The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī
Chapter 14
Toh 543
Degé Kangyur, vol. 88 (rgyud ’bum, na), folios 88.a–334.a (in 1737 par phud printing), 105.a–351.a (in later printings)
- Kumārakalaśa
- Śākya Lodrö
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Table of Contents
Summary
The Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa is the largest and most important single text devoted to Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva of wisdom. A revealed scripture, it is, by its own classification, both a Mahāyāna sūtra and a Mantrayāna kalpa (manual of rites). Because of its ritual content, it was later classified as a Kriyā tantra and assigned, based on the hierarchy of its deities, to the Tathāgata subdivision of this class. The Sanskrit text as we know it today was probably compiled throughout the eighth century ᴄᴇ and several centuries thereafter. What makes this text special is that, unlike most other Kriyā tantras, it not only describes the ritual procedures, but also explains them in terms of general Buddhist philosophy, Mahāyāna ethics, and the esoteric principles of the early Mantrayāna (later called Vajrayāna), with an emphasis on their soteriological aims.
Acknowledgements
This translation was produced by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the supervision of Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche. Wiesiek Mical translated the text from the Sanskrit manuscripts, prepared the Sanskrit edition, and wrote the introduction. Paul Thomas, Ryan Damron, Anna Zilman, Bruno Galasek, and Adam Krug then compared the translation draft against the Tibetan text found in the Degé and other editions of the Tibetan Kangyur. Wiesiek Mical then completed the translation by incorporating all the significant variations from the Tibetan translation either into the English translation itself or the annotations.
The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
The generous sponsorship of 中國宗薩寺堪布彭措郎加, which helped make the work on this translation possible, is most gratefully acknowledged.
Text Body
Chapter 14
Then Lord Śākyamuni again directed his gaze at the realm of the Pure Abode and said this to Mañjuśrī, the divine youth:
“There is, O Mañjuśrī, a secret vidyā mantra of yours that accomplishes all mantras. It was granted by the tathāgatas, arose from the treasury of their teachings, belongs to the ‘Cloud of Dharma,’ and is of the essence of the sky. This vidyā is the supreme lord of all mundane and supramundane mantras, just like the divine youth is the lord of all beings. This lord is described as a tathāgata, the supreme and the most excellent. Just as Lord Buddha, O divine youth, is the most eminent person among gods and men, so he—this supreme vidyārāja—is among all the mantras. He has been formerly taught by the blessed buddhas who are equal in number to the grains of sand in the river Gaṅgā and whose merits are ineffable. He has been regarded by them as the supremely secret heart mantra [F.172.b] [F.189.b] of the tathāgata Ratnaketu, auspicious in every respect. He is praised and extolled by all the buddhas, is the relief of all beings, and is the destroyer of every evil. He grants every wish and fulfills every hope. So what is this mantra?”1019 {14.1}
While he spoke, a ray of light called arouser of all the buddhas emerged from the tuft of hair between the eyebrows of the blessed Śākyamuni. It illuminated all the buddhafields in the ten directions, above, below, and everywhere, delighting the minds of all beings. It then disappeared into Blessed Śākyamuni’s uṣṇīṣa. Subsequently, there emerged from the same uṣṇīṣa the lord of vidyās named One Syllable, as a form ablaze all around with the light that all ordinary beings find impossible to look at, or to lay hold of. Out of this great effulgence emerged his body, consisting of a halo of light, displaying multiple aspects and the great form of a cakravartin. {14.2}
Having emerged, he illuminated the entire sky. He had a retinue of all the vidyā kings and was attended on and worshiped by many hundreds of thousands of millions of vidyās. He was praised by all the supramundane cakravartins and vidyārājas, eulogized by all the mantras,1020 and cherished by all the buddhas and the bodhisattva great beings who had attained the tenth level of realization. Together they filled the entire canopy of the sky. His body was adorned with celestial gems and bedecked with great jewels and gems, beautiful in appearance, supremely radiant, emanating hundreds of thousands of millions of magical creations in various forms,1021 pronouncing the one-syllable word of his mantra, and radiating a great mass of light. He positioned himself in midair above Lord Śākyamuni, facing and looking upon the entire realm of the Pure Abode and illuminating the circle of the great assembly. {14.3}
Lord Śākyamuni then pronounced the One Syllable, this vidyā cakravartin, the heart essence of all the tathāgatas, the supreme secret heart essence of the tathāgata called Ratnaketu; the One Syllable that is taught and cherished by all the tathāgatas intimately connected with Lord Ratnaketu1022—Śālendrarāja, [F.173.a] [F.190.a] Amitābha, Duḥprasaha, Sunetra, Suketu, Puṣpendra, and the sage Supināntaloka—and also by the [three] tathāgatas starting with Kanaka; the One Syllable that is taught and celebrated by all the perfectly awakened ones who have gone beyond. What is this One Syllable? {14.4} It is bhrūṁ.1023
“This, Mañjuśrī, is the supreme essence of all the tathāgatas.1024 This is the great means of purification, One Syllable by name, the vidyādhara-cakravartin. When used along with him, all mantras will be successful.1025 He is, O divine youth, recommended as the secret, supreme mantra that accords with all the mantras in your excellent king of manuals. He is the purifier of obscurations in all rites. A practitioner must first utter this mantra three hundred thousand times, and then, O divine youth, the rites for all the mantras and all the worldly and transcendent mantra methods in your king of manuals will be accomplished.1026 When protected by One Syllable, one becomes invulnerable to attacks by any being. One will also not succumb to any obstacles, whether mundane or supramundane.” {14.5}
As soon as the One Syllable was pronounced by Lord Śākyamuni, all the world spheres of the great trichiliocosm shook in six different ways. All the buddhafields became filled with light and all the blessed buddhas dwelling there joined the circle of the great assembly gathered in the realm of the Pure Abode. So, too, all the bodhisattvas on the tenth level of realization who were irreversibly established in perfect awakening, all the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, all the beings possessed of great powers, roused by the light from One Syllable, the vidyārāja, arrived enthralled1027 in the assembly. [F.173.b] [F.190.b] And other beings living in infinite worldly realms who followed the painful destinies of hell, the hungry ghosts, and animals, were touched by the radiance of the great light. When thus illuminated, those who were acutely suffering, immersed in their painful experience, became cheered in their minds. They entered definitively into the three vehicles. {14.6}
Then Lord Śākyamuni looked again at this great circle of the assembly and said this to Mañjuśrī, the divine youth:
“Listen, Mañjuśrī, as I tell about this vidyārāja! He possesses great magical power. As a maṇḍala deity, he is depicted without a retinue. He is suitable for all types of activity. He is the supreme monarch of all vidyās and fulfills the hopes of all beings. For all the profusion of rites,1028 he is present in the large body of rites of the mantra system associated with you. He accomplishes all mantras and is universally applicable. He is renowned as a great lord who is very energetic and is particularly skilled in the method and wisdom that benefit beings who practice. He clears up the entire path to awakening and establishes beings in nirvāṇa. He causes one to ascend to the seat of awakening,1029 and he [facilitates] the accumulation of virtue. {14.7}
“It is his extensive ritual that I will now briefly teach, including the procedure of making his painting and his maṇḍala and how it is the means of accomplishment, and also how to practice the previously mentioned mantra conduct, established in which sentient beings will succeed in the practice of this great cakravartin, the marvelous vidyārāja, the supreme lord of all mantras, the illuminator, the fulfiller of all wishes, the guide, the benefactor of the whole world, who, like the Buddha, appears directly, is self-arisen, and may be employed in all activities—the highest, the medium, and the minor. {14.8}
This concludes the chapter that provides the details of the practice of the cakravartin, including the painting procedure and the maṇḍala, fourteenth in “The Root Manual of Noble Mañjuśrī,” an extensive Mahāyāna sūtra that forms a garland-like basket of bodhisattva teachings.
Colophon
By order of the glorious ruler and renunciant king Jangchub O, this text was translated, edited, and finalized by the great Indian preceptor and spiritual teacher Kumārakalaśa and the translator Lotsawa and monk Śākya Lodrö.3395
Abbreviations
Abbreviations Used in the Introduction and Translation
C | Choné Kangyur |
---|---|
D | Degé Kangyur |
H | Lhasa Kangyur |
J | Lithang Kangyur |
K | Kangxi Kangyur |
L | Shelkar Kangyur |
MMK | Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa |
N | Narthang Kangyur |
Skt. | Sanskrit text of the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa as it is represented in the appendix |
TMK | Tārāmūlakalpa |
Tib. | Tibetan text of the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa as witnessed in the Pedurma Kangyur |
Y | Yongle Kangyur |
Abbreviations Used in the Appendix—Sources for the Sanskrit text of the Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa (MMK)
Published editions
M | Martin Delhey 2008 |
---|---|
S | Śāstrī 1920–25 |
V | Vaidya 1964 |
Y | Jayaswal 1934 (the section containing chapter 53 from Śāstrī’s edition of the MMK corrected by Rāhula Saṅkṛtyāyana) |
Manuscripts
A | NAK (National Archives, Kathmandu) accession no. 5/814 |
---|---|
B | NAK accession no. 3/303 |
MSS | all manuscripts (as used for any given section of text) |
R | NAK accession no. 3/645 |
T | manuscript accession no. C-2388 (Thiruvananthapuram) |
Tibetan sources
C | Choné (co ne) Kangyur |
---|---|
D | Degé (sde dge) Kangyur |
H | Lhasa (lha sa/zhol) Kangyur |
J | Lithang (li thang) Kangyur |
K | Kangxi (khang shi) Kangyur |
N | Narthang (snar thang) Kangyur |
TMK | Tibetan translation of the Tārāmūlakalpa (Toh 724) |
Tib. | Tibetan translation (supported by all recensions in the Pedurma Kangyur) |
U | Urga (phyi sog khu re) Kangyur |
Y | Yongle (g.yung lo) Kangyur |
Critical apparatus
* | text illegible (in a manuscript) |
---|---|
+ | text reported as illegible in S, or in Delhey’s transcript of manuscript A |
? | text illegible (in a printed edition) |
[] (square brackets) | text hard to decipher (in a manuscript) |
] | right square bracket marks the lemma quoted from the root text |
a.c. | ante correctionem |
conj. | conjectured |
em. | emended |
lac. | lacunae in the text (physical damage to the manuscript) |
m.c. | metri causa |
om. | omitted |
p.c. | post correctionem |
r | recto |
v | verso |
† (dagger) | text unintelligible |
• (middle dot) | lack of sandhi or partial sandhi |
Bibliography
Source Texts (Sanskrit)
Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa. Manuscript in the National Archives, Kathmandu (Bir 157), accession no. 3/303. Microfilmed by NGMPP, reel A 136/11. Bears the title Mañjuśrījñānatantra.
Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa. Manuscript in the National Archives, Kathmandu, accession no. 5/814. Microfilmed by NGMPP, reel A 39/04.
Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa. Manuscript in the National Archives, Kathmandu (Bir 45), accession no. 3/645. Microfilmed by NGMPP, reel A 124/14.
Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa. Manuscript in the Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library, Thiruvananthapuram, accession no. C-2388.
Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa. Manuscript in Tokyo University Library, no. 275 in Matsunami’s catalog (Matsunami 1965).
Śāstrī, T. Gaṇapati, ed. The Āryamañjuśrīmūlakalpa. Vols 1–3. Trivandrum Sanskrit Series 70, 76, and 84. Trivandrum: Superintendent Government Press, 1920–25.
Vaidya, P. L., ed. Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa. Mahāyānasūtrasaṃgraha, Part II. Buddhist Sanskrit Texts 18. Darbhanga: The Mithila Institute of Postgraduate Studies and Research in Sanskrit Learning, 1964.
Source Texts (Tibetan)
’jam dpal gyi rtsa ba’i rgyud (Mañjuśrīmūlatantra). Toh. 543, Degé Kangyur vol. 88 (rgyud ’bum, na), folios 105.a–351.a.
’jam dpal gyi rtsa ba’i rgyud (Mañjuśrīmūlatantra). bka’ ’gyur (dpe bsdur ma) [Comparative Edition of the Kangyur], krung go’i bod rig pa zhib ’jug ste gnas kyi bka’ bstan dpe sdur khang (The Tibetan Tripitaka Collation Bureau of the China Tibetology Research Center). 108 volumes. Beijing: krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang (China Tibetology Publishing House), 2006–2009. vol. 88, pp. 354–1051.
ral pa gyen brdzes kyi rtog pa chen po (Tārāmūlakalpa). Toh. 724, Degé Kangyur vol. 93 (rgyud ’bum, tsa), folios 205.b–311.a, continued in vol. 94 (rgyud ’bum, tsha), folios 1.b–200.a.
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