The Root Manual of the Rites of Mañjuśrī
Chapter 3
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 1.21.31 (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 3
Mañjuśrī, the divine youth, again looked at the realm of the Pure Abode and, bowing to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas gathered together in that great assembly, pronounced the most secret single-syllable mantra, which removes all poisons and can be employed in all rites the mantra that is effective in the practices of his maṇḍala and which can also be used in all minor ritual activities. What is that mantra? {3.1}
“jaḥ.502
“This very mantra, friends and all hosts of spirits, the one syllable, is to be used, in short, in the second maṇḍala procedure.503 {3.2}
“After cleaning an area on the ground either eight or four cubits in size, it should be delimited using five-colored powder by oneself, not by anyone else. No matter where this is done, there is no fault. The area should be four sided, with sides of equal length, and should include the triple maṇḍala.504 First one should draw the great five-crested mudrā, the utpala505 mudrā of Lord Mañjuśrī, and the mudrās the fangs, the mouth, and the stick. These mudrās should be drawn in the eastern quarter of the inner maṇḍala. {3.3}
“Next, outside the door base506 should be drawn a red lotus, a vajra, a blue lotus, a banner, a flag, a parasol, a doorway, a chariot, an elephant, a horse, a bull, a buffalo, a swastika, a peacock, a goat, a ram, and a man of youthful appearance. They should be arranged in successive rows [F.128.b] [F.145.b] fitting in with the threefold maṇḍala. {3.4}
“Then, in the southeastern direction, one should perform the fire kindling ritual using the one-syllable mantra and offer one hundred and eight507 oblations with sticks of the devil’s horsewhip plant smeared with curds, honey, and ghee. Then a welcome offering of flowers should be presented. Using the one-syllable mantra, one may also offer, whenever desired, a bali,508 sacrificial food, lamps, or incense or perform the summoning and the dismissing.509 {3.5}
“One should usher the supplicant into the maṇḍala.510 If he wants royal power, the maṇḍala should be drawn in the middle of a city; if he wishes for enjoyments, then near a banyan tree;511 if he wants a son, then near a lucky bean tree. If he desires a wife,512 horses, or elephants, then inside an elephant stable or a horse stable; if he has been bitten [by a snake],513 then at a pond or a place where nāgas live; if he is afflicted with a quartan, chronic, or any other fever, then near a solitary liṅga or to the south of a village; if he is possessed by rākṣasas, then in a cemetery or in an empty house; if he is possessed by piśācas,514 then near a beleric myrobalan tree or a castor oil plant; if he is possessed by any of the mātṛs, then at a crossroad or near a house where a male offspring has died; if he is possessed by brahmarākṣasas,515 then under a palm tree or a large sebesten tree. If he was fed poison, he should be given water incanted seven times516 with the one-syllable mantra and made to lie down in the middle of the maṇḍala—he will be released from the effects of the poison. {3.6}
“Similarly, in the case of a woman or a man who seeks fame, one should draw the maṇḍala at a crossroad or on brahmins’ land.517 If it is a woman whose child has died, then it should be drawn near a fruit-bearing tree or a sap-filled tree. In the case of a childless woman, it should be drawn in the middle of a field of rice ready to harvest. For those who have contracted the three diseases518 or have been afflicted by others, it should be drawn at a crossing point519 or a similar place. In the case of severe illness, a maṇḍala that destroys rākṣasas520 should be drawn on a river island or a riverbank. Drawn on a mountaintop, the maṇḍala counters all diseases, in whatever form they may be.521 For the diseases caused by ḍākinīs, it should be drawn in a brahmin’s garden,522 an empty house, [F.129.a] [F.146.a] a lonely spot, or a depression in the terrain. {3.7}
“In all rituals such as these, the maṇḍala should be drawn at midnight, or midday,523 or otherwise at any time. Employing this very one-syllable mantra, one should present a welcome offering of flowers to the deity and then dismiss him. Having done so, one should inundate the maṇḍala with water. This will provide strong protection to all those who are weary. {3.8}
This concludes the chapter on the maṇḍala procedure, the third in “The Root Manual of the Divine Youth Mañjuśrī,” an extensive bodhisattva textbook.
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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