The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī
Chapter 35
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
Imprint
Translated by Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
First published 2020
Current version v 1.21.29 (2024)
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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 35
At that time the blessed Śākyamuni again directed his gaze at the realm of the Pure Abode [F.245.a] [F.262.a] and entered the samādhi called that which animates the great receptacle of mudrās of the tathāgatas. As soon as he entered this samādhi, a great light issued from the tuft of hair between his eyebrows. This mass of light, surrounded by innumerable billions of light rays, illuminated many buddhafields, arousing all the buddhas [dwelling there], and entered back into Lord Śākyamuni’s tuft of hair. {35.1}
As soon as they were roused, all the blessed buddhas entered the samādhi of the nature of the sky and positioned themselves in the sky above the Pure Abode. Having greeted all of them reverentially, the blessed Śākyamuni spoke to Mañjuśrī, the divine youth, as follows:
“Listen, Mañjuśrī, about the procedures pertaining to the receptacle of mudrās, blessed by all the buddhas to come.” {35.2}
Mañjuśrī, the divine youth, prostrated to the feet of the Blessed One,2021 bowed to all the buddhas, and spoke to blessed Tathāgata Śākyamuni as follows: {35.3}
“Very good, O Blessed One! Please teach, if you think that the time is right, the most secret chapter on the receptacle of the mudrās of all the tathāgatas. This will be for the benefit and happiness of many people. Teach it out of kindness for the world, for the welfare and happiness of great numbers of people. This will create happiness and the ripening [of the causes of] happiness for gods, men, and all beings.” {35.4}
Being thus supplicated by Blessed Mañjuśrī, the divine youth, the blessed Śākyamuni began to teach, gazing at all the buddhas, directing his attention to all the beings,2022 gladdening all the bodhisattvas, perfectly calming [F.245.b] [F.262.b] all the pratyekabuddhas and noble śrāvakas, animating all those whose minds were occupied with the meaning of their respective mantras,2023 keeping all the evil beings at bay, restoring confidence in all the frightened ones, and establishing in the ease of the auspicious nirvāṇa all those that were in difficult predicaments. For the happiness of all suffering beings, he taught the procedures from the chapter on the mudrās as follows: {35.5}
This concludes the detailed chapter on mudrā procedures, thirty-fifth2235 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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———(2008). Three unpublished handouts made for the First International Workshop on Early Tantra, Kathmandu, 2008, containing editions of chapters 12, 13, and 51 of the MMK, based on the NAK manuscript accession no. 5/814, reel A 39/04.
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———(2021a), trans. The Stem Array (Gaṇḍavyūha, chapter 45 of the Avataṃsakasūtra, Toh 44). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
———(2021b), trans. The Ten Bhūmis (Daśabhūmika, Toh 44-31). 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
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