大聖妙吉祥菩薩說除災教令法輪 1.2

1.2

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: