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佛說一切如來安像三昧儀軌經

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Text ID
KR6j0657
Date
982–1017
Dynasty
北宋

Fó shuō Yīqiè rúlái ānxiàng sānmèi yíguǐ jīng 佛說一切如來安像三昧儀軌經

Sūtra of the Ritual-Procedure for the Samādhi of Installing the Image of All Tathāgatas

by 施護 (譯)

About the work

A short single-juan ritual manual translated at the Sòng 譯經院 by 施護 Shīhù (Dānapāla, d. 1017). CANWWW alt-title 安像三昧儀軌經. The text is a precise codification of the late-Indian Buddhist Tantric ritual for the installation, consecration, and offering-veneration of newly-made Buddha-images — the pratiṣṭhā / abhiṣeka-pratiṣṭhā-vidhi tradition. It is one of the earliest comprehensive Chinese ritual texts on Buddhist pratiṣṭhā.

Abstract

The Buddha enters a samādhi called Yīqiè rúlái jīngāng ānxiàng sānmèi 一切如來金剛安像三昧 (“Vajra-Samādhi of Installing the Images of All Tathāgatas”). Emerging from the samādhi, he proclaims the ritual-procedure for the moulded, painted, sculpted, and adorned images of all the Buddhas, of all the holy ones (賢聖). The Buddha first specifies the ten qualifications of the ācārya (十種法則阿闍梨) qualified to undertake image-making and ritual installation. The ācārya must thoroughly understand: (1) the consummate iconographic features of the Buddha-body (一切圓滿之相), (2) the proportional measurements (停分大小之量), and (3) the ritual procedures of śānti-puṣṭi (息災增益), mantra and mudrā. Only then may he undertake the work in monasteries, halls, and stūpas. If iconographic prescriptions are violated — i.e. if any feature is missing — the image must not be installed; for an ill-formed image will cause beings present and future to suffer great fear. The work concludes with detailed prescriptions for the abhiṣeka-procedures and the post-installation veneration. Recorded in the Dàzhōngxiángfú fǎbǎo lù; Nanjio N1053.

The Indian pratiṣṭhā tradition has a substantial Sanskrit afterlife in works like the Pratiṣṭhā-vidhi of Kuladatta and the Mahā-vairocana-abhisaṃbodhi-tantra’s installation chapters; this Sòng translation is one of the most economical Chinese codifications of the same.

Translations and research

  • Tanemura, Ryugen 種村隆元. Kuladatta’s Kriyāsaṃgrahapañjikā: A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation of Selected Sections. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 2004. — for the Indian pratiṣṭhā tradition broadly.
  • Bentor, Yael. Consecration of Images and Stupas in Indo-Tibetan Tantric Buddhism. Leiden: Brill, 1996. — comprehensive monograph.

Other points of interest

This is the principal Sòng-translated text on Buddhist image-installation ritual; together with KR6j0658 (Gönpojabb’s Zàoxiàng liángdù jīng jiě) and KR6j0659 (his Zàoxiàng liángdù jīng itself) it forms the cornerstone of the Chinese Buddhist iconometric and ritual-installation literature.

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