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Two dhāraṇī prints in the Stein Collection at the British Museum1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2014

Gergely Hidas
Gergely Hidas*
Affiliation:
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
*
ghidas@gmail.com
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Abstract

This paper examines two tenth-century woodblock prints from Dunhuang acquired by Sir Aurel Stein. They are registered under the numbers Ch.00151 and Ch.00152 at the British Museum. The first, Ch.00151, is dedicated to Avalokiteśvara and the second, Ch.00152, to Amitābha, both with magical formulas written in Siddham characters in square or circular fashion around the central image of the respective deity. Editions, translations and identifications of the texts are presented along with a study of the Chinese inscriptions on the side of the xylographs. It is shown that these two objects were apparently produced to serve as amulets.

Keywords

MantraDhāraṇīSpellAmuletDunhuangSir Aurel SteinBritish MuseumAvalokiteśvaraAmitābha
Type
Articles
Information
Bulletin of SOAS , Volume 77 , Issue 1 , February 2014 , pp. 105 - 117
Copyright
Copyright © SOAS, University of London 2014 

I. Ch.00151Footnote 2

Introduction

This is a woodblock print of ink on paper, measuring 13.9 × 17.7 centimetres, with a central image of a two-armedFootnote 3 Avalokiteśvara seated on a lotus within a circle and square of Sanskrit text written in Siddham characters (see Figure 1). A smaller piece is missing from the top-right due to damage. Four seed-syllables (bījākṣaras) are depicted on lotuses in the corners between the circular and rectangular parts. There are three lines of Chinese characters on the left side of the xylograph. This object is estimated to originate from the period of the Five Dynasties (926–975 ce). It was collected by Sir Aurel Stein (1862–1943) in Cave 17 (“The Library Cave”) of the Mogao Caves (or Caves of Thousand Buddhas), Dunhuang, during his second expedition to Chinese Turkestan in 1907, and acquired by the British Museum in around 1910.Footnote 4 It has been reproduced in Binyon (Reference Binyon1916), Stein (Reference Stein1921), R. Whitfield (Reference Whitfield1983), S. Whitfield (Reference Whitfield2004) and Tsiang (Reference Tsiang, Kapstein and van Schaik2010: 224). The text is transcribed, edited and translated here for the first time.

Figure 1. Ch. 00151

Sanskrit text

Diplomatic editionFootnote 5

[siddham]Footnote 6 namo ratnatrayāya | namaḥ āryāvalokiteśvaraya bodhisatvāya | mahāsatvāya | mahākaruṇikāya | tadyathā oṃ jaye jaye | jayavāhini | jayottari | kala kala | mala mala | cala cala | tara tara | kṣiṇi kṣiṇi sarvakarmavaraṇani me | bhagavate sahasravartte | sarvabuddhāvilokite | cakṣuśrotraghraṇajihvakāyamana | pariśodhana | suru | suru prasuru prasuru | sarvabuddh + + + + + + + rmmadhātugarbhe svāhā | abhavasvabhava | sarvadharmma | viśodhanye svāhā || o || ye dharma hetuprabhavā hetuṃs teṣaṃ tathāgato hy avadat teṣaṃ ca yo nirodhaḥ evaṃvadī mahāśramaṇaḥ | namo bhagavat + + + + oṃ ruru sphuru jvala tiṣṭha siddhalocane sarvārthāsādhane svāhā || oṃ bhara bhara saṃbhara saṃbhara indreyaviśodhane hūṃ hūṃ ruru care svāhā | arapacana

tram + nṛm hoḥFootnote 7

Critical editionFootnote 8

[1] namo ratnatrayāya | nama āryāvalokiteśvarāya bodhisattvāya mahāsattvāya mahākāruṇikāya | tadyathāFootnote 9 | oṃ jaye jaye | jayavāhini | jayottari |Footnote 10 kala kala | mala mala | cala cala | tara tara |Footnote 11 kṣiṇi kṣiṇiFootnote 12 sarvakarmāvaraṇāni me |Footnote 13 bhagavati sahasrāvarte |Footnote 14 sarvabuddhavilokite |Footnote 15 cakṣuḥśrotraghrāṇajihvākāyamanaḥpariśodhani | suru suru | prasuru prasuru |Footnote 16 sarvabuddhādhiṣṭhite svāhā |Footnote 17dharmadhātugarbheFootnote 18 svāhā | abhāvasvabhāvasarvadharmaviśodhani Footnote 19 svāhā |

[2] ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ |

[3] namo bhagavatoṣṇ īṣāyā | Footnote 20 oṃ ruru sphuru jvala tiṣṭha siddhalocane sarvārthasādhani svāhā |Footnote 21

[4] oṃ bhara bhara saṃbhara saṃbhara indriyaviśodhani hūṃ hūṃ ruru cale svāhā |Footnote 22

[5] arapacana |

tram gīḥ Footnote 23 nṛm hoḥ

Translation

[1] Veneration to the Three Jewels. Veneration to the noble Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva, the Mahāsattva, the Greatly Compassionate One. Namely, oṃ O Victorious One, O Victorious One! O the One who Brings Victory! O Highest Victory! Kala kala. Mala mala. Cala cala. Tara tara. Destroy, destroyFootnote 24 all my obstructions originating from [bad] actions. O Glorious One, O Sahasrāvartā!Footnote 25 O the One Beheld by all the Buddhas! O Purifier of the Eyes, Ears, Nose, Tongue, Body and Mind! Suru suru. Prasuru prasuru. O the One Empowered by all the Buddhas svāhā. O Essence of the Dharma-sphere svāhā. O Purifier of all Essentially Non-existent Dharmas svāhā.

[2] Those dharmas which arise from a cause, the Tathāgata has declared their cause, and that which is the cessation of them. Thus the great renunciant has taught.Footnote 26

[3] Veneration to the glorious Uṣṇīṣa. oṃ ruru sphuru shine, stand by, O the One with Accomplished Eyes, O the One who Accomplishes all Aims svāhā.

[4] oṃ provide, provide, support, support, O Purifier of the Abilities,Footnote 27hūṃ hūṃ ruru cale svāhā.

[5] arapacana.Footnote 28

tram gīḥ nṛm hoḥ Footnote 29

Contents

1. Obeisance to the Three Jewels and Avalokiteśvara. The Sahasrāvartā-dhāraṇī Footnote 30

2. The Pratītyasamutpāda-gāthā Footnote 31

3. Obeisance to Uṣṇīṣa.Footnote 32 The Tathāgatalocanā-mahāvidyā Footnote 33

4. The Mahāpratisarā-upahṛdayavidyā Footnote 34

5. The Arapacana-mantra

Chinese text

Transcription

此聖觀自在菩薩千轉滅罪陁羅尼有 /

大威力能滅眾罪，轉現六根成功德體。/

若帶持者，罪滅福生，當得作佛。

Translation

This Thousand-turning, sin-destroyer dhāraṇī Footnote 35 of the noble Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva has the great majestic power to eradicate all sins, to manifest the six roots and to transform the six manifest rootsFootnote 36 into a body of merit. Those who wear and keep it [will] have their sins destroyed, good fortune will arise for them and they are to become a Buddha.

II. Ch.00152Footnote 37

Introduction

This is a woodblock print of ink on paper, measuring 13.7 × 16.7 centimetres, with a central image of a two-armedFootnote 38 Amitābha seated on a lotus within a square of Sanskrit text written in Siddham characters (see Figure 2). There are four lines with Chinese characters on the left side of the xylograph. This object is estimated to originate from the period of the Five Dynasties (926–975 ce). It was collected by Sir Aurel Stein (1862–1943) in Cave 17 (“The Library Cave”) of the Mogao Caves (or Caves of Thousand Buddhas), Dunhuang, during his second expedition to Chinese Turkestan in 1907 and acquired by the British Museum around 1910.Footnote 39 It has been reproduced in Binyon (Reference Binyon1916), Stein (Reference Stein1921), Whitfield (Reference Whitfield1983) and Copp (forthcoming). The text is transcribed, edited and translated here for the first time.

Figure 2. Ch. 00152

Sanskrit text

Diplomatic edition

[siddham]Footnote 40 namo ratnatrayāya namaḥ āryāmitabhaya tathāgatayārhate saṃyaksaṃbuddhaya tadyathā oṃ amṛte amṛtodbhāve amṛtasaṃbhave amṛtagarbhe amṛtasiddhe amṛtateje amṛtavikrānte amṛtavikrāntagāmine amṛtagaganakīrttikare amṛtadundubhesvare sarvārthasadhane sarvakarmakleśakṣayaṃkare svāhā | oṃ amoghāvairocanāmahamudrāmaṇipadmajvāla pravarttāya hūṃ | oṃ bhara bhara saṃtara saṃbhara indriyaviśodhane hūṃ hūṃ ruru care svāhā | namo bhagavatoṣṇīṣaya oṃ ruru sphuru jvāla tiṣṭhā siddhalocani sarvārthasādhane svāhā | ye dharma hetuprabhavā hetuṃs teṣaṃ tathāgato hy avadat teṣaṃ ca yo nirodhaḥ evaṃvadī mahāsamaṇaḥ | oṃ vajrakrodhana hūṃ jaḥ oṃ vajrayoṣe svāhā |

Critical editionFootnote 41

[1] namo ratnatrayāya | nama āryāmitābhāya tathāgatāyārhate saṃyaksaṃbuddhāya | tadyathā | oṃ amṛteFootnote 42 amṛtodbhave amṛtasaṃbhaveFootnote 43 amṛtagarbhe amṛtasiddhe amṛtateje amṛtavikrānte amṛtavikrāntagāmini Footnote 44 amṛtagaganakīrtikari Footnote 45 amṛtadundubhisvare sarvārthasādhani Footnote 46 sarvakarmakleśakṣayaṃkari svāhā |Footnote 47

[2] oṃ amoghavairocanamahāmudrāmaṇipadmajvālaFootnote 48 pravartaya hūṃFootnote 49 |Footnote 50

[3] oṃ bhara bhara saṃbhara saṃbhara indriyaviśodhani hūṃ hūṃ ruru cale svāhā |Footnote 51

[4] namo bhagavatoṣṇīṣāyaFootnote 52 | oṃ ruru sphuru jvala tiṣṭha siddhalocane sarvārthasādhani svāhā |Footnote 53

[5] ye dharmā hetuprabhavā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃvādī mahāśramaṇaḥ |

[6] oṃ vajrakrodhana hūṃ jaḥ |

[7] oṃ vajrāyuṣe svāhā |Footnote 54

Translation

[1] Veneration to the Three Jewels. Veneration to the noble Amitābha, the Tathāgata, the Arhat, the Perfectly Awakened One. Namely, oṃ O Immortality,Footnote 55 O the One Arisen from Immortality, O Immortality-born, O Immortality-child, O Immortality-perfect, O Immortality-power, O Immortality-valour, O the One Acting by Immortality-valour, O Immortality-sky-fame-maker, O Immortality-kettledrum-sound, O the One who Accomplishes all Aims, O Destroyer of all Defilements originating from [bad] Actions svāhā.

[2] oṃ O Light of the Jewel-lotus that is the Great Seal of the Unfailing Vairocana advance hūṃ.Footnote 56

[3] oṃ provide, provide, support, support, O Purifier of the Abilities,Footnote 57hūṃ hūṃ ruru cale svāhā.

[4] Veneration to the glorious Uṣṇīṣa. oṃ ruru sphuru shine, stand by, O the One with Accomplished Eyes, O the One who Accomplishes all Aims svāhā.

[5] Those dharmas which arise from a cause, the Tathāgata has declared their cause, and that which is the cessation of them. Thus the great renunciant has taught.Footnote 58

[6] oṃ O VajrakrodhanaFootnote 59hūṃ jaḥ.

[7] oṃ svāhā to Vajrāyus.

Contents

1. Obeisance to the Three Jewels and Amitābha.Footnote 60 The Sarvatathāgatāyurvajrahṛdaya-dhāraṇī Footnote 61

2. The Prabhāsa-mantra Footnote 62

3. The Mahāpratisarā-upahṛdayavidyā Footnote 63

4. Obeisance to Uṣṇīṣa. The Tathāgatalocanā-mahāvidyā Footnote 64

5. The Pratītyasamutpāda-gāthā Footnote 65

6. The Ucchuṣma-mantra Footnote 66

7. The Āyurvardhanī-vidyā Footnote 67

Chinese text

Transcription

此無量壽大誓弘廣。随求心所願必従。佛眼母殊 /

勝吉祥。灌頂光能滅惡趣。嗢茤(=芻)澁摩宻句置之 /

處龍鬼護持。法舎利之伽他，佩之者，身同諸佛。普 /

勸四眾持帶結緣，並願同登真常妙果。

Comment

Ucchuṣma was transcribed into Chinese in different ways. The first character is almost invariably 烏, while the second one can be either 芻, 蒭 or 樞. The third character is either 沙, 瑟 or 澀, while the fourth character is 摩. In this particular case, however, 烏 is replaced by 嗢, and 芻 appears in a variant form [茤].

TranslationFootnote 68

This Great Vow [spell] of the Infinite Life [Buddha]Footnote 69 is enormous and extensive. The Wish-fulfilling [spell]Footnote 70 is [like] whatever your heart wishes, it will necessarily follow. The Buddha Eye Mother [spell]Footnote 71 is extraordinarily auspicious. The Consecrated Light [spell]Footnote 72 can destroy the bad paths [of rebirth].Footnote 73 The dragon-spiritsFootnote 74 [will] protect the place where the Ucchuṣma-mantra is put. As for the Verse of the Dharma-body,Footnote 75 those who wear it at the waist will be equal to the Buddhas. The four assembliesFootnote 76 are universally encouragedFootnote 77 to keep and wear this [amulet] to create a karmic basis [for a good future] and it is also avowed that they [will] ascend together to the true and eternal wonderful fruit.Footnote 78

Concluding analysis

These two xylographs were apparently produced to serve as amulets.Footnote 79 While the Sanskrit texts contain only spells, in the Chinese inscriptions, titles of the spells are given along with descriptions of benefits and instructions for use and these sometimes reverberate with what is expressed in the magical formulas.Footnote 80 As for the sequence of the incantations, after the prime dhāraṇī dedicated to the depicted deity, further formulas are included most probably to enhance the efficacy of the amulet.Footnote 81 The designers of these talismans are likely to have been monastic people with knowledge of Sanskrit and an understanding of the spells used. These objects were probably meant for a Chinese-speaking lay clientele in exchange for donationsFootnote 82 and must have been folded, wrapped and worn on the body.

Footnotes

1

I am grateful to Dr Michael Willis for calling my attention to these two xylographs and Dr Gábor Kósa for reading and interpreting the Chinese inscriptions. Many thanks to Dr Péter-Dániel Szántó, Gerd Mevissen, Professor Gudrun Bühnemann, Professor Harunaga Isaacson and Rolf W. Giebel for their comments. This research was funded by a grant from the European Union, co-financed by the European Social Fund (TAMOP 4.2.1/B-09/1/KMR-2010-0003). I thank the János Szerb Foundation, Budapest for its support.

2 Also numbered as 1919,0101,0.248 and B.17.

3 Perhaps in an unusual dharmacakra-mudrā.

4 Wang and Perkins (Reference Wang and Perkins2008: 10) report that this collection reached England in 1909 and conservation work began about a year later. Note, however, that one of the British Museum numbers reflects a 1919 acquisition date indicating the completion of the sorting of the Stein material as a whole.

5 The symbol “ + ” indicates a missing or partly broken off akṣara.

6 The text begins at the top of the innermost circle.

7 Seed-syllables read from the top-left corner.

8 The daṇḍas have been rearranged, geminations after “r” standardized, and degeminations in ligature with semivowel given in their more common form. All other changes and conjectural additions are shown in italics. Numbering is mine. Note the confusion of a/ā and e/i (for the latter cf. Yuyama Reference Yuyama, Kieffer-Pulz and Hartmann1997: 735). Critical edition here means a corrected and structured text based on parallel sources and editorial decisions.

9 Note that this dhāraṇī is appended after T. 1034, a work containing five spells and included in a section of ritual texts for Avalokiteśvara (Giebel Reference Giebel and Orzech2011: 32). A diplomatic transcription of the Siddham characters corresponding to the first spell of the five is as follows: namo ratnatrayāya namaḥ āryavalokiteśvarāya bodhisatvāya mahāsatvāya mahākāruṇikāya tadyathā jaye 2 jayavahini jayotari kara 2 mara 2 cara 2 kṣiṇi 2 sarvakarmāvaraṇani me bhagavati sahasravartte sarvabuddhāvalokite cakṣuśrotragāṇajihvakāyamanoviśodhani sura 2 prasura prasura sarvabuddhādhiṣṭhite svāhā dharmmadhātugarbhe svāhā abhavasvabhavasarvadharmmavabodhane svāhā.

10 Mahāpratisarā 14 jaye vijaye, jaye jayāvahe jayavati, jayottari jayavati, 35 jayavare, 46 jayabhadre, jayalabdhe, jaye jayavati, jayavidye.

11 Sādhanamālā 28 (Hālāhalasādhana) mala mala kala kala cala cala tala tala.

12 Mahāpratisarā 14 kṣiṇi kṣiṇi.

13 Mahāpratisarā 48 sarvakarmāvaraṇāny apanaya svāhā, Amoghapāśakalparāja 3b sarvakarmāvaraṇaviśodhakaḥ, Sarvadurgatipariśodhana 19b, 24b sarvakarmāvaraṇaviśuddhe.

14 Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha 1. 220. 328–1. 221. 334 atha vajrapāṇir mahābodhisattvaḥ sarvatathāgatamahādhāraṇīsamayamudrācatuṣṭayam abhāṣat | ... vajrāmbujā ādhāraṇī sarvacakrā sahasrāvartā ca ... Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa 1 ... viparivartā lokāvartā sahasrāvartā vivasvāvartā sarvabhūtāvartā ... | etāś cānyāś cānekadhāraṇīśatasahasrakoṭīparivāritā tatraiva mahāparṣanmaṇḍale sannipateyuḥ.

15 Saddharmapuṇḍarīka 21 buddhavilokite, Mahāpratisarā 14 samantāvalokite, nāgavilokite, indravyavalokite.

16 Ādikarmapradīpa 29 oṃ suru 2 prasuru 2.

17 Mahāpratisarā 1 dharmadeśanāprātihāryasarvabuddhādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite.

18 Reading completed after T. 1034. Kudṛṣṭinirghātana 26 and Ādikarmapradīpa 16 oṃ dharmadhātugarbhe svāhā, oṃ sarvatathāgatamaṇiśatadīpte jvala 2 dharmadhātugarbhe svāhā, oṃ ākāśadhātugarbhe svāhā, Mahāpratisarā 20 sarvatathāgatadhātugarbha iti veditavyaḥ, Vajrāvalī 8.2 oṃ mantradhātugarbhāya svāhā, oṃ vajradhātugarbhāya svāhā.

19 Note the variant reading in T. 1034: °dharmāvabodhane. Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha 1,62,106 idaṃ tat sarvabuddhānāṃ sarvadharmaviśodhakam / avaivartikacakraṃ tu bodhimaṇḍam iti smṛtam.

20 Reading completed after the text in the other amulet print. Note the double sandhi.

21 Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa 36, 37 oṃ ruru sphuru jvala tiṣṭha siddhalocane sarvārthasādhani svāhā | tathāgatalocanā-mahāvidyā/-mantra, Guhyasamāja 14 oṃ ruru sphuru jvala tiṣṭha siddhalocane sarvārthasādhani svāhā, Sarvavajrodaya 85 oṃ ruru sphuru jvala tiṣṭha siddhalocane sarvārthasādhane svāhā, Mahāpratisarā 14 jvala 2, tiṣṭha 2, 46 sarvārthasādhani.

22 Mahāpratisarā 35 oṃ bhara 2 saṃbhara indriyabalaviśodhani hūṃ 2 phaṭ 2 ruru cale svāhā. For variants in Chinese sources see T. 920 and 947.

23 Reading completed after two amulet prints that include the same bījākṣaras: the British Museum (Ch. xliii.004) and Musée Guimet (EO 3639) Mahāpratisarā xylographs which most probably come from the same woodblock.

24 Note that kṣiṇi is not a standard Sanskrit verb form.

25 The name of the goddess Sahasrāvartā is listed in Mahāvyutpatti 4294 and she appears to be associated with Avalokiteśvara.

26 Translation from Boucher Reference Boucher1991: 6.

27 Note that in the Mahāpratisarā a longer form, indriya-bala-viśodhani, is read.

28 This is perhaps more likely to be Mañjuśrī's arapacana-mantra than a vocative to the deity Arapacana, a form of Mañjuśrī, who personifies the arapacana syllabary. On the arapacana see Brough Reference Brough1977, Salomon Reference Salomon1990 and Reference Salomon1993, and Skilling Reference Skilling1996. For the inclusion of this word in a ritual icon from Dunhuang (Ch.00151b, Stein Painting 237) see Copp Reference Copp2008: 263–4. Cf. also fragment 5 in the Bajaur Collection, see Strauch Reference Strauch2008: 121–3.

29 According to Sørensen (Reference Sørensen1991–92: 296–7) these seed-syllables represent inner offerings: tram stands for “ornaments”, gīḥ for “song”, nṛm for “dance” and hoḥ for “pleasure”. Cf. Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha 1640 oṃ padmaratipūje hoḥ, oṃ padmagītapūje gīḥ, oṃ padmanṛtyapūje kṛṭ (read: nṛm?).

30 Listed as the member of various Dhāraṇī-saṃgraha manuscripts included in Tsukamoto et al. Reference Tsukamoto1989: 131–2. See also T. 1035 and 1036. Giebel (Reference Giebel and Orzech2011: 32–3) remarks that “though the title of no. 1036 would suggest that it too is a version of the Sahasrāvartā-dhāraṇī, it is of quite different content”. Cf. T. 1034 (partly transcribed earlier in this paper), given in Nanjio (Reference Nanjio1883: 84 no. 330) as the “Sūtra of five mantras” and included in the Tibetan canon as ston-hgyur shes-bya-bahi-gzuns (D 710 = 930, P 216 = 555). Cf. also T. 901 and 2176.

31 See, for example, Boucher Reference Boucher1991, Skilling Reference Skilling, Sengupta and Chakravorty2008 and Strauch Reference Strauch, Mevissen and Banerji2009. This formula has an explicit mantric function in both of these prints as it does in various other texts as well: e.g. Kudṛṣṭinirghātana 28, Ādikarmapradīpa 15 and Kriyāsaṃgrahapañjikā 6. In Vajrāvalī 8.2 it is called a dhāraṇī.

32 While in Indian sources this obeisance does not necessarily precede the dhāraṇi, in Chinese texts they are treated as a single string of words. For Uṣṇīṣa see various places in the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa and Sarvadurgatipariśodhana, for example. On the tantric Uṣṇīṣa system see Davidson Reference Davidson and Orzech2011: 23–4 and on ritual texts for buddha-crowns in the Chinese canon Giebel Reference Giebel and Orzech2011: 31–2.

33 The earliest occurrence of this spell is in the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa.

34 See Hidas Reference Hidas2010: 477; Reference Hidas2012: 66, 152.

35 The Sahasrāvartā spell.

36 The six sense organs that represent the physical body. Cf. cakṣuḥ-śrotra-ghrāṇa-jihvā-kāya-manaḥ in the Sahasrāvartā-dhāraṇī.

37 Also numbered as 1919,0101,0.247 and B.16.

38 Seemingly in an unusual dhyāna-mudrā.

39 See the corresponding footnote to the other xylograph.

40 The text begins in the top-left corner.

41 The daṇḍas have been rearranged and geminations after “r” standardized. Open sandhis have been left untouched. All other changes have been given in italics. Numbering is mine. Note the confusion of a/ā, i/e and u/o.

42 Mahāpratisarā 35 oṃ amṛtavare, oṃ amṛtavilokini, amṛte.

43 Sādhanamālā 150 (Parṇaśavarītārādhāraṇī) tadyathā amṛte amṛte amṛtodbhave amṛtasambhave.

44 Amoghapāśahṛdaya 321 namo vikrāntagāmine tathāgatāya, Śikṣāsamuccaya 8 namo vikrāntagāmine.

45 Uṣṇīṣavijayā 15 gaganasvabhāvaviśuddhe, Mahāpratisarā 14 gaganaviśodhane, gaganavicāriṇi, 46 gaganatale, Bodhimaṇḍālaṃkāra gaganatale.

46 Mahāpratisarā 46, Mahāmāyūrī 8, 24 sarvārthasādhani.

47 Sarvadurgatipariśodhana 42b oṃ amṛte ‘mṛte ‘mṛtodbhave ‘mṛtasambhave ‘mṛtavikrāntagāmini sarvakleśakṣayaṃkari svāhā, Sādhanamālā 211 (Uṣṇīṣavijayāsādhana) oṃ amite amitodbhave amitacakrānte amitagātre amitagāmini amitāyurdade gaganakīrttikari sarvvakleśakṣayaṃkarīye svāhā – iti mālāmantraḥ.

48 Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha 1629 oṃ padmajvāle.

49 Ācāryakriyāsamuccaya 26, Ādikarmapradīpa 9, Sarvadurgatipariśodhana 13a, Kriyāsaṃgraha 6.2.2.3, Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha 1,122,216, Vajrāvalī 3 sarvatathāgatavajradharma pravartaya mām.

50 Note that this dhāraṇī is appended after T. 1002, a ritual commentary on the Amoghapāśakalparāja included in a section of ritual texts for sūtras, see Giebel Reference Giebel and Orzech2011: 32. A diplomatic transcription of the Siddham characters is as follows: oṃ amoghavairocanamahā[mu]drāmaṇipadmajvāla pravartaya hūṃ. For an eighteenth-century Japanese painting with this mantra written in Siddham characters see Jap.Ptg.3520/1881,1210,0.44 kept at the British Museum.

51 For parallel texts see the corresponding footnote to the other xylograph.

52 Note the double sandhi.

53 For parallel texts see the corresponding footnote to the other xylograph.

54 Kriyāsaṃgraha 6.7.7.1, Saṃvarodaya 142, Sarvatathāgatatattvasamgraha 1,467,1144, Bodhimaṇḍalālaṃkāra oṃ vajrāyuṣe svāhā.

55 Note that amṛta is a common reference to nirvāṇa.

56 Unno (Reference Unno and Orzech2011: 863), following East Asian traditions, translates: “Praise be to the flawless, all-pervasive illumination of the great mudrā (the seal of the Buddha). Turn over and set in motion the jewel, lotus and radiant light”.

57 See the corresponding footnote to the other xylograph.

58 Translation from Boucher Reference Boucher1991: 6.

59 Apparently a variant name for Vajrakrodha who usually refers to Ucchuṣma or Mahābala, a deity “well-established in the early Buddhist Mantranaya as a wrathful subduer of demons”, (Sanderson Reference Sanderson, Griffiths and Schmiedchen2007: 197). For details on Ucchuṣma see Sanderson Reference Sanderson, Griffiths and Schmiedchen2007: 196–200 and Bisschop and Griffiths Reference Bisschop and Griffiths2007. For aspects of the Chinese context see Strickmann Reference Strickmann2002: 156–70.

60 While in Indian sources this obeisance does not necessarily precede the dhāraṇī, in Chinese texts they are treated as a single string of words.

61 The Sarvadurgatipariśodhana says that this is the Sarvatathāgatāyurvajrahṛdayadhāraṇī. Vajravarman's commentary adds that this is Amitābha's spell (Skorupski Reference Skorupski1983: 44).

62 In his work on the East Asian aspects of the Mantra of Light (Chin. Guangming zhenyan, Jap. Komyo Shingon) Unno (Reference Unno2004: 25–6) writes (cf. also a concise and revised version in Unno Reference Unno and Orzech2011) that no related Sanskrit text appears to be extant and the Chinese translations seem to have been based on one or two primary sources, which were redacted into several versions. Unno points to T. 1002, the Bukong juansuo piluzhena fo da guanding guang zhenyan, translated by Amoghavajra (705–774) and given in Sanskrit as Amoghapāśa-hṛdaya, probably the most central scripture in the Chinese Tripiṭaka including this mantra. Nanjio (Reference Nanjio1883: 220, no. 1002) lists the (reconstructed) Sanskrit title of this text as Amoghapāśa-vairocana-buddha-mahābhiṣikta-prabhāsa-mantra-sūtra (no Tibetan version appears to exist). Note that Lokesh Chandra and Sharada Rani (Reference Chandra and Rani1978) enumerate the “Prabhāsa-mantra, Mudrā of five-coloured light” under 4.43 in their book. Unno gives further texts related to this tradition, among them T. 1092, the translation of the Amoghapāśa-kalparāja by Bodhiruci (?–727), with the earliest record of this mantra. Cf. also Payne Reference Payne2010.

63 See the corresponding footnote to the other xylograph.

64 See the corresponding footnote to the other xylograph.

65 See, for example, Boucher Reference Boucher1991, Skilling Reference Skilling, Sengupta and Chakravorty2008 and Strauch Reference Strauch, Mevissen and Banerji2009.

66 Cf. the Chinese inscription.

67 In the Sarvadurgatipariśodhana the mantra oṃ vajrāyuṣi huṃ aḥ is given as the Āyurvardhanī vidyā (the formula which increases long life) related to the Lord Vajrāyuḥ, (Skorupski Reference Skorupski1983: 48, 194). Note that the mantra oṃ vajrāyuṣe svāhā is related to the ritual use of Dūrvā grass (Panicum Dactylon) in the Kriyāsaṃgraha, Saṃvarodaya and the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgraha.

68 A part of this Chinese inscription is translated in Copp (forthcoming).

69 Compared with the Chinese inscription in the other xylograph, this is more likely to be a reference to Amitāyus/Amitābha (on the variations between these two names cf. Payne Reference Payne2007: 283–5) than to the Sarvatathāgatāyurvajrahṛdaya-dhāraṇī or the Āyurvardhanī-vidyā.

70 The Mahāpratisarā-dhāraṇī. Cf. Tsiang Reference Tsiang, Kapstein and van Schaik2010: 223.

71 The Tathāgatalocanā-mahāvidyā.

72 This title appears to follow that of T. 1002: Amoghapāśa-vairocana-buddha-mahābhiṣikta-prabhāsa-mantra-sūtra.

73 Cf. Copp Reference Copp2008: 259.

74 The nāgas.

75 The Pratītyasamutpāda-gāthā.

76 Monks, nuns, laymen and laywomen.

77 While it seems that, like the other print, these sentences contain general statements, it may also be the case that the agent here is Amitābha: cf. Copp Reference Copp2008: 264.

78 I.e. Nirvāṇa.

79 For amulet sheets in Central and East Asia see Copp Reference Copp2008, who reminds us that such xylographic talismans of later periods served mass production and were not personalized for an individual donor.

80 Sørensen Reference Sørensen1991–92: 297: “The inscription ... sets forth the merit of copying and distributing the dhāraṇī, and is essentially an abbreviation of the opening passage of the sūtra.” Cf. also Tsiang Reference Tsiang, Kapstein and van Schaik2010 and Copp Reference Copp2008: 256.

81 Scherrer-Schaub (Reference Scherrer-Schaub and Kvaerne1994) provides a study of a Tibetan manuscript from Dunhuang (Pelliot Tibétain 350) which contains a similarly composite collection of spells: the Bodhimaṇḍālaṃkāra- and Āryoṣṇīṣavimala-dhāraṇīs, the Pratītyasamutpādahṛdaya and a further mantrapada.

82 Fraser Reference Fraser2004: 155–8.

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Figure 1. Ch. 00151

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Figure 2. Ch. 00152