j0629 / this work documents the Tang–Sòng re-translation pattern: a single Indian vidyā re-translated centuries apart by Devaprajñā (Luòyáng, 689) and Shīhù (Kāifēng, 982 ×). Comparison of the two Chinese versions yields useful evidence for the historical philology of the Jñānolkā recensions.
Links
- CBETA online
- Companion text: KR6j0629
- Dazangthings date evidence (1000)
- 施護 DILA
- Kanseki DB