大聖妙吉祥菩薩說除災教令法輪 1.2

1.2

爾時文殊師利菩薩從首楞嚴三摩地起，遍觀大眾而作是言：「我觀一切有情，無始已來流轉生死，妄業纏覆互相愛憎，感種種業報、招種種災難。我承一切如來加持神力，略說隨世方便除滅災障，教令諸天作扇底迦曼荼羅法。如來大悲，順眾生界，作如是說：我從過去無量劫中娑羅樹王佛所聞此妙法，我今說之，汝當善聽。此法深妙意趣難知，應從傳教大阿闍梨諮請受學。又須揀擇上妙吉祥宿曜時日，親受真言印契并護摩法，安置圖畫教令法輪。受學之僧須得身心戒品清淨，四重十重不應缺犯。若有缺犯，不應為他作是念誦，反招殃咎亦不効驗。持法之人常須清淨。若為國王，應作曼荼羅，或撚五色粉，或以彩色圖畫佛像菩薩諸天差別形貌，內外分布位次尊卑次第，必須慎靜隱密作之，深心敬奉志求必獲應効，災滅福德生長，如響應聲無求不果。莫使不信因果邪見外道、淺智無識愚癡人等，及屠兒魁膾五旃荼羅、黃門奴婢婬女之類等人闚見此輪便生毀謗，造者謗者二俱有損。諸天形像不合令凡愚之人輒見，若輕慢顯露，靈神不悅，即福祐難祈、法人招咎，若不慎密徒勞施設。彼淺智人不達如來大悲方便及真言威神之力，佛以巧慧教勅加持日月星辰遊空天眾，令發慈心。如來於方等大集日藏月藏等經早已宣說，亦於餘會頻有顯揚。我今為汝分明告示安布次第息災念誦曼荼羅法。若有國界日月薄蝕，或五星失度形色變異，或妖星彗孛陵押王者貴人命宿，或日月虧損於本命宮中，此時應用此教息災護摩。或遭大疫疾病流行鬼神暴亂，異國兵賊侵掠國人，若有明人先知之者，應當奏上置曼荼羅，帝主日日發虔敬心，親自發願祈請加護，必獲勝利惡賊消滅。若有世人怱遭厄難，王難賊難縣官口舌，或為怨家陵逼，惡病纏綿醫療不差，當此之時恐有危禍，或宿世怨魂命難死厄，即依此教，圖畫建立除災法輪曼荼羅法，隱密精勤加持念誦，志誠祈禱眾聖天主，願除災禍令我獲得一切吉祥。應當灑掃一淨房室，以白色牛承取未至地瞿摩夷，用白檀香水和吉祥香遍塗其地。又以香水數數散灑屋及四壁使極清淨，於中圖畫此息災輪。若作曼荼地壇，應須依教掘地，除去惡物碎瓦破器、髑髏毛髮糠糟灰炭、蜣蜋諸蟲毒螫之類，及以㓨骨朽木礫石砂[宓/(乏-之+土)]等物。別取河岸堅好白土其味甘者，和香填築極令堅實，然後如法塗拭。先令畫人不食酒肉五辛遠離染慾，香湯澡浴著新淨衣，日之晨朝與授八關齋戒，於淨白緤上或淨素布上畫此十二輻金輪。若作地曼荼羅，即應撚五色粉，其粉一一色，各別以真言加持七遍或三七遍，然後用之，或以彩色圖畫。三日三夜或七日七夜，祈福事了即須收之。若是地壇，應以除去形像，不應久留，恐有蟲鼠污踐，下愚人見及邪見外道及五旃荼羅黃門奴婢等見，即眾聖皆不喜悅，反招其咎。若欲將隨身遠行，即於白緤上或絹素上彩色圖畫，或方一肘或二肘，大者不過三肘四肘。隨己力分畫七十餘尊佛，及菩薩諸天形像，依法安布。於輪輻間并書梵字真言，莫題名字。若為國王，應須大作地壇，或十六肘二十四肘，上至二十八肘，其數不同凡庶之人。恐王者生疑，權於紙上書一切諸天名字，帖於諸尊之下，令彼斷疑而生正信。若能梵書其名，最為上妙。若不識梵字者，隨方文字題之亦通。從輪心中平仰畫一八葉白蓮華，於華心中以金或銀畫一金輪佛頂一字陀羅尼字悖嚕吽（三合長聲呼），字後先畫熾盛光佛頂，身諸毛孔放大光明。當佛前相對隔真言字，當畫佛眼部母菩薩，紅蓮華色，各持幖幟印契。次於佛右邊畫文殊師利菩薩，作赤金色，亦持本幖印。於佛左邊畫金剛手菩薩，白紅色，亦執持幖幟。皆半跏而坐，四尊相對。更於文殊右邊畫不思議童子菩薩，文殊左邊畫救護慧菩薩。於金剛手右邊畫毘俱胝菩薩，於金剛手左邊畫觀自在菩薩。如前八大尊，各有色相幖幟印契顏貌。以偈誦曰：

At that time Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva arose from śūraṅgama-samādhi, looked all around at the great assembly, and said: "I observe that all sentient beings, transmigrating through birth and death from time without beginning, are entangled and covered by false karma, loving and hating one another, bringing upon themselves various karmic retributions and inviting various calamities. Relying on the empowering divine power of all Tathāgatas, I shall briefly explain the worldly expedients for extinguishing calamities and hindrances, instructing the devas to perform the śāntika-maṇḍala ritual. Out of great compassion and in accordance with the realms of sentient beings, the Tathāgatas spoke thus: 'In incalculable kalpas past, I heard this wondrous Dharma from Sālendrarāja Buddha. I shall now speak it; you must listen well.' This Dharma is profound and wondrous, its purports difficult to understand; one should consult, request, and receive instruction from a transmission ācārya. Furthermore, one must select an auspicious, superior, and wondrous day and time according to the lunar mansions and planets, personally receive the mantras, mudrās, and homa rituals, and set up and paint the Dharma wheel of commands. A monk who receives this learning must have a pure body, mind, and monastic precepts; the four heavy and ten heavy [precepts] must not be breached. If there is a breach, one should not perform this recitation for others, for it will instead bring misfortune and blame, and there will be no efficacy. The practitioner of the Dharma must always remain pure. If it is for a king, one should construct a maṇḍala, either by sifting five-colored powders or by painting the distinctive forms of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and devas with colors, arranging the inner and outer positions in the order of the venerable and the lowly. It must be made with utmost care, stillness, and secrecy. Revering it with a deep mind and seeking with devotion, one will certainly obtain efficacy; calamities will be extinguished and blessings and virtues will grow, answering like an echo to a sound, with no prayer unfulfilled. Do not allow non-Buddhists who do not believe in cause and effect and hold wrong views, people of shallow wisdom, ignorance, and foolishness, as well as butchers, executioners, the five kinds of caṇḍālas, paṇḍakas, male and female slaves, courtesans, and the like to catch sight of this wheel and thereby give rise to slander, for both the maker and the slanderer would suffer harm. It is inappropriate for ordinary and foolish people to catch sight of the forms of the devas; if they are casually exposed with disrespect, the spirits will be displeased, blessings and protection will be difficult to pray for, and the practitioner will incur blame. If one is not careful and secretive, the preparations will be in vain. Those of shallow wisdom do not comprehend the Tathāgata's great compassion and expedients or the majestic divine power of the mantras. With skillful wisdom, the Buddha instructed and empowered the sun, moon, stars, constellations, and the heavenly hosts wandering through space, causing them to generate compassionate minds. The Tathāgata has already preached this in the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūryagarbha and Candragarbha Sūtras of the vaipulya class, and has frequently proclaimed it in other assemblies as well. I shall now clearly explain to you the orderly arrangement of the śāntika recitation maṇḍala ritual. If there is a solar or lunar eclipse in the realm, or if the five planets lose their orbits and change in appearance and color, or if ominous stars and comets encroach upon the natal stars of kings and nobles, or if the sun and moon wane in their natal houses, at such times one should apply this teaching for śāntika homa. Or if a great pestilence or epidemic spreads, ghosts and spirits cause violent turmoil, or alien troops and bandits invade and plunder the people of the country—if there is a wise person who knows this beforehand, they should submit a memorial to the throne to establish the maṇḍala. If the sovereign daily gives rise to a devout mind and personally makes vows to pray for divine protection, they will certainly attain victory, and the evil bandits will be eradicated. If worldly people suddenly encounter adversity and disaster, royal punishment, banditry, lawsuits, or are oppressed by enemies, or if they suffer from chronic severe illnesses that medical treatment cannot cure, when at such times they fear danger and disaster, or resentful spirits from past lives, or the mortal danger of death, they should rely on this teaching, paint and establish the disaster-averting Dharma-wheel maṇḍala ritual, secretly and diligently empower and recite, and pray with sincerity to the assembly of noble devas, praying: 'May disasters and misfortunes be eliminated, and may I attain all auspiciousness.' One should sweep and clean a pure chamber, catch gomaya from a white cow before it reaches the ground, mix it with white sandalwood water and auspicious incense, and smear the ground all over. Furthermore, repeatedly sprinkle fragrant water on the room and the four walls to make them completely pure, and therein paint this calamity-averting wheel. If constructing a ground altar maṇḍala, one must dig the ground according to the teaching, removing foul objects such as broken tiles, shattered vessels, skulls, hair, chaff, dregs, ashes, charcoal, dung beetles, various insects, poisonous stingers, and the like, as well as thorns, bones, rotten wood, gravel, stones, coarse sand, and such things. Separately obtain firm and good sweet-tasting white clay from a riverbank, mix it with incense, fill and pack it down firmly, and then smear and wipe it according to the ritual. First, have the painter abstain from alcohol, meat, and the five pungent roots, stay away from tainted desires, bathe in fragrant water, and put on clean new clothes. In the morning of that day, confer upon them the eightfold upasatha precepts. Upon clean white silk or clean plain cloth, paint this twelve-spoked golden wheel. If making a ground maṇḍala, one should sift five-colored powders. Each color of the powders is individually empowered with mantras seven times or three times seven times before being used, or it may be painted with colors. For three days and three nights, or seven days and seven nights, when the prayer for blessings is completed, it must be gathered up. If it is a ground altar, the images should be removed and not left for long, lest insects and mice defile and trample them, or foolish people, non-Buddhists of wrong views, the five kinds of caṇḍālas, paṇḍakas, male and female slaves, and the like see them, which would displease all the noble ones and bring blame instead. If one wishes to carry it with oneself on a long journey, paint it with colors on white silk or plain silk, either one cubit or two cubits square, the largest not exceeding three or four cubits. According to one's ability, paint more than seventy figures of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and devas, arranging them according to the ritual. Between the spokes of the wheel, write the mantras in Siddhaṃ letters, but do not write their names. If it is for a king, one must make a large ground altar, either sixteen cubits, twenty-four cubits, or up to twenty-eight cubits; its dimensions are not like those for ordinary people. Lest the king doubt, provisionally write the names of all the devas on paper and paste them beneath the venerable ones to resolve his doubts and give rise to right faith. If one can write their names in Siddhaṃ script, that is most supreme. If one does not know Siddhaṃ letters, writing them in local script is also acceptable. Flatly facing upward in the center of the wheel, draw an eight-petaled white lotus flower. In the center of the flower, draw in gold or silver the seed syllable of the Ekākṣara Uṣṇīṣacakra Dhāraṇī: bhrūṃ (three syllables combined, pronounced with a prolonged sound). Behind this syllable, first draw the Tejaprabha Uṣṇīṣa, all the pores of his body emitting great brilliant light. Directly opposite the Buddha, across the mantra syllable, draw the Buddhalocanā Bodhisattva, the color of a red lotus, each holding their emblems and mudrās. Next, to the right of the Buddha, draw Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva in a reddish-golden color, also holding his own emblem and mudrā. To the left of the Buddha, draw Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva, white-red in color, also holding his emblem. All sit in the half-lotus posture, the four venerable ones facing one another. Furthermore, to the right of Mañjuśrī, draw Acintyakumāra Bodhisattva; to the left of Mañjuśrī, draw Trāṇamati Bodhisattva. To the right of Vajrapāṇi, draw Bhṛkuṭī Bodhisattva; to the left of Vajrapāṇi, draw Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. The eight great venerable ones are as described above, each with their own bodily color, emblem, mudrā, and facial appearance. A verse says: