仁王般若念誦法 1.3

1.3

Our Emperor's sagely virtue extends far and wide, benevolently nurturing all living beings; having already ascended the throne, he blows the great Dharma conch, refines the weight of Sanskrit words, and awakens the ears and eyes of the bewildered. How magnificent! Thereupon he summoned Amoghavajra, Tripiṭaka Master of Great and Broad Wisdom of Daxingshan Monastery, together with Liangbi and other monks learned in doctrinal interpretation, fourteen in all, as well as Yu Chaoen, Opener of the Office, and Hanlin Academician Chang Gun and others, to retranslate this scripture last year in the fourth month of summer at the Southern Peach Orchard. In the ninth month of autumn, an imperial decree ordered one hundred seats to expound and illuminate it at Zisheng and Ximing [monasteries]. Descending from the Purple Forbidden Enclosure, five-colored clouds embraced and emerged; passing along the grand boulevards, the myriad common folk made obeisance; pathways and city walls were filled as dense as partitions. Inspecting the monastic records and perusing the historical annals, from the time Kāśyapa Mātanga entered the Han dynasty and Kang Senghui traveled to the Wu kingdom, never has there been an arrival of the auspicious Dharma equal to this. The sūtra states: 'If in future ages there are kings who establish the correct Dharma and protect the Three Jewels, I will dispatch the Bodhisattvas of the Five Directions to go protect their countries, rendering them free of disasters and perils.' It also states: 'The Five Bodhisattvas themselves made a great vow before the Buddha, saying: "We have a dhāraṇī capable of empowerment and protection, which is the swift gate practiced originally by all Buddhas. If someone hears it pass their ear even once, all sinful obstacles will be eradicated, and how much more so if they practice and recite it until fluent!" The Buddha then praised them, saying: "If someone recites and upholds this dhāraṇī, I and all the Buddhas of the ten directions will constantly protect them; all evil ghosts and spirits will revere them as they do the Buddha, and before long they will attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi."' Thus we know that this dhāraṇī is the root of the syllabary and the marsh of the various yogas, just as waters and trees return to their primal source. Therefore bodhisattvas expound it, kings establish it, common people recite it, and all Buddhas praise it, causing you to flourish and blaze, causing you to be blessed and profited—by this one can perceive the mind of the Sage. Its benefit is so vast, and its ritual procedures so wondrous; if one cannot be sincere, how could [Heaven] bestow excellence upon them? The Tripiṭaka Master therefore translated the complete Sanskrit text, and Master of the Law Liangbi thereupon received and simplified it: beginning with the preparatory requisites of the locus, and ending with the ritual rules for meditative practice, he arranged them into ten portals, each in orderly sequence, every one made clearly evident so that none may be bewildered. Whoever among our monastics and laity wishes to preserve their person and fulfill their quests, desiring to tread the path of bodhi and ascend to the realm of benevolence and longevity—how could they not follow this way?