大聖妙吉祥菩薩說除災教令法輪 1.4

1.4

"Outside the mantras, one should paint the nine great celestial lords of the navagrahas—namely, Sūrya (Sun Deva), Candra (Moon Deva), the five planets, the eclipse planet (Rāhu), and the comet (Ketu)—as well as Mahābrahmā Devarāja, the Śuddhāvāsa Devas, Nārāyaṇa Deva, the Tuṣita Devas, and Śakra Devendra. Directly behind the Buddha, paint the great deva Maheśvara. In all there are twelve deities, arranged and distributed in a circle, each having their own mount and each having their own implement, which is known only to those who have received transmission of this teaching. Outside these great devas, establish another boundary line, and outside that line paint twelve erect single-pronged vajras extending to the outer rim of the wheel, serving as the spokes of the golden wheel. Between these spokes, directly in front of the Buddha and facing the Buddha's right side, moving progressively clockwise day by day, place Leo (Simha), next Virgo (Kanyā), next Scorpio (Vṛścika), next Sagittarius (Dhanu), and next Capricorn (Makara); these six houses are on the Buddha's right side. Then, moving clockwise from behind the Buddha back toward the Buddha's front, place Aquarius (Kumbha), next Pisces (Mīna), next Aries (Meṣa), next Taurus (Vṛṣabha), next Gemini (Mithuna), and next Cancer (Karkaṭa); these six houses are on the Buddha's left side, adjoining Leo. Directly behind the Buddha, place the lunar mansion Dhaniṣṭhā (Xuxu); directly in front of the Buddha, place the Seven Stars (Beidou / Ursa Major). Outside these twelve houses, arrange the twenty-eight nakṣatras, placing each in succession according to its respective house. Only when averting calamities for a king should one paint the complete celestial bodies of the devas; for all ordinary people below that to avert calamities, one should not paint their celestial bodies, but only establish their positions, write the Sanskrit letters of the devas' names, and dot their star shapes, and that will suffice. Outside the twenty-eight nakṣatras, paint a wheel rim all around like the shape of a cart rim, golden in colour, whose width and size correspond proportionally to the shape of the wheel. Upon this rim, paint the celestial kings of the eight directions: directly in front of the Buddha, place Yamadeva; directly behind the Buddha, place Vaiśravaṇa Devarāja; on the rim behind Mañjuśrī, place Varuṇadeva; behind Vajrapāṇi, place Dhṛtarāṣṭra Devarāja and the Gandharvarāja. In the four intermediate corners are four devas: in the northeast corner is Kāmadhātvīśvara Deva; in the southeast corner is Agni; in the southwest corner is the Rākṣasa Lord (Nirṛti); in the northwest corner is Vāyudeva. In the empty spaces on this rim, write in gold and silver the Tejaprabha Uṣṇīṣa Mantra, the four-line pratītyasamutpāda verse, and the text of the twelve links of dependent origination: 'with avidyā as condition, saṃskāra arises' up to 'with jāti as condition, old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and distress arise'; and write also the twelve sentences of cessation: 'with the cessation of avidyā, saṃskāra ceases' up to 'the cessation of old age, death, sorrow, lamentation, suffering, and distress', distributing them so that they cover the rim entirely. Furthermore, outside the wheel, one should paint one hundred and eight blue lotuses with their petal tips as if upholding this wheel. Upon each individual petal, write a Sanskrit letter 'A' in gold and silver, or using white powder, gold and silver being the finest. Outside the petals on the four sides of the outer boundary, create a square boundary border all around; upon this boundary border, paint single-pronged vajras joined together in a continuous circle so they connect, which constitutes the boundary consecration (sīmābandha). In the empty spaces at the four corners inside the square boundary and outside the wheel, paint the four great vidyārājas as outer protectors: inside the corner to the right front of the Buddha, paint the four-armed vidyārāja Trailokyavijaya, blue in colour; inside the corner to the left front of the Buddha, paint the vidyārāja Acala, blue in colour; inside the corner to the right rear of the Buddha, paint the four-armed vidyārāja Aparājita, purplish-black in colour; inside the corner to the left rear of the Buddha, paint the four-armed, great-power vidyārāja Ucchuṣma Vajra, red in colour. All these four great vidyārājas sit on jeweled boulder-platforms, surrounded by blazing flames. Arranging them thus in accordance with the teaching is called the Secret Calamity-Averting Dharma Wheel of Commands of All the Tathāgatas. When there is distress—from the king on down to the crown prince, empress, consorts, and court ladies, and down to the hundred officials, religious, and secular commoners—if the five planets encroach upon, retrogress into, or station themselves at one's birth natal mansion, or if the sun or moon undergoes an eclipse there, or if baleful and calamitous stars aggressively invade the natal mansion, then one should employ this ritual. In a secluded and secret place, adorn a clean room and establish the maṇḍala, not letting many people know of or see it. If many people know of or see it, then what one seeks will be hard to obtain and calamities will not be averted. If it is to avert calamities for a king, one should adorn an inner hall and establish the maṇḍala, guarding its purity and adorning it strictly according to the teaching, as expounded in the sūtra. Do not let women, paṇḍakas, slaves, maidservants, or low persons see it, which would defile the sacred arena. Furthermore, animals and beasts are all unsuitable and inauspicious vessels; pigs, dogs, cats, and rats must entirely be kept from seeing the pure sacred arena. If one can personally enter the sacred arena oneself, pray with utmost sincerity to the worshipped devas and spirits, recite the Tejaprabha Uṣṇīṣa Mantra without interruption day and night, and concurrently recite the mantras of the various deities—for at least three days and three nights, or up to seven days and seven nights, or fourteen days and nights—maintaining the recitation with a concentrated mind while performing the homa, until one receives a response and attains an auspicious warning or sign, this is supreme, and one should know that calamitous obstacles will certainly be eradicated. Once an efficacious response is obtained, the maṇḍala must be dismantled at once and should not be kept long. Such is the fundamental ritual. If it is an earthen altar, it must be scraped clean and swept away, and conveyed into flowing clean water. If one cannot enter the sacred arena in person—whether occupied by official or private duties under regulatory discipline, serving a strict lord and waiting on the noble, secluded in forbidden quarters, lacking physical strength, suffering from illness as an elder or youth in the family, humble in status and without personal liberty, a guest stranded in other lands without a home or lodging, or residing near places of evil persons of wrong views or enemies so that it is difficult to construct—then one should seek out a person who clearly understands this ritual teaching, whether a monk or a layperson, entreat them earnestly, supply their needs, and have them recite on one's behalf, constructing the sacred arena with circumspection and utmost sincerity, and afterward rewarding their labour to make them rejoice. If pressing circumstances do not allow time to construct an altar, one may simply obtain a clean mat and establish the wheel altar in a quiet and secluded room, pure place, or monastery (saṅghārāma). Facing north, suspend an image of the Tejaprabha Uṣṇīṣa Cakravartin, or an image of a wrathful king deity may also be used. Adorn and arrange this wheel altar with banners, streamers, and parasols, and in front of the sacred image set out offerings in the manner of a maṇḍala, arranging on the four sides in accordance with the ritual: food, drink, fruits, milk gruel, curd-rice, molasses, ghee lamps, honey syrup, sugarcane juice, grape juice, and the like, burning incense and scattering flowers in worship, and reciting with a concentrated mind. The ritual practitioner wears pure white garments. The number of days is as before, and calamities will certainly be averted. The offering vessels should all be made of silver; if not available, white copper or white porcelain may be used. Do not use defiled vessels. For auspiciousness, one must constantly recite the Tejaprabha Uṣṇīṣa Dhāraṇī day and night without interruption. As for the incense burned, use a blend of agarwood, white sandalwood, frankincense, liquidambar, and couch grass, maintaining it without break for thousands, tens of thousands, or even a lakṣa or three lakṣas, up to hundreds of millions, taking the fulfillment of one's wish as the limit, with no fixed number as a limit. Concurrently recite the Buddhalocanā Mantra and the mantras of the eight bodhisattvas such as Mañjuśrī and Vajrapāṇi. Each time one first enters the sacred arena, recite each one hundred and eight times to summon them into the sacred arena. Recite the mantras of the various devas, lunar mansions, and planets seven times each. When correctly performing the recitation, arouse deep compassion, constantly gaze upon the celestial images on this wheel with the Buddha-eye, pray with a humble mind, burn incense, make vows, and supplicate for grace and blessing. One must not give rise to a subjugating or wrathful attitude, which would run contrary to the holy intent and certainly fail to yield a response. These deities are all celestial seers (ṛṣi) of great merit who practice the bodhisattva path and have taken these celestial bodies by the power of their vows; in order to benefit sentient beings, they make stubborn beings fearful so that they do good. How could an ordinary, base mortal, with merely a mustard-seed fraction of contaminated merit and a defiled body, wish to subjugate the creative celestial seers? There is no such possibility! One should carefully reflect and then act: respect them and revere them, deeply arouse a compassionate mind to pity all sentient beings in extreme hardship and peril, wishing for their liberation, and recite the Tejaprabha Uṣṇīṣa Mantra single-mindedly, regarding greater effort as supreme. I now proclaim the dhāraṇī:"