Fó shuō Dàjīngāngxiāng tuóluóní jīng 佛說大金剛香陀羅尼經
Sūtra of the Great Vajra-Gandha Dhāraṇī
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 alt-title 香陀羅尼經. Jīngāngxiāng 金剛香 = Skt. Vajra-gandha / Vajra-dhūpa — the perfumed vajra, an element of the vajradhātu-maṇḍala iconography.
Abstract
The Buddha proclaims this vidyā, declaring its power to subdue all astral malefics — the graha- and nakṣatra-beings of Indian astral demonology. The “great vajra-perfume” (大金剛香), the text says, is supreme like a vajra-jewel: powerful enough to break mountains. If a practitioner is troubled by a hostile graha or nakṣatra, recitation of this vajra-gandha spell makes the deva-classes and the astral beings tremble with awe and submit, “like a tree-branch bending to the wind”. The Buddha then pronounces the dhāraṇī, opening with homage to the Three Jewels, to Vajra-pāṇi (Śiśanda-Vajrapāṇi mahā-yakṣa-senāpati — 室戰拏嚩日囉播拏 Caṇḍa-Vajrapāṇi, the “wrathful vajra-bearer general of the yakṣa-army”), and to the goddess Āryā Vajra-gandhārī (阿哩也嚩日囉巘馱哩 Ārya-Vajra-gandhārī) — the female vajra-deity at the centre of the spell’s authority. Recorded in the Dàzhōngxiángfú fǎbǎo lù; Nanjio N0868.
Translations and research
For the Vajra-gandhārī / astral-pacification ritual cluster:
- Snellgrove, David L. Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors. London: Serindia, 1987. — for the vajradhātu iconography.
- Linrothe, Rob. Ruthless Compassion: Wrathful Deities in Early Indo-Tibetan Esoteric Buddhist Art. London: Serindia, 1999.