འཕགས་པ་རག་པའ་རྒྱལ་མ་ས་སར་འབྲང་བ་ཆན་མ་སངས་རྒྱས་དང intro.7

intro.7

The Great Amulet is structured according to its two dhāraṇīs and four mantra formulas and a series of nine narrative vignettes and two ritual procedures. The narratives are presented as proof of the scripture’s power and efficacy and often provide the background for the ritual preparations described in each episode. The text first unfolds without the dialogic structure of the Buddha responding to the questions of his entourage. Rather, after illuminating the universe with his brilliance, the Buddha simply states his desire to teach the scripture out of his compassion for beings, and without further ado he begins to dispense The Great Amulet. Only later in the text does a certain “great brahmin” emerge as the Buddha’s main interlocutor. Like The Great Peahen but with much less elaboration and specificity, The Great Amulet stipulates the invocation of the pantheon of Indian gods and goddesses, including the profusion of place-deities who dwell throughout the subcontinent. These litanies have the effect of hierarchically ordering the categories of nonhuman entities, rendering them all subordinate to the command of the Buddha and his community. Appeals to the pantheon are framed as methods both to protect against the violence of its members and enlist their protection in confronting other threats.