Jīnyǒu tuóluóní jīng 金有陀羅尼經
Jīnyǒu Dhāraṇī Sūtra Anonymous Chinese composition (or non-canonical translation).
About the work
A short dhāraṇī sūtra in one fascicle. The Bhagavān resides at the bamboo grove (“rúlí” 如籬𥬕 — possibly a corrupt transliteration of Veṇuvana), with Yakṣas and Vajrapāṇi. Indra/Śakra (天帝百施 = Kauśika śatakratu) approaches and asks for protection from the Asuras’ magical illusions and poison-spells in battle. The Buddha grants a “supreme great-secret” dhāraṇī for victory. The structure is that of a typical Indic dhāraṇī scripture (location, audience, query, response with mantra).
Abstract
T85n2910 is preserved in Dūnhuáng manuscripts. Unlike most of the surrounding texts in T85, the Jīnyǒu tuóluóní jīng has the discursive shape of a real Indic dhāraṇī scripture — the topos of Indra’s Asura-war is canonical, and the genre conventions are observed. It may therefore represent a non-canonical translation rather than a Chinese composition; Cao Ling (2011) raises the possibility that the text is a translation of an Indic dhāraṇī that was either too short or too late to enter the cataloguers’ lists. The “Jīnyǒu” 金有 of the title is opaque — possibly a transliteration of an Indic name or a Chinese theophoric (“Gold-Possessor”). Cataloguers from Zhīshēng (730) classify the text as 偽 or unidentified.
Translations and research
- Makita Tairyō 牧田諦亮, Gikyō kenkyū 疑經研究 (Kyōto: Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyūsho, 1976).
- Cao Ling 曹凌, Zhōngguó fójiào yíwěijīng zōnglù 中國佛教疑偽經綜錄 (Shànghǎi: Shànghǎi gǔjí, 2011).