Bān-ruò-zhuó-jié-luō 般若斫羯囉 (Skt. Prajñācakra, “Wisdom-Wheel”; Chinese gloss Zhì-huì-lún 智慧輪) was a mid-ninth-century Indian Esoteric monk active at Cháng-ān under the late Táng. The catalog meta uses his transliterated Sanskrit name 般若斫羯囉 (with variants 般若斫羯羅 / 般若惹羯羅 / 般若斫迦 in the manuscript tradition); his usual Chinese-language designation is 智慧輪.
Native of Wàn-nián 萬年 (京兆杜陵, the eastern district of Cháng-ān), surname Dīng 丁 — that is, a Tang-Chinese-born monastic, though clearly of Indian or Indianised lineage given his Sanskrit ordination-name. Active during the Dà-zhōng 大中 reign (847–860) of Xuān-zōng 宣宗, where he received abhiṣeka and was authorised as a Tantric ācārya practising the great-maṇḍala rite. Honoured under Yì-zōng 懿宗 with the title Biàn-jué dà-shī 遍覺大師 (“Master of Universal Awakening”), residing at the Dà-jiào-zhù-dǐng-yuàn 大教注頂院; under Xī-zōng 僖宗 he received the posthumous title Pǔ-zhào dà-shī 普照大師 with stūpa-name Zhāng-huà 彰化.
Translations and works:
- Bōrě bōluómìduō xīn jīng 般若波羅蜜多心經 (T251) — alternate Chinese rendering of the Heart Sūtra.
- Mó-hē fèi-shì-luó mò-nà-yě tí-pó hē-luó-shé tuó-luó-ní yí-guǐ 摩訶吠室囉末那野提婆喝囉闍陀羅尼儀軌 (KR6j0474, T1246) — the dhāraṇī-ritual manual of Vaiśravaṇa-deva-rāja.
- Shèng huān-xǐ-tiān shì-fǎ 聖歡喜天式法 (T1275) — ritual procedures for the deity Nandikeśvara / Vināyaka.
- Míng fófǎ gēnběn bēi 明佛法根本碑, Shìjiào zhǐguī 示教指歸 (1卷 each) — doctrinal treatises.
Of particular historical importance is his role as transmitter of late-Táng Esoteric Buddhism to Japan: in Dà-zhōng 9 (855) at the Dà-xìng-shàn-sì 大興善寺 in Cháng-ān, he conferred the dual-maṇḍala secret consecration on the Japanese pilgrim Enchin 圓珍 (founder of the Jimon 寺門 sub-school of Tendai), together with newly translated Chí-niàn jīng-fǎ 持念經法 dhāraṇī manuals. In Xián-tōng 2 (861) he sent Enchin further texts including a Xīn jīng-fǎ 新經法 and a set of Jué-yì 決義 (commentarial settlements). The transmission is documented in Enchin’s later petitions; it is the principal late-Táng Esoteric channel into Japanese Tendai Esotericism (Tai-mitsu 台密). His teacher is recorded as Huì-yìng 惠應 (A023457) and his disciple as Shào-míng 紹明 (A002091). Sources: 佛百: 4277.1; 宋高僧傳 Sòng gāo-sēng zhuàn T50n2061 p0723a05; Chen Jinhua 2014. DILA Buddhist Person Authority A001294.