Indian Tantric monk-translator from the Magadha region of Central India (中天竺摩竭陁國), active in northern China under the Khitan-ruled Liáo dynasty 遼 in the eleventh century. Lifedates unknown; the floruit given here is the conventional bracket assigned by modern reference works on the basis of his attested translation activity. He brought Sanskrit manuscripts (梵書) to China, was summoned by imperial decree into the Liáo translation bureau, and rendered chiefly esoteric (密部) texts. He was awarded the title Sānzàng Fǎshī 三藏法師 (“Tripiṭaka Master”) and a purple robe.
His attested translations form an important nucleus of late-Liáo esoteric literature, falling into three textual venues:
- The Taishō (T) preserves five of his works under the late catalogue numbers T1090, T1192, T1193, T1194, and T1416 (including the Miào jíxiáng píngděng mìmì zuìshàng guānmén dàjiào wángjīng 妙吉祥平等祕密最上觀門大教王經 and the Vajravidāraṇa-dhāraṇī).
- The Fángshān shíjīng 房山石經 preserves five further works in volume 27 (F1060–F1064): the present Fànběn Bōrě bōluómìduō xīn jīng (KR6c0135), the Mahāpratisarā-dhāraṇī (F1061), the Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī (F1062), the Sarva-tathāgata-sitātapatra-mahā-pratyaṅgirā-dhāraṇī (F1063), and the Mahākaruṇika-dhāraṇī (F1064).
- A short biography is preserved in the Republican-era Xīn xù gāosēng zhuàn 新續高僧傳, juan 1.
The colophon of his works typically reads 「大契丹國師中天竺摩竭陁國三藏法師慈賢譯」, marking him explicitly as Imperial Preceptor of the Khitan (Liáo) state — the most senior monastic title attainable. Catalog correction: the project catalog meta gives his dynasty as 宋, but his colophons unambiguously identify him as a Liáo State Preceptor (大契丹國師) and the DILA Buddhist Studies Person Authority records 宋／遼; the dynasty is given here as 遼 in keeping with the colophonic evidence.