[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [請觀音經疏闡義鈔](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801) › 3.42 # 請觀音經疏闡義鈔 3.42 請觀音經疏闡義鈔 3.42 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [3.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.42) 第三正說呪。經「救護眾生神呪」者，無緣大悲普令離苦，故名救護。言神呪者，新翻並云真言，謂皆是如來難思祕密真實之言也。然眾經所說功用不同，或專用治病、或專用護法、或專用滅罪，今經四呪則通治病、滅罪、護法也。如《般若》「大明呪、無上明呪、無等等呪」，則非治、非滅、非護也。通則兼具眾德，別則各順經文。古來諸師解義不同，今意會之不出四悉。一云：呪者是鬼神王名，稱其王名，部落敬主，不敢為非。此世界明呪義也。或云：呪者如軍中密號，唱號相應，無所訶問；若不相應，即執治罪。此為人義也。或云：呪者密默治惡，惡自休息。譬如微賤奔逃彼國，訛稱王子，因以公主妻之，而多瞋難事。有一明人從其國來，主往說之。其人語主：「若當瞋時，應說偈云：『無親遊他國，欺誑一切人。麁食是常食，何勞復作瞋？』說是偈時，默然瞋歇，後不復瞋。」主及餘人但聞斯偈，皆不知意；呪亦如是，密默遮惡，餘無識者。即對治義也。或云：呪是諸佛密語。如王索先陀婆，一名而具鹽、水、器、馬之四實，一切群下無有能識，唯有智臣乃能知之。呪亦如是，秖是一法遍有諸力，病愈罪除善生道合。即第一義也。有此四義，故存本音，譯人不翻意在於此。於五不翻中，即祕密不翻也。於四例中，即翻字不翻音也。縱翻華言，義亦莫曉。例如典語召物，物實不知。而庸俗不知聖地密言，凡豈能解？然此三呪，或作鬼神名號注解者，蓋後代之妄作也。況疏解此呪密談三德，若唯鬼號，減謗何深。世行大悲呪而有注釋者，亦同此例。又此三呪，或改言音、或易文字，而言傳之於梵僧、正之於梵學者，非也。且難提所授之音，儻與中天有異，斯亦五天方土不同，如摩訶摩謚、身毒賢豆之例。今既改其神呪，亦合別譯經文，以梵本不同故也。陳隋之世，智璪諸師多行此法，誦呪唯依現文，而徵感尤多。具彰僧傳，識者詳之。今以古經呪詞錄在記文，庶無墜也。 > Third, properly expounding the dhāraṇī. In the sūtra, "the divine dhāraṇī for saving and protecting sentient beings": unconditioned great compassion universally causes \[them\] to leave suffering, hence it is named saving and protecting. As for the term divine dhāraṇī (shenzhou), the new translations all render it as true words (mantra / zhenyan), meaning that they are all the inconceivable, secret, true words of the Tathāgata. However, the functions expounded in various sūtras differ: some are used exclusively for healing illness, some exclusively for protecting the Dharma, and some exclusively for eradicating transgressions; the four dhāraṇīs of the present sūtra apply generally to healing illness, eradicating transgressions, and protecting the Dharma. As in the Prajñā\[pāramitā\], the "great illuminating mantra, unexcelled illuminating mantra, and peerless mantra" are neither healing, nor eradicating, nor protecting. Broadly speaking, they encompass all virtues; specifically speaking, each conforms to its sūtra text. Past masters have explained the meaning differently; now, synthesizing them, they do not go beyond the four siddhāntas. One explanation says: a dhāraṇī is the name of a spirit king; when one recites their king's name, the tribal followers respect their master and dare not do wrong. This is the mundane meaning of illuminating dhāraṇī. Another says: a dhāraṇī is like a military password; when the shouted password corresponds, there is no questioning or rebuke; if it does not correspond, one is seized and punished. This is the meaning for the sake of persons. Another says: a dhāraṇī secretly and silently remedies evil, and evil naturally ceases. For instance, a lowly person fled to another country and falsely claimed to be a prince, whereupon the king gave him a princess as wife; yet he was prone to anger and hard to serve. A wise man came from that country, and the king went to speak to him. That man told the king, "When he gets angry, you should recite this verse: 'Having no kin, traveling to another land, / Cheating and deceiving everyone. / Coarse food is your usual food; / Why go to the trouble of getting angry again?' When this verse was recited, he fell silent and his anger ceased, and afterward he did not get angry again." The king and the others merely heard this verse and none knew its meaning; dhāraṇīs are also like this, secretly and silently warding off evil while no one else recognizes it. This is the antidotal meaning. Another says: a dhāraṇī is the secret word of the Buddhas. Just as when a king asks for saindhava, a single name encompasses four realities—salt, water, vessel, and horse—none of the subordinates can recognize it, and only a wise minister is able to know it. Dhāraṇīs are also like this: just a single dharma universally possesses various powers, so that illness is cured, transgressions are eliminated, good arises, and one accords with the Path. This is the ultimate meaning. Because there are these four meanings, the original phonetic sound is preserved; that the translators did not translate them was intended for this reason. Among the five kinds of non-translation, this is non-translation due to secretness. Among the four models, this is translating the characters without translating the sound. Even if translated into Chinese words, the meaning would still not be understood. For example, using archaic terms to call objects, the objects themselves do not know. When common people do not know the secret words of the holy stages, how could ordinary beings understand them? However, as for these three dhāraṇīs being annotated by some as names of ghosts and spirits, this was probably the reckless work of later generations. How much more so when the commentary explains this dhāraṇī as secretly discussing the three virtues: if they were merely names of spirits, how deep would the disparagement and slander be! Those in the world who practice the Great Compassion Dhāraṇī and provide commentaries for it are also of this type. Furthermore, as for altering the phonetic sounds or changing the characters of these three dhāraṇīs, saying that they were transmitted from Sanskrit monks and corrected by Sanskrit scholars: this is wrong. Moreover, if the sounds transmitted by Nandi happened to differ from Central India, this is also due to the different regional dialects of the five Indias, like the cases of Mohe and Moyi, or Shendu and Xiandou. Now, since they altered the divine dhāraṇī, they should also have separately translated the sūtra text, because the Sanskrit manuscripts differed. During the Chen and Sui dynasties, Master Zhizao and others mostly practiced this method; in reciting the dhāraṇī they relied solely on the present text, yet the auspicious responses were exceptionally numerous. This is fully displayed in the Biographies of Eminent Monks; let the discerning examine it. Now I record the words of the dhāraṇī from the ancient sūtra in this subcommentary, in the hope that they will not be lost. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 3.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.41) - [Next: 3.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.43) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801~en-mt.3.42) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.1801.3.42) · Pramāṇa